Summer 2014 Week 6

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps.  I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer.  Eight weeks of fun!

Monday

We stayed at home for the morning because we I had a co-op board meeting in the afternoon.  I took Arthur while the twins spent the afternoon playing video games at home with J.

Tuesday

Great America day!  We spent 5 hours riding rides and hanging out at the park.  Nick and I rode The Goldstriker, their big newish wooden roller coaster.  Crazy fun!  The park was pretty dead so the boys rode their rides 5-6 times in a row.  Overall, a good day.

Wednesday

The twins spent the morning at the Golfland arcade while Arthur and I visited Target and the grocery store.  In the afternoon, we went to Rengstorff Park for blanket babies.  Always a fun treat for Arthur.  After dinner we all settled in for movie night: Dune.  Surprisingly, the twins really liked it.

Thursday

The morning was spent at Deer Hollow Farm.  We got to see the cow being milked.  After hitting Chick-fil-a for lunch, we spent the afternoon lounging and at the pool.

Friday

A home day filled with lots of cooking and pool time.

Saturday

Arthur, the twins, and I went to the Co-op's Summer Social at Rengstorff Park.  We tie dyed tshirts, made discovery bottles, ate lots of good food, and played.  A good, but tiring day.

Sunday

A nice day at home playing video games, watching some tv, reading.

Summer 2014 Week 5

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps.  I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer.  Eight weeks of fun!

Monday

We road-tripped to the beach for the day.  We usually go to Half Moon Bay about 45 minutes west across the mountains.  The twins really enjoy the drive as it twists and turns through the mountains.  Once we got to the coast, we ate at a small hole-in-the-wall taqueria that was really really good (and pretty cheap).  I will have to remember for next time.  We then drove a few more blocks to the actual beach.  It took Arthur about 30 seconds to try and eat the sand.  One handful, one nasty look and gagging, and he was finished trying to eat the sand.  We ended up spending almost 4 hours hanging out on the beach. The twins ran through the waves.  Arthur and I preferred to hang out on the sand.  The Pacific Ocean is just way too cold by us to actually swim.  After packing up we stopped at Baskin Robbins for our afternoon snack.  Yum yum!

Tuesday

Tuesday was our usual errands day.  Target, grocery, and library visit.  Nothing too exciting, but all weekly events.

Wednesday

Arthur did not sleep well so our morning was shot.  We did make it to Rengstorff Park for blanket babies in the afternoon.

Thursday

We ventured out to Shoreline for the big mom's group walk.  I only subjected the twins to the short trail.  After walking we grabbed lunch at the cafe there.  In the afternoon we walked over to get Tutti Frutti and visit the bookstore.

Friday

Fourth of July!  We celebrated by going to a fellow mom's mom's house (yep, that's right) for a pool party and BBQ.  The twins spent the entire time swimming.  The babies played and even swam a bit.  The adults made sure no one drowned and enjoyed talking about things other than sleep and poo.  Overall, we had a very lovely time.

Saturday

The twins spent the day hanging out at home.  Arthur and I went to the co-op playdate at Rengstroff for a few hours in the afternoon.

Sunday

We had another quiet day at the house.  The twins hit the pool.  I hit the coffeehouse for a few hours to work on my blog.  It was a nice relaxing day before the start of what's bound to be a crazy week.

Thanks for All the Fish

 The things I am thankful for this week:

1. Our complex pool -- For providing a great distraction for the twins when Arthur needs some house time.
2. Sunnyvale Library -- For providing free reading material for the twins' fickle reading habits.
3. Fellow SU Demos -- For providing me an avenue of creativity.
4. Internet -- For providing a new spark in blogging motivation.
5. eBay -- For providing a huge treasure trove of baby boy clothes at a ridiculously low price.  We are now set until probably next spring.

Monthly Life Goals July 2014

Before I get to this month’s goals, let’s check in on June’s goals and my progress.

