Words over coffee...

Rain in July.....in TEXAS?!?!?
yes, I'm just as shocked as you are. Usually at this time of summer, the landscape has a nice earthy tone aka variations of brown. But we are still green and sporting nice size puddles. Our backyard might finally recover from the drought of 2011.
Rainy days make me want to sip hot coffee while reading a good book or watching a good movie. But my schedule calls for a few hot sips in between refereeing the children at breakfast. And later enjoying cold coffee while you dress up Minnie Mouse while watching a re-run of Sofia the First. Usually it's easier to just give in to the children and let them play the Wii while I "supervise" on the couch (my secret's out!!)

Yes, that's my kind of morning. :) don't worry, I slipped in a bit of housework between cartoons and coffee sips.

Since I last posted, we've accomplished our vacation. 10 days away from home with 3 children....that will try your patience. Thankfully, my wonderful sisters (and Debbie, gotta give her a shout out) helped carry the load of the children. They watched our 3 darlings so Jed and I could take a much needed weekend off. We ventured to Fort Myers Beach area. It's beautiful there. The sunsets are perfect. The sunrises so magical. Just walking the beach with my husband, tip toeing over shells and seaweed. Perfect. I even found a sand dollar during one of evening strolls. Too bad, one of the kiddos stepped on the container of shells and it broke. But just finding it was fun. Jed and I went fishing one morning. I caught 4 fish. Jed caught 1. Another guy on the boat caught a black tip shark...that was rather awesome!

We rounded out our time there with a Sunset Dolphin cruise. It was lovely. The weather was nice. Sunset beautiful. We only saw a fin from the dolphin, but it was super relaxing.
Kudos to the Pink Shell Beach Resort. Perfect place to stay. We'll definitely go back...and take the kids (I know, that says a lot if we're willing the take the kiddos with us, haha)
After our stay in Fort Myers, we headed back up to Central Florida to visit with my family. We spent of week of catching up with family and friends. Trips to the beach. A morning trip to Downtown Disney and more. I do have to say, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts maybe every other day while in Florida. You see, in our area of Texas, we just have Starbucks. I ♥ Dunkin Donuts...and not just the coffee ;) Those little munchkins are pretty yummy.

It was a wonderful vacation, but I'm glad to be home.
Oh, while on vacation...that weekend away with the hubby, I hit my 30lbs lost mark!! Woot!! Now, the donuts and coffee didn't help me stay there. But hey! 30 lbs gone...that's like a small toddler :) 1 big milestone on my weight loss journey. By the way, my husband is almost there, too. I love that we are doing this together.
And get ready for picture overload. Our family had a professional photo session with Frame It Photography. I can't wait to share the pictures. We had a rainbow in our background during the beach photo session :) absolutely perfect!!

Until time allows again....
-enJoy

Thankfulness in July

I know it's not the month of November...but I thought I'd share a few thoughts on being thankful.

I strive to find some sort of good in everything. I know, life can be tough for all of us. But there is good all around us. Whether is comes as a flower, or a kind neighbor just chatting with you. Good is there. 

While I'd love to kick and scream when things don't go my way, I have to remind myself that I have little ones watching (now, reminding doesn't always stop the tantrum, I still have one every once in a while...I'm sure my husband is rolling his eyes right now.) Oh, it's tough, but how will my kids learn except by example.

I've started having the kids pray at meal times...especially dinner time. They tend to spout off the same prayer every time...which is great, they are praying. I asked them one evening to add something to "thank God" for. I gave them examples like: "thanks for letting us go to park today...for riding our bikes...for playing in the pool...for milkshakes...for playing Zumba, etc." I hoped it would catch on to help the kids find something that they could thank God for each evening at dinner. Low and behold, Miss Chickie listened. Her prayer tonight "Thank you for my mom n dad...and thank you for letting us go to the park and see Baby Eli." Talk about having a moment....yeah, I had one. *tears of joy*

A few things that came to mind of what I'm thankful for...

*my health. The ability to walk. While I walked my laps today at the gym, I was kinda annoyed they weren't happening fast enough. This momma was tired. But I turned up the tunes, and started out. On my first lap, I had to move around a group of people in the track. One was pushing a wheelchair, two others were holding onto a young man's waist, and the last one was striving with every fiber in his body to take that next step. He was clad in leg braces from hip to foot. I wanted to cheer him on with every step. He was determined to make it around. And you know, he did!!! It took him over an hour, but SUCCESS!! 

*my sisters. They help me out when I need someone to talk, vent, laugh, and cry to. They probably don't realize it (until now..I let the cat out of the bag..oopsy) but each one has that special nugget of wisdom I need when I call. I'm blessed with 4 sisters and 4 sister-in-laws.

*crazy, funny, and sometimes disagreeable kiddos. They keep me busy. Running from one thing to the other. Cleaning the floors in one room only to come back to a previous room to find a fabulous mess on the floor. Hey! I can add up some of this cleaning time as cardio burning calories ;) See...it's a WIN WIN, lol

*technology/social networking. It provides me an outlet for me. It lets me see that everyone is on a journey...not just me. Whether it's a silly post about my kiddos, or a random Joy thought...I'm hoping it was a blessing (or laugh) to someone. It lets me connect with others on similar journeys. Whether it be weight loss, motherhood, long lost friends, or just keeping the positivity going. I love it.

I snagged this from a friend's posting today

So....these were just a few randoms from me today. 

-enJoy

Monday happenings

Well, it's Monday again.

And the kiddos (girls, mainly) are acting as if Monday defines their attitudes. It's one of those "how many days til vacation" types of day. I'm counting down now....10 days to go. Vacation to visit my family. The best part, Jed and I are taking a little time for ourselves. We recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary. And when we get to Florida, the kids are staying with family and we're heading out on our getaway!!! 

I think I'm more excited to be kid free than anything!!! 

Knowing it was our 10 year anniversary coming up (this was back around the first of the year), we decided to take some of our income tax return and use it for improvement. Usually, we use it to improve something on the house. But this year, we purchased a gym membership for the family (1 year worth). We were ready to improve ourselves. Working out and eating healthy. Guess what?!?! in the last 5 months, Jed's dropped 20 lbs!!! (super excited and proud of my husband) and I've dropped 25 lbs!!! I love that we are doing this together...it definitely makes it easier. Another reason for vacation, we get to splurge just a little. Eat some yummy food (still healthy, though). I've seen a bit of change in the kids as well. Oh, we still eat fun kid foods. But more water and healthier snacks have been added. Kids are more active and they love going to the gym with me. I'm so glad the gym has offered classes for just the kids. It makes them feel important...especially when they can do push ups along with us. :)

I had a few moments while the youngest is napping ...so, thanks for listening to my ramblings. Off to make dinner and wake up the youngest. 

Happy Monday. (this is the coffee talking, lol)

-enJoy