A surprise date with homegirl

My sweet girl, my brown-eyed {or purple so she says} has been in need of some one on one time with her mama.

Life has been busy lately and I feel like she's been struggling with it the most.

She's my littlest, my sweet and sassy and all things goofy girl.

She's still adjusting to having B over again.

It's been a bit hard on her not being the youngest because I can't always carry her when she wants to be carried and sometimes B needs attention when she wants it.

Yes, she has to share my time and affection with her sisters but she's the youngest in our crazy circus and not being the youngest during the work day has at times been difficult for her.

 

Today an opportunity came up for us to have a Mommy-Daughter date.

Adison was going over to a friend's house to play after school.

While driving there I got a call from B's mom saying that she got off work early and was coming to get B.

When I dropped off Adison Ainsley was also invited to stay and play.

This is the beauty of the girls being best friends with siblings and me being best friends with the mom.

My dear friend knew that I was needing some time and she so sweetly provided it.

Poor Babs was sad about not being with Ainsley so I decided to take her to go get cupcakes.

Yay!

I bought Abby a little thing of frosting as they were making some more cupcakes.

We then played some games, she chose Candy Land, Jenga, Shoots and Ladders and we played with the Scrabble letters.

We ate our cupcakes and then headed home for some pizza with K.

It was a wonderful afternoon.

To have some time with my youngest, just the two of us.

She told me how much she had and how she can't wait to go on another date again.

I loved it, soaking up the time with her, to do whatever she wanted and to talk with her without interruption.

It was delightful.

Tonight when Lee got home, Abby shouted "Ains-lay!!!" 

The girls shared a massive hug and it was so neat seeing them together.

A big thank you to my friend, Jennifer.

Thank you for the gift of a surprise afternoon with my baby.

The gym

Last Friday K and I decided that we were going to head to the gym to workout.

It was the first time in our 13+ years together that we have ever gone to the gym together.

That's romance I tell ya!

I'm still moving forward with my weight-loss, get in shape, swimsuit prep mode.

I still have some weight to lose and quite a bit more toning that needs to occur.

Changes are happening, but they are happening slowly.

I know that's the best way to do it but sometimes some instant gratification would be nice.

{Really nice to be honest.}

These last few weeks I have been gaining and losing the same two pounds.

I'm not sure what's going on with that, whatever.

My current plan is to stick with the fitness app, although the darn thing drives me batty when I realize how many calories something is vs. how many calories are available and OH MY GOODNESS I'M SO HUNGRY!

It's getting better in the hunger department but sometimes it's brutal.

Back to Saturday, our gym has about four hours of childcare time available so we knew that we were going in the morning.

K brought his iPad to watch a movie while I thoroughly enjoyed cable television, yay for some HGTV!

We got there a little later than we had originally planned so we only had about an hour to workout.

It was nice to be able to look over and chat with him every once in a while then look outside at the beautiful, non-children trodden snow that looked like a sparkly white blanket.

We were both keeping an eye on the clock for when we needed to go pick up the girls.

K hopped off the elliptical, joking with me about he got more miles in AND had burn more calories than I did.

Sigh.

I just can't let him win both and yes, I will totally admit that we are competitive with one another.

He had made it 4.15 miles and I just couldn't let that slide, I had to go further than him because there was no way I was going to beat his calorie loss.

So, I did what any rational, sane, grown-up, 32 year old woman would do.

I kicked into high gear, darn near sprinting on that machine so I could beat his distance and beat it I did.

4.20 miles.

Victory!

Until he reminded me that he beat my calorie loss AND he did the mileage in less time.

Party pooper.

Oh well, I will claim my win and relish in it.

Because I am an adult after all who only engages in adult competitiveness.

Obviously.

We have plans to go next weekend as well and I am determines to beat his distance again AND hopefully his time.

A girl can dream, right?

P.S. I am doing The Color Run again!!!!

This is my third time doing it and I am pumped.

By besties and I will be doing it together again {go team Save the Snails!} and this time our mamas will be doing it with us.

That's right, my Mom will be doing the 5K with us!

I'm so excited!

We are even planning on making tutus which we be even more fun!

Coconut oil

I've heard so much about coconut oil lately, how it's such a healthy fat and is overall good for you.

While at Trader Joe's last weekend I saw some and on a whim grabbed a jar of it.

{Sidenote: I don't really enjoy spending money so spending $$ on something that I don't know much about and buying it on a whim is kind of unheard of for me.}

So, coconut oil.

Today, after looking at this darn jar for almost a week and thinking about Googling what all the hoopla is about I decided to snap a pic on Instagram and share it on fb asking of help.

Bought it, now what do I do with it? #help

Help my fb lovelies did.

Man oh man, when in doubt ask friends!

After hearing friends praise this miraculous oil I'm beyond excited.

I finally opened the jar and oh my word, the smell.

If you love coconut you will love this.

For me, the most exciting aspect of the oil is for skin.

Poor Ainsley, you guys, her skin.

It gets so dry during the winter and is so sensitive.

I feel bad for her.

My plan {thanks fb peeps} is to whip this coconut oil and make some body butter for her. 

::Hopefully:: {fingers crossed} this stuff will work wonders for my little Lee.

Please share lovelies, have you used this stuff?

What are you favorite recipes and uses?

Happy Valentine's Day lovelies!

