April Iphone Dump

Double Decker 2014

 Double Decker weekend is one I look forward to every year.  I started Friday off with a walk before work.  

 Saturday morning I kept with tradition and completed the Double Decker walk.  

 We ran in to Molly and Mary Kiley and made our way around the square to enjoy food and fellowship with friends and family.

 Jett clapped for the bands and enjoyed watching people.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a great day with family.

Light Up the Dark 5k

 JP and I ran a 5k in Tupelo to support missions for a local church.  It was his first race ever. I was so glad to be finished.  I didn't have a fast time, but it was  a personal best so I was pleased.  

Common Core at the School of Ed

So I'm taking a geometry class on Thursday nights. The class is a distance learning class, which means while our teacher is in class with us she is being broadcast to the Booneville, Grenada, and Tupelo campuses. We work with a document camera to show our work I the other students not in our class. We have had trouble with the lighting since day one and we found that when it was darker above the camera the work showed more clearly. Tonight in an effort to remedy the issue our teacher popped open an umbrella to shade the camera. With the common core push, mathematics now have standard for mathematical practices. Practice 5: use appropriate tools correctly. Case in point evidence in this photo.

Boy Blue's Easter Pictures

We have a great little courtyard next to our house and I couldn't wait to get pictures of Jett in his outfit after church.  Well, my plan was after church, but that turned into after lunch, after his nap, after an outfit change while I washed the chocolate off of this one, and a redressing of him.  He is overly independent these days.  He loves to walk on his on to places.  The day before he walked out of the back yard, down the drive way, across the street, and to the church playground all by himself with Cullen just following him to see where he would go.  

 He wasn't as into Easter Egg hunting this week as last, and was really more interested in climbing up and down from this bench.  

And of course before it was all over he was over eggs and sidewalk chalk and wanted to just cry it out. 

Easter 2014

So it has become tradition that Easter lunch is now at my house this year.  I think a lot of it has to do with my proximity to the church.  I live across the street so it is easy for family to drop their food off and then head on over to the sanctuary.  My driveway also provides parking for those running late and needing a close spot.  I didn't manage to get pics with Cullen's parents or my mom, but both were in attendance for lunch.  It is such a blessing to have family close enough to go to church with, close enough to worship with, and close enough to grow up with.  We miss my brother and his family dearly and can't wait for them to be close to us again.  The next few months can't fly by fast enough.

Baseball with JP

 Cullen and I took Jett to the baseball game.  We went to eat before hand and Jett fell in love with two plastic spoons.  With one in both hand, we dared not touch them, for fear he would melt down.  His favorite part of the game was being in Papaw's lap and getting a play by play of what was happening.

I wanted a picture of Jett with the Bear. The man behind the bear works in Cullen's office so Cullen tried his best to get Jett to pose with him.  It didn't work so well, but Cullen looks like he is having a good time. 

Brace Yourself

Brace yourself for the secret I'm about to divulge.  I have adopted clean eating.
 I didn't mean to...I really didn't.  It started really small and then just kinda took over.  I'm not really sure what was the catalyst.  It may have been the number I saw on the scale at the doctor or that the summer is coming, but whatever the reason it got real and all of a sudden I was craving better foods.

So in March I decided to start walking in the afternoons.  My sweet cousins were looking for something to do so they jumped on my band wagon and we walked 2-3 miles a day.  Then I decided to kinda watch the foods I was buying.  I started buying more fruit and taking it to work with me.  After a week of preparing and packing fruit for work, it kinda morphed into more salads, and more protein.  In addition to fruit, I started drinking a lot of water.  What I began to notice is I started craving my Diet Cokes and Diet Mt. Dew a lot less.

One week I just decided to set three goals: NO carbonated beverages, NO refined white flour, and walk 25 miles in one week.  I succeeded with those three and so as a treat I got a skinny latte from Starbucks and decided I would give up caffeine.  I would only have it as a treat.  I surprisingly didn't have withdrawals at all.

The next week's goals weren't as easy to set.  I decided I would keep a check on my whole wheat bread intake and try and walk 20 miles.  Those goals weren't tough to obtain.
So each week I try and think about new goals.  I really don't have new and different ones I just try and do something to make the week more focused.  One week I decided I would track my food on an app on my phone and I would start Couch to 5k.  I really have never wanted to be a runner.  I am not athletic.  I have enjoyed checking off the sessions each week though.

When I say I've eaten clean for the past six weeks, I have not been as regimented as I'm sure I have needed to be, but it hasn't been tough.
These are my rules:
I don't eat fast food.
I pack my lunch each morning no exceptions.  (In the last two weeks I went to two conferences where breakfast and lunch were provided.  I pulled out my tuna and quinoa and enjoyed my meal while others dined on Oby's, Taylor Grocery, and McAlister's.)
The food I buy in the store is minimally processed.  I am not ready to harvest my own wheat just yet, or make my own sandwich meat so I buy the best I can find from the research I have done.

I have tried and tried to not write this blog post.  I really hate to put myself out here.  I know by admitting I now am accountable to keep this up.

Hunting

My cousin, Darla, texted me on a Friday night and wanted to know if Jett would be at the town Egg Hunt.  I had no idea it was happening, which in my little corner of the world was amazing.  Apparently they didn't advertise it well, since there wasn't a large turn out. But we met them there and Jett had his first taste of Egg hunting.

 It didn't take long for him to pick up on exactly what to do.  I am so thankful we went.  It was a nice morning and he was able to get his one and only wear out of this sweet bubble.  Cullen rolled his eyes at how girly it looked.  I have decided that this will be his last year to wear bubbles and so I'm taking full advantage of it.  He will have his thighs out as much as he can this summer.  

 Sweet Jones woke up mid hunt and was content in his stroller looking at the pretty colors.

 Jett took up with a sweet grandmother from our church and wanted to be hugged and loved on by her when he wasn't exploring the park.

 Neither boy wanted to participate in group picture taking.  Jones was in love with the grass and Jett wanted to be up and moving.

 Brody, my cousin Brad's son wanted Jones to look up and take a pic so badly, but it just didn't happen.  

And just before we left both boys enjoyed some time in the swing.