trying a new tactic

A reoccurring issue, nice way of saying all-the-freakin'-time issue, is that I have to repeat myself over

and over

and over

and over

and...you get the idea.

I get tired of hearing the sound of my voice and repeating myself.

Believe it or not I get sick of talking, shocking I know.

For me, one of the most frustrating things is having to repeatedly ask my kids to pick up something.

I think they are just too used to the fact that I will in the end pick it up so why should they?

Well, kiddos, no more.

This mama is going to attempt something new.

What you say?
Well, I saw something online a while ago and for the life of me I can't remember where.
Update: my friend, Jennifer, found it! Thanks friend! I knew I had seen it somewhere!

What happens is this~
I will ask for something to get picked up.

If it does not get picked up when I ask it will become mine.

I am planning on putting said confiscated toys in a basket or something.

To retrieve said item an *extra* chore will be chosen at random.

Once the extra chore is competed the confiscated toy will be returned.

As you can see in the picture above I made extra chore cards.

I have since cut them and am currently trying to find something to put the cards in as well.

I did something like this before with behavior.

Bad day at school = 1 toy going in a storage tub

Good day at school = picking 1 toy out of the storage tub

I'm really hoping this will work.

It will be interesting to see how it goes, I will keep you posted!

P.S. Since writing this but before posting it, Adison came home, went through the cards and picked some chores to do *JUST BECAUSE* 

Praying this continues!

Love this

Source: k2d2vacaphotos.blogspot.com via Danna on Pinterest

Insta-Friday

or maybe it's more like insta-month.

I feel like I haven't done an Insta-Friday post in forever!

Link up and share your phone pics from the last week!

This morning Adison and I went to our first Zumba class.

I felt uncoordinated, awkward, uncoordinated and well, awkward.

It was fun, I had a blast.

Adison thought it was okay, not sure if she wants to do it again or not.

Jennifer and I then did BodyPump afterwards, holy smokes.

I l-o-v-e coffee.

Nothing new.

But still true.

It's delicious.

How cute it she???
Seriously, melt my heart precious.

She loves to look at herself in the mirror and make silly faces.

I love to take pictures of her staring at her goofiness.

I'm convinced that it's her sweetness that makes the world go round.

I spy a mermaid.

Lee likes to lay in the tub and have mermaid hair like Ariel.

She likes me to take pictures of said hair and show it to her.

This one makes me smile.

She was playing peek-a-boo with K after he wrapped her up like a burrito in our quilt.

Good times people.

That's a little snapshot into our daily lives.

Head on over, link up and share!

Have a great weekend my lovelies!

The Good, the Bad and the Funny

The Good: Pilates, while kicking my butt, is starting to get better. My friend, Jennifer, and I went this morning and while h-a-r-d wasn't as bad as it has been. K and Adison had the opportunity to go to a baseball game with my dad yesterday. They both had a blast despite the fact that it was 107 yesterday. I have been doing more reading lately, it makes me happy. Yay library! We are going swimming tomorrow, we haven't been able to go due to the heat lately, sadface.

The Bad: I took the kids to the library yesterday, it was bad. Not a little bad but super bad. I can't tell you how many times I heard the word "no". At one point Abby was running around the kids area saying, "I going to run, you stay there!". Um yeah, not so much kid. Nice try though. Then as we were leaving she decided to stay behind and hide under a computer desk while the librarians laughed. It was awesome, or not.

The Funny: okay, so this isn't technically a funny, but I love this!
He has some other pretty funny videos, the lady that fell in the fountain video cracked me up.
 

Workin' out, workin' hard

So, I felt like it was time to do a get-my-booty-in-shape workout update.

From where I started a couple of months ago to now I have noticed a change.

A change in how my clothes fit, how my body feels.

I have no idea weight wise what's going on, we don't have a scale. 

I don't think that anyone else could tell {besides my mom, hi mom!}, but that's a-okay.

Before: occasionally walking

keeping busy keeping up with three kids

Now: working out on average five times a week, some weeks less due to scheduling

Pilates anywhere from one to three times a week

Taking the kids to the pool five days a week weather permitting

A different class every once in a while

I've come to a very important conclusion, this stuff is hard.

Ouch.

Not a fan.

At all.

At all at all.

The hardest right now is the Pilates.

Holy moly.

This is nothing like the Pilates I took in college, this is like boot camp Pilates.

I'm talkin' body hurting, sore for a couple of days afterwards.

I can tell though that it's working, stomach muscles are getting stronger.

{They need a lot of work, hello 3 kids}

Goals: run another 5K and *hopefully* a 10K

make it through a Pilates class without feeling like my abs were going to revolt

Get healthy, I really want to be a good example to my girls

leave the cold, i'll take the heat

Remember this white, fluffy, freezing stuff?
Yeah, me neither.

