Pictures of the Week -- Week 22

Mattea was the "Wow" at school this week, so she got to bring Payton, the stuffed dog, along with her wherever she went. She felt very special and had a great time hanging out with Payton.

I bought sundae toppings for a special dessert. YUMMY!

Pictures of the Week -- Week 21

It was so cute watching Josh give Mattea some tips on batting and having a level swing. It sounded just like what I tell him every time he's up to bat during a game!!!

C'mon... who doesn't play baseball in a skirt and flip flops???

Josh got a haircut before his baseball game and Jeff thought he resembled a young Bryan Trumm. I copied the picture to Facebook to see what the young Trumm clan thought. Josh doesn't realize what a compliment that is. He's a darn cute catcher and I'd love for him to grow up to be just like Bryan Trumm.


Mattea & Hanna were playing in the backyard and they just love climbing the tree. It freaks me out a bit, but I guess I just have to let them be kids. Siiiiigh.

Pictures of the Week -- Week 20

Mattea has been begging to go through the sprinkler, but it hasn't been quite warm enough. Finally, the weather was just right, but I couldn't find the sprinkler!!! To make us both happy, I let Mattea play with the hose, but told her she had to make sure the entire yard got watered. She had a great time and was SO happy to finally be in her swim suit!


The boys had a fun time being creative with Legos. I love seeing them all play together.


Josh & Mattea had Field Day at their school this week. Josh had a blast doing all the relay races, but I think his favorite game was Jump the Creek. Mattea's kindergarten class only got five minutes of their activities in before we had to go inside because of lightning. She'll get another chance next week.




I got four free passes to an early screening of Kung Fu Panda 2. It was showing at the Colorado Mills mall, so it took us about 35 minutes to get there. Unfortunately, the theatres were full. Not sure why they would give away so many extra passes, but they promised to send us tickets to another showing at a later date. We took advantage of being at the mall and wandered around to the Lego store, video game store and a store that sold really cute purses & shoes. Everyone was happy!

Pictures of the Week -- Week 19

We have had some wild & crazy spring weather. It's been raining quite a bit, which actually has been nice for several reasons... sports practices have been cancelled and our yard has gotten watered for free! One afternoon, I went to pick up Alex & his friends from middle school because it was raining. Right before we got home, it started to hail. It started and ended very abruptly. The kids were fascinated!


Alex loves to take things apart (thanks, Grandpa Bob!). Our old Xbox got the "red ring of death". It sat around here for months and finally, Alex decided he was going to fix it. He loves seeing how things work and identifying different parts. It was a valiant effort, but the Xbox was just dead.


Mattea & Hanna finished their soccer season and they got purple sparkly trophies. As you can see, the trophies were a HUGE hit! It didn't matter that they only won one game all season. It's all about the bling, baby!


Mother's Day was amazing this year. My kids are so wonderful, talented, sweet and generous. Each of them made me handmade gifts which I absolutely adore. Alex made me the sweetest homemade card. Josh drew a picture of me which listed all of my best traits and wrote a poem about me. Mattea gave me a cookbook with her picture on the front (as a Chef) and a ceramic tile with her handprint on it. I got special cards and emails as well. The funniest card came from the one and only, Hallmark Queen.... Julie Mishler. It said "I'd offer to take over for you on Mother's Day, but..." [open the card] "HOLY CRAP! Do you realize how much you DO????" Oh my goodness, I laughed for a LONG time about that one.

Pictures of the Week -- Week 18

Mattea & I went to a play together with some friends from her Girl Scout troop. The play was put on by high schoolers and was really cute. Mattea had a great time hanging out with her friends and I enjoyed spending time with the Moms. It was a win-win situation for all!


Alex & the dogs had a nice snuggle on the living room floor. Indy & Cody were both vying for Alex's attention and he gave it to them. I took several pics and the last one makes me laugh every time I see it. Alex did his usual stick-out-the-tongue-and-make-a-freaky-face look and Cody's expression almost looks like he was reacting to it... like "he is SOOOOO weird, isn't he?"



Mattea wanted to polish her nails and then decided to do mine, too. She gave me the full treatment -- she filed my nails, polished them AND gave me sparkles!!! What more could a Mommy want???

Pictures of the Week -- Week 17

Mattea went to a birthday party sleepover at her friend Alexis's house. Thanks to Aunt Jenny, she has a very cute "suitcase" for sleepovers!


We have an increasing amount of stuff at our house and the big stuff was starting to really take up space. Since there are lots of rules about where you can take electronics, plus the fact that they are really, really heavy and would be difficult to load, we called in the experts... College Hunks Hauling Junk. C'mon, who wouldn't call them??? They were extremely nice even when they found out what they had to haul out of the basement. We got rid of our big screen TV that has never been the same since the move, the old tube TV, our broken washing machine and our held-together-with-duct-tape lawnmower. It felt great to watch it all drive away.


We did some yard work this week in preparation for summer. Josh chipped in and did his share. I'm not saying he did it willingly, but he did it. ; )

CrossFit Day 1

So, I fell off the exercising horse. (Don't worry, it didn't hurt.) I have finally decided to get back on the horse. Actually, I decided to get back on the horse at least a month ago, but it took me this long to track her down and hop back on. : )

Long story long... I drove by this strip mall that I have driven by many, many, many times, but this time I noticed a placed called "South Aurora CrossFit". I just HAD to check it out. I had heard about CrossFit and was interested in trying it, but when I had looked before, I hadn't found a gym near my house. I can make it to this place in roughly 5 minutes if the green lights are working in my favor, so that totally rocks. Suh-weet!

Since Jeff is not traveling this week, I decided to give the place a try. I dragged my butt out of bed at 5:40am and got ready to go. I was anxious and a little nervous, but I realized that I am a grown adult and the muscles aren't going to tone themselves nor is the fat just going to fall off my body. So, I opened the door and went in. I was met by one of the owners - Dave. He made me feel welcome right away, had me fill out some paperwork, explained what happens on a normal day and then got me started with the beginner's workout. It didn't sound too bad and I was glad it wasn't the workout that the rest of the crew were doing. Let me just tell you that the name of their workout was called "Oh Shit!". Ya dig???

My workout consisted of 5 reps of each of the following exercises: squats, sprawls, push-ups, jump squats and burpees. I had to do the circuit 5 times. Dave told me that once I get used to it, they will time me. Gee... I can't wait for that day! He then told me that when he does it, he tries to do it in less than 3 minutes. Um... excuse me???? Come again??? Yeah, that won't be happening for me for quite some time. It makes sense that Dave could do that. You should see this guy. R-I-P-P-E-D!!! He's a firefighter and I bet he saves lots of lives. He got in on the workout today and was killin' it. It was very motivating to see everyone dripping with sweat and pushing their hardest.

I am planning on going 3x a week and if the activity schedule allows it, I will try to go on Sunday afternoons as well. I'm a little sore and I hear that will only get worse, but I guess that means it's all worth it, right??? Anyway, I survived Day 1. YAY me!!!