Knock, knock...

Well, of course today is all about love... it's a silly Hallmark holiday meant to make the chocolate, flower, and card companies millions of dollars... it's a silly holiday that I LOVE.  I love it because I love my husband.  So, today's post is dedicated to the Love of my Life :)

Rob and I met on the first day of college at St. Ambrose.  My roommates and I were organizing our new room and we heard a knock on the door... My sister got to the door first and opened the door to find a shaggy haired, blue eyed, boy that stuck his hand out and said "hey ladies I'm Rob".  He was walking up and down the hallways of the dorm trying to meet EVERY single woman on our floor.  We all giggled and told him our names, shut the door and moved on.  The next morning, I found myself sleepily walking into Intro to Theology at 8am, finding a seat, and 2 minutes later hearing "hey Kim".  I turned to see Mr. Blue Eyes starring back at me.  We also came to find out we shared our Tuesday/Thursday 8am class Creative writing class with Nancy Hayes (who Rob lovingly explained to people she had "rays of sunshine coming out of her ass").  As the semester progressed we studied together, hung out on weekends, and just genuinely enjoyed spending time together either with my roommates when we were trying to study, or his roommates when they'd do ridiculous things like "the gallon challenge" or throw pennies out the windows at people :)  We'd quickly become best friends... I realized over Christmas break that I missed him.  That was sort of weird for me, because I had also started dating a new guy at that point.  Long story short, that "new guy" turned out to be an idiot and Rob made sure to remind me of this any chance he got.  At Easter when i'd finally come to my senses and broken up with him, Rob was planning to spend Easter alone in the dorms... my mother of course said that wasn't an option and he came to Easter dinner with us... just as friends of course.  Not even a month later (with some interventions from my mother and sister) we finally admitted we were in love with each other. 

11 short months later he told me during our daily walk that "he never wanted to walk without me by his side again" and 18 months after that I became the happiest wife in the world.  Now, 9 years after that wonderful day I met my husband I am so thankful for every moment I have with him.  We've created two precious children, a home that we love, and more memories then I ever dreamed possible.  It just goes to prove that you never know when love will come knocking at your door...

Embarassed party of 1!

Since Sam was born in May of 2006 my husband and I have argued over when he'll go to school... will he go when he has just turned 5 and be the youngest in his grade or will we hold him and send him when he's already 6 so he will be the oldest?  My husband and father have both convinced me that holding him is the way to go.  I'm not sold on the decision, but since they're both early summer birthdays and went through being the "baby" of the class, I caved.  SO I did get him to agree that Sam needs to go to a good PreK program next year so that he's not bored and has something that is consistant in his life.  We have called every preschool program in the QCA getting information, schedules and pricing.  While we're on the subject of pricing, let me mention quickly that they are charging more for a preschool education then I pay for my energy bill every month... it's CRAZY.  Sorry about the tangeant- on with my story; so on Tuesday night we went to Lourdes Catholic School for the early childhood open house... as we were leaving we had stopped to chat with some people when I noticed Sam examining the HUGE crucifix hanging on the wall (very lifelike I might add)... Let me stop here and explain the religion status in the Munn home.  We are Christian, religious people, that were all baptized in the church and believe that there is a wonderful power greater then us.  We are also unfortunitely a family that has way to busy of a weekend to get to church on a regular basis.  We read our children Bible stories and discuss the true meaning of Christmas and Easter... Okay, now on with the story... So as I see Sam staring at this crucifix, I start to worry that he's going to say something inappropriate but before I can even lean in to explain, he loudly asks "Mom, who's the guy and how'd he get all those ouchies?"  MORTIFIED is an understatement...  Although I was embaressed at the time, as I've thought about it, I realized, he's 4.  I don't think he needs to know what a horrible event that was in all the details... All too soon he'll understand why that "guy" got all those "ouchies" but for now I just stuck to the response "Jesus got all the ouchies because he loved you"... beautifully enough that was all Sam needed to know.

My "aha" moment for the week...

Anyone that knows me, knows that I have "aha" moments that cause me to step back and realize something important quite often... I think it's because I tend to move through my days, completeing tasks, working, being a mom and wife, and simply trying to get to the next day then all of a sudden AHA... when I actually stop and think about something and how it effects EVERYONE, it very clearly makes sense in my world.  The first AHA moment that I can remember is when I had first opened my studio and I had 2 or 3 moms upset with a particular decision I made, so I changed my decision and caused 40 parents to be mad at me... AHA Kimberly, you're never going to make everyone happy, so don't try.  Do what's best for the majority and move on...  Since then I've had dozens of them, in parenting, business, and marriage; it's how I have shaped my adult world in essence...

