Easter 2016

When I looked back and realized that last Easter, we were battling some terrible kind of stomach bug, it is safe to say that THIS Easter was MUCH happier and healthier.  What a beautiful weekend we were blessed with-- and I feel like we did everything in our power to take advantage of it.

I started Friday with some fantastic news on the scale.  I was shocked to see the number that I did when I weighed in post workout on Friday morning.  It hadn't been a great week of working out (they'd been shorter and less intense than usual) and I felt like I had been sloppy with my eating.  But nonetheless I was very happy to see what I did.  When I looked back in my weight tracker through my Weight Watchers app, it was the lowest recorded weight since I started tracking there in Feburary 2011.  I still have a long way to go to reach my own personal goal, but I can say that the early mornings on the treadmill and the choices I have been making with my food intake seem to be working.  And for that I am very grateful.

Neither Jason or I had to work on Friday, but we were waiting at home for a delivery of wine and olive oil from one of the wineries we had visited in Sonoma.  It may seem as if we have now started taking our wine VERY seriously...but we haven't.  We just had horrible timing on the ordering of the wine, and didn't realize it would require a signature when it arrived on our doorstep via the UPS man.  I swear the UPS guy must have thought he was holding a box of money for us by the way the kids ran up to the truck when it came down the street.  Really, they just knew he was the last thing we needed before we could hit the road for Nana and Pap's house.

When we arrived Friday afternoon, the kids made very quick work of destroying all semblance of order that Nana had to her toy stash.  The play kitchen became a restaurant, and there was an intense game of "the Easter Bunny is coming" that was going on upstairs.  I absolutely love that the kids jump right into playing together as if no time has passed since they last saw each other.  We had a super dinner from the Downtown OIP (can you say Taco Salad....oh my word...and their Party Packs are a huge hit with all of our crew).  This supper was the beginning of a slippery downhill slope with my healthy eating...but I will hit the treadmill as hard as I must this week to undo it.  I don't know why food always tastes better when it comes from your Mom's kitchen, but it certainly does.

Saturday morning we decided to take the kids to blow off some steam at the playground.  Dad wasn't feeling so hot, and so we thought it best to limit the amount of thumping and giggling that he needed to endure.  The name of the game....pace ourselves.  So while the kids played on the playground, Libby and I did a few thousand steps around the track that she walks on during her kids' recess during the day.  I now have a full appreciation for why she kicked my behind every time we were in a step competition with our Fit Bits.  I call that an unfair advantage.  HA!  Really...I call it awesome that she can work some workout time into her work day.  We came back and had some lunch, and then got ready for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Nana and Pap's. 

I've got photo evidence of the fact that we had super happy kids.  And probably a few cavities.  But what's Easter without some sugar?  I will say, I did not count any of the points for the things I swiped out of their candy stashes.  Or the peanut butter egg I swiped out of Mom's fridge.  I swear I was like a drug addict in withdrawal when I got to eat that peanut butter egg after the kids went to bed.  I then had to undergo an entire hazmat cleanup before we went to bed to make sure no peanut butter ended up on anything that could impact Josh.  So worth it!

We ended up spending some play time at Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig's so Hayden could have a quiet nap time.  Jason and I actually walked down to their house from Mom and Dad's.  I figured keeping up on my walking would help to undo the damage from the less than stellar eating.  The kids had a blast playing down there, and we had much conversation about their impending new arrival who will be joining their family on Wednesday--- a little chocolate lab puppy named Buck.  We all can't wait to meet him.

Mom cooked a fantastic Easter meal for all of us on Saturday evening.  There was laughing (as always) and lots of yumminess, and my favorite....pickled eggs.  We all worked at cleaning up the kitchen and getting the mess put away, and then enjoyed the rest of the evening there together as a family.  The kids were all playing so nicely together.  Age has definitely been our friend in that department as none of us are chasing children or keeping constant vigil over them.  We have resident tattle tales (Lauren and Mara) to make sure no one is trying to get away with anything.

Sunday morning, the kids were all thrilled to find out that the Easter Bunny had arrived.  We got all decked out in our Easter gear and headed to Sunday School at Nana and Pap's church and then enjoyed the worship service there together.  There is something about being home for church on Easter that I always love.  I missed our FBC family this weekend, although I was blessed to have been there for the Maundy Thursday service (with the kids) on Thursday night.

We were so blessed to have a wonderful weekend with our family in Lewistown.  The kids were all sad to leave-- Mara was even in tears over the idea.  The only thing that helped to slow down a total meltdown was the promise that perhaps we could make a flying trip this coming weekend to meet Buck.  So we'll see how that pans out and whether we're up for it after the week.  Hoping everyone had a wonderful weekend surrounded by family and friends.

