January Book Report

 I am pretty lame and only have two books to offer this month. I got back in the habit of looking at my phone at night and I have got to break it. Just put the dumb thing down! I have not been watching any TV at all, which is big- not even the Bachelor....! I will tune in to Big Brother because I love it that much. Y'all had some great book recommendations, which I am super excited to start! Thank you! I am also reading with a group of neighbors a book that we are going to get together to discuss in a few weeks. My inner book nerd is raging.


The Secret Life of Violet Grant

This was a great book! Lots of twists and a very unexpected ending. A Hundred Summers by this same author is one of my favorite books- loved it, and this one is close to that one in my liking. There are three sisters in these books- Tiny, Vivian, and Pepper- and there are books about each sister. I enjoyed them all, and love seeing the characters come out in each one. You don't have to read one to "get" another one. I listened to this one and loved the narrator's voices for each character.



The Next Best Thing

Okay, I have been on a kick with this author lately, clearly. This book wasn't my favorite of all of hers, but I still really liked it. Her books have a lot about death in them and I almost wasn't wanting any more of that... I thought this book was predictable, but then I thought maybe it wasn't.... there was one part that had me laughing out loud, which is always fun when reading a book. I told myself I would take a break from her after this one, but then I just downloaded two more! SO maybe I am not done!


 

Look what I found at Target!

Ohhhh I love me a good Target run...thought I would share a few goodies I have gotten there lately...


okay so randomly, I was walking through the men's section and this shirt was hanging there and it reminded me of a lulu shirt that I love, but that fits pretty snugly (by design).  I grabbed this one in a small and thought I would just return it if it didn't fit. ummmmm..... I am obsessed with it. OB-SESSED. I wear it all the time and get compliments on it. Seriously.

 It's hard to see in the above picture due to bad lighting, but it is a dark grey. It looks super similar to the lulu shirt, but for a fraction of the cost.

Moving on... have y'all heard about this mascara?? I am a fan of this brand for mascara, but this new type is crazy- two coats and I look like I am wearing fake lashes. Seriously.

And, two products in this next pic....
I get asked weekly about my curling wand. There are LOADS of really really nice ones out there. I wasn't sure I would stick with wanding my hair (duh, what a ding dong....) so I got a cheap one and I love it. Here is one similar. Mine is clearly not rose gold, but the one in the link is....

And the next thing is this. Let me just tell you.... it is very rare that I find a product that I want to scream and shout about. This stuff is AMAZING. My hair dresser used it on me and I loved it so got it for myself....it's a game changer. Spray it on when it's wet and then sort of brush/finger through. It extends the life of your color, protects against heat, and 8 other great things that I can't remember. It smells wonderful and makes hair SO soft. I also noticed my curls hold much longer when I use this, and when I straighten hair after using, it looks much, much better. This stuff is BOMB. 

 Okay, last find from Target lately.... I got this little grey cart and made it our art cart! Andy is super into arts and crafts and most days our house looks like it exploded with crayons, markers, papers, scissors, etc.... I organized it all on one moving cart- he can wheel the cart out into the kitchen and then when he's done, just tuck it back behind the study door. I keep their pencils and erasers on there too, so when it's time for homework, most everything we need it on there and ready to go.

 We love this so much, I might get a second one to have upstairs. I am toying with the idea of a little desk in Andy's room. I think he would love to have his own little art space. We will see if that happens.....!

What have you found at Target lately? Anything good?

Weekend Update: just keep swimmin'.....

*Thanks for all your sweet comments/texts/etc from Friday....I am annoyed we have to go back, but if it is one step closer to figuring this all out, so be it. I was told he should have a clear diet on Thursday prior to the appointment, which should be a lot of fun. I was going to let him go to school Thursday, but might have to rethink that. I will update post Thursday as well!*

This weekend we had a swim meet in Raleigh (so, not far) on both days. Andy has started this program too, which is a whole new level of stress on this momma. He has only had three practices leading up to this meet, so not many at all. He was beyond excited, so that was great! And you know what? The kid did amazing. He swam 25s the first day and 50s the second and it was awesome! He wasn't even nervous!

