Another milestone...

You know, I feel lucky. My boys love hanging with their dad. It's pretty hard to please them all with ONE activity, but today, they found something they all loved. Today, they went to an outdoor show and then to lunch. They were gone most of the day. I cleaned, listened to music and bought groceries. It was fabulous for us all! They even brought me back a little treat from their endeavor. It is times like these that my heart just overflows with thankfulness. I know that Michael wishes he could've had these opportunities with his other boys, but there are some things that are out of his/our control. One thing we have learned over the last few years--you can't change the past, you can only move forward. I love that for no reason at all, the boys will stop to love, hug and kiss their dad. And while I know they won't do that forever, I hope the bond they have with him just grows and grows, because truly, their dad is an amazing man and these boys are incredible kids. I have to say, that we all really missed each other, though! We make a good team and don't like being without one of our teammates for very long!

Jacob has amazed me this week. He is in choir which requires him to get to school two times a week at 7:45 a.m. He decided to try out for math team. Now, Jacob is not naturally a strong math student. He has to work at it and practice it. Once he gets it, he won't forget it. Joining the math team means that he goes to school two other mornings at 7:30. It also requires that he does extra math homework EACH night in order to be considered for the team. He was so diligent this week about doing his work AND completing his regular homework. I could tell one night that he was exhausted and he still is coughing after being sick this week, but that kid stuck with it until he was finished. I was very proud of him and this just shows how dedicated he is to doing what is expected of him.

Nicholas' accomplishment this week was just as AMAZING! I went into the bathroom to put away clothes and the toilet paper roll was empty. When I came back later, he had refilled it for me! He had even gone so far as to put another roll in his bathroom behind the toilet because his roll was almost gone. Also, Jacob has felt crummy this week--he just can't shake the cough. It is the boys responsibility to help me put away laundry. Nicholas told me not to say anything to Jacob about the laundry, because he was going to do it all since Jacob didn't feel good. Jacob was so surprised when he saw it all put away and was truly appreciative. Nicholas also taught himself yet another song on the piano. It's time we get this boy in piano lessons!

Speaking of lessons, I signed the boys up for karate at the Y. It's rather selfish though. I can run on Tuesdays while they are there and then on Thursdays I can swim! I think they'll like it. I told them that if it turns out to be something they are interested in, I'll sign them up at a true karate place in town. This is just a test run.

And as for my running, it was GREAT this week! I nailed my workouts and didn't have to rearrange a thing! It helps that my neighbor, Tom, offers his help once a week. Nana was home this week, so she took a day. And of course, the pink lady (treadmill) was my speed workout. Tomorrow is a long run and I'm going to try to push my pace a little bit. It's hard because the first 6 miles are steady uphill, but I try to look at it as good training. We'll see. I also got new shoes this week...two new pair to be exact, but check these bad boys out...they are "go-fasters" for sure!