June Goals:

• 30 Day Challenge: Kids/Family Activities -- Success!  I'm calling this one a success.  We did a ton of activities and went a ton of places.  Below are a few examples:
  • Pool days (multiple)
  • Playdates at the park, also playground visits
  • Great America visits
  • SJ Museum of Art
  • Tech Museum
  • Deer Hollow Farm
  • 30 Day Challenge: Read every day -- Success!  Some days it was only a few minutes, but some days it was an hour.  I still read each day.
  • Visit 6 local parks -- Fail... but we came close.  We ended up visiting 3 parks: Rengstorff, Cuesta, Rancho San Antonio
  • Knock off 10 items from our summer bucket list -- Success!  We got our bucket list off to a good start!
  • Have a date night with J -- Fail! Just didn't happen.
  • Pinterest Challenge: Clean out/update Neverending TBR Board -- Success!  I cleaned out the board a bit and edited my tags.
  • Pinterest Challenge: Try 5 new crafting techniques/sketches/color inspirations -- Success! I completed a ton of cards this month.

• 30 Day Challenge: Meal plan entire month -- I hope to have the entire month of July's meals planned from the beginning.
• 30 Day Challenge: Daily picture book -- We're behind on out 100 picture book challenge for 2014.  Hopefully this month will get us back on track.
• Clean out twins' clothes -- We haven't done a full clean out in two years.  This will be the perfect month to get rid of the too small.  And we will know what to send back to Indiana and what needs to be bought for fall and next summer.
• Update Paprika with all routine recipes -- I love using Paprika for recording my recipes, making meal plans, and creating a grocery list.  Unfortunately, I don't have any of my tried and true recipes included.  I need to get this app updated.
• Finish two in progress television series -- I feel like I'm in the middle of way too many series, especially series that are no longer on the air.  I want to make a view list and cross off two of those in progress series.
• Pinterest Challenge: Complete 5 techniques, sketches, challenges -- Same as last month's challenge.  It went so well, I thought I would do it again.
• Pinterest Challenge: Get rid of 2 retired DSP boards -- I have completely reorganized my boards pulling out any example cards featuring retired DSP.  I want to get rid of at least two of those boards this month.

Summer 2014 Week 4

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps.  I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer.  Eight weeks of fun!

Monday

We traveled up East Bay to go to the Oakland Zoo.  It was Arthur and I's second time there, the first for the twins.  We saw a ton of animals, ate lunch, and rode the train (N rode the mini roller coaster).  All in all, we had a lovely time and will definitely go again before the summer is up.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a home day.  We lounged, did a ton of house chores, and hit the pool.  Every couple of days, it's nice to just be at home.  Plus, it gives me time for chores and reading, Arthur time to nap, and the boys time to play their video games.  For dinner, I made Chicken Parmesan.  Surprise surprise, the twins loved it and asked for seconds.  They even had it for lunch the next day.  Glad I found another go to recipes for their picky palates.

Wednesday

We had a jam packed schedule of things to do.  We started at the Sunnyvale library picking up holds and new books.  We came home for lunch and a short short nap for Arthur.  Then we jetted over to Rengstorff for blanket babies.  We ended up at Round Table for dinner.  I had a stamp class that night at RT.  The twins ate pizza and played while Arthur and I made a few cards.  We were all exhausted when we got home.

Thursday

The morning was filled with another visit to Deer Hollow Farm with the mom's group.  This time, we just had one other mom and baby join us, but we still had a nice stroll.  Bonus points for the weather being clear and a little cooler.  On Deer Hollow days, the twins know we get Chick-Fil-A on the way home.  Yum yum!

Friday

Friday was another day at home filled with tv, books, and pool time.  That night, I escaped for a few hours to Round Table for crafting night with my stamping friends.  Every once in a while, it's nice to get away.

Saturday

We ventured all the way into San Francisco Bay to go to the Treasure Island Flea Market.  I'd never been to TI or even over the Bay Bridge (new or old).  It was a treat.  We perused the wares (J bought a tee shirt, twins bought some dragons) and grabbed lunch from the food trucks (lobster rolls and fresh lemonade, wood oven pizza, macon bacon donuts, mini strawberry rhubarb pies).  The flea market is open the last weekend of every month.  J and I may have to go back later this fall.  We arrived taking the Bay Bridge from SF and left taking the new Bay Bridge to Oakland.  So pretty!

Sunday

Arthur had a rough night attempting to sleep.  The entire day was basically everyone attempting to get any energy back.  Ugh!  I did get everyone to help out with the house chores.

