December 24, 2015

December 22, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 22: A Couple Last Minute Gifts!}

I know I said I was totally done shopping already, but when I went to finish up the Christmas Eve Boxes I noticed that I had four extra peppermint spoons. I could have kept them, and let them go bad in my cupboard. But I chose to gift them. And the only way to do that, was to make them into hot chocolate kits!

December 21, 2015

December 20, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 20: Christmas Survey!}

A Christmas survey! I encourage you all to fill it out and either post it to your blogs and let me know you did so I can read yours, or answer the questions in the comments!

1. Do you know what you want for Christmas already? 
-Share with us 5 things from your list.
1. Fitbit
2. Treadmill
3. Slimmer waistline
4. New Purse (cause one can never have too many)
5. Uninterrupted sleep (because that's what every mom wants right?

2. Have you done any Christmas shopping yet? I'm completely done.

December 19, 2015

December 18, 2015

December 17, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 17: Stocking Stuffers!}

I don't know about you guys, but stockings are my favorite thing to buy for! The big gifts are fun, and I love watching the kids open them. But there's something so fun about the stockings. When I was a kid we would send my little sister in to our parents room to wake them up (cause dad couldn't yell at the baby lol) and he would tell us to go get our stockings. We'd bring them back to my room to open them and see what all each of us got. It was so much fun!

December 16, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 16: Oh Christmas Tree}

Is my tree a beauty?! Of course I would think that though right?

I'm sure you all remember from last year but I in case you're new to the blog...I got it from my grandma. She used to have it standing (fully decorated) in the large storage building they own. She basically centered a Christmas party around it. I have wanted it for years. And finally a couple years ago, she let me have it.

December 15, 2015

December 13, 2015

December 12, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 12: Santa Claus is Coming to Town!}

This has been a topic of conversation for the girls in my mommy group on Facebook. So I thought I'd ask you all the question also. Let you weigh in.

Do your kids still believe in Santa?

The short answer for me is No and Yes.

I have three kids. Of course the two teenagers know the truth. Gaige just sort of stopped believing a couple years ago. I'm not sure what made him stop believing, but he did. One day he just said Mom, I know you and dad buy the presents. I tried to tell him he was wrong but that kid is just too smart for his own good sometimes. He still likes Christmas, he plays along for Owens sake. He talks about Santa and tries to help me keep Owen believing.

December 11, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 11: What's Under the Tree?}


I saw this on facebook the other day and thought it fit this post. We are spoiling our kids this year. And I'm not ashamed of that. D works hard and a lot to be able to afford what we are able to give them. My Christmases as a child were always big. We didn't have this much stuff, but we had plenty trust me. His were smaller. We both want to give our kids a good Christmas. I like to see the

December 10, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 10: Christmas Cookies!}

I am not going to lie folks, I can not make a Christmas cookie to save my life. Not a good one anyway. Sure we go ahead and do the sugar cookies, mainly because Owen loves to do them. But I have just never been able to figure out how to make them stay soft. They usually cool down and end up crumby and hard :(.

But I did find a recipe on Facebook this year that I'm going to try out.

December 9, 2015

December 8, 2015

December 7, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 7: Favorite Home Made Gifts!}

I think home made gifts are probably my favorite gifts to give and to receive. It shows that someone took the time and energy to think of something they think you would love and they created it for you.

Being a mom, I get home made gifts all the time. My boys especially have always loved to make things for me. Be it a drawing they did while bored at the table or something they made at school. It's always special to me. Of course I don't keep everything. I'm a pack rat, not a hoarder.

December 6, 2015

{ #blogmas Day 6: Opening Gifts!}

I am such a horrible blogger! I thought I had a post for the 6th but I didn't. Then when I realized it, I forgot to write one. Blah. But I am back and I'm ready to Christmas blog! So here we go!

For as long as I was growing up, we always did Christmas the same way. My grandparents would usually have a small Christmas with us on Christmas Eve, then they would take us to our parents house and we would spend Christmas Day with them. Of course it was never just us sitting around the house enjoying our gifts. We were up at the crack of dawn, done by around 10am, then it was off to my dads parents farm where we would open gifts there. We were then shuffled to my moms dads house where we would open gifts once again. It was so chaotic and overwhelming.

December 5, 2015

{ #Blogmas Day 5: Christmas Food!}

What's better than presents on Christmas? Food!!

We are not super traditional when it comes to what goes on the table on Christmas. When I was little my grandma would make a turkey and all kinds of goodies because she would host a party on Christmas Day. But as the four of us (my brothers, sister, and myself) got older, the turkey was slowly given up for soup. Usually potato soup. Or cabbage. I like both.

December 4, 2015

December 3, 2015

{ #Blogmas Day 3: Favorite Christmas Movies!}

I think I've mentioned this a time or two before, but I love Christmas movies. Like I could watch them year round. In fact, Hallmark Channel is my favorite channel because it plays them all the time. In fact, because I already posted about my all time favorite Christmas movies last year (or maybe the year before?), I thought I'd stick to my favorite Hallmark Channel movies.

So here we go!

December 2, 2015

{ #Blogmas Day 2: What Christmas Means to You}



Christmas means family to me. It's all about family. It has always been a time for all of us to get together.

My family in Arkansas would make the eight hour trip to stay with my moms dad.

A few days prior to Christmas Eve we would all gather at my grandparents house (the four us already lived there so..we just kind of hung out at home lol) where my grandma would make a big meal. We'd eat, exchange gifts, and just have a good time all around.

On Christmas Day we had a ton of places to go. My parents would load us (and all our gifts since we would take everything to our grandparents house) up and head to the Farm where my paternal grandparents lived. There we exchanged gifts and played video games. We were there for a couple hours.

Then it was off to my maternal grandfathers house. Once again there was food, gifts, and good times. My cousins and I spent the majority of the day in their finished basement. The Nintendo (oh man I'm old..) was a favorite past time. As was playing pool and watching movies on their big screen.

Later we would head back to my grandparents house where my parents would unload the van and we'd all pile in showing our grandparents what everyone got us and what Santa brought ;).

At some point either leading up to Christmas or on Christmas Day, we would have Christmas with my grandparents. Just my grandparents and the four of us. No one ever knew about it, it was just between the six of us. But it happened.

The common factor in all of our Christmas traditions is always family though. And that's what Christmas means to me, being near family, spending time getting caught up on each others lives. We spend so much of the year running around like a chicken with its head cut off that we often forget to check in with family. Christmas was a time to slow down and enjoy our family.

I love Christmas for this reason.


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December 1, 2015

{ #Blogmas Day 1: Favorite Holiday Tradition}

When I was a kid our traditions were few. Most of them included the four of us begging our grandparents to not make us stay with our parents that night and our parents getting pissed that we didn't want to stay with them. Not the best of traditions right?

I don't have that problem with my kids. We all live in the same house. I'm their parent and we have sort of made our own traditions..or I've tried to anyway.

To be totally honest my favorite tradition was always going Christmas shopping with my grandma. Every year (almost) we would bundle up and head out to shop..on Christmas Eve.

My grandpa would call her up, tell her someone had paid their bill for him fixing their car, and we would be off. It always snowed that day. Always. We'd spend all day shopping and come home with our station wagon (or van) full of gifts for everyone and their neighbor.

