He Is Risen!

Easter is such a special time.  We had a wonderful morning with the girls.  Mya woke us up at 6:30 wondering if the Easter egg hunt was ready yet.  Uh..no!  We held her off until 8:00.  Dan read the resurrection story to the girls first and then hid the eggs outside.  The girls were super excited!

After our hunt, we took the girls to church and then had a fabulous lunch at Ashland University.  We ate with Dan's dad and grandma.  I am trying to let all that food settle so I can run later this afternoon.  For dinner we are having a family favorite...shrimp and pasta.

Spring Is In the Air

I woke up this morning to birds chirping.  I love that sound!  Even though there is still snow on the ground, I know that Spring is around the corner.  I am eager to start working on the outside of my house and plant the one and only plant that I can keep alive...geraniums.  I have mastered only that flower.  I hope to plant some vegetables in pots this summer...that will be a new endeavor for me.

This past week has been a bit unusual.  I had a stomach bug for about five days, which had me lying around the house.  I finally got my energy back yesterday and got caught up on laundry and cleaning.  Today I gave my testimony at MOPS.  It was hard to be vulnerable in front of a large group of women, but I felt called to do it.  I cried.....I hate crying in front of people. I feel drained, but am so thankful that I had the opportunity to share and open up about my life story.  After that, the girls and I drove to the hospital that Dan works at and had lunch with him.  It was so good to sit and talk with him about my morning.  He had been praying for me so that was quite a comfort.  And it was fun for the girls to meet all of his co-workers.  Chloe...miss personality...made quite an impression there.  She turned on the charm and had a lot of people laughing.  That girl is going to do big things with her life...she has so much independence and drive and passion.

Heading into Spring also gets me excited to look at summer plans.  Dan and I have one mini vacation planned already.  I was invited to join a weekend boot camp retreat in June in Columbus.  I will work out and sit through seminars on nutrition and neat stuff like that.  I am so very excited!!!  Dan is going to join me that weekend and rest up and spend the evenings with me. We haven't been away from all three kids for more than one night so it will be a good break for us.  I also have my vein surgery...hopefully...happening in early summer.  I have my next appointment on April 30 and the doctor will resubmit the paperwork to the insurance company to see if they will cover the surgery.  Here's hoping!

We Dance

We bought the kids Wii Dance (Disney) and they have had so much fun with it.  They love to "free style" dance, but I wasn't sure how they would do if they had to follow someone else's lead.  Surprisingly, Sara was more hesitant and Mya really got into it.  She is trying to perfect the moves and did it for over an hour today by herself.  She is pretty good at it.  Tomorrow the girls are spending the day with Dan and I am guessing he will be doing a little Disney dancing himself.

The Donatini Family

One of Those Days

Today was "one of those" days that made me a healthier, happier mom and wife.  I woke up at 6:30 am and met a friend who was running 20 miles.  She is training for a marathon....I am not.  But she didn't want to run alone so I met her through half of her run and finished it with her.  I ran over 11 miles with her.  Funny thing is....we got to talking and those 11 miles happened really fast and really easy.  Long runs typically aren't that easy, but today was and I am thankful.  Dan took all three girls to breakfast so I enjoyed a shower and a few moments by myself in the house.  I spent those free moments eating half a subway sandwich at 9:30 am (I was SO hungry) and watching Good Luck Charlie on Netflix.  I love those goofy little shows.  Then I went to my sister's house and got a Mary Kay make-up lesson, just to update my look a bit.  Then I went to get my hair done by my sister in law.  I am so glad to be back with her doing my hair....no more zebra striped hair (that is in reference to the California blog).  She made my hair browner today and I love it!

And then, when I got home, I took Mya and Sara outside to ride their bikes at "The AU" (Ashland University).  I sat in the sunshine and read a book while they played.  Dan stayed home with Chloe and had her sleeping on him.  Now...I am ready for dinner.  I am so hungry!

Pretty Princesses

Ha Ha Ha Ha....

I had to laugh at this picture of me.  It was from the race on Saturday, but the funniest part is that my eyes are closed.  When I was little, I had this strange habit of wanting to try things with my eyes closed.  And it usually involved riding my bike.  The problem was that I ran into a parked car one time and another time jumped a boat and landed in Lake Erie (on my bike!).  So when I saw myself running with closed eyes it brought back fond memories.  Except I didn't do it on purpose this time.

Shoes

I just had to share my latest discovery with running shoes.  I bought a new pair of running shoes in the Fall and fell in love with them.  So Dan just got me another pair because my other ones are worn out already.  They are called Brooks. They are so cool looking! I don't want to take them out of the box and wear them because they are so pretty.

Running and Eating

I ran my race this morning in the snow and cold weather.  Sometimes I wonder why we pay money to do that?  I guess it is for the T-shirt and the rush that you feel when you finish the race.  It always feels so good to complete a race.  I ran the race in 24 minutes, got 3rd in my age group and ranked 30 out of 285 participants.  I would say that is pretty good for a wintry day in March.

After the race we went to dinner in Columbus with some friends.  It was wonderful to enjoy a meal without kids and spend some time with Dan for the day.  Thanks Kim and Larry!