Hitting the half-way mark

When it's come to reading, the boys are doing great towards their 4 book list. Ethan has read 2: Minecraft Hacks Combat edition and Middle School Ultimate Showdown. Alex is finished with The Savage Fortress and currently partway through Minecraft Hacks Combat Edition while also reading Spirit Animals #2

I'm a bit behind, but did finally finish The Dark Unwinding. Truth be told, I've been reading it for many months on and off, and finally really got into it near the end. There are at least 1 or 2 more books that follow this one, and at first I wasn't planning to look for them at all, but now I may add them to my February list...

I (re)started Scream-free Parenting and am just a few pages in. I know that I yell way too much at my boys, and I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas from this book on how to interact better with them (and maybe with Jason, too.)

My food choices have been okay, even though I've given in to some cravings - pop with our meals on Sunday, an ice cream bar after grocery shopping and a couple of mini candy bars from the boys' Halloween stash - I've also eaten more fruit and veggies, and less food in general. I'm not filling up on food to the point that I feel overfull, just until I'm not hungry.

Our menu plan was shared on Monday for this week, and we are trying our 4th new recipe of the month tonight: garlic beef roast.

Our newest total so far for 31 days of declutter is 10 and I like seeing things go or get re-organized.

Ethan, Alex and Jackson have been going to their choi/little dragon classes and doing well, although the outside practice has been nil so far... We also won't be doing any private lessons this month (It's $40/half hour per kid x 4 lessons! On top of the money we already spend for their regular classes!) We also probably won't be testing this month, as they may not be eligible per the school until Feb 22nd, and they also need their sparring gear which I am not ordering. Due to some probable changes within the next few months, we may not be in Choi after February, at least at this school and to spend $120 for 2 sets of sparring gloves and footwear doesn't seem reasonable at the moment.

The older boys have each written one of 4 letters to their pen pals - on Monday of this week which I'm finally mailing today... - and will also be drawing a picture and mailing that out Saturday or early next week. Alex's idea was to have Jackson draw a picture for one of the younger brothers of their pen pals and send it. I'm rolling with the idea and saying all 3 should draw a picture and mail it out!

As far as Alex's Cub Scouts goals, he's done 2 of 3 requirements for the Geography belt loop and one of 3 towards the Maps and Compass belt loop. He also worked on his Traveler activity badge, and once he earns both belt loops, he will also be finished meeting the Traveler requirements! I think it's very reasonable to think he will be able to turn them in to his den leader by the end of January. We are behind on the Parvuli Dei requirements but since E has confirmation class tomorrow, we can use that time to sit and finish a couple of the sessions hopefully.

Refocusing

Today, as I sit here, wondering what my day holds, I think. I think about tomorrow. I think about all the activities we have planned over the next few weeks, from Choi Kwang Do to Cub Scouts, from Religious Education/Confirmation classes and retreats (!) to wedding and receptions. I think about how something has to give on some of those days. Compromise must be found in some areas.

We won't be giving up the boys' activities. It's good for them, physically, mentally, socially. I've seen them grow so much over the last few weeks taking Choi. Alex is really looking forward to Scouts this year and all that being a Webelos Scout entails!

Religious Ed and Confirmation classes are a bit of a struggle with them being opposite weekends and on Saturdays, but it works with the rest of our activities. It does mean we can't go to out of town events for family and friends on a whim, or even not on a whim, very easily. A friend of mine is getting married in a couple of weeks and while I'd love to drive down and celebrate, we just won't be able to. A week later, 2 friends of the family are having their reception about an hour from us, and E has his second Confirmation class that same day, at the same time. So, in the spirit of compromise, I'm going to tell Jason to go, take Alex if he wants, but I'm staying home with Jack. You see, E's class isn't just class. It's followed by Mass at 5pm (mandatory, and I do wish we could just attend Sunday morning in place of it, but it's to make it more of a mini-retreat/community event for the Confirmation 1 and 2 students) which he must have an adult - preferably parent - attend with him, and then youth group till 8:30pm. If I felt comfortable dropping him at 2:30, we could show up a little late for the reception, and then be back in time to get him. But I was unaware last week about a parent needing to be there during Mass. I thought that they would have all of the students sit in a group, and that would be that. When I went to pick him up, I was informed otherwise. Either my husband or I needed to drive back for Mass, or he would need another family to allow him to sit with them. Technically I have one family I could ask, but I don't know them very well. I'm on the fence. As the date approaches, I will make a final decision.

That's not really what I wanted to share today though. All of this worrying and focusing on the future. On tomorrow. On changing things. On what hasn't happened yet. Or may not ever.

Our future looks bright. But it's just that. It's the future. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year. We aren't guaranteed anything but today.

Changes will come. Some may be bigger, and I hate being in limbo, but I can't change that. I can't change the "not knowing". The waiting. The wondering. But I can just put it on the back burner, and just wait and see what happens. Because whatever is going to happen, is going to happen. We all have to roll with it.

So today, I'm refocusing. Refocusing on what does matter. On what I can change. On decisions and choices I can make today. Good or bad, my day, my outlook, depends on ME!

One thing I'm refocusing on is myself. I haven't ran or exercised in just over a month. I left my tennis shoes at my parents last month, and have yet to retrieved them. I did find my old pair of sketchers in the mini-van, and while they aren't in wonderful condition, they fit, are comfortable and aren't falling to pieces. I am recommitting to spending 30 mins a day doing something, running if I can, or Wii Fit, or whatever.

My eating habits also took a step backwards. I'm eating more junk food, we aren't eating nearly enough veggies, and I've chosen to start drinking pop again. While I have somehow (we do still eat better than we did, with at least most dinners being mostly paleo) managed to maintain my nearly 13 lb weight loss, I haven't lost anymore. I'm doing ok so far today: eggs fried in coconut oil, baby carrots, a banana and water for breakfast. The plan is to edge back towards the way we were eating a couple of months ago. Because guess what?

My body doesn't like me right now. My sleep is crappy, my skin isn't as clear, my mind is a groggy mess and I can't focus. My moods are all over the place (not that they were perfect even during the Whole30, but I felt more stable, able to handle my anger, and not sad, moody, depressed feeling. I was happy more often than not) and I'm yelling way, way too much. I can't think straight. This is the first time I've been able to sit and write a whole post. And it still feels like a jumbled pile of words. My tummy bothers me some, and I'm getting headaches from caffeine withdrawals.

What else am I going to do? Hopefully declutter this house some. I'm going to just take it one room at a time, get rid of things, box up too-small clothes, donate things we don't need or want. Make room to enjoy our family time.

I'm also going to try to be more present. Get down on the floor and play with the boys, go for a bike ride, play a board game or video game as a family, take a walk at a park. Things we should do, and tend to neglect because we get busy, and then when we aren't, I just want to sit and do nothing. But I've noticed I'm doing nothing an awful lot right now. Or dismissing them, and saying just give me another minute to watch this, or read this, or even write this.

So today, not tomorrow, I'm going to start changing the one and only thing I can change, MYSELF. And by doing that, I'm going refocus on what's truly important in my life - My family and myself.

School Daze (and we haven't even started yet!)

