I signed the kids up for a week-long class at the rec center where all they did was messy projects!! Perfect, since I hate messy crafts!! They’ve done finger painting, rock painting, shaving cream slides… And today was something with paint as you can see. Tomorrow is slime and Katie is super excited!!
So Fun Mom™ made an appearance today at the water park: I went down the water slides with both my kids and got totally dunked each time! They thought it was the best thing ever—the whole way down on the double tube with Owen he was giggling like crazy, and upon retelling the story to Tom that night you could see him reliving the moments with a huge smile on his face.
And you know what? I had fun, too. I mean, who doesn’t want to feel like a kid again as your tube races down the slide (much faster than you remember as a child!) and you careen around the corners (OMG we’re coming way closer to the edge than I remember!) and and not one single thought of work or adulthood or chores enter your mind for those 17 seconds it takes to reach the bottom.
It’s amazing what can happen when you stop caring about what you look like or what the water will do to your hair or how you don’t want to get wet…and just think about making memories with your kids.
And here’s proof!! A friend caught us getting out of the pool!!
It’s going to be a looooong day.
Look at that face!
And then this.
So proud of this girl!! I don’t even want to go down that slide!
I love laughing and having fun and doing crazy things (have you ever flown across the country to meet a bunch of internet strangers?). Right?!
And then I started reading this book: HAVE MORE FUN
It’s like I was meant to read this book. 😂
And now I know things need to change. If my life ended tomorrow would I regret the 300 unread emails? The clothes still in the dryer? The boxes still packed from our last move? Hell no. I’d regret not playing in the rain with my kids, not taking that cruise with the family, and not spending as much time with friends as we can before we move again.
Don’t get me wrong, the kids are still going to have to do their reading and workbook pages, but I’m going to make a concerted effort for us all to have more fun.
I love the pool but this is my idea of hell because I might be able to grab one of the very last seats in the shade. If I’m lucky. But on the positive side, I’ll have the alone time I need because the kids will be off playing.
It’s honestly normally not this bad mid-week but since this summer has been cold and rainy thus far, everyone is crazy to get out of the house! So I think every day that’s nice is going to be like this for awhile. Today’s crowds were like holiday weekends!!
Another day, another sore back. 🤦🏻♀️ Getting old sucks, amirite?!
Today, though, I had a helper while I did my stretches. Unfortunately she doesn’t do much except purr, look cute, and drool all over me.
8:15
8:45
I guess it’s a good summer?!
We wanted to have a party but inviting the whole team seemed overwhelming so we just invited the coaches and team mom. And it was awesome! Everyone was able to come (minus one kid who had a sleepover already planned) and we all had a great time! The party didn’t break up until midnight!!
It’s not a margarita and I’m surviving! Go me!!
Tom making the other guys want a smoker and a flame thrower. Mark was even Instagramming it!! 😂
And of course, fireworks.
This might have happened late in the evening.
The day was gorgeous, Katie was cute as a button, and I had my real camera, so we’ll start with a few pics of her.
Some of the coaches!
The best place to try and get pics (since I can’t be on the field) is beyond the first base in the outfield. Telephoto to the rescue! I love in the first pic you can seem him looking at Tom!
Pitching!
Getting a pep talk from Coach Dad!
Warming up for the next inning. I finally just went and stood in the dugout to get a few closeup pics.
This is what Katie does for most of the game!
Batter up! (He got walked.)
We won! Now we are off to the first round of championships!!
😂 After all her antics today, it was just fine that she decided to sit there. I actually told her she could come closer to me but she didn’t want to.
Not only were the kids completely and utterly annoying in many different ways, things didn’t go my way when I was out running errands.
I know these are all first world problems, but after the kids have been poking and poking and poking all day…the little things become big things.
If this were any other day in any other week I would be about three margaritas in right now. But I’m not. I’m holding fast.
This is only part of what the kitchen looks like when making a triple batch of an amazing bourbon BBQ sauce. I despise bourbon but you can’t even taste it. We’ve already been through a double batch so figured might as well go bigger.
