Saturday, December 19, 2009
Ho Ho's Lap
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Just Dance or Toot Your Own Horn
Around here that is about all we seem to do anymore! Thing 1 is super busy with dance practices preparing for an upcoming competition. She also has her studio class that meets twice a week... on the same days as after school practice, plus one private practice to fine tune it all. I love it. This is what being a mom (not a mother) is all about. Mothering is the loving, nurturing, taking care of side of things. A mom is on the sidelines cheering you on, laughing along side you, and being a friend. My kids are far from grown, but this is a wonderful season of our lives where I can enjoy them more and watch them grow instead of helping them grow up. Thing 2 had his first band concert this week. For a group of 11 year old kids who have no prior experience other than the first 2.5 months of school they did great. Thing 2 plays the French Horn. He enjoys it because it was his choice. We did not steer him in any certain direction of what to play. He has music influences around the house and it was nice to see him make his own choice. I look forward to his progress throughout the year.
I enjoy watching performances that showcase all the hard work my kids have put in. It makes me smile and warms my heart. This is only the beginning.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Vacation Highlights Vol. 1
No help
Originally uploaded by rhondaburkhalter
We spent Monday of our vacation relaxing in the pool and catching our breath after a busy day of travel on Sunday. Tuesday we were beach bound! I personally do not enjoy the beach. The sand sticks to everything, the water is full of wildlife and salt, and there is no escaping the blazing sun. I did enjoy it as a child, but I guess that is before I realized what a mess it was. I was excited for Cindy Lou Who's first trip. I knew that she would enjoy it very much. She loves to be outdoors and explore new things. I would have much more enjoyed an early start instead of being in the heat of the day, but we made it work. I captured some great moments that we'll be able to share with her when she is older. For example, while digging in the sand with Daddy, she thought the sand looked yummy enough to eat. So she scooped up a big handful and shoved it in her mouth. The faces that I caught in pictures after that are priceless. A little while later she lost her balance at the shore line and a little wave knocked her down. Mmmmmm, salt water. So with a little grit of sand and some sting of salt Cindy Lou Who got her first taste of the beach.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Only 1
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Daddy's Vest
Monday, June 29, 2009
Birthday Fun
Kings Island is very special to John and I. It was on our first trip there together that he slyly started the conversation about getting married. I don't remember how we got into the conversation about my back pack exactly, but that is the lead in that started it all. You see, my LL Bean back pack that I had for college has my initials monogrammed on it. At the time they were RMB. This was in July 2001. He made the mention that when (not if) we get married, I wouldn't have to worry about my initials being incorrect. His last name begins with a 'B' also, which is now my last name too.
Moving right along with our day! Our first priority was to ride the new coaster I'd been hearing about since summer 2008. When John and I were there last summer, we saw some construction being done near one of our favorite rides, but no signs indicating what was coming. When we got home from that trip, I signed up for the newsletter to be aware of upcoming events. Shortly after that, I received an e-mail with the news of what we had seen. A new roller coaster! Oooooh I was super excited! There was even a video of what it looked like and the course it would take. I really hate waiting for stuff. I am very impatient. April 2009 and here I am in September 2008. Well, at least I had something to look forward to. So off we went (and quickly) to the newest addition to the park.
PS. I
We had a wonderful, fun-filled day with Thing 1 and Thing 2. They are growing up faster than I can keep up and I enjoyed spending the day with my Big Kids. There are lots more pictures that you can see here of our great day! Our next trip will include Cindy Lou Who as we take on the water park. That is an entire day all by itself.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Hot Topic Tuesday
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Recital 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Who needs a book when you've got one of these!
(homemade treats in celebration of 1st of May. It's a holiday there.)
Vicki to some, Victoria at birth, and Visiona to others. She lives in Britzingen, Germany. In 1988, she packed up and headed across the sea to marry and continue her love for magic. Yup, I said magic. Growing up I remember Aunt Vick being Top Hat the Magic Clown. I will have to do some investigative work to find a picture of this! I liked to dress up in her old beauty pageant costumes and pretend to be her assistant. When she moved, I enjoyed writing her letters on my little blue typewriter. I even had a pen-pal in Germany thanks to her. I loved when the holidays would roll around. It always meant a special package from Aunt Vick filled with loads of German tasty treats! In 1993, when she got married, our family (The Lewis/Losson/Highfill Clan) all got to go over seas to Germany for 2 weeks! The first week was spent sight seeing and taking in all the beauty that Germany has to offer. The second week was spent on wedding preparations and the event itself. I wish I knew where those pictures were. I have a bad feeling that they are long gone, lost forever. Grandma Jane was the keeper of the pictures in our family. Every time we turned around there was a camera in our faces. "Ya'll get together right there." "Just one more, I wanna make sure." Had digital been around then we would have been in serious trouble! Little did I know then that I would long for those captured memories now. When Grandma passed in 2001, Papaw's & her farm were auctioned. All of her belongings distributed among her children... that's a whole story by itself.
