5 on Friday

Well, it's finally Friday and in mom world it doesn't mean much, but it does mean that my poor hard working husband has some time off; a full weekend, in fact! He has been working 90 hour work weeks lately and it has been brutal on all of us. I am going to keep this post short and sweet with a fun little link up I found today. So, here's five randoms coming at ya!


1.) I am way too excited about the new Seahawks scarf I am getting today. It is, after all, blue friday! And in this house we take that seriously. ;) We are die hard Seahawks fans..... no kidding, even the littles.

2.) I just blew through my new book for book club in two days! It isn't a book I would ordinarily gravitate toward but I could not put it down. It was a tear jerker, though. If you are looking for a good book I recommend Sarah's Key.  I also just read Wild by Cheryl Strayed and that was really good too!

3.) I am down 13 pounds in the last 50 days! I have recommitted to working out and being healthy. This is not a diet for me, this is about being healthy and making better choices and setting a good example for my kids. Simply by being more active and more aware of what and how much I am consuming I have lost this weight. My goal is three more pounds by Thanksgiving and then another five by Christmas. It is a little slow going, but I know it is better this way.

4.) Can we talk Grey's Anatomy for a minute? While I love this show and always have, I am a bit frustrated with the story lines this season. Not so much with what is happening, but how there never seems to be a resolution with them. It's just on to some other big drama from week to week without resolving some of the other plot lines.... don't leave a girl hanging and can't we get a little more screen time for Jackson Avery?! I mean, come on, he sure is fun to drool over, I mean look, at!

5.) I am almost done with Christmas shopping already. Yes, you read that right. I usually procrastinate till the last few weeks but I wanted to really enjoy the season and take some pressure off. So, after next week we should be all finished up. ;)

Our Summer Catch Up

Now, that we are firmly in the midst of Fall, heading toward Winter, I felt it was time to (finally) catch up on our Summer.

Aside from our trip to Vegas there was so much fun going on this Summer. I feel like it was non stop.

*be prepared for LOTS of photos

There were LOTS of park trips

DIY chalkboard from an old door

One family hike

Hot cocoa and firepits and roasted marshmallows

Our first trip to the state fair and yes, that is Kendra all.by.herself. She insisted. What a surprise. I was freaking out a little

A trip to a specialty cupcake shop! So many choices.

Beach trips to search for crabs

Bubbles and food coloring in the water table

This little sassafrass turned 3!

Special pony rides

GIANT waterslides

Reunions with best friends and kiddos

blackberry picking to be made into cobbler (by the hubby)

A trip to the zoo!

Outdoor concerts

More pony rides

face painting

petting zoo

Lots of fresh veggies in our garden

swim lessons

Ten year high school reunion

Brandon's first 5k with the kiddos

Carnival came to town

DIY chalkboard table. We are obsessed with chalkboards around here. ;)

More smores!

We had such a full summer and were very blessed with lots of amazing weather. It's hard to believe that it came and was gone in the blink of an eye.

TGIF.....Just kidding

I slept in this morning, my kids were well behaved and we had plans to hit up a once a year consignment sale. The makings of a good day, or so I thought.

I call it the calm before the storm. Th s**t storm, that is. Figuratively and literally, unfortunately.

There are no Fridays in motherhood. In fact, hubby just went on shift so I am flying solo. So, of course this would be the opportune time for things to go awry. Right?!

I had just gotten out of the shower and was drying my hair when Jax came running in saying he needed to potty. (warning; TMI ahead!)  I left him to be and he called for help right away. He hadn't quite made it on the toilet.  In fact, he made it everywhere but the toilet and then he tried to clean it, bless his heart. That only made it worse, though. So, he was covered and the floor and the wall and the bath mat and his clothes. You get the picture. I stripped him down and put him in the shower and attempted to scrub everything up. I ran out of disinfectant wipes and resorted to spray and toilet paper. In the meantime Jax was crying that the shower was getting cold. Yes, it was. So, I hurried and cleaned up and jumped in the shower(again) with him and by this time the shower turned icy cold. Ugh...we never run out of hot water and today we did. So, we scrubbed off quickly and hopped out.

