Check me out....

I am doin' martial arts with my son! WOW! Ok, so here I am in my uniform, this was at our demo we did on 3/29. So, here is the story that led me to this momentous occassion. I have woked out on average 5 days a week for about 3+ years now. I was getting kind of bored with my at home workouts. But I remin faithful. I have been watching my son do martial arts for 5 years and I finally started rolling the idea around in my head to perhaps join up and get in a different kind of workout than what I am used to. So I did it! I signed up! Of course I cleared with Jordan first, I did not want to steal "his thing" if he wanted it to be his alone. But he is a generous kid and was more than happy to have me join him. Actually, I kind of think he likes it, he is a higher rank than me (by 2 belts) and he gets to correct me and teach me...pretty cool for him huh? We are in the same class as it only makes sense and his teacher is very flexible about us parents joining in. (We take this at our homeschool center) We go two days per week for one hour per session. It is a great workout and I am humbled by how much harder this is than I originally thought. I could never quite get why he was tired after class, but now the kids call me "brittle bones" because I have days where I am very sore after a day in class. Now to the downside, I am in a class of mostly boys, and a large majority are teenage boys. Do you have any idea how awkward it is for me to straddle a teenage boy? I feel I should write somebody an apology letter. Granted I am bending their arm into a knot when doing it, but heck, it's still just a bit weird. Not to mention the occassional punch that is aimed for the upper chest but they make a square connection with another part. Dang....I wonder if they just figure it is my flabby gut that they made contact with. Oh well. Nobody seems to need any therapy other than me, so things are fine I suppose. All righty then, that is plenty of information for you all. Now you know, I am in martial arts, so let that be a warning to ya!

the letter J....

It just seems like a few weeks ago that we sat enjoying the company of Aunt Janis. Got to see her beautiful home, well manicured grounds and enjoy her laugh and smile. It has been nearly 5 years. Time goes by way too quickly. These are the moments you wish you had stayed in touch more, made a phone call, wrote an email. J is the letter for Janis, Aunt Janis. I am sad to write that she is no longer living in this world with us. Her body was tired and had been sick for too long. She is set free of the confinements of this Earth and prayerfully she is living happy and free now. She had a characteristic laugh with a smile to match. A no nonsense attitude and a generous spirit. I know she was very loved, especially when I saw the sadness that filled my husband who loved her very much. I am honored to have known her and will remember her always. The beauty that comes from the cycle of life is the closeness it brings to a family. People connect again, call one another, stop the business of their lives to make an effort to reach out and let them know you care. Our prayers and thoughts are with the entire family as they go through this period of life...we love you.

Girl's LOVE twirly skirts

Ahhh, my little princess, Atira. She has really been wanting a good twirly skirt, and they sure are hard to come by in the stores. So we went to the fabric store and found this lovely watermelon print. (She picked it cuz she loves watermelon, of course!) And tonight I found a few moments to try and figure out how to put this together. After only one major error, it was done and she is a happy little twirling girl!! It came out so cute, I may have to make one for myself! Even big girl's like twirly skirts! They just make us ladies happy! 

Hm, just thought I would share....

Ok, well, we have been a bit busy lately so I have not had time to get any new pictures into my computer of the kids or the family. Sooooo, I decided to just add a nice little picture that someone decided to share with me. Sharing is nice, see how that works? Someone shared this with me, now I share it with you. We all get to enjoy something that otherwise many of you would never have had the privilege to see! Ah sharing, it is a nice thing.

So, like I said, we have been really busy lately. Between homeschool, martial arts, chorus, swimming lessons and a house to take care as well as groceries to buy etc etc etc....you get the picture, it's been really busy. But really fun! The kids are still in swim lessons, they signed up for another session this week, but will probably quit once the summer arrives, maybe, we will see! I am now in martial arts with Jordan 2x per week. I am really enjoying it, mostly. But I have days where I stand there wondering (or lay there, if someone bigger than me just twisted my arm behind me causing me to fall to the ground) why I am taking these lessons. But my reasons are simple. I wanted to mix up my workouts for one thing, I also thought it could be really beneficial to me to learn some martial arts moves, hopefully I will never need them, but the confidence boost cannot hurt. Also, it stretches me (literally and figuratively) in ways I would not have otherwise gone. All in all, I think it is pretty good for me, excepting when I am yelping in pain as my instructor bends my hand in a knot while giggling with an evil grin knowing that I will not forget to "tap out" when I am in pain so the opponent will stop. Ok, I am done whining. There is our life in a little tiny nutshell. Enjoy the picture, I sure did!