Snow Day

Last friday brought on another snow day. 10 more inches of the lovely stuff.   The kids were excited.  Me, I'm frustrated by the late arriving spring. The wet, heavy snow is not fun to shovel and I'm ready to be outside.  We do need the moisture, so for that I am thankful.  Anyway,  I decided that mother nature must be telling us that we need to build a snow man.  Since, as of Friday, we hadn't.   I convinced the kids of my theory that if they finally built a snow man, maybe, just maybe the snow would stop coming....

 (Yes, our snowman has a baseball bat and hat!)

(someone was tired of getting their picture taken)

a little snow basketball was played

and some real snowballs were thrown

 A lot of spring, snow playing, fun was had.  And did it work?  Well, we are suppose to get up to 4 more inches of the white stuff by Tuesday......  Hard to play baseball and softball in this stuff.  But, we'll make the most of it!

Why are we so critical?

Why?

Take a few moments to watch this video before you continue reading...



For me, this really hit home.  I'll be honest, I stood in the mirror just this very morning, checking out my  tummy, that I wish was flatter, my nose smaller, my arms more defined, my hair fuller..... Why do I do this?

I do believe that women, myself absolutely included, are so very critical of ourselves.  We compare ourselves to the "beautiful women" we see on TV and in print. Our hair is not quite the color or texture we would like it to be.  Our skin color, too light or too dark.  Our noses, too big, wide, pointy, simply not shaped the way we would like, or see as beautiful.

I could go on and on about the rest of our bodies, from our feet to the nails on our hands to the tips of our ears and I'm certain I most of us could tell you about the trait(s) we wish were different or think are ugly.

But these things that bug us about ourselves ~ are just that.  Things we see.

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and didn't think one negative thing about your physical body?  When was the last time you looked in the mirror and thanked God for your individual beauty ~ the beauty that makes you ~ you?

As women, I think we feel the demands and desires of the world, to be the thinnest, to be the prettiest, to be the best.  What if we all just embraced ourselves fully and conquered each day confident.  Confident in our abilities and especially in our skin.

We need to remember, as this video shows, we are ALL unique, we are ALL beautiful, we just need to change our attitudes.  Next time you look in the mirror,  remember who you are and that there is no one else in the world who is you ~ so Rock It!

Oh, and as my 12 year old daughter reminded me just last night, 

 "You're never fully dressed without a smile!"

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Coach's Thank You

My daughter's basketball season ended about a month ago, but just recently was their end of the season party in which we presented the Coach and Assistant Coach with a small token of our gratitude.  While the gifts themselves were nothing much (I collected money and purchased a variety of gift cards I thought they would enjoy) I did take some time creating a couple of things.

First, after the girls' league tournament, Sassy and I came up with this as we wanted to give "Coach" something, since the regular season was over (the state tournament was still to come).  I headed to the gas station, and picked out a bunch of candy bars I thought would work perfectly as words in a poem.  I'm sure many of you have seen these around, but this is what we came up with:

I've actually done this before (for a father's day gift) where I wrote the "poem" out and  taped the candy bars directly in place.  But for this one, I printed out the poem with candy bar images, then tied ribbon onto the candy bars and put it all into a gift bag ~ much easier to carry around a basketball tournament!


Then, for their "real" gifts, I made a couple of Thank You cards and had all of the families sign them.
The cards were a hit, by the parents and Coach's alike.

Here is the one I made for the Assistant Coach:

Outside:

Inside:

And the one for the Head Coach:

Outside:

Inside:

They were a hit, and could easily be revamped for different sports.

 Just a side note.  I know most coaches do not expect Thank You gifts.  I do however know how much time coaches put into the team.  My husband has coached my Daughter's and Son's teams (softball for her and basketball for him) for many years.  He doesn't just show up for practice or games.  He is at home in the evenings, after his full time job, organizing practices ~ always looking for new ideas ~ or ways he can help the team or individual players learn more and become their best.  Organizing line-ups for games and dealing with the last minute "no shows".  Setting up practice locations, signing up for tournaments, sending out emails, "dealing" with parents, giving rides to those who need help getting to/from practices and games.  So while I say thank you gifts are not expected.  I do hope you all are telling your coaches "Thank You"  and just so you know ~ words are just fine!  Just let them know you appreciate the time and effort they are putting in!

April Showers...

If April showers bring May Flowers, then what do April SNOW showers bring?

............

............

The answer?

Crabby people!

As I looked out my window this morning, I was hoping that the meteorologist on last night's news broadcast would be incorrect.  Unfortunately my wishful thinking was just that... wishful thinking.  The alarm went off at 4:40 and I crawled out of bed, got dressed and ready to go to the health club.  I was looking forward to starting my day with a good hard run.  I bounded down the stairs and looked out the foyer window.  Much to my dismay, the ground was covered with white stuff.  You know that word that turns into a 4 letter word somewhere mid winter ~ SNOW.   There it was just sitting on the lawn, glistening beneath the street lamps.  The side walks don't need to be shoveled, but they are quite slippery.  The clincher, we are expected to get another 3-5 inches on top of that today.

So, since the weather is cloudy, gloomy and cold, I thought it would be a good day to share some vacation pictures and details.  So sit back, relax and jump on a virtual plane to Florida with me.....

Months ago 5 families (including mine) began planning for a big, group spring break trip.  We all have kids of similar ages ~ so between all of us, there were 10 adults and 12 kids between the ages of 4-12.  We all had our own condo's on St. Pete Beach.  It was so nice to get away!

Here is a little (or big ~ as in lots of pictures!) snapshot for you:

First time on the beach after arriving

It was cool and foggy, but that didn't stop the kids from checking out the water

Another cool, foggy day on the beach ~ shell seeking, sand castle making and fun was still to be had!

The big girls and little girls walking back to the condo after some beach side dining

The next day we headed to Clearwater to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium

For those of you that don't know, this is the Aquarium where Winter the dolphin, from the movie 

"A Dolphin's Tale" makes her home.  Much of the movie was filmed at the actual aquarium so it was fun to wander around.

Different dolphin tail prosthetics

"Winter"

Watching "Hope" the dolphin

The following day was the day for Bush Gardens.  Unfortunately I stayed back at the condo with a sick little girl ~ I think she threw up 10 times throughout the night and more during the day.  So our day looked mostly like this

but we snuck out for about 10 minutes to collect some shells, then retreated back to the condo to relax some more.

The following day we snuck in a baseball game.  While the game was good and we both of the teams that played were two of our favorites, the highlight of the day had to be when this group of high school boys (all of the ones in the fluorescent tank tops).

Stood up, turned around and sang "Happy Birthday" to Sassy (her birthday was the following day and I asked one of her friends to ask them to sing as throughout the game they would sing random songs ~ they actually sang "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder to the left fielder!  They were quite entertaining!  And as you can see, Sassy was quite embarrassed :)

Besides Parasailing

(That's Me on the Left and Sassy on the Right)

(Action is on the right)

and a bit of shopping aka, goofing off

Much of our time was spent enjoying the pool and the beach ~ morning, noon and night.  We saw the most beautiful sunsets, had a wonderful time and made many fantastic memories!

And now, I sit and await more snow.........

Come on Mother Nature ~ cooperate :)