I'm not going to make it to Christmas break.

Remember last year, or maybe the year before when this blog about the end of the school year was making the rounds? I swear, that mom and I could be BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. She just gets that the end of the school year is basically parties and not even worth the energy it takes to get your kids to school. But here's the thing, it's December and I already feel that way. Like, she's limping across the finish line and I'm not even at the halfway mark yet, and I totally give up.

I should have known that this year was doomed for failure when I lied on Reese's reading log on the first week of school. Twenty minutes a night is overkill anyways. But seriously, I had no idea that today was Reese's class party. Apparently the email AND the paper flyer that came home last Friday didn't make it through my "fuck school" mentality. Or, maybe, just maybe I blacked out the thought that I would have to get through an entire morning routine, with three children, two of which hate the mornings, for my child to learn nothing and party all day. And these party people are the people trying to convince me that twenty minutes a night is important? Oh girl.

And the thing is, the kids are just as done as I am. Camden doesn't start school until 11:20, and this morning I let him have a PJ play date from 8am until it was time to go to school. Don't worry, I set aside five minutes for him to change his clothes and brush his teeth. The Elf isn't even helping anymore. They realize that his beady little eyes can only follow you so far, and then they're on their own. They act like little angels in front of Snowflake, and as soon as they're out of eye shot they turn into wild children who might be being raised by wolves. It's like I'm raising criminals, and training them to only be bad when the police aren't watching.

Everett hasn't even had a nap this week, because four of five days have been early release. Dude, just give us all five days. OR. Bundle all those early release hours up and let us start Christmas break one day early. Both big kids are having two days of parties this week, so I'm thinking that the only people more done than I am are the teachers. Today when I was volunteering in Camden's class I'm 98% sure that we were teaching the kindergarteners how to play craps. I mean, it's a life skill so I happily participated. Plus, I have no idea how to play craps (because pregnant at 19, obvi) so we both learned something.

We are so, so close to the end of this week, and tomorrow is even PJ day, so I don't even have to get anyone dressed. Two more lunches to pack, two more reading logs to forge, two more drop offs and we are done for two whole weeks. Cheers to that!

My Husband is a Rockstar

Oh man, one blog post a week just isn't going to cut it.  Last week was CRAZY here!  The big kids started school, and they are both having such a great experience.  Reese started third grade, and this is the first year in a while that she has started with friends in her class.  She was super stoked to start school, and, we're four days in and she hasn't cried about waking up once.  She hates mornings like you wouldn't believe, so no tears is amazing.  Camden started kindergarten, and he's doing well.  At least that's what they're telling me (insert winking emoji).  After school on the first day I go to pick him up, and we find out there was a minor 'crossing of streams' incident, and he ended up peeing on a friend.  Yikes.  But, we haven't heard of any other problems, so we are just going to call that a case of first day jitters and hope that our first full week goes smoothly.  

I also went with a few friends to see the Rascal Flatts concert, and it was such a great time!  Almost as good as the people behind us.  Ha!  Let me tell you, if you're going to whisper dirty things in the hot girls ear you should first be sure of two things. 

1.  You should be sure that you're the guy she's going to go home with, and not your good buddy.

2.  You should be sure that you are, in fact, whispering.

It was so crazy!  Every time I turned around it was like couple swap.  The first time it was plaid shirt guy and sleeveless vest guy dirty dancing.  The second time it was sleeveless vest guy and black dress girl basically needing a room.  The third time it was plaid shirt guy and black dress girl all over each other.  I'm curious as to who went home with who that night.  If I could redo the night I would definitely have worked my way into the friend group just to get the gossip.

 In other news, I am having some major pre surgery anxiety.  I feel like a walking, talking basket case.  It's not even the surgery itself that scares me, it's the recovery.  It's a big recovery process, and it requires me basically handing over my entire job to Mark.  You know, my husband who also has a full time job.  I'm nervous for him.  I do a lot of stuff during the day/evening, and he has to take it all on, and it's basically the equivalent of a full time job.  So I guess for the next few weeks he will have two full time jobs.  The past week he has been such a rockstar.  Every time I feel myself getting nervous he's there, he's totally done every project that needs to be finished, and is overall being so supportive, and it really is giving me the confidence to feel like these next few weeks are going to be great, and that he will be able to handle it.  I am so lucky to have someone so supportive in my life.