So my moment this week was while I was teaching my classes last night.  I teach a class of young teens (12-16 year olds mainly), and many of them have been my students forever.  We've been having discussions with many of our students the past few weeks about "pushing themselves" and "believing in yourselves" as we do EVERY year with tons of students that have seemed to plateau in their growth within the dance world.  Well, last night, I had to be pulled away from class for a moment to answer a question for my office assistant, so as I was chatting with her I was also yelling out stretchs for the class to be doing.  As I watched them stretch I heard quiet conversations about school assignments, giggles about what kids were wearing to the game the night before, and a variety of other "normal girl behavior".  They were doing the stretches I asked them to... but for some reason I was frustrated with them.  I couldn't put my finger on it for quite some time, but as you may have expected all of a sudden AHA... I figured out what was bothering me.  These girls that I have been teaching for years, were doing what I asked them to do... that's all they were doing.  They were doing just enough to get by, and for those of you who know me, that's never enough.  So it is becoming my personal mission to push EVERY student and teacher in this studio to not do what they're asked to by me, but to do everything they possibly can every day. 

I'm sort of hoping to create some AHA moments in other people's worlds too...

Hello muscles... where have you been?

About a week ago, my bff Jenny informed me she was going to begin Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.  It is a DVD that is only 20 minutes long that can help you lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days.  So, being the good friend that I am, I offer to do it with her.  We decide to begin this past Monday, so I got my weights out, turned the DVD on and began my workout... by 8 minutes in I was ready to throw my weights at the screen.  I like to think of myself as a fairly active person.  I teach 4 days a week, I go to the gym regularly... but I'm telling you, this workout was HARD.  I finished strong, but I was already hurting.  As I went to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water I realized that there was water on the floor... from the cup that was in my hand.  I was shaking so hard that over half of it had spilled out onto the floor.  I braced myself for the next day...

Tuesday morning I opened my eyes and tried to sit up: WASN'T GONNA HAPPEN.  I rolled myself over and walked slowly towards the stairs where I stood at the bottom for a good 5 minutes analyzing the situation before I could even take the first step.  I have no idea how, but I eventually made it up the stairs where I promptly texted Jenny to inform her I hated her :)  Every single muscle in my body hurt worse then they ever had before.  As I tried to sit or stand, my thigh muscles burned so badly I would let out an audible "ughhhh" EVERY time.  As I got myself ready, I realized that I couldn't raise my arm up enough to brush my hair.  I literally had to lower my head to my hand to brush it... the price of beauty I tell ya!  Then I had to teach my tot classes and as we were doing "bouncing knees" I had to bite my tongue to not curse out loud in the middle of my 3 year olds.  The worst part of Tuesday though was that I had to do the workout again... I cringed at the thought and was literally in tears by the end of it.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?  I was wondering for a moment which it would be that Tuesday though...

So now we're on Day 4... still in Level 1, but we've gotten some more friends to join our "Jillian club".  There's 5 of us now doing it, and complaining about it, together...  It'll all be worth it in the long run!!!

Princess Maicey

A princess party for our princess!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...  even though I was crying because Aunt Jenny saved my life when I tried to eat a poison packet out of one of my presents...

My new bike from Grandma and Grandpa (and blogger is being dumb and won't let me flip the picture.... UGH!!!!)

These cakes were adorable, but you wouldn't let anyone eat them...

Oh princess Maicey... you sure are special :)

"But I like my teeth IN my mouth!!!!"

On a quiet Tuesday evening in the Munn house, we were sitting on the couch chatting about our day and Sam very calmly says, "Mom, why's my tooth wiggling?!" All of our quiet moments were gone in a second.  Since he is only 4 years old we had never even explained the idea of losing teeth, so I tried to give him a VERY quick rundown of how it works: wiggly tooth, it falls out, tooth fairy... Sam stopped me at the "it falls out" part with a SHRIEK unlike I've ever heard.  "But mom, I like my teeth in my mouth!!!  How will I chew up my fruit snacks?!"  After approximately 20 minutes of crying and fussing, talking on the phone with Oma, and me taking pictures of course, we finally convinced Sam that it had to come out.  He sat calmly on the counter while Rob looped a piece of string around the little tooth and pulled.  We cheered and screamed and called everyone we knew to tell them the good news.  All of a sudden, Maicey is sobbing her eyes out... "I don't want that fairy in my house!!!!"  One drama after another... how many more teeth do we have to lose in our house?

Where has the time gone?

Three years ago right now I was running around my house frantically packing my bags and kissing my baby boy knowing that our lives would never be the same.  The next morning we headed to the hospital for a full day of labor, working hard to get my beautiful baby girl into this world.  At 11:59PM stubborn Maicey Kay Munn finally came into the world at a healthy 9 lbs 5 oz and 21inches long.  From that moment on, our family became complete.  As she grew she continued her stubborn streak, always pushing us to our limits, making us laugh along the way, and wrapping us around her perfect little finger.  She's been a blessing to our lives and today and always we celebrate her being in our lives!  Happy 3rd birthday Maicey Munn, we love you!