And just like that...

The height of tax season is ovah. Thankfully.  

I'll still have a couple of days here and there, but the daily "I have to put on real pants" thing is done. 😁

Maybe now I can manage to act like a mostly-decent mom again. Maaaaybe. If not, there's always this to make me feel better:

 

Not a lot going on lately. Boys are doing great. Bailey is enjoying his job, and he and Braeden just wrapped up a really good 4H weekend. It was DPA (District Project Achievement) weekend, and we are so proud of both boys. Braeden won for the very first time in his category! Bailey didn't place, but was very proud of himself for changing things up and giving it his best. ❤️

The hubs and I had a lovely day together Saturday, doing nothing but being together. Capped it off by hiking around Rock Eagle together before the boys' ceremonies. 

Getting ready for homeschool convention season. Last year, I drove to Greenville and attended (as an employee for Time4Learning) a convention for the first time. I even did a workshop/speaking engagement. This year (fingers crossed), I'll be flying to Cincinnati to again attend as a T4L rep! Looking forward to manning the booth and speaking again. 

That's about it, for now. Happy March, everyone. Until next time...

Tax Time...

Tracy sent me this. Hilariously accurate for some... 😂

It rolls around every year, just like everything else I suppose. This tax season will be my shortest yet, thankfully.

Not a lot going on so far this year. Preparing for the tax season and trying not to get behind on everything that I get behind on when I'm working out of the home. The weather, outside of a freak cold/snow snap at the very beginning of January, has been unusually warm. The boys (and myself if I'm being honest) have been having a lot of trouble focusing. We'd rather be outside, lol. Usually it's not until spring that we're experiencing and trying to prevent homeschool burnout. Not in the midst of what is supposed to be winter. Ah well. I imagine we'll have another cold snap, right about the time we're expecting spring, so maybe that will help us stay focused later. :)

Braeden and I, along with friends, ran in our first Hot Chocolate 5K/15K in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. That was SO much fun. Thanks to Lisa, we got a great hotel room right at the finish line of the race. We had a nice dinner in the ATL the night before and enjoyed the run the next morning. Lisa, Tracy, Hank and Braeden ran the 5K and I ran the 15K. The chocolate was amazing, and Braeden and I are already planning on participating next year!

Mmm. Ribs! PSA: if you're ever in Atlanta and craving some good BBQ, check out Twin Smokers downtown. 

Love this picture of my boy crossing the finish line! :) 

Braeden and I with our finisher mugs (and my blingy 15K medal, lol). They were filled with some super yummy sweet goodies. 

That same evening, after the run, Bailey participated in his second Wake 'N Bake Off (a cooking competition sponsored by Terrapin Beer and MyAthens, where both amateur and professional chefs compete with foods that have to contain a Terrapin beer). Last year they had separate days for the "sweet" cook off and the "savory" cook off. In those, Bailey took 3rd in amateur sweet and 1st in amateur savory. It was such as awesome experience for him. This year, they combined the sweet and savory in the same day, and participants chose one or the other. Bailey wanted to challenge himself and chose to try again for 1st in the amateur sweet category. He made mini mocha cheesecakes. Guess what?

HE WON! He had to compete against the reigning amateur sweet champ, so you can imagine how excited he was...how excited we all were for him...when they announced him as the winner! Big weekend for both of my boys.  ❤️

That's about it for now. Hopefully everyone enjoys their Super Bowl Sunday. Not a sports person, but looking forward to the commercials and will be cheering for our hometown Falcons. Until next time!

And that's a wrap.

2016 has come and gone.

Mind. Blown.

The older I get, the shorter the years seem to get.

