Category Archives: Kids

Woop, woop, wrapping it up!

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TGIF!  It would seem this is the only day of the week I actually have a GOAL in posting…the days/weeks are flying by and fortunately I don’t get paid to blog or we’d be starving!!!    And so, I’ll just lob onto the many fabulous people blogging on @ 7 Quick Takes with Jennifer Fulwiler @ Conversion Diary.

And since our weeks are basically work, school, taxi to cheer/soccer/church, try to squeeze in some exercise, feed the family (without burning down the house and/or my fingers) and get everyone showered (mostly) and in bed (at a somewhat reasonable hour) , that would probably sound like YOUR week, so I’ll just entertain you with a few pics and words from our weekend, K?  K.

1)  Our cheerleader and I drove to Merritt Island for an early game (be there @ 7:30 a.m….it’s an hour and 15 minutes away….you do the math) on Saturday.  We did have most of the day left, so that was good….

2)  These are the cute little reminders that it is October, ladies.  (Guys, make sure the ladies in your life get theirs! ) Yes.  Go ahead.  Make the appointment.  Get the girls squashed.  Get over your dread.  It’s less than 10 minutes and it can SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!  Get your mammogram today!!!  Or at least make the appointment.  Have your bestie make one, too and then go to lunch.  WhatevAH works for you, just.  do.  it.  K?  K.

3)  Saturday night we did S’mores.  We’ve been promising since last weekend.  And then it rained on Saturday.  We resorted to the gas grill with sticks that were losing their “stiffness” and everyone still enjoyed them.  No one lost an eye, thanks to my drill sergeant persona as well as droopy sticks.  We tried out pumpkin spice marshmallows which weren’t such a hit with the kids, but for Mama (who doesn’t really love marshmallows) I LIKED ’em.  yum.  So, more for me…

4)  We went to our town’s bi-annual carnival and business expo.  The kids love it.  We tolerate it.  In small doses.  Like the sidewalk art….fabulous.  Oh to have a smidgen of that talent. What would it be like?  sigh.  I’ll never know, but I am certainly grateful that people DO have this talent!

5)  The kids love the rides.  The girls opted for a wristband and ran and rode like the wind to get their max spending power out of that band in the alloted time.  I’m happy to say, yes.  yes they did rock that band.  (The boys went Friday night with friends and promptly passed out after coming home—6 hours at the carnival is apparently too much for some….)

6)  Coke.  Ice cold.  In a bottle.   What can I say, it was exhausting watching the girls ride those rides.

7)  One more sky shot.  God paints a mean sky, doesn’t He?

Quick Takes Friday

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Friday, Friday, my favorite day of the week.  (Well, not until after 5:30pm, but it’s my favorite day of the week,nonetheless!) and so Friday means wrapping up the week with Jennifer Fulwiler @ Conversion Diary and her gang o’ bloggers….check ’em out!!

1)  It’s been a crazy week at work, so crazy I haven’t been able to take care of ANY of my personal business during the day.  That is SO wrong!!!  This whole work thing really doesn’t work for me.  I mean, it gets the PB&J on the table and supports our other dietary needs and stuff, but it really, REALLY puts a damper on my personal productivity level.  I need a secretary.  A free one, of course.

2)  In home budget cuts, we’ve decided the girls have reached the level of maturity to handle after school at home.  This is a HUGOLA savings money-wise, however, it’s a good thing for them as well.  I pick them up on my lunch break and bring them home and so far, they’ve fallen into their brother’s habits of doing homework right away with a snack, then chillin’ out until one of us gets home.  Their brothers are home with them, but it has taken a huge stressor off of me to have to constantly stress over my last patient and getting to pick up on time if Hubby is working out-of-town that day.  The other great thing, is on the days that they have practice, they are fully ready to go as soon as I get them….they’ve had their down time, their homework time, their snack time and the whining/tired/complaining pre-practice has essentially disappeared this week.  That.  Is a huge bonus!!!

3)  Rain, rain, rain.  We’ve had it essentially every afternoon.  I’ve managed to adjust my workout schedule somehow and holy, cannoli!!  It’s Friday and I am still sore!!!  A wonder of wonders how the body responds when you mix it up!

4)  The debate.  I didn’t watch.  There.  Irresponsible?  I think not.  I am so completely frustrated with our choices.  Really.  I know who I’ll vote for, because there is one person my conscience simply will NOT allow me to vote for, however, it doesn’t mean I’m happy about my selection.  I am possibly considering choice #3….throwing my vote away?  Meh.  Maybe.  There is just so much trash slinging in the ads and blah, blah, blah generalized empty promises it is draining and frustrating.