We had Open House at school last night. It was hectic, for sure. Always is. Tons of kids, grades K through 12 with parents and siblings, coming to find out their teacher, or schedule (6-12) and meet all of their teachers, and determine where all their classes are. Meeting the resource room teacher.

Poster in the Special Education Director's office

Alex is in the same classroom E was in for 5th grade. The teacher isn't the same, well kind of. She was the long-term sub when E's teacher was on maternity leave. That teacher has since moved to a different position and the teacher who subbed took over 2 years ago. So we've had some experience with her. She is nice and had her classroom all laid out with the books they will use, what kind of work she'd like to see on book reports, etc. They are going to do 6 book "projects" this year, where they read a book of their choosing - teacher-approved, of course - and then make a small project, such as a poster, brochure, diorama, etc, and then do a short oral presentation.

He doesn't know what days they have specials yet, but should be taking computers, art, music, gym and Spanish again this year. Last year, and throughout summer, Alex said he wanted to play soccer, but the last two weeks he changed his mind. After I signed him up. I even had all the paperwork at home filled out and ready to turn in last night. He had decided that he would at least sign up and go to the first practice to get practice and game info. His biggest reason for changing his mind? Cub scouts and Choi Kwan Do! He wants to make sure he has enough time to do both of those! What a smart kiddo. Well at least he wasn't to s ad when I realized I'd forgotten all the paperwork at home last night! He actually made sure to tell me that he was absolutely fine with it and he'd much rather work on earning belts at Choi, and awards in Scouts.

Alex was a little upset last night when he saw the class list for his teacher. While he knows several kids in his class, and he knew his best friend and a couple of other good friends wouldn't be in his class (they are in 4th grade and there's no 4/5 split this year), he had hoped a certain good friend would be in his class. Unfortunately he's in the other class. I was proud of him though, because he took it in stride and remembered that they would have lunch and recess together as well as all of his 4th grade friends :)

E is rotating classes this year. It's his first year rotating, because, as you may know, even though he's been in a regular education classroom with no aide since the beginning of 3rd grade, he was in a self-contained "elementary style" classroom for 6 & 7. They have such a large class size for his grade, that it's been split into 3 sections for all of middle school. Previously, due to interest from many families, they had 2 rotating sections - A & B - and one self-contained section - C. Because of the school size, logistics almost required it to be like that as well. At the end of last year, they did a survey asking if there was interest in staying with a SC class, and over the summer we received a letter stating that there was little to no interest, so there would be 3 rotating classes. The high school building was under construction during the summer and there was a small addition put on to one of the hallways. That will now be used for one of the sections of 8th grade. Section "A" was always seen as the "advanced" class, while not honors, they seemed to work at a slighter quicker pace. "B" did all the same curriculum but the pace may have been different. The kids have all been at the same levels for learning basically. They took the kids from self-contained last year and split them between B and C. No biggie. I was a little concerned about E being in B, because of the pace. He's smart and usually ahead in many subjects. B & C will be in the 4-8 building, while A will be in the high school. I was also concerned about him not having algebra this year, which is required for him to go to International Academy next year, should he apply.

I voiced my concerns last night, and I'm so glad I did. The HS resource room teacher made sure to talk to the vice principal for me, and I received a call today!

She wanted to reassure me, that although they aren't teaching Algebra as a class, they are offering the Algebra test for the students! They do it in April, and if they pass, they get credit for taking the class. Sometime in January, E's math teacher should give us some study topics (not a specific study guide and they won't actually be teaching it) to practice with, and they do apparently use an Algebra book (?). Also she wanted me to know that the only reason they didn't put him in "A" was because it's his first time rotating, and they didn't want to throw him into a whole new thing to quick. Since it will be a rotating section AND in the high school vs the middle school building that he knows well. She said if he does really well with rotating - handling transitions, frustrations, etc - as well as his grades, we can revisit it and consider switching him at the end of Trimester 1!!

So, now it comes down to this: Should we just let the math take it's course, or should we do some "homeschooling" for Algebra? And I don't mean extra practice. Basically a real class. Where I go get the Algebra book and Teacher's book, and we sit every day and have a half-hour lesson. More formal than just practice. So he doesn't feel like he has to just figure it out on his own. He's a very visual learner, and I think he will need to be taught some of the concepts he's never been introduced to. I know homeschooling isn't something Jason and I agree on, but they are still going to a traditional school. I'm just thinking of something extra, to give him an advantage when it comes to going to the school he wants to go to for high school. It's not about what I want here, it's about helping him. If the school isn't going to have a traditional Algebra class, but they are willing to test him to pass it, then he needs to actually be taught some of it, right? Thankfully, for him and I, math is fairly easy for him and one of his favorite subjects (math and science are top right now, followed closing by history. Of course he loves to read so reading is not too far behind. Writing and gym are definitely at the bottom of the list, though!), so even though it's not my best subject, with the help of some good textbooks, I think we will be just fine.

E has Art for 1st hour for Trimester 1, which he loves. MTSS(math/reading standards)(M,W-F)/Computers (T), Math, Reading, Social Studies, Lunch, Science and finally Writing. I think it's fortunate that 3 of his best subjects and one of his absolute favorites are in the morning, and his top favorite is right after lunch. He'll be able to concentrate without being hungry on Science. His least favorite is at the end of the day, after lunch and he can look forward to going home after. Hopefully he will get along with all of his teachers, and also continue to deal with frustration and transitions well. His perfectionist attitude has been coming out a lot in Choi Kwan Do, and we've been talking about it daily. I know that it can affect not only his attitude but his assignments, others' responses to him and the atmosphere in the classroom. Two of the teachers are new to the school this year (MTSS and Science), 1 (reading) worked in the preschool before but is new to the MS, 2 (Math and SS) have never taught E but we've talked and they know him, 1(writing) he had in an earlier grade and she knows his difficulties, but hasn't taught him in several years, and the computer teacher I'm not sure about. The art teacher is pretty awesome. He's been there since the school opened 12 years ago, and E had him in 6th and 7th grade. Mr G actually chose Ethan for the Spirit award for his classroom last year and said he saw how much he'd grown and how hard he'd worked on dealing with his frustrations! E is looking forward to Tuesday morning :)

I really need to help Little J  with his potty-training. It's so hit or miss, and I know better than to rush or force it, but I'd really like to have him fully potty-trained day and night by January (October would be better ;) ). I want to put him in preschool at least part-time, during the day, so I can pursue some dreams of my own. More on that later, once the plans are set in stone.

Early morning ramblings of a wandering mind

It is nearly 5:30 in the morning. I've been up for over an hour and was tossing and turning before that.

I can't sleep. We have one week left till school starts for our older boys. I keep thinking about all that it entails: the school year itself, what we still need to do before. Our oldest boy, E, the 12 year old, is starting his final year of middle school. Yes, 8th grade. What does that mean? We are thinking about high school. Where will he go? Our current school goes through 12th grade, but there is the public high school near us, a Catholic high school as well as the international academy that offers an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. The last is his first choice as of right now so we are looking at application info for January (!). Our middle son, A, is starting 5th so he needs to think about what middle school he wants to attend: our charter school or the public middle school near our home.

