Our Weekend in Review...

What a busy, busy weekend we had.

1. Kelsie and Kyle swimming at a birthday party

2. Swimming

3. And more swimming!

4. Girl Scout Cookie time!!! Get your cookies here!

5. The ice cream man was out and about in the neighborhood. Why not?!

It was 70 degrees outside. (Kyle enjoying his SpongeBob ice cream with Alyssa and Janie)

6. Kelsie and I went shopping. Her new favorite store is Charming Charlies.

She was anxious to spend a gift card she got for Christmas.

7. Lots of playoff football. Not the result I was hoping for, but the Steelers played an awesome game. Had the urge to "Tebow", but just couldn't do it wearing my "Big Ben" jersey.

My Resolution

Today I am sharing one of my (many) 2012 resolutions and linking up with Life With My 3 Boybarians. I've been going to the gym pretty regularly for about 6 years. But I haven't been focused on losing weight. I love to eat... things that aren't good for me (who doesn't!?). This year I have vowed to watch what I eat (I'm a JUNK FOOD JUNKIE!) and what I drink (LOVE SODA AND NOT THE DIET KIND!) and lose the 10 extra pounds that I've been carrying around for years. I love weight training and spinning classes. My first day back to the gym in 2012 went like this: 1 hour of lower body weight training class and 1 hour of Spinning class. Here are my results...

Not too shabby, huh?

My Piano Girl

Kelsie started playing the piano when she was in the 1st grade. I think playing comes naturally to her (and it's in her genes - her Great-Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother and Aunt have played). Three years later, she doesn't enjoy playing, but she's so good at it and receives so many compliments. I think this is what keeps her going. A trophy or two doesn't hurt either. She just received her 3,000 point trophy on Tuesday. She gets points for practicing, earning an "excellent" rating in class and participating in recitals. Her teacher even gave her points for having a solo singing performance in her Christmas recital. She is currently practicing for a piano festival at the local college where she'll have to memorize two songs and play them by herself in front of a judge. This will be her third festival. She earned a 99 out of 100 her first year and a 98 out of 100 her second year. I have no doubt she'll succeed this year!

Wordless Wednesday

There are no words to describe what this child is thinking sometimes.

Legos

For the past two years, Kyle has asked Santa for Lego sets. This year was no different - he wanted a Ninjago (what is this???) Skull Truck. Each year he's excited to put the sets together. Each year he sits back and watches his Dad or myself put them together. Each year his Dad or myself watch him slowly destroy our creation. This year was no different.

Black-Eyed Peas and Our Resolutions

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is thought to bring prosperity. Growing up, on New Year's Day, Nana would make us eat at least a few black-eyed peas. I remember dreading the spoonful she'd put on my plate. I've grown to LOVE eating them and have carried on her tradition of serving them to my family with our dinner on New Year's Day. The kids are grossed out by them. They were good sports and ate two each. Here is Kelsie's plate:






During dinner, Dave and I explained what making New Year's resolutions meant. We were surprised with what they decided their resolutions would be...

Kelsie - Get along with Kyle (we quickly explained to her that this must last throughout 2012... we'll see)

Kyle - Eat healthy (so I guess this means I have to start cooking healthy?), exercise for 100 minutes and don't talk to strangers (what? I had no idea this was an issue for Kyle)

Dave - Exercise 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes (I guess our lunch dates will be spent exercising) and to play with the kids more (not sure what this means... he's wonderful at giving the kids most of his free time)

Jenn - Being consistent in taking pictures and posting to this blog is my resolution for 2012.

GOOD LUCK KEEPING YOUR RESOLUTIONS IN 2012!

Happy New Year!

Last night we rang in the New Year with lots of friends. Dave and I feel very fortunate to have met such wonderful families through Kelsie and Kyle. The kids had so much fun playing with their friends and staying up well past midnight. We hope that all of y'all had a wonderful NYE and has an even better 2012!