Swimming in January!

Baby Sawyer

Emery

Olivia and Sawyer

Lily

Clara, Olivia, Myka

Emery

Clara and Olivia

Brody

Clara, the Birthday Girl

Today.....

I was reminded that although being a grown-up is hard, so is being a kid. It's easy to forget that kids have stress too because I'm always thinking about the stress in mine. But it's definitely not easy to be a kid trying to figure out how to stand up for someone without alienating others, how to get yourself out of a mess you've created, and how to follow everyone's different rules.

I figured our taxes and was pleased we would get a refund. Started the car and the engine light came on along with an error message I'd never seen before. Bye-bye refund. Figures.

I worked out and although it doesn't appear to be having any real effect, I'm hoping it secretly is. And that one day I'll step on the scale, and the pounds will all be gone. Or my butt won't look like two separate body parts when I'm working out on that stair stepper machine.

Happy Half-Birthday to You!

We finally got around to celebrating Emery's half-birthday at school today. For those of you with summer birthday kids, you know what I'm talking about. This was a new concept to me (the half-birthday celebration), and I almost missed it again this year but finally remembered. Emery picked out cupcakes (of course) - half Hello Kitty and half Iron Man (she's very considerate of the boys), confetti ice cream, and orange punch. Olivia and I went to her preschool class and hung out for awhile during the "party." So our baby is now officially 4 1/2 years old. They really do grow up too fast.

Me + NFL = True Love Forever

My love of the NFL started early. My parents would take us to the Chiefs home games when I was young, and the Chiefs were really, really awful. We would sit there in the rain or the sunshine, and I was clueless as to what was going on on the field, but I loved it. My dad would watch NFL games at home too and when I was about 8, I caught a glimpse of Joe Montana. It was love at first sight. I had a quarterback and I had a team - the San Fransisco 49ers. I would watch his games, write to the 49ers and they would send back a team picture (that would NEVER happen now), and I even baked a cake for his Super Bowl appearances. I collected Montana memorabilia when I was older, and when he played for the Chiefs, I got to watch him beat down his former team the 49ers at Arrowhead. It's the only game I've ever actually seen the Chiefs win (in person) too.

So that was the beginning of my NFL love. When I met John, I decided I wanted to be clueless no longer. So he taught me the different player positions, the different reasons teams do things on offense, and we bonded. And I get it now. I still don't know all the nuances of defense, but I think I'm pretty good on the rest of the game. And I know enough to manage a couple of fantasy football teams which is always the highlight of football season for me.

It's important to me to have a team to root for in the next few weeks, but I cannot root for the Jets because Coach Rex Ryan is completely repulsive to me. Jets QB Mark Sanchez seems to really enjoy playing the game so I would almost root for him, but the coach just makes me sick so they're out. Bears QB Jay Cutler, in my opinon, doesn't deserve to be in a Superbowl. He's just not consistently good enough and even though he's playing well now, I'm not rooting for him either. So that leaves the Steelers and the Packers. John loves both of these teams and has since the '70s. I can't help but judge teams by their character somewhat and turns out, Steelers QB Roethlisberger is also a bit of a slimeball, so I am throwing my full NFL love behind Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and his team. We'll spend our Super Bowl night at church watching the game on the big wall, as we have the past couple of years. Good times with good friends and good food. Go Packers!!

Slumber Party!

When I was young, I wanted to be around my friends all of the time. I was always bringing them home with me after school and rarely spent a weekend without a friend at our house or going to theirs. Olivia is the same way. She is all about time with friends. And I have finally figured out why my parents always let me be around my friends -- it's easy!! You don't have to entertain, direct, and parent nearly as much as when your child is playing with a friend. Not to sound like a lazy parent, but it's nice on my weekends to get that bit of downtime while the girls are entertained. So yes, Olivia, you have really great friends and they can come over and play.

Snipe Hunt

To celebrate our upcoming snow day Thursday, we decided to turn off all the lights in the house and have a good ole' snipe hunt. Olivia got the "Snipe Hunt" game for Christmas, which has two chirping snipe. You hide them in the house or yard, wait for them to chirp, and then run around like crazy trying to follow the sound and find them before the other team. Here's John, Olivia, and Em with their snipe hunting equipment. There was lots of screaming and fun. Looking forward to more fun tomorrow when I don't have to work. Yippee!

Harry Potter

John gave me the complete Harry Potter book series for Christmas, since I've read the first four books about four times and never finished the series. So after reading all the creepy, freaky books I got for Christmas, I am turning my attention to HP. This time, I am determined to finish (and to drop 20 lbs. but that's another topic). We decided to watch the movie after each book I finish which is definitely John's favorite part (not much of a book reader). So our movie tonight is "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." By the way, if you too enjoy creepy/freaky books, you really must read The Passage by Justin Cronin. I'm sure it will be a movie and they'll ruin it, so read it before that happens!