Most nights, I don't know anymore....

This weekend we went camping with Cub Scouts.  So much fun! :)  Truth be told, I don't LOVE camping.  Sometimes, I don't even like it.  I have an issue with bugs (my issue is they bite me, I swell & scratch, it gets infected, I have to get meds. ugh....) and I don't love being dirty, but I go.  I go camping and I smile and love it when we're there.  If you asked my little guys, they'd tell you I love camping.  :)  That's parenting for you.

This week, my hot guy is taking a computer class.  I think he knows quite a bit about computers already, but off he goes. So this week, I'm hoping to take the time to sort through our school stuff.  We have a lot of supplies, textbooks, workbooks, etc. that we aren't using so I would like to free up some space!  We're starting school in two weeks and I'd really like to have our area set up and ready to go.  Plus, I love to organize and it will help get all of us in the back-to-school mood.  

I've spent enough time complaining, whining, or otherwise being fussy.  We live here now...here in North Carolina.  I can't miss Maryland forever (though I'm pretty sure I will) and I can't be mopey about it forever. It's time to get up and get moving.  Figuratively speaking.  I've held out being too friendly, because I hate saying goodbye to friends.  I've been standoffish because it can be a lot of work finding a new best friend.  I don't need a new best friend, but I do need friends.  So, I'm done being whiny....I am going to learn to love it here.  

Starting with going to a big homeschool thing next week.  :)  If I'm gonna make some new friends, I'd LOVE for them to be some homeschooling friends.  

Vacation...and then some!

Well, life got away from me for a minute!  I wish I would have blogged during vacation about all the great stuff we did...that way I'd be less likely to forget stuff, but we had super spotty internet connection and it was hard enough to spend 2 seconds on facebook. :)

We went on vacation!!  Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is AMAZING!  It's so pretty there, so amazing.  And it couldn't be MORE military friendly!  We got discounts EVERYWHERE!!!  We had so much fun with family and with each other.  It was just nice.  Very nice.  Here's a day by day breakdown of our two weeks away from home:

Saturday: Get to Pigeon Forge!!
Sunday: Shopping in downtown, historic Pigeon Forge.
Monday: Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Gatlinburg and then Ripley's Old MacDonald's Mini-Golf in Pigeon Forge.
Tuesday: WHITEWATER RAFTING!!! And a supremely awesome High Ropes Course.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  :)  It was a big kids only trip so we took the boys mining for gemstones and fossils when we got back.
Wednesday: Go karts!!! WOO HOO!! (plus a terrifying experience of a spider crawling in my Mom's ear! Eek!!)
Thursday: Swimming in the pool and a visit to the Sky Bridge!  Scary, awesome time!
Friday: Go karts!  Again!!  WOO HOO!!  And then dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe as my Mom had NEVER been to one and really wanted to go.  She loved it!  Then she hung out with my monkey's while Adam and I shopped downtown Gatlinburg (one of my fave times!).
Saturday: Downtown Pigeon Forge shopping with my Grandma!!  and  then Old Fashioned Photos!!!  Turned out super awesome!
Sunday: Drove to Ohio!
Monday: A visit with Adam's Grandpa for a little while then bowling and dinner with my AMAZING BESTIE Tiff and her wonderful kids.
Tuesday: Waterpark!!!!!!!  First we went to a really rad playground, then to a "waterpark" (not amusement park size but it was really great!) with Tiff and the kids!  Then went back to in-laws to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday!
Wednesday: Dinner with Adam's Grandpa then a visit with his Granny!  Followed up with a trip to Troy to see my brother and one of my nephews!!
Thursday: Adam went to a pipe shop then we had dinner at my Grandma's with my mom, my aunt and uncle, and brother and a few nephews.
Friday: I went thrifting with Adam's lovely Granny and Adam took the boys to a park with his parents.  Then we went up to Troy to visit with my family for our last night in Southwest Ohio.
Saturday: Head to my Dad's for a his Homecoming Party!  Welcome HOME Dad!!  (he was deployed to Afghanistan)
Sunday: A day with Dad and his family!!!  Started the drive home, stayed in WV.
Monday: Finished the drive home!! Picked up Buddy from his vacation!!  Got home to a hot, hot, hot upstairs because the unit outside wasn't working.
Tuesday: Unpacking.  Cleaning.
Wednesday: Air guy comes, can't fix until tomorrow.  Dad and family arrive on their way to FLORIDA!!!!

