Winter Blues

anyone besides me have them???

Last year I was so grumpy and I knew this year would be worse, I just didn't realize how much worse. I seriously hate where I live - the weather is SO cold and there is NOTHING to do. We have been stuck inside for weeks. Everyone was sick and the babies still have colds and Blake continues to cough - which has caused me to cancel my get together with Marla AGAIN because he has another trip to the doctor.

Tonight we are going to make homemade pizza and either watch a movie or play wii as a family - i am really looking forward to just having some fun family time. Does anyone have any other ideas for fun inside activities that we can do as a family? Remember I have a big age span - Elijah will be 13 soon (oh my goodness) and the babies are 18 months and 8 months.

also - how are you dealing with the cold weather and winter blues????

Health - Easy lunch ideas

One of the things I do to try and be a "good wife" is pack Justin's lunch each morning. As most of you know, he leaves for work at about 4:30 a.m. and is on the road all day. His eating habits are terrible (fast food everyday) and he has a very long family history of health problems (his dad has had several heart attacks, high blood pressure, high cholesterol .... i could continue).

So I decided that in order to help reduce the amount of fast food he eats, I would start packing his lunch. I need some ideas to mix it up a little bit. I always back him a sandwich - turkey/ham/cheese, some sort of chips (today was sun chips) grapes or an orange. I need some ideas to mix it up a little bit - although I know he eats it what happens now is he eats the lunch I pack as a breakfast then he goes through a drive through on the way home and gets lunch or he eats those aweful roller hot dogs from the truck stop - YUCK!!!

One of the challenges is whatever I pack he has to be able to eat while driving or in the truck. I thought about soup or something but he wouldn't be able to eat that while driving.

any ideas on what i can pack to mix it up a little bit as well as to fill him up throughout the day?

I can't believe it's been so long .....

how fast time flies - I am so glad the holidays are over. This was probably the worst holiday for me as a domestic female, hahaha! We put the tree up with the lights and that is it, can you believe it - not one decoration. I didn't bake, I wrapped gifts on Christmas eve, but you know what ..... i really don't care!! The babies have no idea the tree didn't have decorations this year and Elijah really didn't seem to care - so i am just glad it's over and we have moved into 2011. 2010 was a very hectic year and I have made a promise to myself that 2011 will NOT be that way.

I have realized that I need to slow down and enjoy what is important to me: my children, my husband, my family, my friends .... any myself!! I have forgotten who I am and this year I am going to take the time to figure that out again.

My friend Lauren is helping me out by getting me back on track with working out (hey girl, don't forget to send me that website :-), and I have already started back to weight watchers. My mom and I am going together and although the weight loss is a little slower that I would like, it is happening. I think if I lose this weight and start working out again, I will feel much better about myself and be much happier.

I would love some style tips = any good resources you might know or have as far as what's in, what's out, must haves in the wardrobe, etc....

Also - I am trying to redecorate my house - so I would LOVE any decorating tips and tricks you might have. I am trying to do this on a minimal budget because I am hopeful we will put the house on the market this spring and move into a bigger place. But in the mean time, it's time to make this house a HOME!!

Leah - I also need a recycling plan. We have SO much trash and the neighborhood dogs have decided it is now their feed mill. Our trash is spread out all the way down the street, what white trash we are :-) So I really need to start a plan for recycling some stuff and I would love to start a compost pile (especially for this summer - i WILL have the garden i have been trying to have for the last several years), I just really do not know where to start. any thoughts????

This blog is going to help keep me focused and on track - so you should be seeing more blog entries throughout the year!!

Stay in touch - and stay warm :-)!!!

Dinner ideas

Hey everyone - the blog is back :-)

So i have come up with a new idea and need some help. Instead of standing in front of the freezer every day wondering what to make for dinner, I have come up with a new system to at least give me a category of food to start with, i.e. Mexican, Italian, etc....

What I have done is listed food categories on little cards and I am going to place them in a container and every morning (or the night before) pull the category. From there I will determine the dinner menu.

I am stuck on categories and would love some input. Here is what I have so far:

* sandwich night
* soup and salad
* crock pot meal
* breakfast (as dinner, yummy)
* pizza & wings
* Chinese
* Italian
* Mexican

Any thoughts???

