Kids and Life

My little darling girl, Vanessa, is really taking off lately. She now goes potty everyday in her potty, several times a day. We are so PROUD of her and how easy she is making potty training. I think she could very easily have this down by the end of summer. She is also learning her alphabet, she named three letters to me today and that is all I had time to work with her so she may know more and I don't know yet. Hayden has learned and is now officially comfortable swimming underwater, so what did he do in the bath tonight? Teach her to put her face underwater and she LOVED it. I told him, I'm not quite ready for her to learn that...Panic was inside me the whole time she was doing it and she did it like 4 times.

Vanessa is also very smart, she catches on to things so quickly it amazes me. We were all playing legos and Hayden and I were building with small ones and Vanessa had big ones, well she came across a big lego that wasn't actually a lego...It was a piece from another company that somehow got in the lego box...imagine that...hehehe...Anyways, she looked at it and looked at me and shook her head no and gave it to me and continued building. She didn't say a word, just nodded to me that it wasn't the right kind of block and went on...How cute! I know that is something so little but it means the world to me and she was able to identify that right away.

Ever since she was a tiny little person, I would say around 5 months old, she could put her shirt on and put her arms in with no problem. I don't know how she learned but you basically stuck her shirt over her head and she did the rest. Well, she now undresses herself and can put her pants, socks and shoes all on herself. I still have to help some but she has it down pretty darn good. Of course, once in awhile you will see her with Hayden's underwear around her neck...LOL! What a kid!

I'm just so proud of her, she is just a delight to all of us and Hayden is a fantastic brother. He teaches her things all the time. He just taught her to throw a frisbee the other day and now she loves to do that. She is also doing great with throwing a ball. I'm really having so much fun with the kids lately. Hayden at swimming lessons went underwater four times and jumped off the diving board three and his confidence has gone through the roof...It's just fantastic.

So, my little girl is getting so big, my son is excelling more and more everyday. (Homeschooling is going great, he is up to reading 18 books a day with me!) We have spent quite a bit of time at the library lately, both of them just love it and with our colder weather I've taken advantage of the wonderful indoor activities in town.

As for me, I'm so busy with them I don't have much time for anything else although last night Brian and I went to our orientation for volunteering for the Arts Center. I'm so excited I could burst! They have so many cool things planned and I talked to the gal who plans all the events and classes and I gave her a few ideas and she put me on the committee. Brian said I was in my element and beaming. They want to get children's acting classes and have Shakespeare plays and artists are bringing work in for galleries. I told them all the many things I can do so they were very excited also. I told Brian I will do acting as well because I did it in college. How fun would that be!!!

They are bringing many different classes from sculpting to dance and I can teach too. I'm so giddy about it, I really am. This is just something I don't see me temporarily being involved in but for my lifetime or as long as we are in this town. Brian wants me to become a board member but I think I will start with being on a committee and doing a bunch of volunteer work, along with teaching or showing my own talents. I told them about my photography and graphic design work and I'm hoping my pieces can be showcased at some point.

I can already see my future, MOPS, kid's school involvement and the Arts Center...What a great lineup. Life just got even better!

Yea for Vanessa!!

Vanessa went pee in her potty today!! Yea!!!! WooHoo!! We had a party for her, she clapped and giggled too! This is great!!!

Setting My Mind Free

So, I am driving in the car tonight and my hubby and I got into deep conversation, we had a long drive and it was a perfect setting. We started talking about what makes us happy and I'm not going to go into all of our details but something happened and what I thought would make me happy is NOT what makes me happy. I'm talking about my weight. I truly have been thinking if I could just buckle down and get this weight off, I would be so happy. My opinion changed in moments of this conversation.

So we talked and I realized what makes me happy is my family and my art and talents, volunteering and traveling the world. I knew this but not to the level that I thought. I thought the weight thing was more important an issue for me. Recently, I have created a MySpace page and I have come across friends from high school. They are giving me unbelievable compliments..."You look incredible" one said..." You are gorgeous" another said. I went back to my photos and I looked at me and I thought, I beg to differ...I'm fatter and older! Then I looked again...I have a beautiful face. I may have weight on but I am beautiful and my family is beautiful.

I also thought of how I recently ran into a friend the same age that I hadn't seen in a year or so and she lost 30 pounds. I don't want to be mean but she aged 10 years. She weighed maybe 150 pounds before and now is 120 pounds and the wrinkles came out terrible. I don't want that. I want to be more healthy, yes, but I AM healthy now. I thought of how last year I went to Hersheypark and played the guess my age game...The girl said 26 and I was 36. I never felt so confident and proud then I did at that moment.

So, I am freeing my mind of my weight issues, I'm concentrating on what makes me feel beautiful and what I have that is beautiful, even if it is only a pretty face and skinny legs! hahahaha

My children are my mirror images of my happiness...what makes me happy is seeing my son excel so much and know that he is 4 with a kindergardner's brain and know that I am working so hard at homeschooling to help him even more. What makes me happy is teaching my daughter and watching her blossom into such a sweet spirit. She is only 19 months old and sitting on her potty already! Yea for Vanessa!!! Those little things give me so much happiness.

I've been making my own money and saving for a camera and I'm so close to achieving that goal and I can do my photography again, that makes me so happy. I gave forks and spoons that I decorate to Hayden's teachers, they didn't know I made them. They thought I bought them and as soon as they found out, they want to place orders to give as gifts! I'm ecstatic about that!!!! I do it as a hobby and it could make me money...woohoo!

I'm going to sing on Sunday, that makes me happy. I have a meeting coming up for volunteering with the Art League and I am so excited to see what all I can do. That makes me happy. It's not that I am saying, Oh, I will just stay fat...I just need to get rid of any thoughts about it at all because it puts negativity in me and makes me look at me from the outside and that is not what I want to teach my kids. I love food, I have pretty much gone back to no meat, I eat more vegetables than anything besides chocolate...hehehe. I make sure my kids eat great, they don't drink pop, they don't eat candy unless it is a special treat. I am doing what makes me happy and living a full, healthy life and having a ton of fun along with it.

I kept trying to figure out time to exercise...I don't want to figure out time to exercise...I want to stay so busy with my family and I am already so busy with extra-curricular activities and that is what I enjoy. I just don't want to worry about it anymore, I want to keep my youthful beauty from the inside out.

In ending, my conversation with my hubby opened a new door for me...I am throwing away the weight issues completely and concentrating on just making myself happy with the things that make me happy. That's all I need, truly. Friends, family, love, respect and my spirit to be free.