Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 12/1 - 12/7 - Part 2)

Monday (12/4) We were up bright and early for day two in the parks!  We headed to Animal Kingdom today and headed straight to the new Pandora area to ride Flight of Passage.  We knew there would be a long wait so we were prepared with electronics for the boys & wanted to do it first thing in the morning while everyone was fresh.  We waited about 2 hours in the line and it was worth every minute!  We enjoyed seeing the area while we were in line, the theming is amazing.  And the ride itself was like nothing I've ever ridden before.  You are flying thru Pandora on the back of a banshee and it is beautiful!  Do yourself a favor, if you are going, wait in the line for this ride.  It is worth it!

 

We spent the rest of the day riding everything else in the park.  We used our fast passes to ride the Kali River Rapids ride twice in a row, figuring if we were wet we might as well be super wet!  We enjoyed the Bugs' Life movie, the Dinosaur ride, a stop in the Boneyard play area and Primeval Whirl.  Dinosaur was way more rough than we remembered and we all laughed at Pop Pop who was a little woozy after the ride.  We also used our fast passes to ride Expedition Everest and since Pop Pop and Zak didn't ride, AJ and I were able to ride it twice in a row.  We finished up the day using our fast passes to ride the other Pandora ride, Na'vi River Journey as a family.  Then my parents and Zak left while the other four of us stayed to enjoy the new night show.  It was really good and AJ says it was his favorite of all of the night shows.  When it was over, we headed back to the time share to have dinner and head to bed, happy and exhausted again. 

 

Tuesday (12/5) Today is our scheduled day off from the parks so we slept in a little before heading out to breakfast.  Then my Aunt Sue came to visit us for the day since she is in Florida for the winter.  We enjoyed spending time with her, swimming in the pool and a delicious lunch together.  I also spent some time doing laundry, grocery shopping and getting the boys thru some homework.  We finished up the day off with a quick trip to Disney Springs to walk around and see the themed Christmas trees that were there.  Zak found the red light saber he was looking for and both Zak and Daniel enjoyed the huge Lego store (AJ stayed home with Nana and Pop Pop).  We stopped for Wawa shorties for dinner on the way home and all got to bed early since it would be an early morning tomorrow!

 

 

Keeping Up With...2018 Goals (Jan Recap & Feb Goals)

The first month of the year is over and I have had a little time to reflect on the past month.  All in all it went pretty good.  As I mentioned, my theme for this year is getting healthy and getting out of debt.  I have started making decisions based on these two goals and it is working to keep me focused on what is important to say yes to and what I should pass up.  Here's how I did on my goals the past month with some of my comments as well as grades for each goal and what my plans are for Feb

 

1. Lose 50 pounds (So far lost 6 lbs, Grade for Jan: A+)

• Meal plan each Sunday - I did this each week and wrote a blog post about it.  It has helped a lot to eat healthy and stay on a budget for grocery shopping.
• Count calories every day starting Jan 2 - I tracked for 28 of the 30 days this month and was under my calorie goal for all of them.  I'm super proud of myself for that one!
• Go to at least one class per week that I am not teaching - I went to 6 classes this month that I wasn't teaching - Zumba Surf & Turf, Sprint (twice), Zumba jam and Body Pump (twice).  This is big progress for me & I'm hoping to keep this momentum going!
• Lose 4 pounds - I lost 6 pounds this month, a little over 1 pound per week which is my goal!

2. Read 20 books again (So far read 1 book, Grade for Jan: C)

• Finish 2 books ("Super Fudge" & "The Bell Jar") - I got a little off track with this one.  I did finish "Super Fudge" but I never got "The Bell Jar" from the library.  I also started a new book "Heart of the Manner" but only made it about 25% before it was due back to the library.  And I got "Wonder" as well on the last day of the month but didn't start it.  I have a lot of work to do to get to 20 books this year!
• Make progress on "Americanah" - I have read 55% so far, I made good progress on this waiting for other books to be available from the library.

3. Watch 25 movies (So far saw 2 movies, Grade for Jan: A-)

• Watch 3 movies - We watched 2 movies - Transformers and Pixels.  Adrian and I didn't have a date night movie night this month because we just didn't feel like watching anything.  We chose to try to dig out of our DVR hole instead, so many TV shows!

