The Elf is Back

Year 2 of elf on the shelf. It's fun coming up with new things to do with him. Well, looking up ideas on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram anyways! So here is the first week of shenanigans provided by Lucas, our elf.

Lucas arrives with a letter from Santa reminding the boys of the real reason for the season. 

Lucas hanging by the piano. 

Silly Lucas was trying to help decorate the tree.

Here he is helping count down the days until Christmas.

Keeping an eye on the kitchen. Doing recon from the flowers.

He needed a bubblegum fix overnight and got caught in the bucket!

Flying through air on his (toilet paper roll) trapeze!

Urine Trouble, Cyber Monday and Elf on the Shelf Oh BOY!

Crazy times in the house as of late as we prepare for Santa Claus to come visit! So in all things random related here we go…

 

We are having a lot of issues with Jacoby and night time stripping. Dude takes off his diaper in the middle of the night and then pees in his crib. So I get the genius idea that he won’t take off a pull-up. So we try that and it works for a few days. And then I check on him and he has pulled that off as well. So I buy some onesies (this is getting expensive…) and try that. It works for the first night but then the next night I go in and he is soaked. But he still has the pull up and onesie on. Hmmm…he has pulled his peep out of his pull up and it is just sticking up over it!! I couldn’t believe it. Then the next night he just straight undoes his onesie and takes off his pants and pull up. I don’t know what to do! Any suggestions would be lovely!

 

Our Elf on the Shelf is back. He showed up this morning with a letter from Santa detailing the rules and reminding Leo and Jacoby what the real meaning of Christmas is. Let’s see how long this lasts. And let’s also see how long I can go before I forget to move him and remember as I’m falling asleep. Fun times!

I am off work this upcoming Friday and Monday and those will be my last days off until Christmas other than the weekends. I am so looking forward to them. Friday is my annual shopping day with mom and grandma and then on Monday I am going to go to Leo’s school and read to his class and then go get a massage. Thank you Groupon!

 

Thanksgiving was last week (duh) and I am so happy that I have friends whose parents live in town still. That way when they come home to visit their family they get to see me too! So I got to spend time with my bestest friend from grade school twice and then saw a girl I used to work with over the weekend. It was so nice!

 

I was so annoyed with Cyber Monday. On Target’s website they were having a buy one LaLaLoopsy get a second for 30% off. I have 2 little girls on my list that would have loved that and my pocketbook would have as well. So I look online and lo and behold almost all of them are not available for order online (even though they had an online price) but there were a few. So I found two cute ones and went to put them in my “cart.” When I went to do that though, it told me that there was an error and I could not add them. I tried multiple times from my phone and an actual computer and it never worked. A similar thing happened on Toys R’ Us website with the same stupid doll…it was supposed to be buy 1 get one 50% off but when I put them in my cart the discount never took place. I even went so far as to almost place the order and it never changed. So frustrating. If you don’t want to offer for that specific product it’s fine…just don’t make me waste my time! Ok. Rant over!

Have you ever heard of Posh Cosmetics? I hadn’t until recently and now I’ve heard about it 3 times in the past 2 weeks. It’s similar to Lush where they are a natural based cosmetic company and a friend is having a party tonight. I’m not going but I ordered some stuff…I hope it’s worth it!

 

Ok…that is all the random I can scrounge up today! Hopefully you are all having a wonderful Tuesday…and for me, it’s my Wednesday. Yippee!!!

RTT: Another Tuesday but one more closer to Christmas

 

 

 

Today is Tuesday. Even though I was tricked when I saw a post on Twitter this morning (1 am) and it said that today was the new Wednesday. So my tired, over-worked mind thought that it was actually Wednesday. So until about 10 this morning I kept reverting to the mindframe that today was Wednesday!

 

Anywho...Tuesday. So that means RaNdOm.

 

We are 36 days from Christmas. Are you ready? I am getting closer inch by inch, day by day. I am into Christmas this year but not the over-doing it that sometimes I can fall trap to. I read a really good article in our local paper and the columnist did a simplified Christmas last year where each person got 4 gifts (want, need, wear and read) and I really liked the idea. So I am running with it. Of course the boys will get a few Santa presents but nothing like the opulence in the past. And, to be completely honest, I won a Kindle Fire HXD from my work and so that will be going to Leo. So he is still getting a pretty kick-ass present. It just so happened to be free! (well not technically because I won it by increasing my United Way donations, but free.) Anyways...I totally digressed. So, I have a lot of the presents bought and I have bought all of them online. I am using Ebates to get cash back on my purchases too. So I am trying to be as frugal and practical as possible.

 

Jacoby is OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse. Leo never really sat that much and watched cartoons when he was little but Jacoby will just sit for (don't judge me) hours and watch Mickey. He loves his Mickey stuffed animal, his Mickey pajamas and of course his multiple Mickey shirts. We also moved the Mickey birthday wall decoration from the living room to his bedroom and he was SO excited. It's funny how different kids can be.

