Back at the gym and I felt like this...

My friend Katrina was motivated to join a gym post baby #3 (her Sam is 2 weeks older than Kate) and asked for my advice, knowing we belong to a gym. I gave her all the advice I could and told her I was ready to get my butt in gear again and promised to join her if she chose my gym! Tonight she called me and asked "So, tonight do you want to go to Barbell Strength or Cardio Kick-Box Jams?" In my pre-preggo life, I really liked the Strength class and kick-boxing was never my thing so I voted for the Strength class. Katrina, bless her heart, had not done anything like this since high school but she was a trooper and wants to do it again! It is going to take a while to get back into shape but now, here I say it, I am gonna get my body back! 12-14 lbs to go to pre-pregnancy weight and another 5-10 of bonus pounds I would like to lose too. Soon, hopefully I will feel more like this:
ETA on Thurs: I promise, I win NO gold medals for being a super fit mom! I seriously needed a milkshake after that class and eventually today, Sonic won my business! I think *I thought* I could keep up at my former level, minus being able to jump worth a darn but alas, I went again today (to a Rock n' stroll class where you can bring the babykins) and it was a step/strength training cardio class with a stroller by your side. Oh my gosh - this morning (36 hours post strength training class Tuesday night) I could not sit on the toilet, get up and down off the couch, fold laundry, or lift my arms enough to eat cereal or brush my teeth! I am so pathetic. So, I guess the moral of the story is I need to work out but take it easier and take off the cape and own my jiggly belly (and butt and legs...) I did see several friends at the gym so that was a plus...one additional besides Katrina who too was having her first workouts post baby #3. I guess we should all plan to hit the Sauna together afterwards...how do babies like that? ;) I also went to Urgent Care today for what turned out to be Tonsillitis and that pain coupled with the workout pain, I feel I need to be on bed rest, but who has time for that????? We need to get packed for our trip to Asheville, NC. To quote my nieces, who blog too, only 3 more days 'til Asheville!

This is for you, Adrienne!

I take it back. I found one today when I was trimming a very tall shrub in the front yard. It is not quite 6 feet tall but pretty close! (Though much more slender than you fat weed...the only thing fat is me in my schlump-a-dump sweats!) We will be gone for the next 4 Saturdays so like it or not, 100 degrees at 10:30am, we needed to get the yard spruced up! (ETA: it was concealed inside the large shrub...not visable at all until I gave the bush a hair cut.)

Dance recitals, donuts, and dining out...

For those interested, click HERE to read the post with the rest of the pictures from earlier this month when Grandma and Grandpa Simpson and Grandma Nadene were in town.

Oh, Bird!

If you have you ever wondered about the man, Caroll Spinney, under the yellow feathers, click on this article about his career as big bird or this video. Warning: doing so may mar your childhood memories. (But I found it fascinating.)

We love our Daddy!!!

Our Handsome Daddy!

In honor of the best Husband and Daddy on Father's Day, here are a few of the things we all love about Steve:

Caroline:
He cuddles me at night
He gives me Popsicles
He reads me stories
He draws pictures for me but they are not so good and I think that is funny
He holds me on his shoulders

Lindsay:
He plays elephant with us (riding on his back)
He takes me to McDonald's
He has the Priesthood and gives me blessings
He lets me stay up late even if Mommy doesn't want me to
He watches Star Wars with me

Kate:
He snuggles me
He changes my diapers
He takes care of me when Mommy needs a break
He kisses me with his scratchy face
He sings me songs

Meredith:
I could not be more thrilled to honor Steve on Father's Day. He is the most fun, devoted, and dedicated father I know. Steve is just a big kid at heart and that translates well with his relationship with his daughters. From nightly rides on Daddy's back to Popsicle breaks to staying up late watching movies to playing baseball n the backyard, my girls could not ask for a better Daddy. Cuddles, story time, and outings together will all be memorable parts of my girl's childhood. We are grateful for a Dad who takes his responsibility as the Priesthood holder in our home seriously and strives to live a life that makes him worthy to use it to bless our family. I knew almost 12 years ago that Steve would make a great father. I was not wrong. He is the best and we all love him. Being the dad and husband to a bunch of girls could not possibly be easy - a whole lot of hormones and drama and lots of shoes - but he takes it in stride and doesn't complain too loudly when we are being a bunch of crazy ladies! We love you Steve and honor you this day! (This song is meaningful because we have an story book that is illustrated to this Billy Joel Song - it is an illustrated lullaby of sorts and the girls picked it for the slide show.)

One of the reasons I carry a camera with me most every where I go...

...You never know what you may capture for posterity! Today was the last day of swimming lessons (more on that later) and afterwards, while Lindsay was at her 2 hour gymnastics class, Molly and I went with the other kids to Chandler Mall to take more advantage of the Monster Sale at Children's Place. The kids were of course hungry and this was not a planned field trip so we did not have a lot of snacks or a sack lunch so a trip to the food court was in order. Well, the kids sat on one side and Molly and I and the babies sat on the other. The baby cousins were in our laps laying around admiring each other and Molly and I were chatting about our Father's Day plans. We then looked up to see this:

Caroline & Hayden, a cup of ranch, a cup of ketchup and two straws...

"My straw is all stuck with ketchup!" (blow it out...not anymore!)

Caroline got totally sprayed with ketchup! From her hair to her toes to everywhere in between, she got bamboozled with ketchup! Amazing how many small spots a straw full of ketchup can hit. Molly grabbed the camera after I had already cleaned her speckled face. I was working on her hair.

You know how you have those "kid moments" when they really should be in trouble, you should keep s straight face, but you cannot help but bust a gut? Case in point. We could not stop laughing, the whole time telling the kids through gasps, "It's not funny!" "Caroline is covered in Ketchup!" "It is a good thing her mom just bought her new shorts so she can take off her soaked with ketchup skirt!"

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OK, back to swimming lessons. Molly has a friend who teaches lessons at her home ($30 for 8 days - can't be beat!) and we just finished our one session of lessons. The pool temp. fluctuated with our crazy weather the first week (brrrrr....the water was only 76 degrees!) but was back to 82 this week. I am so proud of the girls - Caroline loves the water - this is such a far cry from her first year of lessons 2 years ago where she cried the whole time and spent the entire session trying to escape from the pool. Now, she is mad we are only doing one session. Crud, I cannot afford the gas for the 19 mile round trip! As long as we go swimming a lot, they will keep up their skills, I have no doubt. She can jump in and swim unassisted...not too far but far enough to have fun and find the wall and feel comfortable. Lindsay can swim the length of her backyard pool with a really nice arm/crawl stroke. Side breathing - still needs to work on that - but she loves to swim and prefers without goggles so she is quite secure under water.

Caroline the Fish!

Lindsay (and Ellie) the Mermaids!

And the blog goes on....

So much to blog about, so little time! I have had lots to catch up about so below this are several new entries as not to create the world's longest catch-up post! We have had the end of school, the beginning of summer break, new baby adventures, family in town, Dance recital, Kate's 1 month birthday milestone, etc. So, read (and post if you wish) accordingly. Time to update the blog for the month of June and clean up the sidebar of old news. I just wish it was as easy to de-clutter and update my house!