In case you need an extra dose of cuteness today...
I was on my way outside to grill potatoes for our Independence Day potato salad (which turned out WONDERFUL!) when I heard the girls squealing with delight. They had been outside playing for a little while with their daddy and I had lost track of them in my preparation. I'm not sure how many sprints Scott ended up doing in the backyard, but he said it was enough to make his hamstrings and calves sore!
Mom found this wagon by the side of the road and grabbed it up for us...I would say it's still in top condition after this test!
As I said before, I've been strictly running in survival mode when it comes to my workouts. Lifting here and there...running a little...reading my magazines...cruising, if you will.
So today was as good a day as ever to jump back into things with a partner workout with my husband. Although, I have to admit, I regretted it a little bit in the beginning, since he has not taken any sort of break and is stronger than ever. He had the day off for the 4th and we decided to run to the Y for workout and then take a quick dip in the pool with the girls.
The workout was one Scott found on You Tube and it's with kettlebells. I had never used them before and my jury is still out. It was tough for me to find a good weight and I didn't like them banging against my wrist. Scott is trying to sell me on the advantages it would be for a pitcher...and I'm with him a little...but still deciding.
We warmed up on the big Stair masters...have you seen them? You literally climb revolving stairs. We hit them for 5 minutes and then went into the workout.
Here it is...the 300 Kettlebell Meltdown Workout. We didn't do it for time - which is a good thing since I almost died on the burpies.
We finished by alternating 3 minute go's with one person on the Versa Climber and the other jumping rope for 2 minutes and holding a plank for the final minute. We did this three times.
Then we grabbed our babies and held their hands as they jumped off the side of the pool for an entire 45 minutes.
Thank you, Lord for this life, country and the wonderful men and women who have (and are currently) fighting to keep us free. Happy 4th of July!
I'm hoping that this is the week things get back to normal in our world...
bahahahahahahahaha!!!
But just a quick catch up for you of odds and ends. I promise to one day get back to writing about working out and things of the like...but to be honest with you, I've just been scrimping by in that category and using my workouts more to cope with stress than to train. Maybe you've been there? Yesterday, I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical and read my new Better Homes and Gardens cover to cover.
And it.was.wonderful. ha!
Luckily, our diet has been fairly clean, because (wait for it...) we live less than 5 miles from an awesome farmer's market now! I KNOW! I love all things farmer's market and this one doesn't disappoint. Lots of local representation, live music, flowers and people. So we are there almost every week. Here was our haul last Saturday...
We got all this, plus a huge bunch of basil for under $20. Which came in handy for our slight addiction for grilled vegetables and anything with pesto sauce.
mmm...pesto and a protein shake...
During the middle of the week, the girls and I traveled back to SC to attempt to clean up our little house there that is looking for a new tenant / owner. It was a humbling experience, as I hadn't been back in our house since we left and I didn't realize how much work needed to be done - especially to the landscape. I am completely indebted to my friends who came to help, watched the girls, and let us crash their homes.
But of course we can't go on a trip without the hula hoop... or "hu-wa hoo" as Elizabeth calls it.
Here is Rachel and Donna, enjoying the front porch swing. If you look over their shoulder, you can see Gary and his dad hossing termite-infested wood into the woods. It was stacked against our shed (also made of wood) for over two years. I feared the worst when I saw it...it was so bad that you could see where the termites had been from a distance and it almost crumbled in your hands when you picked it up.
Wanna hear the awesome, only something God could do, part? When the exterminator got there and looked at it, he said we had a bad ant problem...so bad that the ants had EATEN the termites, saving the shed and possibly the house. I had never heard of such a thing.
Anyway, we got back to town and Scott made the trip up to Ohio to pay honor to his best friend from college's dad, who passed away last week due to Alzheimers. Just five years ago, Jack and Marsha had made the trip south to honor us at our wedding and I had just met them the one time.
This article was published in their local paper and it is just a wonderful testament to a man's commitment to life, sports and his family.
Of course, our 5th anniversary was last Friday and just served as a reminder to how blessed I am to be married to such a wonderful husband and father.
With daddy away, the girls and I went for walks and caught up with laundry and went to the pool and just enjoyed being back home.
I love this picture...I call it Walking on Sunshine.
So with all this behind us, maybe we can get back to our normal life soon...whatever that is...HA! I hope you're all well...one more thing to share with you. We've been visiting a new church that just has incredible worship. Matthew West sang this morning and did this song and I thought it was just incredible. In case you need some encouragement (and who doesn't?!)...enjoy!