We've got a busy week of activities, between a one-to-one brain gym today at 3 and Choi for the boys today, tomorrow and Thurs or Fri, open house at school on Wednesday, Jason starting two of his three classes for this semester tonight after work and then of course normal everyday stuff, like cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.

Plus extended family is on my mind heavily right now. I just keep wishing I could help each and every one of them out with whatever is needed, but have no idea where to start. I can't choose one over another to start helping first and I can't help everybody at once. Not just family either but those close friends that feel like family. Also I know I can't possibly help everybody by myself. My heart hurts.

I had a dream about my grandma during the night, and I think that's what woke me in the first place. I don't recall the details and they aren't important. What is important is that not only did I see her Saturday,but I also talked to her on the telephone for a bit yesterday. For some reason, and I don't know if it's God or my guardian angel whispering in my ear or something else, I just cant stop thinking of her, my uncle Bob and aunt Kay. Feeling like I need to go see them again, right now, and take care of something that's been left undone, but I don't really know what that is. Not a bad thing, either, but like I was supposed to say something, or I'm supposed to do something for Gram. When she called me yesterday, to thank me, I couldn't stop thinking of how I wished I'd have been able to do this all sooner for her. That I don't want any more time to slip away. That all the other things I want to do for her, others, and even myself, well, that I need to just do them, and quit putting them off. I need to stand up and voice my thoughts and offer suggestions, even if they fall on deaf ears, even if they piss someone - no one in particular - off. If I see something that can change or something someone can't do for themselves and I can help with, by physically being there doing it with them - if I had a money tree, I'd give it all away, too - I need to.

My brain just can't stop.

Then I keep thinking about how to plan another get together sooner rather than later. I don't want it to be another year before I see the people I saw Saturday and I also want to see those who couldn't make it. And then there's my mama's family that I haven't seen in months or maybe years for some. I'd like to have a get-together with them soon too.

 Sometimes this is how my mind works. I feel all over the place but each thing is so important to me. And then when I can't fix the problems or do it all, I have a tendency to withdraw or give up or become angry, or irritable towards my little family because I let myself get overwhelmed. Because I don't know how to deal with it all. Because I'm one person but I want to make everything better...

Learning to listen to my gut, figuratively and literally

If you've been following me on Facebook or Instagram - here or here - (or both!), then you know I started a new "journey" almost a month ago. What you may not know is the background and what the outcome is so far.

I had heard of Whole30 in passing on social media before but had never really done any research. One day, I was just sitting here and clicked over to read some more about it. I posed a question on my private FB page as well as the blog page, asking if anyone had done it, or was interested in doing it. I got some great feedback and decided it was worth a try. I ordered the book It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and change your life in unexpected ways. We went on vacation and I read about half of it on the road trip. I was convinced that it was worth trying.

30 days of real fresh food.
No (added) sugar or artificial sweeteners, including honey and maple syrup - added fruit juice is the exception.
No alcohol.
No soy.
No legumes (beans/peanuts/peas/lentils).
No grains (wheat/rice/corn/oats, gluten-free or otherwise, no quinoa, etc).
No dairy.
No "vegetable" or seed oils.

What's left to eat? Meat, including chicken, beef and pork among many others, seafood, and of course eggs. Vegetables and fruits. Healthy saturated fats (read the book and you will understand HOW that is possible!!) like clarified butter/ghee, duck or goat fat, tarrow or lard (!), coconut oil/milk/butter/"meat", olive oil and some nuts and nut butters.

Not so bad!

For nearly 25 full days, I ate really good - minus day 1 when I had soy from my canned tuna, and one day last week when I made the mistake of ordering sweet potato fries at a restaurant. I say mistake because I had made sweet potato fries at home, baked in the oven, with coconut oil and didn't think about it. Of course they were fried at the restaurant, and my brain didn't catch up to my eyes seeing how yummy they looked. Oh well, I only ate a small portion.

I've had some amazing results so far. My digestion has been better, my skin is clearing up on my upper arms where I've had a rash-like acne for years, my shorts are fitting looser, my brain/thinking has been clearer and my sleep has been amazing! I went from having very bad gas as well as weekly issues with *ahem* diarrhea (sorry, TMI) to having little to no gas and not having to use any anti-diarrheal medicine! I've even been told by a couple people - including my awesome MIL - that they see a difference in my size. I honestly can't wait to see my weight at the end of this on the 25th.

I am eating more often, 3 meals a day, and in reality, bigger meals most times, but also so many more veggies and fruit. I feel full and stay full. No real snacking and my cravings are virtually non-existent.

When we started, and I use the word "we" loosely, as my husband and sons are eating most of the same stuff as me for dinner, but are also still eating dairy and grains (mostly at breakfast and lunch) and a little sugar, I thought it would be hard to give all of that up. Especially pop. I was drinking one to two 20-oz Pepsi's a day. Giving it up cold turkey normally gives me a gigantic headache by about day 3 and I give in. This time I did not experience any headaches! I can only attribute that to the fact that I was also feeding my body real food, good-for-me food and my body finally had something to work with. And no, I'm not drinking coffee or tea, either! No caffeine at all for the last 25 days.

As I said above, for nearly 25 full days, I ate this way.

Yesterday, we drove to our hometown in Ohio, and went to a benefit for a friend's mom who is battling cancer. Knowing there may or may not be Whole30 compliant food there, I chose to eat a Larabar before going, and then made the determination to just do the best I could.

At first, it was easy. Pulled pork and shredded beef were available (with bbq sauce on the side, so that was easier, too) and carrots, celery and olives. I had some of the pork w/o sauce, some carrots and a couple of green and black olives. On that note, I realized I do not like whole olives, they are far too salty for me, and I'd much rather have them in a dish or on a salad.

After watching my older two sons and the rest of our family eating the mac and cheese, baked beans, and of course dessert, I thought to myself "What harm could come from having just a little?" I went back for some more food, this time choosing some beef w/o sauce, a small scoop of macaroni and cheese as well as the baked beans, and a small slice of cheesecake. I ate all of it but half of the piece of cheesecake. I felt just fine and figured one meal is okay.

We drove home and I felt very sleepy, which isn't unusual during a car ride for me, and by the time we got home, I was ready for bed. After getting our youngest son changed into pajamas and in bed, and giving hugs and kisses to the older boys, I literally fell into bed.

Fast forward a few hours to the middle of the night, around 3:15. I wake up from a sound sleep in the middle of dream, thinking I heard someone crying. Nope, nobody else is awake. I was wide awake for about 45 mins, just before 4 and then fell asleep until 8:30 when little J actually was calling for us.

This morning, I am feeling the after-effects of eating those things I've abstained from for the past 3 weeks. I could barely open my eyes, don't feel rested at all, and am quite groggy. My brain feels cloudy, if that makes sense. Almost like I was drinking last night. My stomach is a mess, just not feeling 100% and definitely gassy and bloated. :(

While I don't like the way I feel, I am glad I have a little confirmation that certain foods do affect me negatively. It gives me incentive and a renewed drive to continue eating Whole30 or at least paleo.

Rock on The Range 2014

Wow! Talk about an awesome weekend!

