Halling Go To Alaska

February 21 Our last snow storm. Big, puffy, flakes.  February 22 Practicing her "ABC game" on starfall.com February 23 Goofy faces in the mirror. February 24 Holy crap! We got rain! Rain you could hear while you were inside.  Very bizarre for this area. February 25 Sass swimming on her own. (So proud!) And because I couldn't leave out this next one - also from the 25th. Can I just tell you that I love where I live? The beauty amazes me. February 26 Pleather pants for little girls (these were size 4/5). Eww.  February 27 My dessert. Fresh, popped popcorn in my Whirley Pop .   Popped in melted butter and sprinkled with just the right amount of salt.

Just a glimpse in my life and the shapes I see... at swim lessons in Sweet Pea's vision therapy homework contraption and at the gym for a gymnastics meet Go check out Beth's place and see what shapes others have found.

This week Jade asks us the following questions. If you had a weekend all to yourself, with no one to see and nothing to do, what book or movie do you turn to time and again? What book or movie satisfies you no matter how many times you sit down with it? This is kind of hard for me.  I used to have movies I could sit down and watch and books I could re-read over and over again, but those books were read as a kid and the movies were watched endlessly in the dorms almost 15 years ago.  I haven't found a book that captivated me enough to want to read it again in a long time.  I loved  the Harry Potter books.  I devoured them each time Amazon dropped the latest release on my doorstep.  But I've had no desire to read back through them.   My favorite movies and books that are good repeats seem to be ones that made me cry.  "Bridge to Terabithia" was one I remember reading for the first time in 4th grade.  I cried at the end every time I read it. ...

And since my week only looks slightly  less chaotic than last week I think I need to get this post done now. I'm planning on getting all the girls' Girl Scout cookies delivered this week.  I want them out of my house and not hanging over my head.   I'm planning on coming up with some idea for CCD, you know, before class on Tuesday afternoon. I'm planning on enjoying the fact that I don't have to get up at 6 am on Tuesday and drag sleepy kids out of bed to go skiing.  I'm planning on getting my four runs totaling 17.5 miles done in a timely fashion w/o trying to rush through them. I'm planning on dinner including a salad every night this week.  We've been slacking off and I feel it. I'm planning on getting the kids to all their practices this week on time.  I'm planning on getting my work done as early as possible so I have time to spend with T since he's actually in town for the next two weeks!!!   So that's my plan for the week.  What...

February 14 Kitty tail on the window sill. February 15 The ugly truth. (aka that natural state of my kitchen counter) February 16 Woot!  (Like the backdrop of my gold kitchen floor?) February 17 One sign of faith. February 18 Solo swimmer!! February 19 Tough new homework contraption February 20 Silver medalist

but really I'm over here today.

My first sweetheart being kissed by my youngest sweetheart.   Love. Pop over to Beth's at I Should Be Folding Laundry and see all the other wonderful kisses that happened over the last week.  (It will be live on Thursday.)

I wish I could say.... how scared I feel at times.   how peaceful I feel inside at the same time. that I had all the answers.  Visit Jade to see what others have to tell.

And that means I'm planning my week.  So here goes nothin'. I am planning on running 4 days this week.  All my runs will be part of my training for Team In Training.  Two of them will be part of the Shrinking Jeans Olympics.   I'm planning on enjoying the last day of ski lessons on Tuesday.  I am so glad that I will be getting my Tuesdays back.  I'm planning on sending out some more fundraising letters.  (If you haven't donated, please consider giving whatever you feel comfortable with.  Every dollar helps!  Click on the link in my sidebar.) I'm planning on enjoy the fact that T will be here ALL week.   I'm planning on continuing with my patience with the girls.   I'm planning on continuing to do all the work that is available to me.  Need to make $$$! I'm planning on going to SmartyPants' gymnastic meet next Saturday and cheer her and her team on.  I think that's it.  Feel free to join in and leave a link to your pla...

February 7 Dinner.  February 8 The nail clippers that always seem to disappear. February 9 My parents were at WDW and brought Sweet Pea back some ears. February 10 My bunco winnings!  (I always love winning booze!) February 11 Snack Time!! February 12 State Capitol  February 13 I love this picture. Sass and SmartyPants are having so much fun! TOGETHER! (Scheels in-store ferris wheel)

Right before the New Year I had Tiffany as my personal online shopper.  She picked me out a pair of winter boots that I love.  Mind you she sent me probably 50+ links of boots and I narrowed the options down to the pair I liked best.  After I made my choice and the credit card had been charged, she asked what I needed next. I wanted a pretty camera bag for my new camera that T bought me for Christmas.  But I didn't want your stereotypical camera bag.  I wanted something that would fit all the normal camera stuff AND my bare minimum of purse-related items.  We found one.  I was beautiful, but I couldn't justify spending any more money once we found out orthodontia and vision therapy (not covered by insurance) were in our future.  So I dug out one of my older purses and have been using that. And then I click over to MckMama's place this morning and see this .  I know it's even pink, and I don't like pink.  But look at the inside!  Lo...

