2014 was a year of ups and downs and all arounds.
Thank you for taking the journey with my family and me.
If you don’t follow the Facebook page, here are the highlights what you missed:
January 2
It’s cold and snowing.
The kids are supposed to go to back to school today.
There is early dismissal because of the storm.
Two and a half hours of school,
or…
stay like this?
Yeah…
Our Christmas vacation just got one day longer.
January 20
How do Papa’s spend their 69th birthday?
Playing Candy Land on the floor with their granddaughters, naturally.
January 31
Some days there are lots of moments you’d rather not remember.
But this is one of those moments I never want to forget.
February 8
Keep out of reach of children.
In this house, that is apparently on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
February 20
Houston,
we’ve got multiple, consecutive,
poops in the potty.
Plus, it’s not snowing, the sun is shining, and it’s above 40° outside.
And my friend came and cleaned up my kitchen and made a dinner that’s cooking in my crock pot.
And my other friend folded my laundry and made some cookies and cleaned up the kitchen (again).
And someone is coming to buy the desk and chair I just put up for sale yesterday.
And I found $27 in an old jacket pocket.
So yeah,
I’d say it’s a double thumbs up kind of day.
March 17
It’s not corned beef,
or cabbage,
or shepherd’s pie.
But we’re not Irish.
Screw it.
We ate a box of donuts for dinner.
March 19
Introducing the kids to Laura, Charles, and Caroline tonight.
I’m embarrassingly excited.
March 20
The Von Trapps got nothin’ on us.
Break a leg, Number 3 and 4!
April 24 (Take your daughter to work day)
Number 4 came home from “work,” put her pajamas on, and plopped down on the couch.
But I wanted her to have the true working mom’s experience.
So I sent her upstairs to give these two a bath.
And she did it.
Really well.
She’s actually putting their pajamas on right now.
#NowTheresAUsefulCommonCor
April 30
It was really quiet for just a little too long.
I came downstairs prepared for a disaster.
Instead I found this.
The three of them watching cars out the window and eating apples.
And Number 5 is teaching them what colors the cars are.
In Spanish.
Take THAT, Duggars.
June 4
Just as I’m enjoying my night off,
and my back deck,
and my beer,
and thinking things can’t get any better,
over walks my neighbor with this huge container.
From the restaurant where she just ate dinner.
And it was filled with homemade chocolate ice cream.
So I guess it’s homemade chocolate ice cream and Blue Moons for dinner tonight.
This doesn’t suck.
July 16
I asked if they wanted to watch a movie before bed.
They asked if they could build card houses in their room instead.
July 28
They came downstairs at 7 a.m. and said,
“CAN WE GO SWIMMING?!?”
My normal response would be,
“It’s only 7:00. You are not going swimming.”
And then I thought… Why not?
And so, they went swimming.
I think they’re happy.
July 29
Had to drive 25 minutes to my parents’ house so someone could watch the kids and I could get my run in tonight.
But I did it!
August 5
Whoever did this is either getting a time out tonight or not getting laid tonight.
But I still haven’t yelled.
August 10
Best day of the summer.
Number 7 agrees.
Minus the 20 minute Stinging Penis Meltdown of 2014, we had the perfect day at the beach.
And this was the perfect ending.
August 16
Costco even sells cute blond kids in bulk.
August 19
My favorite photographer, Dan Kane, tested out his new camera on some of the kids today.
Prepare for a barrage of pictures in the next 24 hours
And contact Dan Kane Photos for your own session!!!
I mean, how freaking cute is that?
August 22
A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about the annoying things I repeatedly post on Facebook.
Then someone jokingly begged me to post them all at once.
Well here you go.
An open-mouthed, I-just-worked-out (5 miles in 48 minutes), look-at-all-my-f#!$ing-veg
TGIF!!!
August 29
Ugh. This blows.
Well, I can either start drinking or I can deal with this the healthy way.
Off for a run I go.
#firstdayofkindergarten
#waytoofast
I guess kindergarten wore her out
September 11
Ummmmm…
Guess who’s gonna be on the Dr. Oz show on Monday?!?
September 13
I pulled off a pretty big surprise yesterday and we are having the Best. Weekend. Ever.