I leisurely woke up and watched a Facebook live mindset that left me feeling happy and relaxed and ready to start the day. I went downstairs to see the kids, and…everything went to shit.
I will leave out all the gory details because this would be a novel otherwise, but suffice it to say no one did anything they were supposed to do, both have unbelievable attitudes, both get on each other’s nerves over the simplest thing, and I have a 10yo who overreacts to EVERYTHING (without warning) and 7yo who likes to argue EVERYTHING and swears she’s not rolling her eyes when she totally is.
And I can’t have a margarita.
SUMMER VACATION, YAY?! TELL ME I AM NOT ALONE.
Most of you know I lost a lot of weight a few years ago. And it was mostly easy–141 pounds in 1.5 years eating whatever I wanted with just walking as my exercise? Sign me up! And I swore I’d never let myself get that heavy again. But friends, maintenance is a slippery slope and a few pounds here and there add up. No, I am not back to my original weight, but I have gained back an embarrassing amount. 🤦♀️
I have tried to restart a handful of times now–and have lost like 10# each time–but I always went back to my bad habits pretty quickly. I mean, MARGARITAS, y’all…and all. the. food. all. the. time. And I mean ALL the food.
But, shit got serious when my pants went past just being tight and actually stopped fitting. Like can’t even get them on to zip them. Since I had followed Naturally Slim rules, I had gotten rid of all my bigger sizes so I wouldn’t be tempted to let myself get back to that size…so it was yoga pants, leggings, and maxi skirts for me! But then I remembered that I had actually kept like 3 pair of jeans in one size up…so those are now in my closet.
BUT NOT FOR LONG!
Tom and I have BOTH restarted Naturally Slim again. We are on Day 5 and I am currently down 10.2 pounds! (Man oh man do I love the first week back on the plan!) And I have walked every morning (with the kids!) this week.
So, I did it once…I can do it again. I simply have to. I have too many damn cute clothes in my closet that I want to wear again!! 😜
Yet I am wearing my WINTER COAT and GLOVES at a baseball game tonight because it’s cold and rainy. Ugh.
We bought a cheap Ladder Ball set and it falls apart really easily so the kids have taken to using the parts and pieces for their own games.
So if you know anything about me, you know I’m super lazy when it comes to most everything. I mean, you know how much I love my egg chair, right? And I might enjoy making my kids run and get things for me so I don’t have to go upstairs. And a sloth would be my spirit animal. 😂
So for a long time, that kept me from doing any type of skincare. I hated that every night Tom would just get into bed and I had this whole ROUTINE I had to do (take out contacts, take off makeup—okay I guess that doesn’t sound like much but when hubby is in bed in a minute and you’re not, it’s annoying).
But then I turned 40 and realized I really should be taking care of my skin. So I started with baby steps. And over the past few years I’ve added a product here and there and I finally timed myself just to see how long it all took.
😳😳 The results are something even a lazy ass like me can accept:
☀️⏲ MORNING: 1 minute 30 seconds
🌙⏲ EVENING: 3 minutes 10 seconds
In all honesty, that is just skincare and not contact and makeup removal—but that would only add another two minutes at night. So it was actually MUCH less time than I thought it was.
I’m good with that.
When you wake up with a screaming back and a 2-mile walk doesn’t help, you end up on the floor trying to remember the stretches your physical therapist showed you three months ago because you haven’t been doing them daily like you’re supposed to. 🤦🏻♀️
I’ve had a bad back for many years (not helped by being obese for most of those) and while losing weight did help, it wasn’t a cure-all. I try to be careful, but once you reach a certain point in your life, you could throw your back out rolling over in bed, putting your wet hair in a towel, or putting your socks on (true stories). All I know is I am never shoveling snow again–never ever ever, even if it’s just for 30 seconds. 😒❄️
Tell me how you’ve managed to injure yourself in a simple everyday way so we can commiserate.
Tom and I did something tonight we’ve never done before—a Paint and Sip! I’ve been wanting to do this ever since we moved here and I found the studio…and the stars finally aligned and we weren’t busy, had sitters (thanks to Anna for the sleepover), the design was perfect, and Tom agreed!!
