Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Blog Your Heart - August 2016

I had to come out of blog hibernation to join in once again with a Stephanie Howell Blog Your Heart post. I have been thinking about doing a blog post with photos from our summer cause it was a big and pretty exciting one. But I think I will kick off my return (however temporary) to blogging with this.

I was literally truly thinking the other night that I really liked doing the blog your heart posts and kind of missed them because it seemed to have been awhile. Then today I looked at Stephanie's blog, and there it was. A challenge for August. :)

Blog Your Heart is just a post where you talk about what is on your mind and in your heart. Just let it out!

So here it goes. What is on my mind and in my heart most right now?

1. I have a son in high school. High school! How is that possible that my 14 year old son is in high school? It seems like just yesterday, he was this cute little guy off to kindergarten
 (no 1st day of school photo for high school though. He didn't allow it)
And now he has entered the world of high school. It's mind blowing to me. And he has embraced it! Two days in of classes (not counting a few days of orientation) and he loves it. I am so happy for him and know he picked the right school because he just seems so comfortable there. That's all a parent can ask for right?

I may have cried a little as I drove away the first day of orientation, with Erin in the back going,  "it's ok to cry mom. It's a big step." I had to laugh at hearing that little bit of wisdom coming from my nine year old daughter.

2. Which brings me to the next mind blowing thing.
 (Photo taken on her birthday)
She is nine! Could someone please tell me how to slow things down a bit? She loves her dolls and babies still. Loves to dance and do gymnastics. She is obsessed with Shopkins and all things collectible. And thankfully, really loves to still hang out with me


We have a lot of fun together, and she never ceases to amaze me. But sometimes I feel this overwhelming responsibility as her mom that I need to get everything just right and be the perfect mom. I know there is no such thing as perfection, but I feel I have only one chance to get this right. To be a good role model for her in a time where it feels like there aren't many good role models in society is so daunting. 
But I just keep trying to be the best mom I can be for my kids. Not perfect but doing my best. :)

3. And lastly, we had a great summer! I want to post about it more another day because I have a lot to share. I will say having a husband who travels a lot for work can be extremely hard and extremely rewarding at the same time. Our year started out with Mike living in Miami working on a project only home every other weekend. I'm not going to lie. It really sucked sometimes. We miss him when he's gone and I feel so tired and overwhelmed sometimes. Thank goodness for my village of family and good friends who help out though. They keep me sane for sure!
(view from by our apartment)

But on the positive side, when school got out the kids and I packed up and drove down to Miami to spend the summer with Mike. He still had to work a lot, but he was home in the apartment every night! We were able to see him every day even if it was only for an hour or two. We swam and went to the beach and the Everglades and so many places. We made new friends and learned a lot about our temporary home. It was a great experience for our whole family.

 (our family in the Everglades)
I am so glad we had that time together this summer. It wasn't always easy, but getting to spend more time as a family was so worth it! With Evan starting high school, I feel like our time together as a family of four is so fleeting. What happens when he goes to college?? But I'm getting ahead of myself as I'm prone to do. I need to focus on the now. :)

And right now is all we need.


Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Happy New Year!

So I know it's been a very long time since I posted. I don't know that I will blog regularly and if I do it will be mostly for journaling purposes.

The photo above is how we spent our New Year's Eve. Mike, the kids and I went to the Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Gardens this year and it was cold but fun!
I seriously can't believe how quickly 2015 went by though.

I have been super busy doing anything and everything besides really scrapbooking, so I don't have any pages to share. But I am doing a major organization and clean up of my scrap office, and that has really put me in the mood to get back into it. Here's hoping this time it takes! :)


Christmas was pretty good to these two. His big gift an expert Detective's office Lego set. Her big gift a guitar.

And Mike gave me my favorite gift. A Fitbit Flex! Can I just say, this little gadget is truly motivating. Last night I did an extra workout before bed (even though I had done one earlier in the day) so that I could reach my 10,000 steps. I reached ten and surpassed to hit 12,000. There have been a few days where this happened.
I gave Mike a Fitbit Charge and so we have some friendly competitions going. Also motivating ;)

(photo from Mother's Day 2015)

2015 has really been a year to connect with my family. She has had dance and violin lessons. He was in the Christmas musical and has started Lacrosse. 
We have gone to several concerts together including U2, Alabama Shakes, Awolnation, Alt-J, Elle King, The Sheepdogs, LouFest, and El Vy (which involved a "just the two of us" road trip to Milwaukee). What can I say? We love music!

We did lots of swimming this summer as we had a pool pass that let us visit various pools around the city one time each. It was fun trying out all of the different pools. Especially the ones with cool lazy rivers!

We had a blast on Halloween with our creepy circus theme and even took first place for trunk or treat at the kids school. Erin didn't want to dress creepy circus so here is a pic of her in her costume...
our sassy little witch!

As we head into 2016, we are facing another year of change. Evan will be heading into high school next school year which is a little mind boggling for me. But at the same time, cool to see how much he has grown over the last year.

I am truly looking forward to this year and making more memories with my family!