Marathon Update

Okay, Traci and I have signed up to do the Austin Half Marathon which is in February. I am not in the mood to train though because of the cold, but I need to get out there and do it. I did do something that probably was not a good idea, yesterday at the doctor, I asked hime for a months worth of DIET pills. I am so ashamed, but I wanted something to dump all of this extra weight off. He said that I should be able to drop close to 30 pounds, so that would help me out alot in getting faster. I know, do not feel like you have to tell me what a bad idea it is, I KNOW IT IS!! So, do not judge my moment of weakness at the doctors office. You are so vulnerable while standing on the scale in front of the nurse. but if it works, I will be happy with the results!

The Holiday craziness

Wow, the past week has been absolutely nuts. Every morning Abbi and I would get up and head over to the campus house to serve breakfast to all of the kiddos that came thru. It was so much fun, I absolutely loved every minute of it, and of course Abbi did. She was center stage for all of those kids to talk to, and play with her. It was busy, but very rewarding. It seems like those things usually are, or at least I am now seeing that they are. Emma has been very busy at school, with all of the christmas stuff they have to do before the break. Tuesday we are going up to Children's Hospital for her. I am really excited, because she will have a lot of fun. Luke is going on that day too, and she loves Lukey. In 6 days, Chase and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage. I am still in awe of that. Who would have thought that 10 years would fly by so quickly. On our actual anniversary the 20th, we will be very busy. I will start the day in Little Rock at the Higginbotham center getting a mmamogram. WOOHOO. It was the only day they had, and I would rather have the results now, then after christmas. Then that same day is when Emma has a solo in the christmas musical at school. I am so excited to see her. She loves to sing, and is really looking forward to this. Tommy is even staying in Conway to watch her big performance. I have to say, I love our college kids. They get so excited to see Emma do all of this kind of stuff as much as we do. They have really meshed with our family, and we are so greatful for that. Now all we have to do is sit back and wait for Christmas morning.....which we still have not bought the girls anything for that yet. Santa is not doing a good job at figuring out what to bring my little angels this year. But I guess we do have 10 more days to figure it all out.

Tis the Season

Before Turkey day, we put up the tree and took christmas card pictures, which took a lot of planning. This year we had our adopted college kids in our picture....and yes, I know we should have signed their names, but I am lazy. So there you go.

Here is the picture, or one of them, that we sent out. Tommy is holding Abbi, Brandon is holding Emma, and Erin is in the back with me. I love this picture, it is such a happy picture. It makes me think of a happy family, even though these kids are not really mine, I still feel that we are a family.

Speaking of family, it is just us girls this weekend. Last night we went to a birthday party for a girl in Emm's ballet class, and then MY babysitter came over after we got home. Yep, I am a big chicken. Chase is out this weekend with Ryan killing Bambi. He said he does not care how long it takes, he is shooting something. OH JOY! More stinky deer meat. I hope he is having fun, and I also hope he comes home in the same condition he left. Which would be no extra holes in him.

Abbi Grace

She and I spent all day Thursday up at Children's hospital doing that study, and let me just say, this little girl is funny. Here she is shaking her "groove thang" to the song on the radio before we left. I was cracking up.

Here she is just being Abbi. Such a sweet little girl. Or is she?

10 seconds after the last picture. I told her no to a snack. But did I give in?

No, I did not. But then another good song came on the radio, and she was all smiles again!

No kidding in the span of about 10 minutes, she showed all of her emotions. We are in for some trouble when this little one grows up! Next time I will do an Emma Claire blog! She and I will be headed to Children's for the same study in a few weeks.

Breakfast with Santa

For the past two years we have done BWS at church. This year it is coming a week earlier, which has me jumping to get things done. So this is about all I have the energy to do tonight. Just sit here and mindlessly type out words, while I should be doing some many other things. Tomorrow Abbi and I are going to be in Little Rock all day at Children's Hospital doing a study, it is a nutrition study, but that was not my motivation. They are giving(and I use that word loosely) $200 for one full day of sitting up there and letting them run tests on Grace. So seriously, not a great parenting move on my part, but $200 right before Christmas....I am all for that. I called the research people back and I think I might take Emma after christmas. So that will pay for all of that midless spending during christmas. I will post pictures from our day tomorrow.

