Then and Now

Bedtime Story

April 2012

April 2015

Field Day

Her first field day!  

As a teacher, field day signaled the beginning of the end of the school year.  Can't believe how quickly this year has gone by and how much she's grown!  Lovin' every bit of this!!!

My Leg is Popping

He was sitting on his leg at the kitchen table.
Stands up and says... "HEY, my leg is popping!"

Job Title: SHAM...plus more

haha...so I write a blog post dated 4/1 about how I'm no longer working and yet still managing to stay very busy at home.  

Well, this blog holds powers because 8 days later I interviewed with a local realtor.  I wasn't even actively looking for a job.  Mentioned to two people that if they knew anyone interested in hiring a transaction coordinator/assistant part-time, to please share my name.  

Mason snapped this "awesome" pic of me right after my interview.  

Still rocking some sweet teacher clothes ;)

One week later on April 14th - I started officially working....again.  

It's basically everything I was doing before, only times five.  This realtor is very busy and thus has a lot of appointments and paperwork.  I write contracts/listings/amendments; schedule inspections/pictures/appraisals/closings; and the list goes on...

We'll see how this goes.  I do like having my own niche.  Tuesday-Thursday I work from 9-2pm and then plug in hours everywhere else.  You'll see me with my computer and notebook everywhere, doing work from the soccer field, swim meets, or car rider line.   And now in the evening, instead of sitting on pinterest or facebook, I'm on har.com

Unfortunately, as you can see, my blog has taken a backseat...again.

Family Swim!

T-Ball

So this cutie has started T-Ball.  There is a slight overlap with the soccer season, luckily with no conflicts :)  His good buddy Kason is on the team with him.  

Foto Friday

April 24, 2011

Shades On

Minus Two Teeth

In a span of less than two weeks, Olivia has lost two more teeth!  I honestly thought she wouldn't loose any teeth until 2nd grade...remember?? she had NO TEETH until 13 months.

She's lost both of these at school.
She likes going to the nurse and getting her tooth put in a special container :)

Jump

She is a jump rope master!
Do not let the winter wardrobe mislead you...it's warm here, girl just loves jeans and long sleeves

HAIL

And that's what yesterday's hail storm looks like!

And While The Boys Played...

...the girls took the kids to a bar :)

VW Bus Show

Tim and Kevin made an epic journey to Fredricksburg, TX in his bus to enter it in the Texas VW Classic.  

And guess it was a good thing they went....because it won 1st place!!

click picture below

Foto Friday

it's been a rainy season. 

hasn't bothered these two at all!

We Eat Out.....a lot

(it's a wednesday night, we have soccer and Tim was not going to be home for dinner.)

Me: "Hey kids, let's go get chick-fil-a before soccer practice"

Olivia: "But it's Wednesday and we eat chick-fil-a on Mondays."

Me: "Yup, you're right.  Hey kids. let's go get Subway before soccer practice"

Olivia: "I love Mondays and Wednesdays."

An Early Morning Writing

After School Playdate: Mason Style

building forts

After School Playdate: Olivia Style

riding bikes

My Friends

My Friends

Whenever we are together I feel like we are transported back to our college days (and who doesn't love that?!).  We are carefree and laid-back.  We chat about nothing and everything.  We laugh and smile and try on clothes for each other and gossip and cry and hug and complain and just be.  Except now our friendship has longevity and history.  There is no drama.  It's solid.  Oh...and we also have 7 (almost 8) children, 3 husbands, and we live in 3 different states.  Haha...that's a big difference from our college days.  However, this doesn't interfere with our friendship.  Sure, it takes a little more planning to find an open date for three families that live in three different states to get together...but it's worth it.  

And every.single.time. I'm with these ladies I remember how blessed that in 1998 I was placed across the dorm room hallway on the 7th Floor of West AJ at Virginia Tech from these two.  Yes, we are different girls than we were then, but our friendship has maintained and evolved into something pretty awesome.   

 Oh and we've also all acquired some incredible husbands/daddies who take over complete parenting responsibilities to allow us this time....THANK YOU!

Hugs Friends.

When Friends Meet, Hearts Warm

We spent our Saturday cramming in a year of missed time.  

Pedicures, Lunch, Shopping, Model Homes, Wine and Sushi, late night talks.  

It doesn't get better!

Oh...and I might have spent some extra time with that adorable little boy!!!

Foto Friday - Richmond Faces

I've traveled to Richmond to have a much needed college roommate reunion!!!  And I got to see these three adorable faces when I arrived late Friday night.   Reid, Layla, Claire

Really excited about our weekend!!! 

bubble

Reflections:

Found a "teacher folder" labeled keep forever.

