What's Up Wednesday

I'm linking up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for What's Up Wednesday!

I thought this would be a fun way to get to know people!

What We're Eating This Week:
I fixed this Paula Deen recipe on Monday and we are still eating on it!  It is easy to fix but I will half the recipe next time!

That isn't my photo.  I got if from the same link as the recipe.  I don't do well at food presentation!  I do well to get it cooked!  HA!

What I am Reminiscing About:
I am still so proud of Carson's little baseball team and how well they played last weekend.  Seeing those boys dancing in the outfield to Ice, Ice Baby between innings then watching Carson walk over to the tourney champs after receiving his runner up trophy and shaking hands with the winners will be forever etched in my memory!

What I am loving:
I am LOVING the May Special from Thirty One!  For every $35 spent, you can get a large utility tote for $10 or an insert for $15!  I may have to get a sixth LUT!

What We've Been Up To:
Carson is taking his state assessments this week.  I am nervous for him.  It stinks that so much pressure is put on kids these days as far as assessments are concerned.  Our school district spends WAY TOO MUCH TIME testing kids!  I don't know how they have time to instruct!  Today is the math portion and Carson wore this special shirt for his math/homeroom teacher.

What I'm Dreading:
I have to do my monthly weigh in next Tuesday at Weight Watchers.  My body is still trying to get used to having more points and me slowly reintroducing certain "guilty pleasures" in extreme moderation.  I haven't done as well drinking my water and tracking as I did when I was losing weight.  I am eating pretty much the same things- just not entering it in.  This may not go in my favor next week.

What I'm Working On:
I am working through my online training with Weight Watchers.  It is a series of powerpoint, videos, etc.  I am having a hard time finding time to do it with some many other things going on right now.

What I'm Excited About:
We are taking a little road trip this weekend!  We are going to Knoxville to the Tennessee Baseball game.  Carson gets to participate!  He gets to go out with the players for introductions and the National Anthem.  He was asked to do this since he participated in their summer camp the last two summers.  We decided to make it a weekend and will stay in Knoxville and go to Dollywood on Saturday.

What I'm Watching/Reading:
I am currently reading Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty but honestly, I can't get into it.  I am having a hard time keeping up.  The only thing we watched on TV this week was last night's Atlanta Braves game.  We rarely watch TV in the Spring and Summer.

What I'm Listening To:
I opened iTunes and turned on one of my favorite playlists and right now, Thomas Rhett's It Goes Like This is on.  I love that song!

What I'm Wearing:
Yoga pants and a Tennessee shirt.  #noshoweryet

What I'm Doing This Weekend:
Road Trip! See what I am excited about!

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month:
School getting out for summer, a beach trip, baseball tournaments, dance recital, and maybe tagging along with Chad on a business trip!

What Else is New:
Nothing new to report here except for this pain I have in my back.  I threw baseballs with Carson the other night and I honestly think I overstretched a muscle.  I am in a bit of pain!  I am such a wimp!

Hope you enjoy my What's Up- just a peek inside my little corner of the world!

Weekend Rewind

I was talking with someone last week who stated that she looked forward to Mondays because the weekends are crazy busy.  In some ways, I see her point but I do enjoy my weekends!  Our weekend was packed with  bike riding, baseball, cold weather, and more baseball.

Carson played his third tournament this weekend.  We have had the gamut of weather this season.  One week it snows, one week it is 80 degrees, and one week it is cloudy, cool, and windy.  Only baseball families have to pack blankets AND sunscreen for the same weekend!

Friday night, Chad came home from work and said he was going to purchase Caylee a new bicycle.  He told her that he would buy her a new bike once she learned how to ride without training wheels.  If we have learned nothing else about Caylee it is that everything is done in Caylee time.  She does things in her own manner and riding a bike was no different.  She learned how to ride at Chad's parents' house the first time she got on!  We tried last year to get her to ride but she would have no part of it.  She decided she would learn this spring and she took off as soon as she got on.