 

Sallie Mae sucks more than anything. Nothing more to say about that!

 

I bought a pair of red high heels to wear with a black and white striped dress with some red accents that I got from Express. I ordered them from Target and I am (in)patiently waiting for them. I have never owned a non-neutral pair of shoes and I'm excited. It's the little things!

 

Ok, that's all my random. Go rebel with the other randomers and Stacy.

RTT: Random For Awhile

Yeah, yeah. It's been awhile. I know. But that means there is a lot of random to go around!

Some random on the forefront right now...

We have a mouse. In the house. And it is a sneaky, sneaky mouse. I'm pretty sure we have no less than 10 traps set around our house and that darn mouse will not be caught. It's been 2+ years since we have had a mouse so I thought we were in the clear of never having a mouse again. But alas, I was wrong. Think happy thoughts that said mouse will be dead and gone very soon.

Jacoby is turning into a little boy before our very eyes. I remember when he was just a teeny, tiny little baby. Now he speaks in sentences and understands what we are speaking to him. Granted, not everything he says is comprehendable, but we get the gist most of the time. And I was a proud mama when I picked him up from daycare today and they told me (in a surprised tone) that he knew all of his shapes. We're doing something right! :)

I am playing my first year of fantasy football in a family league we have going. I was a last minute addition to the male-dominated league because someone had dropped out. I drafted my main squeeze Peyton Manning and we have created fireworks all season. I am currently at the top of the league by a little under 200 points. If I keep it up I will make a pretty penny by the end of the season. At this point of the season (the half-way point) I have made my money back. Woot woot! The icing on the cake was when I beat my brother on Peyton's bye week. It. Was. Awesome!

Yesterday was a bank holiday so the hubs and I both had the day off. And we had no plans which was a nice change of pace. So after getting the boys to daycare and school we went back home and hung out. We also had lunch with Leo and then we did a little shopping. And we ended up buying a new bed. Because isn't that what normal people do? We've had our current bed for just under 10 years and it was time for a new one. And after some back and forth (he likes soft, I like firm) we came to an agreement and got a memory foam mattress with some cool gel inserts or some mumbo jumbo like that. My main excitement comes from the fact that we are upgrading from a queen size to a KING size. I am so stinking excited! Seriously. So within the next three weeks I will be sleeping in style!

Ok, so that is enough random for today. It feels good to be back!

Look Who's Back!!

Wow! It's only been three and a half months. No big deal! I just reaaallllyy needed a break from all things not related to my sanity. And while blogging really does help me with that, sometimes when I write it all down it makes me feel worse. But things are FINALLY starting to feel normal-ish again and so here I am!

So, let's recap a bit (Sorry for the post overload + pictures!)

August:
Leo started school again and started to calm down. This summer was terrible in terms of his behavior enough that we took him to a therapist because we didn't know what was going on. We basically learned what we already knew, he's really smart and charming and manipulative, and he just needs to mature and learn to handle himself and his emotions a bit better. We got some tips on how to handle him and ourselves when it comes to those situations and things are starting to get better. That was the main part of August.

 

 

 

We also had a week sans Leo when he went to spend a week with his grandparents and aunt that live in a city about 3 hours away from ours. It was the longest he'd been away and it was nice but also really strange. That was at a time when behavior had been really bad so it gave all of us a needed break. I definitely missed him but he had so much fun with his cousins and family that we don't get to see often enough. It also gave us a reason to go down there twice in one month and spend the whole time just with family.

September:
Not a lot happened in September. A pretty slow month overall but that was much needed after the hustle and bustle of school starting. The weekend after Labor Day the little family took a quick trip to Kansas City to go to a Royals game and spend time with my aunt and uncle and their kids. It was so fun, other than Jacoby would NOT sleep in his pack and play and on the first morning we were there I drove him and Leo around at 6 in the morning because he just wanted to cry in the hotel room. So. Much. Fun. :)




We also had my cousin's wedding. My family is really big and really close so it was a PAR-TAY. Unfortunately the hubs had already told a friend that he would be in their wedding and of course they happened to be on the same day. So I had both boys and thankfully my parents are rock stars and help out as much as they can.
 

October:
October was balls to the wall crazy. We had the boys' pictures taken and they turned out AMAZING. I'm not even kidding. My boys are super photogenic and even though Jacoby would NOT smile I think they were awesome. But they're my kids so of course I do!

We also went to the pumpkin patch with my mom, sister in law and niece and had so much fun. The weather was a little chilly at first but then got really nice.


The next weekend I went to Chicago to visit my long-lost bestie from the beginning of time and I have been a terrible friend and only saw her when she came home to visit her family. So I made the trip and we had so much fun!

