Happy Leap Year!

Since today is a leap-year day, I was able to get one more workout in this month at the gym. (See stats on left side bar!) It was pretty miserable though as I just ran 4 miles on Wednesday and didn't have much energy to run very fast today. I managed to run 3 miles somehow, but now I'm really exhausted. This is how it's been the past 2 months though.

I feel I owe a big "I'm sorry" to anyone who has come over and seen my lack of house cleaning. I'm really focused on working out 3-4 times a week and plan to continue until I am back to my "normal" self again. Lately I just don't have any extra umph left and so the dishes and laundry have suffered...The way I see it, it's now or never. If I don't get in shape now, I don't know when I will ever find the time. Next year I will have 3 kids in school each with completely different schedules, so my "free" time to work out will be a thing of the past for a while. Who ever coined the term "stay at home mom" had a totally different job than I do!!!

I also wanted to post about Natalie's Spring music program last night. It was just for the first and third grade classes. The kids all sung nursery rhyme themed songs and played instruments. It was cute and everyone did a great job.


Natalie and Sarah were so silly afterwards and spent 10 minutes or so spinning around in their dresses. I somehow managed to get one photo of them when they were semi-still.

Awwww...how sweet!

I've been having so much fun with the kids lately. They are all growing up (for the most part) into sweet, caring kids.

Today, Zander really wanted to sort beans, so I scooped up a handful or two from my 13-bean soup mix and let him at it...warning him first that if any of them spilled on the floor, he would have to clean them up. Well, I came back to check on them (Hayden too) and of course, Hayden had spilled most of his all over the floor. I reminded Zander about his responsibility and showed him that the vacuum would be the fastest way to get the job done. He spent quite a while sucking up the mess with the hose attachment and at one point I just felt sorry for him and really appreciated what he had already accomplished. So I went over and turned off the vacuum and asked him if I could finish it for him. He told me that he wanted to do a good job for me, so he would finish it. I was so proud of him just then. He is VERY willing to help me and so I have been rewarding him by letting him help me cook in the kitchen. He loves this, especially since we got him a Disney cookbook. I think we may have a future chef in the works!

Here are some cute photos I took of the boys a few weeks ago and have been wanting to share:

Zander and Hayden have become great playmates.

They both love to wrestle...and share hugs! So sweet. I wonder how long this will last?

Sometimes a kid just gets tuckered out! (See, I told you he can fall asleep anywhere!)

Are you LOST?

(Sorry if you don't watch this show...this blog post will not make any sense to you...bummer!)

Warning...contains spoilers from last night's episode of LOST...


First of all...Aren't you glad this show is FINALLY back on the air!!! I think we waited long enough! Secondly, wasn't last night's episode awesome?

For the most part the story was interesting...and very informative.

• We learned that Ben is a multi-millionaire.
  
• Desmond and Sayid still haven't reached the freighter yet (possibly due to difference in time...or helicopter trouble??).
  
• In the "flash forward, " we see Kate on trial and Jack testifies on her behalf. (He refers to the Oceanic 8, another clue. So are they telling people that 8 survived, but only 6 made it off the island?)
  
• In a plea bargain, Kate doesn't do any jail time, but now can't leave the state...which would make it so she couldn't return to the island like it sounds like some of the other rescued survivors are trying to do.
• Kate's not so nice mom tried to black-male her into seeing her...grandchild—what?

So Kate is a mom? Now the speculation begins...who's baby is it? Sawyer's? With blonde hair, it very well could be...or is that what the writers want you to believe?

Then during the last minutes of the show the writers drop a bomb... the baby's name is Aaron!
Could this be Claire's Aaron that Kate is raising as her own? This show is great because just when you think you are getting answers to all your questions, the writers throw in a doozy like this and now you have a million more questions that you can't possibly figure out!

Here are some of my questions:

• Why doesn't Jack want to see the "baby" (who by the way seems to have aged a few years, indicating that they have been off the island for a while.) Am I the only one who was glad to hear that Jack still likes Kate? (good news if you're a Jater like me)
• Does Jack think the baby is Sawyers?
  
• Claire's psychic told her she must raise the baby, so how did it come about that Kate has him? Is Claire still on the island?
  
• If Kate is telling people the baby is hers, wouldn't they be able to do the math and figure that Kate wasn't 8-9 months pregnant at the time of the plane crash (as Claire was)? I wonder just what she has been telling people.
• Then there is still the chance (because the whole time table isn't really clear yet) that she really did have a baby and named him Aaron. Wasn't Juliette experimenting on her in one of the old Dharma facilities from a couple seasons ago? Then there's the Sawyer factor...hmmmm.

Other Questions I still am wondering:

• What ever happened to Walt and Michael? Did they ever make it back? Could they be the extra 2 that make up the Oceanic 8?
  
• What's with the black smoke monster? Why haven't we seen it or the polar bears lately?
• Who is in the casket from the "flash forward" in the season premier? Since no one attended the funeral, I think people were led to believe Ben was in the casket, but now after last weeks show, we learn that Ben is alive and well and has Sayid doing his dirty work. It still could be Ben, just later in the future maybe...or is is Locke?...Juliette?
  