Yup, think I'll continue to keep these treasures.

Picnic Dinner

Store prepared salads, kids table, and these two cuties.

This is good!

Just Balancing...

...a fence panel.

Happy Easter

Woke up to Easter eggs everywhere :)

Spent the morning with the Outtens (but didn't take a single picture?!)

Then traveled to my parents for "egg"celent afternoon!

 (the grass was wet and Mason didn't like his feet touching it) 

Egg Dying

Boy, it's hard to wait for them to dry so they can be decorated with stickers.

Foto Friday

Just Us!

Easter Egg Hunt

Mason's Class Egg Hunt

Job Title: SAHM

After almost 2 years working as a transaction coordinator (plus so much more) for a local Realtor, we've gone our separate ways.  I can't believe it lasted as long as it did.  I'm so grateful for the experience of working in this industry.  I've learned a lot and also discovered that I REALLY enjoy having my "own outlet" not related to kids.  The money was incredible and I hope to one day get back into it :)

Now I've got Tuesday through Thursday 9-2 with no kids.  What on earth would I fill my time with?! (Don't get me wrong, I wasn't crazy busy with work...I probably averaged 10-20 hours a week, but I would cram those hours into no kid days as much as possible.  However, those in the real estate business don't just work 9-5 M-F, so there were times I was writing contracts during dinner or on the weekends).

My Day

*I blog.  Yes, you must be able to tell that something has changed because my blog is staying more up-to-date :)

*I tidy and do general household upkeep (laundry, grocery shopping, etc).  My house is, generally speaking, neat and tidy.  Very few piles or things laying around.  There is a place for everything and everything has a place.  In the morning, after the children have gone to school, I spend about 30-60 minutes putting everything back in it's place.  People often say how "clean" my house is.  Clean is not the word I use, it's tidy...and things are put away.  I used to not like to admit this, but why be ashamed?!  This is me.  I get cleaners about once a month.  So they do all my deep cleaning.

*Related to this, I organize...everything I possibly can.  I have a tupperware for batteries, it's sorted and organized.  My pantry is filled with 10 tupperwares with all sorts of arts and crafts.  The Texas Basement is laid out neatly.  Our game closet has shelves with neat games for kids and then three shelves for adults with games of the same category all together.  My calendar and contacts are insanely organized and up-to-date.  And there are moments when Tim asks me what am I doing, and I reply, "Just letting my OCDness get the best of me."

*I don't really cook.  The other day I called Tim at work embarrassed to say that once again I didn't have anything prepared for dinner.  He (being the most amazing guy) said, "I've got no expectation that you will cook, and I'm good with that."  THANK YOU!  We have chick-fil-a once a week, we probably order in once a week, and we go out at least once a week....and that's just dinners.  I do occasionally cook, whenever it happens it's monumental.  And I honestly can't tell you the last time I cooked four meals in a row!  Oh wait, did I mention that when I "cook" a meal that means I buy a rotisserie chicken at 5pm and pop a steamable bag of veggies in the microwave?!   Yup, that's the truth.  

*I workout usually 5 days a week.  Although, 2-3 of those workouts are in the early morning 515am.  

*Since I've stopped working I've picked up the bad habit of shopping.  NOT convenient for our bank account.  

*I volunteer at both schools.  Every other Tuesday I help out in Olivia's library and whenever they need someone in the classroom, I'm there. 

*I see Erin on Tuesdays because she is in the area for Logan's therapy and will stop by...but other than that, I don't seek out anyone to hang out with during these hours. 

*Randomly I've sat down and read for an hour, I don't watch tv, I don't even listen to music.

So after writing this list, I still don't know how I fill my day.  Somehow, I still feel busy?  The stress of getting everything done is gone (which was present when I was working), but I'm busy...at least I think??  I don't feel bored, but when I sat down to write this, my list of "what I do" it's minimal. My list seems so insignificant and that I should have gobs of "free time".   Maybe "free time" has a different look now?   All I know is that 2pm comes SOOO quickly and then our afternoons are a blur.  

There are many days I try to think about how my mom did it.  Three kids so close together, no preschool or bouncin' bears or wonderwild, home cooked meals everyday, no cell phones to text a friend about current 1st world problem, no cleaner and yet house always clean...and then I start to think that I'm the laziest mom around. 

 But I'm not.  How I spend my days works for our family and it shouldn't bother anyone else nor should I care what anyone else thinks.  I've yet to have a day where I think, "I have no idea what I'm going to do".  Besides, the "to-do" list that I keep on my phone is crazy long and summer is just around the corner, don't think I'll be saying that phrase anytime soon.

Why did I just feel like I needed to justify my day?!