My Free Spirit

Stay Classy

Have you ever said "I will never be the mom who...(insert act you once thought disgraceful but now think is perfectly appropriate)"?

As the warm weather has hit us, I was having quite a few of these thoughts...

I will never be the mom who...allows her child to run around barefoot...in the dirt and rocks, eating anything she can get her hands on.

Yeah right.

I will never be the mom who...lets her kid run around naked in the neighborhood, playing in dirty water buckets, drinking the water she was probably just peeing in, and not wearing sunscreen and bugspray at all times!

Living in a dream world.

I will never be the mom who...tries to bribe her child with food to buy just a few more moments perusing the clearance racks at Target.

Fail.

I will never be the mom who...allows her child to throw an all out screaming fit just because she doesn't want to ride in the shopping cart, who continues to do her grocery shopping while her kid flaps around on the floor, and who doesn't have the parenting skills to force her child to be quiet at all times.

Yeah....I said I wouldn't be that mom.

Yet here I am, loving the fact that my child is a healthy, well-adjusted, free-flying 18-month old.

I have also figured out it is unhealthy to set these unrealistic goals for yourself.

Embrace the craziness, the nudity, the screams, the fits, the laughs, the tears, the dirt.

It won't last for long!

Life As We Know It

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if our lives were like TV shows? I was sitting watching one of my favorite shows right now (Brothers and Sisters) and was enjoying the craziness that the family endures. When a song would start playing, I'd smile. Oh how I wish my life was like this. Doug and I having a heart to heart and music pipes in. My daughter dances through the house...and music pipes in. I sit at my parents watching my nieces and nephews bond with my daughter and...you guessed it...music pipes in! How amazing would that be?! What song would pop in when I'm about to pull my hair out at school? Or when a student comes up to me and hugs me for no apparent reason but to tell me he loves me?

Ahhh....the music of my life.

Boy, has life been musical lately. Lent is officially over. I am officially back to my Internet addiction, but not without making some killer memories throughout the last 40 days. Where to start?

Running. Like I said before, I never thought running would bring me joy. But my sisters, mom, and I are signed up and ready for the race next weekend and I am loving my training. Odd that I am saying that. I have found that since the weather got nicer for a bit and I ran outside, treadmill running is just not as satisfying. More to come on the race next weekend. I can't wait to bond with the women of my family. They are my ya-ya's!!

My husband. We tried to make a commitment to actually talk at night during Lent. It gets easy to get wrapped up in technology. Ipods, computers, televisions, cell phones. You know the drill. So we decided to try the Great Dates. Familiar? If not, they are a series of dates based around 6 faith-based principles of marriage. We have only been able to do Great Date #1 but we had an amazing time. You print the date off, seal it, and don't open it until the date. You follow the instructions and you cannot look ahead. We were totally entertained. My hubby and I are corny like that :) We were hoping the first line would tell us to book a trip to Mexico but no such luck! We look forward to seeing what Great Date #2 holds.

Teaching. I don't talk much about my job. I keep the blog pretty family focused...pics of Jani and the like. But it is such a part of me how can I not bring this in. Seriously, my classroom is musical....literally. We have music of some kind playing from the moment the kids enter until the moment they leave. What was the theme at the end of the day you ask? Bieber of course :) Who can't help but smile when a room of 1st graders break out in song?! All kidding aside, I love my job. I love my kids. They bring me joy....and stress...daily. But it's worth it. I'm often asked if I made the right decision going to classroom. My answer...hell yes!

Jani. Oh dear Jani. My little 18 month old ball of fire. The girl literally marches to the beat of her own drum. She marches everywhere! Easter was right up her alley. We try to limit her sugar intake and allowed her to have some sweets this weekend. She was in hog heaven!! She loved the hunting...running around the yard yelling "EGG"!! She loved twirling in her Easter dress and showing off in church. I think she's going to be a performer. Not surprising in the least. Her 18 month post will be coming.

So what songs are playing in your life? What a Wonderful World? My Life Would Suck Without You? Shoop? Build Me Up Buttercup?

