A Day in the Life

The DeShazo and I decided to do a "Day in the Life" because we both like reading those kinds of posts. We eliminated days that neither one of us wanted to keep track of this week- and then coin tossed for the remaining two days.  Wednesday it was !

5AM wake up call !

Turn on Keurig/ put laundry from night before in dryer/ make coffee/ shower

 Time to transform the face and get some caffeine in.

 And sometime before 6AM, in walks this little fella...

And his dad put him back to bed.
Somewhere in there, I do all my makeup except lips and halfway do my hair (non hair washing day ....most days are😉).
And it's chore time...

Thankfully, this guys helps with the morning busyness !

While we unloaded the dishwasher, my breakfast was cooking (egg and pb toast).

And B was ready to be up again- so we had breakfast...

  While we ate, Dad started laundry and then we helped him finish. 

It was time for mom to get dressed and finish her hair.  B has been super choosy about who gets him ready for the day- and dad it was!

Little sis woke up early, too!

Beckham decided he wanted more breakfast.

I get B's lunch packed up and he and Dad leave! (I pack my kiddos' lunches -the refrigerated things only- on the weekend, so that I only have to add the dry goods and we save time). 

I did the second load of laundry while Liv got herself ready, and then I got her hair done.

Thursday is spelling test day, which means we have to practice before school because there is little time before church on Wednesday to study.

 

While I called out spelling words, she wrote them.  I also used this time to do a cleaning chore.  Each morning, I do some house cleaning chore- yesterday was dusting and changing out bathroom hand towels. 

Then I finished packing her lunch and mine and we got ready to load the car and off to school we went.

Now this, may have been the most important task of the day...

Every Wednesday, I go pickup a Papa Angelos pizza before work and refill my gum stash.  This is my family's Friday night dinner most of the time.
My head nearly exploded yesterday morning when I went to retrieve the pizza and it was not in its regular spot.  A sweet stocker must have noticed my look of panic mixed with venom and quickly informed me of the Papa Angelos pizzas ' new location.

I then made my way to the office where I worked (which was filled with lots of funny and bizarre stories yesterday) binge watched ER, and ate my second breakfast, first lunch , animal crackers and second lunch. I'm super blessed that I get to work with one the best friends I've had in my entire life. We tend to discuss many random things- and one discovery - is that The DeShazo cannot wink.

 

"second breakfast"- overnight oatmeal

"first lunch"- leftover Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole

"second lunch"- spinach salad with chopped turkey pepperoni/shredded cheese (I eat it dry)

(Side note:  I usually only eat dinner on Friday nights and on Bunco nights.)

Work ended at 4:00pm, so I headed to get Beckham.

I took this photo at a stoplight.  Any time the car stops, he yells "Go mommy, go!".

Home at 4:25pm and get to see my girl! We have a high school student who picks her up from school M-Th and brings her home.  On Wednesdays, Katie feeds her dinner and makes sure she's showered/bathed before church so that she doesn't have to do it after church.

Martinez is on call this week, so he gets home earlier in the afternoon.  That made the about 1 hour I had at home much easier with getting backpacks, containers, and things set out for the next day much easier.  

Clothing change for me, ate a cutie, and out the door for church at 5:20pm.  I was able to leave earlier since Martinez was home and intended to get gas on the way.  I was unbuckling in the church parking lot when I realized I forgot to stop for gas.

We had Awanas and children's choir practice until 8:00pm.

Doesn't everyone like singing The Ten Commandment Boogie? (Thanks Stephanie for taking this photo)
Our church has some of the most amazing people in it.  The ladies I get to hang out with on Wednesdays are precious to me.

Kevin has adult choir practice after church, so he brings Beckham, drops him off with me, and then he goes to choir and the kids and I go home.

 8:29pm- we are home!

Beckham was so tired last night.  When we walked in the house he said, "I nap!".

This little girl then got changed and in bed.....

I tidied up the house, started the dishwasher, turned my heating blanket on, took my makeup off and examined my wrinkles while watching a little ER.

Every night, I try to take a super hot bath.  I'm always freezing cold and this is about the only way I can warm up- and it helps calm the crazy in my head most nights. Well, probably not really.  I refrained from taking a picture of that.  

I wouldn't want anyone getting jealous 😜

I read the book of Ruth while in the tub, and somewhere around 9:15ish Martinez got in.

