Well we got home from graduation and we all got terribly sick! It's like the stress that was pent-up for 5 plus months finally took it's toll...and it was BAD! The baby got it the worst with a 105 degree fever and she didn't eat for a week. No sleeping for anyone, and no one escaped it (even our dog had a minor kennel cough spell)! The only upside: we spent lots of quality time together curled up on the bed watching movies. Even the baby would just lay on our chest and cuddle for hours. And, no one was hungry so I didn't have to cook for close to 10 days! See, aren't I the eternal optimist! :) We are all fully recovered and back on our game, thankfully!
We finally took Emma to the zoo! She loves animals of all kinds, except she still calls all of them doggies. She ran around the zoo barking at every animal, even the big tortoise. We're working on that!
Savanna is our aspiring gymnast. Her new thing: she wants to try out for a competitive cheer team. She has been working hard and has even taught herself (with the help of YouTube) how to do a front flip! She has been continuing with our Turbo Fire DVDs and sometimes exercise 2 to 3 hours per day! It's fine by me! I am seeing so much positive change in her body. She used to be super skinny and frail. She is now becoming firm and toned, and very healthy looking. It makes her happier and gives her confidence and focus...sounds like a win-win to me!
I need to take a new picture- she is almost all the way to the ground now!
Our Emma is a feisty little thing! She is a chatterbox...and she pretty much chatters every minute she is awake! She toddles around the house all day and every few minutes she will say, "Hi Mom" or "Hi Dad" or "Hi Na-Na." Despite my efforts she has learned the word "NO!" and shouts it often, especially at bedtime or when you take something from her. She is still quite the drama queen and can turn on the water works instantly (and it works WAY to frequently for her, especially with the men in the house)!
Oh, but she is so sweet! She loves to give kisses and hugs. She is a monkey and climbs on everything!
And IN everything!
And her favorite past time...putting on other people's shoes or "shews" as she calls them. The many "shews" of Emma Leigh:
Benjamin is our little artist. He has been excited about painting lately. And he paints and paints and paints! He also recently has gotten very excited about reading. He read 15 books tonight (With a little encouragement from In-N-Out Burger....they have a program through our library where they will give you a gift certificate for a free burger if you read 15 books...the exact number he wanted to read tonight...hmmm)! He is getting very excited about his birthday also, and is trying to decide what he wants to do to celebrate.
Bradley is still loving scouts! He had his first awards night and he earned his first badge and two belt loops (one for chess and one for astronomy)! Since that night he has earned another badge and 3 more belt loops. He will be getting those the first week in April. The scouting program has really given him focus and has helped him set simple goals and feel the confidence that comes when he achieves them. He is really blossoming intellectually and has moved smoothly into the Love of Learning phase. This is the phase in Leadership Education where a child embraces and tastes all different types of learning. It is also the phase where they begin learning a myriad of life skills. This dovetails beautifully with his scouting objectives and also with the church's Faith in God program. It is up to the child to determine what phase he is in, and Bradley has declared that he is in Love of Learning. He even asked me to get him a planner so he can start recording his goals daily like I do. He's a remarkable kid.
All of the kids are so happy to have their Daddy home, but Emma seems to be the happiest of all. She follows Dad around all day long, and hops in his lap every chance she gets. She goes over to the couch and pats the cushion and yells, "Dad!" and he will obediently go and sit down. She brings him book after book and they will read and cuddle. It's extremely sweet.
We made it out to Morro Bay this month too. They have a place in the park with tables set up to play chess. There were guys from a local chess team who gave the boys mini lessons. Benjamin got some serious help and even beat James at a game!
The girls were not as excited about spending a day in the park playing chess- well, you can't please them all!
They even set up a lifesize chess set and the boys battled it out. It was a good workout for them hauling those pieces around! Benjamin won...again!!
I completed my Turbo Fire program with some pretty amazing results! Another 11 lbs and 12 1/2 inches GONE! That brings my grand total to 66 lbs lost!!
I didn't quite hit my goal for James' graduation, but overall I'm feeling pretty good about my efforts. I have one more dress size and approximately 10 more lbs to lose. I took one recovery week, started P90X, got sick, and then re-started P90X last week! I forgot how amazing those workouts are. There is no way, if I can keep my diet in-check, that I won't have far surpassed my fitness goal by the end of these next 90 days. Either way, I plan on bringing it! It's just about 90 days until summer...let me know if I can help any of YOU achieve your health and fitness goals!
And, I tried out the new Shakeology flavor- tropical strawberry. It's awesome. I love it. 'Nuff Said. :)
Lastly, our family has decided to devote the next several weeks to getting our house back in order. Many things- financial, physical, emotional, and otherwise- were put on the back burner to help James through the academy. Now that he is home, we are focusing a lot of our time on our family. We have decided to do a "Purge." We are going through every room, closet, drawer, and our entire garage and getting rid of anything and everything that we don't need. We have written a family mission statement and anything that does not move us towards our family mission is outta here! We got rid of half a driveway full of stuff just yesterday! And I can't tell you how freeing it is to get rid of clutter. Even the boxes sitting in our garage untouched are taking up space that we could use and space in the back of our minds. I have been told by many who do these purges regularly that when you free up space and energy you make room for and attract the things that you truly need. The children have been really great about getting rid of toys and clothes that they don't need. We are going to turn our garage into a really awesome gym and play room. I'm documenting the progress and will share soon!
March 1 - 25, 2011
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