And I don't even mind wearing a swimsuit...

Recently, I've started attending a water aerobics class on Wednesday nights with some friends from church at the Aquatic Center here in Idaho Falls. The official name of this particular class is Hydro-Fit and here's their description of the class...

A deep water workout that uses buoyancy equipment on ankles and in hands to increase resistance. It’s emphasis is on muscle strength, toning, endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular training.

Here's the type of buoyancy equipment we use each week.

Can I just say that one: I'm glad no one can really see me since I'm underwater, and two: what a butt kicker! I always come home so tired afterward. But I have a lot of fun, and I look forward to getting out one night a week with the girls! Luckily, I have a hubby who's willing to watch the boys and put them to bed for me once a week.

Roll Over, Roll Over, I dare Xander over

For a couple of weeks now, Xander has gotten really good at rolling to his side, but doesn't quite make it all the way over. If I give him my finger or offer a little help, he can make it right over. Gavin has seen me help Xander and now thinks it's so funny to "help" Xander roll over and over and over. Luckily, Xander is good-natured and doesn't seem to mind (and some times even seems to like it) as long as his brother doesn't get too rough with him. What funny little boys I have!

A Creation Coming to Life

A few months ago, my mother-in-law Ann came to me with an idea. She wanted to make a jungle quilt for Gavin's toddler bed and that would match the colors of his room. She asked that I come up with a pattern for the quilt. I thought it was great idea and agreed. I like being creative when I get the chance, especially since it's so hard to find the time these days. And let's be honest... by coming up with the pattern I get exactly what I want.

Recently, Ann finished the top. She is part of a quilt group, and she took the top along with her to show her quilting friends. They all liked it so much they were wanting their own patterns and were telling Ann we should market our idea. So Ann and I have decided to give it a try. I've been redrawing the patterns to make them printable, and Ann is going to write up the directions since she did the quilting. She is also working on the handing quilting right now, so in a week and a half we can put the quilt in a local quilt show at a craft store and try to sell some patterns! Here is a picture of the quilt so far. We'll eventually choose one picture to put in the bag with the pattern.

If you are a quilter and would be interested in a pattern of this quilt let me know. Or if you don't quilt, but know a quilter feel free to pass on info to them or direct them my way! Thanks!

We are also probably going to need to come up some kind of name or identity to sell this pattern (and maybe more in the future!) under... any brilliant ideas? I need to start brainstorming.

Monkeying Around

Little Monkey

Now for little monkey's turn. Now 4 1/2 months old, I love seeing his little personality really coming to life. It's so fun. He loves to laugh and recently it's a hoarse little laugh that he just does all the time... it's so funny. Too bad I still haven't managed to catch his mighty cracking up on film yet. He now has his bottom front teeth and I think he's working on more... the cranky factor has increased again. Once they're all the way in I'll try for a picture, they're too hard to see right now. He loves to move and now loves the chance to splash and kick in the bathtub. You can tell he's just yearning to be chasing his big brother around. I'm going to be in big trouble when he finally learns to crawl. Oh the mischief... For now I love watching him grow and learn new things everyday.

Big Monkey

My big monkey will be two and half in two weeks. He's such a silly kid. He loves his blanket. He still struggles with speaking clearly, but it's slowly getting better. He now has a speech pathologist that should begin working with him this week, so hopefully we will continue to see improvement in his speech. He tries to say a lot more words, and two of my favorites right now are robot and blow bubbles. This kiddo is so active I have a hard time keeping him still for just about anything. He's a good big brother and loves to give hugs and kisses, though he practically smashes his brother in the process of trying to be nice. And like any good big brother he's already getting the pestering down to an art. For example, he loves to blow bubbles on brother's tummy any time I'm changing his diaper. It's pretty funny. He's actually quite good at it.