Colossal Catch Up

WHEW! Lots to write about... it has been a long time since my last post!

First off, the Zumba training was a lot of fun! I am now a licensed instructor...! Before I can teach a class, I have to work on my playlist, which is about 20 songs.  I have a ways to go before I am there, so I am trying to add a new song every day while reviewing the songs from the previous day.  It is time consuming, but I want to be good and have a good class, so I am working hard at it.  The Thursday before the training, my current instructor let me teach a song to the class and it went well... I was soooo nervous, but it was fun! 

all of the zumba trainees

The training was all day on Friday-- from 8am until 5:30pm.  It was a lot of dancing and I was worn out after that! I picked my mom up from the airport in Greensboro that night and then headed home to pack up because in the morning, I was leaving for the beach for a week!

Eddie had some work things to take care of at the start of the week, so I packed up the boys and the pup and drove to the beach Saturday morning.

We had a FULL house down there! My brother and his family and my parents were there, and my aunt came for a little while too.  It is a small house, but we all made it work! Andy's pack n play rotated from the laundry room to the bathroom and back again, but it never bothered him! That kid slept like a CHAMP at the beach! Over 12 hours each night, I would put him down for his morning nap and have to wake him every day at 10:30, and then he'd go back down again at 1 and sleep until around 5...every single day.  It was AWESOME! (well, one night he woke up in the middle of the night with a massive poopy diaper... my poor aunt was sharing a room with us and he of course woke her up, and she couldn't fall back asleep...hated that!).

It was a full week at the beach with lots of outside time, playing in the water and just having fun! I'll let the pictures do the talking (for the most part)...

SUPERMEN!

ahem...SUCH boys!

making pancakes

Happy 4th!

we had just woken Nugget up... he was out of it and rode in the back seat of the car...and loved it!

this was the "plan" for the parade....

however, this was how it actually happened! Chris and Dad carried the banner- HA!

sharing a Popsicle

not sure the pose here.... but he was fierce about it

popsicles!

playing hard!

Cal was VERY into sharing with Andy-- it was super cute to watch him feed his little brother!

cousins!

Andy and Gramma

he adores her, can you tell?

Cal found a Barbie...

and promptly removed all of her clothes...SUCH a boy!

lots of wrestling

cousin love!

Andy wanted to play with the big kids

laughing at Cal

love Andy's face in this one

one of my FAVORITES

walking on sand is tough!

the boys riding on the top of the boat

sparklers! Cal liked them for about 2 minutes and then he wasn't a fan

we had a pinata... it was taking the kids too long to break it so Chris stepped in.

on our way out to see the fireworks! giving kids a little sugar to keep them awake :)

about to start... this is cal started the fireworks show...

then he got scared and tired and ended up on my like this.. he was asleep after the second firework went off....and stayed this way...

even when we got home...and naked... no waking up...

even while having a diaper put on for night nights.... no waking up...

told you you should have napped!!!

son-in-law mother-in-law love

shades

boy cousins

eddie and i took the boys to the surfshop.  we turned around and saw cal exploring the mannequin.  I thought eddie was going to die of embarrassment. 

playing in the canal... that's Cal on the paddle board!

and this was huge-- he would NOT let go of my hands, and then finally on the last day, he let go and floated around by himself....and loved it!

 We got home Sunday and it's been back to reality since! I am working on zumba stuff and trying to get back into the groove of life. I didn't sign Cal up for any camps this month and I am currently kicking myself in the rear for that decision.  I took both boys with me to the apple store yesterday and today to get an oil change.  This would be fine if they were normal, CALM kids.  Nope.  Not these boys!

Oh well... welcome back to the RW (real world!)!!

ZUMBA

When I started my workout kick back in January, I started taking Zumba classes at the gym.  I had taken them before with other instructors, and liked them fine, but the instructor at my gym was FAB.U.LOUS.  He was the most amazing gay black man and he made the class SO MUCH FUN (I mention the two description words- gay and black- to paint a picture of him, and for no other reason).  He is an opera singer as well and he actually got a role up in New York so he left our class. 