Odds and Ends

Here is my randomness for the week:

• I love baby cuddles, but not sick baby cuddles.  And I have the bruises to prove it!
• Pool time is the best
• Arthur really enjoyed watching the tortoise at the zoo on Monday; I think he might get that those are real animals...
• I have promised myself to not buy any more purees... doing well so far
• Missed my mom's group when Arthur was sick
• Feel like I'm forgetting so much on my to-do list
• Summer is flying by and we still have a ton to accomplish
• Arthur's new favorite toy is the baby monitor - uh oh!
• I desperately need about two hours at the coffee shop alone to organize my blogs (the back end is atrocious!)
• J's frustration with his job leads to a tense household
• Would love to have someone come in and deep clean the house (it needs it after 2+ years here)

Summer 2014 Week 3

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps.  I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer.  Eight weeks of fun! This week has been a strange one.  It started out with such fun plans, but very quickly everything changed.  Arthur got sick and we just couldn't do anything exciting...

Monday

We started our week with a ton of errands.  Grocery, Target, library visit, and Toys R Us.  The boys picked up a few card packs and snacks.  Plus we picked up our library holds and got a few new picture books for Arthur.  In the afternoon, Arthur and I went to Mariposa Park for our playdate.  The boys stayed at home with J and presumably played video games.  After dinner I went to Panera for our makeup book club.  It was nice to get out of the house sans kids for a few hours.

Tuesday

Tuesday we were left without a car, so it was a home and pool day.

Wednesday

Wednesday was our big excursion day.  We had planned on a morning activity and an afternoon playdate.  We got to our morning activity: Golfland, but Arthur decided to nap right through the playdate.  Oh well!  For our first visit to Golfland, the twins opted to take advantage of the arcade deals instead of mini golfing.  Next time we will golf!

Thursday thru Sunday

Arthur was sick with a nasty cold, so no big excursions or plans.  The twins did visit the pool and run a few errands with J.  The little one is getting better so we're hoping to hit up the zoo tomorrow.

Summer 2014 Week 2

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps.  I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer.  Eight weeks of fun!

Monday

We traveled back into San Jose to visit The Tech Museum.  The twins went there last year as a camp field trip.  This time Arthur and I accompanied them.  Of course I forgot my camera at home so no pictures.  However, the museum has many interactive stations where you can record your results and/or pictures.  I caught a few good ones.  we enjoyed a yummy lunch at the museum and ended up spending most of the day there.

After the museum, we stopped at Target and the post office for a few essentials.

Tuesday

No car today, but we ended up making a few forays outside.  We walked to the library for storytime (Arthur and I) and books (everyone).  Turns out that was the last storytime until September.  Boo!  We'll still make weekly visits to the library, but I guess whenever it's convenient instead of always on Tuesday.

After lunch and a nap for Arthur, we ventured over to Tutti Frutti for an afternoon snack.  The boys got chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.  I got coffee and salted caramel pretzel yogurt with almonds and shortbread.  Being on Murphy St., we had to visit Bookasaurus.  Arthur got a stuffed rainbow caterpillar and an indestructible book.  The twins got a book and a samurai action figure.

Wednesday

In the morning we took care of the errands: grocery store and haircuts.  The boys look so much better cleaned up.  In the afternoon, we headed over to Rengstorff Park for blanket babies.  The twins planned better this week and brought extra toys.

Thursday

The morning was spent at Deer Hollow Farm with members of the mom's group.  The farm is a working farm about 1 mile into the Rancho San Antonio Nature Preserve.  This time the babies seemed much more interested in the animals.  The twins were even entertained for a few minutes.  Thursday evening had dinner at Round Table so I could attend my stamp club.  The twins enjoyed the pizza.  Arthur enjoyed the attention from the other club members.

Friday

In the morning, headed over to a fellow mom's house for her home inspection (for the co-op).  The afternoon was spent lounging at home.  I was tired after the week, so it was nice when J called and said that we would meet some co-workers at the Firehouse for dinner and then board games at our house.  The twins have been begging to go to the Firehouse since arriving.  Of course they got the chicken fingers and fries.

Saturday

We spend a quiet day at home.  Nothing too exciting.

Sunday

Another quiet day at home.  Getting ready to start week 3 with some different activities.