Thanksgiving

What a great holiday. We had a wonderful time in Texas, and amazingly enough when you unplug from life, it does relax you. Until it is time to pack up and come home. I heard mainly that I write too much on here, and need more pictures. So here you go Rhesa, and Jodi pictures from the time we spent together!!

Nothing like a little paddle guitar!! Cason's was more like a sword, but Em was rockin out!

The campfire smoke is unbelievably hard to get out of clothes. Third times a charm!! Chase was the Fire MAN before Daniel came and took over. Of course right now in my head is the Fireman from George Strait.

This is the life. A Hummer. On Caddo. The first and only.

Abbi got a little cheeky. This made me laugh, She just cannot get the grasp of pockets.

Adley and Emma were crackin pecans, and giving them away for free. Not good in sales, but they are soo cute.

And last but not least. Abbi has found her calling in the art world. I have often walked in on one of her many masterpieces, but today, I took pictures.

Oh yes, she has become the master artist in panty liner art. My ginormous box of 150 has dwindled down to 50. She has made trails thru the house before, but mainly she just likes to stick them to pretty much anything she can. Cracks me up. Unfortunately, I have a warped sense of humor. But I have decided to embrace my youngest's talents, at least until my box is gone. I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving.

So a lot has happpened!

Well, I noticed that it had been a while since my last post, and I was sad. I thought that I would really keep up with this blog thing, and I am just as much of a slacker here as I am with cleaning my house. So, here is what we have been doing since halloween. Nothing. Honestly, I am just a slacker. But here are some pictures for ya.

This is from Emma's Thanksgiving "Feast", she was a Indian( of course) She loves being an Indian, it is one of her favorite parts of Thanksgiving.

We went to Chase's moms for a before Thanksgiving day thing on Saturday. Just the family get together stuff. Here is my favorite picture from that day. The girls love their Uncle Ryan and Lyssa. We had a fun day, of hangoing out with family and good food.

Now this week we are headed to Caddo for the annual Thanksgiving family reunion. I am happy about going, but after losing Aunt Edna, and her daughter Barbara a couple of weeks ago, it just will not be the same. I am sad to say that a lot of family went to the funeral, and are not headed back up this way for Thanksgiving. We will definitely miss all of them. I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving. See ya in a couple of days Jodi!!

Halloween Fun

Halloween was a huge success this year. Both girls were able to actually walk around the neighborhood, and go door to door trick or treating. It amazes me how fast they grow up. This is our first year with out a stroller, and it was really nice.

Emma had a great day on Wednesday. She had her "fall" party at school, which was so much fun. They got so much candy from the mom's in her class. I honestly think that I counted 3 goodie bags per kid. Crazy! Abbi and I went to lunch with Emma Claire that day also, and brought a special guest with us. Tommy(one of our boys) came to school to have lunch with her too. She was so excited to have him there. She told all of her friends that he was her brother, and bragged on how cool we was to everyone. It was pretty cute, she is so smitten. We went back and stayed the rest of the day with Emma Lou at school, which was fun for me, but Abbi had enough after about 20 minutes. It is funny how much fun it is to go and help out at the school. It seems like I tried so hard to get out of school, but now i look for reasons to go back and hang out. I had a little girl ask me how I was able to come up there so much, and I told her I justloved coming up there. She of course asked me why I did not work, and if I just did not want to make money. It made me sad for her, because I am sure that she has heard that somewhere before.

The girls wore matching costumes this year, and honestly they were beautiful. I did not think that Abbi was going to wear the wings the entire time, but when you tell her "if you wear these wings and knock on people's doors, they will give you candy." then she is all about the wings. She has tried several times to go and get them on so she can get more candy. She is so silly. I tell you these girls are so stinkin funny this year. Emma is so grown up, and then there is Abbi, who is just squirely. She has been a hoot over the past couple of days. Just being a goof. We went out early Wednesday night, so that we could make it to church on time.....we were just a little late. But the main thing is that the girls had fun.

