Piyo

My plan was to do a quick Piyo workout on Youtube. Then my daughter decided to join me. And she liked it, so we did MORE. I hate working out sometimes. Sometimes I love it. When I can't get to the Y for a Zumba class or a spin on the bikes, I like Youtube. You never know what you will find. 

My sister-in-law introduced me to Piyo. It's you and a mat. And it hurts so good because you work at your own pace and can make the workout easier or more difficult with resistance. So after the 20 minute workout, my arms were burning and my shorty yelled, "More!" We then did a 15 minute video. Now my arms and legs are sore, but my kid was happy and we did something fun and productive together without heading out and about with everyone and their coughs, sniffles, and sickness. 

I am sad to see my baby girl grow up, but she is so fun. We workout better together than me verses a trainer because I want to show her how to do things correctly, so I have to focus and try! We get to laugh and have fun, too, and after a long day at work that is all that counts. Look at those baby muscles!

Life is short

Yesterday there was tragedy and all of us stopped for a minute to say a moment of silence, pray, reflect, and be grateful for our families. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bryant family. I cannot imagine what those final moments looked like, or how the family will move on without their loved ones. I tried to shield my little one from the news all day because I was not ready to discuss this story with her. Finally, last night, she heard the news on a commercial and I had to explain. I had to answer questions. I had to comfort. You hear it everyday. Hold your loved ones tight. Live for the moment. Live for the now. No regrets.

It took everything I had not to just hole up in our bedroom and turn our home into an untouchable bubble. I am unable to quit my job and hover over my child and her well-being. I must trust that we are doing everything in our power to love her and show her the ways of the world so that she understands and can be prepared for anything that comes in her path.

We hope the Bryant family gets the love and support they need in a time like this and we are thinking of and praying for the other victims as well. I will try to keep my head up today and live like a boss, own it, and be proud of it. I will be gracious and grateful. I will smile. I will remember. 💜💛💜💛

all those murals

Someone decided to beautify Rockford and they made it so simple, yet so elegant. Local artists were asked to paint murals on downtown buildings to make downtown more pleasant looking. I was downtown earlier today and I saw one that I don't think I noticed over by the Metrocentre. A little paint really goes a long way. I stopped and stared at it for a few minutes and I was more at ease and calmer than I expected. Get some paint! Color makes things better!

MLK day means making beauty happen

We spent an hour at the Rockford Art Museum today. It was free entry and then you could go to the art studio to do a free craft. We loved it! Watching her face light up at certain works of art and having discussions about them was great. To celebrate the great life of MLK, we decided to make beautiful art and then donate our time at the local animal shelter, Noah's Ark animal sanctuary. Here are some of the pictures my daughter took of art that she enjoyed and a picture of the crafting process. It was awesome to have a big, messy activity that someone else planned, prepped and cleaned up after. Huge thanks to the museum staff for today's fun! If you haven't been, free day is a good day to start! Soothe your soul with art and support local by donating your time somewhere that means something to you. The lovely volunteers were extremely patient with our littles. They got to spread shaving cream on foil and use daubers to drop on water color paints. They swirled it with toothpicks and then pushed a piece of white paper over the whole thing and squeegeed the excess off to create abstract water color paintings. FUN!

the best girl books ever!

So, back in MY day, these books were all the rage. And just like everything else, they are back "in" again. Swoon. I loved these books! I got sent away from the dinner table for reading these. I saved all my money, babysitting money, and birthday wishlists for these books. I bought them at the mall because, yep, that's just what you did. I would beg to go to Machesney Park Mall to buy books. I ended up with almost 200 Babysitter's Club books and my mom stored them in her basement for me. 

 

My mom called me one day to tell me her basement flooded and all the books were gone. Even though I was all mature and almost an adult, I teared up. Those books got me through so much! I worked hard for those books. I had so many great memories of book swaps with my friends. I wanted to save them and give them to my daughter if I had one. 

Fast forward MANY years later. I have a daughter. She is part nerd. She loves to read, write, and do math. She now loves these books as well. I had to tell her the tale of the great basement flood and the look on her face was priceless. It was as if she discovered the flooded books herself. So, thirty years later I sat down on the couch and began reading Babysitter's Club: Kristy's Great Idea. This time I read aloud and I wasn't alone. I was reading to my beautiful daughter. Get the books, guys! What a great thing to bring back. You can wear your scrunchies while you read ;)

snowpocalypse time

Welcome to the midwest! Weather is random and unpredictable. It is mild and severe. It is touchy and odd. My area is just starting to get slick, while the Rockford area (not far from us) is supposed to be dangerous, brutal driving conditions. Snow was supposed to start overnight and there's not one drop of snow to be found. YET. Stay safe and stay warm, no matter what weather you get today :)

