3 Down 9 to Go!

What a busy March!!! And it's only the 13th! My goodness time is flying by and to top it all off it was over 60 degrees today and only supposed to get warmer all week! Bring on the sunshine! So to start off with, reading the Bible has been going pretty well. Jim and I are both a little behind, but we're working on it :) I'm still enjoying the Old Testament, even though it is a little dry in places, but it's interesting to finally be reading for myself some of the stories and learning how things tie together. Dinner making has been pretty good too, tonight was spaghetti and homemade garlic and mozzarella cheese bread :) so delicious! We kept it simple so we could get outside to enjoy the sunshine! We even had time to make it to the park and play!

So my "new" thing for March came about through a work friend. She approached me one day and asked if I would like to join her team....her Polar Plunge Team. Now my first reaction was something along the the lines of "are you crazy in the head!? Jump into freezing water in the beginning of March, in Minnesota?!" No thank you, I choose life! But then she asked me the question....."have you ever done it before?" *sigh* No, no I had not and as fast and I had said "no" I switched my answer to a "yes". After all, I needed to try one new thing a month, and not only would it be a neat experience, I would be helping raise money for the Special Olympics of Minnesota at the same time. I'm a sucker for a good cause. :) So I signed up and started raising money! At one point I got an email that they were adding a Pee Wee Plunge for children under 12. Say no more, I signed skidamirink up! She raised over $250 (and got a shirt and a hat both of which she was stoked about) and she got to jump into a pool of cold water (about waist deep). She loved it. The work people and I decided to let our department choose our costumes via a fundraiser and we ended up dressing up like super heros! Hooray!

So the week of the plunge, we are all excited. The weather had been great, it had been an incredible mild winter and the weekend forecast was looking good. A little chilly but not too bad.Well we woke up Saturday morning to snow and wind! Not the combination we were looking for while standing on a frozen lake in relatively little clothing! (at least Skidamirink got to jump into the water in a heated tent!) So we got there and were waiting our turn, getting dressed and what not. Skidamirink wanted to pose as a super hero and everyone there was loving the smallest member of the Westside Wipe Outs!

So here we are fully decked out as super heros. We made our capes the night before. I bought cheap white curtains and colored Ducttape and we went to town! Skidamirink had an "A" on her's and I had a "P" on mine. Skidamirink wanted stripes and poke-a-dots on hers so I made that happen too.  She wore her sparkle shoes too, because what good super hero doesn't have awesome shoes? :) So JD came along and was an absolute saint. He took care of Skid, and watched all of our stuff (of which there was a lot) and he took the photos for me, and he was just amazing and so helpful. (thanks again JD!) So we got the whole group together for photos before we had to plunge. 

The Westside Wipeouts!

So that is the team. I have to apologize for the photos of us jumping as I forgot to bring my telephoto lens  so JD was forced to deal with the other one, and therefore could not properly zoom in on us.

Plunging!

Making the exit for the hot tubs

Skidamirink also Jumped and I'll share my favorite from that:

My brave girl

This is the exact moment she noticed how cold the water was. She was in for about 2 seconds and she ended up crying. :( However, when she was done she was so proud of herself and so excited! She was even asking when she would be able to do it again! Hooray!  The whole day was a giant success. From frozen water, to hot dogs, free coffee to face painting we had an amazing time. I will definitely be participating again. The plunge was not as bad as I was anticipating and was actually over pretty quickly.  The hot tubes do a great job of warming you up almost instantaneously.

March has brought with it another first! For both skidamirink and me. Skidamirink got her first ride on a 4 wheeler and I learned how to drive one! 

Learning to drive

Skidamirink riding: Notice the ecstatic screaming

Skidamirink had a blast, she did not want to stop riding. I on the other hand was nervous. I enjoyed riding more than driving, but I can see where the excitement lies. I was nervous about damaging the 4 wheeler or making some mistake on it and injuring someone! Luckily my fears proved to be nothing and nothing bad happened to anyone.

The first 13 days of March have been amazing. From house hunting, to celebrating my wonderful sisters 28th birthday at a dueling piano bar, to sledding, plunging in a frozen lake, grilling out and riding on 4 wheelers. We have some fun things planed the rest of the month as well. We are hoping to participate in a parenting class, we are hoping to go shoot archery (but I think that will have to wait until April) and I am having a party for St. Patricks day with the 12:2 girls. I'm looking forward to all of it!

LETS DO THIS!