August 24th

1. Bucket List Goals

I put the hefty goal of an 70.3 Ironman on my bucket list but for as long as I can remember competing in a triathlon has been on my goal list.  Once I quickly realized that 70.3 training was too much with a full time job and 3 young boys I decided to do the GoGirl.  Well here we are at the end of the summer.... I have swam ONE time and every few weeks I lace up my shoes for a run.  I have been on my bike a handful of times over the past few months but those excursions are few are far between. 

That is the background to today -- this morning I signed up for the sprint tri.  I am actually pretty excited to try something new.  I know that I won't die BUT my ass will get kicked hard.  I am borrowing a trisuit from Mer and Saturday Heidi will hopefully show me the ropes. 

Oh -- I did finally work out yesterday.  I. am. so. sore.

What did I get myself into.

2. Soccer has started

Last night Owen had his first soccer practice. Cameron decided not to play this year so I was interested to see how it would all go down.  Immediately when we got there Cameron wanted to play soccer on the field before practice started.  Once the rest of the team was there Cameron worked hard to keep himself busy BUT he constantly tried to talk with Owen.  He encouraged him, updated him when he went to the bathroom, and overall just wanted to check in with his brother to make sure everything was going smoothly.  Jack obviously wanted to play the entire time. 

One of my favorite parts of practice is the time (besides watching Owen thrive) -- it starts at 530.  This means that we are able to eat a quick dinner, get home to shower and have a snack but still make it to bed at 730.  Yay!



This was last night after soccer practice right before bed.  Everyone was clean with fully bellies and exhausted.

3. Back to school night
On Monday Mike and I headed to Forest Glen to hear about what would be going down for the hours that the boys were in school.  I think my favorite take away was that they will only have English for 40 minutes a day.  That makes me happy.  This school is inspiring. I think know that we will struggle at times with the rigorous and challenging work, I am certain that being bilingual is worth all of the struggle. 


ALSO -- we went out for a quick bite to eat before heading back home.  Obviously -- it was great to be together.


4. My parents
Holy moly do these two help us so much with the kids.  We are so lucky that they are retired and love to be around their grandbabies.  Last night when we were walking out of soccer Cameron even said, "Grandma is the best girl that I know."   He's right -- my parents are pretty amazing.


5. Sara
While I am on the topic of people helping us with the littles -- I can't forget Sara.  Basically she is the only one we call to sit (besides the grandparents).  She helps get the boys off the bus a few days a week and we can usually call her last minute if we want a quick night out.  She is reliable and pretty freaking wonderful. 

Backwards.

I have been slacking on my posts lately so I decided to sit down and finally catch up.  Instead of doing 5 things that make me happy I decided to just add captions to my pictures.  

Our fort is almost complete!!  Just a few minor details left.  Mike is the absolute best.

Jack is obsessed with swinging.  He was in heaven last night!

This thing is absolutely massive and TONS of fun.

Jack loves to play in mud puddles.  He actively searches them out and has a ball.  

Clearly the boys love to be together.  This was one of the many baths that Jack took this weekend.  The boys just wanted to be with him so they stuck their feet in while he played.  

My personal chef.  On Saturday night we threw together a full blow meal -- Mike made some amazing tilapia and obviously SBJ wanted to be involved.

The Stahly family came over for a play date on Saturday and as Reid walked in the door Nash jumped up to greet him and we had a mishap.  It was stressful and embarrassing.  Lucky for me that we sent this picture to Kara and by Sunday his lip was already scabbing over.  The kids had a GREAT time playing together.  Looking forward to many more play dates.  

Saturday morning selfies.  It has been pouring ran the last few weekends so we are doing a lot of nothing and it has been wonderful.  

We were wrestling, tickling, and just playing around on the floor so I decided to take a selfie.  I LOVE how we were able to snap this picture of Jack because though he was in mid tackle he got into the shot and smiled.  This boys are the best. 

Please -- holy hell -- the eye wrinkles.
Mike and I decided to have a last minute date last Thursday night.  He has had an insanely busy week at work and I have been insanely bored.  We found ourselves at the patio bar at Harry & Izzys.  It was wonderful.  