The three boys stayed at my parents and had so much fun. They went to the park to play on the playground, for a walk to the nearby shopping center to watch rc cars, a small festival where they each rode one or two rides, and to the dollar store to buy a small toy. Movies were watched, games were played and tons of outside fun was had. Alex got his birthday money early, and is saving it to spend later. E got his early too, and spent about half of it on a used DS game. Jackson slept and ate well nearly the entire weekend, and only asked for us a few times, but a short phone call each day made him smile.

That Thursday, the boys and I were supposed to meet up with someone but unfortunately our plans fell through. Instead we spent the day with my dad, and went to the store for a bit. Early the next morning, Jason drove down and picked me up for our 3 hour drive south to Columbus, Ohio. We went to Heather and Matt's house and got to spend some time with them and my nephew before the 4 of us adults headed out to the Columbus Crew Stadium for the concerts.

Friday, we got to see Black Label Society, Seether and Staind. All very good shows! I had heard songs by each of them but I'm not so good at remembering which songs are by which bands. Well, some bands and songs are iconic, so they stick with me a bit better. Staind's front man, Aaron Lewis, really earned my respect that night. People were crowd-surfing like crazy, and guys were grabbing girls inappropriately just "because they could". Well Aaron Lewis said something about it! Basically, that their moms should be ashamed of them, they probably didn't raise them to be like that, it's not open season on girls, that girls are grabbing them in their privates, etc. He was eloquent, to the point, and got cheers from all the women and girls in the crowd along with many of the guys! Much love for that!

We did catch a couple of the other bands on the smaller stages, but just a song or two here and there, and I don't remember the bands.

Friday's Headliner: Guns 'N' Roses. I have no words. We left early during their show. No Slash. Axl was being... Let's just say I will never be able to listen to Welcome to the Jungle the same again. Most definitely without laughing extremely hard. I went to get my hair chopped off last night, and turned the radio on in the truck. That song came on, and I just couldn't stop cracking up, thinking of that night, and then Jason's imitation in the van the other day when we heard it.

We went to a great little restaurant, where the waitress was joking and laughing with us while we ordered and ate breakfast at midnight (except Heather, who got chicken strips. "One of these is not like the others" - Jason, who also order fried mushrooms to go with his big breakfast). We probably spent a good hour and a half just hanging out.

Saturday brought more fun after some busyness in the morning/afternoon. When we got to ROTR, we got the opportunity to see Pop Evil, Theory of a Dead Man and Chevelle who all sounded great. At that point Jason and I took off for the "pit" area, moving as close to the stage as possible. Heather and Matt went to the bleachers to sit.

Slayer!! We were so close! Jason and I did get separated for most of the show, but it was so awesome. I couldn't leave my phone out, or I'd have dropped and lost it in the madness. Great show, crazy crowd, so much fun!

Headliner: Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) put on such an awesome show!!! I didn't realize how much I like their music until that night. Really! I can see why they are so big.

Boneless wings, cheese and bacon fries, and subs is what our late-night dinner consisted of Saturday. Heather and Matt suggested awesome places! We, again, spent a great deal of time just hanging out and talking about nothing in particular. Such a fun time.

The truck had started acting funny Saturday, so Sunday morning Jason took an hour or so to try and figure out what was up with that. Then he and I went to Auto Zone to find out if they could check for any malfunction codes. It came back with 6... On to the next. LOL. After a bit more poking around there, the four of us went back for the final day of ROTR.

We had the opportunity to see Alter Bridge (we stayed up in the bleachers for this one), Five Finger Death Punch (AWESOME!! and they also earned major respect points for saying something similar as Staind had), and heard a little of Jason Bonham LZE from the Ernie Ball stage.

Sunday's Headliner: KID ROCK! He puts on a really amazing show! I never knew he played so many instruments: guitar, keyboard, drums. So cool.

We had originally planned to go to dinner at the first place we went to, but they close early on Sundays. Steak and Shake was open though. Our waitress was awful, but the food was delicious and the company was great :) I think 90% of the other patrons had also come from ROTR.

I tell you what, we are DEFINITELY going again next year. One way or another, come hell or high water. Not only did we have an absolute blast, the boys had such a good time too, and Jason and I came back refreshed and able to enjoy our kids even more than before. I can't tell you the last time we had no children around for more than a couple of hours. It has to have been before Jackson was born - 2 1/2 years ago - because this was his first extended time away from us! We had time alone to talk in the car on Friday, and Monday, plus some time during the weekend when we went places together. Time to laugh, and just be, be together, be Jason and Crystal, be husband and wife, be friends, not just "mom and dad". We love our boys so very much, but I think we both forgot how nice it is to just be grown-ups and have time just to ourselves to work on our relationship. I feel like we really bonded and reaffirmed our love over the weekend. It gave us time to step back from the craziness of life and just let loose and have some fun. I had forgotten how much fun Jason can be when he's not stressed from work, or tired from school, or being constantly bombarded from every direction. I had forgotten how to laugh, really laugh uncontrollably, at something other than my boys being silly or telling jokes.

We drove back to my parents Monday morning and when it was time to leave there to head for home, E and Alex didn't want to leave! Jack couldn't care either way, as long as mom was staying around. He had fun but told me he missed me very much. The older two had had so much fun and enjoyed their time with grandma and grandpa so much, they wished they could stay a few more days. I felt so bad, but reminded them that they had swimming lessons that night, and a few more weeks of school. They (E and A) are going to their other grandparents for a week the first week in July, and that will be super fun as well, and I'm sure my parents will try to get the older two for a couple of more days of the summer also.

Probably my favorite "crazy" quote from the weekend? "Who does that? Who s*#%s in a port-a-potty?" Overheard while waiting in line for said port-a-potty - the trailer kind with 6 stalls on one side for the women and 6 on the other for the men. I will admit, it was the filthiest, stinkiest port-a-potty I've seen to date, and most of the stalls ran out of TP that first day, but seriously?! She just kept up her drunken rant about it for what seemed like 15 minutes. Heather and I could not stop laughing, nor could the other girls behind us.

2014 Goals - Where are we now?

Turning 33 isn't really a milestone birthday by any means, but I do feel like I'm getting older, and at the same time, I know I am still young and have (God willing!) a long, long life ahead of me. Many years to enjoy my husband and marriage, to watch my children grow up and go to college, get married, start their own families. Then I think about the fact that it's already April... and it doesn't feel like we have accomplished much this year in terms of our goals.

So today is as good a day as any to sit down and reevaluate. To see where we are, what we have done, and what isn't working or we want to add to the goals.

When it comes to my personal get fit goals, I've been failing miserably. I'm going to give myself a pass on the past. I can't change what I did or didn't do yesterday. I can only move forward and GET MOVING! I will spare you the details of my weight in numbers, but know this: I have not lost any more weight and *may* have packed on a few extra pounds. With it being spring now, I think being able to get out of the house and enjoy the beautiful weather should help. Bike rides and walks during the day with Jack, park trips with the older boys, etc.

Switching back to organic has been slow going. We've been changing some things over, but for the most part we are stuck. I don't want to raise our grocery budget and we feel comfortable with what we can purchase with that amount but only if we buy a majority of "conventional" foods in terms of the expensive items, like meat, dairy and even some produce. I'd rather my kids get more conventional fresh fruit than less organic fresh fruit, and at this time, it just doesn't feel feasible to add $100 or more each week to our budget. We are saving for our first long-distance family vacation so we can pay cash vs using credit, and trying to slowly pay down credit cards. I know I don't need to justify myself but I want to explain.