4. Go on 12 dates with Adrian (So far 1 date, Grade for Jan: A+)

• Text our sitter to set up Jan's date early next week - Done!  We had a great date in Jan, dinner, drinks and shopping.  It was relaxing and exactly what we needed!

5. Pay off 1 credit card and my student loans (Grade for Jan: C)

• Sub at least twice each week - I was only able to sub for about 3.5 days in Jan.  We had a lot of days off and I had a lot to catch up on around the house which prevented me from taking some days
• Help Adrian work at least 3 hours of OT each week - Adrian was able to work 6 hours of overtime this month, again this was not as much as we wanted because of weather, holidays and days off.
• Spend as little as possible - This took a huge hit when we need to replace our water heater.  We are hoping to get a tax refund that will pay this off.  It stinks to have a plan and then have something out of our control derail it.  But we're moving on and hoping that is the only unexpected expense this year.

6. Finish my CEUs for my YMCA certification (Grade for Jan: A-)

• Attend one Zumba jam session - Done.  It was fantastic, loved all of the choreo!
• Figure out how to upload all of the CEUs I already have - During my annual review I had my boss show me so I think I know how to do this now.

7. Clean out the house (Grade for Jan: A-)

• Spend 20 minutes each weekend going thru our DVD collection (because it's everywhere!) - We did this 3 of the 4 weekends this month, the other weekend we chose to put away all of our Christmas decorations.  We need about one more session to finish this up.
• Moving to our loft (which has become a dumping ground for everything) when DVDs are done - Didn't finish the DVDs so we didn't start this.

8. Keep up an active blog (Grade for Jan: A+)

• Meal plan posts every Sunday - Did all 4 weeks for this
• Week in review posts every Friday - Did all 4 weeks for this
• Monthly goal posts the last day of the month - Doing this now

9. Play more board games (So far 0 family game nights, Grade for Jan: F)

• Have one family board game night - We didn't do this in Jan.  We need to be better about this one for sure!

10. Improve my classes (Grade for Jan: A+)

• Attend one Zumba jam session - Done!  My students are loving the new songs.
• Change warm up/body weight sections for Silver Sneakers classes - Done!  My students have a love/hate relationship with the new exercises, but they love that I mix it up to challenge them!
 

1. Lose 50 pounds

• Meal plan each Sunday
• Count calories for at least 18 days (taking off one week for birthday celebrations)
• Go to at least one class per week that I am not teaching
• Lose 3 pounds

2. Read 20 books again

• Finish 2 books ("Wonder" & "The Bell Jar")
• Make progress on "Americanah" (read at least 5%)

3. Watch 25 movies

• Watch 3 movies

4. Go on 12 dates with Adrian

• Text our sitter to set up Feb's date to see Chicago

5. Pay off 1 credit card and my student loans

• Sub at least twice each week
• Help Adrian work at least 3 hours of OT each week
• Spend as little as possible

6. Finish my CEUs for my YMCA certification

• Attend one Zumba jam session
• Upload all of the CEUs for the jams I have attended

7. Clean out the house

• Spend 20 minutes each weekend going thru our loft
• Finish sorting thru our DVDs

8. Keep up an active blog

• Meal plan posts every Sunday
• Week in review posts every Friday
• Blog about our Disney trip (I never had time to write these out)
• Monthly goal posts the last day of the month

9. Play more board games

• Have one family board game night

10. Improve my classes

• Attend one Zumba jam session
• Change ball exercise for Silver Sneakers classes

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 1/26 - 2/1)

Friday (1/26) Oh my word, this past week was long!  It is the first week we've had everything in about a month and we were exhausted this morning.  We just barely got out on time.  AJ headed to school on the bus and then Adrian followed soon after for his quarterly awards ceremony.  AJ got A/B honor roll again and we are very proud of him!  While they were there, I got the other boys ready and then we headed into school for the day.  I was subbing for the whole day, my first time doing that.  It went pretty well but it was exhausting and by the end of the day I was done.  I held it together to get my students on their buses and get home, then I collapsed on the couch.  We had a sitter for the night and were supposed to go to the movies but decided that was not our best option.  So we went out for dinner and drinks instead and then ran a few errands.  We came home and were going to watch some TV, but were so tired we barely made one show and then headed to bed.  It was seriously a long week!!