The next weekend was Jacoby's birthday party

and then it was Halloween. Jacoby went as Mickey Mouse (shocker) and Leo went as a Storm Trooper from the Clone Wars.

Squished in between those last two, Leo had conferences and was out of school so my mom and I took him and my niece Chloe to Oklahoma to a children's museum. It was about an hour and 45 minutes away but it was nice to do something new.


Now it's November and we've continued to stay busy. We had Turkey Bingo at church (a favorite of mine since I was little), Leo got to go with my brother to a local college team's basketball home opener and today the hubs gets to go with my brother to the midnight madness game where they will drop the Final Four banner from last year. Go Shox! Then this upcoming weekend I am going to a Premier jewelry party at my sister in laws, the hubs is going to a KU football game and then comes Thanksgiving. Holy moley!

So I hope you understand why I've been absent in posting. I am going to try to stay more involved and believe me when I say even if I don't always blog or comment on your blog, I am reading and staying connected.

RTT: The Royal Baby, Kindle Books and Funny Stuff

Yay! Monday is over and now it's Tuesday. One day closer to the weekend! Woo hoo!

The Royal Baby was born yesterday. It was a boy. Also, should royal and baby be capitalized? Like it is now a proper noun? I really didn't care that much other than a friend of mine was obsessed when the wedding happened and so I've been inundating her Facebook page with stupid posts about when it was supposed to be born, what they're going to name him, etc. It's been fun to interact with her since she lives in North Dakota now getting her master's degree.

Do you have a Kindle? I do and very rarely buy books because a) you don't technically own the books you buy and they can take them away at any given time and b) because I don't feel right when I can get almost any book for free from the library and am paying $10+ for a book. So when one of my friends told me about Pixel of Ink I wanted to check it out. You can like them on Facebook or just go to their website and sign up to get daily emails and they will send you information regarding a number of free e-books that you can get daily. Now these books aren't bestsellers by any means but there are usually 1 or 2 good books every day. I have been turned on to so many books that I would never have heard of. One I just finished on Friday was called The Do-Over by Kathy Dunnehoff. It was hilarious.

They are moving people around at work in the aspect of work space area. So today I got to move into a bigger area with a window that looks down on the road. I'm so excited! Now I'm not smack-facing a big, tall building. And I have enough space to hang up pictures. The one thing I'm most excited about though? The fact that my back isn't towards the aisle where people walk by. Now I'll be able to see people coming instead of them being able to sneak up on me and see what I'm doing! It's the little things!

Leo and I were watching the Royals game last night and there was a Dos Equis commercial and right at the right time he said the part "Stay Thirsty My Friend." It was hilarious. And of course then he started laughing and telling me it was his favorite part and how he thought that was so silly. He is such a clown!

I posted the other day about getting older. Mainly because I was talking to my friend the other day about turning 30 next year. She wants to plan a 30th birthday trip. I'm down with that. I don't see her near enough so that would be amazing! We're thinking Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. I think that would be about half-way between Chicago and Wichita. Definitely do-able!

Ok that is enough random for today. Go see Stacy and all the other randomers and make sure you write up some random of your own!

Repost: Fun Parent vs. Non-fun parent

Spin Cycle this week is a repost of a previous post. I have been blogging for almost 5 years now (my first blog was in September of 2008!) and so I can only remember blog posts from here and there. So I just started going through my posts by title. This one really stuck out to me because I am feeling a lot of the same sentiments more than 2 years later. This was originally posted on January 13, 2011. Enjoy...

***Just be aware of this post. I am not complaining just stating my version of the truth for my family. Please don't be all judgy-judgy!***

I was having a conversation via email with the hubby yesterday asking how Leo was this morning and cracking up about the things that he does. I said something about how I was taking Leo to the library after I picked him up from school and then we would go home where I hoped he would wear himself out before Leonard got home from work (around 8:30). And he sent me an email back and kiddingly told me that I was being mean and how much he had enjoyed being with Leo lately and playing with him in the evenings since I've been working later. And I sat on this nugget all day. Wondering why I always feel super-stressed out at the end of my work day and just don't always feel like playing with Leo. I always let him play or watch movies or do pretty much whatever he wants but I don't always (read hardly ever) just sit down and play.

And so after thinking about this off and on for the better part of 6 hours I came to a conclusion that I could only blog about because if I expressed this to my hubby I would be looked upon with exasperation. I am the not-fun parent. I am the one that HAS to get stuff done. I'm not saying the hubby doesn't do anything because he does. He's a good helper but he a lot of times has to be asked to do something. Because when I got off work last night I went to the grocery store, picked up Leo, went to the library. Then we got home and I had to cook the chicken for our chicken and noodles along with the rest of the stuff that goes with it, get a different supper ready for Leo because he was just SO hungry he couldn't wait. Then I cleaned out the fridge, changed the sheets on our bed and threw them in the wash with a load of towels and re-dry Leo's clothes that Leonard had left in the dryer and hung them up. Then I took out the trash in the snow and brought the trash can and recycling bin back up to the house. All before 7. And I got off work around 4:15. And I was up at the gym by 5:45. Holy crap. I'm just tired thinking about all of that! And like I said I'm not (totally) complaining but I know why I don't always feel like playing.

