A very Happy Mother's Day

What a nice Mother's Day this has been. Actually, the whole weekend has been really nice and very productive. First off, earlier this week I had a revelation. In truth, I think it was God tapping me on the shoulder to remind me that I am still a wife and mother and that I have been somewhat neglectful in these areas lately. Although the Internet is a wonderful and very useful tool, it can also be addictive. Somewhere along the line I have spent more and more hours on my computer. It was as if I thought that as long as I finished work and my training, all the rest of my time was available to waste watching TV with my computer on my lap. I was neglecting spending time with my husband and my kids and I was not getting anything done around the house either. So, I decided that I am going to limit my computer time to checking my email in the morning and then 1 hour at night. I am not watching TV until everything else is done or I am watching a show with my family. I actually cooked dinner for the kids 3 nights in a row (hubby was traveling) and we all sat down together. I got caught up on all the laundry, my kitchen was completely clean every night before bed and I vacuumed every single day (because the dogs are shedding like crazy). It is amazing how much better I feel physically and mentally because of this change. I am now spending time doing things around the house with hubby or the boys, or just hanging out with them. I am loving it and I think they are too. I am just so happy that God did get me on the right path again because I have so little time left with son #1 who will be graduating next year. Also, isn't that kind of disconnection bad for a marriage as well? I have a terrific marriage and a wonderful, loving husband and I want to keep it that way. We love spending time together and I just wanted to get back to that. I know hubby was missing it, but I didn't realize how much I was too. So, I just want everyone to know, now that I am on this new and better path, I will likely just be blogging once or twice a week and I feel really good about that!

So, back to this weekend. Usually, hubby and at least one of the boys go to the lake every weekend. My request for MD weekend was that he stay home, and in line with my new resolution, help me get some much needed things done around here and spend time together. We spent the day Saturday doing yard work. We trimmed all the bushes in the front, re-mulched all the beds, trimmed almost all of the trees in back, cleaned out the pool, took down the trampoline, mowed and dug up unwanted banana trees. I have some new ideas for the space where the trampoline was and we will get started on that project hopefully by the end of the month.

Today, I was served a scrumptious big breakfast at home. Then, we headed to the rink for L2 and G's ice hockey game, which they won 2-1. I spent the afternoon organizing our office/dog kennel while L2 and G went fishing and hubby hung new ceiling fans. I can actually see and use my desk now and I am so excited! Then to top off the day, I was given this by my "boys"!



Isn't it great? I just LOVE it!! What a really nice surprise...thank you honey! :0)

Poor L1 has been sick since Wednesday. He came home from school with a bad headache. When I got home he came down to tell me and I checked his temperature. It was 101.4 degrees! The last time he was sick, when he missed regionals in swimming, he just had some random virus that gave him fever and aches for 3 days and then he was better. I assumed that was what it was again, since Ibuprofen was keeping the fever under control. But today is day #5 of fever and now sore throat. I am going to assume he has strep at this point and will get him to the doctor tomorrow for some antibiotics. Poor kid! He missed a pre-cal test on Thursday, his AP history exam on Friday (which he had been studying for, for a week) and his summer swim team time trials on Saturday. He also missed work this weekend. Even after all of that though, in between fevers, he managed to write this poem.

Poet, Don't Be Silent
by Luke Kerschbaum copyright 2009

Poet, don't be silent
You've a message to convey
Words of life that must be spoken
Words your God wants you to say.

It's a gift that you've been given
Now, you'll never be the same
Seek the Spirit's great anointing
You've a gift; now, fan the flame.

Poet, don't be silent
You must let your voice be heard
Let it all be for His glory
Every line and every word.

There are those who live in sorrow
Condemnation and in strife
Poet, don't be silent
Let your words be words of life.

Let them echo every promise
Every truth found in His Word
Let the seeds of life be planted
Where your rhyming lines are heard

Don't seek fame and don't seek glory
Seek to magnify your Lord
For indeed He's coming quickly
Poet, that is your reward.

I know I am probably just biased, but I think he has so much God given talent and I am just really proud of this one. He is such a great kid!

Well, as you can see, it was a very productive weekend around here! I am now quite tired and ready for bed and so are my babies!





Awwww, aren't they just adorable?

Hope all of you have had a wonderful Mother's Day, whether you are a mother, or you just have a mother (on earth or in heaven)! I feel so blessed and I hope you have been too.

Peace Out!

Tri-Vet

We Tried

This past Saturday I had my second triathlon of the season. It was in The Woodlands, where my brother/sister in-laws live. Mary (SIL) is a great biker and a marathon runner, but she is not really into swimming. She wanted to do the race with me, so she asked if L1 would do the swim for her. He had been wanting to swim in a tri as a relay, so it was perfect. Mary had to wait in line the night before the race to get a race entry for them. Her co-worker is a great runner and she had never done a tri before either, so she decided to do the run portion. The distances for the race were a 500 meter swim, a 15 mile bike and a 5K run. L1 was a bit nervous about swimming in brown open water with a bunch of other people who don't necessarily swim that great. I told him to definitely start in the front of the pack. The start horn blew and he and one other young man were leading the pack. Then L1 ran into the pack of slower people from the wave before him. He couldn't get around the slow people and had to tread a bit to sight a way around. He ended up getting second in the swim for the relays and 10th place overall out of nearly 800 people! What a fantastic swim for his first time in open water. He complained that he would have had first if the people who were slower had just moved out, but that isn't the way it works! LOL Mary had a nice strong bike leg and Pam had a great run and they finished in first place for co-ed 2 female/1 male relays.

Anyway, despite my knee problems lately, I had a fairly good race. I had a pretty good swim and a strong bike leg. My run was slow but not painful and it was my first time running without my knee brace since my last race. I got third place out of nine in my division. I won a nice metal reusable water bottle.



Here are some pictures of us after the race.





It was really fun to do the race with family! I'd love to do more!

In other news, Dudley finished puppy class last week. He got a certificate and everything. He still needs a bit of work on the heal and the roll over, but he has perfected sit, shake, stay, down and leave it. We will have to practice on the other things, but he is a pretty good boy. Oh, and he weighed 66.6 lbs and was just 4 mos. old. That is almost 20# more than Huck at the same age. He is also completely potty trained and I am most happy about that! :0)

Huck is doing OK. He has some arthritis going on in his ankle on his good leg, most likely from putting more weight on that leg to get it off of his bad leg. But, he is happy and loves his baby brother and his food of course! LOL They are so much alike. You should see them come running when anyone gets ice out of the fridge dispenser. You would think they are getting a steak treat instead of just an ice cube.

I don't know if you watch American Idol, but I have to tell you I was quite surprised and a little scared that Adam was in the bottom two last week. I voted for him 5 times. I think there is a limit to how many times you can vote from a phone number (10 I think) so I plan on using all of our cell phones and voting for him the maximum number of times on each this week to help ensure his stay. He is meant to win....I just feel it. Check him out if you haven't seen/heard him.
Want more American Idol videos? Click here.
He is the bomb!! A lot of people don't like him because they think he is over the top. I just think he is such a great performer with a beautiful voice. He is always recreating the song to make it his own version every single week. I know even if he doesn't win, he is going to be very successful, much like Chris Daughtry.

Well, I am off to watch Dancing with the Stars now. I am rooting for Gilles (so sexy) and Melissa (so lovable).

Peace Out!

Tri-Vet