He is drawing on Moo because I asked him to not draw on him.  

He is obsessed with Pa.  Obsessed.  

I am sure our water bill is skyrocketing.  

We finally started slumber parties again.  All of the Rouzer/McGuire group were fast asleep while Maggie and Henry played through the night.  

Jack was really upset that I could not cut his toenails.  I had finished with all 10 toes and he didn't want me to pretend ... he actually wanted me to cut his nails again.  

here you go Mike....

1. Mornings at the bus stop

I know that this made the list last year because spending these few extra minutes just talking and playing with the boys makes my soul feel happy.  It is a great way to start the morning.  The past few days it has been hot and muggy BUT we still have a great time walking goofing off.  

2. Daycare is working out great
The first few days this week were rough at daycare.  ROUGH.  I decided to bring the girls some Starbucks, Jack brought Moo and I think that we finally found a sweet spot.  Ever since that day -- he has been doing great.  He still protests when I drop him off but it is short lived and he quits before I even reach the front door. 

I have never had a Frappuccino but I will admit that they looked heavenly.  

 3. Food goals
Right now I don't have many goals -- and those that I have rarely get met.  BUT I do have food goals. For the past two weeks we have planned out meals and stuck to our grocery list.  We haven't made repeated trips to the grocery, we don't have any wasted food and it is easy to prepare dinner at night.  **I think- I think it's easy to prepare dinner at night but I am not 100% sure because Mike prepares dinner at night**


Last night when I came home from work he said, "How does it feel to be a man?"  I questioned him further and he said, "Well every night when you come home from work you sit down on the couch and dinner is already prepared for you. And tonight you opened a beer. You are like a man." It made me laugh out loud but then I quickly stood up and offered to help. There was nothing for me to do.  He had it all done.  He is the best.

 4. Gymnastics
At the last minute I was able to get both boys into gymnastics this week.  Cameron does not want to do soccer so he is trying out gymnastics and of course Owen wants to try EVERYTHING so he started too!  I was trying to wait to see what night Owen had soccer practice but I soon found out that all gyms started this week.  I made a call at 1pm and they were in class at 4.  They both loved class.  Per usual, Owen is thriving and wanted to show off his skills all evening.  Grateful that they both had fun and are stoked.

5. The crazy kind of wonderful
Man oh man did this kid figure out that he had a voice.  The loud type of voice that screams, persists and wants what he wants.  The saving grace right now is that he is absolutely obsessed with his brothers.  Obsessed.  They usually keep him at bay and try to keep lego man heads out of his mouth.  He started to love baths again and cries at the bathroom door so that he can go in.  He wants to be 12.  He wears us out and also makes our whole, entire family incredible happy.  He is the crazy kind of wonderful.

6. Dairy Queen type of night

We were done with dinner by 530 last night and to be honest I had no interest playing outside in the heat and coming face to face with all of my weed beds.  We decided to pack the boys in the car and head to Dairy Queen.  It was amazing.  Surprisingly Owen didn't finish his cone but the rest of us MEALED.  

sharp knives

Holy *#@!K did I over book myself this past weekend.  Overall the week went well last week but with Rouzer Cleaning Services expanding at rapid paces it left us scrambling to keep up on sleep.  I even had to cancel Sunday evening plans. It has been NUTS.  

1. Saturday in Columbus

We had another whirlwind weekend on the road in Columbus for Brian and Lauren's baby shower.  Going to a shower is not fun for most adults and I will say that our kids did GREAT.  I was extremely impressed and didn't have any issues with them at all.  Jack was usually in the arms of grandma and grandpa but of course he loved flirting with all of the guests.  I am glad I got to see Brian and Lauren one more time before the baby comes. We have seen them 3 times since May -- this has to be a record.