5)  For the last few QTs, I’m doing some links….one is to Jen’s Conversion Diary…see #1…super news!!  I just love other people’s baby news, stories, pictures.  It’s awesome.

6)  Next up is to Camp Patton and her post o’ woe on the arsenic hours of 5-bedtime.  Oy.  I laughed, but so definitely remember those days and when you are in the thick of it….so NOT funny or entertaining and yet, Grace makes it sound fun.  ish.  I just remember being exhausted.  And grumpy.  And counting the minutes to bedtime.  And now…….I can’t even look my oldest in the eye without craning my neck 6 inches up.  <sigh>

7)  That’s all folks.  I’ve got to wrangle these kiddos up and at ’em and get ready for the day.  Have a great weekend.  I’ll be on the road 2 6a.m. tomorrow morning to drive and hour and half to a football game. Try not to be too jelly, K?

Blessings!!

Over the hump….week 3!

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If I did not simply suffer from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient; but I look only at the present moment.  I forget the past and I take good care not to forestall the future.  When we yield to discouragement or despair it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future.  St. Therese of Lisieux

We are heading into Week 4 with the Peak 313 5 week challenge and I am pleased to say that Week 3 was a FAR better effort in every manner (for me).  I KILLED it in exercise, mainly cardio however, I did squeeze in serious sets of lunges during a cardio session and hit my abs as well.  The biggest deal (for me) was that I ate amazingly well.  The key was simply…..plan.  Wow.  It worked.  I was ready each day with my snacks and I wasn’t hungry and get this…..I had energy.  Crazy, right?

The scale deal for me is I’m not weighing until the end of the challenge.  The scale is a deal breaker for me.  I can be doing EVERYthing right and if the scale isn’t where I want to be….I’m done.  I will hit Dunkin’ Donut, Starbucks, whatev….because…why? Apparently I like to derail myself.  Therefore, as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I aim more for how I feel, in my clothes and and my skin.

This week, I have my snacks and lunches pretty much stocked and ready to go.  We are changing up a kiddo routine which calls for adjustment in my lunch hour, but that’s life…fluid and ever-changing, if we can’t adjust…..we’re sure to combust!

Stay focused this week!  Here’s this week’s Scripture verse….

 

Monday mourning..

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Blah.  At some point perhaps I will try a boring weekend and see if that makes Monday more palatable.  Naaaaahh….

This Monday starts week 3 of the Peak313 “5-week challenge” and I’ve got to say, so far, I’m sucking.  OK, well, not a total lie…the first week was pretty good…with room for improvement on the food choices, but the second week.  Blech!

  • Sick child
  • Hubby dealing with some personal issues…which I then take on (because that’s what I do..I empathize to the point of making it MY problem) and then revert to comfort food and busy-ness wherever I can find it
  • Open house for the Elem school
  • Change in soccer practice, unexpectedly
  • Super busy at work

Nothing truly earth-shattering, however, life got in the way and I let it.  Bummer.  It derailed my exercise AND my eating and so I fully experience the saying “when you fail to plan, plan to fail”.  And fail I did.  When you fall (or fail) you have to get up, brush yourself off and get back on the path.  One day at a time.  One foot in front of the other.  And so on.

Somewhere around Friday I began to rally mentally.  Better food choices.  A little exercise.  Saturday was a busy sports day for the girls with LOTS of driving, however, better food choices and a decent mental outlook on the day as a whole.  Sunday was the RESTART:  Mass.  Walk. Grocery shop.  Pre-cook for lunches for the week:  Baked chicken breasts, brown rice, quinoa, hard-boiled eggs, cut up some veggies for the kids to snack on (and me).  I also made some treats for the fam–not exactly “clean eating” but a treat…moderation, right?  Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies–I’d give you my recipe, but it’s a little of this, little of that kind of deal but you could use this one from A Sweeter Thing.  I made the cookies for a treat for the week (we’ll see if they last that long!) and I made a peanut butter pie for dessert last night.

Moving on….we have fruit and veggies in the house…I’ve got food prepared for the week…I can’t wait to try this pumpkin oatmeal recipe for breakfast this morning… I’ll be hitting the gym @ lunch today…we have a healing mission @ church tonight. Day 2.  Week 3.  It’s ON!

This challenge is motivating and encouraging and I am also EXTREMELY motivated by Socially Fit’s blog and Twitter feed throughout the day.  Focus.  Focus.  Focus.

I’m off to start the morning rush…..How’s your week looking?

Peak 313..Week 3 Scripture verse!

