Checking in

So it's the last day of January already...this year is already going by quickly...so I thought I'd say hi.

So far in the Midwest we have had a relatively mild winter.  We have had some COLD days and some mild days, we've had some snow but nothing major yet.  This may change soon. 

Right now we are forecasted to get a major storm on Tuesday of this week.  While I understand that meteorologists are not able to give us a true idea of exactly how much snow we are going to get yet I am always amazed at:

1) what they do tell us this far out;

and 

2) what some people expect them to be able to do this far out.  

As of Friday (5 days before the storm is supposed to hit) we were hearing projections of 6-14 inches for my area.  I was also hearing up to 20 inches.  The storm hadn't even made landfall over California when they were saying this.  So the general public already started freaking out.  I think this is funny. We live in the Midwest...it snows...EVERY YEAR....this shouldn't be a problem.

Luckily the TV station I follow the most have very straight forward meteorologists who will tell you WE DON'T KNOW YET what the impact will be.  They will say that we should get at least some snow but the amounts and exactly storm path can not be determined until 24-48 hours before the snowfall is supposed to occur.  Well it's is now at that 48 hour mark and it looks like they are still not quite sure how much we'll get but that 6 inches is a minimum safe bet.  So needless to say it will be an interesting next 48-72 hours.  I feel our first snow day from school coming up this week.

I'll let you know what ends up happening with our weather....will it be the "snowpoclaypse" that some news organizations are already predicting or will life go on as normal.  Once again...it's winter, it snows here, I really am not expecting much other than a regular snow day.

Another year has come!

Happy New Year to one and all.

Another year has arrived and I am happy to say that my family is Happy and Healthy at the start of this year.  I can hope and pray we stay this way.

As I said once or twice before in New Year posts I don't do Resolutions.  I believe they set me up for failure but I will list goals.

This year I have a few goals that I really want to concentrate on accomplishing.  Here they are:

1. Get my kids scrapbooks done up til the age of 4 at least.  I am hoping this isn't too  lofty of a goal.  They are currently at 3 yrs old (for my 11 yr old), 2 yrs old (for my 9 yr old), 1 yr old (for my 6 yr old), and 4 months old (for my 2 yr old).  3 out of 4 of them have birthdays in the first 3 months of the year so take that into consideration when thinking how far behind I am ;) 

2. Exercise 3 times a week.  Since last April I have lost 40 pounds and was walking ALOT until the school and evening activities started in September and since it has turned cold I have done basically nothing.  Time to get back off of my butt and into getting into the gym or finding something at home to do. I recently joined a Facebook group..2016 Gold challenge...1000 miles this year walk/run or 100 days working out.  I will complete this!

3. Blog weekly (so I am 2 weeks behind but I'll make it up).

4. Monthly dates with my hubby OUTSIDE of the house.  We are getting better at this but it always seems we get busy and skip a month or two.   While during the school year we try to get together when all 4 kids are in school I am not counting those because those don't even happen as regularly as we would like.

5. Read at least 1 book a month for fun and keep up on my Women's Health Magazine. ..I have a tendency to order a magazine and then end up with a stack of magazines unread at the end of the year.

6.  Complete at least 1 random act of kindness a month.

Right now that is all I can think of to type. I hope to complete these as well as more. 

Here's to my goals.

Learning a lesson?

So funny story.....for the last 3 days my 11 year old son hasn't been able to find his wallet That's no big deal you may say..he's 11 why does he need a wallet.

Well, he leaves for Boy Scout Camp on Sunday and he can NOT bring a pocket knife unless he has his Totin Chip. For those unfamiliar it's a card that says you have proven you know how to use a knife safely and your Trooopmaster signs off on it.

       IT IS AN EXTREMELY BIG DEAL

(and they are very serious about it at camp).

Back to the story (or lesson)...

I kept telling him and his brother to clean their room properly and maybe he'd find it.  But boys will be boys and it has fallen on deaf ears. Meanwhile, earlier today my dear son remembered having his wallet while on the love seat.  He tells me he also can't find his deodorant and is looking for that at the same time.

So tonight I decided I would go downstairs and help him look.  I started by searching through all of the items that were on his bed (not where they belong of course) as well as his blankets and such.  I then moved on to the dresser and all of his drawers.  His closet floor was horrible so I made him clean that up again to check.  No wallet...no deodorant.