Saturday (1/27) Today started earlier than we wanted when AJ woke up the other boys a little after 6am.  Then it didn't go as planned when Adrian went downstairs and found water in our basement.  He looked at the hot water heater for a little while but after putting band aids on it for well over 2 years, we decided to pull the trigger and buy a new one.  He started looking into that while I headed out to the Y to teach my Zumba class.  While I was there, he took all three boys to the church to coach a basketball game.  Everyone had fun and Adrian's team won!

When we got back, Adrian went back to dealing with the water heater and I got AJ and myself ready for our tour of the Statehouse.  All five of us were supposed to go, but since Adrian needed to stay home and my brother was coming down with my niece, we decided to leave the other two boys home to play with her.  AJ and I had a great time on our tour of the Statehouse, learning a lot of history about the building, Ohio and how our government works.  AJ's favorite part was sitting in one of the Senator's seats in the Committee meeting room.  My favorite part was having one on one time with AJ, it is rare that he and I are alone.

 

When AJ and I got home, Adrian was at Lowe's buying the hot water heater.  He and Carl realized they couldn't switch it out themselves, so we called a plumber who came over tonight to switch them out for us.  We were without water for a while and without hot water even longer, but by the time we were heading to bed it was all worked out.  The rest of the night was spent trying to get stuff done, watching TV and relaxing.

Sunday (1/28) Once again, AJ was up very early this morning.  Thankfully he didn't wake anyone else and just went downstairs to watch TV.  We all got up and moving and headed to first service at church.  I'm pretty proud we have made it to first service the past few weeks, it works much better for our schedule.  We all learned a lot at church today and when service was over, Adrian took the boys home and I volunteered in childcare for second service.  We all had a quick lunch and then headed to the Y for the boys' swimming lessons.  While they were swimming, Adrian and I took turns working out.  After swimming, we came home to get a few things done around the house before Adrian took the boys to martial arts at night.  They are loving that class and were so excited to show me everything they learned today!  We had meatball subs for dinner and then the boys played video games while Adrian and I finished some stuff around the house.  We got the boys down to bed as early as possible because we all have a very early morning tomorrow.  After we got them down, we watched a little TV and headed to bed ourselves.

Monday (1/29) Started early for all of us because AJ, Adrian and I were going on a field trip today.  We went to Junior Achievement of Central Ohio for their Biztown program.  AJ has been super excited for this trip and even more excited that both of us can come to volunteer.  But to get downtown in time, we had to drop the other boys off to school early.  Thanks to one of our favorite teachers for letting them hang in her class room with her kids before school started!!

Adrian and I got downtown on time and received our assignments for the day.  He would be helping in City Hall & I would be in Cardinal Pharmacy.  AJ would be working as CFO of Discover for the day.  We got a short orientation and a little time to look around and then the kids arrived.  The concept of Biztown is that the kids are adults for the day.  They have jobs, get paychecks and learn about how money goes thru the economy.  It was a great day with the kids, even if it went super fast!  AJ loved being the CFO, mostly because he got to do math on the computer the whole time.  He now wants to try to become a CFO when he grows up and we couldn't be more excited to support him on that journey!!  It was a great day with the 5th graders, all three of us enjoyed ourselves!

 

We were able to take AJ home with us after Biztown was over so we drove home and had about an hour to relax before we had to pick up the other boys.  Then I headed out to teach my Zumba class.  I came home, we had a quick dinner and then split up for our night activities.  I took Daniel and Zak to Zak's Scout meeting where we talked about what to bring on a camping trip and which animals we might see during the day and at night.  Adrian took AJ to his Scout meeting where he started working on his Boy Scout rank.  Then Adrian headed to the basketball open gym at our church while I got the boys to bed.  We were all exhausted after a busy day and slept well!

Tuesday (1/30) We were back to our regular schedule today but it was a special day for Zak - it was his 100th day of kindergarten!  He was able to wear his pajamas to school today and he couldn't have been more excited.  After I dropped everyone off at school, I headed to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes and then came home to do a bunch of things around the house.  I made both lunch and dinner before it was time to pick everyone up for the day. 

After school the boys played a little and then I helped them all get thru homework.  Then we headed to the church where I was working and Adrian was coaching.  We met Adrian there and the kids played video games while the adults did what they needed to do.  When Adrian was done coaching, he took the boys home and got dinner for everyone.  I had a great time at the church.  It was super busy and I enjoyed seeing everyone!  When I got home, I helped with bedtime, then we cleaned up, watched a few comedies and headed to bed.  It was another long and exhausting day.