It was so much fun!

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November 30, 2015

{Blogmas 2015}

I've gone back and forth on if I want to do this this year. I started last year and then...I didn't finish obviously. I enjoy Christmas though. And although I know I talk about my grandpa quite a bit, and how I know he would want me to continue doing things that make me happy, he wouldn't want me to give up things because he isn't here anymore. So I'm going to go ahead and attempt to do this. I might not get every day in. But I'm going to try the best I can!

I'm also planning on doing a photo a day in December on Instagram/twitter/facebook. So look out for that fun!

I hope you, my readers, whoever you are, can bare with me and try to understand that December is going to be rough for me.

Here is the list of prompts I'll be doing!




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November 25, 2015

{It's OK to Grieve}

I'm having a rough time right now. That's why I haven't really been posting that much. Not that I don't have anything to be happy about. If you follow me on any social media then you know I'm not all depressing posts (not all the time anyway). But for the last month I've just been very emotional and frankly, sad. That's the best way to put it. I'm sad.

November 23, 2015

November 18, 2015

{My Kids a Genius!!}

OK OK! I know he's not really a genius. Well, he might be. D did test at a genius level and actually went to a gifted school when he was a kid for a little while. My brother is also a genius. But to my knowledge, Owen is not a genius. I'm pretty sure every mother thinks their kid is one though.

November 13, 2015

{ThanksGiving is Coming!}

For the better part of my life I've had pretty much the same routine when it comes to the Thanksgiving holiday.

My grandma woke up at three o' clock in the morning to put the massive turkey in the oven. She would start any other food that might have needed a while to cook, and began prepping others that would just take a little while. We got up around eight o'clock and started getting ready. She'd put us to work doing one thing or another. Be it cleaning up the bathroom/living room/ random rooms. The kitchen was grandma's domain. Sometimes I would help, sometimes I would steer clear so that I didn't have to.

November 11, 2015

{Blogging Slacker}

Ugh. I know I've been late with the last few blogs. I'm really trying to do this on a schedule so I have a little more content. It's kind of working..right?
Since I don't have anything exciting happening right now I thought I'd just ramble a little while I'm waiting for time to walk up to the door to get Owen.

November 10, 2015

{Happy Wife...}

I know we have all heard the saying Happy Wife Happy Life..my husband clearly has.
We have had the same model phones for about 3 years now. I think I've had mine maybe a year longer than him though. We switched from AT&T to Verizon and the Galaxy S3 was free at the time. When we went in a year later to upgrade, because that's what the sales guy said we could do, they said we couldn't upgrade until the following November! So annoying!
So when I checked my verizon account and it showed that we could upgrade early..I jumped on that lol.

November 6, 2015

{If I Won a Million Dollars!}

What wouldn't I do if I won a million dollars is probably a better question.

So lets go down the list shall we? For starters though, if I were to ever win a substantial amount of money, enough that we would never have to worry about money again, I wouldn't tell anyone. And I mean no one. OK, well maybe I'd tell my siblings. But that's it. I don't need the crazies crawling out of the woodwork trying take my damn money!

November 4, 2015

November 2, 2015

{Happy Halloween!}

We had such a low key day today. Which is just how I like a holiday. Low key. Easy. No drama.

The first thing we did when we got up was head to D's grandmas house. The kids hadn't been over there since before Owens birthday so it was time. We sat there and visited for about two hours. It was nice. Until his aunt (she lives there also) mentioned that my grandpa had died..she asked me actually. She has

October 30, 2015

{Pumpkin Carving And Costume Parade!}

It's almost Halloween!!

This is literally the only holiday I can get D to participate in without pulling teeth. He is such a pain in the ass sometimes lol.

This year we actually carved pumpkins, in the past we just sort of forgot about it. This year, however, Owen was pretty vocal about his need to have a jack-o-lantern on the front porch. We waited until yesterday to do it because we didn't see the point of carving any earlier. By the time Halloween rolls around the pumpkins are usually sinking into themselves anyway. We finally picked some up the other day and managed to get them done yesterday!

October 29, 2015

{Just Rambling In the Car}

I'm just sitting here in front of the school waiting for the kids to come out and I thought I'd take a minute and blog.
I am kind of ready for Halloween to be over now. I am not looking forward to another Thanksgiving or Christmas without my grandpa but I am finding my holiday spirit again and I want to put up my tree and start decorating lol.
Owens Halloween parade at school is tomorrow (so be on the lookout for those pics soon!) and then his party (I'm bringing the drinks!). He's pretty excited to show his friends his Baymax costume lol. Gaige is going to the shop to hand out candy with my grandma I guess. He doesn't want to trick or treat this year..and thats fine. I was probably around his age when I stopped too. I ended up walking with the other kids though. Dawn is still excited. Her nerd girl costume is cute! 

October 25, 2015

{2nd Grade is Awesome!}

Owen has been talking about his open house for two weeks. I love going to stuff like this! I love seeing his classroom and walking around to see what he's doing all day. I love watching him interact with the other kids a little bit and hear about how much he's growing. It's probably one of my favorite parts of him being in school. 

So naturally tonight he was so ready to show me around. 

October 23, 2015

{Things I Do at Midnight}

I should be sleeping right now. But I'm not. D and I just took back a movie to the video store. Dark Places..have you heard of it? Neither had we. But we figured that any movie with Charlize Theron in it couldn't be a bad decision. We were right. It was a good movie. Certainly not what I was expecting from a straight to DVD. I was pleasantly surprised. 

October 19, 2015

{Dating Disaster!}

Although I'm happily married now, that was not always the case. I was once a single girl out there in the world. I didn't have kids but I also didn't have a life lol. I was meeting guys on the internet and usually making poor decisions because of them. There were more than a few that turned out to be...horrendous.

October 16, 2015

{Mom Tag Questions!}

I know I do a lot of tags! I loved doing these on Myspace though (remember that dinosaur?) and when I find one I haven't done, it's like I just can't help but copy and paste! I saw JesssFam do this one and I've never seen it before! So woohoo! I think you guys should do it too and then tag me either on Twitter or Facebook to let me know you did it so I can read your answers too!

1. Are you a SAHM or working mom? My job is taking care of my kids. Technically I am a stay at home mom. 

October 14, 2015

{An Uneventful Weekend, Just how I like them!}

This long weekend has been quite enjoyable!

The kids got off early on Friday for school improvement/teacher planning day. My grandma came and took the kids and I to lunch at Culver's. She was going on a week long trip with my grandpas brothers and their wives. So I guess she wanted to see the kids before she left. My grandpa used to rush home after their trips to drop the luggage off just so he could turn around and come take the kids for ice cream lol.


October 12, 2015

{Thank You for 50 Years of Service!}

Had my grandpa lived to see 2015, his shop, Myers Zephyr Service, would have been 50 years old on the second of October. Had he lived to see 2015, he would have seen over 100 people congregating at this small home away from home shop on the third of October to celebrate his service. Had he been here he would have seen a clean shop, painted light blue like it was when he purchased it in 1965.

October 9, 2015

{Owens 8th Birthday!}

Who's idea was it to have a party outside in October? Ugh. OK...it was me. I'm the idiot that planned that. We suffered but we got through it and everyone had a good time!

