Sunny Days Preschool

We have absolutely loved our experience with Josh's preschool. Here are his two teachers Miss Mary and Miss Audine. It is a Co-Op preschool which means that the moms are all involved in planning activities, field trips, and being the "working parent". If we were staying in Michigan I would love to have Maddie go to Sunny Days. My kids are (not to brag) pretty amazing at sharing toys and treats as you can see in this picture. Suckers are ok for babies right??!

Ok, take a close look at this picture and you will see something.........Josh and Tyler are matching! The reason I bring this to you attention is because this is the first time EVER that I have matched my kids! All of my sister in-laws are pro's at matching their kids on holidays, parties, and pretty much whenever they feel like it. I, on the other hand, will never be that organized or well planned. But, I was proud of myself for doing it once! Josh was totally excited about it though.

I remember when I was debating whether or not to start a blog there was one thing that kind of bothered me. I feel like the majority of the time, the people I know with blogs, rarely share anything about themselves, but only talk about their kids. I totally and completely understand this. Our kids are our greatest joy and consume the majority of our thoughts. However, don't you ever just want to know how someone is doing, or what they are doing minus the kids? (I hope I'm not in trouble for saying this.) I notice all the time how moms talk about what their kids are doing and their husbands, but it is hard to talk about ourselves.

I want to tell about a few of the things that have gotton me through this cold winter and keep my sanity amongst changing diapers and picking up toys. Here it goes:

1. The best part about this winter in Michigan has been our ice skating rink just down the street from our house. It is free, we all have our own skates, and it is an absolute blast spending time outside despite the cold. We have been ice skating 2-3 times each week and whenever I need to escape for a bit I head over to the rink by myself. It has been totally awesome learning new tricks and improving my skating ability. It's a great workout too!

2. My friend Hilary and I have been working on our guitar skills since last fall. We get together once a week for a jam session. I have loved it. We both keep each other motivated and are teaching ourselves from a guitar method book. Last week we were singing as a crew of men were working on her basement. We felt like idiots because two of the guys had been in bands previously! All I can say is I am SO glad I met Hilary when I did and we share the same love for music.

3. Running has been one of my greatest hobbies just in the last two years. Right now I am training with Terria, Bethany, Jenny V., and Ann K. We are working towards a 25K in Grand Rapids Michigan on May 9th. The training has been going on for the last month and it is so great to have people to run with. My friend Andrea is talking about flying up from Florida to join us. I am so excited!

4. This sounds like a silly thing to get excited about, but I am totally into this step aerobics class I am doing at the gym. It is twice a week and I feel like I have to bend backwards so that I can get there on time. It feels more like a dance class than a workout. I have two friends that do it with me and after a month I FINALLY feel like I can do it. The first week I couldn't stop laughing because I felt like such a dork the whole time.

5. The fifth thing that I have loved lately is my calling in church. My calling is "Music Person" or something like that. Last Sunday the choir sang a number we have been working on for the last few weeks. ("Be Still My Soul.") I am always worried about who will show up and how it will turn out, but it was so beautiful. We had about 12 men and 8 women. Plus, the pianist is one of my piano students and she did absolutely fabulous! I love doing the music in the branch whether in Primary, Relief Society, playing the piano or conducting. I am growing an even deeper love for the hymns now that I spend more time studying them and putting numbers together.

Whoever has read this far is too kind. I am blabbing away because if I stand up, I will have to go do a massive amount of laundry and dishes. I have to say that being a stay at home mom is pretty sweet and I wouldn't trade it for the world! My good friend Julie wrote a cute little saying that was given out today at our "Grosse Pointe Mom's Club" meeting.

"No joy is more demanding, yet heart-expanding as that of Mother. Here's to sharing the joy and confusion, the love and learning, the tears and triumphs, as we grow and give together!"