Backyard Biceps

Taken when Amara and I were moving weed piles for burning.

I'm feeling very thankful for my health this day.  The weather has been beautiful and there has been much to do in the yard.  I've been tackling it frequently for the past 3 weeks or so, and I can tell that I'm getting stronger.  At the end of the day, I'm sweaty and muscle weak from pushing a mower, pulling weeds, running the weed whacker, etc..  Before all this though, I was showing my sister via FaceTime how you couldn't even see my biceps when I flex because my muscles have shrunk.  Well, after a few weeks of this, you can see my biceps again!  Not that I have huge biceps, I don't, nor is that something I'm really striving for, but it's nice to know all my hard work is building my body strength back up too!

I remember last year, around the end of December, discussing with my husband my exercise goals for the new year, and how I wanted to go on more walks and lift weights to build my strength again.  It was an eye opener for me when I came home from grocery shopping and I was struggling to carry the gallon of milk from the car into the house.  That hadn't been difficult for me since I was a child, I think.  So, I knew it was time to get some muscles back. I'm not one to really stick to a workout regimen unless I'm doing it with someone, and I much prefer to see some immediate results from my hard exercise, so that is why I love yard work in nice weather for my exercise.  

Taken after the Young Women came and helped me weed my garden

My neighbor down the street just got surgery and is in a rehab center for a few weeks, so I decided to mow her HUGE lawn as a service to her.  Our fully charged lawnmower ran out of batteries before I even completely finished the small portion in front of her house, which is about one sixtieth of her yard.  That was 2 days ago.  Tonight I went back and finished the small front section and did a small side yard before the batteries died.  The grass is quite tall, but you couldn't ask for better weather!  Since our mower is a push mower, I'm definitely getting exercise and sweating up a storm, and I get to see freshly cut grass as my reward!  

So next time you're outside pulling weeds, mowing grass, or what have you, remember it's a blessing to have your health to be able to care for others and some of God's creations, and also, you're benefitting from the exercise in 2 ways- #1 your yard is pleasing to look at and brings joy to you and others, and #2 you're getting healthier!

Our Fancy Girls Night - Lemonade Party

This past week was the Mother-Daughter activity for the Activity Days girls at the church.  They planned such a fun evening for us.  They told the girls to be sure to dress up as fancy as possible with their mothers and that there would be a prize for the fanciest.  The girls had it in their minds that they wanted gloves.  I didn't want to pay $30 for a set of play gloves, so I told them we would make them.  We bought some cheap fabric, watched a youtube video, sewed a glove, and decided it was a little too much work and the fabric was getting runs all through it.  My mom mentioned using tights to create fingerless gloves, so we went that route since we happened to have tights and the girls NEVER wear them.  We also happened upon feather boas at the dollar store when we were out shopping, so I picked 3 up so we could match.  Boy, when we got all dressed up, our little accessories really pushed us to that fun level of fancy we were hoping for, and the girls were thrilled with their look.

The activity before, the girls made these cute invitations for the party.  They were folded in a paper doily which was wrapped with pretty ribbon and finished off with a glued on jewel.

Before we left to the party, we had Steve do a very quick photo shoot of us around our house.

 Then it was off to the party.  As we arrived, the scouts were all hanging out in the foyer.  All eyes were on us, and I just smiled and tried to walk quickly.  I hate drawing attention to myself.  We made it into the gym, where the party was.  There were tables set up for us to create our own hat out of paper plates, bowls, ribbon, and fake flowers.

 After the hats were made, they snapped a picture of each of the girls and their moms, and then one group picture of the girls.

 Dinner was served after pictures.  We had chicken salad croissant sandwiches with green salad, fruit skewers, and a cherry cheesecake pudding parfait for dessert.  They handed out pens and papers to everyone and we played a little game like the newlywed game where you have to guess the answers to 10 questions about the other person.  I did really well guessing Lily's answers.  I got 8/10 right. I didn't do as well on Amara's, maybe like 5/10.  The girls guessed 3/10 on my answers.  The game was fun and everyone was a winner in the end and got a charm bracelet made by one of the activity days leaders.

 I loved that I got to do this with my girls!