We decided to have his party at the zoo this year instead of at the house. Mainly because I didn't want to clean the entire damn house...and of course there was always the fact that our house is under construction and it looks like a pile right now.

October 7, 2015

{Shania Twain Concert!}

If you've been following me on any of my social media then you probably already know that my mom scored tickets for the Shania Twain concert when she came to town Tuesday. My mom, sister, sister-in-law, and I all went and it was a good time! For not having toured in about 10 years she sure does know how to put on a show. I do have remind myself though that going to her concert and going to a Backstreet Boys concert are going to be different. It's a different group and a different energy. It's a little...calmer I guess lol. There wasn't as much screaming that's for sure.

October 5, 2015

{ABCs of Me!!}

A- Age: 32
B- Biggest Fear: Something happening to one of my kids..or my dogs.
C- Current Time: 7:20p
D- Drink you last had: Water
E- Easiest Person To Talk to: My little sister.
F- Favorite Song: I don't know what it's called but its about winning the lotto and buying a boat lol.
G- Ghosts, are they real: Yes.
H- Hometown: A small town in farm country IL that you've never heard of.
I- In love with: The same jackass for 12 years.
J- Jealous Of: Lauren Kitt-Carter ;)
K- Killed Someone? No. But there have been times that I've come close. Then I decided prison wasn't for me.
L- Last time you cried? Today. I cry every day at least once.
M- Middle Name: Michelle
N- Number of Siblings: Three
O- One Wish: To travel back in time to December 2nd, 2014.
P- Person who you last called: My grandma.
Q- Question you're always asked: "Mommy can I.." followed by something they probably can't do.
R- Reason to smile: My small people.
S- Song last sang: I loved Her First- Heartland
T- Time you woke up: 7:30a
U- Underwear Color: Pink and white stripes.
V- Vacation Destination: I think next summer we might go to GA.
W- Worst Habit: Micromanaging. I don't plan on breaking it any time soon.
X- X-Rays you've had: My back when I was 14 and my ankle..
Y- Your favorite food: Chicken Caesar Salad!!
Z- Zodiac Sign:Taurus. (explains a lot doesn't it?)

October 2, 2015

September 30, 2015

{First Teenager Party}

Dawn got invited to a girls birthday party today. This is the first time since grade school that she was invited to anything. Well, anything she bothered to tell us about. Usually she RSVP's yes to something and then doesn't tell us until the day before the party and expects to get to go (this has happened twice). I think that's why girls stopped inviting her to things. She thought that just springing it on us the day before would mean we had to let her go.

September 28, 2015

{I Love Fall #Tag }

1.) Bath & Body Works or Yankee Candles? Is this a serious question? BBW of course! But I'm not a real big candle person. I prefer the wallflowers.

2.) Favorite Fall Accessory? My backstreet boys hoodie lol. So fashion forward!

3.) Uggs or Moccasins? Neither. I wear my tennis shoes all year long and when I'm in the house I put on my slipper socks.

4.) Fuzzy Socks or Knee Socks? Fuzzy.

5.) North Face or Columbia? Neither. I find most of the jackets hideous.

6.) Favorite Fall Food? Chili! Nothing says fall like a huge pot of D's chili!

7.) Red or Pink Lips? Nude. I'm not into color on my lips usually.

8.) Winged Eye Liner or Bold Eye-shadow? Shadow.

9.) Natural/cold/light or Bold/warm/dark makeup? Natural.

10.)Apple Pie or Brownies? Pumpkin pie lol.

11.) Would you rather cook the food or eat it? Depends on what's being made. I don't really like to cook though. I do it, cause it's my job, but I prefer to bake. 

This was the most random survey I've ever posted lol. But it's Monday, and I don't have anything else to write about.

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September 25, 2015

{Weight Watchers: Starting Over}

In the last year I have basically completely given up on any kind of weight loss. I don't think I cared too much about anything but my grief. And although my grief is still there and I am still working my way through the grieving process, I realized after stepping on the scale the other day (which has been sitting in the corner of my bathroom with dead batteries for far longer than it should have), that I need to stop letting my grief get in the way of my progress. I need to stop letting it affect me this way, if only because I know it's going to hurt no one but me in the long run. Me being a blimp isn't going to bring my grandpa back. Stuffing my face full of potato chips and ice cream is not going to make it stop hurting at all. I'm going to cry and I'm going to hurt, and it's not going to stop for quite a while (or ever). So I might as well get back on this wagon and make myself a better version. Who knows? Maybe being back on this is going to help me feel better. I don't know.

September 23, 2015

September 21, 2015

{Parades & Tears}

My sister convinced me that going to the parade a town over for their festival is something I needed to do. So Saturday we got up early and headed over to meet her, my nephew, my brother, and my niece. It was an OK time. Basically the same floats we saw in the parade last weekend here lol. 

September 14, 2015

{It's Festival Time!}

Fall is finally arriving in Illinois and I've been waiting all summer long! Bring on the hoodies (which I'm currently wearing right now) and slipper socks. Pick up your Pumpkin Spice drink from StarBucks if that's your thing (it is not mine) and curl up with a cozy blanket. Lets not forget the planning for Halloween starts now too! I love Halloween. It's the only holiday D actually wants to participate in without a huff. But most importantly, to me anyway, it's time for festivals!

We have two that we attend pretty much every year (money willing). The first is in our town (I won't give the name since I don't particularly care for crazy people stalking me). We gathered up the kids this past weekend headed up town to the parade. It was freezing. I was glad to have my BSB hoodie ;).

September 4, 2015

{10 "How" Questions #YoutubeTag }

I have pretty much nothing happening in my bubble right now. The kids are good. The husband is annoying, but good. I'm good. So I didn't know what to do for today's post. I'm attempting to stay on a Mon/Wed/Fri upload schedule. So I figured I'd do a little youtube tag :). I've never seen this one before. So it should be fun, but short..most likely. I don't know. Could be 10 pages long ;).

September 2, 2015

{Dawns Thoughts on Our Trip}

For vacation me, Gaige and Owen all went on vacation to Champaign, IL. There we went to Jurassic Quest. They didn't have much to do. But on the way back home all of us stopped at a museum and zoo.

The zoo was my favorite part since they had a whole bunch of animals that aren't at the zoo we normally go to. There was even a carousel too!

At the museum we saw a whole bunch of artifacts made from way back when such as old clothing that you could put on. Also there was a school house that had mini chalk boards at the desks that were made of wood, you could also draw Abe Lincoln on the blackboard.

There was a waterfall a little ways away from the schoolhouse so we went to see that too. It was really pretty with the waterlilies and flowers everywhere around it.

We went paddle- boating which really freeked me out since that was my first time on any type of boat and I was sitting almost on the edge of it too so i could see the water moving once we started going I wanted off.

Anyways I had a fun vacation.

-Dawn


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August 31, 2015

August 26, 2015

{Road Trip Recap}

Since I wrote already about the Jurassic Quest BS and the stumbled upon Mahomet Park, it's time to recap the actual road trip and hotel! Woohoo!

To be honest, this was a fairly pleasant trip.

I started my day at 7:30am and did not stop moving until we picked up the kids at 3:00pm. I did all the packing for everyone after I dropped Owen at school. We took only two bags because we were only planning on one day, but I packed an extra outfit for everyone in case we got down there and found something fun to do for another day. We had thought that the Jurassic thing would take up at least part of our day.