Nor am I ready for it to return.

I was thinking about hawt it is right now and how much hotter it will get in the next few days.

I think I will take the heat and remember it for when we are living in a frozen tundra again.

Other things I am not ready for yet...

enrollment at Adison's school next week

school starting in less than a month

the return of schedules and being busy again

we're gong to be starting birthday season soon: 10, 5 and 3

an end to our lazy afternoons at the pool

Things I am ready for...

a return to schedules {yes, I'm confusing}

celebrating my kiddos turning a year older, looking back at pictures at how much they have changed

Fall coming, the leaves changing colors

Blue jeans!

Weekend ramblings

This weekend I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happened in Colorado.

My mind cannot process what happened.

What families, the lives lost, the forever changes because one man did a horrifically horrid thing.

I found out on Friday that my cousin and her boyfriend were supposed to be at that theater at the same showing.

They decided to attend a theater closer to home instead.

While I am so incredibly relieved that my family is safe I also feel so sad for the families whose loved one isn't with them any longer.

This post is by a woman who was in the theater with her two daughters, they all made it out alive and free from harm.

Read it, please.

We have taken life pretty slow this weekend.

The dynamic duo that are the little two kept K and I on our toes all weekend.

Sorry to the shoppers who were at Target when we were.

Yep, they were loud and throwing fits.

The joy of young 'uns.

Adison was a gem while we were there.
Poor girl though is starting have an awareness as to how loud and attention grabbing two screaming children can be.

Yep, it's loud and embarrassing, but it's also life.

Sigh.

I made the mistake of staying up way too late the last two nights reading and took a nap this afternoon.

It was much needed after the sleep deprivation and the stress of the weekend.

Throughout all of it though I was freshly reminded of how blessed we are to have these crazy, punky, rambunctious, amazing children.

Even in the loud times of sibling screaming matches and tag team temper tantrums I am so very happy to call them my own, my three precious miracles {although I may have ended my night with a glass of wine :)}

Today is my step-dad's birthday today.
Happy Birthday Pappy Guy!!!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

I am a numbers weirdo.

I like it when numbers work properly.

It makes sense in my mind, but to explain it would just make me look strange.

{Ya know, stranger than I already appear about certain things, hello rainbow order plates}

Let's just go with it, shall we lovelies?

This morning as I was laying in bed while K was getting ready for work and the children were blessedly sleeping this little number diddy popped into my head.

It made me smile, so I just had to share.

 

At the pool

That's how we're spending our afternoon, you?

Lather, rinse, repeat

Goodness, look at that picture of Lee. That was last year, my how my little girl has grown up!

Sorry I haven't been on here much lately.

For some reason this summer it has felt a bit like Groundhog Day, remember that movie with Bill Murray.

In a good way though.

Leaving me at a loss as to what to share, let me know if you have any idea, k?

Every morning Abby comes into my room asking me to get her milk ready.

Then Ainsley follows asking for her juice.

Then I get up and start getting everyone ready for the day.

Meds, clothes, hair brushing, etc.

Almost everyday finds us at the pool, battling Abby for nap time, laughing at children's antics and settling sibling disputes.

Pepper in a phone call or two with K and you have my day.

It's a lovely day.

Simply lovely.

Some days are harder than others, yesterday was rough.

Sprinkle in some laughter.

Abby is still into pirates, K put an old Harley Davidson biker do-rag thing on her proclaiming it had "pirate tails" on the back of it.

Imagine Abby with a wrinkled up nose, her raspy little voice saying, "Argh matey!"

There are the sad times too, my sister-in-law, Betsy's uncle passed away on Thursday suddenly.

My heart is broken for her family.

It seems like only yesterday that our family was going through our own period of sadness following deaths, sickness, hospitalizations and divorce.

I can empathize with the heartache Betsy's family is going through.

Loss is painful.

There is uncertainty in life.

It makes me start to worry, which is a battle I am fighting.

I have faith, I need to set worry aside.

It has no place in my life, battling it.

We still haven't heard the pathology report for Tiffany.
My heart is anxious, but there is faith.

Overwhelming, blanketing faith.

Most of all though, there is peace and joy.

Knowing that right now we are where we are meant to be.

Knowing that we have been blessed with our children {even if they make me want to rip out my hair, ha ha!}.

Knowing that even when times are stressful that there will be times of peace and a husband who likes to surprise me with margaritas.

These lazy days of summer and oh have they been lazy have been a balm for my soul during the busyness that is the school year.

It has been a good summer, very good in fact.

Full of laughter and hugging and friends with only a small smattering of tears.

How has your summer been going?

