Lifetime Bucket List

With Lily off to Preschool, I have exactly 6 hours to myself each week. Marco goes down for a nap for 2 of the 3 hours she's at preschool, so it allows me to get a lot done. I feel like my house is (roughly) always clean, and have had a lot of time for various projects I've always wanted to get done, but never had the time to get done. It's amazing how getting these tiny things done make me feel so accomplished!

I digress...

With all this time on my hands, I've had a lot of time to think - especially about things I want to accomplish on my Lifetime Bucket List. So I came across Bucket Lists that I created in the past and it's been fun to see the kind of things I've been able to cross off.  Combining all my lists, and really thinking about fun things to do as a Mom, I've put together a preliminary "Bucket List" of things that I'd really like to do sometime in my lifetime.

In no particular order they are:

1. Read 1,000,000 pages
2. Visit all continents
3. Run a Half-Marathon
4. Go Snowmobiling
5. Take a Self-Defense Class
6. Perform as a Street Vendor
7. Learn a New Language
8. Ride a Camel
9. Learn all of Chopin’s Nocturnes
10. Take a Dance Class with Michal or one of my children
11. Spend one whole month traveling
12. Go one year with no sugar
13. Take a helicopter ride
14. Ride in a hot air balloon 
15. go indoor rock climbing
16. celebrate all major religious holidays
17. ride an elephant
18. see the northern lights
19. see the new seven wonders of the world
20. attend a summer olympics
21. solve a rubix cube
22. further my education
23. meet the prophet
24. Vacation in Bora-Bora’s huts on the ocean
25. Get a dog
26. Own my own home (not the bank owning my home)
27. Read the whole Bible
28. Read the Koran
29. Be on a reality TV show
30. Make a pumpkin pie from scratch
31. jump into a pool fully clothed
32. See glow worms
33. Go on a safari
34. visit all 50 states in the United States
35. write a book
36. Play Scotland the Brave on the bagpipes
37. Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day
38. Go Scuba Diving
39. Cruise the Nile
40. Grow a Garden and eat the produce
41. Be an Extra in a Film
42. See a Solar Eclipse
43. Write my Will
44. Take each of my children to DisneyWorld 
45. Do a 'Family Themed' Halloween costume
46. Defy Gravity
47. Watch the Running of the bulls in Pamplona
48. Passover in Jerusalem
49. Watch the Changing of the Guard
50. Family Gondola ride in Venice
51. Take a Photography Class
52. Have dinner on the Eiffel Tower
53. Get a standing ovation
54. Visit Chichen Itza, Tikal, Palenque, Calakmul, Uxmal (all major Mayan sites)
55. Visit Machu Picchu
56. Get something patented
57. Go to a Nascar Race
58. Carry the Olympic Torch (or have one of my children carry it)
59. Touch an Easter Island moiai
60. Learn to Whistle with my fingers
61. Write a children’s book
62. See the firefly squids glow in Japan
63. Name a star
64. Get a fish pedicure
65. Do 3 pull ups
66. cut down my own Christmas Tree one year
67. Do yoga everyday for 30 days
68. Buy a stranger groceries
69. Invest in some stock
70. Go 2 weeks without spending ANY money
71. Save $100 from Coupons during a grocery store purchase
72. Feel an Earthquake
73. Go one whole day without using my phone
74. Dye my hair a non-traditional color
75. climb up a rope
76. To watch a baby be born
77. Read the Book of Mormon in one week
78. Have a Porch Swing
79. Be able to label every country on a world map
80. Be quoted
81. Exercise 30 minutes every day for a year
82. 
    

I feel like this list is just the beginning... but I'd like to revisit it every year, or few years, and add to my list and see what I can officially cross off. I love suggestions, hearing of others' bucket lists, and reconfiguring my own. While this is only the beginning, it sure gets me thinking about all there is that life has to offer and all that there is to do!

Life is full of surprises, twists and turns, and how exciting to be a participate in all of it. How wonderful to get to carve out a path you want to take, and try your darn hardest to be a better person each day. How gripping is the suspense, the set backs, the heart ache - only to see how far you've come and not trade all the bad for all the good you've learned from it? How enlightening to learn from your mistakes, then make more, only to realize that life is all about how we handle the mistakes which determines who we will become. How beautiful to embrace what we are given and turn it into something magical and memorable. 

Isn't life wonderful?

Marco 8 Months

8 Months

This little boy is growing and learning so much... and it is so fun to watch him learn and progress!

Here are some of Marco's new achievements for the month:

* He loves to eat... but only with his hands.
* Loves to crawl.  His standing has slowed down now that he realizes he can just crawl to wherever he needs to get to.

* Loves to laugh, especially at Lily when she is being silly.

* Very interactive and "baby talks" often.

* Loves getting into everything (including the garbage cans he can reach).

* Everything (EVERYTHING) goes in his mouth.

* Goes to bed around 6:00 pm, and sleeps exactly 12 hours - almost to the minute, from when he was put down to bed.

* Has developed a consistent nap schedule in the morning. He sleeps 9:15-11:15 in the morning and 1:30-3:00 in the afternoon, with a half hour cat nap (if he's lucky) between 3:00 and 6:00 when he goes to bed.

* Is not a cuddly baby, would much rather be wiggling around in your lap than cuddling on you. He has never fallen asleep sitting up, which was Lily's favorite position to sleep on Mommy. In fact, Marco doesn't like to fall asleep on Mommy - he prefers his crib (yay! the crib which Lily doesn't sleep in anymore) with his music mobile. Speaking of his music mobile, in the middle of the night, I know when he wakes up because I hear the music mobile on his crib. He stands up and turns it on, then lays back down to watch it and falls back asleep. This has shown me how, at such a young age, kids area a lot smarter than we give them credit for.

* Has 2.1 teeth. One of his top teeth just won't break through and has been giving him grief for many days. Hopefully it comes through soon.

Overall, I just can't express enough how happy Marco is. He squeals with delight when you come to get him in the morning and he loves to play with anything Lily is playing with. I'm rather excited to go to his next doctor check up to see how much he has grown. With how much he eats, he's got to have gotten bigger!