Hello and Happy Thursday! I thought I'd switch things up and share 3 things on my mind/going on in our world right now.
1. Colder weather has arrived here! I have mixed feelings about it. I wasn't loving the HOT fall weather we've been having, but I don't love highs in the 40s/low 50s either... Phil reminds me that 40 is going to feel WARM in a couple of months. But it was a shock to the system to drop so quickly. We were not prepared for such cold weather on the morning of our family photos so we had to cut our session short. I'm sure the photographer got enough good shots but we might have her come by our house in December for a mini-session around Will's first birthday. We didn't get any solo shots of him until the end of the session and he was cold so kind of 'cry smiled'. I'm sure I'll look at those pictures down the road and remember my mom fail of not having appropriate clothing for 40 degree temps. But I did not want to buy outfits JUST for a photo session... It would have been ideal to have cute outerwear for the boys. But do you know how often they would wear cute outerwear? The answer is never. They need warm clothes for playing outside and don't need to look stylish while playing. ;) At least in the eyes of their 2 frugal, practical parents!!
2. Phil's cousin is coming over tomorrow to work on a list of house projects. I love that Paul has gotten to know him (he's been to our house so many times!). When we told Paul that Brian was coming over he said, "tell him to bring his tools!" So clearly he understands that Brian is our handy guy. One thing we are going to ask him about is what he thinks about converting the wood-burning fireplace in our living room into gas. If it were up to me, I'd be calling companies to get quotes but Phil wants to run this by him first. We will never use a wood-burning fireplace. I love the idea of one but it is just too messy! I would like to actually use our fireplace, so converting it to gas makes sense - especially for someone like me who is ALWAYS COLD! So hopefully this is a project we can get done this winter! We have a gas fireplace in our bedroom upstairs and I actually use it quite a bit. I have a cozy reclining chair up there and tend to read by the fireplace during the cold winter months. Is there anything cozier than reading by a fireplace?!? So I am dreaming of having one on the main floor. Paul has been around my parents' gas fireplace since he was a baby and has understood you do not touch the fireplace but we'll have to teach Will this as he gets mobile... And probably put some sort of fencing in front of it for awhile.
3. I had a moment of reckoning after finishing the 10 mile race where I realized my weight had not budged despite all of that running... I know my body has been through a lot in the year plus, but I haven't been feeling good about how I look or how clothes fit so I decided to go back on Weight Watchers. I think this will be my 4th time doing that program. I had a great first week back - it was nice to see a result on the scale! Turns out that not eating a bowl of ice cream with m&ms on top nearly daily makes a difference! ;) I remember hearing on a podcast that ounces are lost in the gym and pounds are lost in the kitchen - I find that statement to be incredibly true. I will be going back to the office 3 days/week starting in January so will need to wear something besides athleisure wear, so that was another motivating factor. I have a lot of great work clothes, many of which don't fit at this current weight, so I was also motivated for frugal reasons as I don't want to buy a bunch of new clothes!
And because that was a lot of typing, here are some pictures of the boys!
 |
| Will is happiest when standing by the ottoman these days! |
 |
| All smiles during a fall walk! |
 |
| Poor Will looks like the neglected 2nd child in his daycare photos. His shirt was too big and his hair is a MESS. |
 |
| But Paul took a great picture! We never order pictures but I'm tempted to get one of these since he smiled so nicely! |
 |
| Lastly, he has learned how to write his name. I had to help with the A but he did the rest. I think it's great for a 3.5 year old! This was for a birthday card he made his teacher. You should have seen the number of stickers he put on the front! More is more in the eyes of a toddler! |
Tell me what's on your mind these days?
I like that expression about ounces and pounds. I need to cut back on carbs especially. And they are my favorites! Too bad about the photo shoot but I think having one that looks like how they are is better than one that looks like you uniformed them up for the day! And love the idea of a fireplace in your bedroom!
ReplyDeleteHappy week!
Paul has some great penmanship !! Wow - so awesome!!! Their school pics are so cute!!!
ReplyDeleteI am a little envious of your real fall temps… we were having gorgeous weather and the last few days have been in the 90s. At least the mornings and evenings are still cool! (50s)
I can relate to the sweet tooth habit. Since we have been going to the cabin - I’ve been baking some kind of cookies every weekend. every day I make An espresso during Maddy’s afternoon nap and feel required to enjoy a cookie with it. Lol I know you have had really good results with weight watchers!