Onto meal prep.  Blah.  Here's my plan.  I need healthy lunches for the next two days.  Wednesday and most likely Thursday I will be in the hospital, and Friday I can figure out something (you know, like sending Mark out to get me Thai food).  So, for lunch I will make ground turkey with steamed broccoli and squash, in Rotel.  It kind of looks like vomit, but tastes so good.

For dinner I have tonight worked out, tomorrow is a mystery, Wednesday I will be in the hospital, and Thursday and Friday will come from my freezer, for sure.  Tonight is so good, and so simple!  Do you guys ever eat chicken sausage?  I love the Alfresco brand, and they have tons of different types.  So, tonight is going to be crazy busy, and I am going to have to make dinner late, and it needs to be quick.  I sauté up the chicken sausage with peppers and onions, and serve it over noodles with parmesan for the kids, and just plain for Mark and I.  I usually eat two links because the protein is kind of low on only one,  and it's still super low in calories and carbs.

This is getting long, I'll wrap it up.  Mondays are the best because it's a fresh start.  Screw how badly you did this weekend, celebrate your wins and keep going on that high.  

Monday Funday!

I feel like five days is too long to go without blogging.  All of these things happen, and I want to share them, and then I'm like "meh, I'll just verbally unload in one post." And then it turns out to be 3 pages long.  Ha!

Anyways, this weekend went so great!  I stayed on the ball all three days.  I had my cheat meal, I meal prepped for everything else, and overall I was just spot on.  It is so nice coming out of the weekend feeling like 'I rocked that!' instead of thinking 'today's a fresh start,' you know?  And let me tell you, our weekend was jam packed.  Cheer, BMX, family parties, all kinds of stuff.  I think what led me to success was owning what I wanted, and being in control of what went into my body.

All this to say, I did have trials this weekend.  I am PMSing something fierce, and want to inhale all things chocolate.  My trainer told me that when you feel like that to eat things high in goo defats to kill the cravings.  So, I ate a tbsp. of good quality peanut butter and it totally worked!  Anyways, it doesn't cut down on the mood swings, but I'm not sure that's PMS related, or children related.  Oh Camden.  Friday afternoon one of my good friends calls me, we talk about this and that, and as we are ending the conversation she tells me "I just wanted to let you know, when the girls were face timing this morning Camden mooned them."  Argh!  That boy!  So, I go and ask him why he mooned them, and he tells me "Ava wanted me to show her my butt."  Um, no.  No one wants to see that.  (She didn't, he's just rotten).  Keep your pants on.  I have a feeling that's a sentence I'll be saying a lot over the next 13 years.  I got my new drivers license in the mail!  Let me tell you, aside from losing weight in my face, I've aged quite a bit in the last five years.  I'm telling myself that it's all coincidental and has nothing to do with my five year old, but...

left is new; right is old

I made the yummiest, most simple dinner last night!  Seriously.  It was a little bit spicy, a lot bit yummy, great crunch, all of it!  I served it along side salad, and Mark and I were two happy campers.

Shredded Buffalo Chicken

In all honesty, I found this on pinterest.  I can not remember where, so I'll share the recipe that I wrote down, and know that this did not come from my own imagination.  Making this is crazy easy, and you could totally pre make it and throw it in a crock pot to keep it warm and serve it for game day.  Or, pre make it before heading out on a crazy weekend and stuff it in celery to enjoy as you watch your 18th children's sport of the day.

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts

2 tbsps butter

1/2 tbsp oil

1/2 cup wing sauce

celery

blue cheese crumbles

lettuce

Boil the chicken until it's easily shredded.  I always overcook my chicken to be safe.  Remove the chicken from the pan and melt the butter, and then add the oil and wing sauce.  Mix it well and then toss in the shredded chicken.  Top with blue cheese crumbles and celery, serve in lettuce boats and voila!  The yummiest dinner ever is served.  

Oooh, I bet it would taste awesome over a sweet potato.  But I've been on a never ending diet for a long time, so don't take my word for that.

What is for dinner this week?  I've got tonight and tomorrow mapped out, so I'm going to wing this a bit, and plan as I type.  

