A healthier me in 2014 - Update

Well it is almost April already and I am very excited for Spring to arrive, temperature wise not just the calendar.  Baseball season is almost upon us again.  It will be busy with both boys playing, they both moved up a level this year.  Hayden will be playing Minors and Nile will be in Rookies.  Jeremy is an official assistant coach for Nile's team and will be helping with Hayden's team when he can as well.  Aubrey has just a few about a month or so left of dance before her recital and then a few months off.
But back to me, I did the Advocare 24 day challenge back in January and February.  I was able to loss about 10 pounds through that.  I have continued to exercise and try to make healthier choices in the food department.  Some days are better than others.  I am down about 15 pounds now and I can tell my muscles are more defined and stronger.  I just recently got a Zumba "game" for our xbox connect and have enjoyed working out with it.  It is a good workout that's for sure!  I have been meeting with a group at church called Fit for Life where we exercise for 45 minutes and then have a bible study, we have been going through Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst.  I really enjoy Lysa's writing style and have been able to begin my work through imperfect progress.  We all make mistakes sometimes the learning curve is to not get down on ourselves and to keep trying.
This summer I am hoping to be outside with the kids a lot and get some exercise that way.  I am sure we will be at the pool a lot and hopefully a few parks as well.

Spring Break

This past week was Spring Break for the boys.  Monday was house cleaning day, they got it done early so they had lots of time to play their new Lego Movie xbox game.  Tuesday I babysat for one family and the boys had fun playing with the older brother of my regular since he was on Spring Break too.  Wednesday Nile had a friend over for a play date and Thursday Hayden had a friend over for his play date.  Friday Jeremy was off work so we took the kiddos swimming at the hotel in town.  Hayden had his first baseball practice on Friday evening.  Friday night Jeremy had a baseball draft party for his fantasy league so the kids and I got Culvers and watched Turbo on Netflix.  Saturday was the Cadet-o-rama for most of the day and then we took the kids to The Peppertree in Osky for supper.  I think it is important to expose them to nicer restaurants, and I love to eat there too!  Sunday was Cadet Sunday at church so we got up early and all went to the first service together.  The head counselor had all of the boys come forward and say what there favorite thing about Cadets was, it was really neat to hear from each of them.  Hayden said his favorite was the pine wood derby cars in the first service and the Cadet camp out in the second service.  We headed home for lunch and watch Frozen together after lunch.  It was a really nice week spent together.  The boys got ready for school just fine this morning.  I think they were ready to go back and see friends more.  Only a few weeks till Easter, then it will be Tulip Time, and finally Summer break!
I am looking forward to Summer break this year because it will be my first summer off classes since I started in the Summer of 2011!  This semester I am taking my final two classes at Iowa and my 3rd Spanish class.  Next fall I will take my final undergraduate class, my 4th and final Spanish class and then I will graduate with my BLS!
 

ready to go swimming!

Cadet-o-rama

This past Saturday was the Cadet-o-rama.  Hayden's car placed 2nd in the 2nd & 3rd grade age group.  He was a little disappointed but learning you wont always win first place is part of life/growing up.  He had fun building the car with my dad and next year Nile will be in Cadets too so they will have two cars to make! 

Fireplace/Play room update

Jeremy has been working hard on our latest project.  The sheet metal and fireplace is gone!  The only think left is brick surround.  We are waiting to do anymore work on the playroom until we have the new electric fireplace insert installed and that has to wait until my parents get back in early April.

fireplace is officially gone!

everything is taken out of the play room 

Cadet car races 2014

Hayden and my dad had fun making his car for the Cadet car races again this year.  The car has been patiently waiting in a box for tonight.  It wasnt too fast but it looks great, took home 1st in show for the 2nd and 3rd graders again this year.  Next up the cadet-o-rama on the 22nd!

Fireplace/Play Room updates

We decided to make a few updates to the house with some of our tax return money this year.  Our fireplace is not usable for wood burning, don't ask!, so we are going to be putting in an electric insert.  It gets pretty chilly downstairs in the winter and since the family room, play room, and our bedroom/bathroom are all down there we would like it a bit warmer.  The fireplace is drafty and it will be nice to give it a more updated look and make it usable as well.
The play room had a wall of closet, drawers, and shelves that also covered the fire place piping.  The closet also covered a door to the outside that had been caulked shut.  This door along with the small window are pretty drafty too so we ripped out all of the closet,storage this past Saturday to officially kick off this project!    We are going to take the door to the outside out when it gets warmer and put in a new DH window to match the rest of the house and also make the play room into a possible 4th bedroom.  We will also build a new closet space and replace the small hopper window.  Now my family room is full of toys for the kiddos to play with while the play room is off limits.  Cant wait to see how it all turns out!

current fireplace

before pictures of the playroom

after the closet is gone - next is the fireplace piping you see!