Congrats Brittany!

My niece Brittany graduated from Hondros College of Nursing in Wilmington today. I was so proud of her for receiving her LPN license. She will begin her RN program very soon. She could only invite 5 people and I wasn't supposed to go but due to someone's absence, I got to go. It was a long, but neat graduation as I haven't witnessed the "Florence Nightingale" oath or the candle lighting ceremony. It was such a special day for her and I hope to be able to see her graduate with her RN in a little over a year. Way to go Brittany! We are so proud of you!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday, our church held a pancake breakfast with an Easter egg hunt for the children. Cody and Carleigh had fun, although they didn't get as many eggs as last year. We watched an easter video at home after the hunt. After lunch, we met our friends Shannon and Niki for a walk on the bike trail. It was such a beautiful day. We became very ambitious and walked from Joyce Park all the way down to Columbia bridge which is 3 miles. And of course we had to walk back for making our walk a total of 6 miles. Luckily for the kids, we brought their wagon and every adult took a turn pulling the wagon. Let's just say my feet were KILLING me the last mile back plus the rest of the evening. Methinks we should have walked 4 miles instead of 6!

Swagbucks

I have heard wonderful things about this place. Many people have received free merchandise from Amazon and other places just for looking at sites. A great way to buy that book you need or a gift. I have joined. Just click here for more information:

2 more days

Two more days until Spring Break! I am so very ready! It has been a challenging year (to say the least) and I need a week off for R and R. I am thrilled that my children share the same Spring Break. Yay! I am already planning some fun day trips for us to do. I am also off the Monday after Easter and the kids go back so I will have a morning to MYSELF! Wow! What a concept!

Bike Trail

Since it was the last gorgeous day for awhile, we decided to hit the bike trail. Less than 5 minutes into walking, we ran into our friends Shannon and Niki. It was funny because I didn't recognize them at first and was wondering why a woman was stopping in front of me. Then not 10 minutes later, we ran into Matt's friend from church. He walked with us with his bike.

We walked a total of over 4 miles. I could've gone longer but the kids were exhausted. Carleigh was fast asleep before we left the park. And I had to carry Cody the last 200 yards (wouldn't be able to do that 5 months ago.)

This was just the beginning of many walks this spring and summer. We had a wonderful time and saw some interesting sights!!

This brought me to nostalgia and I was thinking about when Matt and I were dating. We used to walk this same bike trail a LOT! In fact, on April 1, 1997, Matt proposed to me at a bench near the dam with the sun setting (yes, very romantic indeed and quite surprising because I wasn't suspecting a proposal on the bike trail or on April Fools' Day).

Walking the trail this time around was quite different indeed!

Leaving them in the dust

Matt, his friend, and the kids could not keep up with my speed. I seriously need to find a walking partner at my speed. I had time throughout my walking to stop and take scenery pics.

Enjoying the warm temps

We have enjoyed this wonderful, sunny and WARM weather that we have been having! Every evening, the kids have been outside playing (and getting VERY dirty) and I have enjoyed the time to walk outside, listen to my iPod and get into shape. I also LOVE the fact that bedtime is soooo easy when the kids play outside and are exhausted by bedtime. Last night, Cody went to bed all on his own, grabbed a blanket, and he was OUT! He did that one other time, but it is very rare!

Tomorrow is the last day of good weather for a couple of days so we think a trip to the park and walking trail is a must. I promise to take pictures and post them hopefully tomorrow!

Getting Healthy

I started my journey of weight loss and fitness back in November of last year. It has been a hard journey with some not-so-great diagnoses but with hard work, perseverance, I am getting healthy. I am half-way to reaching my goal of my actual weight for my height. Now I am on a mission to get the rest of my family on-track. I am trying to find healthy meals that are kid-friendly. If you have some great, healthy, non-processed meals, please send them my way!

I have already tricked Matt and the kids into eating veggie burgers with fresh veggies and they can't get enough of them. No more potatoes with burgers in this household! I have eliminated pasta from our diet minus mac n cheese for my carb-loving daughter. I would love to find a HEALTHY recipe for mac-n-cheese.

We are going to be active starting in May with Cody's baseball games, but prior to that, I started Jillian Michael's "30 Day Shred." I am a HUGE fan of "Biggest Loser" and would have loved to be on the show, but her video is already giving me results. In 20 minutes, you get the workout of your life! And, Cody and Carleigh are doing the exercises as well so another goal is being accomplished! We are also walking in the evenings during good weather and we have plans to start walking the bike trail once the warmer temps stay around.

Again, if you have any recipes, please leave a comment.

Piano Man

I will admit that I have been neglectful of my blog. There have been a lot of craziness of life happening lately plus some things going on in my own life that I haven't had a lot of focus on the blog. I am back and you will see lots of pics and posts....be WARNED!

This is the piano that Cody bought Friday night with some of his birthday money. This boy is obsessed with pianos and no doubt he will be the future Mozart. For now, he is a little "Schroeder."

Hat Day

Happy 5th Birthday, Carleigh!

A rare moment

Right before the party began, I had a moment to breathe and Brittany took a couple of shots of Carleigh and I.

Cake time

Open Gifts

Some of the adults

Playing with the cousins