Life Lately

It feels good to be back into a routine! Or close to it. I am not taking a whole lot of pictures still, but I am trying to make an effort.  I don't want to not have pictures just because I am not doing carriedaway again.

So, here's life...

What we are reading....

I finished The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand and I really liked it!

 As I have mentioned before, I have "read" many of her books via audiobooks, so I am not sure if that's why this one seemed different to me (because I actually READ it)-- but I did really enjoy it! I found myself thinking about it when I wasn't reading- which I use as a meter to gauge how good a book is. It felt very similar to Liane Moriarty, who is one of my favorite authors right now. 

Next up, I am reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.... anyone read it?

I have heard great things, so I am excited to get into it.  I just finished The Rumor Saturday night (I am SO WILD!) and then we decided on Sunday the next book (my long distance book group). Sunday night I had to watch the Golden Globes...! And then Monday, I had to watch the Championship Game (I need to catch up on Bachelor!), so I am tad slow getting into the book.  But I am excited to start.  I am so happy to be reading more.  Hope I can keep this up. 

I got a lot of great feedback from the last Life Lately post that y'all liked the book recs for kids. 

This week, we read Work, Dogs, Work and it was cute! 

There is a whole series to these, so I plan on trying to find more in the library.  My boys love dogs (obviously), and construction stuff, so this was a good fit for them.  

Cal likes to read Danny the Dinosaur. He loved us to read it to him and now he likes to read it to us.  

Have y'all heard of the Piggie and Gerald books? They are adorable.  When I taught 6th grade and was pregnant with Cal, one of my student's parents was a lower school media specialist and she gave me a whole set of these books as a baby gift.  We have read and read and read them! And now Cal is reading them to us constantly.

There are a TON of these books--

We like Mo Williems in this house! :)

I will hopefully have more books for next week! 

What we are eating:

Last Thursday night, Andy and I had a date night (Cal and Eddie had nachos!).  Friday night, Eddie and I had a date night...! Saturday night was pizza :) and Sunday was grilled cheese.  

This week:

Monday: Slow Cooker Balsamic Roast-- I can not get the link to work for the life of me.  It is six sisters slow cooker balsamic pork roast (if you want to google it).  But I didn't use pork.  I thought this pot roast was delicious on a cold night! Both boys ate it (Andy doesn't love meat and he had seconds). Cal ate it up along side his salad-- and thought it was delicious with some ketchup.  Eddie wouldn't try it... go figure.  I thought it was good and easy-- thank you, crock pot! Plus, added bonus, it made my house smell soooooo good. 

Tuesday: Taco Cupcakes
These were YUM.  Very yum.  Even Eddie ate them....can I get an AMEN?! I used regular ground beef (with taco seasoning).  We added our own toppings and everyone gobbled it up.  I poured salsa over mine and added a small dollop of sour cream (light!) and a little bit of guac.  Yum.  The biscuit totally negates the workout Tuesday night, but whatever. 

 

Wednesday: Tex Mex and Quinoa Soup

Thursday: Sloppy Joes

Friday: NOT COOKING! 

What we are watching:

Things I thought while watching The Bachelor this week: update coming....!

We let Cal stay up to watch the first half of the Championship game (instead of me watching bachelor!)-- this might seem crazy to a lot of people, but for this little boy-- who loves every last thing about football-- this was awesome.  He was beyond excited.  And we enjoyed some special time with him.  

What's making me happy:

Andy has not sucked his fingers since Friday morning...! We have been painting them and he is doing SO well with keeping them out of his mouth! They say habits are made/broken in 7 days.  Maybe we are almost there....! And THAT makes me so so happy. I did not paint them on Tuesday and still no sucking...He hurt his hand while outside playing and usually, he would have come in and sucked his fingers until he felt better-- he didn't this time!!! Crazy, I tell ya. 
He is still a horrible sleeper.  Like horrible.  But, what else is new? He has been waking up and refusing to go back to sleep because he is scared of his dreams.  I wish I could control those dreams.  Ugh.  I can't imagine what in the world is causing that sweet boy to have nightmares, but I would like to fix that.  He gets on our floor still.  And lately begging to get in our bed...which is NOT allowed.  He is a wild sleeper.  Tuesday morning, I had to get up to get ready for work so I let him get in bed with Eddie... this was the scene when I got out of the shower:

 Nug looks so little all curled up... makes me happy.  Even though he's a bad sleeper.  I still love him. 