Wednesday (1/31) We got everyone up and out on time today and after I dropped everyone at school, I came home to work on a bunch of stuff I needed to do around the house.  I also set up dinner in my new slow cooker (the instant pot) and set the timer for it to turn on.  Then I headed into Zak's class to volunteer.  I worked on vowel sounds with all of the kids in his class until it was time for them to go to lunch.  Then I headed to a meeting about a possible Zumba opportunity with another friend.  I grabbed a quick lunch and then it was time to pick everyone up and head to the Y for my Zumba class.  In the middle of the craziness, I got a call from Adrian saying he was working late & I needed someone to cover my shift at the church that night.  Thankfully my friend was able to step in last minute and help out.  So after the Y, the boys and I came home and did our normal night routine.  I got them all to bed and finished up a few things around the house.  I was just getting ready to head to bed and Adrian said he was on his way so I waited up for him.  We headed to bed late but thankfully since I was so exhausted I fell right asleep.

Thursday (2/1) It was an early morning after a late night but we made it up on time and out to school and work.  After dropping everyone off at school, I ran to return books at the library and then to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We have so much fun every class, I just love my seniors!!  After class, I did a quick change and then headed to West to sub for the afternoon.  I also love these half day assignments!  When the day was over, we headed home to meet up with AJ.  We were supposed to have a parent teacher conference with his teacher, but she got sick and had to reschedule.  So we spent the rest of the night having dinner, playing Beyblades and watching TV.  It was very relaxing and exactly what we all needed after the hectic start to our week!

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Feb 4 - Feb 10)

Last week we did a pretty good job of sticking to our meal plan until the weekend.  Friday was jam packed for me and I did not have time to cook dinner so we just had pasta instead, which was easy and awesome for a family movie night.  Then on Saturday we decided to eat the crab legs I bought for this Monday because there is a good chance Adrian will have to work late on Monday night and we really wanted to eat them together as an at home date night dinner.

Speaking of the crab legs, I was super busy on Saturday so I asked Adrian to Google how to cook them and take care of it.  He asked if we had anything big enough to steam them in and guess what I pulled out?  My instant pot!  I know a few of you have been on the fence but I will tell you what, this thing is fabulous!  This past week alone in addition to the crab legs, I also hard boiled eggs and used it as a slow cooker to cook the Honey Sriracha Chicken.  I finally got to use the feature I was looking forward to - the programmable slow cooker.  I set it up in the morning and set a timer so it came on, cooked and turned to stay warm.  When I got home from a busy day I had a delicious dinner waiting for me.

This week is a week of celebrations around here!  We have the Super Bowl tonight (Go Eagles!), Zak's birthday on Thursday and Daniel's birthday on Saturday.  We are having Daniel's birthday on Saturday and then Zak's on Sunday.  We also have a date night on Friday night to see Chicago so the boys will celebrate that night with their sitter.  And Tuesday is frozen yogurt day so I'm taking the boys to get BOGO free yogurts at Menchie's after a parent teacher conference.  It's going to be a busy, sugar filled week & my meal plan reflects that.  Lots of easy meals that will make lots of leftovers for us to eat next Sunday.  We'll get back to healthy, balanced eating next week.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Appetizers during the game including Mac & Cheese
Monday - Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese (carryover from last week)
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Chicken & Asparagus Stir Fry over Rice
Thursday - Hot Dogs (Zak's pick for his birthday!)
Friday - Jet's Pizza (for both boys' birthdays)
Saturday - Baked Ziti (Daniel's pick for his birthday!)

Water Flavor - Cucumber Mint.  I need a break from the orange flavor & have a cucumber I need to use up anyway.

Overnight Oats - Again, I am using my normal recipe and just adding some different flavors this week.  I made one with strawberry yogurt, one with mango yogurt and two batches of chocolate with white chocolate chips.

Use It Up - I didn't really do this for this week other than using up a thing of hummus in the soup on Monday.  I am using up all of my free yogurts and the open bag of white chocolate chips in my oats.

Lunches - I'll be super busy during the week this week with at least 3 days of subbing so I'm just planning on doing salads every day since I have all of the vegetables for that.  I also have some taco meat and tilapia leftover to use up so I'll use those as protein in the salads.

