Friday, December 4, 2015

It Has Been FAAAAAAAAR Too Long

Hey there, long time no write.  Man have I gotten lazy with my blogging.  But as it is December and we're about to come upon yet another new year, I think I should try to make and stick to a new years resolution:  to blog more.  So here is my first blog in, oh, too many months.

What's new?  So much.  To start: my baby (yeah remember him), well, he is a two years old now.  I know... mind BLOWN!

It's December...did I already say that?  Well, it is.  And you know what happens in December?  CHRISTMAS!!! My absolute favorite time of year (next to Thanksgiving, which we celebrated this year with about 30 or so family and friends...it was awesome).

So as it is December and Christmas is roughly about 3 or so weeks away, I'll tell you what I have planned or what I have done so far for the month of yule tide giving.

I finally bought tickets to The Nutcracker this year for myself and my 8 1/2 year old daughter.  I am so excited to share this experience with her.  It will be a first time for the both of us and I cannot wait.  That's happening next week.

I got new stockings for the kids and they are beautiful:  they have the kids pictures, names and the year 2015 on them and they are awesome.

Another school year has come and gone:  kids are on vacation and will be attending their Christmas parties in the upcoming days. Oh, and they all passed the year, thankfully.

Side note:  my daughter got the Chicken Pox last week.  She's better now but that was a bit scary.

Side note:  My 7 year old got lice this year (EWWWWW).  He got it at school and so that was an ordeal to deal with because I had never dealt with lice before.

And then Christmas gifts.  I am happy to say that I am done shopping for my kids for the big day.  I know, ah-maaazing.  I started in September and finished up the last of the gifts last month.  YAY me.  I feel so accomplished.  It feels good to be done this early.  Now to be fair, the kids lists were very simple this year so their gifts were less expensive.  But still, being done is being done no matter if I spent $500 or $50.

And finally, we are heading to the beach for a proper family vacation.  We took a few this year (well two this year) but they were shorter trips.  We want a BIG vacation...like 4 to 5 days at least.  So we'll see how far our budget can stretch of family of 6.

Hope to blog again soon...tata! ;)



Thursday, January 15, 2015

Happy (Belated) New Year

We are now officially halfway through the new year and it feels pretty good so far.  Does it feel like a new year.... not yet.  But it's 2015 and I am pretty much in awe of how fast the time has flown by.  I cannot believe just how quickly we made it from 2014 to another year ahead.  I look forward to the new year though; new beginnings, new challenges, new ideas, new opportunities; just a new fresh start. 

And with a new, fresh start comes new resolutions.  I do need to blog more so maybe that can be a resolution for the new year.  But I hate making new year's resolutions as, like many people, I never seem to can stick to them for the entire year.  I go a few months and then fall right back into my old routines.  But I did make a few small changes for the new year and I just have to share.

Small changes for the new year:

Established a new household chore routine.  So I had gotten a bit lazy when it came to deep cleaning my house. My sporadic hiring of various cleaning help had gotten me a bit accustomed to having someone else do the cleaning for me. But I am happy to say I'm loving cleaning again (I had forgotten how cathartic it can be).  So, for 2015, I have set aside Mondays as my clean house day and I do it all: wipe floors, clean fridge, dust, toilet, showers...the whole nine yards.  I hope I can keep this routine for the whole year.  And of course I'll update how that's going

More organization.  Yes, MORE organization.  Something I struggle with because I have a small house and a ton of kids.  Kids who want to save everything.  Kids who want to reuse the recycling to make big projects.  Kids who are just plain messy.  It is not easy but I am working on it.  The first thing I worked on was the kids art supplies in the all purpose room.  The next projects I want to tackle: my son's closet (the top), my daughter's desk, outdoor toy storage, and the baby's toy box.  But one room at a time and updates to come, of course.

Finally, weight loss.  This is the one "resolution" I am dreading.  Why?  Because for me to lose weight, I need to follow a few rules and I am not a big fan of weight loss rules.  But I gotta do what I gotta do.  I was in the best shape of my life before baby number 4 but with the pregnancy, that all went down hill. I need to get back to myself.  I need to lose this baby (and extra) weight.  I need to get back into shape.  I had high hopes last year but I just remained lazy.  I am hoping this is the year (fingers crossed).  I will not make any definite plans.  I will remain spontaneous as it has worked for me in the past.  And I won't set any definitive dates either.  Why no dates: as we know, if I say I'm going to start my fitness regimen February 1st and then Feb. 1st rolls around and I don't get my regimen going, I am going to feel like a failure.  So I'm just going to go with the flow and see how I feel and start when I feel ready.  Updates to come.

And upcoming blog posts that I need to catch up on will hopefully be posted very soon: baby A's 16 month update, Christmas and our mini family vacation photos.  Looking forward to the new year and a new start (of more blog posts).