The last 2 days Emma has been out of school, I never ever thought that I utter these words, but I have said it a lot lately. It is so much easier having Emma in school all day long. It has been a challenge having her here. She is so bored, and the girls just fight all the time. I do think that Ms. Meins needs a huge raise for doing her job. Can you just imagine 17 kids all day long? I would be nuts. Yesterday we ended up at the park for 3 hours. If you know me very well at all, you know that I despise the park, it is just too much for me, but the girls loved it. We went with our friends Madison Watkins and maddie McKamie. Abbi played with Austin and the big girls too. It was fun, and I did not really want to come home. Luckily it wore the kids out, so bed time was a little easier. We had to come home thought for dinner, which was absolutely fabulous. We had Chicken parmesan with noodles and salad, and it was the best thing I have eaten from a college student. Tommy, decided to treat us to one of his famous dinners, and it was good enough to be served in a restaraunt. Of course, My pride only allowed me to tell him that it was just okay, but I am almost convinced that he should just cook for us, and not the other way around. We finished dinner got the girls to bed and then played cards. A very fun evening. I love playing cards with Chase, it is my favorite thing to do with him, until he wins. This next week is my girls trip with mom and the other gals from the family to Houston to the Nutcracker Market, so the blog may go untouched for a bit this next week. I will be having too much fun shopping to even think about blogging.

This picture just cracked me up, so I thought I would add it. Abbi was hiding from the girls in Emma's class. She was being chased and did not like it, and this was the safest place she found. She did however, stop hiding to say Cheese for the camera!

Halloween and Birthday Parties, Oh My!!

We had a lot of fun this weekend! First of all we had a soccer game on Saturday morning. It was really good, the kids are starting to get it together. Next week is the last game, so then we will have our Saturdays back. I have been a horrible mommy, I have not taken a single picture of Emma playing soccer this year. Maybe because her heart just is not in it, but it is unexcusable, I am definitely taking pictures next weekend.( cross your fingers, that it is not canceled due to weather)

This is a picture from last year. This is Emma's favorite part of the game. The tunnel. I have to admit I really like the tunnel too. It is fun to see them running through 5 or 6 times, smiling from ear to ear.

Saturday evening, we headed over to the Reed's house for Grant's 6th birthday party. It was awesome, it was a campout party. Everything was just really fabulous, the games went really well, there was good conversation, and the girls got to play with their friends. It was a homerun all around. One of the things they did was a bug hunt, with flashlights, and glow bracelets. This was really the first time the girls had glow bracelets, and they loved them. So much so, that we started a new fun bathtime ritual. We snap us up some glow bracelets, and throw them in the tub, and turn the lights off. The girls love it. We have had so much fun, but now the girls do not want to take a regular bath anymore. Oh the memories.

Last night we had our Trunk or treat thing at church. The girls liked it, but of course Abbi was so cold, that the candy could not keep her outside. The girls looked really good as Butterflies, but when they took their wings off, Emma said that she was a caterpillar. Too funny. I am going to take some better pictures of them on Wednesday to post on here, but they really did look good. So now we have a halloween party Wednesday at school, and then trick or treating that night. Emma is out of school on Thursday, so we can go aroung the nieghborhood after church on Wednesday. I am hoping that it will not be very cold, but that means it probably will be. I cannot wait to post more pictures, the girls are getting so big now.

So many thoughts.....

First of all, October has a ton of birthdays to celebrate. Today is Rena's birthday, in 3 days is my brothers birthday, and 2 days after that is Judy Clark's birthday. Of course, I am a loser and have not bought any cards to send out. I will however send them birthday wishes via email, the easier way nowadays.