Not a lot has happened since you last visited. I had mentioned before that the eldest started his first job (outside of his own food business, which he started last year). Imagine our surprise when we realized a few weeks into his job, that our mostly-work-from-home and school-from-home family needed our 3rd car. As much as I'm on the road, the hubs discovered that he hated being home without a ride. Worked out well though. We put over 30k miles a year on the jeep and it only gets about 19-20 mpg. Our new car gets 35-37 mpg, so while we're paying an additional car payment, we're actually noticing a substantial savings in gas. The hubs still has the Jeep, but I'm driving the Civic all over the planet. :)

My new-to-me 2013 Honda Civic.

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I started AND finished my first ever half marathon.

Waiting to get to the start line.

The hubs snapped this pic of me crossing the finishing line. I was sobbing, lol. Happy tears, though. So freaking proud of myself. 

With my bling. My half marathon medal, and the Triple Peach medal...the Triple Peach was a 3 run series -- a 10k (6.2 miles) in July, a 10 miler in October and the Half (13.1 miles) on Thanksgiving Day. 

I won't go on and on about it, but it was absolutely amazing for me, and I can't wait to reach the next run goal I'm setting or myself -- a full marathon in 2017! Imma do it. I'm sure of it. ;)

The day after my half (yeah, full on crazy moment, lol), my boys did their first 5k with me! I loved having them there, and we've already signed up to do another 5k together next week.

Before the start of the Buddy Christian Memorial 5k. 

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This time of year is usually our extra long winter break. With all of the holiday excitement and family stuff planning, it's hard to keep our focus. For all of us, not just the boys. They continued with their foreign language classes, and we worked through resources from a December Unit Study, but that was about it. Something is better than nothing though, yeah?

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Had a lovely Christmas, even if it was warmer than normal and seemed to come out of nowhere.

Our tree decorating, complete with a body-less Santa, White Christmas in the background and my super special ornament in memory of my sister-in-law.

I didn't think they would be, but both boys were genuinely surprised when they opened their "big" gift from us this year - a new Xbox One S and several games. :)

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Oh! I also made a trip down to Fort Lauderdale after Thanksgiving, to hang with some of my most favorite peoples. I did work from the office some while I was there, and managed to hit the beach one afternoon. But the first thing I did after driving 12 hours? Watched the Gilmore Girls revival. Don't judge. ;)

I need that bag. NEED it. 

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Ultimately, 2016 didn't suck for me. I had 366 days to love and be loved. I did and I was. Wholeheartedly. Hope 2017 is even better.

Happy New Year, errbody! :)

Novembahhhh...

Good. Lord. How did it get here already? More importantly, how is it almost over?!

Things are going great here. Moving right along. 

Remember that 10 miler I was worried about in the last post? 

I crushed it. ;) 

Really, I was terrified that I wasn't going to be able to finish before the "sag wagon" came around (if I hadn't been able to stay in front of a 16 minute per mile pace, I would have been nudged to the finish line or on a course that was no longer maintained by volunteers or safety officers). Not only was that a non-issue, I completed the 10 miles with an average pace of 14.28. I was SO proud of myself! :) 

My awesome friend Brad semi-surprised me (I had to find out a couple days before the run, so I could pick up his race packet, lol) and came down to run my first 10 miler with me...a WEEK after he ran his first 30 mile (50k?) ultra marathon. How crazy cool is he? ;) 

Showing off my finisher's bling. :D 

A week after the 10 miler, my friend Lisa and I completed a local 5k, and 6 days after that, she and I did a local charity 10k. This particular run was awesome for me, as I finished with my best PR to date.   

Lisa and I at our 5k. She had the best socks. Yoda! 

My 10k prize and stats. 12"02"!!! Wooo! :)

My next run is the Thanksgiving Half (you really do need to be a little wacky to voluntarily run 13.1 miles, haha), followed immediately (next day, but less than 24 hours later) by a local charity 5K. While I think it was silly to sign up for the 5k so close to the half, this particular event is one that I really wanted to do...plus, both of my boys are going to run it with me! Some friends of ours as well. Big group event. Lots of fun. 

Picked up my swanky pullover and bib today. Can't wait to get the finisher's medal for this AND my special Triple Peach medal and shirt at the end! 