Thank You Thank You Thank You

 The things I am thankful for this week:

1. Safe arrival of the twins -- After a nearly 6 hour delay, they finally arrived happy and hungry.
2. Quiet early mornings -- Arthur is a 6am riser and we usually get to spend at least 30 minutes in the quiet.  He takes a bottle and cuddles a bit before going off to play.  I love those few minutes.
3. Books -- I've gotten my reading mojo back and have been enjoying some great books lately.  I just made my summer TBR list and can't wait to dive in.
4. Target -- For last minute must have purchases like pacifiers.

Summer 2014 Week 1

Music Monday will be going on hiatus for the summer so I can bring you our weekly recaps.  I will be highlighting all the fun pictures and activities we have planned for this summer.  Eight weeks of fun! The twins arrive last Tuesday and we immediately jumped into summer activities.  Before they arrived, I used my Stampin' Up Epic Day This and That Journal to create our summer bucket list notebook.  Each activity has it's own page in the notebook along with any pertinent information (address, price, hours, etc).  As we complete an activity, it will be checked off in the notebook.

Also, I have devised a weekly schedule to help us stay on top of things and attempt to keep my sanity dealing with two 11 year olds and a 7 month old.

• Monday -- Excursion (mini golf, beach, Great America, etc)
• Tuesday -- Library for books (twins) and storytime (Arthur); Errands day
• Wednesday -- Morning at home; Park baby playdate for afternoon
• Thursday -- Walk (Cuesta or Deer Hollow Farm); Errand/home afternoon
• Friday -- Excursion
• Saturday -- Family excursion or home day
• Sunday -- Family excursion or home day

On to the recap...

Tuesday

Their plane was delayed almost 6 hours due to mechanical issues.  A new plane had to be flown in.  They were supposed to arrive at 11am, but got in at 5pm.  We picked up Wendy's for dinner and went home to relax.  I was hoping they would go to bed early.  I had a co-op board meeting so I left at 7pm.  I came home at 10:30 to find the twins still awake!  Needless to say Wednesday morning was a challenge.

Wednesday

Our first day of events!  After dropping J off at work, we set off for Half Price Books in Fremont.  We had four bags of books and cds to sell.  Of course, I let the boys each pick a few books and even snagged a few board books for Arthur.  Unfortunately, HPB took almost 1 1/2 hours to sort our things. I thought we were going to have a meltdown from all three boys.

After checking out, we headed over to Target for shoes.  The boys came with flip flops and crocs.  Neither of which are good for running around or amusement parks.  We found one pair of back strap sandals in their size, but only one.  thankfully there is a Target right next to Chick-Fil-A where we were picking up lunch.

After lunch we headed over to Rengstorff Park for our weekly playdate.  The twins played on the playground or chilled with us.  This will be a weekly event. At 5pm, we headed home for start dinner (ravioli and tortellini) and relax.

Thursday

In the morning we headed to Cuesta Park for our every other week walk with the mom's group.  The twins played on the playground or read/played iPad on the blanket.  We headed home for lunch and an afternoon by the pool.  Even Arthur joined in on our pool visit.  Every time the twins came near the steps, Arthur tried to launch himself into the water.  Pretty cute!

Friday

Friday was our first big excursion day.  The twins chose Great America.  We loaded up, dropped off J, and headed over right at opening time.  Unfortunately we had to get our season passes processed so that ate up about 20 minutes.  After that we circled the park twice, the twins riding their favorites and Arthur and I hanging out and people watching.  We ate lunch at our favorite spot: Joe Cool Cafe.  Before leaving Arthur and I rode the carousel (in one of the chariots) and the twins souvenir shopped (only one got something).  Four hours at Great America and I was beat!

Saturday

After a late start to the day, we headed over to Boudin Bakery for lunch before traveling to San Jose (only a 15 minute trip).  I had printed free passes to the SJ Museum of Art from our library program.  Turns out it was Community Day and the museum was free for everyone.  Oh well!  We toured the small museum of mostly modern art and the twins participated in a few crafts.  We didn't get out of there until almost 3pm causing Arthur's nap schedule to be off and missing the co-op playdate.  Next time...

Sunday

Sunday was to be a chill day at home.  The boys and I ventured over the Sunnyvale Art and Wine festival (one block away!), looked at the art, and grabbed some kettle corn for later.  We hit the festival right when it opened at 10am and good thing.  The temperature kept going up all day.  We stayed in the rest of the day playing video games and hanging out.

