Happy birthday daddy

Thank you for being an integral part of our family!
You make all things happen. So grateful for your presence in our lives.

Trick or treat: Halloween 2011

Halloween is just around the corner so we decided to take the girls to a pumpkin patch for some family fun.  The girls picked out a pumpkin, drew the face and daddy was kind enough to carve out a cute ghost to create our very first Jack-O-Lantern. Halloween spirit fills the air in my home and the girls are excitedly counting down the days until Halloween. For the third year they decided to be Disney princesses (again) and I have to buy another Cinderella and Belle costumes to satiate my girls' endless desires to be pretty, sparkly and beau~~tiful like a princess. :)

As for me, another course in my five-course certification program just began so I'm back to juggling full-time motherhood with some school and some exercise with cooking, cleaning, bathing, cleaning, and more cleaning somewhere in the middle. Being a mom of two teaches you that there are not enough hours in the day to complete all your tasks and that deep, slow breathing is the only solution to maintaining sanity when you discover dried up playdoh mixed with dog poop under your brand new carpet.

Over the years I learned the importance of to-do lists but was never quite ready to face the fact that what is more important than a to-do list is the courage to throw it out and dance to the flow of your children, your dog, your husband and your inner voice.  And today, I'm doing just that--dancing to the beat of my own rhythm and blogging. Hah! I used to view this as the biggest waste of time because it distracts me from doing more "important" things like running errands for the family--but I now realize it is just as important to keep writing and letting my inner thoughts and emotions flow out onto the page. Here I'm more Present than ever and here, I'm closer to myself AS IS, not as how I SHOULD be.

Once I leave this page, I'll go back to the list and continue living my life as I should. Life requires it but instead of complaining I'm going to send the Universe a note of gratitude and positivity. Today is a day of treating myself. Every day should be like this!

P.S. I'm sore as hell from last night's crossfit-- but my muscles are thanking me...I think. And anniversary trip to Hawaii coming up in three weeks! Now is my time to bring the energy up and up!

Go me.

Holding on to Love by Chelsea Victoria

My 4-year old T has so much energy that it's been hard keeping up with her at home. We tried ballet but she froze and refused to follow her teacher's instructions and instead continued to tumble around the couch in front of the TV. After giving it much though, I decided to try gymnastics since two of her art class buddies are already in the class--and sure enough, she absolutely LOVES it.  She loves it so much that she decided she wants to quit preschool and go to gymnastics everyday. Yesterday I exchanged her pretty tutus and ballet slippers for gymnastic leotards as T counts the days until her next gym class.

Unlike her mom who gave up ballet at age 4 the day after the teacher forced her to do painful splits, T is a natural in the gym. As of now she shows more interest in balance beams and monkey bars than books and I'm totally fine with that. I was a book worm since childhood and even until this day, I have trouble sharing my passion with anyone else except in literature courses in college and grad school. Even my business-oriented husband has little interest in sharing my ardor for literature and literary figures and eventually, this has become a solitary or rather, lonely hobby. Reading definitely helped to heighten my spirituality and sense of awareness of the world around me but I'm still lacking energy and stamina that I need to keep up with my growing family.

Anyway, this entry is not really about T's gym or my love for literature. On the day I signed up T for gymnastics, I impulsively joined a crossfit gym located next to her gym class.  I have no idea what compelled me to do this, all I know is that I was drawn to it like a kid being drawn to the candy store. Except of course, fitness training is much more difficult than eating candy and not much sweeter..at least, not yet.  After yesterday's first day of fundamentals, I'm sore in body parts that I never knew existed yet feeling great than ever.  I'm a mother of two. I need to strengthen myself not only physically and mentally, and live a healthy lifestyle. I'm determined and motivated and they say that is the most important thing. Let's see where this takes me.