It was then I realized that all the towels were down in the dryer all the way in the basement. So, I grabbed a comforter and made do. After we were dressed I knew I needed a coffee (or four) stat! Well, no luck for me. We were out! So, I did what anyone would do. Loaded the kids up and ran through the coffee stand to order a triple americano, in my sweats, with wet hair and no make up. Yup, I am that mom today.  Toys on the floor, laundry piled high and top ramen for lunch.

Here is hoping tomorrow is better! Happy Friday!

Bits and Pieces

I feel like it has been forever. I haven't been so good at keeping this blog up to date and as a result I feel like I have been missing out on your lives. I am happy to say that I am finally pretty much caught up on my blog reading (until tomorrow, of course) and it has made me realize that I have missed blogging so much. It is a nice little escape from the monotony that the day to day routines can become. Lately, by the end of the day I am so exhausted that all I want to do is curl up on the couch with a glass of cider or wine and catch up on my shows (and boy, there are a lot of them!). Honestly, I have so much I want to blog about that it overwhelms me. I need to finish my Vegas posts and recap our summer, not to mention Kendra's third birthday, and that was all months ago! Time sure is flying.

So, bare with me as I transition back into blogging and try to get caught up.

Here is just some random pieces about some of our day to day happenings around here, as of late.

Hubby has been working crazy insane hours and I feel like a single parent to three, yes, I said three kids lately! No, I didn't have another, but I have started watching a 2 year old boy four afternoons a week. Call me crazy, but having a 2, 3 and 4 year old running around hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. Yes, some days are hard, but for the most part it is working out really well! Kids are loving having a playmate and it's nice to make some much needed extra money and still be at home where I want to be with my kiddos.


Jax is in his second month of his second year of preschool and he is loving it! I can't believe that this time next year he will be in full day kindergarten five days a week! My momma heart can't handle that.

Bless his little heart, he said he wants to be a stay at home dad when he grows up! He said he wants to cook and clean. I told him he has plenty of opportunities to practice that now. :)

Kendra is her normal sassy independent self. I will say, though, that she gives me a run for my money. Plus, she is going through this wonderful non sleeping phase. She wakes up at least three times a night crying and wanting in to bed with me! She was always such an amazing sleeper and I don't know what happened. I can tell you that I am ready for this phase to be over. I feel like I haven't had a good night of sleep in months! Speaking of which, I think that is one of the reasons I got a migraine Wednesday and was down for the count. :( Lack of sleep and too much stress is  not a good combo.

On a plus side, I have lost ten pounds in the last thirty days! I know, I can hardly believe it! I decided it was time to get more serious and I have been very conscious about what and how much I am eating. I  am making every effort to work out at least five days a week too. I feel great and am very excited about all the progress so far. Can't wait to see more changes in the next few months. If you are on myfitness pal, find me! My username is Ashdiane1224.


And....speaking of changes. I do have some changes coming this way when it comes to the blog. I need a new design (desperately) and I am pondering the idea of a name change.

Kids and I at one of the MANY pumpkin patches we have already visited. 

No Words....

Lately, I feel as though I have no words. Okay, well, I have words, but seem to have lost the ability to put pen to paper. Or in this instance, keys to keyboard.  I don't know what it is. Maybe it's that I have SO many ideas that I have a hard time focusing in on one idea that I get overwhelmed  and instead choose to write or do nothing.

So, in an effort to get back into the swing of things and being more consistent with blogging, I am just going to start writing and whatever comes, comes.


Life has been good and full lately, but not without challenges. There have been challenges lately and some all time low moments, but still we persevere, because what else would we do?

On that note, I will leave you with some adorable pictures from a recent mini photoshoot the kiddos had done. My good friend and super talented photographer Laura took these pictures. You may know her from blogging over at Bits of Sweetness. 

I have many more where these came from, but beings that it literally took me days to get these to download I will save them for another time.

I hope to get back into blogging more regularly, again, but who knows, I seem to say that all the time! So, I hope all is well with you. I will be spending quite a bit of time hopping around to your blogs now.