Sigh! Busy, busy, busy!!!!

This weekend, Adam and Adisson are participating in a Father/Son Weekend camping trip.  Honestly, I'm just so excited for them to have a chance to connect with each other one on one.  The thought of it all just gets me all excited and happy and brings on the tears! :)  Meanwhile, I'm planning lots of fun stuff to do with Zander and Jax so no one feels left out.  So far I'm thinking, McGhee family (some of us!) movie night with the Lorax, a trip to the Aloha Zoo, and a visit to Fascinate U Children's Museum.  I'd like to find one more thing to do and I have an idea....we'll see what works out.  :)

whatev...

Zander's still sick with his cold.  Adisson's puking.  Adam's busy.  I'm tired.  Oh, Jax is two.

That's my life in a line.

Man, I LOOOOVE crafts. :)

On Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment.  I was pretty sure I'd developed a fun case of MRSA up in my nostrils.  You don't screw around with MRSA so I made an appointment when I woke up.  Treatment is easy enough, topical and oral antibiotics.  Plus, if there is anything bacterial going on with this cold/upper respiratory infection, the antibiotics will wipe it out.  The cough still remains, at times making me feel like I'm gasping for breath, but I'm finally starting to feel better.

Adam was off on Wednesday, of course, for the fourth of July.  The house had become rather messy in the previous week and a half due to everyone being sick, so we finally got a lot of cleaning down around the house.  It was desperately needed.  We're still not quite done, but it's a vast improvement.  I'll get the rest done next week when Adam goes back to work.

We did go see fireworks on Wednesday evening.  I decided that of all the area fireworks displays, the one in Pinehurst might be the least crowded.  It was really nice.  The fireworks lasted nearly 45 minutes, probably the longest display I've ever seen. :)  Zander has some noise sensitivity so we brought along a pair of noise reducing headphones.  He also thought the fireworks were too bright (which they were, some of them were too bright for me as well and I had to look away)...because he also has some light sensitivity so he kept his eyes closed.  All that led up to Zander falling asleep *during* the fireworks.  The funny thing is, so did Jaxon.  He started screaming at the first firework so I held him and covered his ears.  I also grabbed Adam's hat and covered up part of his face....so that's when he decided to just take a nap.  :)

Yesterday was a long awaited day.  Since most of my chores had been done I could finally spend some time working on my long list of crafts.  Since Adam was home, he'd be able to help distract the boys. :)  I didn't get as much done as I wanted to (I always underestimate the time needed to complete something) but the good news is I actually did finish a project.  From start to finish, I made two fabric travel high chairs for Sophia and Sawyer.  They aren't perfect, straight, worthy of selling, etc. etc. but they are pretty cute and despite crooked lines will work just fine for my girls.  :)  I also started their owl toys, but didn't quite get those finished.

I'm working on Marble Mazes for the boys travel bags for vacation and they are just as easy to whip up as the original poster said they would be. :)  I only finished one, but I'm hoping to get them done sometime soon.  I've also been working on the rest of their travel activities.  I'll have a big post of what all is going in everyone's travel bags by next weekend, I hope.  I have to get them finished up so I can send my nephews' bags up to Ohio.  I want them to have their travel activities to enjoy on the way to vacation as well as on the way home.  :)

Ok, we're in desperate need of groceries as everyone's been sick and gross lately and I haven't been to the store.  So today is the day I promised them food.  Then this afternoon, we're going to see a movie before we have to go shoe shopping. :)

They weren't kidding. Dang it.

I had to take a few days off, I was just too sick.  Today I also felt like complete crap.

