Love

I just visited my friend, Shelly, who just had a baby girl at the beginning of May. Her daughter is adorable and lovable, as any baby would be. There is a special kind of love a mom has for her kids. The baby love is the newest love, being that we are just getting to know our little ones. Then the love grows into different kinds of love-love for their voices, love for their new tricks, love for the laughs they bring us.

A mom never thinks twice about the kind of love they give their child. I never have. I don't think any of my friends ever have either. A mother (and a father, because this could be about dads, too) loves their child unconditionally, no matter the circumstances. This was very evident today as I visited Shelly. She has a strength about her, even though she is a "new mom" for the second time. She and her family have faced some unforeseen challenges with their baby girl, but always seem to be on the positive side of things. They have a love for her, just like any new parent would have.

I think about love in a few different ways, but today I thought about how lucky we are to love and be loved. No matter what the circumstances are...What a wonderful thing love is. Don't you think?

Gymnastics

A & C have been doing gymnastics since before they were 2. Yes, that would be because of me. If you know me (which most of you do, I hope!), then you know that I was a gymnast for about 7 or 8 years and then coached gymnastics for 13 years or so. It was inevitable that our kids would start gymnastics as soon as they could! So last week was their last day of gymnastics for this spring. I snapped a few "Ta-da!" photos as they came out of the room. Love them!

Ballet Recital

A had her first ballet performance yesterday and she did great! We did Community Ed. ballet this spring just to try it out. She seems to have liked it, but we can't quite tell if she loves it. She never comes home doing the things they've learned in class, but she's all smiles when she is in class and when she comes out. We'll see...But yesterday they did a spring performance with all of the Community Ed. ballet classes. Her class did a dance where they were mice and had to stay away from a cat. It was really cute and she did pretty well!

The Mammas and the Papas came to see her too. Thanks for coming! C even did a great job sitting through the dances!

It was one of those mornings where I'll look back and go, "Remember the first time you had a dance performance and you were a mouse?" It's hard to believe those moments are already happening for our little girl!

Sprinkler Day

It's definitely feeling like summer here. Muggy and hot...gotta love our seasons where we go from freezing temperatures to 90 degrees in 2 weeks! A & C ran through the sprinkler for the first time and played in their water table which I strategically set up in the shade. With no naps today, I thought water was the only way we were going to make it playing outside in the heat. Things went well and they just loved it! They squealed every time they ran through the sprinkler. It was the first of many days like this to come! Below are some action shots of them running through the yard. I hope you were able to enjoy the day like we did today!

Behind

So I'm behind. I'm behind on posting. I'm behind on getting cards to people. I'm behind on getting meals to people. I'm behind on getting gifts to people. I'm behind on getting my house picked up. I'm just behind. What do you do when you're behind? It's one of those things where it's play with the kids or clean the house; play with the kids or put away clothes; and on and on. Or, once the kids have gone to bed, it's watch a movie with J or do any one of those things I'm behind on. I feel like it's a loose loose situation. But then again, maybe I just have to get myself in gear and do it already! So, here's to getting ahead of the game this week, and not falling further behind...

Things Kids Say

I had started a post like this a while back, but never posted it because I thought I would come back to it. Well, today there were a few more cute things the kids said, so I thought I would finally write this post and actually publish it...

Gigantic is pronounced "Giantic"

Infinity (as in "To infinity and beyond!") is pronounced "Infibity"

In a conversation between J & C about stools, this is kind of what happened...

J: Hey buddy. I don't think you should be jumping off stools like that.

C: But daddy, it's not like its a high stool or anything. It's not even a medium stool. It's just a short stool.

In a conversation I had with C today:

Me: Will you always be my buddy?

C: Yup.

...a little while later...

C: Will you always be my mommy?

Me: Of course I will always be your mommy.

As the kids are trying to fall asleep last night...talking about "Calnifornia" from the movie "Cars."

A: Daddy, can we go to Calnifornia? Please?

J: No, we cannot go to California.

A: But I really really want to go! Can't we go tomorrow, please??!!

J: No, we have to get on an airplane to get to California. It's a long ways away.

A: Oh, can we go another day?

These are just a few things the kids have been saying lately. I'm sure there are many more during the day that I forget, but sometimes they're just so funny, I actually remember them and have to write them down! Too funny!

Kids Fun Run

Mother's Day=Race for the Cure!

Today was the first time we took the kids to the MOA for the Kids' Race for the Cure 1K race. They had a great time! It was a pretty cool day, considering the kind of weather we had been having until it turned May (thank you very little). So, off we went, bundled in hats (on May 8th??) and coats, ready to run. C had been practicing, saying, "I'm gonna win the race!" Well, he came very close! Here comes C!

J went to run with the kids around the little loop there was for them to run around. C took off, with A close behind. J did a great job of keeping A in his sights...just in case she took a tumble. Honestly, I think C was about third coming across the finish line. He keeps saying, "Mommy! I won the race!" because he was the only kid to actually touch the flag line they had up as the finish line. So I just keep answering him with a "Yup buddy, you did great!"

I did it, Mommy!The kids got ice cream and yogurt after they got their "medals." C ate his ice cream first, while A had her yogurt first. A little surprising, yes-but A eventually ate her ice cream, dripping all over the place as is par for the course with her!We'll be back again tomorrow for the "real" race. It's a great day because this year will mark Mom's 5 year survival date-a HUGE accomplishment for a cancer survivor. So, we'll just keep praying that things keep going the way they have. Oh-and Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's reading this...to the long time moms, new moms, and everyone in-between. Happy Day!