Stuffed...

This is how I felt after Thanksgiving Dinner.

But it's amazing how quickly you can bounce back after a couple of hours and dive right into a piece of cheesecake...MMMmmmm cheesecake......

The Thanksgiving Holiday was great! Got to see lots of family that we only get to see MAYBE once a year. And although a stomach bug was running rampant in the group...I think everyone had a great visit. Great food (and drink), relaxing and visiting with family...loved it.

I wish I would have taken more pictures but here are a few highlights...

Got to meet Miss C (16 mos)! She's the daughter of The Husbands cousin who lives out in CA. She is such a sweetheart and a huge Yo Gabba Gabba fan!

Miss Independent

Little Man's cousin J came by to play! He was wearing a Batman onesie so Little Man ran upstairs to put on his matching shirt! So cute!

Mmmmm plastic!

Dinner was hosted by Aunt J and Uncle J and they just so happened to have a keyboard. Little Man loves music so he jumped on and started playing. I could see the gears going in The Husbands head so I wouldn't be surprised if Little Man starts piano lessons soon. :D

LL Cool J on keyboard

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Looking forward to Christmas!

Balloon Bad Luck

$10?! Seriously?!

Today Little Man and I were running errands and he was being SO patient. So when we were wrapping it up at the grocery store, I offered to buy him a balloon. When he selected the $10 Giant Turkey Balloon (this thing was BIG), I hesitated...remembering the $20 Elmo Balloon incident of 2009.

$20 Giant Elmo Head Balloon - that was The Husband's purchase. :)

We had just left the Elmo and Friends show, with the $20 Balloon, and just as we snapped Little Man into his car seat, he lets the balloon float out the window. Argh! But at least we made it to the car. I can't tell you how many of those pricey balloons we saw on the ceiling at the show.

But, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt so we paid for the groceries and balloon and headed out to find the car. Well, Little Man thought it would be funny to hit the balloon and bop Mommy in the face! I know! So fun! On the second punch, the ribbon broke loose and the Turkey escaped. You could hear people in the parking lot saying, "Ohhhhhhh Nooooo" as Little Man helplessly watched his Turkey float away.

He asked me to go get it and I explained that there was no way to catch it. So we stood by the car and watched it until we couldn't see it anymore. He was pretty bummed.

This was the conversation on the drive home:

Little Man: "Can Santa Claus fly?"

Me: "Well, his reindeer can fly and they pull his sleigh, so yes, as long as he's in the sleigh he can fly."

Little Man: "Wow! He can fly up above the clouds and get my turkey and bring him to my house".

Me: "Um, well, the Turkey might be long gone by then."

Little Man: "I think he can."

That was pretty much the end of the conversation.

So, at Christmas, if you happen to see Santa flying around with a Turkey Balloon, point him in our direction. :D

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Class Pictures!

Just got our school picture order and thought I'd share! I've also posted older school photos of Little Man....just love seeing how much he's changed in the last 3 years. He's so cute!!!

Group Picture of the 3's class.

Little Man front row center next to his buddy "W".

Our handsome 3yr old

Little Man's picture from his 2's class.

Little Man's first school picture.

18 months old.

Catching up with Little Man....

Here's some pictures that I forgot to post:

Little Man was given a Super Student Award

for Cleaning Up Toys. Yeah!

Leo the Lamb is the class "pet" and gets to go home with one of the kids every weekend and the kids journal about their time with him. Of course you know this is homework for the parents....right? :D

Little Man and Leo strapped into their car seats.

Little Man showing Leo how to make a gun out of Trio Blocks.

It's bedtime! Little Man introducing Leo to the bedtime buddies:

Tigger, Pooh, Llama, Olivia & Wintertime Tigger.

The Husband and Little Man went to the sporting goods store with me to get my gear for swim conditioning class. Once I was ready to check out, I had to go looking for them and this is what they were doing.

Playing with the Super Soaker guns that you use in the swimming pool.

Of course, Little Man wanted the one that was as big as him. :)

HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A WONDERFUL DAY!!!

Little Mermaid

This was me at swim conditioning class on Monday.

HA HA HA! RIGHT! HA HA HA!