We were lucky enough to have the woman who trained our instructor take over his classes, and WOAH, she is AH-MAZING too.  She gives us such a hard workout, but it is so much fun, so no one really notices that we are soaking wet when the class was over.  She has the best music and has endless energy, so her classes are just FUN! No other way to describe them (other than a@@ whooping). 

Both of our instructors had to miss classes here or there, which is totally understandable, obviously.  But the subs they got were horrible.  Like, didn't break a sweat, never got my heart rate up, didn't even smile, kind of horrible. 

That got me thinking, I should sooooo do this.  I could do this better than she can, right???

Well, that little idea was planted in the back of my head...

THEN, our current instructor announced that she was moving this summer.  We were all suuuuuuper disappointed...and terrified that she was going to get one of the bad subs to take her spot full time. 

I emailed her one afternoon and asked what it took to become a Zumba instructor.  She was wonderful and answered a ton of my questions and was really encouraging....I followed up by emailing my first instructor, Maurio, to pick his brain a little.  He was also super encouraging...

Next thing I know, I am registered to take a Zumba certification course all day on Friday!

I have no idea if I will get classes of my own or how it works, but I am really excited about it! I assume I will probably sub some to get used to it all and then maybe start getting classes-- really have no idea what to expect, but I am excited!

Also, my teacher told me to start working on a song and once I had it ready, I needed to do it for the class, just to get it under my belt and for practice (since if I did get an entire class, I wouldn't want my first time being in front of people to be my first class!).  Soooo, I came up with a routine and I am doing in at class tomorrow....!!!! EEEEK!

I am excited and also really nervous.  This class has come to expect these amazing workouts each week and I am scared they won't like my stuff, or it won't be hard enough, or the music isn't good enough (I love the song, and I am also worried it is a bit raunchy for some....). 

Also, Zumba is supposed to be 70% Latin in each routine...I don't really do Latin.  I do hip shaking, booty moving, hip hopping.... so I am nervous about that too....

I realize that anyone reading this probably doesn't really care about this, but I had to share some of my insecurities and worries.

I will let you know how tomorrow goes and all about training on Friday.  Did I mention that it is ALL day?  I check in at 8am and it goes until 5:30 with a 30 minute lunch break.  Honestly, I think it is going to be like a mini-vacation... that is a LONG time for me to be away from the munchkins!

Also, I vow to never wear shoes like these:


What do you think? Am I crazy??  Would you take my class?????

Shake on, my friends....

Monday Randomness

Helloooooo!

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  My in-laws left Friday evening, and as wonderful as it is to have the extra hands to help out with the boys, it was really nice having the weekend just the four of us (plus a furry big guy).  We didn't do anything too exciting; just enjoyed each other's company.

This is a completely random post, with no real "purpose" which I guess is okay...right??? Sprinkled throughout are some pics from my iPhone.

*On Fridays, one of my favorite blogs to read, Blonde Ambition, does Confessional Friday where you can link up your blog and post your confessions from the week.  I had a whole slew of confessions for this past Friday, but I confess that I never got around to creating the post.  I also confess that I wouldn't link up my blog since it is private, but still... Anyway-- y'all should check out her blog if you are bored or looking for something to read.  Her confessions are always humorous to me... maybe you are more mature than moi. 

Here are two of my confessions today:


*Have y'all tried the Wheat Thins Sundried Tomato and Basil crackers yet? They should call them crack because they are addicting.  Eddie and I can consume an entire box in one night. 


*And while I am on the food kick, 2-ish years ago, a friend posted a link about Diet Sierra Mist with Cranberry. It is a holiday special and they only bring it out in December.  Well, that year, I fell in love with this drink (crazy, right??).  This past year, they rolled them out in December, and by December 4th, the store was sold out and I was told they would not be getting any more.  Seriously.  Yesterday, I ran to the store to get some corn for the cookout, and what did I see? Yup, DIET SIERRA MIST WITH A SPLASH OF CRANBERRY on sale, 2 three liter bottle for 3 bucks! WOOHOOOO! It is Christmas in June! ho ho ho



*Yesterday, Eddie and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary, HOLLA! When his parents were here, we had a fabulous date night and went to a favorite restaurant and a local bar afterwards.  It was a wonderful night together.  Since we had that special date night, we just wanted to have a low key day together yesterday.  I wanted to go to breakfast as a family (I am a sucker for a good brunch), so we went to brunch, then came home to put Andy down for a morning nap.  When he woke up, we all went to the pool. After the pool, Eddie grilled out on the big green egg-- it was a perfect day for us! I realize that marriage is hard and takes work... I am just thankful to have Eddie to be my partner in this craziness. 