August 24, 2015

{Museum of the Grand Prairie- Mahomet IL}

After the epic failure that was the Jurassic Quest event, D and I went on a hunt to find something else to take up some more of our day. We remembered seeing something about a park when we were going into Champaign so we headed back to that.

We drove around the park for a little while, saw a sign for a museum, of course we headed right for that. We are both fans of museums. The first trip we ever took with the kids we just stumbled upon a Children's Museum and the Putnam museum in Iowa. Both were great ways to spend time when we weren't into swimming or gambling (we went with D's grandma and aunt..they are gamblers). So finding this park with a museum was right up our alley :).

August 22, 2015

{Jurrasic Quest What a SCAM!}

In all the years I've been traveling to random events, both before and after I had kids, I don't think I've ever felt as completely ripped off as I do right now. Or as D said, I better check my wallet cause I just got robbed.

We got to the Fluid Event Center in Champaign IL at about 8:30am this morning for Jurassic Quest. The doors didn't open until 9am but people were already filling the parking lot and lining up to get tickets. We stood in line a while, no big deal. As we stood we started reading signs that read All Sales Final this should have been our cue to turn around and find something else to do. But all the reviews I'd read on Facebook were good (I'll get to why that is in a minute) and I'd been looking at pictures and video for weeks while waiting for the day to come to go. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a planner and a researcher. I want my kids to have a good time when we go on trips and I want to know I'm getting a good experience for the money I'm paying. So after doing that research, I decided it was probably safe to say this was a good time for all.

August 20, 2015

{Going on a Road Trip!}

I can't believe it's the night before and I'm just now getting around doing any kind of post about it. What is happening to me? I'll tell you what's happening, school. We're taking our trip later than we did last year, going after school starts instead of right after the fourth of July. But we had some unforeseen complications this year (*cough*mystupidankle*cough*) and we just couldn't afford a big family vacation (I will get to Disney someday people. Someday!!).

When we got right down to it, we were also limited as far as what we could do. My ankle isn't 100% yet, and although I would have loved to venture back to St. Louis and Six Flags again (I am such an adrenaline junkie!), there is no way I could have climbed stairs and gone down them and everything with my ankle still being on the mend. So poo.

August 19, 2015

{First Day of School!}

Oh there it is, that sigh of relief that everything went smoothly this morning. No blood was drawn while waking up Owen (though I'm pretty sure he would have cut me if he had the chance) and the older two got up and dressed on their own. In fact, I heard Dawn roaming around at 630 when my alarm went off.

Of course there are pictures ;) Not too many though because none of them want to take pictures anymore.

August 10, 2015

{I Started a Trend!}

Is it a trend if just one other person does it? Lets go with yes, since I'd hate for it to be more than one other person.

My grandma called me the other day and said "Well I broke my ankle today." My first thought was "Oh sure you did!" The woman loves to yank my chain.

She said "No I really did." What?!

She goes on to tell me that she was calking the outside of the her garage door (a chore my grandpa would have been doing mind you..just throwing that out there..yet another thing we took for granted) and caught her foot in a dip in the yard.

August 7, 2015

{Upstairs Revamp- Decorating a Teen Girls Room}

I have been trying to envision what Dawns room was going to look like with walls for about..ooh..three years now? That's not how long it's been under construction, that's just how long we've been talking about turning their separated rooms into two actual rooms. It's not easy for me to see what D is talking about when he's been telling me what his plans are. Maybe because he doesn't always share his plans in the best way. I need to see what's going to change for me to be able to get an idea of what it's going to look like when it's done. I love the idea of separating their rooms but it gives me a headache trying to figure out how to decorate it all.

So I decided to go up and take some pictures and maybe get some help with this decorating.

August 6, 2015

{Upstairs Revamp- Part 5}

For almost 10 years we have had the same huge TV. An RCA 52" box TV. It was massive but it worked and we got it cheap. D bought it when we lived in the first trailer I believe. It has been moved four times since then. From one trailer to the next, to this house where it was in our living room and then we finally pushed it up the stairs to give it to the kids.

Well the other day I blew a fuse in the toy room trying to blow dry Dawns hair. Stupid me.

August 5, 2015

{50 Questions You've Never Been Asked}

I just googled this "youtube tag questions" and this popped up. I don't know if it's actually from youtube or if Kat Bouska made them up. But here they are in all their nosy glory! I love doing surveys! Feel free to answer the questions yourself and send me the link so I can read your answers too!
1. What’s your favorite candle scent? I don't really like candles too much. I have 2 dogs, a cat, and 3 kids. That is just a recipe for disaster. I love those B&BW wallflowers though! My favorite scent right now (summer) is the watermelon lemonade. Heaven I tell you!
2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister? This is a tough one. Maybe Taylor Swift. I think she's someone I could get along with.

July 31, 2015

{ #weightwatchers Fail!}

I am the worst at sticking to things. The worst. I know why its so hard for me but what I don't know is how I let myself get back here. It's almost 2yrs since I started this journey and if I would have just stuck with it in the first place I would be at my goal or close to it by now. What's wrong with me??

I have been tracking. I track every day. My chooses are just...awful. I'm really not trying as hard as I was when I did this the first time and its obvious. I have to make myself want this as much as I used to. I have to get my brain back to that space but its not happening.

I remember when I was first losing weight and others were starting to tell me they could see a difference. My grandpa (whom I miss every single minute of every single damn day) dropped off some things to me and mentioned how proud he was of me for taking control (not in those exact words) and how good he thought I looked. I don't want to disappoint him. And I want to get back to the place I was then.

I really wish my head could just tell my stomach to shut the hell up when it says it hungry any more. Or when I'm going back for my third bowl of chili.

I am such a failure. I make these posts and u make promises to myself but I don't follow through. Ever. I just want the will to change.

*sigh*


July 29, 2015

{Cavity Free!}

Owen had to have a dental check up this year for school, so I made his appointment at Just Kidz Dentistry.

We went there for all three kids last time and it was a truly enjoyable experience. They worked with Owen and tried to make it as pleasant an experience for him as possible. Of course he had to have laughing gas (twice) and he had to strapped down (which sounds worse than it is) but they got him through it.

This time was a more pleasant visit than the last, and the last one was more pleasant than the first. So we're moving in the right direction here!

July 28, 2015

{Mom to the Rescue!}

Well that was a pain in the ass to say the least.

When I got my new laptop I decided to let the kids have my old one. I figured it'd be a good source of storage for all my pictures (other than the new computer and the portable hard drive) and music. But then the bad thing happened.

Someone went to coolmath (do not look that site up!) and got a shit ton of viruses from it. I don't know how. I don't know when. I do know that the laptop was basically unable to be used after it though because I didn't know what the viruses were doing. I certainly didn't want personal information out there.

So it has been sitting in my bedroom since (a few months now) and I finally, last night at about 9pm, decided to go ahead and attempt to fix it.

First I did a system recovery (I think) and had it roll back to March. That didn't work. It wasn't able to get rid of the viruses and they were still there and the laptop was still slow as molasses.