Today, Ms Meins(Emma's teacher) sent home a note, which is not out of the ordinary, but not usually a good sign either. Okay, so Emma decided to color on the floor today at school. Oh yeah, it looks like she has decided to be "that"kid. What on earth possessed her to do this? Upon asking her this question she said "well, someone else did it first(which I do not believe) and it was a yucky day today, and it needed some really pretty orange to brighten it up!" I am telling you right now, that I really do not know where she gets this stuff. I know that I did some things that were in the category of "that" kid when I was in school, but I am speechless. I guess that she is going to be a lot like me in the sense that she likes to make people happy. I was the class clown in school, and I see a little bit of me in that girl.


Abbi is still not quite the same since last Wednesday. She has started having this little evil laugh, that is kind of grunty and throaty, and totally funny. It cracks me up when she does it, but she tends to do it at odd times, like when her sister gets in trouble. It is almost like she has an evil plan, and laughs when Emma has misfortune. I spent the day watching her sleep today. She is fighting a cough and head cold, and when medicated that child can sleep. It was a rainy day too, so perfect for sleeping. When she woke up, she had a strange look in her eye. I asked her if she had a good nap, and she smiled and said "oh yes momma, I was oh so sweepy." Too sweet.

I have been slacking on my running lately, which is not good, but of course I have an excuse. It honestly feels like I have broke my hip. I know that I have not, but it hurts really bad. I have been such a lazy bum, and need to get with it, before the BIG RACE!! The second weekend in November is our annual girls weekend in Houston. All of the ladies in our family, go down to Houston and go shopping at the Nutcracker Market. It is so much fun, and i literally cannot wait. The most exciting part of it WAS that I was hoping that Kimberly was going to be able to ride with me to Texas. But since she is starting this new job in Arkansas, she may not be able to get off and come down. That is the sad part of having family things. You always want everyone to be there, I missed it 2 years ago and I called mom every 2 hours during the day. The good news is if you are unable to make it to Houston, you are always getting something from the day. The year I missed mom bought me a really cool snowman for my front porch. So now we will all try to find something for Kimberly to bring back. I am really hoping that she calls and says she got time off. I do not like to drive by myself into Texas, it just gets boring with noone to talk to.

Those are my thoughts for today, they are rambly. Oh, and I called Rena today for her birthday, and I gotta say totally jealous. It is soo cold up here, and she was off to catch a plane to Cabo San Lucas. Man, I would trade places with her in a snap. Happy Birthday Rena, Ron and Judy! Love you all.

What a great Ladies Retreat we had. It was so great to have 40+ people in Heber Springs. Of course it was my nightmare come true on Friday night with the devotional, but it went great. This past week has been somewhat normal, but busy. We had our very first parent teacher conference. I was excited to go up to the school for it, and was so relieved that Emma has done so well. She is advanced with all of her skills, bonus, she is cute and smart. I was laughing at her teacher, because Emma wants so badly to go to a class called Reading Recovery, but she does not need to go to it. I think the main pull for going to the class is that Mrs. Sonya from church is the teacher, and Emma loves her to death. We have had many tear filled days because she was told she could not go hang out with Mrs. Sonya.

We are having crazy weather right now, and of course we have all had our bout with the sinus and head colds that go around this time of year. Emma has had her normal, congestion and cough that turns into a sinus infection. She was out of commission yesterday, and today we are getting well. It is not as severe as it was in the past, and I truly think it is because of her allergy shots. We did get flu shots on Tuesday, and the nurses were amazed that neither one of the girls cried. I too was a little shocked by it, but not making a huge deal out of it in front of the kiddos. The nurse went on and on, and told everyone that the girls are so very brave, and then kept giving them tons of stickers. Emma looked at me at one point and said “I guess she does not know that I am going to be Supergirl when I grow Up.” I just replied with a straight face and said “ nope, I guess your secret identity is safe” She is so funny. I took pictures of her in her ballet stuff, and in one picture that I will add here, she is Supergirl as a little girl pretending to be a ballerina for Halloween. She is so funny, I find myself laughing at her all the time.


