Month: August 2014

catch the moment 365: week thirty-four

Gallery posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Whoa, this might be a new Guinness Book world record for fewest pictures in a week of my boys…

Linking up with these lovelies for week 34 of Catch the Moment 365:

  1. Mindi from Simply Stavish
  2. Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer 
  3. Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming

232/365: August 20th. The sun trying to bust through a very foggy morning on my drive to work.8-20-14

233/365: August 21st. Watching a little Disney Jr before school.8-21-14

234/365: August 22nd. A 40th birthday party for our good friend Alfredo. I just love this picture of him and Brandy.  You’d never know these lovebirds had been married for 13 years. Such a sweet couple and some of our closest friends.8-22-14

235/365: August 23rd. And we got to watch their youngest daughter for a few hours on Saturday, which meant a fun trip to the splash pad on a hot, hot Saturday.8-23-14

236/365: August 24th. Our good friends took us out on their boat and after another long, hot day of being in the sun, this was about as good of a picture as I could get of these three pals. We had a blast!8-24-14

237/365: August 25th. The boys preschool schedule has my work schedule a little upside down, meaning I go in earlier on Mondays and Fridays to make up for going in later the other three days.  The advantage is that on Mondays and Fridays, I’m able to see sunrises like this on the country backroads as I drive to …..8-25-14

238/365: August 26th. Franklin, Indiana. I had planned on getting a picture of this cute area of downtown Franklin and just as I took out my camera, this stretch rolled up and got in my shot…I didn’t have time to sit there and wait for it to move on so here’s a random moment in downtown Franklin for you. 8-26-14

 

So weird to only have three pictures of the boys this week! My favorite three pictures this week are day 234 (Brandy and Alfredo), 235 (because she’s so pretty), and 237 (that sunrise).

How about you – which one do you like best?

xo,

~C~

2014 resolution check-in

Gallery posted on by mommyinthemidwest

My three resolutions for 2014 and my progress towards them with two-thirds of this year behind me…

1. Stop Yelling.

I decided to try to go an entire year without yelling at Theo and Dexter.  It wasn’t long before I had a couple of relapses and I quickly noticed a pattern.  It wasn’t them – it was me.  I was yelling when I was tired and/or PMSing.  I never put it together before until I started tracking how long it’d been between my meltdowns where I totally lost my cool.  My tolerance and patience is sliced in half when I’m hormonal – who knew?  I know that shaming my kids is not okay. Humiliating them with my size and power is unacceptable.  I’m not doing that anymore, so I call this an overall success so far in 2014.  Not perfect by any means, but better. While I can’t say that I haven’t raised my voice out of annoyance or frustration, I’m MUCH more aware of my own mood and how it impacts my parenting. The result at this point is that I am noticing a calmer tone in the home.

2. Run 300 miles.

Pretty much a major fail. My plan was to run about 2 miles three times a week all year.  Lofty, but that’s what dreams are, right? I blame the practically immediate demise of this dream on an uncooperative body.  I had two bouts of strep throat, a stomach bug, and THE flu in the first 6 weeks of 2014.  When I tried to get back to running in February, I had intense knee pain.  I injured myself somehow, to the point that standing up from a chair or walking from one end of my office building to the other was painful.  I had pain-free days here and there into the springtime, but I averaged just a handful of runs per month.  August has been my best running month all year with my longest run ever – 3.55 miles.  The day after that, my knees and ankles told me to back off and then the humidity here got ridiculous. I have slacked waaay off the last couple of weeks, but I’m looking forward to getting back into my routine of three runs per week soon. Not anywhere close to reaching my goal, but it hasn’t been completely forgotten.

3. Take a photo every day and document them weekly on my blog.

I have completely kept up with this. I have take every picture I have posted and every picture has been taken with my DSLR. No cheating! (This is not a requirement of the project, but a challenge to myself).  I can’t wait to compile the year of photos into a little book. The bonus is what I hope is an improvement in my photography skill and knowledge. My interest for the hobby has certainly grown, if nothing else.

So there you have it — did you make resolutions and have you kept them? I guess you could say I am at about 1.5 out of 3?

xo,

~C~

catch the moment 365: week thirty-three

Gallery posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Over midway through August and still going strong with this project. I’m kind of shocked. It’s the only New Year’s Resolution that I’ve truly kept. I will update more on progress with the other two big resolutions soon(ish).

Let’s cut the crap and get to the photos, shall we?

Linking up with the Catch The Moment 365 gurus once again:

By the way, if anyone is interested in beginning a Project 365, it’s never too late to join in. It’s just one photo, every day, for an entire year. There’s no rule stating you have to start on January 1st!  It can be on facebook, instagram, in a blog post, or in a scrapbook.  The Catch the Moment 365 Facebook group created by the hostesses above is an incredible source of support and motivation to keep moving forward.

225/365: August 13th – A chilly 78 degrees outside for swim lessons. One kid didn’t seem to mind and the other one…well, the picture says it best!8-13-14

226/365: August 14th – Dexter helping me in the kitchen at dinner time, washing potatoes.8-14-14

227/365: August 15th – My best friend, Emily, reading to the boys. She’s so animated and they absolutely love listening to her read. They also love that she will just keep reading and reading and reading and never cut them off like I eventually do.  🙂 It’s a good thing if you have to limit the number of books every night, right?8-15-14

228/365: August 16th – Emily, Lauren, and I spent our day at WAMMfest. I was enjoying the festivities and not thinking too much about taking pictures but when we met up with a friend and her kids, I whipped out the camera for a few minutes.  I got some “better” pictures of them but for some reason this one of Paxton was a favorite of mine.  Those eyes!8-16-14

229/365: August 17th – showing off a WAMMfest purchase from my favorite vendor, Fatty Frog Pots. I am obsessed with these and drink everything out of them. I just drink for the sake of using them.

8-17-14

230/365: August 18th – Monday night mowing crew on the scene.

8-18-14

231/365: August 19th – Tuesday night haircut club. Just hangin’ out at the barber shop.8-19-14

So, how has your week been?  I kind of like all of these pictures; they all make me smile for one reason or another.  I loved the light in the barber shop (day 231).  I like the variety in the pictures this week. I think Paxton’s eyes might take the cake for me (day 228).

Which one is your favorite?

xo,

~C~