But I couldn't wait another day.  So tonight I tried it.  For the first time ever.  As previously mentioned, I've started the first level plenty of times.  Done it for a day or two.  That's it.  Until last week when I FINALLY completed Level One in 11 days.

Level Two.

S.U.C.K.E.D.

Oh my gosh.  That was the hardest workout of my life.  Ever.  Of all time.  I had to stop a few times to cough uncontrollably (still sick) and a few times, I thought my arms, legs, abs, or entire body might explode.

That girl is no freaking joke.

But I did it.  :)

Ohhhh the joys...

Well, being sick sucks.  And the past several days it's been all five of us.  I think we're finally all on the mend, but we all still have some lingering issues.  I guess if I have to find a blessing in all this it's that we were sick during the heat wave.  We couldn't get out for more than one reason.  So hopefully, we're all better by next weekend when it's back in the 80's.

And because of being sick, I've definitely not been able to workout. :(  But I've made my peace with that.  I can't stress about things I can't help.  It is what it is.

Today, we're all feeling a little better.  Everyone is still sick, but I think we're on the mend.  I hope so anyway!  But the last few days have gotten me in a crafty kick and I've come up with a project list.

After I spend today getting caught up on laundry and disinfecting everything, I'm hoping I can get to work on some projects this week.

I've been working on a book page flower wreath for my mom since December.  It's THE most time consuming project I've ever started.  It didn't get finished in time for Christmas and I've worked on a few times since we moved here but I'd really like to finish it up and take it to her on vacation.  Seriously, though, I'm thinking it's been about 25 hours in the making.  :)

I'm also going to make fabric travel high chairs for Sophia and Sawyer.  I bought the material over the weekend and I'd LOVE to get those done soon.

I'm working on travel binders for our vacation trip.  They are for all the boys.  I've gotten a lot of stuff done for them already but I need to get a few more things finished up.  That is something else I'd like to get done this week.  I reallllly want to get them sent to Ohio before vacation so my nephews can use them on the way to Tennessee.

I've also had a goal for awhile to go paperless in the kitchen.  No paper towels and no paper napkins.  We already don't use paper plates or plastic ware (we have some on hand for when we are camping.  But we also have reusable camping dishes.  It just depends on the access to water where we are camping).  I found an amazing tutorial online of making reusable paper towels so I'd love to work on that in the next few weeks.  But I've decided not to buy the supplies for them until I get my other projects finished first.

I have a bad habit of starting several projects and not finishing any of them.  Hopefully I can fix that now.  :)

Anyway, my hope is to get started working out tomorrow.  Sadly, I think my hopes of the 5k are pretty much shot.  :(

At all costs.

I didn't start Level Two tonight.  And I think I'm ok with that.

As I'm sick.  :(  And on top of being sick, my knees are really hurting.  CVID's side effects (well one of them) is joint pain.  My joint pain is in my knees and elbows (elbows....really??) and my knees are really, really sore right now.  And you do a lot of working out with Jillian that you need your knees for. :)  Adam keeps telling me if I push myself too hard and injure myself, I'll need more than a night off.

And this illness.  Well, it's manifesting itself as chest congestion.  Since I haven't had a treatment since January, I'm very concerned that this is going to turn into a lovely case of respiratory infection.  Which sometimes leads right on into pneumonia.  Not always and that's not even my concern.  My concern is being able to run a 5k in six days with a chest infection.  I can push through knee discomfort, but breathing difficulty isn't something I can ignore.

And it's times like these I think there's never going to be a day that I'm physically fit.  Because as soon as I start doing well (eating pretty good, exercising daily, resting enough), then this crap happens.  I get sick and have a hard time breathing, I have a difficult time with my knees. 

Why now?  Why when I'm working soooooo hard to be in better shape before vacation?  I want to be able to be in vacation pictures and not hide as soon as Adam pulls the camera out because I'm too embarrassed to be in photos.  No, I didn't think this working out regiment was going to get me on the cover of Fitness Magazine, but I thought it was a start.  I thought it would be something I could be proud of.

And it's like I'm failing regardless of how hard I try.