Wednesday, I went to Little Rock to return somethings to ToysRUs. It was a great outing, except for one little thing. Abbi and I had lunch at a Brazilian café down off of Kavanaugh, and I had a great idea to get her a Brazilian soda. Now, let me remind you that I have been in the states since I was 1, and so I did not grow up like most Brazilians. Okay, so I bought her a gaurana, which I was very proud of. But I also called daddy to tell him about my new find, and brag that I was eating the food of “my people”, I told him about the soda, and he started laughing. He then informed me that guarana is what they add to energy drinks like RedBull, and things like that. Needless to say, Abbi was OUT OF CONTROL. I have never seen her so hyper in my life. It was almost like she was a bottle of soda that had been shook up, so when the lid came off all of her energy had her going all over the place. Chase came out while putting the girls down Wednesday night, and said Marli, you are in charge of getting RedBull to bed tonight. And as soon as the words came out of his mouth Abbi came flying into the living room chattering about how she was not tired and wanted to go and play. We laughed at her for about 20 minutes, and then the funny wore off.

For the past month or so, I have been trying to get the girls to commit to a Halloween costume, and for some odd reason Emma had her mind set on being a Blue Butterfly. I am not sure why, but I made sure she was serious before I went out and bought her some wings, of course she has decided now that she is going to be an Orange Butterfly, after the blue wings were already bought. It is funny because the Orange wings were for Abbi Grace, but now the girls have switched on me. I am anxious to see it all put together. The wings are for adults, but I thought that they would look more realistic if the wings were ginormous on them. I will of course post those pictures when I get them. I guess that was our week. We were busy doing little things, and are still looking forward to the end of soccer. We missed yesterdays game with Emma being sick, and it was nice to be able to not rush around on a Saturday morning.

Yesterday vs Today

Yesterday was one of my emotional rollercoaster days, filled with tears. I could not make anything work correctly, I was all around in a BAD MOOD. It happens some around here, but I can usually fake at least a smile, not yesterday. I do not like being in a foul mood, there is not really any good that comes from it, with the exception of some really good sarcastic cracks. It all turned around when I went to bed. Apparently not enough sleep for me, is a bad idea. Luckily being somewhat caught up today, I could focus on the fun side of mommyhood.

Today had its challenges, I watched baby Christian (4 months old) and then had Ellie(4 years) for part of the day. They were of course fine, and no problem at all, unlike my sweet Abbi Grace. Today was the day, that I actually saw her get it. For those of you who do not know, I am very lazy. So much so, that I really did not care if Abbi ever started wearing panties. Chase has put me on a budget though, and the last thing that I want to buy is pull ups or diapers. But today she got it. Only one accident, I could not believe it. We even left the house with her in her little Tinkerbell panties. I was so proud, if I would have seen anyone I probably would have showed them how well she was doing. And yes that does mean going and looking in the potty for all of her wonderful makings. She was so excited too, she just kept telling herself run fast Abbi, as she bolted for the bathroom. The crowning moment for the day of Abbi’s accomplishments was that she went to bed at 7pm. I am telling you this kid was a true blessing today.

After the kids were in bed tonight, Chase’s phone rang. Of course I figured it was work, so I did not pay much attention, until he said “okay, so you killed a deer and now do not have anywhere to clean it? Well, you are more than welcome to do it here….” I looked up so fast, and started saying the usual, he better not, that will be gross. And then Chase starts telling him to take it to the carwash, or somewhere where he can wash all the insides down. I was not prepared for that conversation. And honestly, I just started to laugh. And thinking about it now just makes me laugh. You are probably thinking that it is Chase’s brother he killed the deer, but it was not, it was one of our new adopted sons. I am now picturing him at the carwash, with the big sprayer hose, cleaning the deer. It made my day. I laughed so hard about it, and consider it to be the perfect ending to my lovely day.

Tomorrow Allison and I are leaving for our Ladies retreat. I am so ready to go, but still a little worried. Mainly now, because I am losing my voice a little bit. The guy I dated in high school always liked to call and talk to me on the phone when I was like this, but I never really understood why until today. Emma said that I sound more fun. I guess it sounds like I have been cheering on the winning team. So, tomorrow night around nine-ish, say a little prayer for me, I will be getting up and doing my devotional right about then. I am taking two of my biggest supporters, so maybe they will lose their voices cheering me on. I finally got a picture of Emma in her ballet stuff, but have lost the camera in all of the many piles of laundry. The job never ends.