We had a relaxed night Friday night. Boys played outside and then came in for dinner... Andy ate a carton of strawberries... with his helmet on...

 Then went on the hunt for more food.

 ...found some yogurt that looked good....

...then proceeded to eat four of them....

 (seriously he should be popping up a storm with this kind of diet....)

 then hugged it out with Bru.... #bestdog

Eddie left Saturday morning early for the probowl down in Orlando. Andy was up at the crack of dawn- no clue what that was about but whatever. We had to leave the house at 11 and I swear I spent the whole morning running like a crazy person, walking Bruce, cooking breakfast, packing TWO swim bags, switching the laundry into the dryer, etc etc etc.... the morning FLEW by. Had to take a few pics before:

 Setting up some music to get everyone hype hahah

We arrived to the meet and the boys went down on the deck- no parents allowed again. I wrote all of their events on their arms and they went down.

Cal totally took Andy under this wing and showed him where to look to see which event we were on and where to line up. It was sweet to watch it all.

 Cal showing Andy the writing on the arms:

 Warm ups:

The boys both swam GREAT and I was so super proud of Andy for doing it. He was SUPER proud too, which was great to see. Sweet boy has had a lot going on, so for him to power through something like this is just awesome.

We ran home to let Bruce out and change clothes, and then we ran out to Andy's basketball game! He was so excited. 

 The Orange Destroyers did great and pulled off the victory!

his feet.....

Sunday morning we were back at it- lots of excitement and zero nerves! 

Sunday was the longer meet- boys swam 50s and Cal swam 100 free as well. It was AWESOME!

That was pretty much our weekend... we had low key nights and some good snuggling.

Next weekend, Eddie and I are heading to the big game....!!! OMG! My next "weekend update" will be a good one!

 

update from friday, and thanks!

Thanks for thinking of my boys today! The calls and texts were just what this momma needed. Friday went....well. ish. I was a hot mess in the morning. I mean, I was on the edge of tears the whole morning. SO ridiculous, I know, I know.

Cal was still upset with me for missing his bee. Andy was totally and completely oblivious to what what about to happen to him and was skipping around singing Mary Poppins, which is how you want it, I guess. Oblivious and happy.

I dropped Cal off at school and he looked over his shoulder at me and looked....sad....or something and I about lost it. Andy and I said a prayer together for Cal that he would be brave and have courage and his "brain would make him slow down and spell the words right." (I'll let you guess who said which line)

Then we drove to the hospital. We were there right on time and had no issues parking or anything. We checked in without problem and waited. There was not a kid in sight. The waiting room was full of adults... most of whom were waiting to drive home their heavily sedated friend/spouse/relative from their appointment.

Andy and I met the the nicest nurse who took us back and asked a million questions and then we started the procedure.

I got on the table with him and we laid facing each other while it happened. She did an exam first and determined he was totally and completely PACKED with stool so they would not be able to perform part two of the test (ughhhhhh). Back up: when the first doc said we needed to do this, I asked if we needed to "prep" at all for any of this. He said no. When they called to schedule the appt, I asked if we needed to prep for this at all, she said no. When they called to confirm the appt, I asked AGAIN about prepping at all- they said NO....! So, we didn't prep.

The first part of the test wasn't pleasant, but we did got through it with just a few tears shed...a few from him, one or two from me.... and then it was done.

We have to do a clean out next week and go back for a follow up next week.

MEANWHILE, I am getting texts from my mom, dad, Eddie and Andy's teacher about Cal in the spelling bee! He got just about every word I drilled into him repeatedly- thank goodness we drilled those in!

He made it through five rounds and then he got the word BALLOONIST. He spelled it BULLoonist. Which is funny because I think that is a total BULL word hahaha

Thankfully he wasn't torn up about missing that! Super proud of him!

Another day of parenting in the books. Sheeeeewwwwweeeee, this is not for the faint of heart.

