The Girls

I just got home not too long ago from an afternoon out with all the beautiful ladies in Martin's family. His mom, two sisters, and niece!

It seems we started a tradition of a night out of shopping then a nice dinner. It coincidentally happens to be close enough to my niece's birthday, which is on December 24th, so we celebrate her birthday as well :) Last year was Chelsey's 13th b-day so it was a perfect year to have her join us ladies!

I am grateful to be blessed with such amazing women in my family to share these fun new traditions! My in-laws are a huge support system for me and I know that I can count on them no matter what, just as they know they can count on me! To have this kind of sisterly bond is a gift from God :)

Blessings
Lee-Anne

Proverbs 3:15 ESV 

She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Little Belly

Today I am most grateful for having Jacob's health back to normal! Since last Friday he had been hit with the  worst case of flu that I have seen in a long time. Without being able to hold down anything for 4 days I am surprised he had enough energy to walk at times. Now today he was screaming and laughing and running around with his friends like nothing ever happened!

I am so grateful that he was healthy to begin with and that he had enough "reserves" to help him stay afloat :) I knew that chunky little belly of his would come in handy!

Now I pray that our bout of illnesses is DONE! It has been a pretty rough past 4 weeks and I am ready to get out of this cycle!

Blessings
Lee-Anne



"And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness..." Deuteronomy 7:15  [If you follow His commands and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior]

Zumbalicious!

I love love love ZUMBA fitness! I am so grateful that I jumped in and got licensed to be a Zumba instructor!

Honestly, for those of you who really know me, know that dancing is in my blood. I hear music and I have to move to the beat. Ever since I was a little girl I have been choreographing my own dances just for fun. I was always part of a dance club if there was one. I even remember having a very small group of friends when I was in grade 5 and we created a break dancing club!

Through the years, I have helped choreograph dances for community theater and for various school performances. Yet, other than my last year of high school, when I majored in dance, I never really had any formal training.

I got certified to be a group fitness instructor in 2001 so I had the formal fitness training. Even though a Zumba instructor isn't required to be certified in anything, it certainly does help to make sure form is suitable for everyone and body parts are where they are supposed to be! I would not recommend teaching any form of fitness without some theoretical and practical background with a certificate!

Zumba is the perfect medium for those who love to dance and enjoy a great workout. Seriously, I have so much fun dancing in class and showing others how to do the moves that sometimes I forget that I am "working out" :) The sweat that comes off me and my participants is evidence that it is a super duper workout!

Not only do I get to teach adults, but I went the extra step and I am licensed to teach kids their form of Zumba, ZUMBATOMIC! Yes you have to be licensed or you cannot teach it or at least you cannot call it Zumbatomic. I teach two classes a week at my children's school during lunch break. What a fun way to promote health and fitness and FUN!

I am licensed in Zumba Gold as well so I can give the active older adult a good workout without all the hip action! This is also great for beginners, people recovering from injuries, and women who are pregnant.

Basically Zumba is for ALL AGES!!!

Oh yes, I am the only Zumba Instructor in town! I have been at it successfully for a year. ON MY OWN SCHEDULE! What a great way to earn an income! What I am even more excited about is what my plans will look like in 2013. I am scouting out some possible people who would like to teach Zumba so that there can be more classes available and we can have substitutes in case of emergencies :)

Who says you can't be paid for your passions or that you have to put your passions on hold? Not Me!
Can you tell I am running off a Zumba high? I taught my class tonight!

What are you passionate about that keeps you moving and grooving?

Blessings
Lee-Anne

Dear Lord, Thank you for blessing me with two legs to dance and the heart to feel the rhythm!

Day 4-The Little Things

What an amazing day! It is so crazy how the little things in my life, which are a big part of my life, truly showed up throughout the day.

The first was to be able to say I couldn't be there for my son's skating day with his gym class. Now I wasn't saying no "just because". I knew that other parents would be at the arena to help the kids get ready. More importantly I had a very sick little 3 year old at home, I still wasn't feeling 100% , and I had my husband who needed to work.

Guess what happened? Martin, my husband, at the last minute decided he could hold off work for a little longer and joined Logan and his class at the arena :) It was a good thing too because there were only two other parents there! It also made Logan's day that much better!

At lunch time I went to teach my Zumbatomic (Zumba for kids) class at the school. I went in with an agenda and it totally got busted! Sometimes children (especially those between the ages of 6 and 8) have their own agenda and then I have to adjust the class accordingly so we can actually have fun and still get a couple dance routines in! Usually dance games are the answer. Today they even invented a new one called Danse et Cache :) (Dance and hide) It was fun and it kept everyone going! Sometimes I really forget to come from a BEGINNER'S MINDSET.

On my way home I stopped at the grocery store for some dinner items. As I went to pay, the gentleman in front of me had forgotten his money in the car so I had to be PATIENT ( as there was only 1 checkout available) and wait for him to return. I do not usually have to wait for very long in line and there really wasn't anything else I could do so I figured this time wasn't  going to hurt me.

After I picked up my kids from school I proceeded to make the preparations for supper. I totally UNDERESTIMATED how long this project would take! My super yummy and healthy supper that I was determined to make took 2 hours from start to finish instead of the 1 hour I anticipated :) The veggie side dish I had planned on now needed to change because I took so long to prepare the chicken! By 5:15 pm my kids were getting a little hairy, by 5:30 pm they were looking for snacks, by 5:45 pm the crying started, by 6 pm the drumsticks still needed to cook for another 10 minutes. I was so grateful when everything was laid out on the table and the fussiest of all fussy children, Logan, practically drooled with excitement! It was a very yummy supper :) Lesson learned, truly plan ahead and read directions carefully to plan out all the time needed!

