Tuesdays Unwrapped

Emily at Chatting at the Sky is doing a series of posts on celebrating the small things in life. I don't know about you, but I am usually so busy going from place to place and so focused on my to do list, that I usually don't take the time to notice the small things.

We had our monthly Moms Night Out with the homeschool group we are part of tonight. I am awful about finding a million different excuses for why I should not take time for me and spend a night with these moms. I love the company when I get there, but getting there is a hard thing for me. It's almost like going to the gym. I struggle with getting there, but once there I love it. We had a great time of food and fellowship. We even watched a short video "It's My Homeschool and I'll Cry if I Want To". That video had us all rolling. After it was over, one of the older moms asked to speak. She has children that are in college now and I love listening to her speak because I feel like she has so much knowledge. There are times along this journey that I have wondered if I am doing the right thing by homeschooling the kids. There are times I wonder if I am failing them. She told us tonight that she has wondered the same exact things. She has talked to her husband about it and he has told her to "examine the fruit". Those 3 words shook me to my core. There are times that I think maybe I am doing this for the wrong reasons and maybe I am going to ruin my kids. Those words reminded me how awesome my kids are. Those three words gave me so much validation. School is what could potentially ruin my children. I know it was killing Michael's quest for knowledge. That is the small thing that I am taking the time to celebrate today. The pleasure of being able to listen to a mom speak that has been in my shoes and was very successful homeschooling her children. That might be a small thing, but it has had a tremendous impact on my outlook.

Easter 2009

Better late than never, right? We had a funfilled Easter weekend with family and friends.

I think the Easter Bunny enjoyed trying to take Michael down. He almost succeeded!

Bella kept an eye on the bunny at all times.

Couch to 5K Week 1 Run 1 of 3

I have wanted to start jogging for awhile now, but have been chicken! I could come up with excuse after excuse why I shouldn't do it. I'm too big. My boobs are too big and will bounce too much. I will look funny. What if I fall? What if I sprain my ankle? What if my heart rate gets too high? What if I get so hot I get sick? I finally decided enough excuses. I would never know if I could run or not, if I didn't give it a try. A good friend of mine posted on Facebook that she was starting C25K to get back to running this spring after taking the winter off. I decided now was as good as a time as any to try to do it with her. We can inspire each other and hopefully provide some accountability for each other. After the 1st jogging session this afternoon, I so wanted to give up! But I knew if I didn't say anything about getting it done, Shannon would ask if I'd done it. I need that accountability! I need to know that I'll have to tell someone that I didn't do the workout, if asked. I did day one today and it was harder than I could have imagined. I had been telling myself that surely I can make it through 8 sessions of 60 seconds of jogging. It's only 60 seconds! How hard could that possibly be? HA! It was so hard that I didn't want to move after the 1st 60 seconds! I didn't want to take a single step, much less walk for 90 seconds then start up again! I hoped I would love it like I love the body combat class, but I didn't. My hope is that it will grow on me. I think as it gets a little easier and I'm not scared I'm going to fall flat on my face or on my butt, I'll be ok. The way I felt after I completed the session, I think, made up for the pain. When I left I was thinking that I didn't know how in the world I was going to make myself do it again on Friday. I feel differently now. I feel like I accomplished something. Yes, it was only 8 sessions of 60 seconds of jogging, but the idea of being able to run a 5K at the end of 9 weeks is an amazing feeling.