Okay I have rambled on long enough...feel free to chime in.

Golden Tiger Award

A couple weeks ago, we got a letter in the mail from the principal. The letter was to let us know that Natalie ws selected to recieve a Golden Tiger Award at her school. She was going to be honored (along with kids from other classes) at a school assembly and then again at an icecream social the next evening. Dan was able to make it to the assembly, but had to work during the ice cream social.

Here is Natalie telling everyone what her Golden Tiger award was for...trustworthiness!

Dairy Queen supplied all the kids with ice cream sundaes!

Zander's Fire Station Field Trip

Zander was so excited to see the fire engines last Friday. It was hard for him to wait for the rest of his classmates to arrive, so I distracted him by taking photos!

Zander's class. He's standing by his teacher.

Zander and Hayden get to walk through the rescue truck too...Hayden is not so sure about this!

Up in the big fire engine...where every boy likes to be!
Here are my 2 guys...so excited after getting to walk through the fire engine.

Moroccan Valentine's Dinner

Before Christmas I went out to dinner with my girlfriends and we decided it would be fun to all go out to dinner for Valentine's day. We talked about the Meltintg Pot fondue restaurant, but then we changed our minds when we saw the Marrakesh was in the Entertainment book!

Dan and I; Scott and Debbie

Emma and Dan

What can be more fun than sitting on pillow stools, eating with your hands, with belly dancers and funny waiters to entertain?

We had a great time. The kids stayed over with Grandma and we got to go back in time to a world before kids where you could have grown-up conversations, stay out late, go to the store on a whim (and in a timely manner too) with out car seats, 5-point harnesses and an arsenal of diapers. Ahhh...it was nice while it lasted!

Dan got me roses and a sugar free truffle!!! I made him this.

Natalie's Valentine's Party 2008

At the first grade party, all the kids got to decorate Valentines' cookies.

Here is Natalie's cookie.

I was in charge of a craft...we made Valentine bear pins...
like this:
There were white and red bears too.

All the kids brought loads of Valentines (and candy) and stuffed the heart pockets full.

Natalie loved looking though all her Valentines.

Here's a shot of my littlest Valentine eating breakfast.

For dinner, since Dan was working late at the college, I got a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. The kids really wanted to dig in, so they helped blow on the pizza to cool it off faster.

Natalie's School fun

As mentioned in a previous post, Natalie was Star Student this week. She was so excited to show all her favorite things.

She also got to help out in the cafeteria all week. Her school has very thorough recylcling program, cartons, food, paper goods, plastic etc are all separated when the kids are through with lunch.

Natalie helped bring the lunch trays to the kitchen to be cleaned.

She loves her "uniform" and even asked me if she could wear her hair net to McDonalds when we went for McTeacher night!

Zanders's Valentines Party 2008

Today was Zander's Valentine's party at preschool. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I could be there to help in his class.

For snack he had chocolate covered heart-shaped pretzles, grapes and yo-gos.

Me and my cutie!

Here is his class photo. Zander told me last night when we were making his Valentines that he has a girlfriend (front row, third from the right). When I asked him what it means to have a girlfriend, he said "she sits by me and I sit by her." Then today as I'm dropping off Zander in the morning I talked to her mom and told her what he said. Then the mom said that while they were at Disneyland last week her daughter kept saying "I miss Zander."

Here he is cheering on his fellow classmates during a relay game.

McTeacher Night

I haven't been blogging lately and I feel so behind. The main reason is because I have been at the gym working out which pretty much makes me way too tired to do anything extra at the end of the day. (See left side bar for monthly miles ran).

Last night I made an acception and gathered up enough energy to take all 3 kids to McDonalds for McTeacher Night. (some of the proceeds from last night go back to the school).

Here is Natalie with her teacher.

...and her friend Madison.

...and her principal.

...and her P.E. teacher.

In other news, this week, Natalie is the "Star Student" in her class. She got to bring photos and some of her favorite things from home to share with the class. She is also working in the cafeteria this week...which means I don't have to pack her lunch all week. She is really having a great time at school this year!

Oh, I almost forgot...her other front tooth came out last week, so now she has no top front teeth...it's a very cute look for her!

Fun stuff with Zander

The Friday before the snow storm was a field trip to the Library. The boys had fun hearing new stories and singing songs.

All three kids got to have a horse drawn sled ride in the field by our house!

The neighbor's geese were "greeting" Zander while we were in the barn.

The older kids took turns feeding a dove who ate right out of their hands.

Last week Grandpa Greg took us out to see the new Veggie Tales movie "The Pirates who don't do anything." Here Zander is sitting next to Pirate Larry holding his plush Larry show and tell (they were working on the letter L that week, so he thought to bring Larry for show and tell).

Last week Zander was the Top Banana at his Preschool. This means he gets to bring in pictures and put them up in class and talk about all the things he likes. He was also the line leader and got to help with snack.