It was so. much. stinking. fun!! I had no idea what to expect but the owner and his wife were totally wonderful and meeting some totally awesome new friends helped for sure. (Jennifer and Brigette brought margaritas and chocolates to share—how could I not immediately love them? I mean, I don’t hug just anyone within five minutes of meeting!!) We’re actually already making plans to go again with them (and snagging some other friends to join us, too)!
I’m am so glad we went outside our normal date night box… It was hard letting go and being creative (I like rules!) but the friends and alcohol helped with that—and I even liked my painting so much I had it framed on the spot!!
I wasn’t having good luck with the black on the trees.
So help stepped in. 😄
The original painting on top and the current work-in-progress on the bottom.
Our awesome group!!
Dessert because why not?!
I am not the best artist but she really wanted to use her face paints so I finally agreed.
She did two rainbows on my arms so I did one on her.
Then did some emojis and a lady bug.
My friend Anna invited us to go to a kid museum in Milwaukee today so why not? It’s only an hour away. The kids got McDonald’s on the way in the car so they were excited about that.
Turns out it was mostly for really young kids, but all ours said they had fun…
Being a sportscaster—for all of 4 seconds.
Owen did like the baseball section—he got to time his run for stealing a base, play catcher for some little kids, practice pitching at a screen for accuracy, and batting at a screen to see if he could hit a home run.
There was a Scrabble exhibit with a huge board…but it made me twitchy because it wasn’t a real board with the correct number of squares or bonus color squares in the right spots.
Then some of the kids put on a puppet show.
And then made some cool things out of biodegradable packing peanuts.
Then they had some fun on the bridge waving to the cars driving below.
And A&W ice cream on the way home.
Because it’s true.
You ever have one of those days where you just want to crawl back into bed and not do anything? Just skip being an adult because you’re tired of all the little annoyances?
Today is that day for me, y’all. Long story short I’m tired of losing shit and feeling fat and stupid sibling fights and NOT KNOWING WHAT PURSE TO TAKE ON A DAY TRIP. 😒
Yet here I sit at Katie’s makeup gymnastics class because I had to schedule it two weeks ago and today was just as good a day as any. And from here we go directly to a friend’s house so we can take all the kids to a museum in Milwaukee.
I know in the grand scheme of things all this minutiae doesn’t matter and as soon as I’m with my friend I’ll be happier, but I might still crawl into bed when we get home just so I can pretend for a bit that I have no responsibilities. 🛌
IT’S S’MORE SEASON, Y’ALL!! And I’m a 2 all the way. If you are a 4 we might not be able to be friends. 😂🔥 (Just kidding! We can be friends but there’s no way in hell I’ll ask you to toast my marshmallow!)
You have to s-l-o-w-l-y toast it over the coals–no sticking it straight into the fire 🤦🏻♀️–turning it consistently so that it melts evenly throughout. Once it starts to droop (if pierced in two spots) or rotate (if only pierced once), then you can get it closer to the coals so that it starts to brown but not burn. NO BURNING! NO BLACK!! 🤮
This method gives you the ooiest gooiest stretchiest meltiest marshmallow that really melts the chocolate nicely. Trust me. I’m a s’mores guru–I’ve been making my own s’mores for probably 35 years from campgrounds to gas stoves to backyard bonfires.
I might also put peanut butter on mine (it goes perfectly with the chocolate PLUS it keeps the chocolate bar attached to the graham cracker). LIKE I SAID, TRUST ME.
So, which one are you?
Today’s margarita drinking vessel, again courtesy of Target. Also, lipstick that’s been on since 9am and still looks good as new, even after shoveling McDonald’s fries into my face three at a time because I’m classy like that, sucking down an A&W Freeze like my life depended on it (have you HAD one? So much better than a float!), inhaling a margarita post-museum-adventure-afternoon with the kids…and it will last through the BLT pizza Tom is picking up right now.
The zoo was fun and all but now it’s my relaxation time. Target, you get me. Also, egg chair, I am in you.