EDITED: So I have no idea why that block up there is highlighted and I'm tired of trying to fix it.  Who even sees this???

I NEED IT!

Crafting is my release. It's the way I feel like I'm me, the way I feel like I'm still a person under my Wife Hoodie and my Mom Jeans.  And I haven't had the time for that lately and it honestly makes me anxious, fidgety, what have you.  It's like I NEED to make something. 

But I feel guilty about making stuff when there's so much housework and kidwork and everythingwork that needs to be done around the house.  My time management isn't so great and I just wish I had more time, or better use of my time so I could fit it all in.  

Because I've gotta bust that sewing machine out soon or I'm gonna explode!  :)

Sometimes.

So Jax isn't feeling any better. :(  And tomorrow morning if he wakes up with a fever, we'll be making a doctor's appointment.  The good news about our doctor's "office" (I only put quotes because it's a different situation in the Army) is that they'll get him in same day and we'll be in and out quickly.  The bad news is that if they prescribe him anything, Adam will have to pick it up as their pharmacy runs on about a three hour delay.  It's more than completely aggravating.  Really, I don't even want to get started on that rant, so I'm moving my thoughts along.

He's very miserable and likes to be held and if he's not being held, you need to be near him.  :(  It's just sad.  I want my wild one back.

I got pretty much nothing done around the house today.  Dishes are dirty, clothes are dirty, stuff needs done. But I did my job as a mom and snuggled my sick toddler, so I'd say it was a successful day nonetheless.

And then, when everyone else had fallen asleep, I finally finished level one.  I wish I could be more excited, but still....no difference.  I read somewhere that it takes four weeks for me to notice a difference, eight weeks for your family to notice a difference, and twelve weeks for strangers to notice.  That's honestly not very encouraging.

And it's not just exercising going on here.  I track my calories.  I'm supposed to be around 1200 for the day. Typically, I don't go over 1000 and I don't take my calories burned from exercising into consideration.  So I guess I don't get why the number on the scale continues to increase.

Anyway, it's been a crappy week and the kids are bored out of their minds.  I hope Jax feels better soon so I can do something fun with my boys.

I just keep praying for all of it.  About all I can do sometimes.

Jussssst barely....

This morning I woke up at 6:30 to a toddler snuggled between his dad and I (I didn't remember him getting into bed with us) and hot as a firecracker.  :(  And when I tried to give him some Tylenol, he was having NONE of that.  Took both of us to hold him down long enough to squirt it in his mouth. :(  He has felt crummy all day.  When Adam got home from work and I asked him to help me give Jax some more Tylenol (I didn't attempt it solo), he barely got it all down before he barfed all over himself.  Honestly, though, that seemed to make him feel better.  (Sorry if that was icky for you!)

Because he didn't feel well, he insisted on being snuggled up to me all day.  I mean, like I had to talk to him from the bathroom telling him I'd be right back.  The few times he dozed off, I jumped up to start a load of laundry (we got a little, errrr, a lot behind...plus all of Adam's laundry from his trip).  I was thrilled when Adam got home because I was hoping I could get a few things done while Jax laid down with Dad.  But no dice.  Nothing is quite like Mommy.  :)

After the barf, he felt well enough to play and I finally managed to get up to make dinner.  I tried a new recipe of Stuffed Chicken (yummm), made homemade mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, peas, and rolls.  Then spent awhile cleaning the kitchen and doing some laundry.  I didn't think I was going to get it done.  I was hopeful that I'd fit it in, but the time kept slipping away and I thought I might not make it.

But I did.  :)

Workout #9 of Level One....check.

Tonight, Adam wanted to watch Tosh.0 while I did my exercises.  Fortunately, after a bajillion false starts with level one and 8 workouts in the last 9 days, I knew it by heart.  :)  And I did it up pretty darn well.

Now I'm icky, sticky and stinky and need a shower.  Tomorrow, well, tomorrow is another day and I hope it's filled with a happy, healthy, unfeverish toddler...and that his big brothers don't get the ick, too.