Monday Confessions after a birthday weekend!

  A first birthday can bring up so many emotions, but mostly for me it's a sense of triumph. We have made it through the first 12 months of life with this tiny human! Ben does not turn one until this upcoming weekend but we celebrated yesterday with family! I have been trying to write this blog post all day but every time I come back to it, I get interrupted with life! So here's an iPhone shot of yesterday's festivities and hopefully I can write a little more to Ben over the weekend...

1. What is it with the UTZ party mix?! It's addicting. My kids beg for it when we actually throw a party and I managed to avoid touching it until this afternoon. Three bites eventually turned into 3 handfuls and then I RAN away!

2. Speaking of running, I only ran once last week. Here's to this week...although it's 100 degrees out and I haven't worked out yet today. I am working on planning better but not being laden with guilt, because lets be honest, guilt is a mother's middle name!

3, It's 4pm and I still don't know what's for dinner. I am struggling in this department this summer!

4. Struggling to force the kids to do summer reading consistently. Anyone with me?! We go in fits and starts. I am trying....I swear. 

5. I loved this blog post today from Kilee over at One Little Mama about 5 things that make a productivity difference when working from home! I think my favorite was "Do one thing that can't get undone." Anyone else have great ideas for work at home mamas? Even after 7 years, I KNOW I need better systems. (P.S. I adore Kilee's style so thats how I started following her on instagram. Isn't she adorable?!)

 

6. I took 4 kids to target to shop with gift cards today. We lived and I purchased NOTHING for myself or groceries or home. This is some kind of record.

7. After Target, we strolled through the mall where I passed Pottery Barn and looked wistfully through the window, remembering life before kids. I see all those pretty things now as objects to be stained, ruined or broken. Of course life with kids is full of action, fun and love....but every once in a while I remember back to decorating our home and it was still how I left it when I would get home from work. Now I can't leave one room to the other room without preparing for disaster! 

8. I am exciting to be traveling alone with my husband in a couple weeks to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. I realized earlier today that I haven't been on a plane in years :( This is crazy for me because in my young adult days, I would hop on a plane at least once a year or more. Who has great ideas for packing for a short trip in a carry on?!

9. I confess that RHONJ is back on tv and I am tempted to watch. I know, I know...but when you've watched from the beginning, it just seems like you should be committed, right?!

10. I have started listening to podcasts while running instead of music. I find that the more engaged my brain is, the less it thinks about how it's dying. Stuff you missed in History class is a fun one if you like to know about random things from the past. Bet you didn't know there was a manure crisis in NYC in the 1800's or that the French rebelled against German occupation with their fashions? I know I didn't know about either of those things until I listened! You can thank French ingenuity for the cork and wood wedge shoe! Because those materials weren't rationed in WWII, the French designers explored them as options for soles of shoes and the wedge was born!