Good luck on your diet! You always had good luck with WW. It always feels good to shed some pounds but I thought you looked good!
ReplyDeleteThe boys pictures are so good and I love Will’s bottom lip bite. It’s so cute.
Paul takes great pictures!
I have lots on my mind these days, as Andrew had surgery and is in considerable pain, but is a trooper!
Jason is having a big surgery next week at Mayo which concerns us. I will help out with the kids as much as possible and Paul will be filling in for him at the office so he’ll be busy during these fall days when we are trying to tie things up for winter.
James hurt his knee so had to miss a couple of football games which he so loves. But, we just trust that all will go well.
I hadn't heard about this saying about ounces and pounds, but it's so true... it goes hand in hand with "you can't outrun a bad diet". I feel like you're cooking pretty healthy, but yeah, not treating yourself to ice cream daily is probably a good start to see the pounds drop that you'd like to lose.
ReplyDeleteA gas fireplace sounds wonderful. We used to have a fireplace at our old house and never used it (because it would have been messy and we also weren't keen on having an open fire, but a gas fireplace sounds lovely. Now we have to make do with a "fake TV fire place" and pretend it's actually emitting any heat LOL
I'm feeling all the diet frustration right now - after years of knowing how to switch things up to move the dial on my weight (which naturally fluctuates +/- 10lbs), I just CANNOT get it to budge. It is so, so frustrating.
ReplyDeleteFor years I've found intermittent fasting to do the trick, but it just isn't working now. I've cut down on carbs, I eat a ton of raw veggies and things aren't budging at all.
I did have a whole bunch of iron infusions about 6 months ago and I've heard that can prompt weight gain, but I'm getting tired of eating well and not losing weight. Sigh.
I have always found the diet to be more important than exercise, but feel like maybe the fact that I've had to cut back on physical activity is causing my weight loss to stall? I walk a lot, but might be time to incorporate some other more intensive exercise into my weekly routine. Now to find the time...
I'm embracing the cooler temps, too- though I agree, it has been a bit of a shock to the system! I have to keep telling Ethan to put on pants. He would wear shorts all year I think if I let him. I literally said bluntly to him this morning, "It is 36 degrees out. It is almost cold enough to snow, if it were raining. PUT SOME PANTS ON." haha!
ReplyDeleteYay about converting the fireplace!! We have converted two in our house, one in our living room and one in our basement rec room, which were both wood burning when we bought the house. We also would never use the wood burning- way too much hassle for us, though I'm sure the smell is cozy. I would constantly be paranoid we'd burn the house down, too. lol! We wanted the gas ones so badly, I think we had it done within about 4 months of moving in! We had a company do it. It did not seem like a super simple process, involving GAS lines (eek!) and holes in the brick in the garage and new chimney parts installed on the roof. So, that's my 2 cents! I would probably go with a company! But maybe the cousin knows his stuff- and it definitely was not cheap. I want to say it was around $5k per fireplace!! But this was a big priority for us and we use them ALL the time. (I am still jealous of your fireplace in the bedroom! I don't really have space for a cozy chair next to either of our fireplaces, though I tend to sit on a toss pillow on the floor right next to it, with my feet up on the hearth. :)
I'm glad you guys are finally getting some cooler weather, although I'm sure it was a shock to your system for it to get so cold so fast! Florida has been pretty nice lately - highs in the low 80s/upper 70s (today the high is 73!) and that just feels soooo good. It's nice for it to feel like fall!
ReplyDeleteConverting your wood-burning fireplace into a gas fireplace seems like a really good idea! I can only imagine how much work a wood-burning fireplace is. Fingers crossed you guys can get it done this season!
Those pictures of Will and Paul are so cute!! Paul is hamming it up and I love it. :)
Oooh, the daycare and school photos are both SO cute! The neglected-second child look is pretty adorable, and I think we all have some old photos of us like that. Love it!
ReplyDeletePablo really did smile so nicely! I don't know if it's the same where you are, but here the school photos are always so expensive (and the photographers definitely don't do much work to justify the steep prices), so a lot of parents end up just taking the pics themselves, or going to an outside photo place to have them done.