The Good, the Bad and the Funny

The Good: we've been spending a lot of time at the pool, the girls are loving it and I am as well. I did the Pilates class again last night with my friend Jennifer, it was intense and so good. We finally got a break from the 108 degree weather, ouch. K and his dad went to the All Star game on Tuesday night, they had a blast. I was so happy to hear that they had such a great time together. Adison has been doing VBS this week, she has been learning a lot and having fun making new friends.

The Bad: the fighting, goodness gracious. The last two days it's been Abby and Ainsley. You don't like me anymore. I don't like you. on and on and on. I'm not sure what to do about it right now, they are only 4 and 2. We keep talking about using nice words and making Jesus happy, but it continues. Poor Abby fell today and scraped her knee pretty bad, she cried and cried. We had to call Daddy on the phone, she was so sad.

The Funny: K and I were talking yesterday evening when Ainsley walks in, pointed at her eyes than at K while slowing backing away from him. It was a riot, I have no idea where she picked that up from. 

growing in love

At church/small group/L3 journal, we just gone done with spending 6 weeks in 1 John.

It's one of my favorite books in the Bible.

It never ceases to amaze me how you can learn new things while reading the same thing over and over again.

It just goes to show you that the Bible is a living thing.

The Word reveals new things to you all of the time.

It all boils down to love.

Love for the Creator, love for His Son, love for one another.

Love.

Love that has been given to us, love that we are to give to others.

The sweet simplicity of this word, love.

I feel changes in my heart, a growing and stretching.

The understanding of what exactly we are called into so much more clearly.

It keeps running through my mind what we discussed last night at small group:

Love, obedience, assurance.

Loving God and others, obedience to do what God commands and assurance as to our future.

1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

 

Summer so far

So far this summer we have spent a lot of time at the pool.

A lot.

The girls are little mermaids.

We've also been spending more time at the library.

Abby came down with what we think was Fifth Disease.

No symptoms other than turning lobster red.

She's all better now.

I put raspberry colored streaks in my hair for fun.

I really like it.

The idea of it freaked out Adison for a bit but she has come around.

Summer toes.

Summer sandals.

Hot as can be. 

 

The 4th

Adison.

Loved it.

All of it.

The sights, sounds, lighting the fireworks.

All of it.

Ainsley.

Still the most hesitant.

Loved the sparklers didn't really like anything else.

Towards the end the fountains were okay by her though.

Abby.

Loved the "sticks" aka sparklers.

Wasn't too afraid except for the really loud ones until she caught Ainsley's freak out.

Then, she didn't really like anything except the sparklers.

Happy 4th!

Happy Independence day!

I love celebrating the 4th.

Grilling, laughing, fireworks.

Oh the fireworks, my favorite.

Last night we lit off some fireworks, Abby was not a fan.

Like, not at all.

No tears, but a strongly toned dislike.

She did, however, really like sparklers. 

Can you believe how bitty my babies were last year?

I don't have a new picture of this year yet.

Ainsley got to stay with K's parents for a couple of days, so we will pick homegirl up in a bit.

I'm ready to smoosh kisses into her cheeks.

And to see if she will like the fireworks this year.

Be safe my lovelies.

Have fun!

Color Run~ I did it!

The Color Run, my 1st 5K.

I did it.

I. ran. the. entire. thing.

I think the above picture sums up my feelings perfectly.

I went up with my friends the night before.

We picked up our race packets, grabbed some dinner and headed to our hotel sans kids.

We jumped on the beds and had all sorts of fun.

It was a blast, seriously.

We got to bed around midnight and my alarm went off at 6:00, yawn.

But, we got up and got ready and I attempted to drink some coffee, no me gusta hotel coffee.

Then, we were off!

Before we left the hotel, I was serious.

Or not.

Ready to run the 5K, the whole thing, at the end of June, in Kansas.

H.O.T. & H.U.M.I.D.

I know the picture is not the greatest, but all of those little dots in the background.

They're people.

They had 30,000 people sign up for The Color Run.

They raised $$$ for Ronald McDonald House.

Great charity!

I didn't get many pictures as I had my phone in a backpack because it was a messy morning.

Everything that looks flesh-colored on us is actually pink.

This is me and one of my besties, Clara, we were running buddies.

I didn't get a pic with my other best friend Jennifer, sorry J!

They had the run broken up into 5 increments and there they would have a color station set up where you would get doused with a different colored powder.

The above picture is at the end of the race.

Everyone was given a bag of color to throw at the end.

It was so much fun.

The music was loud, the color was everywhere and the feeling of not just completing but running my first 5K was exhilirating.

I may or may not have danced like a worn out fool when some of the music that I work-out to was blasted over the speakers.

It was so much fun, I loved it.

I'm a bit sore but I can't wait to do it next year as well!