What I am wearing lately:

I am NO fashion blogger (clearly).  I live in workout gear. These zella pants are just about always on me. Eddie got me a pair of lululemon pants for Christmas and I love them!!! I wasn't sure about the grey-- and they do show crotch sweat (sorry for tmi), but I love how they hold me all in.

I also have been on a jammie kick lately.  I bought a few super cheap little night gowns from Target when I felt like I needed to step it up from sleeping in Eddie's old t-shirts. I loved those, but when my mom got me a pj harlow night gown, I became HOOKED. 

This is the nightgown she got me:

and it is seriously AMAZING. If you are looking for a gift for your husband/mother in law/best friend to get you, this is so so great.  

After several bloggers commented on how great Lake pajamas are, I decided to ask for a night gown from Santa.  He was kind and brought me this:

Once again-- it is amazing.  I want to wear it constantly.  It is short-- but it is supposed to be, I guess.  

I guess I am officially obsessed with nice pajamas now! I still rotate in the target jammies, but I look forward to wearing my nice ones...and will ask for more for any holiday I can!

Weight Update:

The weekend was hard.  Ugh.  Weekends are HARD! I was down after Thursday's date night with Nug, and then I was up a pound...and then down a half a pound.  Getting back at it Monday, I was down .5 (3.5 total), Tuesday, I was down another .5. So still 4 pounds total.  Which is great.  But I have a WAYS to go if I am going to reach my goal.  I have been really good(ish) this week.  We had a faculty meeting and I didn't eat a cookie...and I realllllly wanted one.  The taco cupcakes probably weren't fantastic for me... I am finger crossing that next week's Life Lately post will have me down at least 1-2 more pounds.  It's wayyyy too early to plateau.  Right?!

 

Golden Globes... the fashion

As I have said time and time again, I am not a fashion blogger.  I really, am hardly a blogger, #amiright?! But, after watching the Globes, I wanted to share some thoughts on the outfits.  And, can we just say how fun it would be to get to dress up and have hair and makeup done?

Pardon all the instagram screen shots.  It was much easier to grab images from there!

Loved America's dress- thought it looked great on her.  Wish she had worn her hair down, though...

 I don't know this chick, but her abs were fierce.  And I always appreciate people smiling on the red carpet.  Can't stand constipated looking people. 

This chick from Blind Side was KILLING it.  She stunned the carpet, in my mind.  And when seh presented too. 

 I didn't love J. Lo's dress...! Of course she could wear a paper sack and look amazing.  But I didn't love this.  All that added material around the booty area... not great, if you ask me.  She also looks like shes had a LOT injected into her face. 

This couple is just beautiful-- and don't they look happy together? (that was just the kiss of death- mark my words, they will be on the cover of US weekly next week with a tear down the middle of the page. #hopenot

Speaking of gorgeous couples.... phew! If you haven't seen these two in their lip sync battle, do yourself a favor and google that.  Oh. My.  Hawt.  Not loving his hair.  At all.  But he's hot so, he's forgiven.  

Oh, I soooo wanted to love Amy Scheumer's dress... but I didn't.  At all.  But I love her.  

 Her bestie was killing it I thought... loved Jennifer's dress.  Lots of cut outs this year. 

What.in.the.world. WHAT was Kate wearing? Honestly.  Yes, she has an amazing body.  But this is not 1999 and you are not Britney Spears.  That choker needs to go.  And, you are a mom, Kate.  Cover yo'self!

Ohhhh, Cate.  You are so so so beautiful.  And you dress is so so so so not.  

Melissa can go either way on the red carpet... this dress looked much better on TV than it does in this picture.  yeeesh.  But her hair looked nice!

 Loved these two presenting together.  Can't imagine what Sunday brunch is like with them.  I want to come and just watch. 

Eva Longoria looked gorgeous with her makeup... her dress was weird though.  Maybe some liked it... I wasn't a fan.

And, had to include these funny posts... yes.  And yes. 

This was hilarious:

 Forget the Fashion Police.  I am taking over to Gulianna.  Speaking of... her abs were pretty fantastic too...

Who did y'all think looked good??

 

Weekend Update: CLEAN OUT

For Christmas this year, my parents gave the grandsons (Cal and Andy and Jackson) tickets to a Carolina Hurricane hockey game followed by a sleepover at their house.  I picked Cal up from school on Friday and then went right to their house to drop off the boys-- they were BEYOND excited. 

Mom and dad's friends, the Howards, also gave the gift to their grand children, so they all went together.  