Odds and Ends

Here is my randomness for the week:

• Brownies are amazing.  That is all.
• How do I always run of out of snail when I'm in the middle of a big crafting project?
• I am addicted to Target's Cartwheel app
• I forgot how crazy fast babies are
• Babies are tenacious when it comes to attempting to stand
• Plane travel is horribly complicated.  Why does it need to be so complicated?
• Sunshine makes me feel so much better
• Wine too...

Monthly Life Goals June 2014

Before I get to this month’s goals, let’s check in on May’s goals and my progress.

May Goals (4/7):

• 30 Day Challenge: New Music – Failed!  I completely forgot about this goal.  Oops!
• 30 Day Challenge: Documentary a Day – Success! I only have 26 documentaries of this list, but I'm going to call it a success.  We ended up watching a ton of interesting documentaries throughout the month.  I think my favorite was Tattoo Nation; a fascinating look at the history of tattooing.  Plus, we finally finished Jazz...
  1. NOVA: Why Ships Sink
  2. Scratch
  3. Bermuda Triangle Exposed
  4. Secrets of the Viking Sword
  5. World's Most Dangerous Drug
  6. Tattoo Nation
  7. NOVA: Secrets of the Sun
  8. NOVA: Mystery of Easter Island
  9. Madness in the White City
  10. American the Beautiful
  11. 2 Episodes of Jazz
  12. 6 Episodes of Out of Egypt
  13. 8 Episodes of Cosmos
• Complete a Day in the Life post – Failed.  I never seem to remember this until late in the day.
• Schedule a craft class – Success!  I actually scheduled three classes (to accommodate different times) and three open house crafting sessions.
• Take a day trip somewhere –  Success!  Another mom friend and I traveled up to Oakland to go to the zoo.  I consider this as a day trip as it takes about 45 minutes to get there and we stayed almost all day.
• Go on a preplanned picnic – Failed. We were going to do a picnic last Friday, but Arthur decided that he just wasn't going to nap and messed with the entire day.  Oh well.
• Pinterest Challenge: Document/plan some baby activities – Success!  I have a list of some activities for us to try.  And some activities for the co-op playdates and socials.

June Goals:

• 30 Day Challenge: Kids/Family Activities -- Each day I hope to have some small (or big) activity planned.  In fact, we even have a summer bucket list notebook to help us.
• 30 Day Challenge: Read every day -- This goal applies to myself and also to all three boys.  Obviously the twins can read by themselves, but we also plan on reading together before bed.
• Visit 6 local parks -- It's time to be outside...
• Knock off 10 items from our summer bucket list -- Some of our items are huge (beach day) and some are small (library visit).
• Have a date night with J -- With the start of the co-op, I'm hoping we can schedule a date night sometime this month.
• Pinterest Challenge: Clean out/update Neverending TBR Board -- It needs it.
• Pinterest Challenge: Try 5 new crafting techniques/sketches/color inspirations -- Hopefully I can incorporate some great new SU products.

Thanks Abound

Another round of thank yous for another round of time…

1. Return of cooler temps --  We reached over 90 last week and it was not much fun.  I'm glad we're back to our usual nice temps.  We spend enough time outside that I love good temperatures.
2. New mom friends -- Arthur and I know have a weekly social schedule.  We are loving making new mom and baby friends.  As an added bonus, I'm not bored with constantly talking to a 7 month old.
3. Coffee -- The only thing keeping me awake, coherent, and somewhat happy every morning at 6am.  My boss is a taskmaster.
4. Evernote -- For helping me stay on top of both my blogs.  This has been a lifesaver for organization.
5. Stampin' Up -- I joined as a demonstrator last month and it's opened up so many possibilities.  I can't wait to see what's next.

Blogging Break

A few weeks ago I started a new little chapter in my life.  I became an Independent Stampin' Up demonstrator!  So exciting!  I love crafting.  I love Project Life, stamping, scrapbooking, and lots of other random crafts.  In order to help spread the word and get my SU business up off the ground, I am starting a new craft-centered blog.  Unfortunately, I have limited time to keep up with both blogs.  So I decided to take a 2 week from this blog to help prep and get both blogs back on track. I'll be back on May 19th with my usual weekly features and a few new content tweaks.

Monthly Life Goals May 2014

Before I get to this month’s goals, let’s check in on April’s goals and my progress.

