wooo-hoo!!!!

I was always a skinny little mini when I was growing up, I ate what I wanted and never exercised and I never went over a size 3. Until, I gained over 80 pounds during my pregnancy with Colin. I don't want to be a size 3 again but I'd love to drop 25 pounds. So, I joined the gym yesterday. I'm 36 and it was my first time ever going to a gym, I think that is kind of funny. I really enjoyed it and I hope I can keep it up. An hour a day without kids and I'm not sleeping. It's crazy. There are so many people who are really in shape, I was like wow, I want to look like that. But, I'm eating Oreos as I'm writing this so I don't see any big changes coming soon. At least I'm headed in the right direction.
Nellie came home today with a little story (like a paragraph, it had 63 words). She can actually read the entire to us! I was truly amazed, I was actually crying when she finished and she thought that was funny. She just started this Edmark reading program in November and now she is actually reading! It's only been like 4-5 months. I am so proud of her, it makes me think anything is possible. I told her we would have to have a celebration and she could pick dinner. She said "no dinner" and then did the sign for ice cream. LOL.

Spring Is here!!!

I think spring is finally here! We had such a beautiful day yesterday. We played outside all day, we didn't even come in for dinner until almost 7pm. We have a small house, it's over 100 years old and we are always remodeling. Many times over the past 10 years Jay has said it would be easier to build a new house, but I could never leave this neighborhood! I grew up here and I love it for my kids. I remember several years ago my sister in law telling me she hardly knew her neighbors after 7 years of living there. There are so many nice kids around here, they can easily get a group of 8-10 kids to play hide & seek, basketball, football etc... when I listen to the news I hear about kids not being active and playing to many video games, luckily we don't have that problem here. These kids are always on bikes, scooters or skateboards and in the winter they spends hours sleigh riding at the same hill I used to go to with my friends. They have learned to play together in groups, the more kids the better. They argue but we parents try to let them work it out and they are usually over it within minutes. Some things are definitely different from when I was a kid. I can't let Colin go around the neighborhood alone, he has to be with a friend. You don't hear parents yelling their kids names at the top of their lungs to come home, now we just call or text them on their cell phones. They wear helmets now and drink Gatorade & bottles of water instead of Cool-Aide. They don't spend too much time on swings, they prefer the trampoline. Yes, over the years there have been some injuries, lets see... broken fingers, noses, a foot, an elbow, a few stitches and bruises, but I think most of us Mom's think it is bound to happen with active boys. I've always said that I want the kids to play at our house because then I know what is going on. Because of this I've really gotten to know all the kids, they all know us and they are comfortable at our home. Now that Colin is a little older he goes to the other houses and they all know him and we all look out for each others children. The kids have become good friends over the years and so have the parents.
As our kids get older we get so busy it gets harder to plan play dates all the time, it is so much easier for them to just go outside and knock on a few doors to find someone to play with. We have done some really fun things as neighbors, like a big Halloween party, swim parties, garage sales etc... When we go away I have several people to feed our dog and I've counted on a few neighbors to get Nellie off the bus when I have a conflict. Basically yesterday when everyone started coming out of their houses to say hello & visit it reminded me of a summer day almost 2 years ago when neighbors stood and cheered as Nellie got her training wheels off and rode down the street. I tend to sometimes get caught up with unimportant things and sometimes I have to remind myself to be grateful for the small stuff. Here's to many more beautiful days filled with the screams & laughter of little children.