2. Rob & Judy's
After the baby shower in Columbus we headed over to enjoy the evening with the Jarretts.  Their house is filled with adventure and we took advantage of the few hours that we were there.  Being out in the middle of nowhere brings a calm and peacefulness that I wish always filled our lives. Living out there would be Mike's dream.  On the other hand I HATE yard work and think it's a waste of time (I will have to post a picture of my weed beds sometime) and I would prefer to live in a condo.

3. Martini's at Melissa's
On Friday evening I left work early so I could spend 45 minutes at home before heading over for drinks at Melissa's condo.  She lives smack dab in the middle of Mass Ave and she just upgraded her kitchen.  It was beautiful.  As always, spending time with the women in our family is fabulous.  We talked about good books, good food and of course we talked about men.  We enjoyed lemon basil martinis and cucumber mint maritins --- so so so good.  Grateful that we have worked to keep this tradition going.

4. Getting caught up/Owen in the kitchen
On Sunday I was finally able to catch up on life.  I was SUPPOSED to head to Amy's house for a girlfriend get together but life got in the way.  Mike had to work for a new client and I couldn't bear putting my kids back in the car for another 45 minute drive.  Instead I busted out laundry, worked on dishes, and eventually sat and played with my kids.  I also took the time to work with Owen in the kitchen.  He loves cooking so we finally had time to learn chopping!

When we first started Owen said that he was shaking he was so nervous.  I couldn't tell but I had him cut and cut until he felt comfortable AND until I felt comfortable --- it's a super sharp knife!  I am going to try and have him do a meal with me once a week.  When I told him about my goal he asked if he could make dinner 5 times a week -- he is my ambitious one!

5. A good start to the week
I went to bed at 7pm last night.  That is not a typo.  I actually fell asleep reading my book which is rare and then didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 4am. I finally made it back to the gym and had a solid run this morning.  If I plan on doing the tri in a few weekends I think that working out would be beneficial to my performance and helping me to not die.

Mike has been insanely busy and stressed with work.  He took the day today to hopefully get caught up on some paper work.  He could do office work for hours and hours and hours.  My hope is that by the end of his day to day he will finally feel that things are slowly getting done as well.

No time to post.

1. 35 minutes

This year the boys were picked up AND dropped off on the first day of school.  This is major improvements from last year when neither happened.  

It was a strange morning yesterday since Mike had to leave for work at 615.  I had only had about 3 hours of sleep that night (thanks to Jack) and Mike had put in a 12 hour day the day before.  Needless to say...we started the first day of school exhausted.  

The boys on the other hand were excited and ready.  After slowly rolling out of bed and choosing their own clothes (with assistance) we had a successful morning. Transportation asks you to get to the stop 15 minutes early so we had time to take pictures, play, and eventually wonder when the bus was coming.  When it finally pulled around the corner about 20 minutes after scheduled the boys were elated.  They were so excited to see their friends and all of the kids were staring out the windows looking back with the same huge grins on their faces.  

Jack was walking backward into their picture saying, "cheeeeeseeeeee"

 2. 8pm bed time
That's what time I went to bed last night.  I am not going to lie -- I feel amazing this morning.  I wish I had time for a morning workout but that will just have to start next Monday. :/  For now I am going to take this energy and conquer.



3. Bath time
Jack has loved water all summer but HATED baths.  He saw his brothers taking showers on Wednesday night and somehow I got him into the bath.  He still freaked out at first and was not happy at all but then he bent down (while still screaming) and picked up a toy.  Eventually he stopped crying and then within a few minutes he sat down.  He had no interest in getting out of the tub but eventually the water turned cold and I pulled his wrinkly butt out.  Let's hope this wasn't a fluke and that he starts taking baths again!

Tuesday. Twins. Tacos.

1.  The twins are home

I can't put this onto my list enough.  I can't put into words how much my soul eases when all three boys are home.  Cameron and Owen are obsessed with Jack and he is obsessed with them.  He essentially calls them both Owen and he just follows them wherever they go.  

2. Fresh Cuts
Jack is not free from my tradition (NOT on purpose) of terrible haircuts for my kids.  I already miss running my fingers through his sweet curls when I rock him at night.

