Life Lately

It’s been a little busy around here and I haven’t had much time to even think about a blog post, but I wanted to do a life lately post.

First, let me start by saying that if I didn’t do anything else besides take care of my kids, it’s still super crazy because it’s basketball season, which means I’m parenting/housekeeping solo 5 days/nights a week.  When he’s home that one day during the work week (he has Sundays off), I realize how much easier it is to have that extra help in the evening.  I feel like it’s a day off!  Even though it is really tough, it makes me a really strong mom…I used to go to bed feeling defeated most days, but I’ve shifted my mindset to realize everything I DID do, and did by myself.

On the flip side though, I have to give a big shout out to my husband who really works SO hard for our family so I can take care of the kiddos each day.  He makes sure we can live comfortably, while still saving for college and our retirement!  I’m really thankful for him and I don’t give him enough credit.  He’s so great that when he got home last night at 1:00am, he worked on our toilet that had a leak (and fixed it)…AND then proceeded to put away all the dishes in the dishwasher before he went to bed (my most dreaded task).  This is coming from someone who needs a good amount of sleep each night and had to wake up at 6:45 to go tutor 9th graders!  Love him!

Lately I’ve been working on our bathrooms like I mentioned in my Goals post.  This is the BEFORE and it’s almost finished.  I really love how it turned out.  I’ll share this as soon as I take pictures of the updated one.  This is our guest/boys bathroom.  I actually didn’t mind the decor, but just wanted a change and no more yellow 🙂  So this has really been keeping me busy.
Side Note: If you have an unframed mirror (like below), adding a strand of decorative beads (can find at craft stores or Garden Ridge) is a great way to “frame” it.

Laundry!  I swear I can’t keep up.  I feel like laundry in the winter is so much harder because the clothes are so much bigger forcing you to wash more frequently.  I have this weird/bad feeling our washer and/or dryer is going to go out soon.  They both work fine, but we’ve had them for 9 years and are pretty hard on them (wash a lot).  Let’s hope not, because we incurred an unexpected and EXPENSIVE “fix” last week.

Our water heater broke!  Did you know that when your water heater breaks it leaks out tons of water (see picture)?  I’m learning so much as a home owner.  Luckily, our water heater is in the garage and primarily leaked water all in there and on the side of our house.  Unfortunately, it somehow leaked into our master bedroom (which is connected to garage) and soaked the corner part of the room.  We’re still in the process of drying it out.  Ryan, among teaching and reffing all day, had to manage to find someone to come replace the water heater ASAP.  Not good when it breaks in the winter (the kids got a spit bath that night) and I smelled for a day. 🙂  On top of the inconvenience of replacing it, it cost $1200!  And this is why it’s important to have an emergency fund.  We actually managed to pay for it with extra reffing money Ryan had stashed away, so we didn’t have to dip into that.

I’ve also been doing a lot of this…that’s right, lot’s of eggs and meats.  Which means a lot of cooking and avoiding fast food.  I’ve lowered my carbs significantly in order to shed some excess fat (since your body burns carbs first then fat) and it’s been working great.  I’ve lost 8 pounds this week, which is nice, but also terrifying how badly I was eating.  I still have a long ways to go to my goal, but I’m motivated.  Ryan has been doing this with me, even though he really doesn’t need to lose all that much.  He’s SOLELY doing it as support!  Again, how great is he?  I told him to eat whatever he wanted while he’s gone and just eat low carbs WITH me, but he says he’s “all in.” 🙂  And of course, he’s lost 10 pounds or so (he’s also running every night with reffing).

We’ve also been taking a lot of walks to the park.  Beckham led me to a new park…yes, I followed my 4 year old to a park I hadn’t been to (he’s been with Ryan) and it’s about a mile away, so it’s been good exercise (and a good time filler).  Maddox didn’t feel good last week, so this was him cuddled up with me while B played and tried to race the elementary kids on his bike.  B never was a cuddler, so I’m eating up all the cuddles Maddox gives me.  I want to note (since I go back and read these types of posts) that B is such a cool kid…maybe it’s just the age and I’m experiencing a more “conversational” relationship with him, but he’s just “with it” and extremely independent.  This week, I also realized that I was meant to be a boy mom.  I was around a few little girls this week and, although awesome in their own ways, I am much more in my element with boys.  Maybe it’s because it’s all I know, but I sure do love having boys.  I’m praying for more good weather, so we can keep going outside (it’s my saving grace during this season).

Another saving grace is bath time!  Once it’s 7:00, we hit the bath tub, get our pj’s on, and play/read in B’s room until bed time!  Our night time routine is down pat!

And then I get to watch some TV.  I’m not much of a TV person when I know I have tons to do, but when I’m solo, I don’t feel as guilty taking an hour or two to catch up on shows.  Last night was The Bachelor and I was cringing watching these chicks “play” soccer.  Regardless, my guilty pleasure hit the spot last night.  I also watched the Biggest Loser, which pretty much sealed the deal of my unproductive night.  Therefore, I have lots of cleaning and catching up to do today.

Like I mentioned above, we haven’t been eating out, but we decided to go to Mooyah on Sunday evening so we could have turkey burgers wrapper in lettuce (ugh, I wanted the bun)!  They have a huge chalkboard there and I proudly watched Beckham write his  name on the board.  Suddenly, he’s been writing his letters and I really haven’t guided him much.  One thing I’ve learned in parenting is kids do better when they’re ready.  Two examples of me trying to force B to do something before he was ready were potty training and writing.  Both times I tried to “teach” him to do these things before he was ready were terrible!  I let them go and he ended up doing both!  Not that I won’t encourage him or challenge him, but I won’t stress (a lot :)) if he doesn’t do it right then.

Well, that’s what we’ve been up to lately.  January has seemed like such a long month when I look back on pictures, but also, I can’t believe it’s already the 19th.  I’ve got a mom’s night out tonight (thanks to my mom watching the boys) and I’m excited to relax a bit!