Dairy is still pretty prevalent in our home, though I feel I'm eating significantly less. We have been trying new recipes consistently, including the delicious sloppy joe one I shared on Facebook.

Our doctor and dentist goals haven't had much progress, but I did hear about a doctor for Jason and I. It's just a matter of calling and scheduling an appointment. Dentist appointments will be scheduled very soon. I am considering not worrying about my wisdom teeth as they are not causing any issues.

Jackson's thumb surgery has been done and his thumb is finally almost fully healed. Keeping it clean is not the easiest with a two year old, but luckily he loves his Lightning McQueen bandaids! We took the final one off last night before bed, and surprisingly he was upset that we didn't put a new one on. To the point of tears! We felt since it looks completely healed (it had a small bump a few days ago still) and since the last bandaid actually irritated a small patch on the other side of his thumb that it was time to let it just breathe.

I haven't made much headway with reading 50 books this year. I thought I would have more done but haven't finished a single book since my last update! I did borrow 6 books from the library on Friday that I hope to read by the end of April, and purchased 6 new books from the book fair (The Hunger Games trilogy, and three ghost story books by Mary Downing Hahn - although those are definitely kids' books, I loved the one I read by her as a child and thought the boys could also read them). So my current count is still at 1.

I restarted my knitting project for the 3rd time, and I've decided it's going to be a scarf. I think. Haha. I haven't even started thinking about learning to crochet, and my Spanish and German have taken a backseat. Mostly because I've just kind of forgotten to use the duolingo app.

Having added Genealogy and making our family trees to my personal goals for the year, I've been working on Ancestry diligently and love using the Ancestry app on my tablet and phone. We've seen some really neat old documents like census records and war records, as well as yearbook photos and other family photos from distant relatives. Sharing this leads me to another goal for the year: stepping outside my comfort zone! I recently contacted a relative I never knew about: a cousin of my dad's! I learned that my grandmother's biological father had remarried and while he died very young in the early 50's, he and his 2nd wife had two children. My grandma knew about them but had only met them once. I had some details my aunt had shared with me and without revealing too much, I contacted a woman who had a picture attached to the man I thought was my great-grandfather and asked if he had been married before or had any other children, etc. She responded and confirmed the information I had from my aunt about his death and remarriage prior to that. I found out that she is the child of one of his other children, and we are planning to meet soon. There is more to share, but I want to share with my grandmother first as it is very special and I am hoping to see her sometime this week to tell her all of this exciting stuff!

Obviously posting 2-3 times a week on here has NOT been happening but now that I have the laptop, I seriously hope that I actually spend some time writing more often. All the other personal goals haven't had any progress as of yet.

Ethan:
Finished first session of Level 2 in swimming and was *this close* to moving to the next level.
Participated in Annie, Jr at school (play).
Considering starting a Minecraft club at school with mom's help.
Has read the following books and is currently at 15 books for the year: Little House on the Prairie, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, Big Nate in the zone, Big Nate flips out, Big Nate goes for broke, Big Nate in a class by himself, Big Nate on a roll, Big Nate strikes again, Korea book (can't remember the title), The Jacket, Essential guide to Minecraft.

Alex:
Finished Level 1 of swimming and moved up to Level 2 for next session.
Participated in Annie, Jr at school and really enjoyed it. Contemplating theater day camp in August.
Fractions are mostly mastered and he's working on the harder problems at school.
Has read the following books and is currently at 17 books for the year: Little House on the Prairie, Little House in the Big Woods, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, Little House in Brookfield, Little Town at the Crossroads, Big Nate in the zone, Big Nate flips out, Big Nate goes for broke, Big Nate in a class by himself, Big Nate on a roll, Big Nate strikes again, Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events no. 9 and Super Fudge.

Jack:
Moved to own room.
In a toddler bed and sleeps well at night, most nights.
Knows blue, purple, red, green, yellow, orange, brown, and black. Gets confused on white and pink.
Can count to two most times, and 3 sometimes. Skips numbers but tries to count higher.
Recognizes most letters and sings the majority of the Alphabet song correctly.
Knows circle, triangle, square, diamond.

When ouch could have been much worse

So, I fell today.

I'd love to tell ya that that's a metaphor for something. Anything. But, alas, that is not the case.

I had just wrestled a sweatshirt on a sleeping toddler. With my right arm only. Because he was asleep on my left shoulder. He'd fallen asleep on the living room floor for about 45 mins when he woke suddenly and was cranky. I cuddled him and he fell back asleep and I didn't dare disturb him, for fear he would wake again and be very cranky until bedtime.

I grabbed his coat (to put on after the car ride, it's way too bulky for safety in the carseat), his hat that I'd slip on as soon as I'd sit him in his carseat, my sweatshirt and my purse. I slid my feet into my shoes as quickly as I could which meant they were only half-way on really. Knowing full well this was not a good idea, I still proceeded out the door, as we had to go get the boys and were leaving at the last possible moment.

Stepping down the last step, somehow, without even really realizing it, I tripped, or missed the step. I'm still not sure.

In that moment time slowed, my mind, after a momentary panic, went completely calm and I could see us falling and "see" what was about to happen. My left knee made contact with the cement of the garage floor, and ever so slowly, as if time was actually standing still, I dropped our things from my right hand and placed it around the back of Jack's head and twisted my body at the hip, falling so I was on my side and he was in my arms, safe and sound. He lifted his head and giggled as he opened his eyes. I sat him on the step to collect myself and stand up and he just sat there looking at me as if nothing had happened.

In that split second that it took to turn him from the cement and keep him safe, all I could see was what would have happened. He came so close (but not really) to banging the back of his head!

Not only am I grateful for that "moment" of time - mere seconds in reality - that my mind reacted and allowed me to react, I am so grateful he is ok.

I did bang up my knee badly though. In fact, it hurts a little to walk and bend it, and it's got a nasty bruise. It's not swollen too bad, and I'll take a bruised knee over anything worse any day!

By the way, if anybody is wondering, yes, I am a klutz ;) and I will take this as a reminder to slow down a bit in life and also to give myself ample time when it's time to pick the boys up from school.

Fun week, indeed!

For our mini-vacation this year, we went to Michigan Adventure again, due to Ethan winning 2 free tickets to the park.

Having spent a week in Muskegon last summer, spending a day at Michigan Adventure and doing some other things, we decided to take just 3 days this time around.

Jason found a KOA campground that had a "park model" cabin/camper for us to rent about 45 minutes from the park, in Allendale.

Tuesday morning, after a quick breakfast and loading the car up, we started our drive across the state. The older boys had their DSI's to play video games for most of the ride and the toddler slept about half of it. We stopped at Burger King for lunch and to get out of the car for awhile about half-way there.

A quick trip for some groceries and then we made it to the cabin to unpack the car. Swimming came next, in the campground's pool. Even Jackson joined in the fun! The boys played on the playground and swings, and we walked around a bit.

Jason cooked us up some cheeseburgers on the charcoal grill - the boys each had a regular, but we splurged for him and I and got black and blue burgers, seasoned with loads of black pepper and stuffed with blue cheese! Seriously tasty!

