Saturday Shorts

Beautiful blooms in our yard, before a rainstorm

Does anyone still host the Friday quick takes?   I used to love those things - a quick, easy way to put together all those little thoughts that you never really need to develop into an entire blog post, but still want to share.   Hmm.

I don't know if it's still a thing, so instead, I'll just put together my hodgepodge of thoughts today on the blog.  Don't say I didn't warn ya.

Let's get this party started, shall we?  Yes.  Yes, we shall.

1).  BEST PURCHASE EVER for our kiddos.   They can all use it, and they LOVE it.  Kids have napped in it, when it's not being played on constantly.  Seriously.  Best swing ever

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2) We went to this really cool Lego exhibition yesterday.   If you have one near you, definitely go check it out!  The kids really enjoyed seeing these huge sculptures, and honestly?  I did, too!   

3)  Someone's mad at me because I made him come outside to play.   Crazy boy.

4) Two of the boys compete at the weightlifting national championships next week.  We're excited to head down to cheer them on - weightlifting was *never* on my radar when it came to sports for the kiddos to participate in, but they're loving it.  We aren't going into nationals expecting them to walk away with medals or anything - they've only been doing this for a couple of months! - but it's still fun for them to qualify and get to experience something on this big of a stage.   I'm proud of them for even trying!

5) Our anniversary is coming up soon.  15 years.   Who would've thought, 15 years ago, that I'd be sitting here, supervising our *six* kids on a lazy Saturday afternoon?  Not me, that's for sure.  I was going to have 2 kiddos, and go back to work after that.   God got the last laugh on that one, I think.  :)

6) The scale flirted with my lowest weight in 6 years this morning.   I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be hitting that officially next week sometime.   We'll see.  I've also got a 5 day road trip coming up next week (see item #4, haha), and that usually results in a little bump up on the scale.   I've got about 30 pounds to go until my original goal weight.  That sounds crazy to say, huh?  I started with a goal of about 75 pounds to lose!

7) Trying to brainstorm quick and easy ways to do a little self care while parenting for a future blog post.  Most of us don't have large blocks of time on the regular to be able to provide self care, so we have to do it in little chunks.   For me, that usually means a quick jog on the treadmill, a chance to sit down and read a chapter in my book, or even just sitting down to drink a cup of coffee.   Now that Miss E isn't napping as regularly, I'm playing around with when/how to work in my daily rosary (I used to pray it while rocking her to sleep for her nap).  I've been getting up before the kids in the morning, trying to work it in then (with a cup of hot coffee!), but when Mike is home and trying to get ready for work, that doesn't always happen.   He's chatty in the morning (haha).  By the time evening comes around, I'm usually too tired to make it through without falling asleep.  So, that one's still a work in progress for a reliable form of self care.   How do you "fill your own bucket" during the day?

Okay, friends.   A quick Saturday check in.  Have a great weekend, friends!  

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Coming up on the blog - reviewing some of my new favorite food products and how they work into my macros!  

Also on deck - why I hired a nutrition coach, just hired a strength training coach, and why you should consider doing it, too!