 Her grandparents picked her up from school on Friday and we bought the bike before they got home and had it sitting in the driveway.  We heard her squealing with excitement when they pulled up.  She is doing great.  #inCayleetime

Saturday morning, we woke up to dark clouds.  We checked the weather app numerous times but the games were still on.  We didn't anticipate playing our two games but we headed to the field anyway.  They got to play both games and played very well.  They went 2-0 and were the one seed going into Sunday.  It was fun to watch!  After the game, Daddy rode home with us in the Wrangler so I crashed the backseat with the kids.  I thought for sure we would get rained on so I wore my best slouchy outfit- yoga pants and a baseball hat!  No sense in fixing my hair!  What was supposed to be a 100% chance of rain turned out to be a 100% chance of sunburn!  Chad and I both got red noses!  The sun came out and it was a beautiful day for some baseball!

Sunday morning brought more black/gray clouds and cooler temperatures.  I decided I was going to be prepared to stay for two games.  We packed a lunch, I did my hair, and we headed out.  ;)

They got to play two games which means Carson brought home some hardware.  Hardware or no hardware, our team is playing well right now.   The hardware doesn't matter to me.  I want Carson to learn the game and have fun doing it.   Their heads are in the right place!  They are having a blast too!  One of our parents brings a big bluetooth speaker and plays music before the game and between innings.  The music must have fired them up because when our boys would take the field, they went out dancing and danced until the umpire called for a batter!!  It was a great sight!  They are having fun!

I can go on about this team, but I have a post I am working on about where we came from and where we are now.

I'll close with some pictures!

Oh the base stealing....  This is so different in kid pitch.  This was the championship game and our coaches were aggressive on the base stealing (which is good).  On this at bat, Carson got to take his base because the pitcher hit him in the buttocks.  Carson said after the game that he didn't even realize he'd gotten hit until he got to first base and realized his rear hurt a little.  He just heard the umpire tell him to take his base so he did what he was told (that's what he told me!).  Apparently the pitcher wanted to get Carson out BADLY because he took the base so he tried probably five times to pick Carson off.  He was unsuccessful!  Carson beat the ball and the catcher and scored a run!

SAFE!

Centerfield work.  His buddy, and fellow 15, also plays center!

Caylee at a game is hilarious.  She plays her iPad and just asks what the score is.

She did stop watching a movie to get Carson coming home on camera.  So sweet!

You can barely see the ball but this was the ball to the butt at bat.

I have to take a minute to brag.   After the championship game, I thought I heard our coach tell the boys to go shake hands with the opposing team after they got their trophies. The trophy ceremony was a little rushed because they were behind schedule so they were trying to clear out for the next game. I told Carson to hang back and do what his coach asked. After the trophies were handed out, he walked over to the other baseline ALONE and shook hands with every player and coach. Yes, I asked him to do it but I am still so proud of the person he is becoming. 

 Our next tournament isn't for another two weeks.  Maybe by then, I will get caught up on housework and weight watcher trainings!

Happy Monday!

Five Favorites on Friday

I'm back with another Five on Friday post!  Today's post is brought to you by Friendship Chrysler Jeep Dodge.

I really don't have a sponsor for this post.  I am currently sitting at a jeep dealership in another town waiting on them to fix all the screw ups that the other dealership made.  What stinks is that I am stuck here for the day.  I came armed with my laptop, my Nook, and a Redbox movie!  

Let's get to the good stuff!!!

O-N-E

My favorite moment of the week was watching Caylee in her Tennessee History museum.  Every year, the second graders complete an in depth study of Tennessee History.  Part of their study was researching a famous Tennessean.  Their teacher assigned them a famous Tennesseean and they had to learn as much about them as they could, write a report, and prepare a speech.  The culminating activity was a Wax Museum.  The kids "became" their person in this museum.  They were lined up along the hallways of the school and sat "frozen" until a museum guest (parents, teachers, students, staff, etc) touched their hand.  They came to life and said their little speech.  It was the sweetest thing ever!  We had Minnie Pearl, Peyton Manning, Pat Summit, Al Gore, Andrew Jackson, Alvin York, Tina Turner, and Grace Moore. Caylee was Anne Dallas Dudley.  She was a leader in the movement for women's rights.  I didn't know how she was until I googled her and had a hard time coming up with an outfit.  Our awesome friends, the Goods, came through for me and let us borrow this dress.  We chose it because in all of the pictures of Anne, she was wearing a dress with this neckline.