all the cookies

It's that time of year again! The time of year for delicious, nostalgic, yummy (yet overpriced) cookies. I LOVE being my daughter's girl scout Brownie co-leader. We go on fun adventures, we plan meetings, and do things together we may not normally do. However, cookie season and I.... I work. I coach. I wife. I life. So we try to get cookie sales online, over the phone, and face to face. The other leader is equally busy and we make it work. So remember us this cookie season! Be patient with the tiny saleswomen coming your way. We are trying to create strong, assertive boss ladies that will rule the world! Okay, maybe I took it too far, but you get it. Happy cookie season, folks!

Our girls want to go to the Dells!

kid advice

Tonight I got advice from the 9 year old. It came along the lines of, "Mom, you don't have to be stressed. Just relax!" I forget that sometimes. She is old enough now to read my expressions and I forget that she will feed off of it. I wasn't even stressed. That's the kicker. It was just a small moment of panic. I clearly wear all my expressions on my face. Whoops. If anyone wants to meet up and play some poker, I bet you will win!!! Just to make this clear, I did relax! Daughter's orders :)

a resolution we can actually DO

I don't do resolutions. I should ALWAYS work out, eat right, sleep well, drink less, be kind, etc. However, that sounds pretty dull! I do, however, try to challenge myself to do something for the better good of mankind, the earth, or others. One year we vowed to recycle more. One year we wrote 1 happy thought a week and read 52 happy memories on New Years Eve. One year we did the coin challenge and saved almost $700 by adding a penny for whatever day of the year it was (1 cent on January 1st through 3.65$ on December 31st). 

This year I actually asked for my daughter's input and she shocked me by saying Random Acts of Kindness. So we sat down and wrote 12 things we can do safely, feasibly, and that won't make me broke. Then we categorized them by month, since some are time sensitive. The following is our list of do-good activities that will encourage us to stay clean, safe, healthy, and give back. We have all month to accomplish each, which will give me time to prepare or delay if needed :)

January: clean out all the closets and donate what we don't keep

February: give hot chocolate and cookies to the police and fire dept

March: write letters to soldiers

April: clean up the local parks (there are only 2, so this isn't huge)

May: pay off someone else's library fines

June: leave kind notes for people around town (we haven't establish rules for this yet...)

July: pack 20 lunches for Miss Carly's 

August: help fill the bus and donate school supplies

September: do something nice for the bus driver

October: send coloring books to kids in hospitals

November: bake for the nursing home and decorate place mats

December: donate toys, time, money to the Wimpy Kids fund

I am pleased to announce that only 3 or 4 of these were my ideas. I am pleased to do stuff with my kid that includes fun and quality. If you are unfamiliar with any of these charities/business,  I challenge YOU to look into it! There are so many great ways to give back in the Rockford area!

our first sleepover

We turn 9 tomorrow and anyone who has raised a girl realizes this is big. We are having our first sleepover! The theme was decided in January of last year weeks after her 8th birthday party. Because, why not? We are hosting The Greatest Showman party. 

We decided to do circus themed food, red/white striped decor, show the movie, easy circus games, and karaoke (if you look in the special features, they have ALL the songs with lyrics!). This is probably the easiest and cheapest party we have ever thrown and she is in love with all of it. She picked the cake, the food, and helped me make most of the party favors, with a few fun extras like lip gloss and glitter rings. 

One thing that was a must was ball toss. So, I decided to paint a clown. My little dictator added insight and it ended up as something she screamed in glee to see and something I look at and sigh. People, people. I am crafty. I am creative. I am not, however, a painter. Yet, my kid saw this clown for the ball toss and told me she loves it. 

A parent's love for their child knows no limits and if I am going to sing off key to a room full of little girls with a fake microphone, I may as well own up to the mildly odd looking clown. Please think of me as you enjoy your peaceful evening and my home is overrun with 8 little girls. Our first sleepover! 

new year, new plan

It started when my stepson was younger. He would always ask when we were doing this, that, etc. So every year we would buy him a fun calendar and every month we would fill it out together. He knew when he was seeing his mom next, I avoided all the questions and it was something for us to do together. Boom. Mom win. Then it became our thing with our daughter, too. Now she gets a calendar for Christmas (I know... we are practical AND dorky!). Yesterday she asked me to hang up her new wild animals calendar and we filled out January, part of February and some of March. I got, "Awww. No more?" when I hung it up. Yep. If you start them early, you CAN teach responsibility, time management, ownership, appreciating all gifts big or small, and (hopefully) that a bit of dorky goes a long way :)