Isn't She Thoughtful...

Last week for show-and-tell the kids in M's class were asked to bring a picture of mom to hang up in the hallway of their school and display for everyone to see. I let M pick out her favorite picture of me and this is what she picked:

When I asked her if any of the other kids brought silly pictures of their moms she replied with, "Nope. Just you! Isn't that funny?" Yeah kid that's hilarious. Thanks a bunch.

On a side note, I got the sweetest picture with J that same day. These moments are so few and far between these days. He still melts my heart.

The State Fair

Now I would LOVE to write some magnificent post about how wonderful our fair experience was this year complete with happy children, not-so-hot weather and a funnel cake, but this is not that post. We had been at soccer games and a football game all day Saturday so Matt and I were both fairly sunburned. I personally LOVE summer and I can deal with a lot of sun and heat so I didn't mind too much that it was 100 degrees and I was walking around already red from the previous day. I did put on sunscreen but the heat of the sun wore Matt down fairly quickly. We met up with some friends and got to see the monkey show and my friend Teresa is a saint for holding J the whole time so he could see. I just can't do it anymore. I got to stand in the back and adore the baby (who by the way is the sweetest and most enjoyable child ever...I've only seen her cry once and she was hungry). We said our goodbyes so they could get home and we headed on our way. We were walking down the midway and J threw up (of course he did...) so he went with grandma to find a shady bench to sit down and Matt followed soon after. M and I were left with tickets for riding all the rides, but it really wasn't terrible. I don't mind riding rides as long as they aren't roller-coasters or anything that goes upside down. Then I want to throw up. But anyways, we had a great time and I swore I was going to throw up after we got off the Tilt-a-Whirl so I'd count that as a raging success as far as rides are concerned. She better plan on growing though because next year I have a list of rides I want to take on now that I'm not fat and want to try my hand at them again. When we went back to collect everyone else, Matt was beyond done and J was nearing his breaking point. They had stayed the night with grandma and he got up super early that day. Great timing, right? It's really the only day we had the opportunity to go I swear. I much prefer our leisurely trips to the fair we've done in the past but we made do with what time we had. Where was I...Oh yeah, then we went out to dinner where my kids thought I was mean because I ordered them grilled chicken and steamed vegetables and J fell asleep with his head in my lap and I had to carry all of his 48 lbs to the car. He weighs more than a third of what I do now so it's quite a challenge to carry him anywhere let alone when he's passed out and dead weight. Both kids slept the whole way home and went straight to bed as soon as we walked in the door, thank God! So there you have it. I'm sure Matt has pictures somewhere but he's drowning in work so I can't really bug him about it. They'll make their way here eventually I'm sure.

Soccer and Cheer Pictures

Doesn't she look sweet and happy for it being so early on a Saturday? She played really well again this week and I'm so proud of her! She was lucky because she had the early game before it got hot. Isn't it the end of September? I'm kind of ready for sweatshirts and jeans instead of sunburns!

J and his friend had been out playing in the heat for a good 3 hours before the game even started so the poor boys were sweating and miserable, but they were tough and made it through! They did great!

Here are the cheer pictures. I was not a cheerleader and never really thought I'd get one of those blonde hair, blue eyed cheerleaders. Look at her though! She is GOOD! I think we've found what she loves to do and will put in the time and effort to practice at home. We've been working on jumps, cheers and cartwheels every day without a single complaint.
The 2 little girls on the team trying their own stunt.

Aren't they just so adorable? They have the best time together!

Soccer and Cheer Update

My kids LOVE soccer! Who knew? I've been very pleasantly surprised that M has really taken an interest in it and is very much enjoying herself. She's not a kid that likes to run and in general she tends to complain that things hurt when she runs around a lot. If you've ever seen "UP" she's like when the kid is walking through the forest saying his knee hurts, his elbow hurts and then he has to go to the bathroom. And she does it in that same whiney voice that he does too. Her favorite complaint is that her hip hurts. She's freaking 5 years old. Nothing on her should hurt! But she didn't complain once about practicing soccer or playing during the game! She loved it and had a great time! This weekend she has an early game (and pictures) and then she's going home with a friend while we watch J play. She's so excited! This friend is doing cheer with her and they get along so well. As an added bonus, she has a brother that's J's age and they are on the same soccer team and get along great too!

J has been very...interesting during soccer. It's better than t-ball. He doesn't pick the grass or kick the dirt at least. He does however think it's all kinds of fun to run into the net. At one point he picked a dandelion to give to his coach during the middle of the game. Fortunately, J isn't the only boy on the team who has a short attention span and gets easily distracted. Out of the 4 boys there on Saturday only 1 had any clue what he was supposed to be doing. He loves it though and one of his best buddies is on the team so it's all good. I'm glad he's having a good time and learning skills that will help him in the future. That's really what it's all about.

I'll have to try to get some pics this weekend and upload them. Especially of the cheerleading because it's way too cute! M and C are the littlest girls on the squad so they get to do all the fun stunts. We were practicing some tonight and she still gets a bit freaked out being up so high. We're working on it though. At 26 years old I'm learning how to do cheerleading. It's very weird. The things we do for our kids...

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday! I love birthdays, and this year is no exception, but I'm kind of sad to see my 25th year coming to an end. It's been a very good year. It's had ups and downs just like any other but the good has by far outweighed the bad this year. I've met a lot of goals, learned some things about myself, taken on some challenges, made some amazing friends, reconnected with some old friends and most of all I became happy with who I am. I never realized I was unhappy before I lost the weight. If someone had asked me if I felt unhappy I would have answered "no" without hesitation because I didn't feel unhappy. Now I know what I was missing. I know how it feels to put on size 6 jeans instead of size 22 and walk out the door feeling confident instead of content. Three years ago I would put on a nice outfit and feel 'ok' walking out the door. Now I put on a short dress or nice pair of jeans and have the confidence to know I look good in it! Am I perfect? Absolutely not!! Am I happy with where I am in life? Yes! I can only hope 26 is as good to me as 25 has been.

Kids, School and Chaos!

My goal in having the Healthy Mama's site is partly so that I can use this blog as a place to talk about my children and family more and my fitness goals a little less. So what have the kiddos been up to lately? Well, mostly they go to school. Every morning we frantically scramble to get M up, dressed, fed and on the bus without a major meltdown. At least once a morning something goes wrong in her world. She never has any clothes to wear or shoes that she likes. Ever. We pick out her clothes the night before and discuss shoe choices but, like her mama, she tends to change her mind about what she wants to wear or which shoes look best. We bought her an alarm clock so she can get herself up in the morning, chill for a little bit, get dressed, let me fix her hair and then join us for breakfast. It's going....ok. We're working on it. Maybe by the time she's a senior in high school we'll have it figured out.

J came home from school the first week saying he hated school and didn't want to go back. He's had the same teacher (at a different school than where he's currently at) and he's had it pretty easy. The new school is much more structured (which is good for him) and he's had a harder time adjusting than I thought he would. After about a week he was saying it was "ok" and now occasionally I get "fun" as an answer. I know it's good for him and his teachers love him and are doing what's best for him so I'm not worried. I was just surprised that my social butterfly had trouble adjusting to something new. It's very unlike him. I think he's ok now though so it's all good.

Tonight we are attempting the drive-in theater. The weather is gorgeous and we'll pack up snacks and bug spray. Wish us luck!

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