"The years between 1989-1997 were filled with nothing but MAGIC. We lived above the magic business, spent most of our time in it, traveled the world to magic conventions and the only people we knew were either magicians or somehow related to magic. Besides Manfred’s annual magic convention that he hosted himself, he added new events to his magic calendar and hosted Magic Days and a Magic Auction." (taken from her own words & website)
She has her own website that details her journey from the United States to Germany and everything in between. She has a website for her current business of making magic silks. She has a website dedicated to her job of Visiona.
(Aunt Vick is a butterfly...really she's in there.)
Through out the years and all the traveling, she always keeps us up-to-date with wonderful stories and pictures. I love to get her e-mails and stories. Her writing is so descriptive that you can see everything taking place. The pictures are just a bonus. In addition to being a wonderful writer, she is very creative and crafty. She LOVES Halloween and has many American traditions that she's taken to Germany and shown them what it's all about. This Easter she created a paper mache Easter Bunny... life size. They even wrote an article in her local newspaper about it.
That's Chico laying next to the bunny. He is her dust mop baby! The most human like dog you'll ever meet. This is just a large example of her crafty ways. She does table settings, flower arrangements, and photography. I put a lot of links in this post so you could jump out and look at her websites if you like. For the most part they are in English. I received one of her storybook e-mails today and was inspired to dedicate a post to her. She really is a wonderful woman and it's a shame we live oceans apart. It is a great way to learn about another culture besides a history book. Go out and find yourself a pen-pal from another country. You might be suprised what you can learn (and teach).
Our goal for next year vacation is to go visit her (and my Uncle Manfred and human dog Chico). John has never been out of the country. I'm beginning to think he believes Florida is the only other state on the map in North America. It would be a wonderful experience for Madison too.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wacky Wednesday
Monday, May 18, 2009
Not Forgotten... Not Me! Monday
I have not forgotten about my blog. This is what happens when you have kids... they rule. By the time I sit down at my computer, nothing wants to come out of my brain worth blogging about. This weekend Madison woke-up at 4:20am Saturday morning SCREAMING. I would say crying, but that doesn't cover it. Having a fear that she had thrown up, I flipped on the light upon going into her room. I don't normally do that. Why would I have the feeling that she'd thrown up? I'm good like that. Actually, there was a stomach bug that took the school by storm and hit many of the teachers and kids. I was warned that 2 tots from her room went home early Friday with it. Turns out it was an airborne virus that spread very quickly. So as luck would have it, she got it. Poor thing was covered. I mean COVERED. Hair, pajamas, blankets, tag, sheet. Iceberg survived. So I ran the bath water and we got in. In the meantime, Daddy was taking care of the bed. He was startled from his sleep when a voice yelled into the baby monitor... "John! She's thrown up! Come help me!" It sits on his side of the bed. (Not Me!) Mean Mommy. He's in and out of the bathroom, where are the clean sheets? Where are more pajamas? Where are more blankets? You can tell who runs the house, right? Madi and I stayed in the tub long enough for Daddy to get everything changed out and back to normal. Fresh pajamas, fresh diaper, paci, and Iceberg. She laid back down no problem. As soon as I closed my eyes...more SCREAMING. Oh no. Not again. Time elapse, about 5 minutes. Repeat cycle. So at this point we stayed up with Madi. Well, we took shifts. We brought her out in the living room and put up her gate. I took my turn at sleeping on the couch while John entertained Madi. Once I woke-up, we switched. Eventually we brought her mattress from her bed to the living room floor. She crawled right up on it without prompting and fell asleep. No kidding. Once she woke-up she seemed to be feeling a little better. She went after the cracker box we had in the living room. Cheez-Its, White Cheddar. Mmmmmm Yummy. She had a few. Then about 30 minutes later, the Cheez-Its and the Pedilyte reappeared. This one required the carpet cleaner. That was at 1ish. My mom got home at 4 and brought Madi a banana from the kitchen. I just looked at her and said, "If she pukes it, you clean it." Who would think about talking to their mother that way! Certainly Not Me! I waited. And waited. Nothing. She kept it down. Then as if to tempt fate, mom brings in a bowl of yogurt. Seriously, yogurt? **sigh** Madi gobbles it down and again I wait. Much to my chagrin, nothing. Mind you I was not hoping my baby girl to throw it up and continue the cycle, more like Ha! I was right and you were wrong. Yeah, my best Not Me! moment of motherhood.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
My Heart Goes Out...
