Our first race

Well, I missed my "February post"---but since it is just barely March, I'll count this one. Not much progress (or, any progress, for that matter) has been made on the 101 list because I've been so busy at work. But, I did get to do something in February that really was so much fun. I ran the mile portion of the Kids Mercedes Marathon with Reese. Despite that fact that it was so cold that I told Lee, "My body very well may never be warm again."---I had a BLAST running with my little girl. Probably the only time I have ever ran an entire mile smiling the whole time. I really hope that she and I find something that we do regularly together while she is growing up---maybe it will be running races together, who knows?!?

Here's a picture. Not a great one---but it does memorialize the event.

A quick "101 in 1001" pop-in

Just wanted to do a quick post to continue to update the blog (for myself, really, to be able to go back and see my progress--no one else will care! : ) ) on another item on my list that I have completed. Of course, the type-A, accountant in me has calculated that I need to average accomplishing 1 goal every 10 days to make the 101 in 1001 overall goal. So, in between accomplishing bigger goals, I am trying to knock off a few smaller ones.

My goal on the 101 in 1001 list was to unsubscribe myself from at least 10 email subscriptions. I have so far unsubscribed from 24!! It feels great and really has decreased my daily "random" emails. I plan to keep going and really challenge myself as to if I really want some of these emails I get, because even deleting them takes some of my precious time.

Yea, me! : )

New Year's Day

Well, to follow up with some actual kid-related stuff. Lee brought home fireworks on New Years Day, and we fired them in the back part of our driveway. We invited over our neighbors, who have kids around our kids' ages. Only lasted about 30 minutes---but was alot of fun, and was a much-needed break from the indoors.

The kids LOVED it...




Though, I think the "big boys" had just as much fun as the kids...

And, the little boys, ended up doing what little boys do:

And, it should also be said, that you should not leave trucks nearby for parts of the firecracker to fly into or under. There should not be a scene like this one where you are having to search your car/truck for things burning.



In "101 in 1001" news,

--I accomplished my goal of selling 20 books to 2nd and Charles (a second-hand bookstore in town). I received, in cash, a whopping $12--not even enough for our family of 4 to eat at McDonalds. In short, while the actual selling process was smooth--and 2nd and Charles really runs an efficient process--next time I will take the tax donation and just give them to charity.

--I did another of my "Projects for Later". We are trying the "Uh-Oh Jar" for Reese. It is a basic jar with different "negative consequences" for when her behavior warrants. Some of the items are "No iphone for 1 week" or "Sweep the kitchen floor" or "Go to bed directly after bath". She hasn't gotten into trouble since we instituted it--so we will see how it goes.

Let's try this again...

Oh my word, has it really been a year and a half since I have blogged?!?!? Facebook has definately given me another outlet for sharing---but I have missed the blog. Really more for the "memory-keeping" that it allows. So, now that I am quite certain no one will be reading this except for me (and, maybe my sister who knows I am starting back), I should feel quite comfortable making this blog more than just about the kids---but about me a little, as well. A little diary of sorts.

In keeping with that, MG and I have entered into a kind of journey together called 101 in 1001. It is an idea that 1 year is too short to really keep meaningful resolutions. You need several seasons to allow for life's unforseen interruptions. So, following this, you make 101 goals--some big, some small--and you get 1001 days (or about 2 3/4 years) to accomplish them. Part of my reason for getting back to the blog is to document (for myself, really, b/c I think this would actually bore anyone else) my accomplishment of or progress towards these goals. I won't publish all 101 b/c some are more private than others.

