Ok so instead of a can of pledge, this time you may go for a Swiffer

So I'm not very good at updating the blog. Writing is not my gift, it doesn't come very naturally, and life is busy, and all interesting pictures are already shared on Facebook anyway, and the dog ate my homework. What? Oh, not the dog part.

So what has happened since my last post that would be note-worthy? Hm. Easter - that was lovely. I finally got around to making resurrection cookies with the girls this year. I think it helped bring the real reason for the celebration to the forefront, balancing out the church services, candy basket, and dressing in the new duds. I hope to keep the symbolic cookie-making tradition with the kiddos. Even my anti-sweets hubby enjoyed eating the resurrection cookies when they were done. :) So it was a success all-around. This is my lil' studmuffin on Easter:

And the gorgeous three:

My beloved sister came to visit. It was glorious. Every moment. And if I tell you any more about it I shall start to weep.

I've put up a couple of bird feeders and am slowly becoming a bird watcher. I've identified chickadees, the most common, some finches and some Western Tanagers, along with the usual sparrows, blue jays, and robins. Oh, and FINALLY we got some hummingbirds at our hummingbird feeder! So that was especially exciting. My eldest was there to witness and shared my joy. Fun, fun.
We went to Astoria for a family mini-vacation. It was beautiful. You should go there.
I had a birthday. The fun part about that was all the freebies! I love free. Especially when it doesn't take much effort! I still have yet to go shop for my $10 gift at World Market (maybe tomorrow after work?), but I had plenty of dinners out to last me quite a while! (I also love to eat out...so you see, the combination can be quite delightful.) Probably the best gift of all was the note that my husband wrote on my birthday card (the roses and coffee gift card were a close second!).
This is us, minus one, at my 8-yr-old's field day at school:
School's out! Seems like the rest of the country was out a month ago when we finally get out of school up here. Maybe that's because the rest of the country WAS out a month ago when we finally got out of school up here. I love seeing more of the girls and enjoying happy times with them. Both have already learned to ride their bikes after only two days of practicing! Poor babies, up here where it's usually rainy and/or cold, and when sidewalks are scarce, they hadn't had much opportunity to learn until now. What a bittersweet joy to see them learn and grow up! Confession: I had to laugh at myself. It's so hilarious. I was running along behind Rebekah, my 8-yr-old, as she pedaled. And she says "Mommy, let go! Let go!" And I said "I can't! You might fall!" BWAHAHAHAA! That was just so unintentionally funny.

To avoid the frustrations of no plans or order over summer days, I made up a morning schedule for the girls. Today was their first day to follow it and they both did GREAT. They had lovely attitudes since they both started the day with reading their Bibles and praying. And in the end, I got clean floors after they did their daily chore! Rebekah made breakfast (scrambled eggs with cheese, bagels, and bananas) with almost no help from me. It was all quite lovely. Jose and I did some yard work and I did some home office stuff and laundry...such satisfaction after a productive day! Now I'll have to force myself to do a workout dvd after all the babies are in bed. Not a great way to end a perfect day, but I'm sure I'll think so afterwards.

What else since March? I've lost ten pounds! I only have another 10 to go until I get to high school/college weight. Very exciting. Right now I weigh less than when I got married, so that's a good feeling. Thus the workout dvd tonight. And hopefully tomorrow I'll get a chance to go activate my free 3-month pass to the gym. I love free enough to do it. :)