Happy Monday! I’m starting the week with Holly and all of you! I hope you’ll link up with us for Hello Monday!

Before I get to my regular eight great from the weekend, I want to share something great that one of our close family friends is doing. You may remember me talking about my friend Kourtni. We have been friends with their family for ten years. Kourtni’s oldest son Brendan and Jack have been buds since kindergarten. Brendan is fundraising for the Luekemia Lymphoma Society as a Student Visionary of the Year. Brendan chose to join the LLS for two very personal reasons. His is honoring his aunt and grandfather who both fought Leukemia bravely for a long time. If you are looking for an organization to donate to, LLS provided much support to our friends and gave them more years together. Here is the link: https://events.lls.org/md/svoymd25/bchairs. We are proud of Brendan and his commitment to honor his beloved aunt and grandfather.

2-Jack had his high school swim championship this weekend and it was so much fun! Jack swam two individual events and a relay. He swam the individual events during prelim in the morning and we went back for finals in the evening for the relay. Jack swam really well and was such a great teammate! He spent so much time at the end of the lanes, with most of the boys, cheering on the swimmers.

We cheered hard in the stands, too. In fact my hand is a little sore from ringing my cow bell so enthusiastically all morning and evening. Ha.

3-Jeff took Luke to play soccer on Saturday morning. He had the best time playing with his friends and his team won again!

4-We split up differently this weekend and it was nice. Unless it is a swim meet, more often than not Jeff takes Jack to his activities and I go with Luke. This weekend was the complete opposite. I went to Jack’s swim meets and took him to golf practice. Jeff hung with Luke and did soccer. It was so nice to spend a bunch of car time with Jack and Jeff enjoyed his Luke time. It is also a good reminder that we need to do this more often on purpose!

5-I completed my first split program on the Peloton app. I love Jess Simms’ energy and enthusiasm so her new 3 day split felt like a good place to start. WHOA BABY! I will say I am definitely going to get stronger doing these three workouts for the next 4-6 weeks. After the first workout, I thought Jeff was going to have to cut my food at dinner because my arms… After the second workout, I described myself as a baby giraffe because my legs were so wobbly. After the third workout, I felt pretty good until I had to fold sheets later that day. Nope! Holy sore and building muscle. I love that Jess’ followers are called the You Get To crew. It is a great reminder that working out is a privilege and I am happy to do it!

6-I made short ribs for the second time and this time was significantly better than the last. I have a few packages of short ribs from our cow, so I had to find a way to make them. My friend Amy shared her recipe and it was a hit with the Parsons.

7-I watched the Grammys last night. I love award shows and I thought the Grammys were pretty good. My inner granny did come out a few times when I thought “what in the heck is that person wearing?” Did you watch the show? What did you think?

8-We had a family calendar meeting on Sunday night for the first time in a long time. Jeff and I made sure we were on the same page for the next few weeks. Jack and Luke joined us to go over the next two weeks. Jack stayed with us to start planning out his summer golf schedule. Oooo, did you hear that?? We are working on summer. It is on its way no matter what that groundhog said yesterday. Our pool opens in 110 days (Memorial Day weekend), if you were wondering.

I am so excited about the next month at school, but it is going to be so busy! We are starting our school wide book club today. The book fair is arriving on Wednesday and will be here for two weeks. And in the middle of that, we have an author visit for the whole school. I have our meals planned, caffeine ready, and good plans at school, but if I miss a day or two here that is why. I’m referring to February as the Love of Reading month and I can’t wait! If you blogged today, be sure to link up below. Have a great day full of sunshine and books!