Any Guesses??

I have been doing some, a little, spring cleaning. Katherine has been helping sort my "finds" into the garbage bag and the goodwill bag. I thought these were garbage, but she thought they were perfect for her new spring wardrobe. Any guesses what she found???

Stylin' Hat

Ellie got a new hat . . . and I must say she is very in style!

Mom, I'm Ready!

The other morning, Katherine came into my bedroom dressed like this:(winter coat, underwear and crocs) and said "going to Yoga!"

Now I want to know where she came up with the idea that yogi's dress that way??

Planting Seeds of Joy with Todd Norian

Todd Norian & his wife Ann Greene

Just a heads up - if you don't want to read about my passion for yoga, you may want to skip this post!

I had the incredible opportunity last weekend to attend a yoga workshop with Todd Norian. Todd is an absolutely amazing and well-known yogi from Massachusetts. His style is Anusara yoga. I also went to his workshop when he came to Madison a couple of years ago, so I knew how much I loved his teaching. Enough background. . .

I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in a beautiful sunlight filled Yoga Studio with about 40 yogis. It was the perfect way to welcome spring. Anusara is a tantric yoga, which (to me) means the practice involves all aspects of the universe, i.e. physical, emotional, philosophical, etc. In an Anusara class the teachers focus the flow of the practice on an aspect of life.

This particular workshop was centered around Planting Seeds of Joy. What an amazing topic. Just a select few favorite thoughts were: *Clear the weeds out and plant seeds: it is very easy to let the weeds grow (they don't even need nourishment), but we need to clear out those weeds so we can keep our heart open to the positive and enlightenment of life *Plant seeds such as acceptance, love, I'll try it, I can do it, and I will do it *Don't play the victim: we are in control of ourselves. Let the negative influences of others stay outside of our emotional "shield" *Let go of the could've, should've, would've thoughts and move to the present time *Accept the challenges of life, because if people don't have them it may mean they are "on their way out" - funny, but oh so true

I believe yoga is about the intention and not the headstand or body contortions. However, it is fun to work your way into some strange and crazy positions. For example, somehow I was able to get into Surya Yantrasana - it looks like this (harder than it looks):
However, Savasana is just as wonderful - it looks like this (I'm in the green top):
So, this style of yoga can be VERY intense. Every muscle, joint and bone has it's precise position. When I picked up Ellie from my friends house at the end of the last session I was exhausted. I am SO happy I went though, because I learned a lot and most importantly it was a lot of fun.

Yoga is amazing! Can you tell that I love it?? Thanks for indulging me and reading this post!

Daddy's Thirty!

March 20th was Mike's birthday. Katherine was very excited to wrap Daddy's presents in the "boy" wrapping paper she found in our closet . . . Thomas the Train paper. The thing that made Katherine the VERY happiest about Mike's birthday was that he turned "thirty - not "dirty." She laughed and laughed every time we talked about "thirty."

At the last minute I decided to purchase a cake from a bakery I love. Of course all the cakes had pastel colored flowers . . . except one with true red flowers. Thus:
Unfortunately, our Utah Utes weren't able to pull off the victory. Mike had a wonderful birthday anyhow!

Followup on Doc photos

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In case there is curiosity lingering in your mind, I decided to let you in on my secrets. Doctor number one is my wonderful family practice doc in Madison. Doctor number two was an incredible doc I had in Utah - one of my favorites. Doctor number three is the doc I'm thinking of going to (as he is supposedly very knowledgeable on the particular health area I need help in). Now that "me" responded with very true wisdom, I think I'll make the appointment. After all, I certainly would not want someone to be worried, based on my photo, about meeting me. I'm a pretty nice gal! He is probably a pretty nice guy too.

Into the Wild

I'm sad to admit this, but until yesterday we have NEVER been to the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison. It's free, it's 5 minutes from our house, and we FINALLY WENT!! In my earlier post I explained my goal to get outside. So, we did it, and we had a ton of fun. Here are some pictures:

AND - for our trail mix, we thought this might be more appropriate (animal crackers)

I Don't Think So Mom

I don't believe in tummy time. Unfortunately, Ellie's back is covered with eczema so I put her on her tummy to rub the cream on and let it soak into her skin instead of her onesie. Today, for fun, I thought I would help her learn to roll over (that way I won't feel like she is stuck on her tummy . . . a form of torture in my book).