Lessons learned…wisdom earned? Time will tell….

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Friday, Friday and the kids have no school and yet…..yes, that’s right…..Mama and Papa have work.  Stinkers.  Whatev….Either way, I am wrapping up my week with a few lessons (in Quick Take, Conversion Diary form)  learned from this week.

Lesson 1.  Home with the youngest on Monday and I learned that I could do without HALF of my closet.  I mean really, how MANY pair of khaki capris and shorts does one need?  Between donating 5 bags (Publix size, not garbage!) to our church’s thrift store and then reorganizing by color, I feel refreshed, uncluttered and actually inspired to be a little more “fashionable”.  I’ll do it again once it’s cool enough to bring the winter-ish clothes down.  True fact.

Nice right? OK, not my closet, but you can find some great organizing ideas AND this picture HERE!

Lesson 2.  There is a need to revamp my social media.  Apparently.  Now I know why people are always face down in their phones.  They are updating tweets, RTs, MTs, statuses, blog reading, photo sharing, liking, commenting.  You HAVE to be face down 24/7 to keep up. Farm out the laundry, dinner, kid care, schooling, house chores, work for $$ job, because you cain’t do none of that if you’re doing the other. Serious. As for me,  I joined Twitter to be more abreast on the world.  Facebook to KIT with fam and friends.  Pinterest…..ah, I’m not sure on that one but I’ve gotten lost on there a few times and have really added to Hubby’s “to-do” list.  Instagram b/c I love photos, taking and looking.  However, the sad fact is that I don’t get paid to be social 24/7, so I am going to just chill.  Check in when necessary, disregard the numbers and try to relax on the house projects.  ‘Cuz it’s crazy yo!!!    True fact.

Image cred and social media organizing tips HERE

Lesson 3.  Walking near dusk with a gator in the lake, the podcast must be turned down, eyes must be watchful, legs must be ready to run and camera must be ready to shoot.  Sadly I missed the basketball versus gator wrestling match, I heard it was a doozy.  True fact.

Image cred…ME..on Instagram 🙂

Lesson 4.  If perhaps you are with a middle schooler for after school pick up and you see a fight going on with the amoeba crowd closing in and would by chance, I don’t know, lay on the horn like a crazy lady a few things would happen:  a) the amoeba crowd would scatter like ants and, b) the middle schooler in your vehicle would become like melted butter and sink to the floor of the vehicle.  Then, if you were to call the Rec center to report the fight and the coppers came and some kids almost got arrested, YOUR middle schooler would be the scapegoat the next day.  However, if you use The Jedi Mind Trick and remind him that cell phones are pretty popular and ANYONE could have called as well as blaming the honking on a mother– reminding him to remind his friends that their parents are embarrassing sometimes, too….suddenly the scapegoat is freed and the mob are again little kittens eating out of his hands.  And he wouldn’t be mad at his mother anymore either.  Hypothetically true fact.  Of course.

Lesson 5.  If you call your friend to chat and her 2 toddlers answer taking turns regaling you of tales of nausea and vomiting  and “Mama in the shower”…she probably isn’t going to get that message.  True fact.

Lesson 6.  If one is tempted off their healthy eating focus by a son’s birthday it most definitely is a force to be reckoned with to get back on track.  4 1/2 days later I think I broke the spell with a 40 minute power walk, abs and arms workout followed by a healthy dinner!  The fact is, “we can start our day over at any time….even if it’s 5:30 p.m.”  True fact.

Lesson 7.  Open house at the girls elementary school was eye-opening as our district introduces “standard based grading” and implementing all steps at the same time.  And…..it’s not fully ready yet.  All I can say is, holy crap.  These teachers are getting the shaft.  The tediousness in grading in this manner is ridic beyond words.  Not to mention I am going to need a ruler, reading glasses and a freakin’ LEGEND to interpret the grades when this thing is finally up and running.  I am seriously drafting a letter (sans text lingo and cussing) to the school board, because apparently someone with way too much alphabet soup behind their name decided a nice complicated system would make them look like they are earning their grotesque salaries!  Well, guess what…I have alphabet soup, too….(BS)(RT)(R)(CT).  This  IS putting a teacher’s day far beyond the 8 hours required for their job and I honestly believe… 3 months off for summer isn’t enough.  True fact.

That’s all folks.   Hope you learned a thing or two from my own experiences.  Have a great weekend!  Be sure to check in with the MANY awesome peeps @Conversion Diary with Jen (Reality star).  There’s a bunch so a beverage and snack come in handy when reading through…it’s a great Saturday morning distraction for me 🙂