Little Visitor

We have a bunny living in our yard! He comes out to eat the flowers that fall off of the tree. The kids have been able to get pretty close to him, but when Brynlee made a sudden move one day, the bunny bolted! He still comes around to munch though.

My Brother the Graduate!

On Saturday the 10th, My brother Trent graduated Magna Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston. We are so proud of him! His major is Contemporary Writing and Production - he's very talented in his field. I know because we were able to hear samples of some of his class projects and compositions. He is also an accomplished electric bass player for his band Honest Thomas. We posed outside Agganis Arena for pics with the proud grad.

Our Trip to Bean Town

Darren and I took a Kid Free trip to Boston over Mother's Day weekend. We saw some amazing historical sites including Beacon Hill, the Massachusettes State House, and the Boston Public Library. The Prudential tower is known as "The North Star" in Boston. On Mother's Day, all of my sibs were together for a picture at the Boston Commons. It was a wonderful trip!

Happy Birthday Uncle Ryan!

My younger brother's birthday was May 1 - he turned 29! We celebrating by having a fun family party at our house on Saturday. We had steaks, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce, and a delicious lemon cake made by Ryan's wife Amanda. The kids all had fun!

I PASSED!!!!

Ok so after four excruciating weeks of waiting, I finally found out yesterday that I passed all of my tests and am officially CERTIFIED to teach TaeBo!! All four ladies in my group got certified, so that means when it comes time to re-certify in February 2009, we'll all get to go together. We had such a great time last month, and these are some amazing ladies I look forward to being with a whole lot more in the future. Cheers!!!!

TaeBo Boot Camp!

Ok, so I don't have any pictures to add with this post, but STAY WITH ME HERE! (I did have my picture taken with Billy but can't post it on a public site so if you REALLY want to see it, let me know and I'll email it to ya). I want to just tell you how unbelievable it was to work with Billy Blanks for an entire weekend! He pushed me (and the other 24 poeple in my group) to my absolute limit, and then pushed even further. We worked out for 20 hours in 3 days of camp, but spent several more hours at the gym for lecture and test-taking. After childbirth, this was the most difficult thing I've ever had to endure in my life, but it was so incredibly worth every minute. So you might be wondering why I would put myself through all of this.... I decided a few months ago to become a TaeBo instructor at the gym I go to, and in order to instruct, you have to get certified by Billy and his team. He wants only the best out there sharing his vision of TaeBo, which is really great because it really enforces the integrity of the sport. I don't find out for a couple more weeks whether or not I passed all of the grueling tests, but even if I didn't, I still learned so much and it changed my life forever! Now I KNOW without a doubt that there's nothing I can't do!

She Speaks!!

This weekend, while I was away in Los Angeles for the TaeBo Boot Camp (more on that in a future post), Brynlee said her first deliberate words! When I called to check in on how everyone was doing, she said "Ma Ma"! And then, the evening I returned, we were getting ready for bed and reading books. When the book was done, I had to take it away from her, which made her upset. I tried to redirect her attention by asking, "Where is your turtle?" (referring to a large stuffed turtle in her crib given to her by her Uncle Ryan). She got a huge smile on her face, turned toward her crib and said, "Tuh tuh, tuh tuh!!" I got teary eyes right then. Since those words, she's saying bye bye, puppy ("puh puh"), and Da Da. I think the words will start flowing now!