June 24th, 2006

*Andy, AKA Nugget, AKA Nugget-licious, AKA Chubs, AKA Anderson...
Andy NEVER crawls any more.  He HAULS booty everywhere.  He doesn't even really walk any more.  It's pretty much a run.  He has gotten to be SO much fun lately.  Eddie even commented the other day how much fun he is now.  This was around my favorite age with Cal too.  They just get such a little personality at this point!

helping me pack

Andy is able to open the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs (sigh) and can get up to about the 5th or 6th stair before I catch him.  When I hear the gate open, I shout NO! and he glances over his shoulder and then takes off up the stairs.  Lovely, right?

he thinks sun glasses are hilarious.  I think they are pretty funny on him too...

Also, Andy is completely fearless.  Now that he is walking, the pool is a whole different ball game.  He walks straight towards the deep water and does.not.stop.  He just walks straight in! I feel like I have been at the gym for hours after 20 minutes at the pool with Andy.  Cal is much more timid and knows his limits and loves to be where he can touch (however, he loves to go under and "swim" too).  Andy still loves his momma and will shove others out of the way to get to me.  He will scream and push Cal AND Hank if they are loving on me.  Makes me feel loved...and slightly crazy. 

in the bathroom at the summer regional in Myrtle Beach.  He was OBSESSED with that toilet.  Also, please note this is the spot where I spent many hours (standing up-- not actually using the potty) waiting for the kids to sleep

what? your kid isn't obsessed with a potty?

I borrowed my friends Ergo carrier while we were at Myrtle Beach.  This is AMAZING.  I am wishing I got one of these instead of my bjorn.  Andy's chunk legs can't fit in the Bjorn anymore, but still fit in this with lots of room to grow!

*Eddie left this morning and is gone until Wednesday evening.  I have a girls' night tonight with the mom's in Cal's playgroup.  I love these women and I am excited to go out with them.  Even if it is a Monday night...and the Bachelorette is on.... that's why there's DVR, right?!?!?! But I do enjoy watching it live with the 130 people in the forum on facebook.   So fun. But sushi tonight will be more fun!

More pics...

Riding down to Myrtle with my parents...they have headsets in their car and Cal thought it was awesome

final night awards dinner in myrtle

there was a "crazy hat" theme for the last night.  My mom's friend made us fascinators-haha!

Eddie wore a shower cap

Eddie's sister got Cal this shirt... we had to take a pic to send her and I thought Cal's smile was sweet....

 What? Your child doesn't wear a cape to the grocery store and run around with one hand in the air yelling screaming SUPER CAL!!!!! ?  Wow...you are missing out. 

 What? Your child actually uses the DOOR of his play car? He doesn't insist on using ONLY the window to get in and out of his car? Wow. You are missing out. 

Cal got to spend some time golfing this week with Mimi and Poppy.  He was in heaven...in a sand trap....

Mimi and Poppy got the boys a water table and it has been a HUGE hit.  It took Cal 4.2 seconds to disrobe and climb on in.  I guess the view is better up there...

Nugget doesn't have a baby or a blankie, per se, but he LOVES this little polkadot one and this elephant.  I put him in yesterday for naps and he grabbed hold of that thing and was out immediately! Maybe he has one more than I think...

*And also, if you are looking for someone to pray for, I just heard from an old friend from elementary/middle/high school who is having a rough time in life right now.  I think she has just been handed a whole load of lemons, and she is having a hard time turning them into lemoncello.  Just if you get a sec to send some positive thoughts her way, I know she would appreciate it.  She is weighing heavy on my heart and my mind right now and I pray she knows people are thinking about her.

And, just because truer words have never been printed:

I hope you enjoyed this randomness.  Now I am off to shower so I don't smell like this for my girls' night tonight... although I don't think any of them would mind... they are those kind of friends. But I mind.  I stink.