Winding Down

These past few weeks have marked the end of a crazy winter season.  On one hand, I've been grateful for a lot of things to do to keep us busy and press through the long, dreary, dark winter months.  I'll post an update about Joshua's musical participation because it deserves one of its very own.  I was so proud of that kid I don't even know where to begin.  But this weekend, we spent our last Saturday at the church for this season of Upward basketball.  This also marks the end of two nights each week of being at the church for basketball practices.  All of this is fine by me.  It has been such fun, though, to watch Josh and Lauren play basketball this season.  It was Lauren's first season, and she really had a great time.  Honestly, Jason and I have said a few times that we think Lauren has definitely benefitted from playing in the driveway with Josh, because she is further along in learning than he was in his first season.  I have loved watching her role as "team encourager" develop.  It is so fitting for her, but she is the first one to give everyone a high five when they score a basket, and looks just as pleased when anyone on her team scores as when she does it herself.  I just love her heart and hope nothing ever changes the way she quietly impacts her surroundings with her genuine kindness. 

Josh continued to do well this year, and continues to love the game more and more each year.  His team had a tough loss this week, after an extremely physical game (which, if you're asking me, didn't need to be anywhere close to as physical as it was).  Josh had two great coaches, though, who really invested in him this year.  We were so grateful to both of them- both local junior high and high school coaches who took a group of kids with varying skill levels and turned them into a team.  It was fun to watch from the sidelines.  I should mention that I got a serious butt kicking on Tuesday night this past week.  I had volunteered to take him to his practice because I expected a pizza party, as is customary on the last night of practice.  And managing food situations and risks seems to be in my wheelhouse (unfortunately).  Imagine my surprise when I found out that we weren't having a pizza party, but instead were going to play a Kids vs. Parents basketball game for the entirety of practice.  Well, let me tell you that this non-basketball playing Mama had her tail handed to her more than a few times by the remainder of the parents, most of whom played basketball (and played well).  No doubt I was one of the ones bringing my team down.  But we did a lot of giggling and I actually managed to score a few points for my team.  And, on another positive note, it earned me an extra 3000 steps that evening on my FitBit!

Mara has spent the entirety of this basketball season eating snacks from the concession stand.  Each week includes at least one slushie, a piece of pizza and normally a bag of gummy worms.  I guess I can't blame her.  The poor girl has to sit through at least two hour long basketball games, and usually one in between them.  She has enjoyed the time with just Jason and I together, and seems to have handled it a lot better than I would have expected her to.  I count it a blessing that she is the age that she is before she has to manage sitting for that long.  Her favorite games have been when Cooper's games coincide or come just after ours, so that she can see Kinley.  (I feel the same way when Emily and I end up in the same place at the same time!) 

We came home for a quick few hours after Josh's game and then headed back to the church for the Easter Egg Hunt there at 4:00.  I clearly was delusional to think that I could handle this myself (and I don't believe it is the first time this has happened to me).  I panicked as soon as they split the kids up by age group and sent them to different corners of the gym-- since I had one in three of the 4 groups.  We got to the right spot for Mara's group to start, but then missed Lauren's altogether.  And then barely found Josh's group before it was too late.  The kids were confused, I was confused, and also sweaty from the running between fields to find our correct groupings.  It was not a good experience.  Somehow, the kids each left with 6 eggs, which made me wonder why we bothered to split up in the first place, and six of the 18 pieces of candy we brought home were Snickers.  This was a big bummer for all of the kids since we don't eat them at all.  Needless to say, they're now looking very forward to Nana's egg hunt this weekend because "Nana doesn't have a rule that we can only get 6 eggs".  And I guarantee we will find no Snickers in Nana's eggs.

Saturday night took a turn for the worse when Mara woke up throwing up in the middle of the night.  It continued through the night, but at sunrise she seemed to be done with the puking.  We spent the morning cuddled on the couch, but by lunch time it was as if nothing had happened.  She was up, playing and very hungry.  So we went with it.  After she was feeling better, I used the found time when we normally would have been in church to make some Easter cutout sugar cookies for Mara's class party on Wednesday, and get my workout in for the day since puke duty took over my normal early morning time.  (I don't know why but it is about 10 times as hard to exercise when it isn't first thing in the morning!)  

Since Mara was feeling better, we all decided to go to the Upward Awards Ceremony at Milton High School.  Josh and Lauren were excited to be with their teams one last time, and the performance is usually pretty good.  They had a great time being introduced with their teams and seemed to enjoy the performance by Seth Franco, who was a former Harlem Globetrotter.  He did some really cool ball handling tricks.  I still say last year's acrobatic slam dunkers were a lot more impressive to watch, but I liked Seth's message about understanding that God made each of those kids perfectly, and that they are never to feel less than good enough for anything.  If that isn't a message every single one of us needs to hear, I don't know what is.  The picture below is just one half of the kids in the Upward program this year.  Josh is in that group somewhere!

I enjoyed watching the show with Jason and this spunky little monkey on my lap.  As crazy as she makes me, I'm usually smiling when I'm with her.

Looking very forward to our trip to Nana and Pap's this weekend to spend some time with them, and Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig and the girls.  We haven't been there for an overnight trip since Christmas, so we're long over due.  

