Are You Ready To Zumba?

So I started Zumba classes last night with my friend Ann. Zumba is a style of intense dance-aerobics with pulsating Latin music. They offer the classes at several gym's on the base and they are a lot of fun. I pretty much have no idea what I am doing, yet, but figure I'll catch on eventually. I was afraid I was going to be embarrassed when I went the first time, but I wasn't. The class was full of all shapes and sizes of people and the instructor was very encouraging and motivating. And the coolest part was when I finally caught on to a move and began to flow along with the rest of the class. If you get a chance, you should try one out. You are too busy having fun to realize you are exercising. Well, don't get me wrong, I sweat like crazy and my face turns as red as a tomato, but I'm still having a lot of fun. I wasn't too sore last night after the first class, but after today's class, I was a bit stiff. I guess its true what they say though, "No Pain, No Gain". Just pop a couple Motrin and roll on with it...ha ha. You gotta keep the muscles relaxed, you know what I mean? Anyway, I'm trying to get healthier this year. No dieting, as that has never worked for me. I'm actually not even worrying about how much weight I lose. I'm only focusing on activity and eating more veggies. I know how good I feel when I'm exercising regularly and I want to continue feeling that good.

Well, that's about it for now. I just wanted to tell you all about Zumba. Have a great weekend everybody and enjoy Super Bowl Sunday....Go Cardinals!!!!!

God Bless! :)

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Well, I wanted to see some snow and my wish came true. We got about an inch or so of snow this afternoon. It was amazing for me to see as I didn't think it snowed like this here. I'm mean, I was told that it had before, but that it is rare. The entire time Monte and I lived here before, it never snowed, so I was just assuming it would be the same this time around. It's crazy to me the way people react to it over here. Everything shuts down. The schools, stores, even Camp Lejeune was shut down....for an inch of snow! I laugh, but I do understand why its done. When you've never driven in the stuff before, its a lot safer for everyone if they just stay home and off of the roads.

You can see the progression of the snowfall from the pictures I've attached. The boys were so excited when it started to snow that they dug out all of their winter stuff and headed outside. The neighbor kids soon came out and they were all engaged in a snowball fight. They all had a blast.

Well, I just wanted to get this posted so you all could share in our winter surprise. Have a great week and God Bless! :)

Go Cardinals!

The game between the Cardinals and the Eagles yesterday was awesome! It was the kind of game that all fans hope for when we sit down to watch one. The Cardinals were ahead, then the Eagles pulled ahead, but the Cards won in the end to become NFC champions. Since my beloved Packers lost, I have been rooting for them, especially since they haven't been NFC champions since 1947. Sixty-one years is a long dry spell, so I am hoping that they become Super Bowl XLIII Champions.

The boys and I didn't do much this weekend. I splurged and bought a couple new games for the Wii. We got Carnival Games Mini Golf and 30 Great Family Party Games. We've been playing them a lot the last couple of days and consequently, nothing else has gotten done. So, today is straighten up and clean the house day. We gotta get back to our normal routine as the boys head back to school tomorrow.

Have a great week everyone! God Bless! :)

White Fluffy Stuff

I've been missing the white fluffy stuff for the last couple of months now. So much so that today, I found myself surfing the web for pictures of Montana in the winter. There's just something about a white blanket of snow and a big beautiful Montana blue sky that brings me peace. I mean, just look at these gorgeous pictures. It just doesn't get any better than this. Montana truly is God's country and I am so looking forward to moving back when we retire from the Marine Corps.

Take care everyone and God Bless! :)

You Really Need Just One More Mom!

Hey everybody. I hope you all had a great weekend. The boys and I are holding down the fort while Monte is out in the field again. He left on Thursday and will be back on the 25th. While he was packing his gear, Nate decided he was going to go to the field with his dad this time and suited up. It was too cute and I had to take a picture for the blog.

We didn't do much this weekend, just hung around the house. We got some new neighbors and they have three boys ages 17, 11 and 8. The younger two hit it off really well with Brady and Nate. They've been hanging out a lot, walking their black lab and playing football in the back yard. Its great to finally have some kids Brady and Nate's ages next door. They were beginning to get bored with not having anyone around.

I did the usual mom stuff this weekend, you know laundry, cleaning and cooking. I found out on Friday that the little boy I take care of got into the base daycare. His last day with me will be January 26th. It will only be a total of 30 days or so that I've watched him, but I've gotten used to him being with me during the week. It will be strange not having him here and the boys have already asked if we can visit him once in awhile. Nate even thinks we should have another baby. Although, its not Karson that's prompted this idea in him. He's been telling Monte to put a baby in my tummy for about a year now (when he asked how babies get into the moms tummies, I told him the daddies put them there). And just this morning, while taking him to school, Nate said it was great to have Karson sitting in the car seat in the back. He said, "Mom, I know you said you only wanted two kids, but you really need to have just one more baby." He feels that he needs to have someone to be a big brother to, just like Brady is to him. It was just too cute!

Monday the 5th was Grandma Lorraine's birthday and Friday the 9th was my niece Tristen and my nephew Devon's birthday's. I just wanted to say I love you and again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Well, that's about it for now. Take care everyone and God Bless! :)

Happy New Year!

We went over to Darron & Ann's on New Years Eve and had a great time. We ate tons of food and played cards until about 11:30 p.m. Then we headed home and watched the ball drop on Dick Clark's Rockin Eve. We played the Wii after that and then hit the rack for some much needed shut eye.

On New Years Day, we went to see Adam Sandler's new movie, Bedtime Stories. I recommend it as it was pretty good and the kids loved it. After the movie we hung out at home and once again gave the Wii a really good workout. The picture to the left is a picture of one of the games Monte, Brady and Nathan bowled. Brady got 8 strikes in a row and wanted to take a picture of it for the blog. With that game, he made it to pro status and is quite proud of himself. I used to be the best (Wii) bowler in our family, but now Monte and Brady have surpassed me and I'm trying to figure out how that happened....ha ha. Then later that evening, Monte and I left the boys with the Wii and went to another movie on base. We saw the Transporter 3 and it was great! I love Jason Statham. He's one of my boyfriends, along with Daniel Craig....ha ha. But seriously, the movie was good. If you liked the other two Transporters, you'll like this one.

The rest of the weekend we pretty much just hung out. We tried going fishing on Friday, but it started clouding up and sprinkling. The mild rain was no big deal, but the wind picked up and it wasn't so much fun anymore. We were pretty bummed out too as it was the first time we've been to our secret fishing spot since we moved back. Nate was very insistent that he bait his own hooks this time, so we let him. The picture to the right is the result of his hard work. I don't think you can see it really well, but he's got a lure with three different rubber worms on it. He was so proud of it that I had to take a picture.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. The kids go back to school......yeah! It was great having them home the first few days, but then they began to get on each others nerves, started fighting, arguing and picking at each other and consequently, driving their mom up the proverbial wall. It will be so good to get back to our old routine again.

Monte heads out into the field on Thursday. He was off so much this month, that its going to be hard getting used to him being gone again. But, they have to continue training for deployment, so I just have to roll with it.

Well, its time for me to sign off and try to kick Monte's butt at bowling before we head off to bed. I pray that you all have a wonderful 2009. God Bless! :)