Random. So random.

I listen to music all the time, when driving and working and stuff. It struck me today when I was driving to the lake listening to the playlist called "gooduns" that my taste in music is about as random as possible:

Just a sampling-
1)hold my hand - hootie & blowfish
2)shoop - salt n peps
3)bittersweet symphony - the verve
4)you gotta be - des'ree
5)gods not dead - newsboys
6)exhale - Whitney Houston
7)we shall behold him - sandi patty
8)you never even called me by my name - David Allen coe

So, there's that. A good mix of old school Christian music, newer Christian music, country, alternative, old hip hop. And that is just a sampling. I'm weird.

Also, this morning I was trying to get the boys out the door to go to the lake, and was having some trouble. They kept making messes and fighting with each other and just acting like little hoodlums. At one point, I came into the living room, and Benny has dumped out an entire box of kleenex. I was so frustrated!!! I said "you guys suck!" they didn't hear me, but I quickly realized how silly that was. Hunters reply to my annoyance "mommy, we were just trying to make a sand castle. You look so pretty in your dress."

Wow, that kid can really lay it on thick.

Day 6 of Shred: I did level 2 of the shred this morning, and was sweating like a...well, like a sweaty person.

See ya, later.

The Zoo

Last week, mom and I took the boys to the zoo.  I have really cute pictures, so thought I would share.

looking at some Emus

My little loves.  Don't they look so angelic? 

resting on a bench while the boys climb things

train. we really love trains. this one is especially awesome, sort of reminds me of a toy train.

After the zoo, we went to cracker barrel. Hunter is trying to tell Benny what to do.  I think Benny is probably just singing to himself in his head, as he does not particularly enjoy instructions.

Checkers match. Hunter won the "tower stacking" category and Ben won the "who pooped their pants?" category. TMI? Sorry. There are WAY worse things I could be telling you, but I will spare the internet from my gross parenting moments.

Gospel, Guns, Jail and a Train...what?

My mom and I took the boys to Silver Dollar City today.  I am off work in the middle of the week when school is in session, so the park is not so busy, which ROCKS!  Well, this is the "Southern Gospel Picnic" week, so a lot of gospel singing, which draws the "more mature crowd" so there were a lot of people there, but the average age was about 75.  This works out really well if you have little kids who love to do all the little kid things, but don't really like waiting (cough IMPATIENT cough).

So, it was a GLORIOUS day at Silver Dollar City.

First we had to ride the "boat with the guns" which is actually a flooded mine ride with these targets you can shoot at with the guns. The guns count how many targets you shoot. It is super-creepy but the boys LOVE it!

We did ride the train, which broke down a little bit when we were on it.  It wasn't really a big deal, but while we were waiting for them to fix it, we heard some interesting facts about the train.  One was that the actual steam trains they have at SDC were used during WWII by the GERMAN army.  um...I don't really know enough to say much, but it sort of creeps me out that our sweet little train might have Nazi ties. MOVING ON...

This is one of my favorite things at SDC, "Half Dollar Holler" which has this awesome area where kids jump on this rope/trampoline type thing.  My boys can work out their energy, not get hurt, and I can just stand there and watch "Mommy, take a picture of us, we are in JAIL!"

The steam train was blowing its whistle, so the boys were covering their ears. They are so cute (if I do say so myself)

Hunter riding his horse, just like a cowboy.

Benny Boo with his Mimi (he really was excited, he just doesnt look like it)

 So...that was our fun SDC trip.  When we got back, I transferred my sleeping babes to their beds, and i did DAY5 of the Shred, so here is my little "blurb" about that.

Day 5: Moved on to Level 2.  It was about the same difficulty level of 1, in my opinion (which is hard) but had a lot of plank moves.  One was the plank jacks where you hold the plank position and sort of do jumping jacks with your feet.  My shoulder has been bothering me a little bit the last few days, so i opted to do regular jumping jacks instead.  Other than that, I did the whole thing as directed, then decided to blog, so I am really in need of a shower.

if you will please excuse me, that is exactly what I am going to do...

Have a fabtastic day, people.

"Life gets Lifey"

I have a dear friend who likes to say (when things get rough)..."Life just gets lifey." This has become one of my favorite sayings, and now I say it more than anyone, probably. It is hard not to beat myself up for not blogging. I keep this blog to record stuff I want to share and remember, but finding the time to blog is a little harder than expected.  Blog posts without pictures are not exactly the bomb, but I post lots of pictures on instagram and facebook, so whatever.