Sometimes I throw tantrums.........

I interrupt your normally scheduled posts (who am I kidding? I don't have any scheduled posts) to bring you this; Sometimes I throw tantrums. Like full on little kid tantrums. Not proud of it, but hey, at least I own it.

You know, I try to be a good example for my kids and not let them see my anger get the best of me but we all know that there are days when we just can't handle it. Most of the time I try to excuse myself and take a "mommy time out" but sometimes it gets the better of me and I erupt.

There has been known to be crying, maybe some foot stomping, definitely slammed doors and once or twice rolling around on the ground (okay, I kid). Seriously, though, I would love to be calm, cool and collected all the time and the perfect example, but I can't. That is not realistic. I am a yeller. I do not like that about myself and I am working on it, but I am not there yet and honestly, who knows if I ever will be. I hate that my reaction is to yell and I hate that I feel like that is the only way I am getting people to listen to me. I sometimes feel like the invisible women until I yell to get attention.

With that said, I can not expect,nor do I, for my kiddos to be perfect little specimens. They are four and three and boy can they have a tantrum or two. I blame part of that on myself and part of it as normal behavior. What's important here is to always make sure I apoloqize after a tantrum and explain that there are better ways to handle my feelings and to try harder. Plain and simple. If they can see me own it and make and effort then maybe, just maybe, they will too.

But....sometimes everybody just has to throw a tantrum!

Viva Las Vegas (part 3)

Our first morning in Vegas was spent sleeping in, not only because we could, but because the lady next door was coughing/vomiting so hard that I could hear her through the walls ALL.NIGHT.LONG. Seriously guys, it was ridiculous!

Anyways, I sent Brandon down to Starbucks (which, sidenote here: everything is so much more expensive! Two mochas and two pastries were close to $25.00 dollars. So much for a cheap breakfast).

While Brandon was down getting breakfast my phone rang. I checked caller ID and it was my dad. Normally he doesn't call so early and never when I am on vacation. He just doesn't. So I had a bad feeling. Unfortunately after talking to my dad my bad feeling was confirmed. My grandfather had fallen from the top of a ladder when it gave way.  He was up at their property on the river and was alone. He laid there for hours before anyone found him. He was transported two hours away to a trauma hospital and was listed in critical condition.

At this point I started bawling, not knowing what to think. My dad reassured me that although he was listed as critical due to the extent of his injuries, none of them were life threatening. I could breathe a bit easier. I asked for him to call me with an update as soon as he had one and when my grandpa woke up.

Brandon came back to the room all excited to head to the pool and found me crying in bed. I knew my grandpa would be okay, but knew he probably wouldn't be the same and it wouldn't be okay for awhile. I was feeling so bad knowing he had just laid their alone in pain.

After I calmed down some we headed to the pool and soaked up the sun pretty much all day. I kept the phone at my side at all times and by mid afternoon I had an update. My grandpa had awoke and was in a lot of pain, but the morphine was helping some. The doctor had come in and said that he had a broken pelvis, cracked ribs and cracked hips, but miraculously did not need any sort of surgery. They said he was in great shape for a man his age and that would aid in his recovery.


After spending about a week there he finally made it back up here closer to home to a rehab facility. I wish I could say that he is so much better, but he isn't. He IS improving, but it is going to be a long, hard and painful recovery and he may never regain the same movement he had before. 

Needless to say, I wasn't feeling up to any crazy shenanigans and we didn't leave the pool until that evening to attend another show and that in of itself is a whole other post.

Viva Las Vegas (part 2)

After I switched off my phone the hubby and I caught a taxi to our hotel and were hoping we could check in early. We were very early and figured at the very least we could drop off our luggage and go in search of food. We had been up for 7 hours already at that point and all the stress of the morning was catching up to me.

The hotel was nice enough to check us in early and after dropping of our luggage we set out on foot to find the Hash House A Go Go. I had heard excellent things about this place from lots of people. It was quite a long walk and by the time we found it I was famished. The line was huge and they said it would be a 30 minute wait. Somehow,we got called back only about 15 minutes later. Let me tell you, this food did not disappoint! Definitely worth the walk and the wait.