It is Crazy at the Tucker house!

Wow, things have been crazy this month. We decided to participate in the adopt a student program at church again this year. Last year we had Heidi, who is the sweetest, most quiet person I have ever met. I adored her. She was very polite too, laughed at a lot of my jokes, not all of them, but enough to where I was content.

This year we have 2 new additions to the family. Brandon and Tommy. I know, 2 boys. I am the mother of two young girls, and now I have two 22year old “sons”. The girls are of course happy to have college kids to give them attention. I like getting to know people from different families. Brandon is the oldest of 3 boys, and is a huge hunter. He is most like Chase in the outdoorsy since. Tommy is the youngest of 4, and is an intern for the CCSU. I am really enjoying getting to know the boys, becuase they are so different than girls. I am so impressed by how guys(Chase included) are able to be on their own. I of course hate to be alone too much, I get bored easily.

We are still in the middle of soccer and ballet, but Emma is starting to get really tired. She is having a hard time keeping up with the schedule. The other day I asked her to show me what she learned in ballet, and she said “we learned how to dribble and pass,”
I looked at her in confusion, and she added “momma, I do not remember what I learned, I have done too much learning today.” She was so tired, I just smiled and put her to bed.

This coming weekend is my ladies retreat at church. We are going to Heber Springs, and as of our last meeting I am still on the schedule for a devo Friday night. I will of course do it, but how scarey. I am taking what I have learned from our college students to help me have the courage to get up there. Just so you know, you can still learn lessons from those who are younger than you. Our experiences with the adopt – a- college student program, have taught me, to have courage. These kids are assigned to families that they do not know, and you are supposed to bond with them. I could not have done that when I was in college, I was not good at being on my own. Still not, but I am learning now that you need to make yourself uncomfortable to find the courage to do the things you need to. So I am doing just that, I am making myself uncomfortable, so that I can take the next step in the journey of life.

I love the Fall!

This is the greatest time of the year. I love all the stuff that we are doing, decorating the house for fall, going to the pumpkin patch, the hobo supper at church, and all the fall type stuff. I am looking forward to the first pot of soup for the year. It is really weird how much I love cooking when the air starts to turn colder. Next weekend is the Hobo Supper, and I am excited to go and play all the corny games with the kids. Emma and I are going to bake some desserts for the cake walk later on this week. She is super excited to help mom cook.

Tuesday is Emma's field trip to the Pumpkin patch in Mayflower. We are going to spend the entire day out there with a hayride, and farm tour. Emma is most excited about riding the school bus. Her dream of going to school was to ride the bus...what a dream to have. Her teacher told her that the bus is only fun when you ride it going on a field trip. Thank goodness, she was able to change Em's mind, because she did not believe mom and dad.


Another thing I love to do is watch the Houston Astros. Today is the las game of the season, and also the last game for Craig Biggio. We are of course watching the game, and I am of course boo hooing. Unfortunately the season for the Stros is over today, and I am ready for next season.
Hopefully we will have a great fall, with healthy kids and family.

A quiet week

This week Abbi Grace is at my mom's. She was the only grandchild that was not able to spend the week with them this summer, and currently the only one not going to school. So, during the day it is just me. What to do, what to do? I am trying to get the house good and clean, so that we can declutter and rearrange. Why are we as people obsessed with having stuff? I have so much stuff, Emma has a ton of stuff, and Abbi Grace is on her way to having to much stuff. It has been a lit easier to clean this week with Grace gone, b/c her favorite thing to do is walk behind me and take the things that I put up, to a different room. She then says "mom, come see dis, I helpin cwean. Come on." I then follow her to a random room where she shows me how she has moved everything. In her defense, I am usually taking toys from the living room and putting them in the play room, so she is doing the same. I am ready for her to come home. I miss all the funny things that she says, and the silly little things she does.