Birthday celebrations - I thought I would share a little about what the boys asked for to celebrate their birthdays.  On Thursday, Zak wants smores rice krispy treats to celebrate with his class.  Then he will come home and have hot dogs with us for dinner and Oreo ice cream cake for his cake.  On Friday, Daniel wants cupcakes with blue icing and sprinkles to celebrate with his class.  Then we will have Jets pizza for both boys' birthdays and they will have leftover cupcakes with the babysitters while we are out.  On Saturday, Daniel wants a Minecraft cake (chocolate with green icing) and snacks (chips, goldfish & Swedish fish) for his party with friends and then baked ziti for dinner and Oreo ice cream cake for his cake.  Finally, on Sunday, Zak wants homemade ice cream cake (oreo) and snacks (chips, goldfish & Swedish fish) for his party with friends.  Plus we are picking up their free donuts from their report cards on Wednesday so we can have them for breakfast all weekend.  I can feel the sugar rushes and crashes already!!

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 12/1 - 12/7 - Part 1)

Friday (12/1) The day is finally here - we leave for Florida this morning!!!  After a fairly late night last night, we were still up bright and early to finish packing up and get on the road.  Our goal was to be on the road by about 9am and we were about 30 minutes behind schedule but were not stressed out about that.  We spent the whole day driving so there's not a lot to report from the day.  We made great time for most of the day.  And then we hit Charlotte, NC around 5pm and the traffic just stopped.  It took us about an hour to go about 20 miles around the city.  When we finally got thru, we were all starving so we decided to stop for dinner.  But the first exit we saw with a lot of options was actually a mall, just outside of Charlotte, on a Friday night at 6pm during December.  The line to get off the exit was huge and we can only imagine how long the waits were at restaurants so we skipped that exit and went a little further.  We found a Denny's a few miles later and stopped there and it was great - no wait, good food and the boys loved their kids menu.  After dinner, we drove a few more hours in South Carolina and then finally stopped for the night at a Microtel Inn Walterboro, SC.  It was perfect for us!  We had 3 beds in our suite so we all were able to have our own space and get a good night of sleep.  We played for a little while when we arrived and then got to bed so we could hit the road early again in the morning.

Of course Doctor Donkey took the trip with us!  The boys were so excited to find him in the car

Figuring out what to eat at Denny's

Playing with stuffed animals and burning off some energy

Saturday (12/2) Everyone got up pretty early so we got ready, packed up, grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and hit the road again.  We had about 5 hours of driving left plus a few stops so we were hoping to get to the time share by dinner.  We again made great time, even making 2 different stops for lunch because the boys wanted McDonald's and Adrian and I could not stomach that again so we grabbed Subway.  We barely hit any traffic and arrived at the time share around the same time as my parents did.  We got checked in and headed to our room.  We unpacked the car and got settled in while the boys played and explored.  Adrian and my dad went and got groceries while my mom cooked ham for dinner.  We had a nice family dinner and a relaxing night of hanging out and watching football.  We also decorated the time share a little for Christmas.  It was a nice relaxing start to our vacation!

Florida rest stop

Doctor Donkey brought an early Christmas gift for the boys

The boys LOVED Nana & Pop Pop's giant bath tub!

Sunday (12/3) Today was our first day in the parks and we headed to Hollywood Studios!  We headed straight to everyone's favorite ride, Toy Story Mania and waiting in line for a bit to ride it.  It was just as fun as we remembered it!  Then we had a fast pass for Tower of Terror so we headed over there and rode that and the Rockin' Roller Coaster.  Zak chickened out in line for the coaster so he waited with my mom and dad while we rode.  It was awesome!!  Then we had our fast passes for Toy Story Mania and Star Tours so we headed over there.  The park was crowded but we made the best of it.  It was very overwhelming for Zak, although he did enjoy all of the rides.

 

The biggest thrill of our day was that we were able to sign the boys up for Jedi Training Academy.  At the last minute, Daniel decided he didn't want to do it, but AJ and Zak did it and loved it!  They marched in together with their class, then they got some training and got their own light sabers.  And then the villains showed up!  Darth Vadar and Kylo Ren were both there to fight the new Jedi recruits.  Daniel nearly jumped out of his skin when Darth Vadar showed up!  But AJ and Zak did great battling him.  Check out the videos on my Facebook page if you haven't seen them yet.  It was a really great experience for all of us!!