Thanks again for thinking of our crew and reaching out!


 

Lift 'em up, please!

Today at 8am, I am wishing more than anything that I could be in two places at once. I can't, obviously, but it would be a great super power.

Cal qualified for the school-wide spelling bee. Super proud of him. He and I have worked (somewhat) hard studying the list. (Full disclosure: we worked hard on the front of the list... the back, we didn't touch....I couldn't pronounce the words so we just focused on the front of the page....which still had hard words on it!)
His bee was supposed to be last week, but we had snowmegedon, so it was moved to today. At 8am.

Also at 8am....

Andy is having his procedure to hopefully determine what's going on with his tummy. I made this appointment back in November and took their first available spot. When I heard the bee was moved, I called and asked to back up his time maybe an hour... the next available appointment wasn't until the end of March. So, no.
Andy is awake during this procedure (I don't enjoy calling it a procedure, but that's what it is referred to on every document I have had to read), and it sounds so not very pleasant. At all. I will spare you the details, but let's just say I was "clenched up" reading about it.

I told the boys the predicament and that Eddie and grandma would go to the bee in my place so I could take Andy. Cal's huge brown eyes filled up with tears and he goes, "I don't want to do it without you there." And I died a little bit. I WANT to be there, buddy! I promise I do. I don't WANT to watch Andy go through this- I want him to be able to poop like a regular kid!

Being a mom is so hard. I ache not being able to be with both kids at the same time- ridiculous, right? Both boys will be FINE. Of course they will. But when Cal gets eliminated, I want him to be able to search ME out in the crowd and get my smile... and when Andy is done with his deal, I want to be the one holding him on my lap (as he probably screams bloody murder....).

Sigh.

So, if you have a sec.... please throw up a little prayer to the Big Guy above.... give Cal the bravery to stand up in front of everyone with a microphone. Give Andy the strength to toughen his way through a very uncomfortable experience. And give me a little grace too, please. I am trying hard.... promise.

And, because he's cute:

 I will do a post updating everything once we survive it all ;) hahaha I sound so overly dramatic....

 

Fly Eagles Fly

Are you an Eagles fan? Well, I wasn't really a FULL fan, but I am right now. Eddie has a client who plays for the Eagles and we went up this past weekend for a game. It was a big game- a playoff game, which was super cool. Even better: the Eagles WON and are advancing.... boys would like to believe they are going back this weekend. They aren't. But good thinking.

Here is a look at our trip (and WAY too many pictures... but got to document it, you know??):

We left after school on Friday and headed up towards DC. Eddie's sister lives there so we broke up the trip by staying with her the first night.

 The drive up to DC was so much easier than we were anticipating. The boys were so so good and we hit very little traffic, which was amazing.

As soon as we arrived, Andy had incredible success in the bathroom (I only share that here because y'all know it all when it comes to that!). We were beyond thrilled that he got that taken care of so we (read: I) wouldn't have to take him to the potty a  million and ten times during the game.

 The boys were excited about sleeping in CBs big ol' bed with her.... they stayed up too late, but slept pretty well.

They each got rubics cubes for Christmas and I swear to you, they have never played with a toy more. Are these making a comeback lately? I have seen them everywhere recently. Cal can solve one side (but not the others....yet). Not exaggerating when I say they played with these the entire trip. Literally. 

 We drove into Philly Saturday morning. That was around a 2.5 hour drive and it wasn't bad either. No traffic and boys were good!

Our room wasn't ready upon check in, but they did have a room with a king sized bed and a pull out couch. Fine, we will take it... we were anxious to check in and change clothes before the game (which didn't start until 4:30, but we (read: eddie) felt the need to get there wayyyyy early. SO we took this room and it was pretty amazing. There was a kitchen and a living room and then the bedroom. It was nice. And the view was good too. 

 We chilled for a bit before getting ready for the game.

