July Happenings

July...here we go! Faith Ann is so stinkin' adorable these days. I want to bottle her up. However, she has other plans and is growing up too fast. This month, she has stopped sitting in her highchair and no more bedtime milk bottle! NOOOO! Very bittersweet for me. She was climbing out of her highchair and jumping from the seat, so I decided it was time! She sits at the little table with her brothers. And her bottle of milk at bedtime, well, she was just done! Sissy, please slow down! Hunter and Trent are looking more and more alike to me these days. Still very different, but I am seeing more resemblance.

We are still doing our Wednesday lunch with Scott. This is a highlight of our week. We always stop and visit with Mr.P, the shoe shine man in the lobby of Scott's office building. He is the most kind, giving and joyful man. He will be a big part of my children's memories. He always has a stash of candy to choose from, and the boys bring him gifts too. So, Mr.P has a stash of race cars and stuffed animals. We walk over the sky bridge to the galleria to eat lunch. We pass stores along the way. The boys have had their eye on some goodies at the Rainforest Cafe shop. We stop there to say hi to "Tracey the Tree" every week. Well, Hunter wanted this leopard stuffed animal and Trent wanted a snake toy. They saved their money for weeks, and they were so excited to empty their wallets once they saved enough. It was a great moment to see them proud of their hard work. I love these pics of their first purchase that they truly bought all by themselves!

My classes that I am teaching at Sam Sann's ninja gym are going awesome! I lead a women's class once a week. I train obstacles and strength training. It is SO much fun. These women are having a blast and challenging their bodies like never before. I am really enjoying being part of these ladies lives! And Sam and I have become so close. He is such a sincere mentor, and he puts so much trust and faith in me. He is "all in" with me, which makes me want to work even harder! The boys come with me and they do the kid ninja class while I teach my class. They are having too much fun, and I see a huge change in their strength, agility, flexibility and confidence! They can crush push ups and burpee's...like 20 of them in perfect form and fast! Then, they go straight to rope climbing and pull ups! It really is amazing. Going to the playground is a bit more adventurous these days as they have explored their love of ninja! Ally comes over to babysit Faith Ann. She usually brings along Jake or a friend. Faith Ann is loving the alone time with her cousins!

And the classes I teach at church are AMAZING! These ladies bust their butt's and are seeing big change. They are seeing and feeling results, and I love that I get to be part of their journey. Most of all, I love to see their confidence blooming. I do a little Bible study, daily devotional at the end of class. This has been one of my favorite parts. I feel a spiritual depth that I have not felt before. I feel like I am truly serving the Lord with my strengths, which makes this even more special. We offer child care during the class, however, the older kids that are home for summer don't want to go in the "baby room." So, they are joining their moms in the workouts. It is SO cool to witness these children look up to their moms, take on challenges together, cheer for each other, and also spend time in the Bible together. I have had moms tell me that this experience has been life changing...changing their physical, mental and spiritual strength- while also bringing a new aspect to their relationship with their children. God has certainly blessed this journey! These pictures of the children and mothers working out together are priceless...so cool!

July 2nd would have been my mom's 71st birthday. She would be all smiles as my children grow to be their own unique little selves! We had a moment that made me realize that my mothers teachings live on. I train one on one sessions at my house a few times a week. The kids play and often workout with my clients. One day, a lady was struggling. She was on her hands and knees, breathing hard. Faith Ann went over to her and rubbed her back, leaned over and was talking closely to her face! Trent was saying, "just a little bit more." And Hunter dropped down on the floor and said, "come on, I'll do it with you!" This moment was full circle for me. I felt my moms presence. I saw their compassionate hearts, fighting spirit and giving souls. The lady said with tears in her eyes, "wow, these are the most loving children with genuine hearts." Amen! That is my goal in raising our kids. And I give credit to my mom! She led by example. She taught me the importance of being simple, being true, being unique, and opening your arms and hearts to all people. So, happy birthday to my precious mom. We honor your memory daily. We made cards and carefully picked out balloons to send to Heaven! We have done this the past couple years, and it is such a sweet tradition. We sing happy birthday and say a prayer! Happy Birthday, mom! I sure do miss you!

4th of July!! We stayed in town and enjoyed our neighborhood festivities. We went to the neighborhood parade and spent the day at the pool. The boys jumped off the diving board a million times and played hard. Faith Ann stayed hip and hip with her best friend, Blake. Those girls are something else! We also enjoyed time with Scott's family at his cousins house that night. More swimming and eating. Then, we had some firework fun. Well, not Faith Ann, she despised fireworks. But, she sure is cute!

I am all about trying new things. Sam Sann has been wanting me to get into yoga. So, I jumped right in. I guess I should have started with the beginner level. But no, I went straight to the advanced. Let's just say...fail! But, it sure was funny. I haven't laughed that hard in years! This split screen picture is proof of my failure. The image on the left is what I was trying to do...I am on the right. You can see by my partners face how hard we were laughing! I am blurry because I was falling so fast! I am going to stick with it and hopefully find my inner "zen!" In the meantime, I will enjoy my usual training tactics. I am glad that I am a little better at the bar and pull up work. But, I love a good challenge! The boys are at VBS this week, so Faith Ann and I are enjoying some alone time. Our afternoons are usually filled with swimming, play dates, neighbor fun, and mommy time! We are really enjoying our summer days! Thank you July for being good to us...next up is our anniversary and Trent's birthday. 11 years of marriage and Trent will be 4...this is an entirely different post! Bye for now!