 

 

We filled up the rest of the day with lots of fun stuff in the park.  We had lunch at the Muppets restaurant and rode that ride, we learned about the changes coming in the next few years, we met Starfire and Groot and we walked a lot!  We finished up the night by watching the Indiana Jones stunt show, the Christmas fireworks and Fantasmic while enjoying popcorn and Mickey shaped pretzels.  Zak did not like Fantasmic, it was too scary for him.  But everyone else loved it!  We arrived back to the time share exhausted and hungry.  After a quick dinner, we all headed to bed to get ready to do it all over again tomorrow.

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Jan 28 - Feb 3)

Last week we spent most of the week exhausted.  It's hard to do a full week of our activities after nearly a month with things cancelling!  I hit the wall on Wednesday and we came home from the Y and I decided to scrap dinner and just make pasta.  It was nice to have an easy meal ready to throw together.  Then again on Friday, I didn't feel like cooking.  We had a sitter for the night so we decided to go out to dinner instead of cooking.  It was nice to have a night completely off!

This week I'm still feeling behind (I'm writing this late Sunday night) and just off my game.  I am taking a slight step back this week and not subbing much.  Plus we have nothing going on this Saturday.  So I'm taking all of my free time to get caught up and be ready to start next week strong!  I haven't put a lot of thought into my menu for this week, other than to make sure we have some variety and use up what I already shopped for.  But I do want to stick to a meal plan for the week so I'm putting pen to paper (so to speak) and getting it done.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Meatball Subs for the boys, meatballs and zoodles for the adults
Monday - Southwestern Tilapia with Brussels Sprouts Bake (carryover from last week)
Tuesday - Island Pork Tenderloin Salad  (carryover from last week)
Wednesday - Honey Sriracha Chicken over rice
Thursday - Sausage & Peppers over Smashed Potatoes
Friday - Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Saturday - Balsamic Chicken Drumsticks with Side Salad

Water Flavor - Orange again.  I didn't even put any thought into it, ha!

Overnight Oats - Again, I am using my normal recipe and just adding some different flavors this week.  I made a caramel pretzel batch and a chocolate peanut butter batch using some flavored yogurts I got for free.  I have some berries I need to use up so I will blend those up with the yogurt for two more batches.  And if I need another batch, I will either do pina colada or blueberry lavendar using flavored yogurts that I have.

Use It Up - I didn't really look at this, but I am trying not to go shopping for much this week and use up all of the fruits and vegetables that I have.  I'm also using another container of hummus in my tomato soup this week.

Lunches - I never made this Mexican Quinoa Salad last week because we had so many leftovers from our dinners that I chose to eat those instead.  I will be making it this week for sure, probably on Tuesday since tomorrow I'm on a field trip and need to bring a sack lunch.

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 1/19 - 1/25)

Friday (1/19) Today started a little later than usual since Adrian was working from home.  We let AJ sleep in a little and then Adrian drove him to school instead of riding the bus.  Then I got the other boys ready and out to school.  I spent the morning getting a few things done and then got ready to head to my first sub assignment at AJ's school.  He was so excited that I was able to sub there today and then bring him home at the end of the day.  I'm glad I finally got an assignment over there.

When we were all home for the day, the boys enjoyed some video game time while Adrian and I got a few things done around the house.  Then after dinner, we settled in for family movie night.  It was Zak's pick this week and he picked "Pixels."  Adrian and the other boys had seen it before, but it was new to Zak and I.  We all really enjoyed it!  It was much better than I thought it would be, funny, cute story and cool to see the video games I grew up with.  After the movie, we put the boys to bed and watched a few DVR shows before heading to bed ourselves.  We have a busy weekend on tap!   

Saturday (1/20) I woke up bright and early to head to University of Scouting.  It was the first thing I have done for Boy Scouts as a leader and I really enjoyed it.  I learned a lot about the program and got some ideas for things our pack can do in the future.  I came home energized and ready to tackle the scouting world!  While I was at that, Adrian hung with the boys.  He had his first game as a coach for Crossover basketball and had a fun time doing that.  He also got homemade pizza ready for dinner since Carl and Sarah and the kids were coming over.

After we all got home, we had a great family night with Carl, Sarah, Isabelle and Vinnie.  Sarah and I enjoyed some wine while the adults chatted and the kids played.  It was fun to see Vinnie playing with the big kids finally.  He was laughing like crazy while running around with them.  I'm glad my boys finally appreciate him being around.  After they left, we cleaned up a little, got the boys to bed and watched a little TV before heading up soon after them.

