Twilight Goodness

It's no big secret that I'm obsessed with everything Twilight. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a bloodsucker (tee, hee, hee). But I'm quite possibly equally obsessed with the parodies and the jokes surrounding the Twilight saga. One of my new favorite blogs is called Twilight Widowers Annonymous-a blog completely devoted to the men who have lost their wives to the eyes of Robert Pattinson, an online support group if you will. That being said, I'm able to laugh at the culture that I have so voluntarily ingrained myself. This is by far the best parody I've found....

Lots To Do Today

I'm guessing that no one really cares what my to do list is, but I'm going to post it anway because it gives me a sense of accountability. So here we go. This is what has to get done today to save my sanity....

Anything highlighted has been completed. Check back periodically to view my progress....becayse I know you care a lot!

*Clean powder bath

*Clean upstairs bathroom

*Clean Siobhan's room-with her help of course

*Find Carson's keys

*Take a walk to the mail box

*Continue Potty Training

*Clean in master bedroom

*Email Colorado Community Newspaper-long story

*Do the dishes from last night

I think I can get it all done. I really hope it doesn't rain this weekend. I'm getting this all done today so that we can re-do our garden tomorrow, but if it's raining we won't be able to. Wish me luck on all accounts!

For your viewing pleasure!

The Many Looks of Mr. Will

My baby boy is growing so fast, I can't believe it! And, of course, the main topic of conversation when it comes to Mr. Will is his hair! It really is incredible, I must admit. It's so much fun to style and play with. As we already established, he can do a pretty spot on impersonation of Edward Cullen. Remember?

Well, I thought that I would post a few more dead on look alikes.

How about Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny? If I don't comb his hair after a bath, it stands straight up. But because it's so long, it curls over on the ends and it seems to achieve that Italian mobster look. I even came up with his mobster name...Willie the Tuna! Don't cross him or he'll make you sleep with the fishes! And by that I mean spit up all over you!

Then there's always the Ace Ventura look. This happens when he has a severe case of bed head!

Last but not least....Chipotle Burrito! That picture is actually a Taco Bell burrito. Google images didn't seem to have a Chipotle burrito that wasn't wrapped in tin foil.

Impromtu Photo Shoot

While I was upstairs one day, Siobhan grabbed the camera and decided that she had watched enought America's Next Top Model to be able to stage a photo shoot with the perfect model. Here was the outcome.I wonder what this one would have looked like without Chewey. I think it would have been adorable!
Posing with her two favorite props-her chewey and blankie
Perfect posing!
Look at those big blues!

A Sacred Gift

You don't have a soul. You are a Soul.

You have a body. ~C.S. Lewis

I've been thinking recently about what a wonderful gift our mortal body is. We read in Genesis 1:26 And God said, let us make man in our own image, after our likeness. I've been pondering over this idea and my conclusion is this: Does it get much better than that?

Let me tell you what got me on this path in the first place. I was watching my favorite TV show, The Drs. It's a panel discussion with four different doctors. Usually they answer questions and pick certain relevant topics to discuss regarding keeping yourself healthy and safe. Occasionally, they will profile someone who might have an interesting issue or medical problem. One day they were talking about a young woman who was 27 years old. She was a professional dancer and dance teacher. One day, out of the blue, she lost control of her neck muscles and was unable to control the movements of her head. It soon spread through her whole body. She was diagnosed with a neurological disease called Dystonia. It basically causes her body to move uncontrollably all the time. Like constant muscle spasms. She is 27! She is totally unable to have a normal life.

I was so drawn into her story. It's hard to see people who one day have their abilities and the next day they are gone. Unfortunately, I watched that happen with my mom. Although it wasn't a 24 hour change, it happened (in my opinion) very quickly and it was one of the hardest things to watch.

So I got to thinking about how fast it can all just disappear. Injury, illness, accidents, malnourishment, etc. We are all human and therefore all susceptible. Our flesh can betray us.

I think I've always had a pretty healthy appreciation for my body and my abilities. I think it's hard not to in my chosen profession. I think you go one way the other when you're a dancer. I'm lucky that I've never had issues with eating disorders, I've known plenty of dancers who have though. But one thing that all of us dancers can agree upon is the fact that our art form would not exist if not for a physical body. It is our canvas, it is physically challenging and sometimes damaging. Between the strain on your body and the connection to your mind and spirit, it truly is a full body experience.

I've been thinking about all of this and trying to make sense of all my feelings surrounding my body and the imperfections and the amazing abilities that it possesses. My conclusion is that it is amazing and I need to care for it in every way possible. Sara Lee Gibb, professor of modern dance at BYU gave a devotional address in 1989 entitled Our Mortal Body-A Sacred Gift. She had this to say on the subject of caring for our bodies:

If we understand the significance of the body in the eternal plan of salvation in even a small way, could we permit ourselves to be dressed immodestly, to allow our bodies to be defiled or to defile that of another, to slash or cut the body-a practice forbidden by God because it was being done in some early cultures (Leviticus 19:28)-to weaken the body with inappropriate substances, to try to strengthen the body with inappropriate substances, to allow our muscles to atrophy and become weakened through lack of movement and disuse, to deny nourishment to the point of anorexia, or allow other destructive behaviors?

I think about this talk all the time because it has so many good points. But I really love this quote. It means a lot to me.

As I think about the wonderful gifts that I am endowed with as a human being, this is what I come up with. I can walk, run, read, smell flowers, kneel down and dig in the dirt, taste delicious food, bare children, hear beautiful music, sing with my kids, dance, leap, type, run up the stairs, drive a car, feel the grass on my toes, feel the beat of my heart. There are a myriad of other wonderful things that I am capable of doing purely because I have a body, these are just a few. Some of these gifts will fade and I know that not everyone is blessed with these gifts even though they do have a body. But there are some that I don't have that other people do. The point is, it is a blessing to have a body and all that that entails.

So what am I going to do to further show appreciation for this sacred gift? Get more rest. Eat better-3 meals a day at least, maybe 5 small ones-either way, no skipping meals. Get adequate exercise-I thought that I was doing fine with all of dancing that I do throughout the week, but it's not. I need to balance what I'm doing-plenty of aerobic activity and strength training as well as everything dancing entails. Drink more water. Not be so hard on myself and that my body isn't exactly where I want it to be. After three kids, it will never be where I want it to be in the first place. No more negative comments about my appearance (It'll be hard) especially around my kids. Have better posture-my posture is pretty good already, but I slouch and stand with uneven weight distribution, so I can do better there. All in all, I will strive to appreciate, every day, the physical body that I have been given.

Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci 1487

Little Monkeys

When it looks like this outside in the middle of March

and the kids are itching to get out and you all have cabin fever, what do you do? You brave the snow covered roads and head to A Little Monkey Business and let the kids do their thing!

Some of this....

A little of that.......

A little of this....

Of course some of this....

And maybe some of this.... (oops, how did that get in there?)

Fort Mitchell

When you decide to embark on big project like reorganizing the kitchen, what do you do keep the kiddos entertained? You grab the kitchen chairs, every blanket in sight, bring their pillows downstairs, give them goldfish and marshmallows (breakfast of champions), and you build them a fort so they can watch a movie! It's been a long time since I've made a fort (we call it a hiding house) so my craftsmanship was a little shotty, but the girls enjoyed it nonetheless!(Audrey kind of didn't know what to think, but Siobhan loved it! Pay no attention to the mess in the kitchen...I think at that point everything had been taken out of all the cabinets.)