2 Things NOT To Do On An Airplane

1) If your daughter (or son) is playing her Nintendo DS Mario Bros. game, DO NOT yell out, "Kill the bomb!" on an airplane. Nothing bad happened to me, except I freaked out Scott, but the potential was there. I thought nothing of it at the time. She's playing a game, for goodness sakes. But, really, it's not a good thing to yell on a plane.

2) Do not let your kids play with Glitter Lava. It's kinda like Silly Putty and kinda like Play-Doh. It's oozie, it's stretchable, and it has glitter in it. Perfect to keep the girls occupied on our flight- so I thought. Once again, husband pointed out that playing with gel on an airplane isn't a good idea. Point taken, especially since I had already yelled Bomb (see #1).

*An opinion about Glitter Lava. DO NOT BUY IT. It does not come out of clothes. It's a great toy if you're going to let the kiddos run around, outside, naked, but other than that, it's a no go.

Things Our Kids Teach Us

Aren't kids amazing?

They teach us so many things. Patience, for one.

But they also introduce us to parts of life that we would have missed out on otherwise. Take karate, for instance. I never thought I would be working toward my yellow belt; I am because of my children. Isn't that great?!

I am now tackling one of my fears: skiing.

I used to love skiing. Somewhere along the way, I developed a fear of skiing. Not of falling. I don't mind if I fall. I'm scared of not stopping. I'm scared of getting on and getting off the ski lift.

But we decided as a family to go skiing for Spring Break, so here I am, facing my fears for my kids. I don't want them to know I'm scared, because I want them to fall in love with skiing.

First run of the day after dropping the kiddos off at ski school--I cried the entire way down. It just scared me.

At the bottom of the run I told Scott I wanted to take a group lesson. I got signed up and within the first 30 minutes, ski instructor Chuck got me over my fears. Yup. No more ski fears! YES!

So, tomorrow Big Sis, Dad and I will go skiing together for the first time. Princess didn't quite pass Ski School so she has to go back tomorrow.

I love my kids! I'm skiing again, without fear, because of them.

Week 1, Tri Training

I have completed week one of my first ever Triathlon Training.

Whew!

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Meaning, I could actually complete each day's worth of exercises. No small feat for someone as nonathletic as me.

Swimming on Day One was harder than I thought. I realized that even though I can run a 5K (again, something of a challenge for this asthmatic, nonathletic mom) I am not in the best of shape. However, I LOVED the swimming. Now I am on a hunt to find a place where I can swim several times a week. I've even got the gear: (because if you're gonna attempt something, you gotta look your best!) swim cap, nose clip, goggles. Bring it on!

My bike has been in the shop getting a tune up so I had to use the stationary bike at the gym. Not a big fan of the stationary bike. It just doesn't really feel like a workout; which makes me think I may not be doing it correctly.... But, I picked up Sparkles (the bike. Yes. I named my bike) today and she is ready to go. Group bike is tomorrow. I am already intimidated because I know I am the weakest of the group- which lends itself to predatory animal analogies, but I try not to go there. Have not been on a real (non-stationary) bike in about 5 years, so tomorrow will be very interesting. Hope I don't fall off.

Couldn't do the run on Thursday because I hurt my knees in karate class the night before. I walked around the zoo for three hours though, so that counts for something! My knees have recovered, so I completed the run for today. Yay me!

The Core workout for the swim was a nice change. Hard, but I really enjoyed it.

So, there ya have it. Week One. Check.

Next week looks to be about the same, but Week Three we step things up a bit.

Haven't noticed any weight loss yet, but overall I just feel healthier.

My arm is finally better, so I can start weights this week.

I am really enjoying this whole experience so far, and am super glad to have a reason to look forward to exercising.

Learning New Things

Just wanted to share a few new things going on in our household:

**I have discovered the most wonderful book EVER. It describes my Princess perfectly and how to "handle" her.

Strong-Willed Child or Dreamer? by Dr. Spears and Dr. Braund

I've always known that Princess wasn't strong-willed. But she is...something. According to this book, she is a dreamer. Imaginative, sensitive, moody, compassionate, and stubborn. It's almost as if the authors have been spying on my family for the past 5 years. That's how PERFECT this book is describing Princess. I have highlighted something on almost every page. I FINALLY feel that I understand my child. She is not an easy one to figure out, but she is amazing.

Scott and I have been implementing some of the techniques used in the book and we have seen a change in Princess. More compliance. More happy (if that's possible!). Fewer tears and whining. I'm going to buy a copy of this book for every teacher that Princess has!!

**The chore chart.

We have tried these in the past, and we are pitiful at following through with them. This time, we have vowed that we will be better.

The one thing that sold me on this chore chart as opposed to the others we've tried, is that the kiddos get to choose whether or not they get an allowance at the end of the week, or a special treat that they choose.

Both of my kids picked the special treat. Big Sis chose to make a special cake with Mommy on Saturday. Just the two of us. Princess chose to have Dad take her to the park on Saturday--just the two of them.

As expected, Big Sis is WAY into the chore chart. She's Type A, first born child. Princess has shown more interest than usual, I think because her reward is so special to her.

Just an update on what is going on here. Hope all is well in your household!