Erik knows the answers to everything

It's amazing what 12 years will do! This same chair held Jenna and Nicholas when they were very little. One pic was taken March 2005 and the other pic was taken February of 2017. Now they don't even fit on the chair together ;)

Maddie and Sarah fit!

 Erik turned 42. That is the answer to everything. Of course who knows what the question is? But now Erik has all the answers. He wore the black belt at tae kwon do for his birthday. When we first started tae kwon do he could barely kick. Now his flexibility has improved so much. He can kick pretty high and is much better at stretching. It has really been good for him!

Erik as a black belt

 For Erik's birthday dinner he wanted chimichangas topped with fresh guacamole and chili con queso. Inside the chimichanga was beef, black beans, cheese, and cilantro lime rice. I also made honey wheat bread but since he ate so much chimichanga he didn't have room for the bread.

Birthday dinner

 Instead of a cake Erik opted for a french silk pie. This pie was delectable if I do say so myself. I made the pie (using pasteurized eggs) and homemade raspberry chocolate whip cream using the raspberry jam I can. Yum!!

Birthday dessert

 For Erik's birthday I got him the expansion to Settlers of Catan so we can play it 5 player (Matthew can play too).. Jenna got him bacon and made him a very cute card. Sarah got him granola and made him a robot out of shoeboxes, and Matthew got Daddy a light bulb (of course!).

google - world's best dad and inside is....

Erik!

robot gift

Erik's light bulb

My workout schedule is thus: Tuesday - heart and soul (45 minutes workout 15 minutes Bible study - seriously I love the women in this Bible study!! I feel like I can relate to them so well), Wednesday - spinning, Thursday - zumba toning and tae kwon do in the evening, Friday - body combat and zumba with Lindsay!, Saturday - yoga.

My FAVORITE day of the week is Friday because I love Lindsay's zumba class. I look forward to it all week. I leave there dripping in sweat and just love it! Well she is moving to California. This is awful. I might move with her. All my favorite zumba teachers are leaving. First Tera now Lindsay. Now what will I look forward to????

Lindsay and me after zumba

Sarah working on breaking a board

Playing Erik's new game of Settlers by the fire

 Jenna has been doing really well in the color guard for winterline. She is in the back middle in this picture. She really knows the routine and does a great job. She really dislikes the bumblebee-like uniforms though. Her winterline actually beat a high school winterline in the last competition. We were so impressed!!

Jenna winterline

 In other news:

1. We are going to give Theo 6 months. Currently Twinkles is afraid of him and she sprints  across the house in fear of him. I think she feels terrorized in her own home and we don't want her to feel like that. If it doesn't get better we might have to find a new home for Theo. I would be so sad since I love him so much. But we can't have Twinkles afraid all the time.
2. I am teaching Wednesday evenings this session. Actually having to go in to campus and get dressed and showered is kind of a lot to ask. I guess it's okay to have a real job once in awhile.
3. I've been on a Ilona Andrews reading rampage. There are 9 books in the Kate Daniels series and they are great urban fantasy. I've just plowed through them along with the 3 books in the Innkeeper series. I let Jenna read the first two books of the innkeeper series but no more than that! 
4. I also just finished reading A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas. Another urban fantasy book.
5. Sarah has been playing project spark quite a bit. She has built several worlds and is a very good programmer. She recently showed me something she was working on. A test environment so she can test her characters and enemies. I know seasoned programmers who don't test enough! She's 9! I can't imagine what kind of programmer she will be!
6. Spring break is coming soon. The kids will go to Nana and Papas for several days and I will sleep in and read books. Win! Win!