So, here it goes. Here is the list:

1 Find out the blood type of each member of my family
2 One month of flossing every night
3 Spend a day at the beach---just me and my sister
4 Resurrect my blog and have 1 blog entry/month for a year
5 Have a job that I generally enjoy
6 Be at a weight and "toneness" that I am happy with
7 Complete my family geneology thru 5 generations
8 Compliment someone each day for an entire month
9 Write in each kid's diary 1x/week for 3 months
10 Start of diary of my own
11 Take vitamins every day for 2 months
12 Start a "diary" of my favorite quotes/scriptures/mantras
13 Pay off Explorer
14 Donate 50% of my current wardrobe
15 Re-evaluate our 401k plans
16 Volunteer 80 hours
17 Unsubscribe myself to at least 10 email subscriptions
18 Purge 101 non-clothing items
19 Write Vshak at least 1x/month for a year
20 Participate in 5 races
21 Spend a fun and relaxing day by myself (Ross Bridge or the like)
22 Finish a 10K race
23 Learn to edit my own photos
24 Read 5 books from my existing unread bookshelf
25 Spend 30 minutes in prayer each day for 1 week
26 Take both kids to Disney
27 Spend 15 minutes stretching each night for 1 month
28 Be able to do 25 full, correct-form push ups
29 Be able to do a full plank for 5 minutes
30 Say nothing negative for 1 week
31 Improve my posture
32 Go to a home Alabama football game
33 Clean out every closet/drawer in the house
34 Find a really good eye cream
35 Read 5 books out of "Honey for a Child's Heart" to each of my kids
36 Memorize 2 scriptures/month for 1 year
37 Learn to work my DSLR camera on a setting other than "auto"
38 Take Reese and John to a Alabama game to tailgate
39 Take Reese and John to a Samford basketball game
40 Teach Reese and John to ride a bike with no training wheels
41 Buy a bike
42 Get the kids baby/school books up to date
43 [redacted--private goal]
44 Successfully give up something for Lent
45 Use Mere Christianity as a Bible Study
46 Help a stranger in time of need
47 Start recycling at home
48 Have myself following the 80/20 rule regarding organic/natural foods
49 Sell 20 books to 2nd and Charles
50 Take a vacation with just Lee
51 Add 5 new "staples" to our family menu rotation
52 [redacted--private goal]
53 [redacted--private goal]
54 [redacted--private goal]
55 Finish the memory book for me that I will one day share with the kids
56 Push the 2 grandmothers to complete the memory book for the kids. Make a copy of Mama's for MG
57 Have all old VHS tapes converted to DVD
58 Organize DVDs. Give away all that we do not watch anymore
59 Pull all old CDs into iTunes. Give away those that I do not have a burning desire to keep
60 Do 3 of my "Projects for Later" off Pinterest
61 Add 5 "staple" pieces to my wardrobe
62 Save $300 out of our normal budget by cutting spending for a period of time. Use that money to go to a nice dinner with Lee
63 Drink 80 oz of water every day for a month
64 Save 2 months salary
65 Go with Reese to a Mommy/Daughter weekend somewhere
66 Help the kids find a charity project that they can participate in
67 "Plant a seed" for 3 people who are not following Christ
68 Clean out basement
69 Develop a fun nativity season tradition for our family
70 Do something special for my 40th birthday
71 Send the kids off and spend a weekend with Lee at home
72 Develop a "couponing" system that works for me
73 Host a "Favorite Things" party
74 Scan the pictures I have that are only hard copy
75 Organize photos and determine the best "forever" storage (external drive, online, etc)
76 Redo the pictures/art on the walls in my house
77 Frame the storyboards that Heather has done for me
78 No cokes for a month
79 Viking cooking class
80 Take Reese to a play/musical
81 Take Reese to see the Nutcracker
82 Do something anonymous and fun for a friend
83 Go to Jackson Hole
84 Lead Reese thru the "I am a Christian Now" book and determine if she is ready for baptism
85 Rechallenge our will
86 Do something with my wedding dress
87 CLEAN the oven, eyes of the stove, and toaster oven
88 Make a list of 25 things I love about each kid and record it in their diary
89 Get 8 hours of sleep for an entire week
90 Along with MG, go thru with my parents their will to make sure we understand the intent
91 Go to an Alabama basketball game
92 Clean out both work and gmail
93 Go to a concert
94 Develop a "contact matrix" to use for keeping in touch with friends
95 Develop a "contact matrix" to keep up with business contacts
96 Go to the dermatologist for a mole screening
97 Get a full physical
98 Have lunch with Reese at school 7 times in a school year
99 Have 8 family "game nights" in a year
100 Develop a good way for our family to have a devotional/scripture memory time together on a regular basis
101 Develop a system of keeping my house relatively clutter-free

I will say that I have made progress towards a few of these already.