After dinner came a bit more "exploring" and an attempt at fishing. It started getting dark and Jackson was getting sleepy, so we went back to the cabin for the night. While I got Jack down for bed, Jason took the boys outside to have a campfire, complete with s'mores and a scary story. Poor Alex wasn't too fond of the scary story, so Jason stopped early and came in. After all the boys were sound asleep, Jason and I sat outside for a little while.

Jackson actually slept from about 9:30 till 5:30am! That rarely happens!

Wednesday, we went to the amusement park and had so much fun. Ethan went on a roller coaster first thing with Jason, and I took Alex to ride a couple of rides by himself, while Jack and I watched him. Jack loved watching all the cool rides. After quite a few rides, we grabbed a quick lunch over by the water park, and all changed into our swimwear.

The water park was my favorite part. All three boys got to do something fun in there, including the wave pool, and for the older boys, water slides!

We did have a big scare at one point. Before we even entered the park, we went over what the boys should do if we should get separated or lost. I took Jackson in the tidal wave pool with the older boys and Jason waited outside off to the side. I decided to take Jackson out after a few minutes so we could warm up and I guess Alex saw me and followed me. I didn't realize it though and because he was a little ways behind me, he didn't see which direction I went. He walked around for a bit looking for me and Jason, while we were standing off to the side, talking and looking in the giant tidal wave pool, filled with so many people, trying to catch a glimpse of each of them. We saw E, but no Alex anywhere. Trying not to panic we walked toward the front and continued to look, thinking he was just lost in the sea of kids in the water. After about 10 minutes and still no Alex, I started walking toward the front of the water park to see if he had maybe wandered to the bathroom or for a life-vest (he mentioned maybe wanting one) and as I turned to start going around the corner, I saw him with a security guard, with a scared look on his face. Pushing Jackson in the stroller, I walked as quickly as I could to meet him and wrapped him in my arms, asking where he'd gone! I was almost in tears, and thanked the security guard, who told me he had gone to the first aid station and asked for help. I'm so glad we told the boys who to go to and what to say. I never, ever want to feel that way again. I really don't think Alex does either!

It was time to leave the water park then and ride some more rides, followed by a bbq dinner, more rides and finally time to go home. Jason mentioned stopping for some ice cream on our way back to the cabin, so we were on a mission to find some soft-serve. We found a little place called Whippi Dip between Muskegon and Allendale and sat outside in the warm summer breeze, as it got darker and enjoyed some yummy ice cream.

We had to check out by 11am on Thursday, so we packed up all of our things and got on the road. We decided against fast food for lunch and found a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Howell called Mexicali Allie's. It was pretty good and the boys all ate their cheese quesadillas, E ate his rice and Alex ate his refried beans. I decided on a ground beef taco, a bean tostada, beans and rice while Jason chose a chunk beef burrito, ground beef taco, beans and rice. Jackson ate a bite of beans but didn't really dig them, which surprised me, because he loves them on tacos at home!

Once we arrived home around 3, we were greeted with a "Welcome Home" chalk sign from Julie and the B's!! Well, actually two, the first on the driveway by the garage door and the second on the sidewalk/patio area by our back porch! That was really cute and sweet. At the last minute, on Monday evening, (because I forgot to find someone to watch the dog and none of our neighbors were around to ask) I sent Julie a text asking if she'd let the dog out a few times and feed and water him each day for us while we were gone. And because she's an awesome friend and my hero, she agreed!

THANKS AGAIN JULIE AND BOYS FOR HELPING US OUT! IT WAS SO NICE OF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDSHIP MEANS THE WORLD TO US!!!

Side note here: Make sure to follow Julie's new blog as she branches out from here and hopefully we will both grow our readership! 

After we settled back in here at home, unpacking and ordering pizza for dinner, Jason suggested go-karts and/or mini-golf. I thought that sounded like a fantastic idea. When we got to C.J. Barrymore's, we had to see if the boys were tall enough to ride the "faster" go-karts. E is plenty tall enough and Alex is borderline. However, the lady at the counter asked how old he was, and when we said 8, she told us "Sorry, he has to be at least 10 AND 54" tall to ride those ones". After buying E's ticket and mini-golf tickets for all of us except Jackson - he had to be a spectator in the stroller as he's still a tiny bit too young to play :( but he didn't mind, he laughed at all of us - we went over to the turbo track to find NO ONE else in line. E was going to be out there all by himself! Jason ran back in and bought a ticket for himself and they raced each other while we looked on. 

Mini-golf was fun, we chose the "green" course, and I did really well the first 5 or 6 holes, hitting it in with 2 strokes (par was 3 for every hole), then I kind of stunk for a while and then believe it or not, I, somehow, got 3 - yes, THREE! - holes-in-one! I don't even think JASON did that, lol. But Jason came in way under, winning the game. I had 63, E had 68 and Alex had 69.  

Jackson slept all night AGAIN! I'm loving the fact that he's sleeping anywhere from 7-10 hours a night now, although I know it could change at any moment. I'm relishing in the fact that I'm getting some good sleep myself now, except of course when my own body decides it doesn't need sleep, but I'm really, truly tired...

Yesterday (Friday), we are still technically on vacation, as Jason took the day off of work and the boys are not starting school for over a week. However, it sure didn't feel like a fun day. After having used up quite a few things before we left - milk, bread, peanut butter, eggs, you know the staples - I had no choice but to go grocery shopping, hopefully before lunch. Since I try and go "big grocery shopping" every other week and just get a few things that would go bad if I bought too much, and it happened to be shopping week, it took a little longer to plan the menu and grocery list out. Jack-Jack and I left after 11am and didn't get home till after 2! He was so well-behaved and patient in the two stores. We ended up going to Meijer for most things, and Costco for meat (they have organic chicken and ground beef for a good price), eggs - again organic, 2 dozen, great price - and a few other things. I even got 4 loaves of organic whole wheat bread for $11.38. I know it sounds kind of expensive, but even Aunt Millie's at Meijer is almost $3/loaf and it's not organic, but is my second choice. Meijer organic is about $4, I think? Regardless, we got everything, snacked on some samples and a slice of Costco pizza (eh, not my favorite) and came home. Jason took the older 2 out while we were gone, after lunch, to get new rotors for the front brakes on our van and to sell a buddy's riding gear. When we got home and got the van unloaded, they weren't home yet. We decided on leftovers or sandwiches for dinner. Jason was supposed to have his class last night, and still needs to find his 2 books, so he took off early, only to find the campus bookstore closes at 2pm. He stayed up there, went to class, his professor was a no-show so they all submitted attendance paperwork, and he took the long way home - meaning he rode his Harley around for a little while.

Today was a beach day. We decided on Lake St. Clair Metropark as there's a beach, playground, splash zone/sprayground and for an extra fee, a pool with water slides. We skipped the pool and slides and opted for free. I packed up some sandwiches, fruit, tortilla chips/cheese puffs, juice boxes and other picnic snacks for us, while Jason gathered our towels and beach gear. After everyone was dressed for swimming, we drove over and enjoyed 4 hours there! It was such a beautiful day, the water felt great, and the boys all got along. E even made a new friend that he and Alex played with in the water for a bit. Jackson went swimming - well sort of - and played happily in the sand. We ate our lunch and Jason and the older boys went back in the water. I took Jack to change his swim diaper and wash the sand off of his little bottom and change my own clothes, and then we met the 3 of them in the splash zone. After about 15 minutes (they were over there for about 20 before we even managed to make it back over that way, lol), we decided to call it a day.