So I guess it's ok if I don't always want to play but I also need to look at myself and realize that I don't always have to do EVERYTHING. Maybe I can delegate more. Maybe I can just do some more on the weekends. Who knows. But one thing I know. I don't always want to be the non-fun parent!

Time Marches On

The Bobby Bones Show has a segment sometimes called Time Marches On. It is basically a time when the people on the show or people who call in have stories about things that happen to them that makes them know they are getting older. And after a girls night last night and just things in general in life lately I have 10 reasons that I know I'm getting older and that "time is marching on."

1) I got real excited when I saw a commercial for a holder for a Magic Eraser. You clip it on to the Magic Eraser and it gives you a better grip on it. I definitely need one of those!

2) I spent more money on Leo to play football than I've spent on myself in the past two years. I'm not even exaggerating.

3) We had a parents meeting for said football at the high school and I realized it has been 11 years since I've been in high school. Where did that time go?

4) At girls night we went to my friends house and her daughter was being the hostess with the mostess. While we were eating dinner I reminisced about how I remembered when she was starting Kindergarten and how we were all so excited. Now she is getting ready to be in 7th grade.

5) I spent Friday night cleaning the house. That is definitely not something I would do if I was still in my youth!

6) One of our conversations at girls night centered around the best medicine for constipation. Who does that?!

7) Another one of our conversations was about who had better produce and meat, Wal-Mart or Dillons? We all agreed that Dillons has it better than Wal-Mart.

8) While watching any form of professional sports I now realize I am older than a lot of these players. Not to mention making sooo much less money than they are!

9) On a lovely Sunday afternoon I spend it on Pinterest trying to find awesome gift ideas for the first day of school for Leo's teacher.

10) And last but not least...my bestie and I are trying to plan a trip for our 30th birthdays next year. Not that 30 is anywhere near old (30 is the new 20!) but I just don't know where the last 9 years of my life have gone! When did I become an adult?

Summers Past

 

 Spin cycle this week is how you used to spend your summers. My summers were spent with friends, at the pool, fighting with my brother and just all around having fun! Here are just a few pictures I found floating around my house from years ago. Please ignore the poor quality because I took a picture of a picture and uploaded it. I'm so tech savvy!

 

My birthday is in June so it was always hit or miss with birthdays. Friends were always on vacation so parties were small (usually) but fun. Here are a few.

 

See my excitement of opening Grease on VHS

Blowing out the candles on my delicious ice cream cake (also note that I am rocking a giant scrunci on my short hair!)

Rocking my pink bikini at my best birthday ever (at the local pool!)

 As I got older summers were more about pool parties with friends. Cannonball!

 And in high school I spent a lot of summers at cheerleading camp and cheering on the boys baseball team.

I'm on the left rocking my awesome zebra print bow and top!

State baseball 2001. Our boys brought home the championship. Probably because we traveled out of town to support them!

 And of course the summer means weddings. In about a month we will be celebrating 9 glorious years of wedded misery. I mean matrimony! :)

 

 

 

Lots of fun had by me in summers long gone. Make sure to head to Gretchen's to see other past summer memories!

 

 

 

Ticking Clock

I mentioned yesterday that my grandma and grandpa moved into a nursing home last weekend. And it makes my heart very heavy. Not because they are now living under 24-hour care (that situation was much needed) but because it means that I am getting older.

I was blessed to grow up with 4 great-grandparents. My last living great-grandparent passed away earlier this year. I am 29 years old. That is almost unheard of. So when I think of grandparents I think of how lucky I was to know so many of mine. I still even have 3 living grandparents. Again, that is so uncommon it seems. But as my clock keeps ticking it makes me think more and more of death. Not of my own mortality but that of those around me. I have had multiple people I know my age and younger lose parents the past few years. That just breaks my heart. I have a total of 3 weeks of vacation and I know I would get 3 days of bereavement but that would not be enough time to pick up the pieces. My mom was so tough when her dad passed away and continued to go to work AND work on things for my upcoming wedding. I do not know how she did it but I do not think I would have the grace that she did to still handle things. I am pretty sure I would need to curl up in a ball and black out the curtains and make someone else deal with it.

I had already been thinking about this but yesterday on Facebook I saw a girl I went to high school with said that her mom had had a stroke and today she said that her mom had gotten worse and that they were taking her off the ventilators. So when you say your prayers tonight say a prayer for my friend and make sure you kiss your loved ones because you never know when their clock runs out.