While the boys were at the Canes game, we had a much needed date night! We went to jujube and had some delicious food (they sat us in a little alcove about 6 inches from a family with a little 2 year old-- no one else but us and them...and I LOVE kids.  Like, I am the one who is always asking to hold a baby...but on our rare date night, I don't want a kid throwing stuff at me...hahaha it ended up being fine...but funny).

Saturday morning, I went to popup while Eddie picked up the boys.  We came home and I got to work! I have been on a mission to CLEAN everything out.  I was working in the kitchen-- the boys were in the garage; Eddie got a workout while the boys played hockey!

After the massive junk drawer tackling, I addressed Andy's closet.  I wish I had taken a before picture-- you couldn't even walk in this closet before.  I had a huge box on the floor that had been collecting goodwill stuff for months (and months.....!).  This was a MUCH needed project.  

After his closet, I tackled my own.  I have these built in shelves that were just collecting STUFF and dust and it was totally unorganized.  Now, I can find everything and I love it! It makes me happy now... and that's how it should be! I am looking for a little stool thing that I can sit on and use a step stool... might hit up Home Goods this week.  

By about 6:00, I was flat exhausted.  Eddie wasn't feeling 100% so he was napping for most of the day (after his workout!), so I was in clean out mode while playing referee constantly.  Come bed time, I was tired!

Andy was too, clearly...

We watched football and I finished my book with a fire in the fireplace.  My kind of night!

Sunday, we did more working around the house.  Sally came over and we walked the dogs together.  When we got back, Eddie and I washed the dogs (he washed, I dried and brushed!) and then I took Andy to Costco.  I love me some Costco... not sure it is smart to go on a Sunday, but we survived and got lots of goodies.  I should do a Costco post sometime... this time we got a new bed for Bruce, batteries, apples, soup, garbage bags, etc etc... haha a random mix, but lots of fresh food and needed supplies!

Eddie took Cal to soccer practice while I went to the grocery store with Nug (had to get food for the week!).

When we met back at the house, Eddie made plans to meet another dad and his boys to play some flag football-- and THAT makes me happy! Boys outside playing! How it should be!

Off they go...

And Bru loves his new bed! He blends in with it.  

Bring on another week...! I have meal planned and grocery shopped so hopefully I am on top of it...yeah right!

 

A buzz and a hot date

Oh, the battles we have had over this! Andy started twirling the back of his hair this summer.  We thought it was just a passing trend... but it continued.  When school started, we thought he would stop doing it-- and he did, while at school.  But as soon as he got in the car after school, his little hand was working just as fast as he could.  He was ripping out hair right and left and thus, got himself a nice little bald spot. 

Over Christmas break, with no school to go to every day, the twirling was at an all time high.  We started bribing him  to sit on his hands-- no twirling and no sucking.  Things we never thought we would say as parents- ha!

The bald spot got huge-- and it wasn't easy to cover.  So we started talking about buzzing it. 

Now, personal preference- I don't love a buzzed head.  I think they look great on other people, but it is just not my cup of tea.  Clearly, I like a shaggy haired little boy! But, we realized we had to do something to break this habit.

And so, we went to the barber.  Just me and Nug.  I told the barber we had a little problem-- he told me he had a little boy who had the exact same problem and the only thing that fixed it was buzzing his head. 

Walking in... say goodbye to your hair!!! Blonde be gone...

 It's hard to see bald spot in above picture... but it is there, big time. 

The first pass through, I let out a huge gasp.  I wasn't thinking it would be THAT short. 

There was an older lady next to me and she goes "why in the world would you do that to that poor boy's head? He has such nice hair!" Then I explained why we did it and she then placed her hand on my arm and said "well, he will look great no matter his hair." I think she could see me upset-- this is a big change for momma! AND Andy too!  But, as you can see below, he was just fine with it....

 Enjoying his lollipop after the big cut.  I sent this picture to the family....

That night, Andy and I had a double date with Meredith and Lee.  The boys were so stinking excited to take their momma's to dinner! It was so sweet.  

He asked for a picture together when we got home-- goofy boy.  

I know it is just hair and hair grows-- it will be back to normal this summer... if he lets it grow.  I think he is liking this buzz cut! And as long as he is smiling like he is below, I am a happy mom!

On a side note: we painted his fingers with that bad tasting polish on Friday morning and he has not sucked them since (today is Sunday).  He wanted to at bed time last night, but fell asleep without sucking... maybe we are breaking all the bad habits in 2016!