Just Me!!

 Mark has been very busy with work lately. So we picked Tuesday night to be our date night. I wanted to do something active, but something fun as well. Also something that we've never tried before. So we loaded up Valerie's clubs and Mark's golf clubs, and went to Spanaway to hit a bucket of balls together. This was my first attempt at hitting a golf ball. It was surprisingly hard but I managed in the end to feel a bit more comfortable and the ball ended up further than just 2 feet in front of me. I've always thought that golf just isn't for me because of my big breasts ( hard to get a good swing) but it wasn't actually that hard, when I learned how to swing properly.  It was a lot of fun. After we went to The Ram for dinner. We sat in the bar and watched the end of the Mariners game and had good conversation that didn't revolve around our relationship or our inadequacies. I call that a success! I have so many insecurities that it's really hard for me to...

Perfectly lazy day today. Charlie chose to have Lanie over to play. The girls did great today. Charlie notices the age differences occasionally but still does a great job on allowing Lanie to make the plans. Val's friend is still here so Charlie wanted to have a friend over too. Ethan loves it when Brandi is here because they all end up staying up and playing xbox, or board games. When school starts, Val and Brandi both want to be Ethan's 9th grade mentor. Val was actually being serious too. So sweet! I made a super healthy meal of steak, steamed broccoli, and roasted squash! Yummy. Tomorrow I might head over to the naked spa for some me time!!! Can't wait.....

Jason and Chris invited us to a Raniers game! Thanks to Jason's work we got free entrance, free parking, free beer, alcohol, Pepsi, water, popcorn, peanuts, and pretzels. We were granted access to the Summit Club throughout the whole game. It was awesome. Our seats down below were in 96% weather on the first baseline, but around the 7th inning we ditched them and headed up to the club level. Club level was out of the sun, and out of the way of fly balls! We had a great time with them and wish we could spend more time with them again soon. We will have to plan on the boys (Seth and Ethan) meeting since they are the same exact age! After we got home we rounded the kids up (we have an extra again--Brandi) and took them over to Jers pool for some fun. We are hot dogs and the kids swam while the adults searched for their spirit animals. Jer  and I will have sore arms tomorrow because we swung the jump rope for the kids for quite a few times. Jaxon and Charlie learned how to jump in when...

It was a long day. Yesterday we told the kids of this weekends agenda. We don't usually tell them everything we are doing but we have a lot going on this weekend so we did! We told them we were headed out at 0730 this morning for the Lavender Festival in Sequim Wa. Plans got delayed by 25 minutes and I in turn got upset, which led to stress, tension, huge fight, and me refusing to get in the car with Mark at the Port Townsend turn off till we figured it out. I hate fighting in front of the kids and lately Mark has been loose with some names (that maybe I deserve or not) for me so I figured it was better to finish the fight outside versus inside. Things were said, feelings were hurt on both sides, but we hugged it out (my need) and carried on toward the day (his need). Trying to make the best of a very frustrating morning we stopped at the Sunshine Lavender Farm, looked around, snapped some shots, shopped, bought some Salmon jerky, smelled the lavender, and then headed on to Sequim ...

Our Highlight this week was having Chris visit. He comes into town to be with his kids, but there are always complications with timelines and ex's so we were able to spend quite a block of time with him this visit. Divorce must be hard, and sharing kids harder, and dealing with an Ex must be the worst torture ever. I congratulate those that do it so effortlessly without complaint...not sure I could do that. Chris came into town on Monday and surprised us all with a nice dinner out to the Olive Garden (margaritas and all)! It was awesome. The way he loves my kids, and is always so encouraging to them is more than I can ask for. I know that he is my husbands' best friend and that I'm the husbands best friend's wife but I feel just as cherished as Mark does by Chris. Sometimes just when I think I know someone they surprise me, like he does! Wednesday night at 1030 at night he was in the kitchen cooking dinner for us. We ate at 12p and then promptly headed for bed. The food...

Spiritual Totem Animal: Penguin Evolution: According to paleontological records, the penguin may have flown the friendly skies initially. But, after millions of years of evolution, the penguin's wings turned into fins as they adapted to watery environments. In this light, the penguin reminds us we can evolve too. And we don't have to wait millions of years to do it! The penguin's ability to adapt (over time and in its current environment) reminds us that we can adapt too. The penguin encourages us to do what we can to live, survive and find contentment in the world. Penguins are highly social and communicative creatures. Each penguin has a distinct call that identifies their mate or baby. It's like you or me calling out "Hey Ralph!". In other words, they communicate well within their social structure. They prefer to be in groups. This is partly for social connection, partly for survival, and partly for warmth. They huddle in groups to stay warm. In fact, they ...

The last day of play before mamma has to go back to work! Took everyone to the spray park in Puyallup. The older two spent time at the library, getting a card and checking out books! They joined us later for a small picnic of plums and hummus with pretzel chips. Lanie loved all of it and might have some crazy Digestive issues in the next few days since she ate three plums. The older two were very board and frustrated that I wanted them to come with until I started reading the first chapter of The Great Gastby to Valerie. Her AP classes demand summer homework. Charlie also recorded three more hours of reading with the Puyallup Library. She loves to read! She had started slacking off since she got her color changing pencil for her first five hours of reading! We are back on track and I am excited to be going back to work--I think! Progress: Watching what I eat, planning dinner, called LA Fitness to set up strength training, listened to the next episode in the Weight Loss Podcast, going t...

This weekend was crazy fun! We hiked, BBQ x 2, spent time with family, watched my flowers finally bloom, started a workout, played soccer with the kids, bought an awesome salad from the MET, listened to a podcast, googled park hikes for the kids, and listened to my daughter speak to me in Catalan.  Steps 10,999 today Better choices: small scoop of low fat ice cream, low cal breakfast sandwich from Starbucks with egg whites, salad from the MET, tofu steaks, and suggested a walk which ended in two hours of kicking the soccer ball! Regrets: missed international kissing day! We weren't feeling it;(

For the Fourth of July we thought it would be fun to take the kids hiking. My sister took us on a trail out near Dupont to the beach about three years ago, and so we chose to go back to the same trail hoping to have a nice picnic lunch on the beach. We packed in Popeyes chicken, biscuits, mashers, waters, and pop. It was a great walk out to the beach. Val caught two snakes on the way out. It wasn't crowded at all. We saw a few people on the trails (all dressed in festive red, white, and blue) but only one couple on the beach. We set up our blanket, the picnic, and food. After eating, the kids spent quite a long time finding crabs, eels, starfish, snails, and beach life. The walk back was hard on little missy. She barely had energy to cry by the time we reached the car. Unfortunately I realized a little too late that she was starting to get heat stroke. By the end of the day she was very lethargic and running a 102 temp. After our hike we got large waters at McDonalds and headed ove...