Swim-a-thon Weekend

Gabby's swim club just completed the second and final fundraiser of the swim seasons.  It was a USA swimming sponsored swim-a-thon.  The guidelines are 200 laps or 2 hours maximum time limit or which ever happens first.



Last year was Gabby's first year on swim team and the goal was 100 laps in 2 hours.  She completed 115.  This years goal was 150 laps in 2 hours.  Under normal circumstances I think she could have easily completed the 150, however this year she got sick two weeks before we left for Christmas in Florida.

When I say sick, I mean Really Sick!  Almost hospital bond sick...lung capacity 30% sick......she missed 4 weeks of practice.  So needless to say, she had only been back to one week of practice before the swim-a-thon.  Our goal was just to complete the full 2 hour time.  



Here she is at the end of the 2 hours.  Still standing and yes still smiling!



And here she is when we told her she completed 170 laps!  Yep, that's right, 170 laps, that is over 2.5 miles.



I'm so proud of my little fish.  I know that there is know way I could have swam 200 laps in 2 hours!

Good Job Gabriella....

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it". - Lou Holtz

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Brrrrr...

So it is still snowing, I think we may have around 14 inches. The actual temperature is actually not so horrible. The other day Bella wanted to play outside, so I went to find her snowpants. Since we were in Florida when all the snow hit I had yet to get them out. All I could find were last years and they were a 4T. She is only 5 but wears a 7/8 because she is so tall. Now I know that Gabby has an old pair of 8/10 somewhere in this house, but do you think I could find them?

It has snowed all day long, so after driving the preschoolers this morning I thought I would head to good old Target to buy Bella a pair of snow pants. No luck. So then I went to Kohl's, they had 2 pair left! Now I was starting to lose my patients a tad. I mean it was icey, cold, snowy, slushy, just nasty out, the last thing I wanted to do was track all around town looking for snow pants.

I finally gave up and thought Bella would just have to wear the 4T because at least that was better than nothing at all.

Here is what I find very annoying about today's shopping experience.
~We live in the Midwest where there is snow until March sometimes middle of April.
~Today is only the 1st full week of January.
~We unfortunately are only at the beginning of this snow season.
~No, I do not want to buy a swimsuit now or in Feb. because I really won't need one until June or if it is like 2009 July.
~If I don't buy a swimsuit by Valentines Day, when June rolls around and I need one I won't be able to buy one because they will only have winter coats available for purchase in the month of June.
~Retail stores are a pain in the ass!


And guess what? After spending 3 plus hours driving around looking for pants. Mr. Hubby calls to see how the driveway is looking only to remind me he put Gabby's old 8/10 snow pants in Bella's bedroom closet In case I wanted to take the girls out to play and work on the driveway at the same time! MEN!

Believe me the day wasn't that stellar...Wait until I blog about the snow blower. Now that is a whole other story, one that will have to wait a few days.....

Try to stay warm....

♥

A snowy return....

My vacation ended yesterday afternoon. It was a chilly day in south Florida. I think the high was 42. I guess it was a good preparation for the cold tundra we were about to be flying into. My vacation left me with the question of what makes a vacation a vacation. Is leaving your home considered a vacation when you travel to place that you do not have to pay to stay? It is a question I have been pondering around in my head for about 5 days. Here is an even better question, is it really considered a vacation when one of the spouses is only present for half of the time? I hate to be a complainer, because I just spent 14 days in a climate that super exceeds the one where I live; however, I am dragging today and am not really feeling super relaxed like I should after a 14 day get away.

Here is a list of reasons why I feel I didn’t get a true vacation:
•I cooked dinner probably 8 of the 14 nights.
•I did at least 10 loads of laundry.
•I made 3 children’s beds every morning and 1 adults.
•I potty trained a 2.5 year old toddler.  Thanks Santa for the Dora underwear.  This only added to the laundry pile ups. 
•No naps were taken and not much sleeping in occurred.

I am a lucky girl; I have a set of parents who have owned a condo in Florida for 13 years. They are very giving and generous with allowing me full rights to use the place.   These parents also tend to pay for my children’s plane tickets so I can travel more often with them, but the problem always arises that those wonderful parents of mine have yet to retire, so we always travel at the same time because my mom is a school teacher.  There are pros and cons to traveling with your parents. Some of the pros are: I can travel with my children even if my husband cannot take the time off. I often get a very inexpensive vacation, because they pay for food, and car rental. Some of the cons are: It is only a 2 bedroom condo, maybe 800sq ft? and since they are still working they want to do what they want to do, so often what I want to do sometimes never happens. Like I said, I am a lucky girl, but the questions I always have at the end of the trip, is, did I get a vacation? Since I am a stay at home mom, I never really get to go on a paid vacation. What I just did for the last 14 days was what I do every single day of my life, the only difference was the weather was 75 degrees instead of 10 degrees. In all actuality I think I spent more time with my children on my "vacation" then in my day to day life because my husband was only with us for 7 days and we only had 1 car. This therefor didn't allow me with a lot of just mommy time.

All in it was still a great trip filled with many long lasting memories. I have included some of my favorite pictorial moments for the trip along with my comments. So sit back, grab a warm coffee or hot coca and enjoy the picture show oh and if you live in the North, try not to get to jealous of the beach pictures….




