catch the moment: wk 49

Posted on December 10, 2015December 29, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

Week 49? Seriously?
This is crazy. I can’t believe another year is almost done. I’m running behind this holiday season, as usual. My best friend and her WIFE (yay! they just got married) visited over the weekend and we stayed in, drank coffee and wine, ate good food, and in the middle of all that, I got my fall decorations taken down and my Christmas decorations put up. It was a very productive weekend. I was shocked to look at my fitbit at the end of both Saturday and Sunday to see over 20k steps each day. FROM DECORATING. Nuts, man. Nuts.

337/365: Thursday, December 3rd.

338/365: Friday, December 4th. This is the poorest quality, grainiest picture I took at our little friend Mariana’s 7th birthday party, but that face. Look at the pure joy and excitement as we prepared to sing the birthday song to her. Sweetest little lady.

339/365: Saturday, December 5th. I hate putting lights on the tree. Hate it. Least favorite thing to do during the holidays, hands down. I was excited to eliminate a dozen or more cardboard boxes and re-organize ALL of my decorations – Easter in one box, Valentine’s Day in another, and so on. No more cardboard. No more mixed up holidays. I got that light wreath half off last year after Christmas and I think it looks fantastic.

340/365: Sunday, December 6th. Dexter wore pajamas all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday. My little homebody. He insisted on helping Daddy put the star on the top of the tree.

341/365: Monday, December 7th. Abominable snowman finger puppet is all the rage this holiday season. They are taking turns sleeping with it every night. My favorite thing about this picture is his perfectly precious little silhouette on the wall.

342/365: Tuesday, December 8th. Tuesday night Library trip selections.

343/365: Wednesday, December 9th. The mantel and hearth are decorated and looking so cozy. Since it was 60 degrees today, we didn’t have a fire in the fireplace but we will get it going sometime before Christmas.

As much as I hate decorating and putting it all away, I do love the house full of twinkling lights and festive snowmen, Santas, and sparkles. Glittersplosion 2015.

xo,

~C~

Catch the Moment: Wk 44

Gallery posted on November 5, 2015December 29, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

This week’s photos are a little Dexter-heavy but I swear, I love them both the same! 🙂 That’s just the way it works out sometimes. We had beautiful, unseasonably warm weather this week and I cannot believe it’s November. Today I was able to wear a sleeveless dress-it was 77 degrees. In November. In Indiana. Mind blown. CRAZY. I’ll take it! And I’m hoping for a mild winter but let’s not get greedy…here we go.

302/365: Thursday, October 29th. A long day at work and no motivation – after a month of legitimate and created excuses, it was time to get back to the gym. I didn’t want to. I got there and sat in my car. I thought about just sitting in my car for the whole hour but made myself go in. Within 2 minutes of starting Zumba, I was smiling and breathing a huge sigh of relief. Sometimes I just don’t know how bad I need to exercise until I’m doing it. Or until it’s done. Time to get back into a regular routine of 3-4 workouts per week.

303/365: Friday, October 30th. We met friends at Kelsay Farms to climb the hay mountain, play in the corn pit, go through the corn maze, take a hay ride, sit by a bonfire, ride the Moo Choo Express, and watch some bad, bad, bad karaoke. It was a perfect, cool autumn night and with it being the day before Halloween, I thought it would be packed. Seemed like we had the place to ourselves. Such fun.

304/365: Saturday, October 31st. Halloween! My Ant-Man and Superman. Rain had been predicted but it held off until we were done trick or treating. This was the first year we didn’t let them use strollers or the wagon. They hoofed it. After hoofing and lugging their buckets for an hour, they were ready to turn around and head home. It was cute watching them interact with the neighbors. I think their favorite thing about the whole holiday is getting home, dumping their buckets, and sorting their candy. My little organizers-I couldn’t be more proud.

305/365: Sunday, November 1st. Spent ALL day inside cleaning, laundering, cooking, organizing, and all the other -ings we -ing on Sundays. I had been promising Dexter for hours that as soon as I was done doing one more -ing, we’d go outside. We finally made it out around 3:30 and I was shocked at how warm it was. Happily shocked. He shed his jacket within about 30 seconds and we played secret superhero games in the trees by our house.

306/365: Monday, November 2nd. I usually have about 15 minutes to waste between dropping Theo and Dexter off at their schools so on Monday we went and got gas. While we were waiting, I decided it was a good chance for me to get my picture of the day. Dexter decided it was a good time to be super silly.

307/365: Tuesday, November 3rd. It was far too nice out to go straight home after school. The boys may have played outside during school, but this mama needed some Vitamin D too. We went to the library and the park before going home at sunset….yes, at 6pm.

308/365: Wednesday, November 4th. Just another gorgeous day in Central Indiana.

Hope your week has been unexpectedly wonderful. xo.

~C~

catch the moment: wk 27

Posted on July 9, 2015July 9, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

Last week’s post ended in a rather sad way, with me sharing that my aunt had passed away and we that were preparing for her funeral.

183/365: Thursday, July 2nd. Getting through the day at work on Wednesday was difficult as my mind was anywhere but on my job duties. I spent Thursday with my mother and grandmother, remembering my Aunt Sandy and other relatives we’d lost. I had not yet seen my grandfather’s grave so we visited the cemetery where so many family members I never met are buried. It was some much needed, rare, and very therapeutic family time. I learned that my grandpa’s brother had died after getting hit by a train at age 22. How have I lived 35 years and never heard that story? It’s strange, walking through a cemetery. You can literally feel pain there. Every stone, every name represents so many stories and such sorrow. With my already sad mood, it was a somber experience that wasn’t taken lightly.

184/365: Friday, July 3rd. Just before the viewing and funeral. None of us wanted to go in there, but we did. It was a beautiful tribute to a beautiful person. We stayed the night at a hotel since the burial was early the next morning.

185/365: Saturday, July 4th. After the burial, we ate lunch with family and then headed an hour and a half or so west back to my house. My sister and her family came to stay with us Saturday night. We grilled out, walked to the park, and later stood in the driveway watching the neighbors shooting off fireworks from side. I love watching fireworks, but it shocks me how much people spend on them. Oh well – we appreciated the show! 186/365: Sunday, July 5th. Since my family ended up in Indiana instead of us being in TN for the 4th like we’d planned, we tried to make the most of it. We got the inflatable water slide out on Sunday. The kids had a blast. I couldn’t have kept count of how many times my nephew Malachi went down if I wanted to. I love having my family here. I love them being in my house. I love cooking for them. I hate that we live 6 hours apart. Oh, this day was also our 12th wedding anniversary! See day 187…

187/365: Monday, July 6th. Ryan had told me Sunday that his parents were coming up Monday night so that we could go out for a nice dinner. I was so excited! We don’t get many date nights so they really are special times that I look forward to when we are able to talk and reconnect without distractions. I was so thankful for the surprise and for my in-laws agreeing to come up and watch the boys for a few hours. After dinner we went to a couple of furniture stores and the mall.

188/365: Tuesday, July 7th. Seeing this beautiful old house turned schoolhouse when I drop off and pick up the boys at summer camp never gets old. Still decked out for the 4th of July.

189/365: Wednesday, July 8th. Typical array of toys strewn through the house while big imaginations are running wild with make-believe play.My mood has definitely improved again as the week has gone on, despite having a constant ache in my heart for my uncle and my cousins who lost their wife/mom last week. Grief is such a hard journey that we all go through at some point but I’d never wish on anyone.

Which photo is your favorite this week? They are all special to me.

xo,

~C~

Linking up with Mindi,Stephanie, and Carrie for week 27 of Catch the Moment 365.