Picture of the Week - 1/7/2015

Happy New Year!!

How're you feeling about the fact that you have almost made it through the first real work week of the new year?  Feels pretty AWESOME to me!!

I'm currently sitting in the airport in Hartford, CT thanking the airport Gods for free wifi.  (Aside...  what did people do in airports before they could jump on wifi and surf/work?)  I'm looking forward to getting back home to my little boy snuggles.  Those boys LOVE to snuggle.  Here's a picture of us watching movies last Sunday.  Yep...  that's what I'm looking forward to getting back home to!!

Remember a few years ago when my New Year's resolution was to "hug more"?  Well we did - and do - and it's spectacular!  

Are you making resolutions this year?  

I've made 2. First, I am determined to MAKE more stuff this year.  I wasn't able to give away any home made Christmas gifts this year.  And it really bugged me.  (It probably bugged me more than the recipients of my store bought stuff...  but it bothered me!)  So this year, I'm making more stuff.  That means finishing up some projects I've already started.  And getting a few things out of my head and into production.  

The second one is to figure out a better way to managing my pictures.  I used to do all picture related stuff (including personal editing, etc - don't tell) on my work computer.  While, technically, against company policy, it was easy for me and meant everything was in one spot.  Now...  my company is much more strict on what you can have on your laptop.  So, I have pictures split across 2 laptops and do my editing at home.  And "long term" storage is a whole other issue.  What do you use for photo storage/organization?  I could use some easy options.  

Here's to heading home at the end of a business trip.  Also, forgive me in advance for all the work-related travel complaining I'm going to be doing between now and mid-Feb.  It's bad.  Next week I'm going to Detroit.  Who goes to Detroit in January?  The week after...  Grand Rapids.  And then I'm heading back over to Edinburgh again too.  Oy!  

I'm gonna try to cram in all the boy-snuggles I can get in between all these trips!  Because goodness I miss those boys (and Bob) when I'm not home!!

Have a great week!  Stay warm!!

Picture of the Week - 2/5/2015

This time of year is prime cuddling time.  Am I right?

It's cold outside and still getting dark earlier than I like.  Perfect for snuggling under a blanket.

As Valentine's Day approaches there are message of love and romance all over the place.  Even the color pink seems to scream "give someone a hug and kiss!"

Little boys watching TV and getting their cuddle on!

I like the snuggle season.  Who doesn't feel better after a good hug???

Unfortunately, it seems like we are getting busier by the day.  We are up to 6 lacrosse practices a week (and Zane hasn't started yet) and 2 weight training sessions with the middle school football team.  Bright side - the only overlap we have is on Saturdays.  Woot!  By the way, ask Bob how he managed to earn the Assistant Coach Hat Trick.  He's signed up as assistant coach on all 3 boys' lacrosse teams.  It's pretty funny really...  also it might be worth pitching a tent or renting an RV to keep up at Sawnee Mt Park.

We are also trying to get ready for our Buckeye Cruise trip.  Only 13 days to go!!  I can not even begin to imagine how crazy that ship is going to be this year with a National Championship to celebrate.  I'm having fun just thinking about it!

I decided to try a quilting retreat this year.  Bob agreed to handle kid duties so I can go sew for 2 and a half days straight.  I'm pretty excited about that!  Stalk my Instagram page for quilty updates!

And in the middle of all of this, I am transitioning out of my current job.  I took a new position that I get to start at the beginning of March.  I'm pretty excited!  More on that later...  for now I will just say that while this was absolutely the right decision, it does not mean that a job change is without some extra stress and strain from the change in routine.

This is just the beginning of the crazy spring season.  We will stop and take a breathe again in late May when lacrosse wraps up alongside the end of another school year.  Crazy to think about that... (Also exciting because it marks the end of another daycare "career" for which my bank account will be most appreciative!)

For now, I will hug and snuggle and cuddle every chance I get!  You should too!

Picture of the Week - 1/2/2014

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you all have had a simply marvelous holiday break!  We are getting back into our normal routine slowly.  Bob and I are back to work - Boo! - (actually Bob never really stopped...) and the little boys are back to school, but the big boys are off until next Tuesday.  So we won't resume our normal, normal routine until next week.  (And let me just tell you how irritating it is to get ready for work while there are pajama wearing loungers in the house!!)

 

So this is the time of year when everyone makes New Year's resolutions.  Honestly, I'm not much of a resolution maker.  I believe that self-reflection and self-improvement are too important to schedule only once a year.  I think it's actually much more successful to regularly (as in daily!) look at what's happening and see if there are ways to be better.  (Hint, there are always ways to be better!) 

 

The thing about not making resolutions is that come New Years Day I feel like I'm missing out on part of the holiday.  So this year I decided to make a resolution.  It is this: 

 

I will hug more!

 

Probably not something that is going to show up on most people's list of resolutions, but this is on mine.  It's not random either...  I decided to make an effort to incorporate more physical contact into my daily life because of a couple of things I've read recently.  (Aside, I really love that Facebook lets you share articles and I've found some really great things that my friends have shared.) 

 

One article talked about how important it is for moms of boys to show their sons affection.  When I think about this, it becomes super important to me.  I want my boys to know that it's OK to share their personal space with the people they love.  I want them to feel safe and know that my arms will always open to them.  Even when they open their arms just to lift me up in a testosterone-induced need to demonstrate their strength.  (Yes, Spencer can and does lift me and carry me around and then laughs maniacally about the fact that he's almost bigger than me.)  Here's the article that I first read about hugging your boys, but there are lots more out there - http://butterflywriterblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/17-things-boys-need-from-their-moms/

 

The thing I read about hugging pointed out how a simple hug is remarkably effective at reducing stress.  (Here are 2 articles about the subject - http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/6-surprising-stress-fixes and http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-a-hug-can-boost-memory-reduce-stress-1791770.)  I don't, in general, feel overly stressed, but why not take advantage of this easy and free stress-reducer???

 

This year I'll be hugging it out - what about you?