Here she is:



GOING . . .

GOING . . .

She just needed a little help from Mom.

By the way . . . she IS our "Happy Little Camper"!

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Which of these would you pick up off the shelf? (These are random off B&Noble- FYI)

Well - I would choose the first one. That is my problem. So I have a tendency to spend a lot time in doctors offices. Not fun. I have found that every time I have to see a new doctor, I search the Internet for their photo. By the way, I know for a fact that at least two other people in my network of friends/family do the same thing - you know who you are. Part of me wants to think it is so I will be one tiny bit less intimidated by seeing a new doc; the rest of me screams out DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!!!

So - does anyone else out there look up pictures of soon to be doctors, dentists, acupuncturists, etc.? Just for fun, out of the following three pictures who would you be comfortable/uncomfortable seeing? Read the tiny print: These may or may not be actual doctors . . . and I may or may not have seen any of them . . . and I may or may not be slightly nervous because I am supposed to go see one of them . . .

Please, let me know! I promise I won't judge you.

Not Enough Trail Mix

I LOVE my trail mix . . . granola, M&M's/reese's pieces(unless it's really hot), mixed nuts (I would now use my fav. nut mix from Copp's bulk section), raisins, and NIBS! Nibs are essential - really, try it. The last time I ate trail mix on the trail? It's been years. Not once here in Wisconsin :(



Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. Well, I learned today that Wisconsin actually has more (although many are very small and unnamed). How many of these lakes have I seen or swam in? Not enough. Only a handful. Mike and I were talking to a friend at church today about how we haven't experienced the outdoors in Wisconsin. It's time. Can anyone say Door County?

So - I hereby promise to myself that this summer we will hike, camp (if Katherine will get over her fear of sleeping out in a tent), and explore the beautiful lakes and trails of our state. Maybe we'll venture out to the highest peak in Wisconsin - for Michele. And, we will eat plenty of trail mix!

Notice the randomly placed photos???

Pictures? Sorry!

Do blog entries always have to have pictures? Well, I hope I don't dissapoint, but putting pictures in is very stressful for me. I ended up rewriting my first post a million times because the pictures would mess things up . . . even if they went in first. If anyone wants to give me a tutorial, please do!

Fancy Free

I have two darling girls - princesses. After all, all girls are princesses, right? According to Sara Crewe (have you read or seen The Little Princess?) we are! Actually, I do know one queen, but that's a story for a different day.

My mom sent me a cute article relating to the kids book "Fancy Nancy," by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser. "Nancy thinks her family is not fancy enough, using boring words and everyday clothes, so she decides to "fancy" them up. In the book, the family goes along with the plan and hits a burger place each dressed to the nines.

My sweet daughter with the Cindy-Lou-Who big blue eyes and dappled freckles looked up at me and said, "Let's be Fancy Nancies!" It was decided we would go diva the next Saturday and go out for breakfast looking our finest.

That morning we pulled out our best, with my daughter supervising all clothing choices.

She settled on a beautiful Sunday dress, accompanied by black high-heeled boots and topped it off with pearls. I lent her my old faux leopard skin eyeglass case as a purse, and she announced she was positively "fancy."

She then outfitted me in my best shoes and fanciest outfit (appropriate for a cruise banquet, not for brekkie), ensuring my hair was just the right bouffant. In a moment of whimsy, I added a pink feather boa."

I am the first to admit that I get completely
embarrassed sticking out in a crowd.
Perhaps I should dress up in my sequined
cruise attire and take K, and her friend Bria,
out like this:















When I turned 6 my
mom took me out like this:

That was my day to be a fancy girl with fancy friends, on a carriage ride through City Creek Canyon and a tea party at the old Hotel Utah. And that was BEFORE the book came out- what an awesome mom!

This is something I definitely need to work on.

When was the last time you were Fancy Free??