He was super easy and just sat on my lap skeptical of the whole event.  I am sure all of the salon patrons wanted to shoot me though since I brought 3 crazy boys in at once.   I have no doubt that I looked like a total shit show BUT it all go completed quickly and now all three boys have fresh cuts before the school year starts.

 3. No more bottles
Man oh man this was long over due.  So here is the deal...kids are supposed to be done with bottles at 12 months.  Clearly I had a much harder time prying these lifesavers from Jack's hands.  What made me finally just pull the plug and put myself through lots more tantrums and harder bedtimes ---- Dr. Agarwala. They took Niam's bottles away and though I new Shelby & Ezra were light years ahead of us -- if Dr. Agarwala did it -- we needed to suck it up and do it too.  I think that last week was our first full week without our bottles... (except we forgot to tell grandpa who ended up giving him 2 bottles that day for nap!!)

Anyways -- getting rid of the bottles was sort of a big deal and hard for me this time around.  I needed to document that it is finally over.

This is Jack at 5 am (yes you read that correctly).  He wouldn't go back to bed.  I bet a bottle would of helped.  I tried rocking him for 45 minutes but finally put him in front of Mickey while I made myself a cup (or 2) of coffee.

4. Back to school night
We all headed to Forest Glen tonight to meet the new teachers for first grade.  More than once Mike and I have commented back and forth that Owen is due for the best teacher available.  If I had to compare the two right now I think he is in the lead.  I am super excited for both boys and I love knowing kids and parents in each class.  Oh -- and the boys already have projects to complete for homework.

5. Rouzer and Rouzer Cleaning Services
Mike has been working his ass off and the company is continuing to take off.  It is scary and overwhelming because at times we have no clue what we are doing....but also really freaking fabulous.  He is a beast.  **The good kind**

oh my goodness I love this sweet picture.  He climbed up next to daddy so he could  enjoy some bites of cereal. 

The twins had their dentist appointment this evening and both of them passed with flying colors and no cavities. They are really pretty easy to take places like this and they always make me a proud mom.

lost in books

1.  3 more nights until the twins come home

Holy hell it has been a LONG summer without these two around.  It has been a bit relaxing, a whole lot easier and at times incredibly hard.  I have been trying to lose myself in books and remind myself that these two crazies are having a blast in Chicago.....but come on....I still need their crazy butts home.  They make our house full of laughter and lot of fun.  They keep us on our toes and make our family complete.  I know that they are happy but yeah -- I would still like them back.

Jack wants them back too but loves doing FaceTime.

2. Pizza
My intensity was off the hook yesterday.  I think it was a combination of the boys being gone and good old fashion hormones.  (The night before I made brownies for dinner).

Anyways, I have been craving pizza for weeks but not pulling the trigger on ordering.  Yesterday Mike insisted that we order pizza and boy did it hit the spot.

3. My sister
Even as I typed out the title of number 3, tears welled up in my eyes and started to stream down my face.  She has really been on my mind a lot these past few months.  I am in desperate need of some catch up time with her.

I am constantly giving myself pep talks and reminders to find peace with these new paths and this life without my sister and my friend.  Man -- it's hard.

 4. The routine
This summer our routine has usually been me waking up with Jack and Rouzer putting him to bed.  When the boys come home next week I am not sure how the routine will start to change.  I hope to get back into the gym a few mornings a week and with school starting next week our mornings will be wild again.  As for now...this is a pretty sweet routine.

5. Evening walk with Micah and Jude
Monday night I went over to give dinner to Mandy & Luke and I noticed that their house was melting down.  Mandy lost her grandma the night before and with the daycare at her house for a few weeks you... could tell they wanted to just breathe for a second.  I decided to take Micah and Jude on a walk to give the adults 30 minutes to just BE. 

I took the boys over to the old spot where we took the twins to watch the trucks pass by before I proceeded around the block.  I was a sweaty mess when I got home.  Holy -- pushing these two boys who are heavier than Jack in a normal stroller (not jogging) was a WORKOUT.  Micah talked to me the entire way and I was glad that I could spend a few moments with these sweet boys.