April Goals:

• 30 Day Challenge: 30 Minute Daily Walk -- Failed!  I walked at least twice a week, but I didn't hit everyday like I wanted to.
• 30 Day Challenge: Daily meditation -- Success!  I took a few minutes each day to center my thoughts.
• Finish three more OSW sets -- Success!  I actually surpassed three sets and finished all twelve sets.  I had planned on finished twelve sets by Christmas and I finished half a year early.  Woohoo!
• Complete a Day in the Life post -- Failed!  Yet again the end of the month snuck up on me and I didn't finish this task.
• Visit three new parks with Arthur -- Success!  We need to put more parks on our list soon.
• Pay off Discover student loan -- Success! One bill down.
• Visit the Farmer's Market twice -- Success!  We went exactly twice this month.  Once for popcorn and berries and once for sausages and popcorn.  Yeah, we love popcorn.
• Pinterest Challenge: Document/plan some baby activities -- Failed! Just never got around to it.

May Goals:

• 30 Day Challenge: New Music -- Highlighting new music every day this month.  Hopefully!
• 30 Day Challenge: Documentary a Day -- Yep, I'm going to try and watch a documentary a day.  They may be 30 minutes or two hours.
• Complete a Day in the Life post -- Third time's a charm, right?
• Schedule a craft class -- As a new SU demo, I want to start building my business.  May seems like the perfect month to start pushing forward.
• Take a day trip somewhere -- Maybe the beach.  Maybe the aquarium.  Maybe the zoo.
• Go on a preplanned picnic -- The weather seems perfect for this.
• Pinterest Challenge: Document/plan some baby activities -- Second month attempting this task.

Odds and Ends

Here is my randomness for the week:

• Dropping the stroller on my toes causes nastiness... Yep, that happened yesterday
• I have acclimated to Bay Area weather; 70 degrees is too cold, 78 degrees is too hot; yesterday was 90 degrees (ugh!)
• Popcorn is awesome, that is all
• Why do I love cheesy tv shows?
• Dark chocolate m&ms are my current addiction
• I need to drink more water
• I've fallen down the crafting rabbit hole this past week and yet I'm okay with that
• I'm super excited about creating our Summer Bucket List
• Baby jumpers are freaking adorable
• Sparkling lemonade is absolutely delicious
• I want more crafting supplies but I seriously shouldn't

Thanks Abound

Another round of thank yous...

1. My fellow social committee members -- For putting on an amazing Easter social on Sunday!  I think everyone who came was pleasantly surprised about the amount of activities and goodies the babies got.  I'm actually looking forward to helping plan our summer social.
2. Michael's -- Yes the craft store.  For opening up their classrooms for free usage by the community.  The mom's group was wanting to have a craft night, but no one has an apartment large enough to accommodate.  Then I got an email from Michael's announcing the change.  Perfect timing! Now I just need to call them and get some available times.
3. Sunny days -- I love the warm sunny weather we've been having.  It's been perfect for playdates in the park and long walks.
4. Amazon -- For fulfilling all my baby proofing and pool accessory needs.
5. Stampin' Up -- For partnering with Becky Higgins to create a new Project Life line.  I can't wait to be able to order from the new products.  In fact, I just joined as a SU demonstrator to take advantage of the new awesomeness.

Odds and Ends

Here is my randomness for the week:

• Super looking forward to the Easter Party on Sunday.  And I'm actually enjoying all the prep.  Yes, I'm weird.
• I really really really need to get started on reading the book club selection.  We meet in 7 days!
• I now own at least 8 partial Project Life kits.  I have a problem.
• Pumpkin Spice coffee with Vanilla Creamer is amazing!
• Jillian on Workaholics is the funniest character on that show.
• J leaves on Saturday for a two week work trip.  Not really looking forward to him being gone.
• I need more wine in my life.

A Few Thoughts on Parenting

I don't often write about parenting concerns here. Mostly that's because there are so many great "mommy bloggers" out there.  I don't feel that I have anything groundbreaking to add to the conversation.  However I recent article sparked all kinds of thoughts in my head. Note: The thoughts in this post are my own opinions.  Although I do pick a side of this topic, I do not begrudge anyone on the other side.

