OCTOBER

It has been awhile since my last post.  I have been terrible at this 40+ hour a week thing.  I go go go at work all day and then I find that I don't have much energy for anything else besides playing with my kids, chit chatting with Mike and heading to bed.  I haven't woken up early in WEEKS.  I have lots of pictures and captions to share but first I will do a quick 5.

1. I am making coffee in my kitchen.
OUR COUNTERS ARE INSTALLED.  Though we still don't have a kitchen faucet and there are a few more details that Luke needs to come finish up....we have counters!!!

2.  The boys got so much better at baseball.
Though we surprisingly lost our first playoff game, this season it was actually fun to watch!  I even made a new friend so it made the entire thing extra fun.  I am actually looking forward to them getting better and watching them play next year.

3. I am liking my job.
The new gig is extremely challenging for me and tests my creative thinking, independence and judgement on a moment to moment basis.  I am learning so freaking much that sometimes (most of the time) I want to slow down to have time to think through my decisions.  I do see a light at the end of this crazy tunnel where I am not on full speed at all times but right now I am enjoying the ride.  For the most part.

Best part -- I rarely RARELY get emails after 430pm.


**The last two are at the bottom of the post.  Sorry for the break.  Enjoy the pictures**

How we ate food for a few weeks.

The joys of watching soccer.  Our team is TERRIBLE but Owen is clearly the best on the team so I think he is having a blast.

Cookout with old friends

Jack was making sure to follow Ezra around extra closely.

School work ALL day on Sunday.  I was able to get another class finished.  Only 4 left!

I rarely do homework with the boys because of my schedule.  I love sitting with them while they read.

...The night Mike got in an argument with the back neighbor.....but they made up and it ended in some YUMMY beer.  **Take note -- Ivy Hills HATES fireworks**

Something pierced the diet coke in my bag.  I noticed it in the middle of the aisle at Walmart.  Ugh.  Another reason to hate Walmart.

Completely, 100% out of my comfort zone at whale of a sale.  Learning from the best.

School picture day.  He was sort of a mess about what to wear.  Between the two of us we probably feed off each other.

When I was ordering hot chocolate for the daycare workers one morning Jack over heard and thought I ordered him chocolate milk.  When I got to the window I purchased a special Friday treat for him too.  :)

Jared's wedding.  AMAZING.

cleaning up trash in the neighborhood for their school project.  Greg did the work with them.

Micah's HUGS.  We are obsessed with playing with our neighbors.

4. Jack's clothes
For the past few weeks Jack has based his whole day off what type of clothes he is wearing.  For example, today he has a dog on his shirt so he wants to watch dog cartoons and pretends to be a dog all day.  He will ask to eat dog food when you ask him what he wants for lunch. One day I convinced him to wear a bike shirt.  Bike cartoons are hard to find at 5am.  haha

5. It's the weekend.
I want to wear sweatpants. Go to the gym, hit up soccer a few times and DO NOTHING.  So freaking excited to be able to put our house back together.  **So I guess that will take time** And then we will put up halloween directions.  PUMPED.

Lots of captions

I'm another week behind on posting.  This week, like all of the rest, have been really busy.  Instead of the normal 5 I am going to just put captions on the photos so you can have a jest about what is going on.

We finished staying at my parents house.  On this particular morning Jack started eating the lunches that I was making because he was up at 445am!

More grandparent spoils.....having twinkis in the lowest drawer so he ate them after breakfast.

The suicide walk with Julia.  The boys were AMAZING.  I was personally about to break down from heat and exhaustion. The kids were on their absolute best behavior.  It was impressive.

Owen's chalk drawing.

Ice cream treats to try and cool down.

After the suicide walk we went to the Stahley house for their annual fall, ND gathering.  This is what Jack's feet looked like after a long day.  He was an absolute mess.  

Nap accomplished on one of our many walks.

We were hiding behind a curtain while waiting for daddy to get home.  Once Jack heard Mike's voice he couldn't hide any longer and started running for a hug.

The routine: eating dinner out. I miss my kitchen.

It's starting to come together and I LOVE it.  We have spent SO. MUCH. MONEY. but it is so a huge change and so so so wonderful.

I don't know if I shared this before but our half bath has been out of commission for a few months.  The toilet was sinking into the floor.  Yup.
So we added the bathroom onto this project.  