After putting on my face and eye creams, I went to bed, surfed Facebook and tried to stay awake to watch Scorpion (one of the shows Martinez and I watch together), but I quickly had to give myself over to sleep.

And with that.... 9:47pm ended my day.

A Little Bit of Livi

Did this picture crack you up?

 I'm still laughing.

I was asked this week who The DeShazo is....so....here she is!😁😁 She sure loves her snapchat filters.

Hopefully your week has gone well.  I can tell you that I would love a super long nap on Saturday and I am already planning it....which means it won't happen at all.

On Monday, Livi received the student of the month award for her class.
She was so excited!

Liv's teacher emailed Martinez and I Friday to let us know that she would be getting this award....and that it would be a surprise.
After she received her award and I was able to chat with her, she said " I totally knew I was getting that award!"  When I asked her how she knew, her response was so matter of fact...... "A girl in my class saw it on Mrs. Moore's desk and told me."

This girl brings such a smile to our faces.  She's funny, feisty, and full of love.
She's the perfect car singing partner.  You better hold on to your hat if Dirt on my Boots or Fishin' in the Dark comes on. 

She's also full of sarcasm !
As you guys already know, I'm excellent at exercising.  So much so, that Livi saw me doing some squats and told me she had some other exercises I should try out because the squats I was doing "are not right".  She showed me "scissors" and some other things .The moment I tried to mimic the moves -she gave me this look.....

And to add to her less than impressed perception of her mom exercising (and I do mean exercising in the lightest sense of the word), she's asked me to practice "her moves" every day since.

Exercise class

I love having this little girl in my life.  She's amazing.  I hope she always keeps that big smile and wit.

I do however, hope she lowers her expectations in life just a tad, as she told me this morning that she's asking Santa to go back to Disney World.

Speaking of Disney World, here are a few photos:

Kevin's face is so great-sheer terror.  Meanwhile, I'm having maybe one of the best moments of my life, and the little fella in the back is practicing for his possible stripping career

 

 Maybe I'll ask Santa for a trip back to Disney World too.

2018 Goals

I’ve realized that I did not post my new goals for 2018.  It's taken a few days of writing a sentence or two here and there, so here goes, in no particular order:

1) Do me.   This may seem selfish, but I don’t mean for it to. I just mean that I’m gonna stop worrying about what someone else thinks about how I parent/dress/wear my makeup, etc.  I’m getting to old to keep worrying about this stuff.

2) Simplify/Change Routine.  I really need to stop stressing about routine down to the minute. It’s taken me all of Liv's kindergarten and half of first grade year to realize that I don't have to be in the drop off line before school opens.
I've also realized that it's OK to not have the dishwasher loaded within fifteen minutes of being home. I know, it's ridiculous. I'm working on it.
This also means that we may not make every birthday party or event and that will have to be ok.

Oh yea, and I'm buying uncrustables for my kids' lunches now too. My kids get a pbj sandwich in their lunch every Monday.  I never can get that peanut butter to jelly ratio right and just tear the bread or it runs out. I'm over that! It’s gross anyway.

3) Only cook a couple major meals a week.  I'm from a family where you ate home-cooked meals and eating out was a big deal.  Our little family operates similarly, but that may change.  I need more time in the evenings to just talk to my little ones.  So, Martinez, be prepared!  I'm planning for 2, maybe 3 home-cooked meals a week.  It'll be cereal, fend for yourself, or find something in the freezer otherwise.

4)  More intentional time with my family.  This goes in line with #3.  I still need to focus on intentional, deliberate time with my family.  Less social media when I am with them, less texting, reading or whatever.  I need to limit distractions.

5) Read scripture/pray more.  I have to do this.  I'm going to work harder on making time and focusing on this.

6) Embrace my lip dip💄💄.  When The DeShazo reads this, she's going to laugh.
It's no secret... I LOVE lipstick.   Because The Deshazo and I discuss nearly everything, my lips and lipstick have been a topic many times.  I have the thinnest lips ever.  It breaks my heart that have the tiniest of lips in which to spread my precious Ruby Woo lipstick.  Further, I have a strange lip dip (assuming it's called a lip dip). It's too deep.