While reading through my blogroll, I ran across this article from Huff Post written by Bunmi Laditan: I'm Done Making My Kid's Childhood Magical.  Immediately, I screamed "Yes"! Don't worry, I didn't scream out loud, but it was a huge internal reaction.  The gist of the article is that we don't need to plan these elaborate activities and parties and buy our children the hip expensive clothes. Providing the necessities and showing love is enough.  Allowing our children to explore and play by themselves is just fine.  We don't need to plan every second of every day.

I don't have a daily schedule of crafts and activities.  Somedays they are left mostly on their own to play and entertain themselves.  Obviously that's not quite true with the little one, but I still make sure he has time to explore (safely of course) on his own without my direction, help, or interference.  Somedays I have too many chores or a massive headache and don't feel like being an "on" parent.  And that's okay.  I am not harming my children.

I have often felt the mommy guilt that I don't do more on a daily basis.  Occasionally I doubt my ability to parent.  And then I turn around see my children exploring their worlds, happily playing.  I see my 11 year olds actively seeking out new information and new games.  I see my 6 month old finding his independence in play and mobility.  And I didn't have to scour Pinterest, run to the craft store, and spend hours making something they probably won't even remember.

For the record: I do have a kids' activities board on my PInterest account.  I do occasionally pull things off of it to try.  But I try to resist the feeling that I have to.  Those activities are fun extras not our day to day routine.

Laditan's last thoughts resonated deeply within me:

It is not our responsibility to manufacture contrived memories on a daily basis.

Planning elaborate events, daily crafts, and expensive vacations isn't harmful for children. But if the desire to do so comes from a place of pressure or even a belief that the aforementioned are a necessary part of one's youth, it's time to reevaluate.

Thank you for reaffirming my decision to step away from the perfect mommy race and be the parent I was meant to be.

Monthly Life Goals April 2014

Before I get to this month’s goals, let’s check in on March’s goals and my progress.

March Goals: This month was horrible when it came to my monthly goals.

• 30 Day Challenge: 200 squat challenge – Failed.  I started out with great intentions, but then my plan fell apart about midway through the month.  I want to get back on track with this challenge.
• 30 Day Challenge: Stuff Reduction – Failed. I managed to get rid of a few trash bags worth of stuff, but I really wanted to do more.  I just never seemed to make time for a thorough clean out.
• 30 Day Challenge: Photos of inspiration – Failed. Never even started this one.  Although I am still participating in the Fat Mum Slim Photo a Day.
• Sell read books (HPB or other place) – Failed. Never made it up to Fremont.
• Pinterest Challenge: Check links/clean out at least one board – Success!  I did a ton of clean up on my boards.  Got rid of some duplicated.  Got rid of some pins without actual links.  I need to keep this going.
• Plan/Schedule/Finish Routine Blog Posts Through April – 80% success.  I'm almost there.  Just a few more posts and I'll be set through April.  But at this point, I need to work on posts through May.
• Get a Haircut — Success!  I chopped off a ton of hair.  It had reached the scraggly stage and I needed a change.  Now I have a short bob with volume.
• Complete a Day in the Life post – Failed. Never got around to it.  Going to try again in April.

April Goals:

• 30 Day Challenge: 30 Minute Daily Walk -- I already walk twice a week at Shoreline, but I need to increase this to daily walks.  I'm aiming for daily short walks in addition to my two big walks.
• 30 Day Challenge: Daily meditation -- I have near constant headaches and at times feel very stressed out.  I need to take a few minutes everyday for my mental health.  I think a few minutes each morning of meditation may help me out.
• Finish three more OSW sets -- My goal is 12 sets by the end of the year.  I've already completed four.  I hope to finish three more this month.
• Complete a Day in the Life post -- I wanted to do this in March and it completely slipped my mind.  Let's try this again.
• Visit three new parks with Arthur -- The weather is certainly perfect to be outside.  We haven't been to many of the nearby parks and I want to remedy that.
• Pay off Discover student loan -- So close...  I only have about $150 left sitting in there.
• Visit the Farmer's Market twice -- We haven't been to the market except for sausages for months.  The winter months are a bit lean on participants and produce.  Now I'm looking forward to peaches and berries.
• Pinterest Challenge: Document/plan some baby activities -- I have pinned a ton of kids' activities.  Unfortunately, that's all I've done.  I want to get some supplies to actually do some of these activities.  Now that Arthur is bigger, I need to engage his mind a bit more.