So great that my husband actually allowed a picture of himself on the Facebook page
September 15
I weasled my way to the front row.
September 16
It was pouring, Number 7 is sick, I have no babysitter, and I have a million things to do.
Plenty of reasons to blow off a run.
But the sun just came out.
And I know how good I’ll feel if I suck it up and do it.
So I made lunch, loaded them up, and off I go!
September 17
Birthday breakfast for the coolest 8-year-old I know!
Happy Birthday Number 4!
September 18
My dad came up to babysit today.
He got here just as I was finishing a run.
As soon as he got out of his truck I rushed inside to start getting some work done.
Old habits are hard to break.
I thought about yesterday’s post, and I slammed on the brakes.
I made myself a nice breakfast.
There is a table out in my yard that I never, ever sit at.
I got a tablecloth and the “fancy” dishes, and I sat outside.
I enjoyed my yard.
Everything is better in a wine glass. Even seltzer.
And using an actual cup and saucer changes the entire experience of drinking cup of coffee.
What a nice birthday breakfast.
I only sat for about 25 minutes, but it was heavenly, really.
And now I feel ready to move to the next thing.
#livingwithintention
#slowdown
September 20
There are a million things I “should” be doing.
But I’m doing this instead.
September 22
I’m up in the office, which is a loft that overlooks the playroom, and Number 6 is down in the playroom on the couch.
I gave him some Kindle time while I get a little work done.
Number 6: Mommy?
Mommy?
Mommy?
Mommy?
MOMMY!!!
(I was a little distracted)
MOMMY???
Me: Yeah?
Number 6 : Yo-wah my best fwend.
September 24
I’m conducting an experiment.
It’s called “How Many Days Will It Take For Someone Other Than Me To Empty the Fucking Garbage.”
September 28
We just ran 20 f*cking miles.
Mothereffer.
October 7
Maureen just brought over Number 7’s birthday present.
A triangle, a tambourine and maracas.
I might have to fire her.
and had to pee in the middle of a parking lot after I started to wet my pants,
but we made it to the Expo and I got my bib!
Ready for 26.2 on Saturday!
December 16
Whoah. I guess you could say things are getting serious.
I’ve got car magnets.
Dan McKee at Designs and Signs in Brookfield anddandidit.com totally hooked me up!
If you need ANY kind of sign, send all your business his way!!!
Not later. Now. Just take a break.
Don’t make yourself crazy.
Slow down and make a memory instead.
December 25
Whoever designs Barbie clothes should be forced to attempt to put them on her. Repeatedly.
I think I just burned 400 calories and gave myself arthritis trying to pull her f$%&ing pants up.
December 26
Today I just sat and watched this.
Number 4 giving Number 5 and 7 “ballet lessons.”
I watched and watched and watched. A belated Christmas present.
It was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. I never ever want to forget it.
Made me wish I had a sister. I hope they stay close forever.
December 28
Me: What are you holding behind your back?
Number 7 (3 years old): Nothing. And I didn’t hide anything under my pillow, either.
December 29
I went to the gym to work out today. I took Number 4, 5, 6, and 7 with me. The kids went to the babysitting room while I went to the weight room.
After I was done lifting, I got Number 4 who had been begging me to swim with her, from the babysitting room and told her we could swim for about a half hour.
We got in the pool and I let her be the “coach.” She made up our practice, high fived me after just about every set we did, and randomly kept hugging me.
Once we were done we took a shower. As we were getting dressed, Number 4 looked at me and said,
“Mommy? Thank you so much for swimming with me.
I love you so much.”
I gave her a hug.
“Mommy?” she said.
I waited for her to tell me how much fun it was or if we could swim together again over vacation.
“Um…how come my boobs are up here, and yours are way down there?”
This was great (except that I kept wanting to hit the like button after each status and sadly realizing each time that I wasn’t on Facebook)! Thanks for the recap as I’m a new follower!
It’s been a long time since I’ve found a blog that makes me want to stick around and makes me won’t to explore as much of it as I can in one sitting, I have found that here.
Thanks for your honesty, transparency, and sense of humor!
From a fellow mom of 7
Aw, thank you Sarah! Welcome to the blog