Summer Loving

It's been awhile since I've linked up with Jamie for What I Love Wednesday but thought that this is what my week needs. Because who doesn't get happier thinking about what they love?!

A few things that I love that aren't picture related...

I love how selfless my aunt and uncle have been for the past 20ish years to have my grandma and grandpa live with them. Last weekend marked a bittersweet time for them (or so I assume) because my grandparents moved into a nursing home. So yeah. They're pretty much awesome.

I love the show Big Brother. This season has been FULL of drama but that is a whole post within itself that I am trying to find the right words to post. But right now all I have to say is I love it. I do NOT love the fact that it seems like everyone in the house is gunning for a showmance. They've known each other for a few short weeks and they just L-O-V-E each other. Sick.

I also have gotten hooked on Under the Dome. I now want to read the book but it makes me wonder if it's scary like his other books. Some of them are not so scary but others...freak me out!

I love my Target brand Bomb Pops. Nom nom!

Jacoby's ridiculous "cheese" face. He literally says cheese when I ask to take his picture.

Leo the Muscleman

 



RTT: Some Real Random Rebellion

Hallo! It's Tuesday. Time for some Random!!

I went tanning last night and I came up with some really random stuff so it works perfect for this. See...random already!
If you follow me on Twitter you may notice that I like to put businesses on blast if they do something that annoys me. But they have to do something totally awesome for me to tweet good things about them. Maybe that's a really bad way to go about things but I'm not going to be like, Yay Target. I'm so glad you had what I was looking for. It's much easier to find the negative. Yeah. That's definitely a bad way to look at things. I doubt I'll change anything anytime soon though.

I saw that Orange is the New Black is now a show on Netflix. I would really like to watch it. I downloaded it on my Kindle awhile ago but never got a chance to read it. I feel like I should before I watch the show.

On the subject of Netflix...they never seem to have any of the movies I want to watch available for instant viewing. But they have pretty much every TV in the history of TV available. Don't they realize I do not have time to just binge watch? I have a very limited amount of time to watch anything that is not relatively kid-friendly so it would take me ages to watch all the shows that I want.

We have had some slight (ok...that is the understatement of the year but that's a different post for a different day) behavioral issues with Leo lately and it is killing me for two reasons. One-because I know he is better than he is acting and two-because Jacoby is watching him and picking up these bad habits. Like hitting, throwing things, etc. I need to find a way to curb both of their problems and fast!

Megan over at Mackey Madness wrote a post yesterday about the mom she never thought she would be. It really struck a cord with me because having kids changes everything you ever thought your life would be. She writes a lot of really good posts and if you don't follow her you should.

I have really been in a food cooking rut. We haven't been going out to eat but no one wants to eat what I cook. So in turn in makes me want to cook less. So last night I didn't eat dinner and just ate some cereal. I'm so healthy.

Mmkay. That is enough random for now. Go visit Stacy and show some love to the randomers and write your post and link up as well!

Thin Line Between Love and Hate

Oh summer latchkey. I have a love-hate relationship with you. Yes, I love that you hours of operation fit so nicely into my work schedule and allows me not to worry about if I’m going to make it on time to pick Leo up. And yes, you have a lavish array of field trips (daily) that the kiddos get to go on. But Leo? He is not a fan. He does not like going in the mornings. Once we come get him in the afternoon he has had a fun time. But the mornings? They are a bear. And in the past week I have two incidents that stick out that make me feel for him a little more. And it shows me how horrible/stupid some kids can be.

 

Let me preface this by saying that my child is no angel. That he never does anything wrong. But I’m not sure that either of these situations would be warranted regardless.

 

1)      About a  week ago Leo told us that some kid put a rock in his ear. I looked at him kind of funny but asked some questions. Who was it? (He didn’t know his name) Was he the same age? (No, he was older) Was the rock still in his ear? (Yep, he said it was still there). Did it hurt? (Nope) Well, I kind of looked in his ear and didn’t see anything. I asked him if he was serious and he said yes. I just kind of let it go because I didn’t really know if he was telling the truth or if it really had happened. Also, I figured rocks probably wouldn’t stay in your ear. Especially when they swim two times a week and he showers almost daily. But then on Monday or Tuesday morning we were cuddling in bed and he says, “hey, the rock just came out of my ear.” And he proceeds to hand me a tiny little rock. That was living in his ear. So strange. Thankfully he never complained of a headache and/or ear pain or else I would have felt like a total jerk for overlooking the situation. Next time I will definitely be more vigilant but who does that? What kind of kid puts rocks in other kids ears?