I've been slacking in the creativity department.  I guess lack of sleep and long days and no time to really take pictures or blog anything substantial took it's toll over the last two weeks.  I found two pictures that suffice as work in my house.  So those are what I will share with you.  This was work. I don't enjoy cooking.  And I especially don't like running out of propane so I have to broil the steak instead of grill it.  This is Sweet Pea's homework for vision therapy. We call them noodles.   Some days she is excited about tracing them.  Other days, not so much. It can definitely be work. Sweet Pea again.   She was actually brave enough to feed a carrot to Buck even with his big floppy lips. This was a first for her.  So did you capture anything work related this week?

Sometimes I.... Sometimes I look in the eyes of sweet girls and wonder how I got to be so lucky. Sometimes I wonder how I got to where I am in life relatively unscathed by life.  Sometimes I wonder if I have the strength to get through the day.  Sometimes I despise being an adult.   And sometimes I am just so thankful that those faces above are healthy. Head over to Jade' s and see how others completed that sentence.

I'm not as frazzled this week as I usually am Monday morning.  I'm not sure if it's a shift in my thinking or if I've just totally lost my mind and the craziness just doesn't bother me anymore.  So here's my list of things to accomplish for the week.  Run today, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday - following my VTNT training schedule.  Start week 5 of onehundredpushups.com  (I did the exhausted test yesterday and did 44!) Remember to be patient with Smarty Pants because she gets her expander put in tomorrow afternoon and will have a sore mouth.  Get more fundraising letters out the door for VTNT. Decide if I'm going to impose on my parents for babysitting Wednesday night (one day after they get back from their 2-week vacation) so I can go to bunco alone and not pay a babysitter. Stay on top of my work so maybe I'm not until midnight every night this week.  Figure out when a good day is for Sweet Pea to do her makeup ski lesson.  So, do you have a pla...

January 31 This is one of Sweet Pea's favorite trucks.  I found it lying upside down on the floor and thought it might make a neat picture.   Yes, it does match my carpet, why do you ask? February 1 Not a great picture by any stretch of the imagination, but can you see what my girls are doing? They are doing the dinner dishes. They are 7 and 9.   Yay for teamwork! February 2 This is the fire at the ski resort where the girls take lessons.  Sweet Pea didn't ski this week because she was sick, but she loved the fire. February 3 My current running shoes.   I got them a couple of weeks before my half marathon last October.  They already have close to 300 miles on them.   February 4 Smarty Pants is taking a cake decorating class through our homeschool co-op.  This was her first project.  (Yes, the plate does say Merry Christmas.) February 5 We visited the great-grandparents.  They feed this bunny that decided to call their place home.  T...

At RCIA this week we had a discussion about what we liked and didn't like about our retreat last weekend.  I think mentioned the retreat in passing, on twitter at least.  I love trying to understand people.  I always have.  There was a point in my early college days that I thought I wanted to major in sociology or psychology because I love (like big-puffy-heart love) pondering the whys of someone.  I have practiced on myself endlessly.  So retreats to me are awesome on so many levels.  You get to learn about people's stories and I get to tell some of mine.  These stories that make up our lives are what make us who we are.  Little know fact.  T and I broke up 8 months after we first dated.  I went away to college and the long distance relationship at just barely 18 was too much for me.  I admit that I allowed a friendship with someone else take T's place.  I broke T's heart.  I am not proud of myself.  I was ...

Beth? Are you out there?  Because I loved this challenge.so.much.   I think I captured a lot of love here too.  Oh, how I love her sweet face! And check out the eyelashes!! I thought only boys had eyelashes like that! (Do you like the bedhead too?) He is one of my most favorite people!  This is my honey, my rock, my money-maker, the love of my life! (Yes, sappy. But after more than 15 years together I still like him!) This is the other "man" in my life.  This is Bear.   He is sweet and stubborn and very jealous when it comes to sharing me with T.   This is "my" girl (the middle child).  She is the only one who looks enough like me for it to be obvious that she's my kid. She is so sweet and full of generosity and love.  Did you see the letter she wrote me the other day? No?  Go here and see.   And last, but certainly not least.  Me.  A sweaty mess after running 5+ miles wearing my awesome Team In Training training T-shirt...