Monday: Party

Tuesday: Orchiette, sausage and brussels tossed in pesto.

Wednesday: (first day of school!)  Breakfast for dinner.  It's a favorite around here.

Thursday: Crockpot balsamic chicken.

Friday: Pizza

I'm on the fence about Thursday's dinner.  I've never made it in the crockpot before, so it'll be a real experience.  I wonder if it'll turn to mush?  Ugh, that would be the pits.  I'm already talking myself out of that meal.   Alright, I'm off to the gym (first time since rehurting my hip!), where I will undoubtedly completely change Thursday's dinner.  I'm going to try a spicy apricot chicken, probably.

Ooh, btw, I decided to have a drink this weekend.  Which kind of means that I failed my goal of no drinking for a month, but I have a whole post written up on my relationship with alcohol, and why this was actually a win that I plan on sharing tomorrow.

I hope that everyone has a fantastic start to their week, happy Monday!

A Little of This and A Lot of That

Things are about to get crazy around here.  Fall sports are starting, which means we literally have something to do every...single....night for the next three months.  Oh, and I'm having hip surgery at the end of the month and will be on crutches for most of September.  No big deal, I can totally get three kids in three different directions for a month, all while not being able to drive.  Ha!  What doesn't kill us, right?  Actually, how I'm really going to get through this is my amazing village.  Everyone is offering to help in any way that they can, and I am totally taking them up on their offers. I swear, I have some of the best friends.  Oh, and I also have Everett's hernia repair surgery the second week in September.  Poor planning on my part, to put it mildly!

Cam started soccer last night, and it may have been the cutest thing that I've ever seen.  He is totally loving it, AND, he's actually paying attention and following the rules!  If this is any insight as to how kindergarten is going to go I feel like I can take a huge sigh of relief.

I mean, look at how sweet that smile is.  Clearly he's the next pint sized David Beckham.

Reese is in cheer, and tumbling, and flyers class and every other thing that seems to come with cheer, but I've never seen her like a sport as much as she likes cheer.  We tried everything first, and she just doesn't have that competitive spirit that seem to be required for the other sports.  Sometimes (most times) I think that she has a heart of gold.  She is so quick to point out the positive, and is fiercely loyal to her friends, and I love that with cheer the group of girls she started with will be the same group that she cheers with through high school.  Anyways, I don't have any pictures of her because my phone broke (errr....got dropped), and I can't use the right side of the screen to do fun things like take pictures, or make calls.

So I previously mentioned losing 15 lbs, and how proud I am of myself for it!  I worked my butt off for those pounds, and I am so happy with the results.  Coming out of the challenge I was so nervous about rebounding and gaining all of the weight back.  I'm still not at my goal weight, and now isn't the time for me to worry about getting there, but it also isn't the time for me to pity eat a bag of Cheetos every night either, ya know?  I've been taking the diet more in moderation, not tracking calories or macros, just eating as clean as I could while still enjoying life.  I've been so nervous that I've gained weight that I haven't stepped on the scale since the 4th of July.  But, surgery is coming, and my goal is to go into it weighing 132 pounds.  I was 138.6 on the 4th, and I have no idea where I am now, but all of my clothes are fitting the same, so I'm hopeful that I've maintained.  With only three weeks until surgery now is definitely the time to buckle down if I want to accomplish that goal.  So, I'm back on the MyFitnessPal app, consistently weighing and tracking my food, and back in the gym 4-6 days a week.  Oh, I'm also back off of the booze train.  It just sucks all of your weight loss away from you.  Life can be such a bitch like that.  

I need to keep track, and since I'm not going to step on the scale until surgery morning I need to keep track somehow.  I've decided that I'm going with weekly photos.  This is really putting it all out there, and taking a huge chunk of courage, but part of this journey is building my self confidence, so here goes nothing.  This is what I looked like on the morning of 4th of July:

And here is where we are at this morning:

(remember when I said I broke my phone?  no fancy apps to fit everything into one pic anymore)

I wish I would have done the same pose for the original and then this week.  Next week I for sure will!  Hopefully over the next three weeks there will be a noticeable difference.  And then, hopefully there are abs there next summer. Hey, a girl can dream, right?