Five on Friday!

Linking up for another Five on Friday and although I had every intention of blogging a bit more this week, life got in the way as it tends to these days.  Very grateful for this link up to keep the wheels in my brain turning...


ONE.
Mamahood is hard...nothing new or earth shattering about that.  This has been one of those weeks where I've lost my cool way more often than I think is acceptable and I've been feeling pretty crummy about that particular aspect of my life. I know toddlers are challenging but I've been disappointed in myself for not doing better.  I'm going out with a girlfriend for drinks after the kids are in bed tonight so I'm really looking forward to that and hoping to hit the reset button in that department.

TWO.
This past weekend Reese's school had a winter festival fundraising event and the kids had a ball.  Reese was so excited to see her friends and teachers, William ran laps around the social hall, and Henry was smitten with Frosty.  It was an adorable event and we were so busy chasing kids we forgot to bid on anything.  Oh well.

THREE.
Apparently I am not getting any younger so I've been trying to make a more proactive attempt at taking care of my skin.  I went to a dermatologist for the first time about three months ago with a slew of questions, particularly about the melasma that I still have a year and half post childbirth.  I also really wanted to know what kind of ingredients I should look for in products to help stave off the fine lines and wrinkles my kids are giving me on the daily.  She recommended products with Hyaluronic Acid so I recently purchased this serum on Amazon.   For less than $15 and plenty of rave reviews I figured it was worth a try.  Will report back if I see a difference!

FOUR.
We are finally, albeit slowly, starting to get our house ready to put on the market.  We don't have too much to do in terms of projects, but our number one item on the agenda is de-cluttering.   We have grandparents coming over this weekend to hang with the kids for a few hours so we can start moving some things to our newly rented storage unit and get real about sorting through things we need to part with.  We have outgrown our house and I still have no idea how we're going to show it while it's full of toys, but surely we are not the first people with young children to sell a home so I'm sure it'll all work out.  But oh boy I'm getting nervous.

FIVE.
I love perusing travel blogs and have decided I'm going to move to Blackberry Farm.  I'm sure my family will join me?  I really could live in any one of these designed spaces, I just love them all.

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! I'm linking up again for Five on Friday and have quite the hodge podge of thoughts.

1.  We have had the most random weather this week, which is really nothing new for Cincinnati.  We took full advantage this week and squeeze in some outside play time, long walks, and jumping in puddles.  Naturally.

2.  I've mentioned before that working out at home is my main method for getting in workouts these days.  I've heard such mixed reviews about the Tracy Anderson Method, so I started doing a few of her dance cardio and mat workout videos that I found on Youtube.  Surprisingly I have (mostly) liked them, so I added them into my rotation.  If you have any rhythmic or dance inclinations, you may like her dance cardio videos.  The mat method is unique and takes some getting used to.  I haven't really decided if it's worth my time or not but I'm giving it a shot.

3.  William and Henry turned 19 months this week and they are simply delectable.  They are witty, funny, adventurous, completely different and oh so loving.  Their mama attachment is at an all time high right now which is making things a little treacherous, but they are so sweet and bring so much joy to us.

4.  I may be one of the cheapest people you will ever meet and I will pretty much never pay full price for anything, particularly something for myself.  A Gap location near us is closing and I scored these gold ballet flats for $5...originally $60.  Turns out going up a shoe size after pregnancy had some perks!  

 

5.  So, this happened today eh?  I have no political commentary to offer but I have to laugh at all the children whining and fussing in the background as their grandfather signs official papers to become the President of the United States.  Ivanka and her husband are passing a crabby baby back and forth and exchanging the dreaded "shit, what do we do?!" look that only parents have burned into their eyes.

Kids really just don't care.

Happy weekending!

Five on Friday

Hallelujiah, it is Friday!  I know in general as a parent this means precisely nothing but for me it means Tom is home for a long weekend.  We have a day date lined up and hopefully everyone continues their upward trend and we can get out and do something fun with the kids.  Anyway, here's what I've got...