Happy Valentine's Day!
The day that celebrates love.

The little girls and I were busy today decorating to surprise Adison and K.

Adison was so surprised, it was awesome!

K is bringing dinner home for all of us tonight and we are going to have a low-key night.

I hope you all have a very love filled day/evening <3 p="">

xo

Things are good

I know everyone says it, I say it a lot, but life is busy.

I started watching baby B again, between that and an ever increasing schedule life seems to be in hyper drive.

By the time the evening comes and the children are in bed and if I don't have a meeting I am crashing in bed.

Exhaustion hits, my brain is fried from the daily grind, the coffee has left my system and that's the end of it.

We've been having some ADHD issues, some sibling issues and some life issues but above and beyond all of that we have moments.

The moments of a child wanting to share her pink tic tacs with her mama.

Of a child getting frustrated and declaring that she is no longer my mother but K's mother {I don't quite understand that one}.

Moments of sisters loving on sisters with such love and devotions that it makes my heart swell ten thousand times.

Moments of the girls not getting along at all then falling into fits of giggles.

Moments of laughter with my husband where I feel so blessed beyond measure that I get to call him mine and I am his.

Moments of feeling the presence, the love and the bond with Christ that fill me with such peace and right-ness.

I'm sorry I've been sporadic in posting and not been around as much, but life is full, full beyond my wildest imaginings.

How are you doing my lovelies, I sure have missed you all, xo

Random post # 1741

Hola lovelies!

How are things going in your lives?

Here, in casa de cupcake things are moving right along.

They're moving a warp speed honestly, too fast, so fast yet sometimes not fast enough.

Like in the middle of a temper tantrum {not mine} or in the checkout lane at the grocery store.

But really too fast, like my baby toddler soon to be preschooler who's just getting to darn big for her own good.

::sigh::

Hold me, please, maybe brush my hair and sing Soft Kitty to me.

{shhh, don't tell, but sometimes I ask K to sing it to me when I'm sick}

Funnies heard around here lately:

Abby: Mama, did you know I have a baby in my belly? Not a big baby, just a teeny tiny baby.

Abby: Mama, can I please have some nach-ios? {pistachios}

Ainsley while watching the last Ice Age Movie: It's time to get butt wild! {It should be "Buck" wild}

Adison had her parent/teacher conference last night and homegirl is doing awesome.

She has an amazing teacher and loves our girl so much.

She also loves our other girls as evidenced by them acting like loons during the conference and she just laughed and though they were a riot.

.

.

.

what else???

K and I watched Alex Cross last night, it was good but some parts were too violent for me to watch.

I was totally doing the little kid hiding behind my fingers thing.

Tyler Perry was awesome and Matthew Fox played his part magnificently creepy, it totally weirded me out thinking of him from Party of Five to this.

I want to see the new Denzel Washington movie, Flight.

I LOVE him and pretty much everything he has been in, it does throw me for a loop though when he plays bad guys.

He's too much of a good guy to be playing bad guys!

Anyone seen it?
What did you think?

Also, if you are a child of the '80s growing up in the '90s I think you will appreciate this as much as K and I did.

 Have a good Friday lovelies, xo

A little of this and that with a healthy dose of caffeine

Hey lovelies!

How are you?
I miss you oh so much.

I've been lax on writing and reading blogs.

I've been exhausted lately, totally wiped out.

I've found myself falling asleep between 8 - 10 every evening, I wonder if that means that I am finally growing up?

Last night I even fell asleep with the lights on in my room.

::yawn::

I've been consuming a lot of this lately.

Well, not too much as I'm still counting calories.

Enough to keep me properly caffeinated and making sure there are enough calories for at least a cup or two a day, it is about priorities after all.

This child, she keeps me on my toes.

She is so creative and so her that I find myself just watching her because she is fascinating.

This was her playing Disney Universe the other day.

The funny thing though is that she was doing really well, too.

Lee and her hair.

Girlie still was long hair like Rapunzel-ed {yes, that's what she calls Rapunzel}.

Every day she wants a braid of some sort and she knows exactly what she wants in her hair.

Last night, for church, she wanted braided piggies with pink hair ties, a pink headband and a purple flower.

Homegirl rocked it.

Before church Lee had fun playing dress-up with Chloe.

This kitty is the best cat for children.

She doesn't bite or hiss or scratch.

She lets the kids love on her and even dress her up and when she's had enough she goes away.

We do remind the kids that Chloe is getting older and they have to be careful with her, we tell them she's a grandma kitty.

Calorie counting.

I know I already talked about it, but thought I would share some of my favorite snacks.

I'm a snacker, I'd much rather graze on food all day then eat big meals.

These two snacks are delish, I have to admit thought that the popcorn is my all-time favorite.

It says that it's a healthy kettle corn, it has a hint of sweet and salt which is the best combination ever.

Cuties and clementines, my kids LOVE them.

Lee loves the clementines the best, Abby and Adison love either.

I can't eat them, my body doesn't like the acidity at all but I LOVE peeling them.

I don't know why but I am more than happy to peel one or two or twelve for my kids if they will eat them.

Post-morning-school-drop-off.

My littles in the car, singing and reading.

Last but not least, I know that all around the country people are having some crazy weather.

Ours has been the same.

It was 74 in JANUARY!

Two days later we had snow and ice.