For Lent . . .

I have been thinking a lot about Lent, because on my other blog I am celebrating Pancake Day (this week) with the age old tradition of using up eggs and butter before Lent. I know we don't celebrate Lent in my church, but it has made me think about what I would give up for Lent.

No TV? Sure! I'll just watch my shows on DVR when it is over. Not too much of a sacrifice.

Computer? I do the dance business from home, and blog away hours of my life, so for something I don't HAVE to do this is asking too much.

Chocolate? too easy- except for chocolate chips in my cookies I probably could give up chocolate all together.

Diet coke? really and why? I would suffer through the headaches for weeks- and the night shift would be miserable. And then I would just pick up right where I left off.

So, then I must reconsider the idea of lent. To give up a vice or a renewed vigor in prayer, fasting and alms giving. Instead of the idea of giving something up- the idea to add something.

Thus for Lent I am going to read the entire Book of Mormon. (Lent is actually a little more than 40 days because Sundays don't count- I'm not quite sure why not- seems like they would be the most important day but since I am only borrowing the idea with "holy envy" I won't complain). Starting Wednesday Feb 26th (Ash Wednesday) and ending on Easter I have 47 days. This is about 12 pages a day. I am borrowing this idea from a friend who recently decided to read the Book of Mormon as a novel. We read other 300-500 page books in a few days, but struggle to add scripture reading to our daily list of things to do.

So join me if you would like, or give up chocolate, either way I look forward to the beautiful Easter season!

P90X the review

Now that we have finished the grueling 90 days and we promised we would post pictures we are feeling a little sheepish about the whole thing. (For a little background A gave Dan p90x for his birthday, after seeing the infomercials all of the time about how to go from Flab to Fab in just 90 days. On the night of his birthday - Dan said "Okay Let's Go" and we have been sweating it out ever since. Even our kids got into the routine and would change into their "workout" clothes to join us for the warm-up or stretching. It was pretty cute when Kate would ask "Is it Legs & Back tonight mom?"

Did it work? Dan gives it a 7 and wants to do it again. A is just happy to be alive, and thinks she will try Turbo Jam this next time (a shorter daily time commitment and more dancing).

Was it worth it? Sure! It got us back into the habit of exercising, but it defiantly cut down on the amount of chocolate chip cookies Adrianne has made over the last few months.

Either way it was brutal but worth it. We spent the last 3 months together sweating it out in the basement. And even if we don't look a lot better- exercising and having fun together was worth it. We laughed right along with Tony's lame jokes and would say them before he could. And A would laugh every time we did Kenpo (especially near the end) that the guy in the back was still fat even after 12 weeks.

Our greatest accomplishments?? A can do 20 push ups and clap in between. And Dan is really good at Yoga.

the New Hot Dan!!

Dan's before picture.

Check out those guns!

A has nice arms. (sorry no before picture) She wasn't planning on doing this remember.

Dan thinks she always looks good from behind!

so there you have it! Hope you aren't disappointed.

Cookie of the Month

Many thanks to Kate who helped me create my February cookie of the month! She probably asks me at least every other day if we can make the kind of cookies that you frost. And I love to be able to tell her yes. She made 3 deep cookie sandwiches and was a great helped in the kitchen!

Milestones

In life there are obvious milestones, especially when watching your children grow - like learning to walk and talk. We celebrate sitting and crawling, potty training and sleeping through the night. And this week I have many milestones to celebrate. Some obvious and some a little more obscure but none the less have made me appreciate where I am right now in my life with my kids.

First worth celebrating was signing Meg up for preschool in the fall. Okay more accurately called playschool but it is two mornings a week for 3 hours. As I was registering her, there were moms dropping off their kids in their gym clothes. Gym clothes- could this be me? could I be so lucky? Most days I will probably be sleeping after working the night shift, but I am thrilled about having a little ME time again. I can read, clean , shop, take a yoga class - the possibilities are endless and is my enthusiasm.

The next great milestone has been playing games with our kids. This has been something that has evolved over time but they love to play games. Almost daily Kate asks if we can race. (Mario kart on the Wii) It has actually become one of our favorite family activities together. And it is really fun when the kids win fair and square.

And lastly of note, is when your kids are big enough to have a best friend of their own choosing. Annie has had good friends over the years and most of these friendship started because of proximity or I was friends with their mom. But Annie has a cute little best friend Laura. They are so cute together and it has been very tender for me to watch their interactions. Makes me reflect on the friends I had growing up and what great memories I have of them!

well goodnight, just tucked Meg into her "EE" watching and now it is time to race!