Recently I signed up for a Swim Conditioning class at our local gym. I've tried the Body Pump, PiYo and Pilates classes but thought I'd switch it up. My friend "B" has taken this class and told me how great it was and how it's helped her running because of the cardio aspect of it. SO, I thought I'd give it a shot.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

You can cheat your way through the other classes but when you're in the pool, you can't. And you find out VERY quickly just how out of shape you really are. And I'm SO out of shape!

I loved to swim when I was little but the extent of my swimming these days is chasing Little Man around the pool to make sure he keeps his floaties on, doesn't drink the pool water, doesn't pee or poop in the water and doesn't splash the babies in the face.

So on Sunday, I buy 2 swimsuits, a swimcap and a pair of goggles. I had to look up, How to Put on a Swimcap on YouTube...because I didn't have a clue and you can find anything on there! Very helpful and saved me a ton of embarrassment in the locker room. :D

Monday / First day, 3 women are enrolled (me secretly hoping we're all on the same skill level & glad there were no guys in the class) and I'm the only one there (at first) so I thought, "Cool, personal training on the first day!"

Coach P is great! Here's his bio listed on the club's website:

P was an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 200 Meter Backstroke and World ranked in several events, including the 200 Backstroke and 400 IM. A scholarship graduate of the University of Cincinnati, P has trained under several Olympic coaches throughout his career, notably Frank Busch (2008 Assistant U.S. Olympic Coach) and Jack Nelson (1976 U.S. Olympic Head Coach). P has been involved in all levels of coaching, including Head Age Group Coach, Masters Swim Coach, and Private Instructor. He is currently a member of The Woodlands Masters Swim Team, and has recently competed in Masters Nationals in both The Woodlands and Austin TX.

Wow! So I should be at Olympic level by the end of the month....right?! :D

Um, no.

Coach P - Your first drill is to swim 50 meters freestyle. That's down and back, so I can check your form, etc.

Me - That's like this right? (Me standing there doing my arms like I think I'm supposed to).

Coach P - Yes, that right. (I'm sure he's thinking, "Oh boy, we're starting from scratch with this one".)

So off I go, swimming along, trying to breathe, gulping in water with air and wondering, "how did I get so out of shape?" I was a runner and I've run 2 half marathons (granted its been a few years) how can I be this out of shape?!

I get to the end and Coach P is there waiting.

Coach P - How did that feel? (smiling)

Me - I'm already tired! (not smiling but happy I didn't drown)

Coach P - Are those new googles? I think you've left the plastic film on the lenses.

Me - Oh, yeh...um, here (handing him the plastic and feeling so silly).

Coach P - I bet you can see better now! (smiling)

Me - Well, I was so busy trying to get my stroke right and figure out how to breathe that I wasn't too worried about my vision. (smiling)

Coach P - O.K. Let's do the same thing again.

Me - O.K. (me thinking - If I do the same thing again, I'll sink to the bottom of the pool!)

By my 2nd drill, one of the other girls showed up. She was in great shape! But she's been doing this longer. Coach P asked her to do three 75's and something else I totally didn't understand and off she went. I sat there and watched how she did her breathing to try and figure it out. She made it look so easy!

Later, when Coach P and I were discussing my taking in water, she was so nice and told me how she went through the same thing when she started. That made me feel better!

So we worked on my stroke, my hands, my rolling of the shoulders, my kick, my calves that were cramping...basically everything. But by the end of class, my form was better and I learned how to roll my shoulders better so I'd have my face up out of the water more to get a good breath in.

Coach P even said I have "a natural feel for the water". (Me beaming) And my classmate said, "he never told me that!" (pat, pat, pat <----- me patting myself on the back).

This mermaid is going to kick some butt by the end of the month! :D

(Now where's my heating pad and Motrin?)

And we're done!

I promise, this is the last group of pics and video footage from Halloween. Whew! I am so glad it's over! Now it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Woo Hoo!

This is The Husband and I at a costume party Friday night. The theme was Rock Star but singers of all types showed up. My top 3 favorites were Lady Gaga, Slash & The Naked Cowboy (wearing boxers). I was supposed to be Cyndie Lauper and The Husband was "Old School Rapper".

Little Man and his cousins getting ready to go trick or treating.

Darth Vader, Obi Wan, Vampire Girl & Ninja Warrior

Video #1 the kids getting started.

Video #2 Little Man already tired by the end of the block. :D

Thank goodness we didn't end up with a ton of candy!