Life and Times of the Sharp Family

One of my absolute favorite things about Heaven's Little Helpers day care/preschool is the fact that my good buddy and co-teacher extraordinare, Mr. Messer , sends his kids there too.  In fact, his kids line up almost perfectly with mine.  His oldest son, James, is just one year older than Breslin.  His daughter, Mia, is a couple of months older than Dharia.  Mary, the baby, was born a mere 10 days after AJ.  The girls, especially, are close to their Messer counterparts.  Lately, when I pick up the girls and ask them who they played with, AJ says, "Maywie!"  Just see for yourself! I am so glad that my girls have friends at daycare.  I think it's even cooler that they belong to a family which I happen to be a big fan of.  I love that little tiny AJ has homegirls already.  Somehow, it makes not being with them during the day a little easier to take. Thank God that AJ loves Mary! Lord, thank you that my girls have friends ...

I don't know why we had a two hour delay this morning, but I'm happy we did.  It was a delightful little surprise. I forgot what it was like to drive to school in the daylight!  It made a huge difference in my attitude and outlook the rest of the day, I must say. Thank God for a two-hour delay! Lord, thank you for giving us the opporunity to take it a bit easier this morning.  Thank you for the chance to relax a little and to enjoy an excellent start to the day.  In your name I pray, Amen.

The Rad-Mag is a bike trainer.  It essentially turns your road bike into an indoor, stationary bike so that you can ride your bike inside on days where the wind is cold and the roads are covered in snow. I wasn't looking forward to riding a bike indoors, where the scenery never changes.  So, naturally, I was surprised to find myself rather enjoying working up a sweat on my first go with the trainer this morning.  While it was true that the scenery didn't change, it was also true that I got to hang out with my family while I rode.  I talked to Breslin about the alphabet and watched AJ dance.  Dharia just sat on the couch and played with the iPad, so I didn't really miss anything there, but I still got to look at her pretty face, scrunched in concentration. One of the things that makes triathlon training so difficult is the fact that it means long hours away from my family.  Today I am thankful that I have one way to get around that.  Than...

After my third gymnastics meet in four days, it was nice to spend the evening at home with my family. The best part was watching Breslin and Dharia play monsters. Monsters is a game that they made up tonight. The game involves: running, chasing, hiding, SCREAMING, tickling, and lots and lots of laughing. Breslin and Dharia played Monsters for a solid two hours. It was a great night. Lord, thank you for a nice and wild night at home with my family.

This is the shirt I am wearing right now.  I got it a couple of years ago when Colby and I visited Cleveland so that I could run the Cleveland Triathlon, a few short months after having AJ.  Cleveland was (suprisingly) a wonderful, fun place to visit.  I saw this t-shirt in the store next to Progressive Field after watching an Indians game and fell in love.  Unfortunately, the only size they had was extra large.  Depressed, I came home to Albion without my Cleveland shirt. At Christmas, my darling husband surprised me with a package containing one very orange Cleveland t-shirt, size small.  He had found it online in the months following the trip and ordered it immediately.  It is soft and cozy and never fails to make me crack a smile.  I was really hoping to get Western's student section to get their t-shirts made to look like this, only with "Parma" in the middle instead of Cleveland.  Like usual in these sorts of instances, they did not...

We have a new pizza joint in Albion: Gina's Pizza. It is located about a half mile from our house in an old bank. Tonight we got a chance to go their for pizza after school. The pizza was great, and the time together was even better. Lord, thanks for giving the opportunity to spend the evening eating dinner out tonight.

In addition to being without my van, I have been without deodorant for the past couple of weeks.  Don't worry, don't worry.  I did wear deodorant.  Just not my own. Every morning I would come down and use some of Colby's deodorant.  Then, I would walk around all day wondering why I smelled like a guy. This week, Colby picked up some deodorant for me at Meijer.  I walked around today wondering what smelled so good. It was me. :) Thank God for my own deodorant! Lord, thank you for small pleasures in life, like deodorant that doesn't make me smell like a man.  In your name I pray, Amen.