Since snacks, we rode bikes (or argued about who was going to ride what and took turns pushing each other off and screaming), took a walk (or got spanked as we ran into various neighbor's yards), played hide and seek in the backyard and just ran around the house like normal banshees.
And now they're famished.
We've been eating pretty clean (more on that later) so most dinners this week have resulted in my children devouring whatever carb they could find on the table and leaving the meat and vegetables on their plates. Looking at the leftovers in the fridge, I knew I would have a battle on my hands.
And yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you...that's the kiddie table in the kitchen (thank you to Ms. Susan's generosity...our wonderful Realtor...who also gave us this house, according to Elizabeth). I figure this way, they can sit in here and have snacks and color and play while I work. Well, and dance, I guess...ha!
I was thinking last night about the Father's and Mother's Day before Elizabeth was born. We were so excited for our new baby and bought each other cards and little gifts and said, "Next year, this will be for real!"
And by last night, I mean at 2:15 a.m. when I was rocking my big girl while her daddy changed the sheets on her bed after yet another accident in the new house. I probably don't have to tell you that it doesn't get any more real than at 2 a.m.
I figure these things are common and she's played hard, drank a lot of ice water (since we now have an ice machine in our freezer, everything needs ice!) and slept hard enough to miss the call to the potty.
So he stripped the linens while I rocked her back to sleep and then put her in bed.
After getting her down last night, I crawled back under the covers and he sleepily told me about how she woke him up this time. The way that our bed is situated, Scott is closest to the door and heard Elizabeth's door open last night. Upon the sound, he shut his eyes just for a second - only to open them to pee-pee pj's being stuck in his face.
"Daddy, I pee'd. I sorry." Extra thrust of the wet pajama bottoms.
That'll get you up.
"Well...," having nothing else to say, "Happy Father's Day, Baby," I laughed and then we went back to sleep.
I think moving is hard on adults, but it's taken a while for the girls to adjust. Elizabeth was pretty confused on the fact that we were now going to live in this house all the time, and not go back to our old house, our old church, or our old Y. We've had family come in to help us get situated so every couple days, there's someone new here to visit.
But the thing they have not had to adjust to and just can't get enough of is their daddy. Before, he drove at least 45 minutes (without traffic) one way to get to work. Now, he is six miles away. SIX MILES!!! So we get to have breakfast with him and sometimes lunch and he always gets home to play a little bit before dinner.
Daddy's new happy hour
Now that's a Father's Day every day in our house.
Where the girls would stand by the door and look for him, he now comes in and surprises them. He can go for walks and play with princess puzzles and eat pretend food and drink their pretend coffee.
Life is a blessing, can I tell you?
Daddy and girls after a Saturday morning breakfast out.
Just as we never take having our weekends together for granted, after so many years of coaching and spending them apart, I don't think we'll ever overlook this extra gift of time. Not to say that the time apart wasn't always for good...but it just wasn't together.
So my husband, this is for you...Happy Father's Day. Your girls love you.
We scheduled movers...then we canceled movers and recruited my sister and her friend to hoss furniture with us.
We had a yard sale, made some money, ordered new living room furniture, and then waited a week and a half for it to be delivered while we sat on the floor.
I have said, "Don't climb on that. Don't touch that. Don't pick that up. SIT ON YOUR BOTTOM COMING DOWN THE STAIRS! (And most popular) Don't bite your sister!!" at least 1,647 times in the past week.
We have made 47 trips to Lowes...and I still think of stuff I need...
And - more importantly - we now have Internet.
Which brings up another story.
Five years ago next month, my then-new husband and I set out for Jamaica for our honeymoon. He had recruited one of his wrestlers to stay at the house and watch our dog Tina. We were having a wonderful time...soaking up sun, enjoying the all-inclusive life style, doing things that honeymooners do (ahem)...when we noticed that Scott had missed a call from our dog sitter on his phone.
"It's probably nothing," he said.
"There's something wrong with Tina!" I cried.
Imagining the worst, I forced my husband to call him back and after a panicked couple seconds, Scott was greeted with the question of the century...
"Ya'll got Internet here?"
Now this was before we were so dependent on the Internet that we have it on our fancy-shmancy phones and we could not afford to have it at our house nor could we even get it way out in Cowpens, SC.
And the fact that that was the sole call we got on our honeymoon was indeed funny and my husband has gotten great fun in texting me all week asking if ya'll got Internet yet?
So, my friends, we do. And I will be back soon. I promise. (Yes...with pictures! Ok, and my children. And FINE! Workouts!)