Now that we are home, Jackson is taking a nice nap, E and Alex are playing video games, and Jason is off at the tattoo parlor getting more work done to his right arm. It's really nice looking so far, but he wants more added to it. While they are all occupied, I'm taking some "me" time and writing, finally!! Although, now I should probably go make some dinner for my little loves, because I know Jack will be awake soon and it's already 5:30!! Where did the day go?

Oh yeah, and tomorrow, we get to go hang out with JULIE and her little men! So excited. It's going to be an afternoon filled with visiting a metropark, geocaching - hopefully we will have better luck than before - and a cookout with friends.

I have a ton of pictures from our vacation, so I may make a slide show from them and share them that way. Still trying to figure out my photo software on this computer and I received it as a gift in December! Oh well.

7 Quick Takes ;) - July 5, 2013

--- 1 ---
Just the 3 of us!

Yesterday was the 4th of July. Independence Day. We didn't have our 2 older boys with us, so it was just Jason, Jackson and I. After a light lunch, we went to Great Lakes Crossing and walked around for a couple of hours. Jack LOVED the animals at Bass Pro Shops. He was pointing at them and trying to name them. Even the fish were just the most amazing thing to him! We decided to have dinner at Toby Keith's I <3 this bar and grill. It was pretty good. I ended up ordering a half-rack of St. Louis style ribs, baked beans and sweet potato tots.

We didn't go see fireworks last night, but we sure did hear them. Our dog is a scaredy-cat and spent the whole night whimpering and whining. I can't wait till people are done shooting them off... 
Actually since Monday, we've just been kind of not doing a whole lot. Jason has had class most evenings, so Jack and I have been spending time together.

--- 2 ---
Technology growing pains...

While at the mall, we passed the Verizon Wireless store. My Droid X2 has been acting up for the last couple of months. Missing texts, not dialing, dropping calls, the screen freezing up, having to do a hard reset by removing the battery. It has gotten quite irritating. I'd already gone over once to the store nearest to our house, but the customer service rep was less than helpful (kind but unable to offer me a replacement). So when Jason suggested stopping in to this store, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic. However, the very nice lady looked up our information and found that not only do we have insurance, but also the extended warranty, meaning they would replace my phone with something NEWER, of equal or better value! For FREE! And it won't change our plan or "renew" our contract so we won't lose our current unlimited data. I should be getting my brand new Droid RAZR M on either Monday or Tuesday! It looks pretty sweet. Smaller phone, but all screen, so it's actually a bigger screen, lighter, faster, 4G, and I won't lose my apps. I'm pretty thrilled to say the least.

--- 3 ---
From me to you! 

I want to let people know that if you get a message from me on Facebook, I'm not spamming you, nor am I just trying to bug you or sell to you. I'm genuinely reaching out to help others. My thought is this: If I don't reach out to so-and-so and they DO want help reaching their goals, I'll never know, nor will they know I want to help them. If I do reach out, and they don't need or want help, at least they know I care, and if they ever need support, that I'm there. Also maybe they know somebody that wants or needs assistance. So please don't mind my messages. If it's not of interest to you, a quick no thanks would be grand, but if you forget or don't have a minute, I understand. Just know that it's not to bother you or because I think you are in particular need of something. I figure all of us could use some support at sometime or another. :) Thanks for your understanding!!!

--- 4 ---
It's all relative

You don't realize how much you are alike (and different at the same time!) until you spend a lot of time with family members. This past weekend, after dropping the older boys off, I picked my mom up and we drove down to Columbus. We stayed at my sister Heather's house for the weekend, and while it was fun, it did get a little, ahem, tense? sometimes. Really it was over silly stuff, and most of it was myself overreacting. I do want to apologize though, again. Love you!! We threw her a bridal shower, and even though no family from out of town came in (...), we still had a good time and made the most of it. Jackson had a blast running around with all the "little" girls that were there. They ranged from 4-12, I think? Oh my gosh, he was so funny. Back at the house, he'd chase the dogs, yelling "dog" or "gigi" (one of Heather and Matt's pups names). Jack loved that they were almost all smaller than him.

--- 5 --- 
Shoe important!
 

Looking for boots for the wedding party proved fruitful. We found a pair all of us girls liked, though a different color we originally talked about. We did have to go online to order them (planning to do so this weekend actually) and found a better deal too! I promised I would share a picture if it was alright with the bride-to-be and she obliged :)

Justin Boots Red Torino

On top of finding those, yesterday proved fruitful too. I found a new pair of tennis shoes for exercise, walking and hopefully, eventually, running! They are Asics, very cute, comfortable and not terribly expensive. I guess, after reading the description on the site linked below, they are technically trail-running shoes, but whatever ;)

Asics GEL-Venture 3

I'm still on the lookout for a good pair of tennis shoes for everyday wear to replace my 4 year old Sketchers shape-ups that I love but are worn out... I did find a pair of Sketchers D'Lites that I like, but wanted to price them elsewhere before I got them. These look and feel good, and even though they are actually considered "athletic training shoes", I could wear them everyday, with jeans or whatever.

I'm not much of a shoe or fashion person, but since I'm losing weight now, I need to start slowly replacing my clothes with things that fit. I may need a fashion advisor... anybody want the job? LOL.

--- 6 ---
Finding myself in my hobbies is a chore in itself

I got married pretty young and never really developed a sense of "self", so to speak. I didn't really have any hobbies or at least I didn't really grow them? As I build this blog, and grow as a person, I want to find new things to do. Photographing things has been fun, but I always seem to put it away and never learn more, or I forget my camera and miss out on opportune shots!

I have tried learning to knit, and while I did successfully make a hat, I just don't seem to take the time to work on my projects!

Excuse after excuse, really. I have got to stop that.

--- 7 ---
Kicking the Summer Bucket List starts...

NOW! Well actually tomorrow. Well, technically, it already did a few weeks ago, BUT we only did a few simple, already scheduled things. Now it's time to hit it and hit it HARD! Ethan and Alex will be excited to get moving on it and start doing some of the fun things we have listed. I think first thing we should cross off is making homemade donuts. A couple of weeks ago, we found a BabyCakes donut maker on clearance at Meijer and snagged it. Sunday morning would be a great day to do this :) I will try to remember to snap some pics of the process and the aftermath! I'm thinking using our whole wheat pancake batter recipe, just a bit thicker might work? Any thoughts? I'd like to make them a healthy version. They are basically baked, not fried, and we have tons of King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, and fresh berries we could add. We'll see how they turn out!

Thanks for reading!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

The road we travel...

We never really put down our roots for very long, it's the wandering gene that Jason and I both were inherently born with. A few years here, a few there, never more than about 5.

Having live in Michigan now for just about 5, we've actually been getting that itch. The itch to move somewhere new, somewhere away from here.

