yoga rocks

Just sayin.
Yesterday there were only 5 of us in yoga class. The instructor decided to seize the opportunity (since none of us were beginners) to do some fun advanced stuff. Yeah, I was intimidated. I wouldn't exactly consider myself "yoga master".

I was able to complete some pretty interesting and challenging poses - including the one you see below.After wards I was wondering if I'd just totally wrenched my back. It felt...different. Come to realize I've just never stretched in that way before and I was fine. I felt fine while were in corpse pose. Thank goodness. Nothing like being an out of commission mother and having to tell people it was a "yoga injury".

All in all I love the way yoga makes me feel. It's pretty darn amazing. There are many different types of yoga. Right now I'm taking a Yen Yoga class which I really enjoy. It takes poses really slow and you hold them for sometimes 2-3 minutes at a time.

PS...I have not had much motivation to do anything lately (except yoga - go figure). If I post once a month I might be calling it good. Just a fair warning to the last 2 people reading my blog. Someday I'll pick it up again and be more consistent. Right now, I'm not all that worried about it.

Oregon Coast

Here is a few (0kay, maybe more than a few) photos from our days spent on the Oregon Coast at the Hochhalter reunion. Good times, good times. I must extend credit/thanks to Katie for most of these photos. She rocks. Truly.

Dam building - Brandon's idea. All the cousins made it a group effort.
Cutting into the two cakes I made to celebrate all of the Hokie August b-days. Yum yum.
Cousins on the beach. Love this photo.
Dad showing Haiden one of the crabs that were caught. Yum yum.
Ahh...how cute is this? " Ben and Holly kissing in a tree K I S S I N G. First comes love..." you get it.
Could a photo get any more perfect than this? Three cousins (all 2 years old) gazing out onto the beach.
The (adult) Hochhaler cousins striking the "pose". Pretty scary we can all make the "guggenheimer" face. Thanks grandpa H. :)


The John Hochhalter family. What a lovely bunch.
Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.


Hope you enjoyed the pics.
I will be posting more on the days leading up to the coast (Salem) shortly.
Later!

B-day fun with Ladybug

So, I know I promised to be better and to post more often. I said I'd post about our trip to Oregon...and I will. But, I am going backwards at the moment and starting with the most recent events. Ladybug's third b-day. The second and third photos were taken with a cell phone, sorry for the quality.

As always on my children's b-days they get to choose their favorite meals for the day.
I love how easy Ladybug was...wish I could be as simple and carefree as a 3 year old.
Menu-Breakfast: mom's protein shake with toast. Lunch: Burger King with the whole fam. Dinner: Mac & Cheese w/chicken nuggets.
The next couple photos may shock some of you. I am a HUGE germaphobe and NEVER,EVER let my kids play on the play equipment at fast food restaurants. Call me a bad mom...I don't care. But, when Ladybug asked on her b-day if she could "play over there" dad turned to me and said "what do you say, mom". He even volunteerd to take her in and play. Not that I'm afraid to go in...I'm more afraid for my kids. Anyway, the three kids were the only peeps in there and they had a blast. So, once a year, I'll let my kids play inside the playplace at a fastfood joint. That way it's something to really look forward to, right? No worries, I thoroughly hosed them down with sanitizer when we were done.


The entire week before Ladybug's b-day she kept chanting out "kitty cat cake, kitty cat cake". So, her wish was my command. Ben thought it would be fun to make a cat in the style of one of those cool retro clocks. So, I tried. I knew anything "kitty cat" would work for Ladybug anyhow.

Do you see Ladybug's drooping crown? Her cousin was sweet enough to dunk it in the pool in the backyard. She wore it anyway. Thanks Gabe! :)


Inside was the delectable part. If any of you are familiar with our little business, one of our most popular cupcakes is the Cookie Dough cupcake. I decided that it needed to try it out on a full sized cake. So, inside each yellow cake layer (there were two) was another layer of chocolate chip cookie dough. It was to. die. for. Ask anyone that tried it. It was VERY sweet though. You got to a point where you just couldn't eat anymore. Depressing, I know. It's pretty messy looking in the photo, but you get the idea.

Ladybug had a wonderful day. Meals of her choice, cousins, dollar store presents and lot of love. She couldn't be happier. Which leaves me wishing I was just as easy to please. Ah, to be three again. Love you girl.

Where to start...again.

Summer is drawing to a close and I have mixed emotions about it.
There are moments when I thoroughly enjoy having the kids home full time. Other times...well...must I really expound?

There are quite a few projects I have in store but I'm really confused as to where to start. A long list of items that need my attention...and yet not one of them is tugging at me more than another. Have you ever had this problem? Probably not. I am just too darn indecisive.

I do know that one of my goals is to blog at least weekly, if not more. I've let it slide for far too long and I miss it.

I will be blogging about our family reunion at the Oregon coast and the adoption of our fist official pet! I know, don't get too excited. You'll have to wait a couple more days.

If any of you are still following me...thank you. I'm not sure why...but, thank you. I promise to be a better blogger. Forgive me?

Sisterly Love

The summer is already flying by. I took these at the end of May and didn't remember them until I went browsing through my files.

I bought the girls matching play dresses for super cheap at Old Navy. It was the perfect day for them on this particular Saturday. The hats were given to them earlier in the day when all us girls went garage saling (sp?). Some lady saw them and decided they "needed" these hats. She paid 50 cents each for them. So nice of her! I'm pretty pleased with these photos taken on my point and click.


I am alive..I promise.
We've been keeping "busy".
Not to mention I've been baking/cake decorating like crazy.
Check out our latest creations here.


I'm going to get my hair whacked off tomorrow.
This long hair is driving me bonkers! It's time for a change...it's been a long time coming.

What have all of you been up to?

My To-Do list for Saturday

Oddly enough as I was making out my list for tomorrow I realized they all began with a "P"...hope the day ends up Perfect!

-Pit cherries and freeze
-Print photos to frame
-Print sign up lists for church
-Paisley fabric for pillows
-Paint girl's closet doors
-Prepare for garage sale next week

Small Changes Big Results part IV

CONNECT TO YOUR INTERNAL GPSMissteps and false starts are part of any process. The key to staying on track lies in viewing each one as a minor glitch instead of a total system failure. One solution? Take a cue from your car's global positioning system, says de Bonvoisin. To get you from point A to point B, the GPS doesn't need to know where you were yesterday or if you got lost three turns ago. It needs to knows only where you want to go now. Apply this practice to your own goals. It doesn't matter if you didn't eat a single green vegetable last week, or if you spent (instead of saved) $20. "There's zero focus on the past," de Bonvoisin says. "You get to ask only, 'Where am I today with the meditating thing? Where am I with looking for my dream job? And where do I really want to go right at this moment?' "

Janis Rothermel of Longport, New Jersey, kept this idea i mind when she quit smoking. She'd always thought of herself as a smoker. Unfortunately, that's the way other people saw her, too, as she found out one year when three people gave her a cigarette case for Christmas. She realized it didn't matter if she smoked yesterday or earlier that day; she wasn't going to smoke from this point on. "I told myself, 'I've gone five minutes. I can go another five.' Then it was, 'I've gone three days, two hours and five minutes.' I haven't gone back in 25 years." Rothermel learned, as many of us do, that you can get exactly where you want to go , one moment at a time.