As I am giving up on his room and the playroom (looks like a tornado would improve that room) I go into the basement living room and start looking.  As I'm looking I am picking up little scraps of paper out of habit.  The next thing I did...go into the bathroom to throw said paper away...and LOW AND BEHOLD what did I find...HIS DEODORANT (where it belongs) and HIS WALLET.  

As I find it I'm thinking so the last 3 days when he has been using his bathroom, brushing his teeth, showering and everything else he hasn't noticed the deodorant was on the shelf where it belongs.  If maybe he had noticed that he would have discovered the wallet right behind the deodorant.  

As any good mother of four I decided to try to use this as a learning tool.  I called the 3 kids who were home together (my 2 yr old is out with my husband) and started off (trying not to smirk) asking them if they knew what would happen if they put things where they belonged when they were supposed to.  Of course all I heard was crickets....so I continued by saying the reason we tell you to put things where they belong is so that when you are looking for them they will be there.  As I am saying this I take the deodorant from behind my back and show it to them.  

My son is flabbergasted by such a discovery...DEODORANT IN THE BATHROOM...ON THE SHELF IT BELONGS....WOW!  I then proceed to show him his wallet...and say yes if you would have noticed your deodorant wasn't lost you would have FOUND your wallet.  

It's funny....I don't remember him saying Thank you for finding it but right now that wasn't as important as me trying to teach them a lesson.

WILL THEY LISTEN AND REMEMBER...PROBABLY NOT...THEY ARE ONLY 11, 9 AND 6...WHAT CAN I EXPECT?!

How cold was it?

So the first week of the year brought some very cold weather. How cold you ask.....well the picture says it all.  We put some beer out on our back porch to keep cold since our frig isn't that big and forgot about it.  

 Well I knew alcohol would but I thought it had to get a lot colder than it had gotten.  Our lowest temperature the second week of the month got to about 20 degrees below zero with wind chills of 65 below. 

Guess we can call it a semi-failed experiment in outdoor refrigerators. The ones that didn't pop the lids defrosted and we're okay but the ones that popped their lids had to he thrown out.   Sad day ;)

Happy 2015!

I am not one for New Year's Resolutions.  I think they set you up for failure. At least my history is that I seem to fail every time I set a resolution.

So as I have done in the past I will set my goals for the year and hope I get close to making them or make them.  But this year I am also making a 2015 Bucket List and I may make my life long Bucket List.

So here is a start to my Goals (they are always changing and evolving).

2015 Goals

Find a better balance of me time vs family time vs couple time.

Get back to actively scrapbooking.

Purge more things from my house.

Organize my paperwork better again.

Get more active.

Make our summer vacation not just a trip to see family/attend a wedding but an actual vacation.

See/connect with my friends more.

Take more pictures with my DSLR camera. (I used to take a ton of pictures but I've gotten lazy over the past year and since I upgraded to a smartphone in October I've gotten even worse)

Make sure I'm in more pictures.

My BUCKET LIST is to be continued.....

Let's try this again

It's been a long time since I've posted in my blog.

I've gotten out of the habit of both posting and reading the blogs that I enjoy.  I need to get back into both habits.

So let's see if I remember how ;)

5 Things I'm grateful for.....

1.  My husband...He is the best thing that has happened to me in my life.  We've been together almost 20 years and he makes me happier each day than the day before.

2.  My kids...As crazy as they make me I can't imagine life without them.

3. My house....This past September we upgraded our house.  We ate now in a home that is big enough for our growing family.

4. My friends....I have a great group of friends.  They are from different times in my life but the ones that have stayed with me mean the world to me, whether I talk to them daily, weekly, monthly, or just keep in touch through Facebook (or another way). They help keep grounded.

5. My family....no explanation necessary. ..they're family.

Giving up Fast Food

So I gave up Fast Food for Lent....this was something I thought about for a few weeks before deciding exactly what I was going to do.  I realized I eat Fast Food about once a week sometimes more depending on what is going on.  I do it because I want it....sometimes it's because I'm busy and it's quick but most of the time it is because I want it and don't want to fix me something at home....so I figured this is a good sacrifice for me to make.

Well Lent started yesterday and already I was "tested."

Tonight we went to McD's for Symon's first birthday dinner (a tradition to bring the kids there on their 1st bday) and I was good and didn't eat....but it was hard...you don't realize how easy it is to just pick up a french fry when breaking them apart for a 1 year old to eat.

I was glad I was careful because I can see how it could've easily happened without realizing it.  This is going to be an interesting forty days but I know I can do it.