A good day

I really like Thursday.  It is one of my favorite days of the week.  Today was a great Thursday.  Mostly, we were home all day long.  I cleaned and did laundry, sewed a little, and Meredith and Michael had 2 friends come over in the afternoon.  Even though there were 2 extra kids in the house, there wasn't any fighting (at least sibling fighting) that I had to get involved in  so it was worth having their friends over.  Lately, on Thursday afternoons, we have been "borrowing" my friend Susan's grandma as a new friend of ours.  "Miss Betty" is in her 80s, and lives in a retirement home.  She is such a sweet lady and Marky and Maddie  enjoy reading to her and talking with her.  Michael and Meredith look forward to playing with the bin of toys in Miss Betty's room, and we all look forward to making her smile with our visit.  It has been the best way to spend an hour on a Thursday.  We hope that Miss Betty never tires of our visits.  Tonight the little ones and I went to the gym (working on those 5 pounds!) and now we're home just chilling out. Patrick is in town, but is really busy with a project at work so he hasn't been home yet tonight - my encouragement to "work like a woman" has not yet proven to be fruitful - could be a long night at the office for poor Patrick.  The weekend coming up is promising to be amazing.  This Saturday, speaker and writer Angela Thomas is coming to our church for a women's event.  I get to be apart of the event on Saturday, but the AWESOME thing is that I get to go to dinner with the planning team and Angela on Friday night.  I can't believe that I get to go, and I am SO grateful and excited!!  I think that it is going to be such a fun weekend.  Well, it's a happy night here in my clean house.  I love enjoying how hard I work during the day; it is insanely rewarding.  Pretty soon I will be saying TGIF!!!  Nighty night.

How fair is that?

I went to the gym last night. I was feeling so blah after all of the sugar I had consumed over the weekend in honor of Valentine' Day that I knew that I had to go. I love going to work out; it just hasn't been as easy to do over the past few weeks with sick kids and potty training. However, yesterday, I had new determination. I must lose 5 pounds. Or else my 5 pounds will become 10, and then 12 and then... well - you know. So, I was on the elliptical machine which I HATE (all of the treadmills were busy) and one of the trainers I have worked out with came over to talk to me. His name is Mark and he is a BIG guy - not fat, but just BIG. Over 6 foot tall, and I bet he weighs about 275 pounds. Since I haven't been at the gym I haven't seen him in a few weeks - he is not BIG anymore - I could tell in his face that he had lost some weight. He told me that he's lost 33 pounds... IN 3 WEEKS!!! I couldn't believe it! I want to lose 5 pounds and can't seem to do it, he's lost 11 pounds per week??? I just can't understand it. I'm happy for him, but it is just not fair.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 It has been a snowy and cold Colorado day of love. We have been together all day long, loving on each other, (and fighting with each other!) making memories together as we celebrated Valentine's Day.  I wanted today to be all about Marky, Maddie, Meredith and Michael.  I was thrilled when I looked at the calendar a month or so ago and realized that we would all be together for the holiday/weekend.  I determined then (as only a mom would!) that we would make the most of this day, and WE HAVE!!!  This morning, we all went to "Lowes" to participate in their "kid's building project".  The kiddos got to make a jewelry box with a heart on it.  After that, we went to the movies and saw "Hotel for Dogs".  It was fabulous!!  Definitely worth going to  - even for grown-ups!  Lunch at McAllisters followed, where the kids shoveled mac & cheese in their mouths as if they hadn't eaten for days.  (Actually Meredith woke up sick yesterday so she hadn't eaten anything in a day.) We then moved on to taking care of Grandma Oman's kitty, and the chore of Sams.  That store is just not my favorite place.  it is a necessary evil and I am thankful for some of what it provides, but it is just SO much work - shopping, paying, pushing the heavy carts, watching out for ALL of the swarms of fellow Saturday shoppers, putting the groceries away - all of it is just A LOT!  After we had accomplished all of those tasks, we had a scavenger hunt; the kids had lots of treats and treasures hidden around the house for them to find with clues to guide them.  They had so much fun trying to find everything.  Even Michael got into it!  They were so excited to collect their treasures and figure out what each of the clues meant.  Later, Daddy made supper for us all, including cupcakes,  and he and Michael surprised all of us girlies with beautiful roses and chocolate.  What a fun treat!!  We finished the day off with some reading of our book (we're almost done!) and a "Princess" movie.  It's been a full day and a wonderful day, spent with those that I love most of all.