July 27, 2015

July 24, 2015

{Upstairs Revamp Part 4}

Who would have thought I'd be blogging about this again so soon. It seems like months between house update posts. Usually because it is. But now that we finally have some extra money (well, not so much extra..its just not going to child support anymore) we can get down to business. It seems like every time we start something though something always comes up and we have to put everything on hold for the millionth time. To tell you the truth I'm to the point where I'd rather just sell the place as is and take a loss than deal with it anymore. But we can't do that. I wouldn't really want to anyway I don't suppose. We bought the house because we wanted to make it ours. So far we have half done the bathroom, half ass painted the kitchen, and the living room floors need done. It's ridiculous.

July 22, 2015

{Back to School Shopping!}

It is finally that time of year folks! The time of year that most (if not all) parents rejoice at the mere mention of. Yes, it's back to school time!

I for one am extremely excited about the coming event and can not wait to get this year under way. I'm taking the organized approach this year and making sure everyone is on track and where they should be right off the bat. Registration isn't until the first couple days in August (which is fast approaching) but I'm already planning what I can do to keep these kids (mainly the bigger ones, Owen has no problem with school so far) in line.

For starters, I'm going to see about setting up a plan for Dawn's behavior right away. Maybe I'll see about making an appointment to meet with her teachers and her principal so we can establish that no one is buying her crap this year, and so we can all get on the same page.

Gaige already has an IEP so I don't really have to worry about him until his next meeting. But I intend on having him a little more organized too to be honest. If I can get his teacher to communicate with me a little more than the one last year did, I'll be set.

July 15, 2015

July 13, 2015

{Upstairs Revamp Part 3}

It feels like forever since I wrote about any remodeling we've done to this house. Honestly except for the bathroom (which still isn't finished a year later) we haven't had the money to do anything around here. Child support is over now though, so we are free and we can finally get this place the way it should have been!

Ever since we moved in I've thought it was silly that we only technically have two bedrooms because only two rooms have closets. This could have easily been turned into a four bedroom before we bought it and we would have paid more for it. But it wasn't. We, however, need those extra bedrooms. So this is exactly what this house will be when we're finally finished with it.

July 10, 2015

{School Supplies Already?!}

I was at Walmart today (a rarity these days since I prefer Target) and noticed they are putting out school supplies already. Can this be happening already? It's just now July. The kids didn't get out of school until the first week of June and they'll go back around the middle-end of August. It feels like summer goes by so fast these days. Maybe it always did and I'm just really noticing it now that Owen is in school.

I'm not complaining really. I enjoy the days alone to focus on something other than cleaning up after kids. My house is nice and quiet from 7:30-3:00 and I don't have to listen to anyone whine about not getting their way. I also don't have to share the TV because Owen is at school and not asking to play games in the living room every 10 minutes. You don't know how frustrating it is to be in the middle of your favorite show and have a kid constantly asking if they can turn it off. Or come up to you and say "You're on your phone, so can I play a game down here?" when you look to answer a text or check something on facebook during a commercial break. Sometimes I wish D wasn't such a gamer!

July 9, 2015

{Final Doctor Visit #brokenankle }

Woo hoo I am medically cleared to return my life!! Because I've been patiently waiting to get that news and all. I have not already returned to said life.

You all know I'm lying through my teeth. I've been pretty much full throttle since I was able to walk without my crutches. But its nice to know that the doctor says I'm good.

In fact, he said that I was a fast healer and that he's surprised I'm not in any pain for just three months out of surgery. But guess what doc? I have three kids. Life had to get back on track and fast.

But yeah. So that's the update for that fun little doctor visit. Now I just have all this ankle hardware to deal with for the rest of my life lol.

Note to self: Do not move chairs down the stairs on your own. Make husband do it.

July 8, 2015

July 6, 2015

{Relaxing Sunday for Mom and Dad}

It has been a while since D and I got to spend some time alone. After the fireworks last on Saturday (since it's 3am on Monday morning right now), my grandma came to pick up Gaige and ended up taking all three with her. I don't know how that happened. I kept telling Owen that I really wanted to go on the bike with daddy and that he could spend some time at grandma's house. He finally caved. It's hard to get that kid away from me lol.

We woke up yesterday morning (Sunday) around 8:30am and got on the bike. First thing we did was wash her and get her looking all pretty again. D said that was the first time she has been washed all season. Ridiculous!

July 4, 2015

{Name Changes}

I was always under the impression that when I had babies, they would all be with the same man and we'd all have the same last name, and we'd be one happy family. I was clearly mistaken in my future lol.

Gaige has his sperm donors last name. Against my better judgement of course. I let him talk me into it. "He's the only boy" He said. "I'm the only one to carry on the last name." He said. Right. His brother currently has two boys and he himself had another. So the last name will not die with him *eye roll*. I didn't know he would turn into a man-whore and procreate with another woman. So I went ahead and gave him that last name. Big mistake. Gaiges SD hasn't seen him since he was a little over a year old. He hasn't attempted to see him since 2010 (he took me to court for visitation but never showed for any of the meetings we had set up). I don't even want to get into why. But D and I

July 1, 2015

{I have no Content}

When there is absolutely nothing going on in my life worth writing about my blog gets very very quiet. So quiet I can almost hear the crickets start chirping. But I vowed I would never be like some of those more popular blogs out there, reviewing items or getting paid to let others post on my site. I don't want that. Although I would love new readers, I don't want them bad enough to start selling space on my blog to get them. A blog I began because I needed an outlet and because I really wanted to have this space to look back on things that were happening in our lives 10 years down the road. So you'll just have to deal with my lull in posts for now. I had exciting things planned but everything seems to get in the way. We are finally done paying child support for Cassie. Thank the lord! So we have a little extra money to start getting things accomplished around here.

June 28, 2015

{I am a Pack Rat}

I blame this on my grandpa. I think you have seen me mention going shopping at the big garage. Well, it was a Morton building full of stuff. Cars, a fire truck, furniture, you name it, he probably had it in there. I don't think anyone ever had to buy beds or furniture. In fact, other people would store their stuff up there too. It was insane trying to find anything up there. What's even crazier is they removed a bunch of the stuff and shifted it all around to have Christmas parties up there. Insane I tell you! Not to mention, some of this stuff being stored in there wasn't even his. Quite a bit was stuff someone needed a place to store and he had a huge building so in it went. I tell you what though, if he wouldn't have kept all that stuff, my boys would have been out of luck for beds when their bunk beds broke.

He also had a habit of picking through the goodwill bags my grandma would fill up and taking what he thought they should keep up there lol. It was out of the house so grandma couldn't really complain and it was there when we eventually needed it (which, lets be honest, someone always ended up needing whwhatever he had up there). It kind of drove my grandma nuts a little bit though lol. I can only imagine what their house would have looked like if he hadn't bought that building. I'm imagining an episode of TLC: Hoarders Buried Alive.

June 25, 2015

{#weightwatchers Update}

I know that I've been MIA with the weight watchers stuff, but I'm still tracking and still holding myself accountable.

I did really good on my trip to Ark. I managed to not over eat or eat a ton of junk, even though that's what my grandma packed for snacks. I also over estimated the amount of points in an IHop salad so I didn't eat anything the rest of the day. Of course, I was eating that around noon so it wasn't hard for me to refuse food until almost the next morning lol. I haven't really lost a whole lot though. I'm trying, but I doubt I'll be in the 180's by our vacation like I'd hoped. I'd be happy with the lower 190's at this point.

