In an effort to keep up our fitness goals in the cold months, we picked up an elliptical from a friend and have been breaking that in for the past few weeks. It's very nice to roll out of bed and walk down to the basement instead of running in the frigid temps or driving all the way to the gym just to do cardio. I've been busting it hard with diet and exercise to get those "holiday" pounds off (you know, the ones that started with Halloween and usually stick around until Valentine's Day?) and am about 2/3 of the way there. It most certainly doesn't come off as easily as it used to, that is for sure. One diet cheat day = 3-4 super strict days to get it back off, which is frustrating. I'm not looking forward to what the next decade brings in that regard, but I won't borrow pounds or the worry about them from tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be a little easier when more daylight and warmer temperatures arrive.
Speaking of weather (writing of weather?), we had a teeny bit of snow towards the end of the month, but it was such a little amount and so cold out that the kids didn't last long stomping through it. They made a couple of what turned out to be "grass angels" in the front yard and then wanted to go inside for hot chocolate. People are always calling for a snow day, but our school district requires any missed days to be made up so it just doesn't have the allure that it did when I was a kid. Maybe we'll see a little more over a weekend before it's all said and done.
We did make some headway on home improvement projects this month. We got a leaky gutter replaced and the squirrel hole patched up nicely. We also had three trees removed - one huge bradford pear that was an ice storm casualty waiting to happen, the massive cryptomeria on the side of the house, and the sweet gum by the lamppost that the power company butchered a few months ago. Everything looks a little bare right now, but we'll do some filling in come springtime. I do especially miss the cryptomeria from the inside. It always made me feel like I was in Maine when I would sit in the office and peer through it. Next up on the list will be new carpet, which we are about sick of researching and looking at samples of. It's a stressful necessity that we've been putting off/saving up for for nearly two years, so it's time. I just hate dealing with any decision that costs that much money and that you have to live with for 10-15+ years. I know it's just carpet, but we want to get it right.
Anyway, the kids had a couple of neat things going on at school this month. Audrey had her 100th day of school and dressed up as a 100 year old. Luke had a Toastie Toes (pajama) Day and Audrey got to pay $2 to Relay for Life and have one as well. Audrey's school also had a Science Night in conjunction with their Science Fair. Even though we didn't submit a project, we still took the kids up there to participate in the experiments and meet the guests scientists. Well, David did while I rocked the PTA spirit wear table, but let's be honest that it was his cup of tea anyway.
On the resolution front, I went drawer by drawer in both kids' rooms and the playroom and have nearly finished tackling the master closet. I did most of the basement, but need to give it another once-over. I've made two trips to Goodwill and am planning on another in a few weeks when I get back my discards from the consignment sale. For the "improving connections" resolution, David and I had two dates, I had dinner with a girlfriend, we went bowling with our small group, and we spent an evening hanging out with neighbors and roasting marshmallows at their house. Now if only I could get my act together with blogging more, I'd be in business! Just know that I want to...or at least, I want to want to. I'm just too busy socializing elsewhere and cleaning out drawers! ;)
Now to close with a couple of stories/quotes about those cutie kids:
- AJ's eye patching for her amblyopia continues. We have another follow-up in a few weeks.
- I may have been doing a little trash talking while racing slot cars with the kids. Luke turned to me and said, "Mommy. You are not being very mature." Ouch.
- AJ scored off the charts on her CogAT test. We didn't fill her in because she doesn't need the knowledge or the pressure about those tests at this age, but we're still super proud.
- As we near age four, it seems that Luke's constant curiosity and inquisitive nature will continue. Here is a sampling of the questions I got on the way home from taking AJ to school: "When I die, what happens to my blood? How do you make a pickle pie? Why is poopie brown? Why don't you just drive on that side of the road? How do toasters work? Does God hold up this road?" It's a six minute drive, y'all. I gotta step up my coffee game.
- No news on the Celiac front. AJ is still rocking the diet and does great. I'll write more about it as the one year anniversary gets closer.
- Luke still says "warshmallow" for marshmallow and "quackers" for crackers. And if I catch anyone correcting him, they'd better be prepared to face the wrath.
- Despite a few vocab word mishaps, Luke was recommended to go straight to the "TK" (transitional kindergarten) class at preschool. We won't be enrolling him in it because it's five days and I don't want him there that long, but as they say, it was an honor just to be nominated.
That's all for now, folks! February means small group starting back, the big consignment sale, Valentine's day, and Luke's birthday and party, so stay tuned for lots of news there!
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