2)      Tuesday evening I run in to pick up Leo from latchkey. I am supposed to grab a card with his name on it so he can be released. But there is no card. So I ask and a teacher walks up and has this weird look on her face. Then she proceeds to tell me that some kid flushed Leo’s shoe in the urinal. His brand new shoes. I had to be taken to a separate room because I was being “too loud”. But seriously?! Again, what kind of kid does that? I asked Leo what happened and he said he was in the bathroom stall changing after swimming and his shoes were towards the front of the stall and apparently some kid (who was his age this time) grabbed one of his shoes and put it in the urinal and flushed. I felt so bad for him because he told me he walked out and could “clearly see his shoe in the urinal.” Poor kid. Thankfully they came back from swimming around 4:30 so he didn’t have to be shoeless for too long. I’m not sure how much trouble this kid did or didn’t get into but I think it would be necessary to have a teacher in the restroom while Kindergarten age kids are changing. I made sure that if the stank of a urinal wouldn’t come out of his shoes I would be reimbursed by the other parents to be able to get him new, clean shoes and went home and washed the suckers out. The next day I put them in the sun to see if the heat would bring out any stink and they didn’t so I deemed them fit to wear again but I made sure Leo knew to keep a close eye on his stuff.

 

So after those incidents I can see how he might not always want to go and so I’m trying to be more understanding and compassionate. On the other hand, there are only 3 more weeks left of summer latchkey before a 2-week break before school starts. Thankfully we have family who is willing to watch him during that time otherwise our vacation time from work would be stuck during that time. So I guess between now and next summer I will have a task to decide if we want to stick with summer latchkey for another year or so or try to find a willing teenager who would want to watch Leo for 10 hours a day for 12 weeks. It could be a daunting task to find someone up for that challenge!!

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Summa Summa Summa Time

Spin Cycle this week is what summer means to me. While my summers are much different these days than those from my younger years (how old am I?!) I still try to do some things like I did then. Here are a few ways I like to spend my summers...

Fireworks at the K

Grilling. Yummm!

T-ball

Water fun

4th of July with family!

More 4th fun with family

At the Drive-in hanging out the sun roof. Leo thought he was soooo cool! :)

Family time at the drive in with my mom

There are definitely things that I would like to do more of such as more ice cream and sno-cone runs, going to the lake and spending time at the pool. This summer has been filled to the brim with lots of things but there's always time for a little more fun! Make sure you stop by Gretchen's on Friday and see the links of all the other summer spinners!

Half-way Goal Check Up

July. The half-way mark of the year. So let's see where I stand on my 5 missions for the year.

1) Maintain my weight loss. I am happy/proud to say that I am still maintaining my weight loss. I went to my now-monthly Weight Watchers meeting and I am still within 2 pounds of my goal so I am still a life-time member. I am pretty sure this is the longest I have deliberately stayed at a weight that I am happy with. Woo hoo!

2) Complete a 5k. Complete! I actually did 2 so far this year and there are 2 more that I am interested in doing before the end of the year. Who would've thunk it?! Well technically I didn't run either one completely but I finished. And the weather has been gorgeous lately so maybe I'll get off my lazy bum and start training again to see if I can compete better at the next one.

3) Keep the house in order. Who am I kidding? Why would I have made this a goal?! Some days are better than others and there are definitely things that I have done better than others but it has definitely been put on the backburner. I need to be more deliberate about this but some days I just want to come home and crash hard.

4) Read one book per month. I have read 6 books this year but it hasn't been 1 per month. I've actually already got a jump on July and finished a book already this month. It helped that I read all four of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series because the latest book "Inferno" just came out. They were so good. And definitely make me want to travel. So if anyone wants to fund a vacation account for me feel free!

5) Blog more about more meaningful things. Yes and no I've done this. There have definitely been some things that I should blog about but I just don't have the right words for them. But when important things have happened with the boys I've blogged about that. So this is halfway completed. Which works since it's halfway through the year. I will again try to be more deliberate about my blogging. I really miss writing and so hopefully I will make the time to blog more frequently.

Did you make any goals for this year? What were they and how have you done with them? Let me know!