I am getting to spend a lot of quality time with Emma. It has been nice. I miss just the me and her time. I had lunch with her at school today, and I am planning on doing that again this week. It is so much fun to see her at school. She is such a big girl now. Next week we will be back to the run around of our every day life of a family of four, but for now it is just a quiet week with just us three.

Abbi Dabbi Do

So, I am such a great mother, that I forgot to post about my little Abbi’s Birthday which was yesterday. I feel awful, so here is a post all about the sweetest little Abbi Grace in the whole world.

She has been since birth, an easy child. Very easy going(compared to her sister)and happy to play on her own. My little Gracie is so sweet and loving, she will always give you a big kiss and hug when she sees you. And she will always cuddle up and snuggle with you.

She is also very quiet, almost sneaky. She will wander off, and do really silly things. The other day after her Birthday party, we found her in her diaper eating the frosting off of her birthday cake. She was in her diaper, because I have told my kiddos countless times that they cannot eat in their dress up clothes. So of course she had to ditch the dress to eat the cake. We started laughing, because we did not even see her standing behind us. She is just so quiet.

Here are some pictures of my silly willy Abbi Grace.

What am I thinking?

Why do great ideas always sound better in your head? Lately I have come up with some doozies, here are some of my more recent bright ideas.

*Do a devo at the ladies retreat in October. (absolutely terrified)
*Lose 30 pounds by next September.
* Train for a half marathon
*Actually run a half marathon.

The first item on my list is something that I know I need to do. I keep telling myself that you have to start somewhere, and a ladies retreat is easier than the Wednesday night ladies class at church. I am still a nervous wreck, and fear the one thing that happens most to me when I get nervous. I start saying things that I should not. Incredibly stupid things that have most people looking at me with a furrowed brow and their mouths wide open. I have no filtration system from my brain to my mouth, and it constantly gets me into trouble. I am praying that God will help me to say what needs to be said, and that He keeps me focused to where I do not need to adlib.

The second idea, well it sounds good until I drive by Taco Bell. I am craving all the fast food junk right now, and so dieting seems impossible. I could really stand to lose more than 30, but I am aiming low for more of a realistic goal.

I started this week training for the half marathon. So far so good, but it is only day 2. I started the 12 week novice training program by Hal Higdon. It is not so tough right now, but it will get tougher, as most things do, as time passes on. Why do a half marathon? Well mainly because I want to do a full (another bright idea) before I turn 37. Why 37? Why not?

I have chose to do the Houston half marathon, which is January 13,2008. I read that it is flat and scenic. I do believe that I would like to have nice scenery to watch go by as I run 13.1 miles. What am I thinking? 13.1 miles, that is to many to even think about right now. I am going to focus on the day by day. Really my main goal is to have my girls see their momma being active, and trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Not a ridiculously no sugar type of lifestyle, but healthy and balanced. I would love to be able to run with my girls someday. I want them to have a love for taking care of themselves, and a love for running. Yet another bright idea, and dream.

Over scheduled

I used to say, that I would never let my kids have more than one activity after school, that we would have to rush around to do. Of course when you say never, you know that you will almost always eat your words. I promised Emma that when she turned 5 and started kindergarten, she could start ballet. Of course at our dance school, you can take 2 classes for the same price. After her 2 dance classes we head across town to soccer practice. She loves all of her activities, but we do not get home until 7:45pm. It is a tough day for my sweet little girl, she comes home and crashes hard. I told myself that after watching others run around town with their kids activities, that it was too much for the little ones, but now I am doing the same. Is it wrong to over schedule your child? Am I teaching her to work herself to hard when she is older? Am I going to burn her out on ballet, jazz and soccer? This is one part of motherhood that challenges me. I will post pictures of Emma in her ballet stuff next week. As of right now, she will not let me take her picture in it. She said she has not had enough classes to be a ballerina yet. Tomorrow starts another week of being over scheduled, at least until soccer is over!

The dawn of a new day!

Wow, now I know that "they" will let anyone create a blog. I never knew that it was this easy to become a blogger, which is probably a good thing. So here we go together, starting our new adventure together. I promise to post all about my kiddos, and important stuff, with tons of pictures.