Sunday (1/21) We all slept in a bit which was good, but we had to hustle to get to church on time.  We just barely made it for first service.  It was another great message and I enjoyed seeing a few friends this morning too.  After church, we went home and got a few things done and had a quick lunch.  Then we split up again for the afternoon.  Adrian took the boys to swimming lessons at the Y while I headed to my first Zumba jam of the year.  The boys all did great, everyone is happy to be back in the pool.  I had an awesome time at my jam, loved every minute of dancing with friends.  And I loved all four songs so I'll be adding them to my classes very soon!

 

After the jam, I came home to an empty house because all of the boys were at martial arts.  They loved it again and can't wait to go back again next week.  I started dinner so it was ready soon after they got home.  We enjoyed our dinner while watching the football games, even though they weren't great games, especially the NFC championship.  We finished up a few things around the house while watching and then got the boys to bed.  We started watching the SAG awards, which were way more entertaining than the Golden Globes, and then crashed hard for the night.

Monday (1/22) For the first time in close to a month, everyone left the house on a Monday morning!  The boys were complaining that the weekend felt short, I had little pity and kicked them out the door to school!  After everyone was at school and work, I headed to the Y for a Body Pump class.  I was sore after yesterday, but I pushed thru.  Then I taught my Silver Sneakers class there and met with my boss for my annual evaluation.  It was a nice morning working out and chatting with friends, but I was very sore after it!

I got some stuff done in the afternoon and then it was time to pick everyone up and head back to the Y to teach a Zumba class.  I am super proud of myself that I made it thru the class, 6 hours of exercise in just over 24 hours!  After class, we ran out and headed to the church because I was working as the facility rep tonight.  Adrian got stuck at work a little later than he wanted so the boys had to come to the church with me for a bit.  They enjoyed shooting some baskets on the empty court before Adrian arrived to pick them up.  He took them home for a quick dinner before getting AJ out to Boy Scouts.  Since he crossed over he will now go on Monday nights and he's super excited to join this troop.  I picked him up after work and we came home and got everyone in bed.  Adrian and I watched the end of the OSU basketball game and then a few comedies before crashing hard again for the night!

Tuesday (1/23) Everyone got up and out to school on time today and after I dropped everyone off, I headed to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  After class, I ran to Aldi to grab some groceries then headed into the school to sub for a few hours in the afternoon.  I covered in two different classes before picking up Daniel and Zak and heading home.  We had a quick taco dinner and then Adrian headed out to coach basketball while I got AJ ready for this Scout ceremony.  Tonight he achieved his Arrow of Light rank and crossed over to Boy Scout Troop number 26.  He is super excited and Adrian and I are super proud of him!!  The ceremony was very nice, the boys all got plaques from the pack and also awarded a pin to their parents.  It was nice to watch all of the boys cross over although it is a little sad because after the past 18 months together, they will be going different ways.  I'm happy that AJ's two best buddies are crossing over to the same troop that he is.

 

 

 

Wednesday (1/24) After a horrible night of sleep, we got up and moving on time and got everyone out to school on time.  This week is feeling really long!  After I dropped everyone off at school, I headed to the store to finish up my shopping for the week.  Then I headed in to volunteer in Zak's class.  I reviewed sight words with all of the students in his class, it was nice to see them all again after the long winter break.  Then I came home and did a few things around the house before it was time to pick everyone up and head to the Y for my Zumba class.  After class we came home and had pasta for dinner (because I was too tired to cook anything else) and had a relaxing night together.  After the boys went to bed, Adrian and I watched last night's "This is Us" and I cried through most of it, especially the previews for next episode.  We had to put on a comedy to cheer us up before heading to bed!

Thursday (1/25) Another fairly typical day for us.  We all got up and got to school on time.  After I dropped everyone off, I headed to teach my Silver Sneakers classes and then ran a few errands.  Then I came home and did a few things around the house and got ready to sub a Zumba class in the afternoon.  I picked the boys up from school and headed to the Y for my Zumba class.  I had so much fun subbing this class, it was a great energy which is hard to get when you are a sub.  On our way home after class, we dropped dinner off for friends and then came home and ate our dinner.  We finished up our weekly homework and then got the boys to bed.  Adrian and I watched a few comedies and headed to bed too.  Thankful tomorrow is Friday!!