Sunday, December 28, 2014

December!

Lawd. December just flew by. Like, if I didn't have pictures, I could have missed it. :/

We stayed busy, as usual. The boys had several 4H activities (a movie night for the wee one, an overnight lock-in for the eldest and some community service opportunities) and we had our normal holiday madness. Let's see if I can touch briefly on a few things...

At the beginning of the month, we went back to the Atlanta History Center to learn a little bit about the holidays and their history. A teeny little bit, lol. We were hoping for more in-depth information, but it wasn't quite as expected. Not bad, though, and a good time was had.

Some decorations outside the Swan House.

Bailey asked for this for Christmas. :D

My boys and Z. 

Gathering wood for the kitchen...

Really cool, old and giant sized, dutch/campire ovens.

A little woodworking class...
The boys also had a chance to make their own candles by dipping wicks in wax and water, repeatedly.




Nope. Not gonna remark on any of their shapes. :D

What else? Oh! We got new stairs for our back porch. Why is this remarkable? Because we have been barely avoiding traumatic injury for years. Between broken steps, and loose steps/rails, going up and down the stairs had become a strategic obstacle course, lol. Thanks to Tracy and her dad, and help from their family, we got some beautiful stairs put up in no time!







There was also a trip to Six Flag's new Holiday in the Park. It was fun to ride a couple of the rides in the winter, and to see the lights. I did take some pics, but to be honest, my internet connection SUCKS (looking at you, Windstream) and I still have other pictures to upload. Just imagine a theme park. With lights. ;)

Christmas festivities went well. We've had celebrations with my family, at home and with friends. Due to work schedules, we are having a celebration with my in-laws in a couple of weeks.

My sweet niece. 

Youngest nephew. Totes adorbs. ;)

Braeden is very happy about the Dancing Groot that Bailey got him, lol.

Braeden and the trench coat he asked for. Goofy kid. :D

Bailey and his new coat. 

The hubs and his new porkpie hat the boys and I found for him. 
This week we are getting ready to ring in the new year, get back into the school thing, and for me to start full time at the tax office. Can't believe it's that time already. Ugh. The boys aren't lamenting the school thing too much, thankfully. They've enjoyed their break and know they have to find their groove again. In their downtime, Braeden has been doing a little math from last year's fourth grade homeschool curriculum, because he's finding that he's struggling with the 5th grade stuff. I think it's cool that he can drop back down and practice. Usually tax time is when they have the most time to blow through their online lessons because our extra activities are cut back so much. I'm expecting this year to be no different.

What else?

Fitness update? Okey dokey. :D I will be ending 2014 55 pounds lighter than when I started it! I am so damn happy about that, and really proud of myself. I know, sounds pompous. But I am. And to know that I have done it without pills, chemicals, or dieting. Simply making better (and new life-long) food choices and getting off of my butt. I completed the entire Couch-to-5K program, and I'm looking forward to starting it over, challenging myself even more. It's been an awesome journey so far, and I'm looking forward to what 2015 brings me. I really haven't done a before and after thing yet, and this isn't an official one, but I am sharing a pic from last Christmas, with a couple from this Christmas, just for a visual aid.




I know these aren't the greatest, but you can see what I'm so happy about. It's one thing to say I've lost 55 pounds and 3 sizes, but to SEE it...pretty outstanding. :D

Gah. I'm so scattered. I do have one request from everyone. One of our furry babies, Moose has heart worms. We are treating him, and the injections and the recovery period can be pretty scary. He's having the first injection this Tuesday. We love all of our doggies, but Moose definitely holds a special place in all of our hearts. If you'll keep him in your thoughts/prayers, and send well wishes for a successful treatment, we would greatly appreciate it.

Okay. If you've made it this far, bless you. It was a long one, lol. I hope you all had an amazing holiday season, and that your 2015 starts off safely, happily and is full of promise.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Stuffs and Randoms

I have a bazillion things running around my brain right now. I want to get several things out, but I know I won't have the patience to try and put them in any sort of order. So....

Bits o' random, coming at you...

What's been going on since I spoke with you last? In my head, it feels like it's been months, lol. Last weekend, we visited our local Medieval Times for the first time. We went with friends, and our little group of 13 had an amazing time!


We were team yellow.

The arena.

Our yellow knight.

Joust!

The kind and his peeps. 

