2013 - Week 17

Here we are. Another week. Yet another blast of winter, followed up by some summer. Yes, summer. WHAT!

Monday was pretty typical. Dropped the girls off, made my way to work. The usual. Christian had to help his dad with his car after work again, so he and the girls had dinner at his parents house. YES! I stopped into Target to do our weekly shopping after work. As I left work tonight, it was raining a little bit. By the time I left Target, it had turned to snow, and there was already a coating on the ground. Here we go again! As soon as I got everything put away, I got my workout in. The last two weeks of this program was straight cardio. NOT my forte at all, so it definitely kicked my butt. For these next two weeks, it's a cardio/lean strength hybrid. The cardio will still kill me, buy strength training is much more up my alley, so I'm excited about that addition. After my workout I was able to eat dinner and relax in the peace and quiet of our empty house. What a treat! The rest of the family arrived home just in time to put the girls to bed...Christian and I weren't far behind.

Here comes the snow!

Well, this morning we awoke to a winter wonderland...again. They're claiming this should be the last snow of the year - but I seriously have little faith in that at this point. We'll just see about that. Needless to say, the drive was a bit of a headache. Not as bad as ACTUAL winter, since the highways and main roads clear off pretty quickly at this point, but still. So annoying. The day quickly took a turn for the better around lunch, when I FINALLY won Star Party tickets on the radio. AWESOME! One of our local radio stations hosts this concert every spring...you can't buy tickets, you can only win them. They usually have 6 or 7 acts - usually one or two big names, and a bunch of up and comers. I've been trying for WEEKS, multiple times a day, to get through, and it finally paid off today! This year, the acts are:
Nelly (who I'm DYING to see)
Jason Derulo
Outasight
Hot Chelle Rae
Olly Murs
MKTO
and Ariana Grande (who I think sounds just like Mariah Carey, and excited to see).

The show is on May 17th, and I cannot wait! YAHOO! After work, the girls and I made our way home, and found a package for them in the mailbox. It was from my stepmom with some goodies, some coloring pages and little monsters. The girls are now obsessed with these monsters and thought it was pretty cool getting their own mail. The rest of the night was pretty standard - workout, dinner, playing with the girls for a while. What a fantastic day though!

Winter Wonderland! Is it April 23rd...or December 23rd?!?

You've Got Mail! Enjoying their monsters...

By Wednesday, most of the snow had melted. Back to reality. It rained for a while this evening, but things are supposed to change drastically tomorrow, and stay nice through the weekend. FINALLY!! This morning I was pretty excited to hear the news that our Education Bill passed the senate. There are a few great aspects of it, but I'm most excited about them FINALLY adding all-day Kindergarten statewide! Right now, every district has the option, most don't offer it, including ours. You either do the completely pointless "half-day", which is really only 2.5 hours (seriously, what's the point?!? Especially when they go to KinderCare already - they might as well just stay there!), or you pay for all-day kindergarten - which is limited availability, and isn't cheap. In our district, it's $375 a month right now for all-day - not to mention we'd still have to pay before, OR before & after care at KinderCare on top of that. Ugh. OR, we just do the measly 2.5 hours, and then have to pay for them to go to KinderCare full time. Either way...ChaChing! The districts have 2 years to get their staffing and facilities up to par...so, for sure, Amelia will be fine. I have my fingers crossed Olivia will be good to go next year (2014). Other than that, it was a standard day...work, picked up the girls, workout, dinner, relax. What a life!

Watching the rain. I wonder what she could be thinking...

Cuddles with my little BFF before bed.

Thursday was not a great day. I made the mistake of weighing myself. I swore I was packing away the scale and I wasn't going to let it control me anymore. I was feeling really strong, I was feeling more energetic and thought I was really doing a great job. It's been 2.5 weeks of working HARD and eating well (after not doing so for several weeks). I didn't expect miracles, but I was hoping for a little scale motivation. So, I hopped on...and I hadn't lost a dang thing! I couldn't believe it. NOTHING! It sent me into an instant downward spiral (which is why I packed the scale away), and I was in a horrible, crabby, sad, emotional mood the rest of the day. And, of course, I spent the next few days self-sabotaging myself. So frustrating - I'm so sick of this uphill battle I could scream! But, next week, right back on track, and that's all I can do. Pick myself up, push through, and keep trying! Other than that, the day was pretty normal. The weather is starting to get better, FINALLY, so we spent a little time outside, playing, before dinner and bedtime. YAY for fresh air!

