Learning, laughing...and mud!

With the summer marching forward, I am heading up to the Twin Cities this weekend to try out one of the "mud" runs with a few girlfriends!!

Keeping myself active and healthy has always been a priority. I am looking forward to this get together with two great friends, one of whom I have not seen in five years! Not sure what will be more fun, getting muddy or laughing with old friends!

It's so important to not only try new things, but challenge ourselves in the process. My husband has taken up learning guitar. It's fun to see how he's progressed and he's truly enjoying learning a new hobby! I am determined to try to learn French. I'm thinking my three years of high school Spanish should really help! My goal is to try to fit new things into a weekly routine to challenge not only my physical self, but my mental one as well. Wish me luck!

A lesson learned...

I have three children, two are potty trained. So you would think that by number three this would be a piece of cake, especially considering the youngest wants to do EVERYTHING like her big brother and sister.

So, we started off on the right note last Thursday. We made a special point of shopping for her big girl underpants, with princesses of course. Then we watched a video about how Elmo goes potty like a big kid, because every 2-year-olds' idol is a two-foot tall, red monster with a high-pitched voice!

Then we were off to the races, er, potty.

Day one, two accidents, not bad.

Day two  Murphy's law kicked in. One kid making a mess makes a lot of dirty laundry, so now is the PERFECT time for the wash machine to die and no sign of a repair guy for five days. And to top it off I have company coming for the following week! So a note to self, "Potty training a child should come with a bit of forethought, a working wash machine, and a lot of patience!"

Summer moments...

Barefoot, sitting on the patio in the sunshine, sipping an iced tea and having uninterrupted chat time with a dear friend. To top off this midday siesta a spotted fawn walked right in front of me! Wish I could bottle these moments and uncork them, say mid February? These are a few of the reasons I love summer, what are yours?

Finding summertime balance

Well it's official, I think I should become a taxi driver. I have done more running around with my kids and their summer schedule this second week of break than ever! I am trying to find a happy balance between structured activity and plain 'ol summertime fun.

Then to top it off is the struggle to fit in some "me" time as well! We went to basketball camp, the Y, a reading tutor, a swim meet and a playdate all on a Tuesday! That was after we skipped tennis and swimming lessons!! I tried not to over schedule this summer but I don't think I have succeeded. I need to remember that kids are happy just being kids.

The highlight of our week was when they successfully managed to retrieve a rock stuck in a sewer grate. They got to enlist the help of the older, cooler neighbor kids and were beyond excited to show me their rescued rock! Honestly, there is so much to say for doing nothing! I'm off to set up the sprinkler now…