Jackie House anyone? :)

And because no post is complete without some Jani.....

Happiness....

I've seen quite a few blog posts lately about what happiness is. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I've been contemplating what makes me happy...what keeps me happy. With Lent about halfway over I haven't done outstanding on what I set out to do. But I've done okay....I've taken on some things that I hadn't plan on taking on and have been enjoying putting a lot of energy and thought in different areas. So what's making me happy?

1. Blue eyes. Blue eyes that truly melt our heart every single day. Sometimes I wonder if Jani will ever get sick of having people tell her how cute her eyes are. Something tells me she will milk it for all it is worth.

2. Running. I was never a runner in high school or college. It wasn't until after college that I started doing it occasionally. Then Doug and I really got into it and had a year of 5K's. We did quite a few races together. Then I got pregnant and stopped running. After Jani was born I tried to get back to it. It wasn't happening. Running while breastfeeding = an ugly situation for me. So here we are now. My mom and sisters and I ran a race last year in honor of my gma, Run Like a Mother. We've decided to make it a tradition. Last year I barely ran....this year I am training. It's bringing me true joy. Tonight I ran with a smile on my face and got some weird looks from other runners/walkers :)

3. Dressing up. We had an 80's party and Doug and I had fun putting our costumes together. I also have a daughter who LOVES to dress up. The other night she had on her swimsuit, Easter dress, bath robe, and Cabbage Patch purse. Pure comedy.

4. Wagon rides. Jani got a wagon for Christmas and we put it together. She treats it like her personal limo. We walk up and down the street. She attempts to stop and pick up her "date" Noah each day but it's always before he gets home. The tears that ensue just break my heart every time. Young love :)

I need to continue to focus on the happy things. It's so easy to get bogged down with the negative. Spring is here people and we are going to enjoy every single solitary ounce. We are going to run, play, blow bubbles, draw pictures, and love with our whole hearts. Lent truly reminds me of how much love we have to give.

Necessary Internet Only

I've been a horrible blogger lately. I keep thinking about things I'd like to blog about, pictures I'd like to post, and then I get sidetracked. Today is Mardi Gras and Lent begins tomorrow. After much discussion with Doug, I've decided to seriously limit my internet usage. This, I have decided, is a huge sacrifice. I am an internet addict. I love Facebook, blogs, email....everything! I could sit on my computer for hours. In doing so, though, I don't talk to my husband as much or play board games anymore or read books or go running. Things I used to love to do and found joy in doing. Tomorrow I  make a change. When Jani goes to bed, I will not be logging on. I will pull out Quirkle or read a good book or....work on my Master's paper! Last year at this time, the Easter season was hard. My grandma was diagnosed with cancer, had major surgery along with neverending hospital stays, and I did not put my focus on God. My focus was on being mad. Being mad about what was happening, mad about having my dear grandmother taken from me, mad about seeing her in pain. I was not in a good place. I let myself go, stopped exercising, lost my motivation. Tomorrow, I start a change. For myself, for my grandma, for God. I need to get back to my roots :) They are some pretty strong ones. Along with the internet, Doug and I are giving up snacking and I'm going to try and pray the rosary each week. My grandma always prayed the rosary and it's something I have never gotten into. So there you have it. I have to try to blog a couple times to draw attention to my dear daughter.....she's quite the crazy lady right now!

Our Little Star

Jani can hear basketball from a mile away and loves every second of it. She starts screaming "BALL! BALL!" and running around until she figures out where the noise is coming from. This makes Doug melt. I'm not all that jazzed about Jani playing basketball someday and I tell Doug we won't force her into anything....except dance...and maybe playing the piano. She does look darn cute in a jersey though.

This number is actually the number of one of Doug's best friends from high school. We were reminiscing the other night about going to his games in the Dome. It was so different than the games in the McLeod. Much less intimate, not as loud....we were talking about how wonderful it would have been to watch David play in the McLeod. We would have loved to cheer him on there, to be in that student section. With Arch Madness just around the corner, we always start to get a little sentimental....it always takes us back to a very carefree and wonderful time in our lives.