Last Day of Boot Camp

I come up with such creative names for my blog posts, don't I?


Last Monday was our last boot camp. Mike, our instructor, is heading to Afghanistan with the Marines and will be gone a year. We're going to be sending him care packages full of fruit snacks and juice boxes. :)

(Clockwise from top left: Beth, Noelle, Mike, Tricia, Lisa, Me, Michelle, Karyn, Kelly, CJ, Annabelle. Minus Melissa who wasn't there and Allyson and Megan who'd left already.)

The pregnant girls. AKA they-who just-do-lunges-and-squats-while-everyone-else-pushes-the-bags-down-the-track. Doing lunges and squats all the times gets boring. I miss my regular work outs. I even miss pushing the bags. This was Monday, Megan had her baby Thursday. I'm impressed.


Getting instructions for this round of pushing the bags.

And they're off. I'd do a side squat. Snap a picture. Squat. Picture. Repeat.

Me and Lisa with Mike. We'll miss him.


In the back parking lot. Push-ups and sprints, always fun.

(Me and Karyn)


(Michelle and Allyson)

For now, we're meeting on our own every Monday morning. We're supposed to get a new, interim instructor next month some time. We'll all be waiting for March 2011, though and Mike's safe return. Me especially - I'm going to need to lose this baby weight I'm so quickly packing on!

This layout is from the April WCS gallery. It was all about connections. For me, it's the girls I work out with. We just started taking boot camp last April (when it started being offered in the morning). Lisa and I were already friends, and we knew Kelly, although not well. But over the past year, we've all become friends - play dates, the park, dinner, Facebook, Tupperware and Lia Sophia parties. It's fantastic. I never would've thought I'd get so much more than a workout from boot camp.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Emma had her first friend birthday party Saturday. Alissa from preschool. It was at The Little Gym and she loved it. She picked out a Strawberry Shortcake toy for her and decorated her card...all of the card - front, inside, back. She told me that night, "Mom, this is the best day ever."



2. I totally want to have Emma's 5th birthday party at The Little Gym now.

3. Saturday night Emma's bedtime prayer went like this:

"Dear God. Thank you for Alissa's wonderful birthday party. And God, thank you for making
me be invited. Thank you for her presents. Amen."

4. We had a Zumbathon Friday night. Zumba for Haiti. 2 hours (although I'm pretty sure everyone could gone for longer) with 6 different instructors. Very fun.


5. Then out to El Campasino afterward. Love my workout girls.

6. Please note Emma in the Christmas tights, tutu skirt and summer shirt. Compared with Mackenzie in just a diaper because she is always taking off her clothes.

7. Speaking of Emma's outfits. I was just telling Michael tonight how I love that she picks out these crazy-to-me outfits. Because before too long she'll be self-conscious and worried about what her friends think. But for now, she just wears what she likes, regardless of what it looks like. It makes her happy. And I'm happy to let her do that. Want to wear snow boots to Target when it's 60 out? Sure. Go for it babe....which she did Saturday morning.

8. Baby shower last weekend. All I can say is thank goodness for my mother-in-law.

(Emma and cousin Claire)

9. I don't know why I like this picture, but I do. Taken by me after the shower at Michael's parent's house.

10. I do know why I love this one. :)

From the game to Penn Station...

...through the eyes of a 2-year-old and 4-year-old.

We were leaving Michael's game and Emma wanted to take a picture of the daffodils. Both girls are really into seeing the flowers, and shout out every time we pass some. So I gave Emma my camera and she and Mackenzie took turns taking pictures all the way to Penn Station and inside the restaurant. A very well-documented drive, I'll say.

Warning - lots and lots of pictures ahead.

Attempting to get a picture of the daffodils. By Emma.


Back of my seat. They really like their umbrellas. By Emma.


"Say cheese Mackenzie." I heard this numerous times. By Emma.


No daffodils there. By Mackenzie.

"Make a funny face!" By Emma.


Again. By Emma.


And again. By Emma.


And once more. By Emma.

By Emma.

Mackenzie's foot. By Mackenzie.

More of Mackenzie's feet, and a little bit of me. By Mackenzie.

Emma's foot. They were running the bases and playing in the dirt on the field in sandals, hence the very dirty feet. By Mackenzie.

And still another of Mackenzie's foot. By Mackenzie.


"Can't see my eye!" By Emma.


Random office building. By Mackenzie.


Random house. By Mackenzie.

More businesses. By Mackenzie.

And another. By Mackenzie.

Emma's foot. Again. By Emma.

At Penn Station. By Emma.

Emma doing one of her new poses. Taken by Mommy at her request.

By Emma.

Grandpa. By Emma.

Mackenzie's serious face. By Emma.

A very close-up. By Emma.

By Daddy.

Another new pose. By Daddy.

They have the best lemonade. By Emma.

Mackenzie actually wanted Emma to take this. A rarity. By Emma.

Last shot. By Mackenzie.

Happy Easter!

Easter was great. We went to Michael's parents after church, well after coming home and letting the girls open their Easter baskets, for lunch and and egg hung. I think this was our best attempt at a family picture. I love the smile on Emma's face - she just saw her Grandpa after he came out of the garage and she was very excited. Mackenzie, well, she just wasn't a fan of the picture taking. Plus she had blisters from her new sparkly princess shoes. But hey, Michael and I are looking!


Mac checking out her eggs.


Emma with the first one she'd found.


And this look of joy on Mackenzie's face is just awesome. She was having a blast driving the jeep. Although she's a bit of a wild woman in it.


I actually tried to get this up Sunday. I have a great little video of Emma singing her Easter song, one she made up. It's awesome. But for the life of me I can't get the YouTube video to post. I also wanted to put up a couple videos of two of my favorite songs, ones we sang in church that day but they won't go up either. Hoepfully I can get them up soon.