It's funny actually, when we lived in Maryland with two small children and the dog, all we ever wanted (so we thought) was to move back to our hometown in Ohio, to be near our extended family. While we missed them, and still do, now that we live 2 hours away AGAIN, I've realized that it's just not meant to be. Never would Jason find a job doing what he does in Toledo, nor would we end up being settled. It's just not us.

We always hated the long drive back and forth when we'd go for a holiday or summer visit, even knowing that our short time would be so filled with activities and time with loved ones, because it just wouldn't ever be truly enough enjoyable, quality time with our families. We knew we would have to leave too soon and we had two crabby, out-of-their-normal-routine kiddies. Now we live just far enough that it's a hassle for us to go visit too often - packing up bags of clothes for overnight, diapers, the dog and his necessary things - but just close enough that we feel we should and everyone expects us too - not that that's a bad thing, but it's true.

There are days when I'd love to just pack up the car, fill it up and drive with my amazingly supportive husband and our 3 crazy, funny, annoyingly-loud-at-times, awesome sons and just go in one direction until we run out of gas and just stay a while. And then do it all over again. And again. And again. That's my wandering gene, my gypsy blood, if you will.

Mind you, I'm a "lister", a planner to an extent, when it comes to silly, frivolous things. But the big things? It's ironic because not so much. I think Jason and I both have a tendency to be impulsive. Not in a bad way, but just going with our guts. Our first instincts are almost always right, for both of us. We are so in tune with each other, he will call to ask me something and I would have just been thinking of the same thing, or sometimes, I'll be ready to tell him something and boom, he was just talking to somebody about that earlier or whatever. It's kind of freaky. But it just shows me how perfect we are for each other, how we just seem to fit together. Before anybody says, "gimme a break!", that doesn't mean we always get along, or even close to it! It just means that we have definitely grown into this relationship and understanding of each others' wants and needs over the years. We certainly are both still quite selfish sometimes - I more than he - but that's how it goes. But I digress.

Where we will end up next? Who knows? We've both talked about moving somewhere, Jason finding a new job or a different position/place with his company and going somewhere South or West. I know the boys love their school and their friends and it always seems just as I finally make new friends or at least become more social with the ones I have ;) , I'm ready to move on in a sense to a new place, not leaving those people behind, but to find more to add richness to my life. That's how I look at those people I've met along this long, strange road called life. They've all played a part, and added something to my life, taught me something, shared their little corners of this place with me, made me a better person in some way. From the girls I went to high school with or met in Germany to the co-worker who became one of my best friends in Maryland to my newest friend and co-blogger Julie, they've all changed my life and truly helped me grow and still are!!!

The real question at hand is where are we being "lead to" and should we follow the pull down this winding path? I guess time will tell...

Surgery, birthday and bucket lists... oh my!

It's been a pretty crazy 7 days around here!

Jackson's "adventure"

First, Jackson had a minor surgery Tuesday, which took all day long. He had to be there at 10:30am, with the surgery scheduled at 11am, and since he was having general anesthesia, it meant he couldn't eat past midnight, nurse past 2:30am and he was only allowed water, apple juice, or pedialyte till 6:30am. Jack was a trooper, but they never even came to get him for surgery till 5 minutes to 1! Then what should have taken about an hour, ended up taking an hour and half, plus then I was still in the waiting room at almost 3. They finally brought him out to me, he woke up and was in and out of sleep for the next hour, while I nursed him and we attempted to give him tylenol with codiene :( Not my favorite thing to do, but he was miserable at that point. Finally, we had the all clear and made it home around 5. Thankfully, Jason was able to leave work early and get the boys from school, though Julie offered too. That's a good friend right there!

Waiting...

Playing with "new" toys

Mama and Jack-Jack

Finally home: Daddy and Jack-Jack

In case, you're wondering, he had a "Fowler-Stephens one-stage orchiopexy" and it is expected to remedy the problem. (After you google that, know that yes, he is sore and a bit bruised, but all is well and even though he has a slightly wider gait at the moment, he will be fine :) )

 

 

Alex's Birthday!!

Alex turned 8 last Thursday and decided he would like a digital camera as his present. We didn't do a huge celebration, but he took watermelon slices to school for his treat, I made him a (dye-free, natural) chocolate cake with decorated homemade frosting and natural food coloring (made from annato) for the words, and he was given his presents.

From his brothers: 2 new Skylanders, one is a giant and the other a regular size one, as well as a storage bag.

 

From mom and dad: a new digital camera, a camera bag and memory card (plus some rechargeable batteries ;) )

Mom forgot to buy candles, so Jason improvised and grabbed the 3's from his cake in December and the 2 from my cake in April and we just counted that as 8, LOL! Alex and Ethan both thought that was funny. Jack really wanted some cake -------->
(Not sure why he has 2 sippy cups out... but looks like one had water and the other milk)

Summer Bucket List

Home Depot Workshop

So first thing Sunday morning, after we had breakfast and all that fun stuff, we took the boys over to Home Depot for their craft. They each got to make lawn-mower pencil holders. Even Jack got in on the action!

  It was a lot of fun and they even got to paint their creations! Jack, of course, wanted to just play with his and kept calling it a car. He still plays with, driving it around.

So bucket list item #5 done (home depot workshop - June 1st)

Tons O' Trucks

Then it was off to Tons O' Trucks, where we met up with Julie and her boys for a bit!

This is only one of many, many pictures we took but blogger is being finicky and not uploading anymore right now! Anyway, bucket list item 7 done! YAY!

There were lots of neat vehicles including a swat TANK! Of course, Jason's favorite was probably the GNX. :)

E and Alex each planted a flower to bring home and we got some free goodies, like chips, spray hand sanitizer and some teddy-bear shaped cold/hot packs for the first aid kit, as well as some coloring/activity books.

Alex also signed up for a free kids' hockey clinic in July! He's super-excited to try it out. The nice thing is that the kids don't need experience playing hockey OR even ice-skating!

We attempted to do our picture scavenger hunt but there were so many people and there was so much to see that it didn't work out. Plus Alex's camera settings were all off and it kept freezing up on him, as well as the photos weren't coming out clear. Now that we have that all figured out, we can plan it for another day.

More Birthday Celebrating!

Sunday afternoon, Jason's parents, sister and niece came up for a visit to celebrate Alex's birthday. He got a new skateboard and elbow and knee pads and wrist guards. Of course, he had to try it out right away, so Jason took him in the basement along with Grandpa Joe and gave him some quick lessons. I swear, the kid is a natural at anything daring! ;) After a little practice, we had cake and ice cream and played outside before Grandma and Grandpa and the girls went home (I say girls because Madison (Jason's sister) is only 17 and Jason's brother's daughter is almost 4).
For Alex's birthday dinner, he wanted to wait and go out Sunday night, so we went to Bagger Dave's - which was a new restaurant and bucket list item for us! It was ok, but we've had better burgers. I did really like their mac and cheese, though!

It's settled down around here now, at least till this weekend. We are possibly going over to the VFW to plant some flowers with the cub scouts on Sunday. In the evening, I have my kickoff for my June challenge group as a Independent Team Beachbody Coach. Looking forward to just getting caught up on the laundry and finding and organizing all the garage sale items. Jackson does have a follow-up with the urologist tomorrow afternoon, so we should know how everything is going.