This was Brandon's chicken and waffles. Don't ask. It doesn't sound appealing to me, but he said it was good.

This was an eggs benedict with a creamy red pepper sauce. The biscuits were made from scratch and the ingredients were so fresh they tasted like they were from the garden.

After breakfast we wandered around a bit waiting for the clouds to clear. It was quite overcast and we were hoping the sun would make an appearance. By two in afternoon I was tired of waiting and headed for the pool anyways. It was warm enough at this point, and we settled in our lounge chairs with a couple drinks and just relaxed. We spent most of the rest of the day at the pool and after changing we figured we would look for somewhere to eat before our show at 9:30. We found a restaurant called Twin Peaks that had an amazing view of the strip.

 

After a dinner of grilled chicken tacos and sliders we wandered around the strip some more and made our way to the MGM eventually, where we had tickets for the Beattle's Love show by cirque de Solei. I had been so excited for this because I had never seen a cirque show and heard how good they were. At this point, though we had been awake for so long and I was so exhausted. The show was so good but, I was so tired that I ended up nodding off. :( We ended up leaving a few minutes early and we crashed by 11:30. So much for a crazy first night in Vegas. ;)

Viva Las Vegas!

Now I have that song stuck in my head and I bet you do too now!

Well, last Sunday the hubby and I took off for a quick trip to Vegas. It was much needed and so fun. We flew out early on our anniversary and made it to Vegas by 9:15 am. Now, I am not a flyer and it took a lot of coaxing to get me on that plane. I knew I would have fun and knew I wanted to go, but I cried a lot. The older I have gotten the worse my fear of flying has gotten. I took a couple of children's benadryl and luckily that helped make me pretty drowsy. I *thought* about having a bloody mary on the plane, but since it was only 7 am I figured it might not be socially acceptable.

Luckily, it was a good smooth flight and an easy landing.  Upon landing and turning on my phone I did a quick check of facebook (yes, I am a social media addict) and something in my feed stopped my heart and made my stomach churn all at the same time.

There were all these posts about a 4 year old being shot and killed on our street. A 4 year old, Jaxson's age, and on our quiet little street. Our street where my babies were still supposed to be peacefully sleeping. And....the suspect was still at large; armed and dangerous. I frantically started calling my mom and step dad and got no answer. So, I sat there and continued to call over and over until someone answered. Of course my kiddos were okay, and in fact my parents had taken them to their house and were headed out of town, which meant I could breathe easier.

I then learned of who the little boy was. I didn't know this family personally but I walked by their house everyday and saw the little boy play. My heart is broken for them. The circumstances surrounding his death are still a little hazy. It was reported that it was an accidental self inflicted gun shot wound, then it was reported a homicide by the father, who fled the scene. Then, it was once again reported to be an accident and the man did eventually turn himself in.

So, after this unsettling news Brandon told me to turn my phone off and just put it away so we could enjoy ourselves. I think I will stop right here because this post is already lengthy enough as it is. We can pick up tomorrow where we left off. :)

Currently; The Jaxson Edition

Currently (Jaxson edition):


Loving: Swimming lessons. I am so happy we decided to do swimming lessons this summer. We got a great deal for starters and more importantly I have already seen such a change in the kids around the water. I hope this is something we can continue.

Eating: Anything and everything. This boy is going through a growth spurt again! He is actually starting to pass his friends in height. He has always been a little short, but now he is getting some length but he is so skinny still.

Reading: Okay, well HE isn't reading yet but we are signed up for a summer reading program through our library, and although he loves reading already, the extra incentive of crossing off minutes as he reads is great!

Looking forward to: Preschool. He talks about his class and teachers all the time. He already has planned out what he wants to bring for show and tell. He doesn't start up again until September.

Not looking forward to: Kindergarten. Only because he knows he needs more immunizations before he can go. :)

Wanting: To go to the zoo. The day we were going to go it rained so we had to postpone. That was two months ago and we still haven't made it yet.