This was the look I was going for:

 You may recognize this actress from the show Quantico.  I discussed my wishes for having lips like these to The DeShazo, who quickly let me know that I'd need botox for this situation.

My MAC lipstick is my favorite piece of makeup.  So naturally, in an effort to provide more surface area to smear that lipstick, I took matters into my own hands and made a new lip dip.

As you can see, it didn't quite work.

Thus, I'm gonna embrace the lip dip I have and leave well enough alone.

I suppose now would be a good time to tell you that I appeared at work a few times with some strange outlines around my lips for enlargement purposes.  The DeShazo and I shared many laughs about that.

If you would like an update to the 25lb bag of flour I accidentally ordered on the Walmart Grocery App...

I stripped out the gears or something like that in my mixer attempting to do some baking and I need a new one!  I'll also confess now that I wasn't even out of flour to begin with. 

 But hey, that buttercream icing was finished and that's what counts.

Update on Goals

And once again, the blog returns.

The DeShazo thought that the two of us should update the world, a/k/a our loyal few readers, on our new year goals......from 2016.

I'm a tad behind, so here goes:

GOALS (from 2016)

1) I want to lose 15 more pounds.  Let's be real- I need to lose another 30, but I'm not gonna work out to do it.  I'd rather clean toilets that don't belong to me than to do that.

 I totally did this !  I ended up losing 23 pounds! Of course now, I want to lose 23 more.

But then there's cake.

2) Quit the skipping of church service. After I had B and was bf, it became a habit to leave church after SS so that I could pump.....but it stayed around.  That extra hour was so nice that we just sort of let it happen too much.  We've been trying to rectify the error of our ways, but we could get better.  There's no excuse. We know better.  I don't want to put a number on it....but I'm saying no more than 10 skips this year.  I can see some of ya'll's eyes  are popping out of your heads because you can't fathom how we can even miss that much.  Keep your judgments to yourselves! Vacations, sick days with kids- it can add up quickly.  This goal is to keep us from lazily skipping service.

We did it ! We are back in the swing of things.  
I'm gonna take a minute to throw a shout out to our church.  Country Estates Baptist Church is awesome.   We have some of the best people at our church.  They love the Lord and they love people.  I have made such sweet friends here.  If you need a place to feel loved, to worship, and to learn, check us out.  You won't regret it.

3) Daily Bible Reading - The DeShazo and I are going to read Jesus Is Calling this year.  I've seen posts about how this is a bad devotional book- and I've seen posts raving about it. We shall see.

Fat Failure.  In the beginning.....
I started out ok.  I think I made it maybe 3 weeks.  I couldn't focus on the Jesus is Calling devotional.  I know so many people that love it. I felt like it was basically saying the same thing everyday...and maybe that's the point?  I don't know.  The DeShazo would ask me what I thought about a specific day's devotional and all I could tell her was something about the valley, paths, and the mountains.  I don't even know if I read those words?!!!  

I need a different way...feel free to throw out suggestions.


4) The DeShazo and I have talked for a few years about copying Mix and Match Mama's Holiday Party.  We are making that party happen December 2017.

Failed ! We bailed on that so fast!!
We went for coffee instead.

5) I never remember in time to do Christmas cards.  I'll also confess that sometimes I just haven't wanted too- but 2017- I'm making the effort.

Failed.  I'm cracking up right now at the thought that I might actually get around to this.  I must have been feeling inspired and motivated when I said that.

6) Spend less money on material things for my kids and more on experiences for them.

Definitely improved on this!

7) Manage my time a little more efficiently at home- which means phone time needs to cease.

Made some improvements- but a long way to go.

8) Clean out the attic.  It's scary up there.

Success, thanks to CEBC's mission Orlando fundraiser!

9) Potty train Beckham. I've been warned by many that the little fellas aren't as easy to potty train as girls- so I'm trying to prepare myself that I may not make it before age two like Livi- but I'm still going to make the effort.

BIGGEST FAILURE EVER !!!!!!!! EVER!!!! IT'S ON MY LAST RESERVED NERVE! 

That is all.

10)  Work out 10 minutes a week.  This is from The Deshazo.  I tried to convince her to do 10 minutes a month- but I failed. She also advised that cleaning house didn't count- because we used to text each other early in the morning to get up and work out- and while she was exercising I was mopping floors.