School is going well. Bailey is working on NaNoWriMo for the first time, and enjoying it. He won't hit 50,000 words, but he's sticking with it, so I'm happy. Braeden would have liked to do NaNoWriMo, but only if took the place of his other school work. Ha. He's enjoying school, but would rather be back in his third grade homeschool curriculum, rather than moving forward with 5th grade. 5th grade is a big year...learning a lot of new concepts, instead of rehashing what he's already learned. I am grateful that we haven't butted heads much though, so that's something.

We had another field trip to the history center to learn about WWI. Of course I didn't take many pics...but I did get two.

Learning about trench warfare.

A reenactment of sorts...who started the war, who were allies and who were enemies. Done on a "playground," lol.

I made my very first batch of kombucha! It's currently in its second ferment, so I haven't tasted it yet, but we are looking forward to trying it! I hope to post an instructional for those interested, after we taste the final product and I can make sure I did it right, lol.

Thanks to a lovely friend, this is my "mother" at the beginning of the first ferment. 

The start of the second ferment! Grape! 

Hmmm. What else? I don't think much more is going on. I am working a couple of days a week at the tax office, to get ready for the upcoming tax season. Lots of family visits coming up with the holidays. Tomorrow is my last day of week 6 of the C25K program. Week 6! I really cannot believe I have come that far. And I'm feeling GREAT about it! As of today, I am down 45 pounds. Yep, that's clap worthy.

Go ahead. Round of applause. I'll wait.

;)

Seriously, if anyone out there wants to get started on a healthier path, but you don't think you can, lemme tell ya - if I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT. :)

Alrighty then. I'm out. I wish each and every one of you a fabulous November and a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones! Until next time...

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Turning Two, and Other Updates...

I was supposed to come back after the Dragon Con post, wasn't I? Oops. Life, man...gettin' a little crazy up in here! ;)

Long past time for an update, so what's been going on with us?

School has been going well. Both boys have established their routines with their high school and elementary online curriculum programs. We have added quite a few more field trips than normal to our schedule. Some homeschool days at the Atlanta History Center (Villains in History earlier this month, WWI next month), and we are also planning our first trip to Kennesaw State University's Museum of History and Holocaust Education as well.

Family stuffs has been fun. This past weekend, we helped my sweet nephew celebrate turning two! Such a big boy now, yeah? It seems like it was soooooooo long ago that either of mine were two, lol.

He got a brand new big boy bed!

And a tractor/power wheel thingy! ;)

The AWEsome cake. 

The eldest and the birthday boy.

With the princess-slash-niece. :)

My boys. Seriously. They are incredible. And cute, to boot. ;)

More presents!

More presents! 

The hubs and myself. I wubs him. 

My silly wee one. 


The boys and I completed our 2nd Walk to End Alzheimer's. Such a terrible disease...we pray for a cure and will continue to support this organization and it's mission.

Before the walk...

And on the way home, lol. We *did* have to get up really early. Plus, after the walk, we had a yummy lunch with friends. He was full and sleepy.
I know you probably can't see it here, but around his neck is a purple lanyard. Our friend April (we walk for her mother) gave Braeden the "team captain" lanyard this year. He was SO proud of that. Took me daaaays to get it off of him lol.

Uhhh...what else? Oh! One of my besties and I went to a concert that really felt like it was twenty years in the making! We finally, finally saw Garth Brooks in concert. It was AHmazing! I don't even listen to country music anymore, but it was one of THE best concert experiences I've ever had. I had seen him back in 1997 in Reno with my late sister-in-law, so while it was fun, there was a little twinge of sadness too. It was good to remember her, and that experience I was able to have with her, though. All in all, an excellent memory made with an excellent lady. :)

Katie and Katie. Yes we have the same name. :)

The set.

GARTH! :D


How's the fitness thing going? Very well, thank you. As of this morning, I am down 38.2 pounds! I have shed two pants sizes and two shirt sizes. TWO SIZES! I still have such a long way to go, but I am so proud of how hard I've worked to get this far. :D

That's a Large T-shirt that I thieved from my kid's closet. For reals. A LARGE! And those are size 14 jeans. YAY!!! I'm not ashamed to put those sizes out there...like I said two sizes down from where I was 5 months ago! 

Ok. I think that's it. At least that's all I've got at this moment. Hope you all have had a fabulous fall, and continue to do so!

Until next time...