What am I doing the Saturday following a half and a 5k? Driving 10+ hours to the Ft. Lauderdale area to hang for a few days with some of my favorite peeps. Good stuff. I may not be able to move any part of myself on Sunday. But good stuff. 

Thanksgiving dinner with the fam will be short after the half, but at least we'll get to see everyone. No major Black Friday sales that I'm planning on participating in, but I will try my luck at a few online specials. Fingers crossed. 

Let's see...what else? 

Bailey started his first job this month. Those that know and love me, even despite my anxieties, lol, can imagine how that has torn me up. Don't get me wrong. I'm excited for him, and I'm super proud of him. But -- but -- how is he old enough for this? Hell, how am I old enough for this?! 

Pumpkins! The boys haven't carved pumpkins in a couple of years. Time usually gets away from us and none of us have the best time management skills, but this year they were able to make it happen. I love them. They free handed them, and I think they turned out great. Even better, the way they look after a couple of weeks had passed. I feel like I mostly resemble the droopy pumpkins all the time these days. ;) 

Just after they were finished. Braeden's on the left, Bailey's on the right.

Aaaahahaha. A couple weeks later. See what I mean about feeling like these guys? :P 

School stuffs is going well. Admittedly, Bailey is struggling with finding time after work shifts and on off days (he's only working about 15 hours a week, not a full time commitment or anything), but he's a trooper and is finding his groove and getting stuff done. Braeden is doing well. The language learning program they started last month (or was it in September?), Time4Languages, added German. Buuuuuut, they added it after he had already started the Spanish course. He's a little miffed at me, because he's always wanted to learn German and I'm making him finish at least the first 6 months of Spanish before I let him change. Ah well. Maybe he'll be multilingual instead of bilingual. :D 

I think that's it for now. Sorry this turned out to be an all run-type-post. I'm sure I will post about the half after it's done and I won't have another big run until the Hot Chocolate 15k in January. I'll try to be quiet about it for a little while, lol. 

Until next time. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with those that matter the most to you. 

Gonna leave you with this little this-is-my-life gem. ;) 

Fall is my favorite.

Yep. That's me! When I was younger, I always liked spring. It was so nice when it would start to get warmer, and everything would bloom.

Then I found out I was allergic to everything that bloomed, lol. And in GA, "starts to get warmer" means the temps go from 65 to 95, in what feels like one day. Wasn't bad when you're a wee kiddie. But as I got older, I did a 180 and realized that what I really looked forward to, was fall.

This fall is super exciting so far. My oldest's food business is doing really well, thanks in large part to working with an amazing local charity. This past Saturday, he made his first trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer event. It was held at Grumpy Old Men Brewing, which was a terrific little place with a great crowd!

Playing with the dry erase markers is really the only contribution I can make, lol. 

My 3 most favorite humans in the history of ever, working together. :) 

When we wasn't helping his brother, the wee one enjoyed keeping me entertained. :D

Coming up this Saturday we've got another BBBC event, but we're staying closer to home. We'll be hanging at our favorite local brewery, The Southern Brewing Company. Good times.

What else is happening this fall? Mostly, I'm running. Gonna feel a little like Forrest Gump, me thinks. On Sunday, I'm running the PNC 10 Miler.

Yeah. That's 10 miles. MILES. What the heck am I thinking?!

That's not even the craziest thing I'm doing. Provided I don't die during the 10 miler (kidding, not kidding, lol), Thanksgiving Day will find me running the Atlanta Half Marathon.

Whaaaaaaat?!?! ;)

The boys have a good bit of 4H stuff over the next few weeks. Braeden will have his first Junior weekend overnight thingy, which he's excited about. They both are doing DPAs and have to have their portfolios completed by the beginning of December. I suck at this, but thankfully their 4H coordinator is awesome and works her butt off for all of the 4Hers. Even with all of her effort, it still takes us weeks to get everything together, so that will be a concentrated effort until those portfolios are turned in.