Yeah right.  This girl ain't working out 10 minutes anytime.

Although, The DeShazo is making me do 30 squats a day.
I'm currently struggling to sit on the toilet properly, as I tried to be an over-achiever the last 2 days and do 50 a day.  I'm forced to fall back on the toilet at the moment because it hurts to sit. 
You are welcome for that visual, folks.

I decided that I could do these squats while my food is being microwaved at work. That would give me incentive.  Do squats... then eat.....do more squats.... then eat. It's perfect.


That's enough of my rambling. You can check out The DeShazo's update here.

3rd Thoughtful Thursday

It's time for the 3rd Thoughtful Thursday with The DeShazo, with the 3rd set of random questions.

41. Do you have any magazine subscriptions? -Nope

42.  Which are better:  legos or lincoln logs? -I have no idea

43.  Are you stubborn? -Maybe. Probably.  Definitely, yes.

44.  Who is better:  Leno or Letterman?  -I'm asleep when they are on.  Aren't they both retired now?

45.  Ever watch soap operas?  -I used to watch em'.

46.  Are you afraid of heights? - I mean, I'm not gonna bungee jump. However, roller coasters or things like that don't bother me.

47.  Do you sing in the car? - Yep

48.  Do you sing in the shower? -Don't think so.

49.  Do you dance in the car? -Probably

50.  Ever used a gun? -Yep.

51.  Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?  -Last September for fall family photos.  Oh wait... maybe it was in December with Kevin's family.

52.  Do you think musicals are cheesy?  -Most of them. You ain't catching me watching the Sound of Music. Ever.

53.  Is Christmas stressful? - Some things we do around Christmas time are stressful- but I reckon those things ought to be eliminated.  The holiday, meaning and spirit of it itself are not stressful.

54.  Ever eat a pierogi? -I don't believe so since I can't even pronounce that.

55.  Favorite type of fruit pie?  -Apple with lots of cinnamon and sugar.  Unless a blackberry cobbler counts- and then let's go with that.

56.  Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? - Lawyer & teacher

57.  Do you believe in ghosts? -I believe there are things not to be dabbled in.

58.  Ever have a Deja-vu-feeling? -Yep

59.  Ever take a daily vitamin? -Nope.  (and I surely hope The DeShazo confesses all the ones she takes)

60.  Do you wear slippers? -Only when I'm not home on my own floors...and sometimes...not even then. I wonder if need those for Disney???? Oh no.....

Disney, here we come!

Well folks, the Martin's are going to Disney.  It's happening. Next week.

There are approximately 500 things running through my head and I don't even know why because the planning of the trip has fallen on my dear friend, Melissa and Martinez....but mostly Melissa.
Bless their hearts.

I'm excited about having an actual vacation with my little family all together. I'm also super crazy in my head thinking of all the different scenarios of Beckham on the plane. I'm sure hoping our plane- mates are in a great mood because I've chewed my nails off thinking about it and they throb.

Months and months ago, I decided to visit Pinterest in search of Disney information.  For the record.... I knew nothing (and still don't know a lot). Only this year, have I learned that Disneyland and Disney World are different and that we would be going to the world.
Melissa has been very informative.
After sending her message after message of all these things Pinterest said I needed to know before going to Disney World, we decided it best that I keep off the internet and allow her to navigate.  She's been a pimp, on account of which, if I had to make any decisions/choices or figure this out, we would not make it there... and she's had to deal with me.
Bless her heart.

My input in this vacation planning has consisted of declaring that I will have to ride this Steven Tyler ride I've heard about, because after all, we are pretty tight (and thanks again Shaun for completing Beckham's room with Steven on the wall),

and also declaring that I want to go see all the Harry Potter stuff.  Melissa was very informative, yet again, and explained that the Harry Potter stuff is at Universal- not Disney.
I'm sure you all knew that though.

I figured a month or two ago that I would be proactive and purchase a leakproof backpack to put all our junk in at the parks.  (I remembered the "leakproof" part from my Pinterest research...I think). 
Anyway, I found this awesome deal on Amazon and my leakproof backpack arrived....with some sort of Chinese writing on the outside of it.  Whatever, man.   You'll find me wearing this backpack loud and proud- because goodness, it was such a deal. 

(I sure hope it doesn't say anything naughty.)