The 5 minute face

Well, I decided to use this blog for what the original intent is rather then me venting over how exhausted and overwhelmed I am on a daily basis :-) I do want to thank everyone listening and giving input - I have a great group of friends.

Now - as a wife, mom of three and career women time is limited and getting ready to go anywhere is a challenge. I am tired of looking frumpy and old so when I go out in public I try to clean up as much as I can. My hair is easy - as much as I hate it I can pull it back in a wet pony tail if I have to and it still looks OK.

I have discovered a make-up product that I absolutely LOVE! It's liquid eye shadow. I have found it at the Estee Lauder counter, the Clinque counter and most recently at Rite Aid - by Cover Girl. The Cover Girl product is called smoky shadow blast and it gives you two different colors to give you a modified smokey eye look - I love it.

On a daily basis this is my make-up routine and it takes 5 minutes or less:

* Almost powder make-up (powder foundation)
* Bronzer
* Blush
* Liquid eye shadow
* Eye liner
* Mascera
* Tinted chapstix - or lip gloss


If anyone else has any tips on getting ready quick, please comment.

Have a great day!

Finding yourself

I remember several years ago my friend Marla went through a "self discovery" stage - remember Marla, you sent us questions to answer about you. I think I am going through a similar stage right now. I need reminded of who I am and what is important to me - as well as how others see me.

My life (and Elijah's life) has changed so much in the last two years, I think I have lost who I am. For so many years I was a career women and mom. I put everything I had into my career and Elijah. My life was defined by being Elijah's mom and working. I felt like I had it together both as a parent and as a manager (my role at athenahealth).

Now, I feel like I do not have it together at all. I am still a career women and a mom, only now I am a wife and a mom of three - two of which need my constant attention. There are not enough hours in a day to get it all done, and I have realized that. But, it is my nature to want to get it all done and have it done right - and perfect.

Has anyone else ever felt like this? Did you "evaluate" yourself and find who you really are? Do we change as our lives change? I would think we'd have to..... but how do we keep the basis of who we are as the environment around us changes?

I am going back to work in 2 weeks - 2 weeks from today is my first day - and I am NOT looking forward to it (don't tell anyone I said that Lauren) so I need to get out of this funk I am in so I can go back with a positive attitude and still be positive at the end of the day for my family.

Let me know your thoughts.

Week 3

Well... it's week three of having two babies under 1 year old and let me tell you I'm exhausted :-)

One of the good things is that I am only 2 pounds away from the weight I was at when I got pregnant with Blake - although I never really lost the weight from Cloe so I still have a really long way to go!

One thing I have realized over the past 3 weeks is how important my friends are to me, I MISS YOU ALL!!! I am really going to make a better effort to stay in touch with everyone - and I am going to use this blog to help me do that. I have only cooked one meal since I came home from the hospital with Blake, ha! All I do all day is run between the babies, wash dishes (especially bottles) and no I do not have a dishwasher so yes i wash them all by hand, laundry - it's never ending, and running Elijah to his activities. So I am really in need of some ideas from all of you to help me keep my sanity, get out of the house, and still get it all done.

Does anyone have a good idea for organizing your week? I know Marla does house stuff Monday through Wednesday then has adventure days on Thursday and Friday. I am trying to organizing me week so that I split up the housework and still have fun days.

Right now I am planning Cloe's first birthday party and our wedding reception - both of them are not that far off and I am WAY behind in planning. If you have any good decorating ideas for either one, please send them my way. We are doing a BBQ for our wedding reception - so if you have any good centerpiece ideas I would love to hear them, I am so bad at planning this sort of thing.

Also - any ideas on how to boost energy? I am so exhausted - especially in the morning - I fall asleep when I am feeding Blake sometimes. I need some energy foods or something to help give me an extra boost throughout the day.

Lastly - any fun ideas for things to do with a 12 year old an 11 month (almost 1 year old) and a one month old? I need to get out of this house and do some fun stuff but the day gets a head of me and by the afternoon it's time for baseball (which is almost over).

Any ideas you have would be VERY helpful and VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!