Day number one of the trip.  The girls were so excited to be warm and barefoot.



I just love this picture of Gia Pia's cutie pattotiey.  Is there really anything cuter than a bare babies bottoms with sand stuck all over it?



Our gateway to paradise...Bonita Beach....



3 Little snow angels lying in the sand.... The beach got hot and one went BAMMM.....




Barefoot and free to roam...



Sand castle made with love and a little of Daddy's help.

 

Bella Boo and her Aunt KiKi, making "vegan" friendly pancakes for breakfast.  My sister, who lives in LA, California was also visiting. She is a vegan and has been teaching Bella all about this type of lifestyle.



New Years Day make over, staring Mommy and Gia.




Build-A-Bear Workshop.    Gabby made a high school musical bear, Bella made a bright pink and white bear and Gia made a monkey.  Funny how each one so fit their personality. 



A day of shopping at the outlet mall with mommy.  It was chilly about 60 degrees.  Don't you just love Gia's new hair bow?  It is as big as her head!



A day spent visiting my friend Amy from college.  She is a school teacher who lives in Ohio.  We live 2.5 hours away from one another, but only ever see each other in Florida.  Crazy.  Her family owns a condo about 10 minutes up the road.  Good times were had, but once the sun went down it got cold this day.  We are planning on meeting up again in the Spring.


Dear Santa, please enjoy the treats.  We hope you can still find us in Florida.  That santa sure is a smart one.  He left a note explaining that some of their gifts were to big to make the trip to Florida and that if they were on good behavior while vacationing, he would leave them a few in Florida and have the rest waiting for them at home.  Santa also suggested that some of his gifts be left in Florida so they would have more toys to play with when they returned in April. 


Now that we are home and there is 12 inches of snow, I am sure I will be posting sledding pictures soon.
Here's to a great start to a new year!

Year In Review

So 2009 is about to go out with a bang.  I'm kind of excited to be heading into 2010.  I am hoping it brings new and exciting things.  I am still living the dream in sunny Florida.  It truly is paradise.  I could so live here.  Ok maybe not full time, but most definately 3 to 4 months a year. I been here 11 days now and I am not the least bit homesick.  How could you be?   It is 18 degrees were I live....18 degrees, that is just cold.  Now here in paradise it was a wonderful glorious 75 degrees.  Not a cloud in the sky.  I even have the sunburn to prove it. 

Let's hope I can begin to find the time to blog again.  I have missed sharing and clearing my head on to paper.  After this vacation I am going to get back into writing shape!  Ha I bet you all thought I might say fittness shape!  Nah just gonna focus on getting more thoughts out on to paper.

Happy New Year!!!

Hope to see and hear from you all in 2010!

It's here....

Yep, old man winter has arrived!

and yes this is snow!

If things keep up we are looking at a two hour delay.

It's a mixture of rain, hail, sleet and snow. None of which mix well together.

Oh well Florida will be here in a blink of an eye. 12 days to be exact!

Happy Winter!

Black Friday...

Shopping is a sport and for those of you who don't believe me, just ask any of the crazies out there on Black Friday. I should know,I was one of them. This year I actually shopped on Thursday and Friday. 4 am is awful early to start your day.

Thanksgiving morning started at 3:30 am for me. I had 2 friends, a list and a game plan. Tag team is the only true way to shop. This year the Wii fitness board is what I had my eye on. The retail price is $89.99. Thanksgiving Meijer special $40.00! There were only 17 available, and this early shopper was #7 in line.

For those of you who don't know me, I am super competitive and it is all about the win for me. My friends and I took turn standing in line while the other one went shopping for there prized items. That is the bonus when you pick a store that stays open 24hours. The greatest part is you don't have to stand in line outside. The lines are formed in different areas of the store. You sit in line watch a movie from your iphone text your fellow shopping pals and the time just flies by. I was home by 7 am on Thanksgiving morning and that is including stopping and eating breakfast at McDonald's.

Black Friday was a whole new ball game. You have to know the lay out of the store and know exactly what you want. Again I tagged teamed with a friend. At 4 am we entered Kohls. She immediately stood in line to pay and I went off for the good's. We were out of there by 4:20 and off to the next store.

Like I said, shopping is a sport. Those who have a good game plan and use team work always succeed. Black Friday is like the superbowl or world series for shoppers. Only the strong get the best deals, the rest pay retail price.

I hate shopping, truly hate it, but once a year I pull out the big guns so my wallet doesn't feel the pain and my kids can have all the latest gadgets. I am now done shopping and it feels great. Now if only there was a way to get the wrapping done in record time!

Happy Thanksgiving.....

Fog Delay????

Who has ever heard of a fog delay in November? I guess we can now add that to the list of crazy weather we have been having here.

It is almost 3 pm and it is still overcast, cloudy, wet and yes even a little foggy.

I must admitted fog delays were way more fun as a kid and a teacher then as a mom...today I just found myself more annoyed then anything. With Thanksgiving and Black Friday approaching, I needed the day to get organized. Instead I spent the morning re-cleaning what I had picked up already.

Well off I go the bus is dropping the kids off soon and I still have about 2 hours of work to finish before the afternoon madness begins.


Happy Turkey Day!