Greatest Hits

In bullet point fashion, here are the highlights of the past couple of weeks:

*Sitting in Pizza Hut, watching the boys sit at their own table with high chairs, and suddenly having a vision of them all sitting around together chatting at a restaurant...as teenagers...

*Learning about rocks, learning about commas, doing math.  There are days that I want to do my own thing, for sure, but I feel so privilaged to get to be home with my kids- teaching them and learning at the same time.  And I am learning a lot more than tidbits from their books.  I am learning a great deal about giving up my own wants, looking at the bigger picture and constantly trying to find balance. 

*taking the boys tubing at a local hill.  Yes, paying to go tubing is kind of a rich suburbanite kind of thing, but it was fun and a good "once a season" experience.

*Playing a new game called "Pandemic".  It is a collaberative game, which I normally hate, but I actually enjoy this one!

*Making our e-meals.  Lets see, we have been eating stuff like apple/coconut salad, cherry/pecan compote , basil coconut chicken alfredo and stuffed peppers.  All of the recipes have been really good.  Eating a paleo diet is expensive, I will say that, but for now it is ok to be spending a little more.

*Trying to get caught up on photo books for the kids.  It is an ambitious project, but I am hoping by the end of the summer I will be caught up.

*Accepting holidays from work.  I got to stay home a couple of shifts in the last month, and that has been priceless for maintaining my sanity.

*Practicing for standardized tests. They stress me out. A lot.

*Running on the treadmill.  Noah and I are both running, getting ready for a race in April.  Today we start a "family vacation to Cairo" through our Y.  No, we are not really going to Cairo, but we have 5 weeks to put in miles toward our destination.  We have over 6,000 miles to go.  Thankfully the walking/running miles count as 33 miles each, but are still talking about 35-40 hours of running/walking a week (we can get points for other things as well, but they don't add up as quickly).  The boys are participating as well, and we made them each put a mile in tonight.

*Watching Deacon and Roman take a water sports class in which they had to participate in a synchronized swimming routine. Priceless.

* Rockclimbing!  I got to go out with some friends for a night of climbing.  It was great fun and inspired me to take the kids climbing at the Y a couple times recently.  I would like to take them more regularily and I would like to try to climb more myself.  What a great workout and a fun challenge.

*Coaching basketball.  Well, Noah has been coaching Lincoln's Kindergarten basketball team.  They are both so cute out there :)  Deacon has made huge improvements over the last few years, and it is fun to see him develop his game.

*Cheering on the boys as they made their first stop motion video with the help of their dad.  They are so proud!

*Sledding down a neighborhood hill.  We got in the van and ROMAN said "That was really fun, even if I did have to pee the whole time."  You have no idea how huge of a thing it was to have Roman voluntarily be positive!  Totally a winning family activity day.  And I can not even begin to tell you how impressed we were that Deacon could consistently make it down the hill upright and on his snowboard, that Lincoln determined to go over every jump, and that little Ba carried her own sled up that hill, one tiny boot step at a time.  Everyn only cried when I accidentally tipped over her sled and she got snow on her face.  What a trooper :) 

*Contemplating spring, yard plans, new wardrobes and a running wheel for the Burley!  I've been dreaming about my roller blades and can't wait for the warm weather to hit!

Well, time to get banana bread out of the oven and get a little sleep before a new day starts!

I have a lot of "QOTDs" to share...maybe tomorrow!