It has been a strange two weeks at work.  I LOVE being busy.  I love learning new skills and growing in different skills.  I had this post in my phone because I sent it to my clinical supervisor, Kristin.  I do see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Getting prepared for next week.  One thing that I love about toothpaste is that I am pushed out of my comfort zone.  I love that the harder I work -- the more I earn.  Though I don't have time for a hobby, I am glad that I found this one.

On Thursday night I headed straight from work to the Dave Ramsey Live event.  Dave taught me a TON when I was in nursing school. I paid off credit cards and learned to never carry a balance again.  I started paying off my Butler student loans and learned how to STOP spending money.  Though I don't follow his baby steps anymore, hands down his podcast and way of thinking helped build a solid foundation as we begin to build wealth.

$24 drinks as we watch Dave.  I am absolutely sure that he would not agree to this purchase.  

Another night out for dinner.  Last night after work we hit up Books and Brews before looking at a new car for Mike.

NUMBER 3

1. IT'S FRIDAY

I am so freaking happy that it is Friday.  My day today shouldn't be toooo bad BUT I am really happy that I don't have to put on work clothes tomorrow.  Yup -- I am officially living for the weekend.

2. My job is OK

Yesterday my job was extremely challenging but overall I think that I am going to really like my job. It is challenging me a lot and I am learning a TON.  Also, I don't get emails after 5pm.  What?!  That feels a tad unheard of but it's real.

3. Cameron had his third dose of antibiotic this morning.

Cameron's strep throat is REALLY doing him in this time around.  I haven't seen him feel this crappy in a long time.  He just woke up at 444 (not in tears this time) so I got his antibiotic in him and some more pain meds.  Hoping that he feels like a new man when he wakes up and he is eager to go back to school.  Last night he said with tears in his eyes, "being sick is so boring."

4. A slice of the routine

Up, COFFEE, morning, drive to our house, drop off Nash, meet the bus, drop Jack at school, post office (sometimes), work, pick jack up, pick boys up, pick Nash up, parents house for dinner and completing out the night, bed. Are we lame?

5. Motivatonal Speeches on YouTube

For the first few months it was hard for me to get into the building every morning to start work.  I started listening to motivational speeches for success on YouTube every morning.  It has started to become a routine and it is a great little pep talk at the start of the day.

tired. tired.

Our lives are absolutely insane this week.  Cameron now has strep throat AGAIN and we are terribly missing Rouzer.  Because of our schedules we haven't had much time to talk.  Here is a quick 5 update because I am exhausted and want to go to bed.

1. No baseball tonight

For the past two nights I have been working or busy or away from home from 630 am to 8pm at night.  I know that LOTS of people do this and they love it -- but I don't.  I find that more and more these days that I love being home with my family and enjoying the nights in the comfort of my four walls.  Tonight we didn't have baseball so I was able to pick up the boys from daycare and then from Greg and grab Nash from our house and then head home (well to my parents for the evening).  It was still light out when I out SBJ to bed (TRIED to put him to bed) and the best part is that I actually ate dinner with my children.  Yay!

2. Greg
This week I would not of been able to work without Greg's help.  Not only has he helped take Cameron to the doctor and get his meds but he watched him all day today and he will tomorrow.  Cameron is also staying there tonight so he gets some solid sleep and is able to sleep in for the morning.  This new arrangement has been tough tough tough on my soul and I miss my boys so much during the week BUT I am grateful that Greg is here in Indianapolis and that is engaged in parenting. Thank you for the help this week!

3. I have never slept with a child in my bed
How the parents who sleep with little ones do it is beyond me.  We have been sharing a bed this week and though he is the cutes freaking thing and I am 100% obsessed I can't wait to have a bed back again.  This child is ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE.  It is insane.  More than once last night I woke up and he was down at the foot of the bed.  Nuts.  Absolutely Nuts.

Owen's dash between soccer and baseball.

 4. The kitchen remodel
Grateful for Luke and his discount and his expertise in our kitchen remodel.  I am pretty over not having a home base and no kitchen but I am grateful that this will be a distant memory and we will have a new kitchen space soon.

5. Watching the boys at baseball
Though I am wearing work clothes and I am starving I love watching the boys play sports.  They have really started to get better and they are usually always on base.  Cameron has even made some great plays in the field.  Love it.

My cheering partner.  (one of them)