Each Finger in Every Pie

Call it a thirst for knowledge, call it extended education... I am very proud to say that I have officially become a Zumba Fitness Instructor! 

My family and everyone who knows me well know that as a child, I was obsessed with the musical movie, Annie. The reason? Other than the singing and the story line, it was mostly the tap dancing. I have always wanted to learn how to tap dance (still do...) but it wasn't until about 5 months ago, that I was introduced to Zumba. What does this have to do with tap dancing? To me, a lot!

I first heard about Zumba back in Florida, but when I peeked in on a class I was totally floored and scared. A year later, I decided that I needed to kick up my usual regimen of running and kickboxing and tried the Zumba class. After the second class, I was hooked. Zumba is a lot like dancing, it's based on salsa, merengue and other latin dances. It quenches my thirst for fitness, dancing and has boosted my self esteem. Perhaps now I will sign up for that tap dancing class!

Why did I decide to become an instructor? Well, that goes along with the self esteem thing and it's nice to have this certification in my back pocket. I am still getting my little ducks in a row so that I can actually start teaching classes. I thought that just attending a Zumba class was overwhelming, teaching one is going to be a doozy! 

Yes, obviously I like to keep busy. Between being a SAHM, a small sewing business and now Zumba instructor, I definitely have a finger in every pie on the table. How many more hobbies can a gal have? How many more pies are there?! Hopefully there's a tap dancing pie somewhere in there...

Lily is 5 Years Old Today!

Lily with her "slime!"

How did this happen? It seems like just yesterday she was a baby. Now she's five and will be starting Kindergarden next year. For being a bit of a "high maintenance" baby she's certainly turned out to be a great kid with a lot of enthusiasm and creativity.

Lily's birthday party was at a local play place and she invited all of her classmates and a few other friends. They played in the jungle gym and chased each other around. Even Sophie had a great time playing with the big kids. After playing, it was time to do a science experiment! This was of course Lily's favorite part; they got to make slime! 

On her official birthday-day, we went to church where she got a special birthday pencil at her Sunday School class as a treat. Afterwards, we went out for a delicious lunch that kept us stuffed past our usual dinner time. 

With all of the birthday festivities behind us, we have Halloween ahead! More celebration is in order! 

Happy Birthday Silly Lily!

It's October, Isn't It?

Halloween 2007

 Sophie was propped up against the tree because she was not standing/walking yet.

 I'm getting very excited to snap pictures of the girls in their costumes this year. I'm almost done with them!

My favorite season has always been Fall. Even growing up and living in the urban desert of Arizona where there were no leaves to watch change, Fall was always my favorite. With the Autumn season also brings Halloween; one of my least favorite of holidays. I'm not sure if it was the gory horror movies I subjected myself to at an early age (covering my eyes but peeking through slightly separated fingers) or if it's just the sheer feeling of terror. Knowing that something at any given moment could happen, embarrass, surprise or frighten me. Maybe it's that adrenaline rush of being on edge that I don't like or maybe it's just that I don't like not being in control of a situation. 

I had always felt this way and still do sometimes. The nice thing about having married someone who loves Halloween is that a lot of the terror I feel is diminished and I'm forced to look at something scary as something fun and exciting. A different point of view... Now that we have kids, it's a whole new game. On the one hand I have a child that LOVES scary things. She also has a great way of separating fact from fiction in her mind. We walk down the Halloween isle every time we visit Target and push every button on the animated Halloween decorations. All she talks about is the Haunted House at Disney World and how for every birthday she gets to dress up and go trick or treating. Ahh, Lily's birthday being so close to Halloween may be the reason she loves Halloween so much. 

Sophie is another story. She startles very easily and really does not enjoy walking down the Halloween isle. I try to keep upbeat about it but with Lily pushing all of those buttons and all of those crazy haunting noises coming from everywhere, she gets overwhelmed and starts crying. I don't blame her, she's just like me. Even a grasshopper jumping in the grass startles her. Now that she's old enough to know what scares her and what she's OK with, I'm not really sure how to attack the Halloween situation with her this year without compromising the fun Lily has with it.

I've been reminding myself that there's nothing to be afraid of when it comes to Halloween. There is no such thing as Freddy or Jason, the very things that made me so afraid of Halloween in the first place. Movies like Donnie Darko and Bram Stockers Dracula don't scare me, but would maybe scare someone else. Like most people, it's probably just the association I make with scary things and Halloween. This year, like the last, I intend to enjoy it for all it's worth. I want to make Halloween a positive thing for the girls and not let the irrational scary things over take them. We have a lot of really fun Autumn type activities to look forward to that I never got to experience growing up. Things like pumpkin patches, hay rides on the back of a John Deere and watching the leaves turn colors and fall off the trees. We're going to go trick or treating with friends around the neighborhood and really just be happy with the time we have together. The next couple of months are going to fly by and now is the time to enjoy everything.