I Keep Going and Going and…

Success (noun): a degree or measure of attaining a favorable or desired outcome
Definition adapted from Merriam-Webster.com

1.  On Tuesday we had the whole family up, fed, dressed and loaded in the car by 7:45AM heading to our polling place.  All this resulted in us being home by 8:15AM for Matt to start work on time at 8:30AM!  Yay Us!  And a second Yay Us! for exercising our privilege and civic responsibility. 

2.  I mopped the kitchen floor.  I know, I know.  This probably shouldn’t warrant its own success.  But since I’ve been skipping it the last few weeks (followed by complaining because the kitchen floor needs!to!be!mopped!) I feel like it’s a success.  Granted, it took friends coming over for lunch to motivate me to do it.  Nonetheless – consider it done!

3.  I’ve continued to get into the gym at least periodically over the past few weeks.  I find that warm weather completely eliminates my motivation to work out.  One side says I’m not a runner or biker – so outdoor workouts aren’t really my thing.  On the flip side – who wants to be in the gym when the weather is so B.E.A.UTIFUL?  *sigh*  So getting to the gym when warm temperatures arrive is always a success for me.

4.  We’re working on our budget in an attempt to tuck a little extra money away between now and June.  If we manage to do it successfully (I think we can, I think we can) we’ll be enjoying a childless vacation mid-June.    And since we all know God works in mysterious ways – it looks like Matt’s company will be paying for his plane ticket!  (Which is really the only thing that makes this trip affordable)  More details once we are more certain things are going to work themselves out…

On the list of goals for next week include mailing shower invitations for my baby sister and trying to finalize the menu for said shower.  I’m a month out – so it’s a priority now!

Sherry from Chocolate for Your Brain hosts this weekly meme so make sure to head over and read about other (often more) successful moms!

A Work In Progress

I’m LOVING this weather!  Really?!?! 75-80 degrees the first week of March? Can you really beat that (short of living in the Tropicana).

So our successes are outdoors this week. 

1.  The windows are washed on the front of the house.  Indoors and out.  No more smudgy finger prints, no more nose marks from children staring out the front door.  It’s quite glorious!  The sun is shining in and I love it!

2.  Despite my desperate desire to continue cleaning and purging all corners of my house – I’ve spent the last two days outside with my boys.  We’ve played on our bikes, gone on walks, kicked balls and pushed toy lawn mowers.  Granted, my art supply closet, bedroom closet, kitchen cabinets and van still need cleaning out and organizing, but this weather is too good to pass up.  So, I’ll tackle those places on the next rainy day or during a strategically coordinated two child naptime.

3. For the time being all the gumballs are picked up out of the front yard.  I don’t expect this to last for long and I’m not even willing to tackle the side yard or backyard at this point.  The front yard though? It’s done!  (And seriously – a sweet gum tree could be a deal breaker if we ever buy another house!)

4.  On an indoor note: Hubby and I deep cleaned three rooms this weekend (yay for spring cleaning).  The two bedrooms are swept, dusted, vacuumed, and more.  And the dreaded and overwhelming toy room has been purged, cleaned, swept, vacuumed, organized and dusted.  I don’t expect these to last for long either…but the fact that they’ve been done make me feel better!

Make sure to share your successes over at Chocolate for Your Brain!  We love to see everyone’s successes – no matter how big or how small.

Doin’ It On My Own

This entry’s title is misleading.  I’ve only been ‘on my own’ since Sunday morning.  However, with all honesty, it seems much longer.  Not sure why it seems so long but it does this week.

Being that I feel like there is barely light at the end of the tunnel right now – it is super important for me to take a few minutes to find the successes of the week.  No matter how small they may be.

1.  After over a week out of the gym due to schedule conflicts and sick babies I spent Monday morning at the YMCA.  Surprisingly, my run(?) on the elliptical wasn’t all that bad.  I’m thinking that was God’s way of reminding me that getting derailed from my workout routine does not warrant giving up all together (which tends to be my philosophy).

2. Nathan woke up Wednesday morning with a fever.  (Derailed from the gym again!)  So we spent the vast majority of the day cuddled up on the couch watching movies.  Right before his fever would spike – he would crawl into my lap and say “I love you too mommy.” Which I think really translated into ‘mommy, please make me feel better.’  Poor little boy had practically no voice most the day and looked like he had been hit by a truck. 

3.  On Friday last week I had a great day!  Successes all around!  In the morning my MOMS Club hosted an open house to recruit new members.  I’m VERY  PROUD to say that we had 20+ potential members at the event.  That’s waaaay more than any other year I’ve been a member.  My efforts in advertising paid off! 

4.  Friday PM brought our fourth IEP meeting in four months. (Dear Lord!) The meeting went surprisingly well.  We’re finally getting John 60 minutes of 1-1 speech each week and he’s still going to get 1 hour of group speech therapy as well.  We compromised in that I have to take him to a special speech session once a week on Thursday mornings, but at least he’s getting the services. 

5.  I’ve enjoyed the time praying for my Lenten prayer buddy.  Having the commitment to another person really forces me to find the quiet in my day (or night).  It’s been great for me and hopefully will be fruitful for her as well.  I’m certain she doesn’t think anyone is praying for her at 3:30 AM when I’m laying in bed awake, but I’ve found that it brings a peace to my heart and head that helps me to drift back to sleep.  And since I’m a notorious “once I’m awake, I’m awake” person – this has been a blessing for me too!

Hope everyone had an equally successful week!  Make sure you share your successes over at Chocolate For Your Brain.  We love to watch our group grow!

I leave you with a picture that should melt any mommy’s heart…

Sometimes when you don’t feel well only your big brother can make it better.