Tai Chi

I have always had a huge interest in Tai Chi. For anyone who doesn't know what Tai Chi is, it is is a Chinese martial art and you have probably seen it in movies with very slow, fluid movements. When I was overseas, my sister sent me a book about it, but it is hard to learn by reading a book. I tried it on my own and it faded out of my workout repertoire after a few months. I really became interested again and thought that a video would help, since I am such a visual person. Josh actually listened to my request and found a great beginner video for me and I tried it out this morning. I am so excited for my new workout adventure! It is great for me while I am pregnant because of all the breathing and slow movements. I finished today feeling invigorated and energized. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something new!

Delicious

I was so excited to make waffles with my new waffle maker this morning. They taste even better than they look!

Need a bigger tree

I think that when your presents start getting bigger than the tree...you need a bigger tree. Although in our case, we need a bigger house first, then a bigger tree.

Long Overdue

Right now I am listening to a variety of sounds...

1. My munchkins running around the island in the kitchen. The stomping of their feet would lead someone to believe that I have 10 children instead of just 2.
2. Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong" cd playing...I love this cd; this is my piece of mellow in my crazy, loud, chaotic world.
3. Our noisy dishwasher is threatening to overtake all of these things. When we do (if we ever) get a new house, I am spending good money on an expensive, QUIET dishwasher.
4. Joslynn has a jingly bell bracelet on...so it sounds like I have a kitty playing with a string toy of some kind.
5. The munchkins are actually playing nicely together. I better not spoil it, but it is nice to hear them laughing together.

I was sitting on the couch and finally felt the inspiration to update my blog...it's only been three and a half months...

6. Now the kids are taunting the "monster" that is in the dark in my bedroom. "You can't catch me booga-booga!" are the kinds of things I get to listen to...
7. Joslynn just turned her butt toward the "monster," she shook it back and forth and said, "Nah, nah, na boo boo, you can't catch me!"
8. I hear Jackson saying, "Mommy, I stuck!" I better go.

Seriously...I can't make this stuff up.

ABC's

As some of you may have seen on Facebook, I wrote that Jackson has recently started to spout off his ABC's; this took us by surprise because he has never even showed any interest in trying them, even in part, before. He is so stinkin' cute when he says them, so I tried to capture him on camera saying them. This is not the best footage since he was more interested in seeing it before I was finished. Tonight, he said them perfectly for my sister on the phone. I would have tried to take video again, but I was already changing his diaper and talking on the phone at the same time...if only I had octopus arms right?

Eat, Pray, Love

Tonight I was out to "dinner" (we'll get to that), and a movie with some friends at work. It was brought to my attention that I haven't been blogging lately.

"I don't know what's going on in your life," my friend said. I thought about it for a while and asked myself, 'Why haven't I been blogging?' Upon my arrival home, I have decided to resume my blogging.

EAT
Before I sat down to do some catching up, I had to heat up some left-over blueberry pancakes. They were delicious, by the way, for several reasons, of which I will share with you.

One, I love left-over pancakes. I don't know why, I just do.
Two, I can't concentrate when I am hungry.
Three, "dinner" didn't really fill me up.

Let me explain...I went to "dinner" tonight with my friends, but I showed up late because our babysitter couldn't be here any sooner, which was fine, but I was not at all impressed with the fact that a server never came to ask me if I wanted any food, or even a drink! So, I ate my $2 popcorn and slurped down my $2 soda at the movie. If you know me at all, you should already know that a measly little popcorn is not enough for me for the evening, so you should neither be surprised about the pancakes at 10:00 pm. I truly think the pancakes at 10:00 pm encompasses me and my "Eat, Pray, Love" attitude. I have always been this way...

For those of you who have not seen the movie (although anyone reading this was probably there), Julia Roberts' character takes a year to travel to Rome, India and Bali. Along the way, she vows to do just what the movie title says, eat, pray, love. There is a conversation in the movie where she is telling her friend that she is "going for it" by being open to trying food and loving it and not feeling an ounce of guilt because you may have a "muffin top." I think that I have always just 'gone for it' in the food department; I don't guilt myself over eating the foods I eat (although I probably should some days), but that is not me!!! I love to love food. I thoroughly enjoy it and I refuse to be guilted over it.

PRAY
Josh and I have just started going to church on a regular basis again. We used to go, although when he hurt his arm, and was out of commission for nine months, it was nearly impossible to have two small kids in church since he couldn't lift either of them. We became lazy and kept saying, "When are we going to go to church?" "Next week we'll go," we told ourselves. Next week always came and went and we started to sound like a broken record. We've been going again for about a month; I even brought the kids by myself when he was in Canada. It feels good to be back, definitely still a challenge, but good.

LOVE
This summer has been so fantastic for Josh and I. We had such great quality time together to reconnect. I think that the reason I am dreading the start of the school year is because I know I will miss him so much. Let's face it, once Sept. 7th rolls around, we may as well be two single people, living together, who share some children. Okay, okay...it's not that bad, but we rarely see each other or get to spend any kind of quality time together...not like during the summer. This summer we went away for three days for our anniversary, we went on dates together, exercised together, we talked and laughed and loved a lot this summer and I am just not ready to let that end yet.

I love black and white

Black and white photos have a timeless feel to them. I love capturing my babies' smiles with the classic look because they feel like the kind of picture you can have on display until they are 30 years old and it doesn't matter because their beautiful soul has been captured on film and preserved on print for years to come...