Free Range Family

I had court yesterday for my expired registration. I went to the courthouse feeling very apprehensive about the whole situation, but all the officials who worked there were very nice and helpful. They showed me were I was supposed to wait in line and kept an eye on me too, I think lol. I definitely looked like I did not belong there, dressed in bright colors and a skirt, I looked like a 1950's housewife lol! I had brought a book, my Frida Kahlo biography, with me to read while I waited. Most people were there for much worse charges, DUI's and theft and trespassing. They hooted and hollered, talking loudly about their charges. I remember that I couldn't wait to get out of there, I do not enjoy that type of energy or enviroment. The judge took one look at me, saw my renewed registration and instantly dismissed my case. I was so relieved, I was honestly prepared to pay for the ticket and take the fault. But I am so glad that she dismissed the whole thing! I didn't have to

I am so glad that we finally have our car back! With a family of four, two little kiddos, its hard to not have your car for a week! I missed playdates, had to reschedule Alan and Anna's gymnastics classes and had to figure out rides to work. I am so happy our car is back with us! Even if we do owe the mechanic $500+ now lol. Blah... We had a simple weekend. Alan has basketball practice and I had a baby shower for an old family friend. Not too wild of a weekend, but I still enjoyed it! Alan is really getting into basketball. This week we learned what a jump shot is, how to play "Coach Says" and how to dribble and run. We also played a new game called Sharks and Minnows, Alan loved it! He did get hurt a few times though but I reminded him that sometimes in sports we get hurt. He is my strong boy! Alan loves basketball, his coaches and his team mates! Here are some photos from practice: Alan doing jumping jacks I got some time away from the kids too on Sunda

As most of you know, I struggle with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, perfectionism and OCD. I was diagnosed with GAD as a child, with OCD as a new mother. I feel like I have also been a perfectionist most of my life, I have memories of being in middle school and obssessing over having the perfect handwriting. At twelve, I checked out several handwriting books and read them from cover to cover. From there, I developed my handwriting to what it is today. The funny thing about my handwriting is, I am always getting compliments about it now. People are always telling me about how nice it looks and I smile back at them, thinking quietly to myself, "If only they knew how long it took to get that way." Lots of people who know me don't know how controlled I am, how much control I have over myself. I am like one of those cars on ride with tracks, I am so set in my ways I don't think I could stop it if I wanted. A lot of it is from my Buddhist training, being mindful of everythi

This weekend, Anna had Lon and I quite worried. The kids had been playing and had gotten quite wild, so I told them to calm down some. After having a talk with them, we noticed Anna was holding her left arm a lot and favoring her right arm. We tried to get her to reach for a toy with the arm and she refused to. The more we started checking it, the more upset she got. We decided that we should take her into the doctor to make sure she didn't hurt it or something. She screamed bloody murder when we tried to put her coat on, she screamed when we seat belted her into her car seat. I was just sure at that point that she had dislocated her shoulder or something. She wouldn't let the doctor's check her temp or take her weight. Actually examing the arm was completely out of the question too. She just screamed and screamed, it seriously almost made me sick to my stomach to hear her scream like that. She definitely does NOT like doctors after her dog bite incident. Poor baby girl! T

We have been somewhat busy this past week. Monday, I renewed my car's registration and changed the oil in the car. Tuesday, we took Alan into the doctor to get the skin on his right wrist checked out. Wednesday, I had all day training for the rockwall at the YMCA with Cliff Tobin. And our car started breaking down again. It started making a rattling noise in the engine area a few days after we had changed the oil. Not sure yet if that has anything to do with it, but we are stranded until the car is fixed. Busy, busy, busy! I finally got the car reregistered, so that hopefully when I go to court, the citation will be dropped. We can't afford to pay a ticket right now, so hopefully the judge will be as understanding as the police officer was! :) Now about Alan's arm: Alan had a few bumps on his wrist the other day, we thought they were bug bites but its not that time of year. We weren't exactly sure what it was but we started covering it with a bandage. This weekend, the

This weekend was a big one for our family! This Saturday was Alan's first basketball practice and my first hip hop class for the session. Then on Sunday we went Aladdin Junior at the Billings Studio Theatre. Quite a weekend full of activities for us! Alan started basketball this Saturday. He was nervous at first but as soon as he met his coaches and saw that many of his friends were also in the class, he was much more at ease. Unfortunately, I had hip hop the same time he had class, so I didn't get to watch much. But he said he had a good time! He showed me how they taught him to dribble the ball and even shot a basket! :) I was also able to experience the High Five line lol. Its where all the parents are at one end in two lines and the kids are at the other in one line. The kids run in between the parents line and are given a High Five from each parent! Oh Alan loved that so much lol. Here are a few photos from his first class: Alan's cool basketball pose before cl