I do still buy my Smart Ones meals though (orange chicken is my favorite!) and I make sure to watch the carbs in take. That tends to be my down fall. I also drank a bunch of soda I shouldn't have at my nephews birthday party that following Saturday, (regular soda) and that was no bueno. So I'm carrying quite a bit of water right now. I know it's water because my fingers are swollen. Ugh.

That being said I still feel like I'm doing pretty good. At least I'm staying on top of it right? *Sigh*

I just have to keep reminding myself that I didn't put the weight on over night, or at one meal, so I'm not going to lose it over night either. It's going to take time.

Blah. So that's my little update for right now..

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June 22, 2015

{To Arkansas & Back in 24hrs!}

Let me start off by saying that I will never do that again. This was quite possibly the dumbest thing I've done in a long time. Probably since I OK'd Cassie coming to live with us that last time (yeah...it was that stupid). But aside from being a stupid thing to do, and utterly exhausting, it was not a horrible trip.

Our planning began on Sunday last week. My aunt and uncle from Ark came up for her and my uncles (her twin brother) 50th birthday. They only stayed the weekend. My uncle (her husband) told my grandma that her kids were planning a little surprise dinner for her birthday the next weekend. We had planned on attending. We'd go down on Friday morning, stay the night at my cousins house, then come back early Saturday morning to be able to make it to my nephews birthday party by 1:30 Saturday. It was gonna be a short trip. It was gonna be a little stressful with 3 kids. But we could handle it. It's not the first time I'd been to Ark with kids. Granted I was also one of those kids, but whatever. The point I'm making is I could do it.

June 15, 2015

{Kicking It Into Gear}

I am so far behind where I was this time last year. In fact, I'm about 8lb from where I started. I am so disappointed in myself. I can't blame anyone but me. I quit weight watchers thinking I could do it on my own. Which I'm sure had I stuck with it at least a year, I probably could have eventually. But I fell back into old habits. Then I got depressed..and depression does not lend a helpful hand to weight loss. Breaking my ankle was probably the best thing to happen to me though lol. I couldn't get up and just snack all the time like I could before or like I can now. I actually ended up losing what I'd gained and then some. And then I gained it all back. I don't know what my damn problem is. How is me sitting in a chair but not snacking better than me moving around and not snacking? Lol Beyond annoying.

June 5, 2015

{Vacation Planning}

Sometimes being a mom in the summer time sucks. Other times it's really fun. But most of the time, it sucks lol. The best part of my past couple summers have been the trips we've taken. I went on vacations every single summer with my grandparents. It didn't usually matter where we were going, we just wanted to get out of town. Sometimes in the motorhome and sometimes in a van. Either way, it was always a good time. I have said before I want to give my kids that same experience. And we can finally afford to give them those experiences. The last couple years we've gone to St. Louis. Until March, we had planned on heading north instead of south and going to the Dells. But after I broke my ankle we pretty much just called the trip off.

June 3, 2015

{Retail Therapy!}

Dawn and I decided today was a good day to have ourselves a little shopping spree. She had birthday money to spend and I needed more bulbs for my wallflowers. Not to mention its the 3rd of the month. Its been six months now. I couldn't let myself dip into the sadness. I do that enough as it is. I needed to be out of the house and away from thoughts of the person who isn't here anymore.  So off we went.



May 28, 2015

{ #ThrowBackThursday Vacation Edition}

I love looking through old pictures! I love remembering all the things that went on when I was a kid (most of them anyway). It's nice to know that even though some of the people in the pictures are gone, I've still got them in my memories. Which isn't as good, but it's better than nothing. So this Throw Back Thursday I went through some vacation pictures and found some I'd like to share with you!

May 27, 2015

{Update on the Broken Ankle}

It has been a long road since March. I've been in pain, scared, cut open, gotten hardware, and been immobile. I've come to appreciate being able to do anything for myself. Not to mention get out of the house whenever I want. But we are finally coming to an end of the journey to recovery.

I have another week in the boot officially, but as yesterday I'm only wearing it when I leave the house. Not quite comfortable enough with my muscles to take it off outside. But I am excited to finally do that.

I'm in pretty much no pain now. It gets sore if I'm on it for longer than I should have been. But for the most part nothing I need a Tylenol for.

I've started driving also! Which is my favorite part! I've missed being able to leave the house whenever I want. And its annoying to have to wait for someone to be ready to take you somewhere. Especially when you feel ready to do it yourself.

I decided not to go ahead with physical therapy. I just don't feel its needed and my mobility is pretty good. I've really pushed myself to get back to normal. I don't like depending on someone else to do the things I should be doing. That I've been doing for 12yrs.

I think that's the extent of my update. I'm on the right track for getting out of the boot and back to my life! Maybe I'll even be able to get on the bike soon! Woohoo!

May 25, 2015

{Go to BED!!}

Gaige and Owen are awful about bed times. They are constantly up and down the stairs. Every single night at bed time it's a fight.

Gaige is going to the bathroom. Then he comes back down for a "quick drink" which means he'll be back down soon to pee again. Or he's hungry. "I didn't eat dinner!" Bullshit kid. I made food. I saw you eat said food. Go to BED!

Owen is the same. Except he wants to take a snack up stairs. He just came down for a single serving of ice cream (one of those 10/10 cups at Kroger), chips, and a Capri Sun. He will be back down in about 15min to "kiss me goodnight". It's never that simple though. He usually ends up saying something along the lines of "Is dad going to work tonight?" Are you kidding me? He knows he goes to work pretty much every night lol. So it's his way of saying he wants to get in my bed. I send him in there and then he wants another snack. I think he believes that since he switched sleeping spaces that he should get to do his routine all over again. Sorry kid. No. That is not how we operate. Go to BED!

All of this is followed by me hollering up the stairs for them to go to sleep until about 9pm when I holler at them to turn the tablets off. Which Gaige doesn't actually do I don't think. He just turns it down real low so I can't hear it lol. As long as he gets up in the morning for school on time and doesn't fight with anyone, I don't care about that though.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who fights with their kids to go to sleep?

Oh, Dawn gives me fights too about it. Can't leave her out right? It's usually a bathroom break, then she wants a drink, then of course she has to pee again, then she realizes she didn't take a shower. Well too bad, you're going to school stinking lol. Of course this leads to her melt down and telling me I'm a horrible parent for not letting her shower. I'm a horrible parent no matter what I do with her so it doesn't faze me too much to be honest. (by the way, as I was typing this, Dawn came down and had to pee for the 2nd time).

I long for the days of empty nesting.


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May 23, 2015

{Ramblings}

D left me for the Springfield Mile early this morning. Well, not exactly early lol, he didn't walk out the door until almost 10am because he was waiting for his dad to be ready. But still, he's gone. I'm super bummed I couldn't go. The mile was one of the first road trips we ever went on. I loved it! I love anything that puts me on the back of a bike for any extended period of time though. Unfortunately though I couldn't walk without my boot this year obviously, so I had to stay behind. Next year though I am absolutely going!