Anyway...trying to maintain a positive attitude is a bit of a challenge for me these days because it seems like life just keeps getting lifey-er (like what i did there?)  As most people know, my hubs travels for work, and is gone most of the time from March-October (ish) so we are right in the thick of that.  In addition, my boys (adorable as they are) are extremely high-maintenance.  They are usually only happy when I am actively involved with them while at home, which means snuggling, helping them make play-doh shapes, watching their movies with them, coloring and painting right alongside them.  This sounds awesome and all (and it is...I cherish these moments and recognize they are fleeting) but I have things I need to do.  Laundry, making meals, cleaning up after meals, peeing, showering, brushing my teeth...you know, those simple luxuries you never realize are luxuries until you have small children.  When you are basically single-momming it all the time, there is not that extra set of hands that is necessary to get those things done. 

This is a regular occurrence in my house.
It is not always going this direction...
Benny does his share of picking on Hunter too.

So...I guess this is just me saying "Hi!" and letting you in on a little secret (shhh...this mom thing is not all roses and butterflies, it is HARD work - even when your kids are as cute as mine). 

The quality of this photo is awful, but that is
Benny showing off some silly moves. He is hilarious.

Cowboy Hunter, just resting after a long day on the range.

Overall, I am blessed beyond measure, and love these little ones with all that I am!

One day during breakfast, Hunter got up and said
"come on Benny, we need to do our stretches"
so Benny happily obliged.  I have no idea...

Get out of Bed and Shred

Ok, here is the deal.  I used to exercise a lot, then I had kids, and now I don't. No excuses, it is just a fact. I do love to run, and do other things too, so I think part of my "not exercising" is a symptom of a larger issue called "not doing things for ME."  Enough psychology, though. What am I going to do about it?

30-Day Shred

I attempted this about a month ago, and got 10 days into it and quit because we went on vacation to Florida to see family and I lost my motivation.  Well, today is day 4 of my second attempt, and I am sticking to it this time (probably).  This is a Jillian Michaels video workout that is only 20 minutes (actually it is more like 26 minutes with a warm up and cool down but whatever).  It is pretty stinkin' hard, but it is only 20 minutes. Just some thoughts, which I hope to update as much as possible (not gonna say every day...thats too much pressure). - Apparently i like the parentheses

Day 1 (Sunday) - finally got some "me" time during naps, so about 1pm. It was good.

Day 2 (Monday) - um...lets just go with "I forgot to do it today" - I am not dwelling on this...moving on...

Day 3 (Tuesday) - since I didnt fit it in yesterday, got up extra early this morning (5:30) and started the video.  I was experiencing ATTACK OF THE ALLERGIES for some reason. So that was working against me.  About 3 minutes in, the boys came into the living room - AWAKE early...NO!!!! But since I am a woman of dedication (read day 2) I kept on going.  Benny stood right at my feet, crying the whole time that he needed "A SNUGGLE!! A JUICE!! FRUIT SNACKS!!" Hunter curled up on the couch and watched me saying, every couple of minutes "Mommy, when you are done can you please snuggle me?" in his cutest little voice.  Well, I held strong for my marathon 20 minutes, then switched back to Mommy mode.  It was not fun, but really showed me that my kids and I can handle 20 minutes of "mommy is not available" time. Breakthrough.

Day 4 (Wednesday) - rolled out of bed at 6 (oops) and did my video.  Boys did not wake up until 7:15 at
which time I was dressed and ready for the day. Success.

How do I feel? More energy and stuff. I am really struggling with my energy level these past few weeks, since the kiddos are so demanding (and work is too, but who is counting).  This is really my main motivation for doing this...I can notice a difference in my energy level when I get those endorphins pumping in the morning. I sort of hope to lose some weight, and/or tone up a bit, but that is a secondary issue (I have gained some weight and should probably get on that, but my belief is that is has more do with my eating habits than anything...so a separate issue...but that is just me).  Oh, and my dad came over last night and brought me a pumpkin flavored beer, which I am sure has 800 calories per bottle, and I gladly drank it (with my pizza) because I LOVE PUMPKIN BEER!!! So, that might have something to do with my extra flabbyness.