 Here is my big fail. Eddie got the call from Alshon (his player) that we were going to be in his suite during the game. That was HUGE because it was supposed to be beyond cold during the game. So I dressed the boys in sweatpants, longsleeved shirts and their jackets- didn't think we would need much else because we would be inside. I packed hats and gloves and called it good.

Eddie and I were layered up, but we left the mega layers back in the hotel room...

 (and took our pic....)

It was hot in our hotel room and hot in the uber on the way to the game....

We got to see Alshon on the banner!

So, we soon were NOT hot when we got out of the uber and into the WIND and the cold. We went to pick up our tickets and had to wait (we were that early....) for them to be brought over. 

 Once we got the tickets, we saw we had sideline passes for before the game, which was BEYOND awesome.

 Heading in.....

 the sidelines were so so cool.... and SO SO cold! This is where the fail comes in.... had I known we were going to be down there, I would have layered them up more, or bundled them more. It was COLD down there and the wind was blowing SO hard.

Alshon wasn't warming up yet, so we went up to the concourse for a hot chocolate to warm everyone up. Poor Andy was sharking profusely.  He was happy with the hot chocolate though!

We warmed up an bit and then went back on the field- everyone had to clear off at 30 mins prior to kick. With about 40 seconds to spare, Alshon looked over and saw us and came running over to see the boys: it was SO cool!

 I didn't fan girl out of anything, but when he came over, everyone around us was screaming his name- like the other people on the sidelines, the people in the stands behind us- everyone.... but it was like he didn't even hear them. He came over and shook both boys hands and took pictures and gave me a huge hug. It was really nice of him.

Alshon Jeffery #17! Eddie has known him a while but this was our first time meeting him and he could not have been nicer.

After our hellos with Alshon, we ran up to get in the suite- we were thinking it would  be nice and toasty warm.... but they had the windows open....! There was a small little heater in there, but it was far from where we were. The boys sat in the front of the box and got some popcorn to take in the start of the game. 

 The view was beyond beautiful.

Andy came and sat with me on the couch (there were TVs in there!) to warm up for a bit. They shut one of the windows so it was warming up in the room.

Cal was in heaven. 

 I don't really know who these guys are, but they are famous football players. Cal could recite their stats. I was told to take this picture, so I did. (Andy's smile has gone haywire lately.... what in the world)

Finally the windows were closed! We moved at halftime to the front row of the suite, which was a GREAT way to watch the game!

 It was an AMAZING game and Alshon had some GREAT catches, and thankfully, the Eagles won! They are one step closer to the super bowl! CRAZY.

After the game, we met up with Alshon again and he took the boys on the field-

He asked a guy to take a picture of all five of us- how sweet is that?!

 He was nice enough to drive us home after all of this- side note, as we were driving, a car next to us spotted Alshon driving and started screaming and then held out the camera to take his picture. I thought Andy was going to die. He thought it was the funniest thing ever!

The next morning, we killed some breakfast. Andy ate and ate and ate- breakfast is his meal I think

We showered and checked out of the hotel and walked around a bit before deciding we needed a Philly Cheesesteak. #wheninPhilly....? 

 These were SO so so so good.... As I mentioned, I am doing weight watchers- and this is why I love it so much.... because I knew I wanted to have one of those (and the 17 points it cost me...) so I budgeted the rest of the day! Boom! I went over by a few points, but I was under a few days prior so it all balances out. Shall I continue to justify???? nahhh

After lunch, we went over to Alshon's house for a bit to watch some of the next game with him. Who are these children, hanging out in his house like they own the place?!?!

 Finally, we headed back to DC where we spent the night (CB had to fit in the middle of the bed below....).

 And then on Monday we headed on home! It was really a great weekend and a lot of fun. Andy needed to draw a picture on the way home... or something. He was working hard.

It was an amazing experience for the whole family to get to do that together. Watching football is something we enjoy doing as a family- so when we get to involve traveling while watching, it is even better.


Thankful for this time with these males.... although, I swear they are stinkier than they used to be.

PS- y'all pull for the Eagles now, k??