So my day has been mainly me sitting in the recliner, sitting on the couch, or sitting on the bed lol. I did manage to get out of the house twice though. Once for Sonic for lunch and then for Steak 'N Shake for dinner. Which put me way over my points. But there was nothing in the house to eat and I couldn't walk around Walmart. Since there's no guarantee that I'll get an electric cart, I didn't want to chance getting to the door and there not being one. Annoying. Still I managed to drive myself to both places. I was pretty excited about that! I haven't driven my car since March (the day I broke my ankle actually). That feels like a year when I have been driving every day since the first day of school.

Yesterday I went on Owens field trip to Wildlife Prairie Park. It was a pretty good time. D pushed me around in a wheel chair a lot of the time. He had told me not long ago that they had paved the paths and stuff but that's not exactly true. They laid down fresh white rock, but that was it. Which made it difficult for him to push and for me to walk. It wasn't horrible though. We had lunch there at the park. By the time we got to the Gully Womper (the big slide) my ankle was killing me. I managed to walk the trail there but I refused to walk all the way to the slide or to go up the stairs. I just couldn't do it. So D got his truck and brought it to the top around the other side, I sat there while he watched Owen on the slide and then took the boy we were paired with back to the bus. It was still a good time though :) I'm glad I got to go since I missed out on the last one.

I'm so bored right now I'm sitting here watching Master Chef. Not that it's a horrible show or anything, but for the love of God, this is a Saturday night. My kids are at my grandparents house and I could be out on a date or something with my husband. But no.

I also just got a skype call from both of the boys lol. Owen loves that he can call me anytime he wants when he's not with me. That was a big part of why he never wanted to go with my grandparents. He needs to be able to see me pretty much all the time and if he can't see me when he wants to, it's a problem. He is a serious mama's boy. Gaige was a PawPaw's boy, Owen is a mama's boy lol.

So yeah, that's what's happening today. I guess I should just go before I start rambling. I realized I hadn't blogged since my birthday. So I wanted to pop in and say I'm still alive ;)


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May 14, 2015

{I am Getting Older}


Ain't that the truth ladies?? I'll take a year older any day over being growing another human. Ugh.

That's exactly what happened yesterday too, I got a year older. So sad.

The day went fairly smooth. I wasn't planning on anything big. I don't celebrate my birthday like that anymore. Plus, this being the first year with my grandpa, wasn't feeling a big party or even a family dinner to be honest. I just wanted to curl up and go to bed.

May 9, 2015

{May #BirchBox Unboxing!}

I can't even handle how excited I am for this box! I've been thinking about trying out BB for a while but subscribed to Ipsy instead. After this box though, I might switch! We'll see how next month goes ;). This month and next month are gifts from my sister for my birthday this week! She did good ;)

Don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is that I'm turning 32 this year. Ugh.

This month is cupcakes & cashmere themed. I thought the packaging was super cute! D saw it sitting on the table and thought it was cupcakes. He was going to eat them and put it back for me to find empty. He was disappointed lol.

May 8, 2015

{Im Free!!!}

Good lord I hope I never have to go through something like that again. The worst part was not being able to get done what I knew needed done at home. I hated it! Ugh.

Yesterday I had my cast taken off. It was an interesting experience. Not painful, just interesting. We brought Owen with us cause my appointment was right around the time he would need to he picked up. He was pretty excited he was gonna get to get out of school early but the other kids weren't lol.

They took more xrays to make sure I was healed. They had me stand on this box in front of the machine and it scared the crap out of me. I had to put weight on it, which didn't hurt it just scared me after not being able to put any weight on it since March (the beginning of March). Everything looked good the though! The doctor said that you can't even tell where it was broken! Woohoo!

May 4, 2015

{TMI #YoutubeTag | 50 Questions About Me}

I love answering survey questions. I don't know why. I just always have. So here is one of them! You should fill it out and let me know you did so I can read your answers!

1. What are you wearing?
A ninja turtle t-shirt and underwear. It's 5:30am people. I'm still sitting in bed lol.

2. Ever been in love? I got married three years ago..so I'm gonna go with yes to this one.

3. Ever had a terrible break up? Terribly heart breaking, only when my husband (then boyfriend) and I broke up. That nearly killed me. But before that no. There have been drama filled break ups. But nothing more than that really.

4. How tall are you? 5'7"

5. How do you weigh? Last time I weighed in I was 196 :)

May 1, 2015

April 28, 2015

{Full House is Coming Back?!}

As a child brought up in the 90's Full House was one of my favorite shows! I didn't relate to any of them for the most part, but I enjoyed watching the show. Michelle and Stephanie's one liners were hilarious to me. In fact, I often caught myself saying How rude! and You got it dude! and who can forget my favorite, Well pin a rose on your nose. There hasn't been a lot of shows I would like seen brought back, but this is certainly one of them.

April 24, 2015

{It's the Land of No More Sleep}

Also known as I have insomnia but it's brought on by the fact that I have a huge pink cast on my leg. Blah.

I haven't been sleeping hardly at all these days, not at night anyway. I used to get up when D got back from dropping off Owen so that he could have the bed. More lately, I'd say probably the last couple weeks, I've been staying up all night and sleeping until my alarm goes off to tell me someone needs to get the kid. It's very depressing to be honest.

April 19, 2015

{ #weightwatchers Update}

Since I broke my ankle I have not been weighing in. I just kept telling myself there was no point since it would be off anyway. There's no way I would like the number on a scale having 2-3 extra lb on my leg. So my weight tracker got lonely. And my weight watchers app reminded me of this pretty much daily. I just didn't feel comfortable weighing in though.

I have been tracking my points though. I put everything in even if it means I'm screwed lol. I've been doing really good. I ask for oranges and plums mainly for snacks and try to stick to low point meals for dinner and lunch. I don't really eat breakfast these days. D has been good about making sure I don't snack too much on the wrong things. He keeps plenty of fruit in the house for me.

April 17, 2015

{And That's How We Got Engaged}

I was just sitting here at 12:30am watching reruns of Sex and the City on demand (thank you D for the new laptop, my old one would have blown up by now with as much TV as I watch on this thing), the episode where Aiden proposed to Carrie. I couldn't help but think back to the time when we got engaged.

Some of you know the story of how we ended up getting married. If you don't I'll sum it up for you. He bought me a wedding set (my beautiful engagement ring!) and so I just changed my facebook relationship status to engaged lol. He kept getting asked about it so he finally came home and said you might as well start planning a wedding since everyone keeps congratulating me. Bahahaha! What a way to get engaged right?

April 14, 2015

{ #AprilIpsyBag Unboxing!}

I'm back with another ipsy bag unboxing! I know I skipped last month. Don't hate me :). I'm back with this month though and this is a good one to get back in it!


This months bag is pretty cute. Something I'll most likely find a use for and shove it in my purse to organize some more. Lord knows a girl can never have too much organization in her purse. Especially a mom. Maybe I'll have somewhere to stick a snack. It can be my stash bag! lol

April 11, 2015

{Adventures in Broken Ankleville}

Can we just take a minute to talk about the weather we've been having lately? I've got the windows open and the back door too. I'm of course also sitting here with a blanket over me lol. But damn if it's not nice having the windows open and getting a little fresh air in here today. Especially with all the storms we've had the last couple days. Tornadoes actually touched down up by Chicago (three hours away) and completely devastated an entire town :(. It's so sad to see the pictures of the aftermath. Brings me back to what happened here a few years ago and of course the tornado that touched down just a block from us that same year.

