Too old and out of shape!

So I've been playing in a local brass band. I started out playing the E-flat bass and had to give it up for a while, but they asked if I could help out with a couple of carnival parades on Euphonium. I was so happy that they wanted me to continue playing with them even though I don't have the time to commit to two nights a week rehearsal. Well, tonight was the first of the parades and I realized a few things... The parade was only 2 miles and it was mostly flat but I am totally lacking in strength in my upper arms. The marching itself wasn't too bad but actually holding up my euphonium to play for the ENTIRE 2 miles was beyond my abilities. I made it through though and I am so thankful for that! 10 years ago, I could have done that with my eyes closed. Also, waiting until the day of the parade to look at the music for the first time... NOT a good idea! Oh man! I used to be a much better player but tonight I stunk! Next time, I'm going to know the music better so I can actually play the songs properly!

I guess I'm not as young as I used to be!

Memories

Here is what you do...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments... Please Play! :)

6 weeks & 6 days

I had my first ultrasound today. Thankfully there is only one and he/she has a really strong heartbeat. I've included the ultrasound pic and a belly pic. On a side note, I am officially at my lowest weight in about 6 1/2 years!!! I am down 4 pounds from two weeks ago when we found out we were pregnant, I guess a nice little side effect to morning sickness. Don't worry!!! I am eating and the baby's health is my top priority. The same thing happened during my pregnancies with Natalie and Robbie, with each of them, I weighed 25-30 pounds less the day I delivered them from when I found out I was pregnant! Pregnancy seems to be the only time I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight, weird, huh!

Robbie

What can I say about Robbie? Well he is 2 almost 3, so he has his moments where he can be really cute and loving and other moments where he can be a real monster. He has this new hobby where he likes to chuck all of his toys off of the upstairs landing over the bannister onto the floor below. Let me just say, he has had 3 time outs today because of this! Here are some pics of my little monster.

Natalie's Graduation

On Monday, Natalie's class had a little graduation ceremony to celebrate them leaving the reception year and going to class one. All the children got a little certificate. Then out of all the reception children (about 40 students), 5 children got a Certificate of Merit. I was so pleased when Natalie was called as one of them! The head teacher gave her a certificate and talked about how she is always smiling. She has been really popular at school and has a lot of friends and she loves it so much. After the ceremony, we had a conference with her teacher and she had a lot of really nice things to say and is really impressed with how far she has come this year. We are so proud of her!

Natalie and her class getting their "diplomas"

Mr. Phillips (the head teacher) giving Natalie her Certificate of MeritNatalie with her certificates

ANNOUNCEMENT!

Due date is 13 March and after almost a year and a half of trying.

Happy 4th of July

Well, this is the second year in a row we didn't get to see fireworks. They just start too late for my kid's taste and this year it rained, and when I say rained, I mean the heavens opened and I thought we were going to need an ark. All the fun stuff we planned on doing we couldn't because it was too wet, but we did go to the base where they had face painting (see pictures below), some furry little animals to pet and a bouncy castle. Maybe next year we'll have a better chance to do something fun.

Robbie as a tiger, he's growling. The artist did the best she could with the cooperation Robbie gave. He wouldn't sit still.

Natalie is a rainbow princess.

Happy Birthday Shawn!!!

I'm a little late getting this up here. Shawn's Birthday was on Sunday, 29 June. He turned 34!!! We had a great day together and I cooked him a nice juicy steak and a baked potato and we had triple chocolate fudge cake with triple chocolate fudge chip frosting! We are going to get SOOOOO fat!