Yes, I know it’s been about 3 weeks since I last posted.

A lot has happened over that time.

1) First, this little man entered our lives.

Introducing Joaquin Gabriel Lopez, aka #5, aka “Q”. Life’s been quite a transition since October 22nd when he was born.

My wife is a Superstar.

She went through 3 hours of drug-free labor - no epidural, no pain killers, no nonsense. The woman is a she-God.

Now with “Q” home, the adjustment’s been pretty smooth …

AJ’s taken the role of 2nd mom and does an amazing job. My only concern is her growing up too fast now.

Joey has taken her role as “leader of the young pack” quite well keeping the younger 2 (Frankie & Mikey) in check. It helps that her methodical personality and organizational skills are a perfect compliment to this role … and yes, she is only 6 years old.

Frankie (aka “Sparkles”) is her usual entertaining self. We’ve got this new thing where I say, “Show me the gun show” and she proceeds to flex her biceps and then kisses each one (a la Paul “Pile-Driver” Orndorf, the WWF wrester from the late 1980s).

For some reason, this kid has freakishly developed biceps and delts!?!

Then there’s Mikey. So cute, so deceivingly cunning.

Of all the Lopez children, she’s the one who is challenging us. Who can blame her? She went from being the baby of the family to being “one of the middle kids” and went from the top of the totem pole to one notch below (I am burried way beneath the ground on our family totem pole by the way).

I must admit though, this one’s got me wrapped around her little finger, probably because she looks just like her mother …

2) I started and am coaching my own volleyball club.

This has been my dream. I’ve gotten a lot out the sport and have been positively affected by my coaches (one in particular) and friends who have played the game. This is my chance to give back.

They say that when you do things with good intentions, only good things can come out of it. I have been BLESSED with a group of kids (and their parents) who are not only enthusiastic about learning the game and getting better at it, but who are also respectful, courteous, appreciative and hard-working.

These kids make it so that I don’t feel bad about having to take time out from spending with my family 2 nights per week to coach them (although AJ’s on the team, so I get some one-on-one time with her). They come prepared to learn, they put up and take down the nets without me having to ask them, they hustle everywhere and among all 26 of them, there isn’t a bad attitude in the bunch.

It is an absolute pleasure coaching these girls. I only hope to do for them what my coaches have done for me.

3) The Minimalism Process

I wrote about minimalism HERE. Minimalism for the Lopez Family 7 went from being a “project” to a “PROCESS”. It started with the kitchen.

Then moved to the basement…

Where I created my home office space…

I’m spending a lot more time working from home these days because Rozanne needs help and because I’d like to get to know my son (that’s got a nice ring to it) a little bit better and reconnect with my girls.

I needed a home office space that was clean, with minimal distraction, a little zen and very motivational. So I picked up a succulent plant that my kids affectionately named “Spike” to give me a connection with nature. I found a 24″ Dell monitor on craigslist for dirt cheap (that I connect to my MacBook) and I put up a Michael Jordan poster from my childhood to provide me some inspiration.

The end result will hopefully be more blog posts, more videos, more interaction with you (my ever patient readers) and more fun.

The bottom line…

I love being a dad.

I love coaching, mentoring and inspiring young athletes.

I love living a healthy life.

And I love reading, writing and talking about all of the above.

Right now, my job doesn’t feel like a job … it feels like living.

Right now, I’m living my passion.

-Chris Lopez, The FitAndBusyDad

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my other blog over at KettlebellWorkouts.com where I just wrote a post about The Death of The Personal Training Industry