So prayers are definitely in order for the residents of the affected towns. I really hope they can all get the help they need to rebuild and make it through this tough time.



April 6, 2015

{6 Things I Love About a SAHM}

I know I tend to complain a lot about my world. It gets frustrating sometimes, I think any parent working or stay at home can relate to that right? If it's not one thing it's another is what my grandma always says. But there are some good things about it too. And on days that I'm finding it really hard not to pack a bag and high tail it out of here, I need a post like this to remember why I chose to do this to myself ;).
Feel free to comment with things I've over looked that you love about being a SAHM or a WAHM or a mom that has a job outside the home :)

April 2, 2015

{That Time I Went Crazy on Bed Rest}

Yeah. That's happening right now.

I literally fell asleep in the 15min D was gone getting us lunch (me a salad from Wally World and him a burger from Hardees). Like I was out. I'm a napper. I love to nap. What mom doesn't? But this is getting a little out of hand. The problem is that there's nothing stopping me from napping.

Today I woke up at 7am and stayed awake until almost noon. But I didn't do anything. Thank God for my phone.

March 29, 2015

March 27, 2015

{Surgery Update!}

Thought I'd go ahead and attempt to get all this down before I forget everything completely and have to rely on D to give me the facts lol. The whole operation took about 30min I guess. It wasn't as horrible as I expected, though I don't ever want to go through it again. I may never set foot up those stairs again. Ugh.

March 25, 2015

{Surgery Date & Feeling Like a Burden}

Went to the appointment with my surgeon today. They took off that awful splint the ER put on my leg and gave me a new one. Which I did not want lol. I wanted them to be like "You're going for surgery today." But no. At least this one doesn't go half way up my thigh. Like what is the point of that? *Sigh* The new one is just under my knee. And let me tell you, when the girl doing the new splint asked me to bend my knee, it hurt almost as bad as putting pressure on my friggin' ankle. It was so stiff. Not fun. She put a bunch of cotton around my leg also to help cushion the ankle. The ER nurse had gotten frustrated and didn't use anything but the thing that gets hard, and ace bandages. Yeah. So there was literally nothing there protecting my ankle. It was just sort of hanging out there.


March 23, 2015

{ #YouTubeTag Questions No One Asks}

I googled youtube tag questions and this one popped up. But after reading some of the questions..I've answered them before lol. But this is a different tag so I shall answer them again! Feel free to copy and paste them into your blog and answer them too! Don't forget to come back and tell me you did so I can read your answers. :)


1. Do you go by a nickname? I have had several in the last 32yrs. Most people call me Kris, my aunt calls me Kris Michelle, a couple of my uncles call me TinTin (or Tin), and D calls me babe or honey bunny.

2. When driving, do you listen to CD’s, tapes, the radio or nothing? I usually just listen to the radio. Sometimes I'll put in a CD though. I was plugging my phone in to the tape player but the damn tape thing broke! Pfft.

March 20, 2015

{Life On Crutches}



Oh ladies ladies ladies (and possibly some guys). I feel like I'm being held captive in my own home at this point. It has been a long time since I couldn't just power through something to get stuff done around here. In fact, the last time was when I had that kidney infection. I am not one of those people that likes to have people do everything for me. I like to be able to do for myself for the most part. Especially when it comes to doing things that part of the stay at home mom job description.

March 18, 2015

{An IEP Meeting & an ER Visit}

I am so tore up today people. It's just not even funny. As if having all the kids taking turns being sick, along with D, wasn't bad enough now this happens. Ugh. When will I learn that all this crap comes in threes and I should be more careful after telling people that I don't get sick. Smart Kristin. Real smart. Naturally some crazy stuff is gonna happen to you after saying something like that.

March 17, 2015

{ #weightwatchers Weigh In Week 9}

Oh man. I'm up again people. Up. As in I gained. I gained 3lb. Which baffles me a little bit. I mean I knew I was off track quite a bit but I didn't think I was that of track. Apparently I was though or I'd be down.

I also decided to switch up my weigh in days. I'm noticing that weighing in on Friday is giving me license to do as I please points wise on Saturday and Sunday and that's not good. I should try to stay in my daily's all week, including the weekends. But I haven't been. I've been letting myself get by with slipping a little here and there. No more though. Maybe if I have to weigh in after the weekend I'll keep better track of what's happening on my plate through them.

March 15, 2015

{An Upswing Please Let it Last!}

I hope I'm not jinxing myself by telling you all this but Dawn has recently been behaving more normal than I have ever seen her. I'm not sure if its that she has finally learned that when you're not constantly getting in trouble you're allowed to do things you want to or that she got the message when I told her she was having no privileges until she stopped behaving like a spoiled brat. Whatever happened it worked. So far. I'm not getting my hopes up that she will continue thus behavior. But now that I know its possible I know she can make it last longer than just a couple days to get ungrounded. I'll be holding her up to this expectation from now on.

March 9, 2015

{4 Books You Should Pick Up!}

If you know me at all you know that I'm a huge bookworm. From the time I learned to read, you could always catch me with a book in my hands. I was even one of those girls that would be sitting there reading while out to dinner with my grandparents. Yep. That was long before we kids had IPhones and tablets on them at all times. And I've come across some books over the last few years that I recommend to people all the time. So I thought I'd just put up a little list of a few of my favorites and maybe you'll find something you like too!

March 6, 2015

March 5, 2015

{I Want a Love Like Dan and Roseanne}



Do you ever watch a show and think this is so us when watching the characters on screen relationship? This happened to D and I the other day while watching old episodes of Roseanne, episodes I have seen a million times by the way. When all the sudden he says I think we took our relationship cues from Dan and Roseanne. And as I sat there and watched how the character interacted with each other, I saw it too.

March 1, 2015

{Replacing Old Habits}

I saw on Instagram today that someone had started the year by giving up one thing every month. I decided to try this out. But instead of just giving up the item, I am going to replace it with a good habit.

So for March I am going to attempt to cut out soda and replace it with water. I am getting tired of soda anyway to be honest. But I get headaches if I don't have it. I also get cranky. Which tells me I depend on it way too much. I am going to try my hardest to drink a 52oz jug of water every day.

I see a lot of trips to the bathroom in my future.

I know that giving up soda won't help my weight loss too much. I've given it up in the past and lost little to nothing. But I did have more energy and wanted to kill someone a little less. We shall see what happens this time around.

Is anyone else trying this? Giving up a bad habit and replacing it to a new one.

Also, I gained this week for my weigh in. I know what the problem is. I'm correcting it.

February 27, 2015

{Sister Time}

I cherish the times I get to spend with my little sister. Mainly because we are both moms and have lives and don't get much time to get together. So when we can make that time, its good :).
Today we went to the mall, Target, Ulta, and Farm & Fleet. The usual stops.

We met at Ross and walked around there. Purchased nothing because I couldn't find a wallet :(. I need a new one. OK. Need is not the correct word. I want another one, because I have an addiction to bags and wallets lol. I picked up a cute pink and white Steve Madden one (love SM!) but put it down and didn't buy it. I don't like to commit to things I'm not positive I love.

Our next stop was to the mall. We of course got their early. Story of my life. Of course it was also -1* out today (so sick of winter by the way!). We walked around the mall for about half an hour before the shops opened and then we were off!