Spring is Springing! Some outdoor fun!

Friday was the start of our super, duper amazing weather! 70's, sun shining, blue skies. AMAZING - and how could you not be in a better mood! Christian took my car today, and ran to the tire shop on his lunch break. We replaced two of the tires abut 1.5 years ago, and they're already junk. So, he went back to the place we got them, and was able to get two new ones, put on and sealed for half price. Not too bad. The work day flew by pretty fast, he did have to work even later than usual though to 1) make up for his long lunch, and 2) fill in for his supervisor who's off this week. My mom dropped the girls off to me at work this afternoon because she had to come into the city, so we made our way home right from work. I changed them into some shorts and we spent a nice long time at the park down the street. They were in heaven! For a change - they actually must have worn themselves out though, because they were ready to go when I wrangled them up. We had some dinner when we got home, watched a movie and hung out. Fresh air, so exhausting!

WHAT?!?

Fun at the park! Shorts, t-shirts, sun, warmth. WOW!

Our ducks are back! I swear, these same ducks come back EVERY spring, since we bought our house. It's awesome! They're soul mates!

On Saturday, Christian was off to work. The girls and I hung out and I started doing some cleaning and picking up around the house (which, once again, looks like a tornado ripped through). Then, we were off to Olivia's swim class. Amelia has been getting a little more attention seeking during class...she started off pretty calm and just watched the kids swim when I started bringing her with...but, with every passing week, she gets a little more ants-in-the-pants and tests the limits. That's been fun. After class we stopped into Walmart to grab a couple things, and had lunch at Taco Bell. They went right down for their nap when we got home and I settled in to watch some TV just as Christian got home. Not long after, I got a call from Bella's mom asking if we could watch her for a while. So, Bella and I spent some time playing outside while we waited for the girls to wake up. Then, they went crazy the rest of the evening - eating some snacks, running around the yard, picking on each other. The usual. Bella's dad came by to pick her up and hung out with Christian for a while. Once they left to head home, I threw the girls in the bath, finished up dinner and we finally sat down for a bit. Christian's friend from work stopped over with some Mexican market goodies for him and they had a couple beers out in the garage. I was exhausted after dealing with the girls all day - it was just one of those days....they didn't listen to a word I said, they fought ALL day, about EVERYTHING, and I was at my wits end by the time they went to bed. It was a very frustrating, trying day to say the least. I was happy to have some time to myself..I cuddled up with a giant glass of Horchata and watched the repeat of Justin Timberlake on SNL before passing out. Mama said there'd be days like these!

The girls have become obsessed with making their beds. It's awesome and cute - but it makes it hard to get out of the house during the week some days...

For all of those non-believers - here is my almost 3-year old, happily rear facing in her car seat. Legs too long, uncomfortable...PSSSSSH, she's happy as a clam and thinks she owns the place!

Playtime with Bella!

Happy Plants and Tree and Dog...

Sunday was a pretty busy day. I spent a majority of the day finishing up my cleaning - I ended up getting the upstairs completely picked up and cleaned (the downstairs, is another story) - and doing laundry. Christian made breakfast and kept the girls busy most of the day. He took Olivia with him on a trip to Menards...time to get some fertilizer, and he decided to install a deadbolt on our front door. I took a quick shower and hung out with Amelia while they were gone...by little BFF. They had some lunch as soon as Christian got home, and went down for their naps. I did a little more cleaning and got ready while Christian installed the deadbolt, and got ready as well. Once the girls were up from their nap, we were off to Bella's house for a BBQ with them and some of their friends. BUT, first, we got to enjoy the first dog escape of the year. Of course...first nice weekend = first runaway dog = first annoyed neighbors. I'm seriously going to lose it - I told Christian I will NOT spend another spring/summer/fall dealing with this, so he better figure something out. We ate tons of food and watched the girls drive each other nuts for a while. We had to make a quick escape indoors for a bit while a rain storm passed by, otherwise it was a perfect evening! We finally made our way home, and got the girls to bed a little later than usual. I finished laundry and finally called it a night.

I've decided to finally tap into the beauty samples I've been collecting for the past year. Obsessed much?!? I love free stuff!

BBQ Time!

With that, we ended another week. It's hard to believe we'll be welcoming May this upcoming week. This year is just flying by!