That's about it for now. I need to go put away laundry. Thankfully, I can do that to music. In what I can only describe as "Braeden's way," Braeden has gotten me hooked on a supahfun new satellite radio station. Caliente (which is described as Tropical Latin Music Hits). He has loved his online Spanish language course, and found that station hoping to listen for and recognize words he's learned. He cracks me up. But I will say that the station is terrific. I love to dance, and Latin music = dancing. Your body almost can't help itself. Moves without thinking. ;)

Okey dokey. Leaving you with this, because as much as I love pumpkin, there's something else that I like so much, I feel it in my soul.

Minter. :)

Stress level = maximum.

Why?

This happened. 

Yeah. My first born got his license.  

I knew it was going to be hard, but watching him drive away on his own that first time? To be honest, there is NO amount of wine that can calm those nerves, lol. He's very responsible and has no desire to be driving all the time though, so at least there's that. 

But...

Just... 

HE'S MY BAAAAAABYYYYYYYY. 

Ok, fine. I know I'm not the first or only mama that's gone through this. Moving on. 

That's really about all that's happened since last we spoke. The boys are in full swing with their fall schedule (art, nature science, 4H), so we're always on the road. Even with Bailey driving, there are some classes that I still take them to, because I take care of other errands while they're in class. As always, I'm so thankful that their homeschool curriculum is so flexible. Some days they log in before we leave the house, some days they don't get a chance to log in until the evening. Yay for slacker flexibility. ;) 

Before I leave, I want to give a shameless plug for my kiddo's business, Square Peg Gastronomy. The fall is a great time for him. His weekends are already full - two different events are coming up with Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer which we're super excited about. It's a wonderful group of people, doing good and trying to make a difference. With my grandmother wrapping up her radiation treatment (breast cancer diagnosis earlier this year, already been through chemo), this cause is especially important to us now. Outside of those, he's planning on selling at some other local venues. 

Funny how that sheltered, unsocialized homeschooler (insert sarcasm, in case you missed that) has managed to start his own business and make some pretty amazing contacts in our community, huh? :P

There is no real reason for this one. But I can't stop giggling. We've already blown through Stranger Things twice and we pretty much agree with the doggy regarding Steve and Jonathan. Ha! 

Stuffs and things...

Once again, I lose an entire month. August came. And August went. 

So what happened in August? Stuffs and things. 

This wasn't in August, it was at the end of the July, but Bailey got to attend 4H State Congress. This was a really big deal for him, and he got to go after winning 1st place at his regional DPA. Even though he didn't place at state, he had a terrific time, and it was an amazing experience for him. Plus, he gets another chance to go next year (if you win at state, you don't get to compete again as they consider it as you have "mastered"). 

My boy, in the news! ;) 

Was fortunate enough to see Def Leppard and REO Speedwagon with some lovely ladies. It was SO much fun! 

Oh yeah - I have a 17 year old and a 12 year old. 

What? When? How? 

I mean, yeah, of course I know how. But the when...man, that's the tough part. I'm pretty sure it was just yesterday that each them were wee little babies. Now one is grown (close enough to grown ), and the other is on the cusp of the dreaded teen years (actually not dreaded, Bailey has yet to go through the stereotypical teenage angsty years, no reason to think Braeden will). I really, truly can't wait to see to who these guys become as they can get older, but my heart just aches when I think of how much time has passed. 

Bailey age 3 months / age 17. 

Braeden age 1 day / age 12.

That's about it for August, really. We are getting ready to start their next school year. Normally, from year to year, nothing changes too drastically. We've been with Time4Learning for so long, and it's still working for us, so there's no need to change it up. BUT - this year, we are adding something new to their curriculum, and we're so excited about it! Time4Learning just announced Time4Languages, an online language learning add-on. Woot! Spanish for Braeden and French for Bailey.  

Alrighty. I'm out. Hope everyone will join me in my "bring on the fall" chants... ;)