Our local library has recently built a new building and has remodeled. They just opened this past week. They are still under a lot of construction but can start accepting library card applications and allowing people to check books out again. Alan has wanted a library card for ages and I got my first card when I was about five, so I figured it was time to get him one. I took the kids to the new library last Friday and they just loved it! The new library is so cool! We walked all over, looking at all the new stuff. They have a wishing fountain, a tree house reading room and a toddler play area all on the first floor! We agreed that Alan was old enough to be responsible for two books. He picked those two books out while Anna played in the play area. Alan even came and played with her for a bit! However, Miss Anna wasn't too into getting any books herself this time but she really liked the play area and didn't want to leave when it was time to go lol. She put quite the show

I am so sad right now!! Monday I went into Billings Gymnastics School to talk about getting Anna into a Parent Child Gymnastics class while Alan was in his own class. She is officially old enough to take a class and has wanted to since she was a year old lol, I wanted to get her in class right away! Unfortunately, the only class that may work for us and our schedule is already full. So she is currently on the waiting list now, but that could take until summer for classes to open up! Boohoo! However, I have been taking her to the Y's Open Gym on Thursdays after I drop Alan off for Preschool. She just loves it! Its our Mommy-Daughter Date time together, just me and her playing and having fun! Its a good replacement for now, until she can take a class at BGS. And the best part is, its free! You can't beat that lol! Because of the recent holidays, Open Gym has been closed the past two weeks. Anna has really missing it and our time together. Needless to say, we were quite excited

I haven't done a What I'm Loving Wednesday in ages, I am not sure that Jamie @  Little Miss Daisy Mae is even still doing the link up lol. Oh well, I will still give her a shout out, since I am using her button for this post. Thanks Jamie for creating this midweek positivity blog hop! With my current New Year goals in effect, I want to start doing a WILW every week again! Here's what I am loving this week! I'm loving …  that our local library has finally finished construction on their new building and have reopened their doors to the public! I cannot wait to take the kids there to check it out and to get Alan his FIRST library card! My parents instilled an importance and love for reading books through our public library, I hope to do the same for my children! I'm loving …  that Anna is officially 18 months old! Where did the time go??? She grew up so quickly! I'm loving …  that I had 13 students show up to my first hip hop class of the winter/spring

Holy cow, its already been a year and a half since I have had my baby girl??? When did this happen?  Oh right, it happened today lol. Its crazy how fast time has gone it seems, its been three months since I stopped nursing her. Like five months since Anna has started walking. Seven months since she has started talking, and she hasn't stopped yet lol! I just cannot believe that she is only half a year away from being two. She has grown up so much this past month, both physically and mentally. She is such a big girl! Most people think that she is already two years old, her hair is so long and she is so darn tall! I love you Anna Ariel, you are so perfect for us in every single way! You are the finishing touch on our little family. :) At eighteen months, Anna Ariel: *weighs approximetly 25 pounds  23 pounds and 11 ounces and is approximetly 34 inches  31 1/2 inches tall! *is about to grow out of her 18M clothing this month! She is too tall for her pants and her sleeves are too s

We had a pretty uneventful first weekend of January. It was so cold and snowy out that we couldn't do hardly anything. With temperature below zero, there was no way I was going to take the kids outside to play, even though I really wanted to pull them around on the sled with their new snow pants. Instead, we went to the mall play area for some fun. We may start going there more often if the winter is a below zero one this year lol! The kids had fun and we met up with Grandma Melanie, Aunt April and Uncle Kalvin. We walked all over the mall with them while they spent their gift cards from Christmas. Saw Aunt Ariel and her friends, plus one of Alan's friends from school! Uncle Kalvin even bought the kids a stuffed animal from Build-A-Bear! He bought Alan an Angry Bird that yells when it hits something lol and bought Anna a Valentine's heart puppy. So sweet, thanks Uncle Kalvin! We spent some time with Lon too, watched Despicable Me 2 for the first time (just as cute as the fi

I hope that everyone had a wonderful New Year that was safe and full of happiness, remembrance and love! We had a pretty decent New Year's ourselves, we didn't do too much on New Year's Eve (in fact I fell asleep at ten lol) but I did treat the children to a special day on New Year's Day. I surprised Alan and Anna with a day at the mall. We played in the play area for about an hour, enjoyed smoothies from Orange Julius and then spent their gift cards at Build-A-Bear Workshop. Pretty decent day if I do say so myself! :) Alan started school again today, he was so excited to go back and see his friends. Which is awesome because I honestly was worried he wouldn't want to go back to his regular schedule after two weeks of fun and partying lol. But he woke up this morning talking about Preschool and his friends! He is also happy that even though its the first day back, he still gets to have swimming lessons. He just loves his new swim teacher! Lon and I both worked New