Oh, I was also proactive when I put the magic watches that arrived in a room and then told Melissa to remind to pack those.  She promptly corrected me and said "They are Magic Bands. Not watches".

This week has been full of nights not including sleep.  I've stared awake and woken Martinez up with thoughts and then even asking him if we can change our flights to leave earlier because I'm concerned about the lack of sleep.
He said no.
If you see me between now and next week, and I appear to be a zombie....it's because sleep has been replaced with crazy vacation worries and excitement.

My thoughts are everywhere.

I'm excited and scared !

And I'll end this by saying that somebody ought to be praying for Melissa and Martinez having to deal with all this🙂🙂

2nd Thoughtful Thursday

 It's October !!!!

We always go to the pumpkin patch the first weekend in October and I can't wait to go Saturday with my little family.

We've had a much slower week this week and I'm grateful.

 Monkey bar practice-

Played with friends-

I feel like my kiddos are too big already.  My little girl has changed so much in this last year and she seems so grown up.

And then this morning, she felt tiny again, as I discovered this...

What you are looking at is a brand new pair of shoes stained with sand/clay. It may not seem so bad in this photo, but this was after dumping out the tablespoons of SAND AND TINY LOOKING STICKS!! (I thought to take a photo after).  Liv approached me this morning and said "Mom, these socks are poking me."  I took off a shoe to adjust her socks, only to have my hands covered in SAND. I then took off the other shoe and received sand and tiny STICKS!  "LIVI, THE STICKS ARE POKING YOU! NOT SOCKS!!".  My head may have come close to an explosion, as I wondered about the transference of this sand in her closet and shoe rack. Her playground at school has wood chips, or so I thought, so I'm still not certain where this came from exactly.
In case you are wondering, she's still unsure on how that much sand "appeared" in her shoes or how tiny sticks were in there....and she also doesn't recall any sand or sticks escaping upon removing them on the last wear.
So, you'll find me with a cleaning toothbrush, baking soda, peroxide and dawn dish soap, scrubbing the insides of these shoes, because after all, we only looked at a dozen places (or more!) to find her size in the exact color she wanted.


How can he be 2 already?

He gave me lots of snuggles on Wednesday.  These days, it's a rare treat!

Today is the second set of 20 questions at random with The DeShazo.

21.)  What is your least favorite movie? -probably any Matrix movies because I just totally don't get it- or that Indiana Jones movie that Martinez made me sit through years ago with skulls swirling around in circles.

22.)  Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? -Doesn't that defeat the point of "hidden"?

23.)  What do you drink with dinner? -Water

24.)  What do you dip a chicken nugget in? -I only eat chicken nuggets if they are from Chick-fil-a- and I'll dip those in any of their sauces- but I'll go with the Polynesian sauce.

25.)  What is your favorite food? -Dessert.  I try not to discriminate though. I love most food.

26.)  What movies could you watch over and over again and still love?   -Hocus Pocus, Steel Magnolias, Tombstone, New in Town, Fried Green Tomatoes

27.)  Last person you kissed/kissed you? -Martinez

28.) Were you ever a boy/girl scout? -Nope

29.)  Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? -Ummm, No.  There isn't enough eye insurance in the world for the viewers to receive proper treatment after that.

30.)  When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?  -I can't remember.

31.)  Can you change the oil on a car? -Nope

32.) Ever gotten a speeding ticket? -Yep, and it left me with $161.00 less to my name.

33.)  Ever ran out of gas? -Yep, on the lawn mower. Repeatedly.

34.) What's your favorite kind of sandwich? -Anything from Napoleon's with that garlic sauce.... but probably a No. 4.

35.) Best thing to eat for breakfast? - Dessert ( and yes, I eat my "first breakfast" about 5:30am-usually a baked good.  I'll explain more about this some other time).  If it has to be a breakfast food- I'm definitely going for sausage gravy and biscuits.... and go ahead and add a slice or two of crispy bacon.

36.) What is your usual bedtime? -I like to be laying in my bed these days at 8:30pm and asleep by 9:30pm.

37.)  Are you lazy? -Nope.

38.)  When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? - I cannot remember, which is frustrating because I love Halloween and I don't forget stuff like that.

39.) What is your Chinese astrological sign? -No clue 

40.)  How many languages can you speak? -One


 See ya next time!