Bedtime had its own special learning moments. After reading our Christmas story for the night I laid down with Mason first to help him go to sleep and Daddy laid down with Jacob. Mason proceeded to tell me how excited he was for Christmas to come, how much he loved me, and then asked if his arms would ever be as long as mine? He made up funny situations a if he had long arms and how they would get tangled up :) I chuckled and told him to draw pictures in the morning of his long arms.

I am so grateful for all these little happenings today. Each has its own lesson which can be taken in many different ways. Taking time to breath, say no if necessary, be patient, read the fine print, and be grateful for all the love that is given to me.

Enjoy the life that God has so freely given to you. If you don't like something, guess what, you can change it!

Blessings
Lee-Anne


Zechariah 4:10 English Standard Version (ESV)
For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

Faith and passion

I am writing today's blog in conjunction with the blog I was supposed to write yesterday. I ended up flat on my back in bed with a fever and stomach issues last night and I didn't get a chance to write :(
I am still in bed, but I am taking a few minutes to write from my IPad.

Yesterday I enjoyed a peaceful time at church. I only had my oldest boy with me and he was in Sunday school. I was very grateful to be able to concentrate on the message the Pastor was giving because it was right in line with my 31 Days of gratitude. I know I was meant to be 100% present so I could hear every word. Usually I am running after my 3 year old:)

His message was that of taking our passions and making them work to bring others closer to God. About serving and giving rather than sitting on the side lines expecting someone else to do the work. Doing what God created us to do so that others might see Him through us.

When I got home I was very grateful to have my husband ready to take charge and allow me to go to bed without any questions. Martin truly is a wonderful man with a heart of gold :) He made dinner, put the kids to bed and when he woke up he made the lunches and took the kids to school!

Of course I am also very grateful for my in-laws. They came and took Jacob back to their house for the day so Martin could get some work done. Red and Adele are such amazing grandparents. I honestly do not know how I could survive in this little town without them! They are always ready to help out and are always so welcoming to everyone.

There are so many things I have to be Grateful for and I look forward to sharing them with you in the following posts!

Blessings
Lee-Anne

Dear Lord please guide me in the right direction and help me to live my life with true passion and faith.

The Gift of Nothing

Three Christmas's ago a beautiful girlfriend of mine sent a special package to me and my family. Inside, along with some yummy treats, was a cute little book called The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell.

A perfect little story about finding the perfect gift for that special someone who has EVERYTHING! It really touched on the importance of being genuine and spending time with those we love.

I am so grateful for my friend Alicia and her precious gift to us of adding a new storybook to our family's traditional Christmas reading list!

Linking this story to my youngest child, Jacob, I grasped the opportunity to spend a little extra time with him tonight. While Logan and Mason had already fallen asleep a not so sleepy Jacob quietly crept down the stairs looking for Mommy :)

Knowing that he had had a very long nap this afternoon, one that I willingly partook in, I allowed him to come downstairs for a couple extra QUIET stories. I stressed quiet because his idea of a really good story is anything that makes noise!

Once we were complete he was quite happy to return to his bed and quickly fell asleep in my arms :)

You really can't buy these precious moments or plan them. I love all my children and I realize as they grow that I cannot buy back time and that every moment counts. Sometimes I find that I wish time away too quickly and miss out on some wonderful opportunities to connect with my kids.

I am working at putting more focus on being completely present at home with my kids and husband when we are all home as a family. I look forward to including them in more of the things that I do and participating in and celebrating the things they do. Yes I am already involved in many activities with them, but I mean on a level of heart to heart connection. Being more vulnerable is scary for me, and that is just what the doctor ordered :)

Blessings
Lee-Anne 


1 John 3:18 
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (NIV)

31 Days of Gatitude

I am still here :)

I find that life always likes to throw curve balls every once in a while and in my life they tend to last a little longer than I expect them to. Maybe I do have high expectations and underestimate  reality!

Without getting into the nitty gritty of life as a mom with three very active young boys and a travelling husband I am choosing to focus the next 31 days towards being grateful.

December is a wonderful month to put this gratitude first in my life because it tends to be such a crazy month.  I appreciate the real reason we celebrate Christmas, for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Often I can get wrapped up in all the presents and making sure that everyone is happy by stretching myself out everywhere! This year I am doing my best to keep things simple, give more where I am truly needed and be more inviting with the people in my community.

This is the season of giving, and I don't mean the material items we all tend to think of as Christmas comes around. This is a time to give more of my genuine self and help others feel the true spirit of Christmas.

Yes my children will receive their gifts under the tree, but there won't necessarily be as many. I am also making more of an effort to read the biblical stories that lead up to the birth of Christ, as well as taking the time to read our traditional Christmas stories and new ones we have found at the library.

There are several ways I am realizing to donate my time, money, clothes, food, and energy. We don't have to be rich with money to donate any of these things, we do need to be rich in love. To me the best way to share my love is to give where I can without exhausting myself in return.

When I first started this blog I was in a place of renewal, getting acquainted with my new home town, making new friends and finding where I fit in. Now I have found my place in the community, have many friends, and am actually enjoying my life. I am now in the process of seeing what else I can add to my community and what gifts I can bring to better serve it.


I am committing the next 31 days to writing my blog, even if it is just a few sentences. A little bit everyday may lead me back into at least a weekly post :)

Maybe you will find some inspiration and ideas as to how you can give during this season. Maybe you will be inspired to start your own gratitude journal. Whatever the reason is that you read my blogs I hope that you get positive energy from it. Originally I was just writing for me, but I have been told by a few of my friends how much it means to them as well. This makes me blush and feel all warm inside to know that I am making a positive contribution through my words.

Please post your comments and share what you are grateful for!

Blessings
Lee-Anne

Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."