1.  Ever since sickness intially descened on our house no one has been sleeping well.  With three toddlers someone is always up, and lately it's been the big kid.  Although I really cannot complain as she is usually a consistently good sleeper, she has gotten into the habit of me coming in to her room throughout the night to help her or sleep with her while sick and now we've set an ugly precedent.  Since she's in a big girl bed and no longer confined to a glorious crib she's been getting up a little too early...ahem 5am.  I purchased an Ok to Wake! Clock and I'm hoping this does the trick for my little literalist.  I am tired.


2.  Speaking of being tired, I saw this floating around somewhere on Instagram and it just made me laugh.  Like, laugh a little hard you know?  This is literally me every.single.morning.

3.  Some new finds from the week...if you are trying to keep up with your protein intake these Quest Cereal Protein Bars are delicious.  So far I've only tried the waffle flavor but there are a couple others that look great.  Quest is always a winner for me and they are awesome to keep in my bag when I'm on the run.

Being the good basic mom I am I make a Target run at least once a week...I mean we always seem to need something.  I'm guilty of peeking through their latest home decor items and their recent stuff is killing me.  Although I almost always refrain from purchasing what I see, I gotta say if this line was around ten years ago when I was single and living alone I would have been all over it.....

4.  I don't know what the deal is but all of my kids have been stage 5 clingers lately.  No matter where I am in the house or what I am doing, they are drawn to me like magnets.  The look of fury I receive from the twins when I sneak off to use the restroom by myself is pretty much laughable at this point.  The horror!  Don't they know there are three of them and just one of me?  I know, I will miss it one day but for now I'd just like a few seconds where someone isn't shoving their hand/leg/foot/head/leg onto my body.  Buuuut, they are so adorable.......

5.  Clingy children seugways nicely into alcoholic beverages no?  As much as I try to get behind wine, and I do like it, my drink of choice will always be vodka.  We've been trying to keep sparkling water around just to have something fun to sip and when Tom brought home some really good news on Tuesday of course we had to have a celebratory drink.  Tito's, Coconut La Croix and a splash of lime juice was heaven and almost made me feel like we aren't in the dead of winter.  Low calories and carbs and delicious...try it!

Cheers!

Five on Friday

After reading (and looking forward to) Five on Friday posts for quite I thought I'd jump on the proverbial band wagon and link up.

ONE

A few weeks ago I re-joined my old gym and began attending a few classes a week.   I attend one or two 8pm weekday classes (I run out the door after the last kiddo is tucked in) and one each on Saturday and Sunday mornings.   I've resurrected my love of spin (the last class I took I spent most of it running to the bathroom to throw up as I was 8 weeks pregnant with the twins...fun) and boot camp and added a new favorite into the mix...Zumba!  I'm sure I look ridiculous but I have a lot of fun and burn almost the same amount of calories as the other classes, so it's staying in my rotation.  I get an hour to myself that is fun and a workout...so win win.

TWO

Speaking of gym, one of our local park districts has begun their preschool open gym and we are all over it.  Twice a week they open up the gymnasium and for $2 per child they have free reign of all kinds of toys.  And the best part for me is it is enclosed...they can only go so far!  We'll be taking advantage of this all winter long.

THREE

Lately Reese has been asking me to take pictures of the places I go when I'm not with her.  When I leave for work "mommy you take a picture there for me and show it to me when you get home?"  Same goes for the gym, grocery store...you name it she wants photographic evidence.  And for some reason I think this is the cutest thing ever.  Only for her would I take a selfie in the bathroom at work :)

FOUR

We have been getting festive up in here and having a lot of fun doing it.  We've hit up the Festival of Lights, and done a bit of baking and decorating (but not too much because...toddlers).  The jury is still out on whether or not we're going to make a visit to see Santa.  Our last few visits have ended in tears and Reese is adamant that she doesn't want to sit on his lap.  So I'm not really feeling like it's worth it, or fun for anyone, to force it.  But the crying picture we'd get would be so epic...

FIVE

It is officially winter in these parts so I'm on the hunt for activities to take the kids to that are indoor, relatively inexpensive, and make all three kiddos happy.  One of our local library branches re-vamped their kids section and it is fabulous.  We checked it out today and will be frequenting it all winter long.

We have an usually full and fun weekend planned...cheers!