RTT: It's almost the 4th of July

Holy crap. I don't know if you've looked at a calendar lately but it's almost July. How/when did that happen? I have no idea where summer has gone! It's been going so quickly. On the upside...that means there are only 5 more weeks of making Leo go to the dreaded Summer Latchkey that he for some reason hates. They go on "small" field trips every day (pool, kids movie, skating, bowling, etc.) and then every Friday they get to go on a "big" field trip (zoo, a different STATE to go to a children's museum, etc.) I'm sure because he doesn't know anyone that that is why he's having a hard time but we're in week 4. You would think he would have made some friends by now. Also, it's just very strange that he is having a hard time adjusting because he usually makes friends very easily. Oh well. Only 5 more weeks!
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I started tanning at a tanning salon and I went last night. It took almost 5 minutes for someone to even help me and then the phone kept ringing and people kept coming in that she had to greet so it literally took me more time to wait to be helped than it did for me to tan. She also talked me in to buying lotion because I just wanted her to shut up. So for all you in sales...if you want me to buy something just annoy me to no end where I just end up buying your crap. This lotion better work!
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Last week while in Dodge (at the in-laws) our family was struck by a stomach virus. I feel like I lost a week of my life. It started with Leo in the car on the in-laws street when we were trying to leave. We turned around and decided to stay an extra night when he got sick again. That night I was hit HARD and was in bed the next day until 3:30pm when I crawled my way upstairs just so we could drive the 4 hours home. 4 HOURS. It should have taken 3 but we stopped 4 times. Not even once for me. And the stupid lovely boys even stopped at Sonic and got food. So I had to be in the car with food smells. It was horrid. I ended up staying home Tuesday as well and that was the day the hubby was hit with it. All in all I didn't fully recover until probably Friday and the hubby didn't until Sunday. It was crazy. Of course Leo was fine after he got the sickness out Sunday night. Jerk.
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I'm real excited because Big Brother starts this week. For real though. Also, Franklin and Bash started last week. I love summer TV smut!
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I really wish I had a friend that had a private pool. And that I didn't have to work so I could go lay out and get nice and bronze and get exercise from swimming. Alas, I don't and I do so no pretty summer tan (outside of the indoor tanning) for me!
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The hubby applied for a new job last week and will probably get an interview. (My dad knows the hiring person and talked to him and said he would get him in). We're keeping our fingers crossed that this will get him out of a situation that is not ideal for him. The bummer part is we wouldn't be able to carpool and eat lunch together once a week but he needs this change badly so please pray, send good ju-ju, etc. for him please!
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Ok...that is all the random I have today. Go see Stacy for all the other random floating around the inter-webs!

Happy (Early) Father's Day

Tonight we had my dad over for dinner for an early Father's Day dinner. He went to Leo's t-ball game and then after that he came over. I skipped out on the game so I could get everything ready and it was a success!

It was my first grill of the season and I made steak, chicken and mushrooms. They all turned out so flipping good! I also made baked potatoes, corn on the cob, baked beans and biscuits. Let me tell you...it was way too much food for a Thursday night. But, I'm thankful that my dad lives in town and was able to have an evening off of work so he could come over. We're supposed to be going out of town this weekend so I wanted to make sure he got his gift before we left.

It's so nice that the boys were able to play with their "papa" for a bit before he had to go and they had to go to bed. Now I'm sitting here EXHAUSTED because it was another busy day for me. Hopefully all will go well this weekend and we will have safe travels. I hope you all have a nice Father's Day weekend and that you are all lucky enough to spend it with a father of some sort that you love!

A (not normal) day in the life

Today was a strange day. Stranger than normal even which is saying a lot! But I've seen some day in the life posts and thought this would be fun. Understand that this is not completely normal and that my day will start last night and end now while I'm blogging so here goes...

8:45 PM: Finally get Leo to bed (even though it was supposed to be an early bedtime of 8). Apparently fall immediately to sleep.

9:40 PM: Hear Leo frantically yelling for me from somewhere. I assume he has fallen out of bed so wait haphazardly for him to come in crying to us. (Welcome mother of the year award)

9:41 PM: Hear the hubby telling me to get up and that can't I hear Leo hollering for me. Finally get up and find him heaving in the bathroom. He's crying and doesn't feel well (Obviously)

9:45 PM: Find the mess of vomit in his room on his bedspread. Take said bedspread off to realize the puke has transferred to the sheets and the mattress. Hooray! Time for laundry.

9:48 PM: Text my dad and let him know Leo probably won't be going to Latchkey in the morning and discuss whether or not he can/wants to watch Leo at all (his idea, not mine).

9:50 PM: Put the laundry in the washing machine, realize that a trail was dripped from the bedroom to the bathroom to the washer. Get out the mop and clean the trail.

9:51 PM: Get Leo back to bed (in clean sheets!) with a bucket by his side.

10:00 PM: Get back in my own bed.

5:45 AM: Alarm goes off. Snooze for another 10 minutes.

5:55 AM: Get up and go snuggle with Leo for a few minutes and see if he feels any better. Decide to let him stay home and get some rest and not have to be in the heat today. Let him stay in bed and in his jammies. Pack a bag with "quiet time" activities and clean clothes and socks and shoes.

6:10 AM: Head in to Jacoby's room because I hear him talking to himself. Get his diaper changed and get him dressed. Take him to the living room so he can snack on some cereal and drink some milk before daycare. Turn on the cartoons.

6:20 AM: Get in the shower. Get ready for work.

6:55 AM: (Yes I can get myself ready in about 30 minutes...I pretty much rock) Walk out the door.

7:00 AM: Drop Leo off at my dad's. Make plans to pick him up around 2 so he can get to work but still letting me go to work for a bit to get stuff taken care of.