Sonoma

For about six months, I have worried myself nearly sick about the Leaders Council trip that Jason had qualified to attend in Sonoma, California. There have been so many of these that we have foregone simply based on not wanting to leave the kids. But as they have gotten older and the amount of labor required for someone to help us with them while we are gone has reduced, it sounded like it would be worth a shot to go. And, well, Sonoma. So that helped. 

I believe my final count on pages of instructions numbered twenty, hole punched types pages in a binder. One for each day with the times and plans for that day. With school pick ups and drop offs, and Joshua's musical rehearsal achedule there was bo shortage of checklists for what needed to be packed in lunchboxes and supper boxes for each day. I am certain both Jason's mom and my own are sure that I am certifiably insane after looking at it. Directions to everywhere, money for groceries that ran out, health care powers of attorney for the kids, health insurance info. It was nothing if it was not thorough. 

As a side note, this exercise gave me great insight into why I feel like a crazy person all of the time. When you write down all of the things you are trying to remember to do, you realize why your head feels like it is going in a million different directions at one time.  It is!

I nearly didn't make it out the door to leave and bagged the whole trip when the kids started struggling. Our plans were to leave after they all went to bed on Tuesday night. Our flight left Harrisburg at 6:00 am so we had a hotel room there. We still were up and awake at 3:00 to make it on time. Before we could leave, I had tucked everyone into bed. lauren was over comensating by being silly, which broke my heart. I cried through her bedtime prayer. I snuggled in bed with Mara and nearly lost it when she  put her little arms around me and said she just wanted to "hold me a little more". Bless her heart. As she drifted off to sleep I snuck out of her bed to find Josh crying in the hallway. Of all the kids, he would have been the last one we would have expected to struggle. When we left he was still upset but was settling down. But he absolutely broke my heart. 

We arrived in San Francisco around noon but it felt like about supper time considering how long we had been up. The fog made it hard to see the skyline as we left the city, but I can say we have been over the Golden Gate Bridge and "saw" Alcatraz. Sonoma was about an hour and a half north, and we watched the landscape change from city concrete to lush green vineyards. The rolling foothills were absolutely gorgeous. 

These photos were taken from BR Cohn Winery in Sonoma. They took us on a tour of their vineyard.  My favorite was their Chardonnay with that delightful croissant from a local bakery. And let's just say that some carbohydrates were a welcomed base for about 7 different wines before 11 am. I definitely do not drink enough to live this type of lifestyle for long. 

After a reception on Thursday evening, we met up with some new friends, Ben and Shari, from Erie. We had an amazing dinner at a restaurant right in our hotel called Sante. It is a Michelin rated restaurant, which equals fancy. We love trying interesting food, so this was a treat. I believe I had already had about 4 glasses of  sparkling wine at the reception so that was enough of that. Dinner was fantastic. My green risotto in a parmesan foam "bubble bath" was super!  And the caramel apple tart with apple cider ice cream was really amazing!

On Friday, we had a very relaxing day planned. We were headed to the spa, but our appointments weren't until 1:45. We went to breakfast and ended up meeting a really fun couple from North Carolina. They were one of the only couples there close to our age and we hit it off immediately.  Kids the same age, both of us dealing with the same business travel issues with our husbands and similar philosophies on these kinds of events where the same old chit chat about where you're from just flat wears you out. We ended up sitting there for hours talking. And then met up at the spa and giggles about the "bathing ritual" there (which included dumping a bucket of ice cold water on your head at the end...no thank you very much).  And then we met up to spend the evening together at the gala. 

The gala dinner was in the barrel room at a Napa winery called Artesa. Very artsy-fartsy with a stunning view. And since this was the third rainy and foggy day in a row, the fact that it was beautiful meant that on a day that wasn't soggy and gray, I can't imagine how gorgeous it would have been. We ate, we drank and we even danced. Which may have been helped by the wine. In fact I am sure it was. 

Saturday was a day just for Jason and I to explore some wineries. The first one was our favorite. It was called B Cellars and was the first winery I have ever seen with a gorgeous kitchen as the centerpiece. We had a wine and lunch pairing experience there and it was amazing. We also had a tour of their process and a barrel tasting of what turned out to be our favorite wine- a sangiovese. And you all should be impressed with my wine growth because I didn't even know that was a thing prior to Saturday. We ended up shipping 6 bottles home for when it releases in July. There will be a steak dinner party to go with it for anyone who wants to come. 

We went to three other wineries, none of which paled in comparison to B Cellars. But we did find a bakery in a little trendy part of Yountville around Napa that apparently we couldn't have gotten into if ot hadn't been pouring.  We got some yummy treats there that we enjoyed after we arrived in San Francisco to our hotel for the night.

We are currently en route home and I cannot wait to squeeze my babies. I swear to you, I have missed them so much that it hurts me. But we will be there soon to give them all the love we have been saving for them...and all will be right with the world again. It is always a treat to go away, but no matter where in the world I will ever go, and no matter what I am blessed to experience there, there is nothing better than being home with my family.