On #4--The blog is hereby resurrected. Will need to see if I stick with it and can post 1x/month to call this one "completed."

On #5--I recently accepted a position back at EY, and I am very excited about what the future holds there. So, I count that one as completed.

And, on #60, I did one of my "Projects for Later" on Pinterest for Christmas teacher gifts (technically outside this 1001 days--but I am counting it!). It was just a tumbler mug, with individual size lemonade packets inside, with a flag that says "Thanks for quenching my thirst for knowledge". Was quick and easy. So, now just 2 more Pinterest pins to go!

Tee-ball and Easter Eggs

Man, have we been loving the weather the past few weeks!!! Our family loves being outdoors, and we have been taking full advantage of the warmer weather. I think I appreciate it more this spring than even in the past, given the really cold winter we had.

So, we've been doing alot of this...

and Reese and I even did this...




Reese loved the jumpy-thing (that's the technical name) at Sandestin...

Then, there's Reese's first year of tee-ball. To be honest, tee-ball isn't Reese's favorite thing in the world---but she is doing fine for her age. At this age, I just want her to learn the basics---and get any "life lessons" that she can from being involved in a team sport. And, so far, that is being accomplished. She's doing pretty well at batting....the outfield bores her a little, though.

Here's some samples of our Saturdays at the games...

And, a video of her batting..

Finally, Easter was really a glorious day. Not only celebrating the eternal life that Christ made possible thru His ressurection....but, also in the family time that we got to share and the weather God blessed us with that day.

Here is Reese is the gorgeous dress Lee's mom made.


And Lee's mom with all her grandkids. Notice my prissy girl's crossed legs pose. : )


Note the chocolate already running down John's mouth. Hence the reason we changed both kids out of the Easter clothes before hunting eggs.

...and I'm back!!

I can't believe that it has been 4 1/2 months since I've posted!! I think facebook has taken the place of my one-off Reese and John stories----and, I've been too busy to take lots of pics.

The main pics that I've taken since the fall are the ones from Disney. Here is a slideshow of them....but, there are a ton, so this is really just more for my memories' sake. Also, if you do choose to look at them, know that they are not in chronological order. I just didn't have the time to re-sort them.

Disney was so much fun!! I am not much of a theme-park person---but the fun I had a Disney well exceeded my expectations. I can't wait to go again----though its so expensive, we'll have to wait until John is around 4-5 years old.

We went to Disney with some friends who have kids the same age as ours. Last weekend, we had them over for dinner. That night, our 4 kids had their first double date. : ) John and Bradford (who was so cute wearing John's jacket) are in the front seat of the gator, with Reese and Wyatt in the back.

Other than Disney, not much has been going on other than normal life. I have been trying to be more creative about how I get my "normal" things done. A couple of Saturdays ago, Reese went with Lee to pick up his tractor from the shop. So, John wanted to play outside all day, and I had to get ironing and other household stuff done. So, being the classy Southern lady that I am, I did this on our back porch...

while John did this...

He got in trouble so much that day, that he finally just put himself in time out. He was sure to let me know how he felt about it though...

All in all, life has been wonderfully normal. With all the bad and sad stuff I see on the news and hear about, I have just been really grateful for the routine, boring, lovely, fulfilling life that God has blessed me with.

Of course, getting to see these faces every night after work doesn't hurt.... : )

Pictures

Haven't had much time to write lately, but I did want to share some pictures. The first couple are from John and I playing outside one morning before Reese woke up. The rest are from our weekend at the camp. The kids love it so much there. For the most part, they stay all day and play in their PJ's (which, thankfully their mother gets at Walmart, so no huge deal that they get oh so dirty!). Reese uses the camp as her own personal wind-down spot. She watches Peter Pan approximately 248 times on any given weekend there and just lounges around. John wants to go wherever his daddy goes. Lee even took him out on the 4-wheeler putting out deer stands. You should have seen the smile on John's face riding around with his daddy. Pure, uninhibited joy.