7:20 AM: Drop Jacoby off at daycare.

7:43 AM: Clock in to work (Supposed to be there by 7:45...2 minutes to spare!)

7:43 AM-1:30 PM: Boring work stuff. Just take care of some business and skip lunch to head out the door.

1:55 PM: Get to dad's and pick up Leo. Also, pick up the tornado of toys that was strewn about the house.

2:05 PM: Get Leo situated with the Xbox remote and some 7-UP. Head outside to mow the grass so the hubby doesn't have to. A FREE Father's Day present! :)

2:45 PM: Head inside drenched in sweat. It was at least 97 degrees outside. Most of our front yard is shaded by big, old trees but the time in the sun was killer. The car temperature said 100 still at 8 tonight.

2:47 PM: Drink big glass of water and hit the shower.

3:00 PM: Read 2 chapters in Captain Underpants with Leo.

3:10 PM: Get Leo in the bath so we don't have to do it that night.

3:30 PM: Sit down to watch 'Walking with Beasts' with Leo on Netflix. Dose off for about 15 minutes.

3:45 PM: Get up to start prepping for dinner. Tonight is taco night so I cooked the ground beef.

4:05 PM: Walk out the door to get Mr. Jacoby. We only have 1 car right now (mine is not working and we are needing to get it fixed but...excuses, excuses, excuses)

4:20 PM: Get Jacoby from daycare

4:45 PM: Get the hubby from work

5:00 PM: Start working on a puzzle with Leo

5:45 PM: Got distracted by Leo so the rest of dinner didn't happen until now. Chop lettuce, grate cheese, slice tomato, finish dinner.

6:30 PM: Get Jacoby in the bath while the hubby cleans up the kitchen and starts laundry.

7:00 PM: Get phone call from grandma. Chat for a bit

7:15 PM: Get Jacoby in bed, get Leo settled in to our room to watch some TV with his dad while I run to the grocery store.

7:55 PM: Get home, tell Leo lights out when his show is over and get on computer.

8:32 PM: Now. Finishing up blog post. Going to read a couple chapters in my book (Angels and Demons by Dan Brown)

Between 9:30 and 10 PM: Get to bed. I try to be asleep by 10 since I have to get up so early. While to some this seems ridiculous but my body literally needs at least 8 hours of sleep. My doctor has even told me there are people like this so I'll trust him on it.

So yeah, a completely un-normal day in my life. I feel like all I accomplished I could do pretty well as a stay-at-home mom/wife. I'm not saying this would happen every day but if it happened 3 days a week I would be happy! I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my life!

Spin Cycle: Relaxation

Oh hello Spin Cycle. I've missed you. Sometimes I just don't have the right words to make a spin complete. But this week? This week I do because it's about relaxing. And I love to relax! Gretchen wants to know what we do to relax. Hmmm...let me think about this. I was going to write a post about my whirlwind weekend to Kansas City to visit my aunt for my birthday and it made me think that would be perfect about relaxing.

 

 

So...Friday afternoon I left work at 2 to hit the road. It's about a 2 1/2 hour trip from home to KC. Not too long but when I'm by myself it sucks pretty royally. This is me, road tripping by myself.

 

 I got up to Kansas City about 4:45, changed and headed out the door with my aunt to go to Girls Night Out at the K for the Royals game. It was so much fun and they won! We also got a helmet full of nachos. It was brisket, nacho chips, corn, and nacho cheese sauce. Let me tell ya. It was amazing. And we also got to see fireworks a the end of the game. Woo hoo!

Helmet nachos

My aunt and I

Fireworks!

 

 

Saturday morning I slept in (8:45!!) and we got up and went to get pedicures. I picked a fancy blue which is unusual for me but I really like it. Then we ran a few errands (she still had mommy duties to fulfill) and went back home for lunch. Then we headed to the Overland Park Convention Center for a Women's Fair. I wasn't sure exactly what it would be like but it was a giant center full of craft fair booths, clothing, make up, etc. I even got my eye brows waxed (professionally) for $5! Score! I picked up a few gifts for things coming up and got a really awesome picture for me. (And the hubby has already hung it up so he apparently likes it too!) We spent all afternoon there and ended the day back at my aunts for a delicious home-grilled dinner of steak and mushrooms, corn on the cob and backed potaotes. We finished off the evening watching the Royals win again on TV and enjoying ice cream sundaes with their kids.

 

Sunday morning I got up around 8:30, we ate breakfast and I headed home so I could spend a little time with my boys before the weekend was over. We also have a work picnic at the zoo tonight that we are heading to. It was a busy weekend but totally relaxing for me! I'm so thankful I have family who loves me and wants to spend time with me. And a hubby who will take the reigns of our animals so I can make a trip like that!

Birthday picture I picked for myself!