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother's Day Part 1
This is the present that John put together for me. I don't think I'll ever hear another sigh when the camera comes out. If not for my constant picture taking madness... he wouldn't have these pictures of his baby girl.
Week 4... (a little late in posting)
Yup, that's right. I'm almost done with week 5 and just now getting around to posting Week 4 results. So without further ado, I lost another 2 lbs last Thursday. Woo Hoo! That puts me in double digits for weight loss. Awesome. For our group work-out (which we do on Thursday nights) our fearless leader decided we would do the Wii Fit. A video game for exercise! Yeah right. Like I'm gonna get anything out of this. Can I just go back to the Y? Let me be the first to tell you that I recant my previous statement! That was really a work-out and it was fun. Swiveled my hips for 6 minutes and 1,957 revolutions doing the hula-hoop exercise. You don't just stand there and pretend to hula-hoop. Nope. You've got Mii's throwing additional hula's at you that you have to lean and catch... and keep up with your original hoop! I must say that it was more challenging than I gave it credit for. It will be interesting to see what Denise comes up with this week. 2 weeks ago, she made an obstacle/relay course at our local park. That was fun! Pictures were taken, but not by me so I don't have them to post... yet.
I am not sure how this week will pan out. Friday was the Madi vs. Hair Spray Can incident (which I'll post about) so I ate emotionally for dinner. Not too bad, but not healthy either. Saturday was terrible! Well, not the entire day just dinner. I had an additional dance practice for recital in 2 weeks Saturday evening. John & Madi dropped me off, ran some errands and came back to get me. On the way home I said, "Wanna go to Sonic?" Dear hubby said, "Sounds great to me! I'm starving." Sonic, really? Does this sound like a healthy dinner to you? Nope. I did the best I could, after all it was my selection/suggestion. Good thing my lunch and breakfast weren't much... I had 930 cals and 35 g's of FAT! Wonderful. I won't even go into what we had for Mother's Day dinner... I don't even think there is a site for the cals/fat out there. Mother's Day post is also coming so you will see what I ate.
The good news in all of the bad food I ate over the weekend, is that it did not taste as yummy as it used to. The only meal that I ate in its entirety was dinner Saturday. I brought over half my dinner home last night (which I won't eat, but John will).
So, today is a new day and I'm back in the saddle so to speak. Work-out at the Y tonight per usual. Had my Special K for breakfast and my lean pocket for lunch. Just don't hold it against me if I break even or gain a pound this week.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Iceburg
Thanks again Kristin & daughter... (didn't get permission to use baby's name so I'm not gonna post it here!)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Week 3...
Monday, April 27, 2009
Family Fun
This weekend was the first one in a long time that we have gotten to do something as a collective family! John is only off every 3rd weekend so we don't always have Shelby and Ian with us. Thanks to GOD and the beautiful day HE gave us on Sunday. Saturday was a hectic run here run there kind of day. I would have loved to take some pictures of Shelby in her recital outfits and getting ready and all the fun, but a little mishap with her dance bag threw us off our game. Her dance bag contained her shoes for all 3 classes...which was in my mom's car. Had I found this out earlier in the day, I could have gone to my mother's work and retrieved said bag. However, I had the fortunate experience of discovering this at the point we were getting ready to leave. Not enough time in schedule to permit extra stop out of way. So we made due. When we got to the studio and sorted this issue out it left no time for extra fun. I had to do her make-up and help her through 3 costume changes and also get myself ready for our picture together. Ian was at the ball field helping with a clean-up day and then his baseball pictures in the afternoon. We met for dinner at 6pm with John's mom at Olive Garden. I had a repeat of Easter Sunday lunch. Yummy! Afterwards we headed to Dairy Queen so the kids (and John) could get a Blizzard. Madi and I shared a Banana Split. So this was our Saturday. No pictures to show for it- sorry. :-(
On to Sunday. We all got up early. Well, early as in Madison got up at her normal time of 7:30 and the rest of us got up too. Sometimes we try and get her to sleep just a little bit longer so we too can take advantage of the weekend mornings. Up and on the go we had breakfast, then worked as a collective to clean a few rooms of the house. No need in going over board and cleaning the whole house... :-) Cleaning done, Madi down for nap, and time for a small break. Timing all worked out as we were able to enjoy the park and not in the heat of the day. The boys wanted to play basketball which left the girls to "hang-out" on the playground. I'm a terrible playground mom. I'm overly cautious of tripping, falling, scraping, scuffing, and germs. Parks are hard for me. Shelby was off on the merry-go-round and Madi and I stuck to the swings. After a while, Madison caught sight of the boys on the BB court and wanted to be with them. Shelby and I loaded up like pack mules and away we went across the park. Luckily the boys had already played one round and were just getting ready to start on the second when the girls invaded. We had set our cooler and snacks on a table under the shelter that was near the BB court. The kids kept wanting stuff from our stash, so I decided to move it. Madison went walking with Shelby and I once again to be the mules. Apparently there had been a cook-out or party or another family there before us.... Don't know-don't care, just know that if you have any trash... THROW IT AWAY! Before I could even blink, Madison had helped herself to a cup that was left on the seat of the picnic table. It was full of something (which I now know was Diet Coke) and when I shrieked, she spilled. She was already moving the cup toward her mouth before I could get to her. My shrieking just caused her to move a little faster. The substance went all down the front of her! **sigh** Shelby and I finished gathering our stuff and walked the now soaked Madi back to the BB court so I could change her. John scoffs at my over planning, but thanks to my obsession Madi had clean dry clothes and we had her wet ones in a plastic sack. HA. By some miracle, her shoes were not touched. Dry as the day they came out of the box. The rest of our afternoon was uneventful and I managed to take some pictures of them all enjoying the day.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Week 2... More Difficult Than Week 1
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Temptation
Anyone who knows me, knows that I live for Easter when the Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs make their appearance. For some strange reason it is better than a traditional Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I just know they taste dang good and I haven't had a single one! Matter of fact, my mom has been snatching one here and there. John has dipped into them too. I guess better them than me, but I have sunk so low as to ask John if I could just have one little lick before he dropped it into the blender with his protein mix. I was not allowed. Such a super bummer! Pre-Weight loss, I had been known to devour a six pack of Eggs in one sitting... yup, it's what I would like to call an addiction! The road to gaining weight was so much more enjoyable than the one I'm on now to losing weight. In the end it is all for the better. Maybe Easter next year I'll have learned enough self-control to eat at least just one.
Lost Now Found Easter 2008
Easter 2008 (above)
Easter 2009 (below)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Healthy Here I Come...Week 1 Done
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
**Sigh** I Guess I Blinked...
Friday, April 10, 2009
Madison's Egg Hunt at "School"
Tomorrow doesn't pose a problem now that she's had her practice round of egg hunting. I am so thankful that her teachers took pictures so we could see her gathering up the eggs. Apparently she did really well at catching on to the idea. I am looking forward to tomorrow for her "First Easter". Last year she was only 3 months old and obviously didn't have a clue. I would insert picture here, however, I just went searching for Easter 2008 and cannot seem to find it.... I know I took pictures, but maybe they are still sitting on the digital card :-(
At any rate, we are looking forward to tomorrow for it is the day the LORD has risen. The true meaning of Easter. God bless each and every family as they celebrate this joyous occasion.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Healthy Here I Come...
So 3 children and 12 years post high school, I weigh about 37 pounds more than I did then. Not too bad considering 2 C-Sections later. Anyway, my weight is not so much the issue as my fitness level (actually lack there of). Before I gave birth to Madison, I vowed no matter how much weight I gained during the pregnancy I would not keep it around after she was born. I at least, if nothing else would get back to pre-pregnancy weight. Accomplished. So what is the deal with dropping the pounds that came along with the twins? It has been the most difficult thing to do- period. I lost some weight in 2001 when going through my divorce. Attribute that to poor eating, stress, and anything else that comes along with a divorce! So now that I am happily re-married and my dear John loves me as is, I haven't had the motivation to get fit. John, sweet man, is one major factor in my relapse actually. Every time I tell him that I want to get healthy/lose weight etc. he lovingly brings me home sweet treats ALL the time. When I am not in one of my "weight loss modes" not one treat is brought. Hmmm, clearly sabotage. This just says to me, "I love you no matter what. Have another Reese Egg." So I am blessed that my husband does love me as is and isn't trying to change me. However, I want to change me for me! I'm 30 now. It doesn't get easier from here, only harder. Madison's School (aka day care) is hosting a "Biggest Loser" competition for parents and workers. I took this as my open door. My opportunity to have the support of people who want to lose weight and get fit too. Tonight is the official weigh in and team building. Tomorrow begins Day 1 of my desire to be fit. I did start taking an Adult Tap Class in December trying to build at least some exercise in my schedule. One hour a week isn't going to produce major results, but it gets me off the couch one night a week guaranteed. Our recital is about 6 weeks away. I want to be able to finish the dance without feeling completely out of breath and in need of immediate hydration. So here we go! Join me on my journey and offer any words of encouragement that you may have! Recipes are good too!
Monday, April 6, 2009
For Nana and Grandpa Steve
This post is especially for John's Dad and Step-Mom who live in Florida and are missing Madison growing up. I put together a collage of recent pictures that I have taken so far this Spring. I hope this brightens their day and brings a smile to their face. We love you both and hope to see you soon!