I present to you, Anne Dallas Dudley (or Fancy Nancy! )....

She did a great job.  She, like most of her classmates, had memorized their little speech.  I was so proud.  She said she got many compliments!  

T-W-O

My TimeHop is depressing me right now.  It was around this time four and five years ago that Chad ran the Boston Marathon.  That city forever has my heart.  I fell in love with the city because of the marathon and I became a RedSox fan.  I think the city of Boston fell in love with me too because of my accent!  ;)  

The 2011 trip was the last big trip Chad and I took together without the kids.  Kinda sad, but such is life.  We had ambitions of taking trips together every year but life (and lack of funds) gets in the way.  My biggest fear is that when our kids are grown and leave our home, we won't know who each other is anymore.  I would love to go with him when he travels for business just to get away- even if it is sitting in the hotel room reading a book- but it isn't worth messing up everyone's apple carts and asking others to step in and take care of the kids.  We are fortunate to take trips with the kids and I enjoy that time very much.  The kids went to Boston for his first race then he and I went the second time he ran it.  

T-H-R-E-E

The ACMs are this weekend.  I bet you can't guess who I am voting for DAILY for Entertainer of the Year!!!!!  My favorite....

Mercy!  I hope he wins but I am afraid Garth or Miranda will get it.  I am so excited for new music from Luke.  I know he has a new album coming out this year. I don't know how it will top Crash My Party.  

F-O-U-R

I put myself on a No Spend Diet the rest of this month (and maybe part of next month).  This is not a "favorite" but it needs to happen.   I spent one whole afternoon this week reworking our budget and was disgusted at what we spend.  What blows my mind is that Chad makes more now than we both did put together when I worked AND we paid daycare, diapers, formula, etc. and it seems as though we had more "disposable" income then than we do know.  What the heck?  The bad news is Caylee and I both need clothes.  Since losing my weight, my closet has become bare.  Plus, since I am going to work for Weight Watchers, I will need clothes appropriate for work.  I am going to need a couple of bathing suits too.  I am not going to shop for them until May though.  

F-I-V-E

My favorite quote this week was something I said to my mother in law.  With our crazy schedules and Chad's travel, we eat out a lot (maybe that is part of the problem in number 4!).  I told her, "If it weren't for Pal Barger and Truett Cathy, we would starve!"  Pal Barger owns Pal's, our favorite local fast food restaurant; and, of course, Truett Cathy founded Chick Fil A.  

Well, that is a peek into my brain!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  I am working the Bristol race this weekend as a fundraiser for the baseball team!

It's Bristol Baby!

Rainy Wednesday Weekend Recap

Say the title three times fast!

I am going to throw it back to the weekend to do a recap!!!  It is a dreary, rainy day here in Big Orange Country so instead of being productive, I have done several things on my computer.

On Friday night, Caylee and I headed to the next town over for her rehearsal for the fashion show she was in.  I don't remember if I mentioned this before or not (and I am too lazy to go back and look at old blog posts) but Caylee and her BFF Anna-Claire were models for an American Girl Fashion Show benefitting CASA.  It was a neat little experience for them both.  Caylee really had fun with it and wants to do it next year.

She modeled Samantha.  I thought she looked precious.

My pictures of her on stage weren't good at all.  Oh well.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Caylee lost TWO TEETH last week.  I didn't even think about the fashion show and the fact that she would be basically toothless for the show until my mom reminded me of how cute she would look.  Mom was right.  She sure did look cute!

Caylee has learned the art of selfies.  She loves to get my phone and take pictures.  I haven't even looked on her iPad to see how many pictures she has on there!

Right after the fashion show, we changed clothes and went straight to the ball field.  Carson and team played two games on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  His team went 2-0 and earned the number 1 seed for bracket play for the next day.  Carson played well and even got some time on the mound.  Coach Chris told me that when we told Carson to go to the mound, Carson's eyes got as big as saucers and he said, "really?  me?"  He didn't do horrible on the mound but didn't do great either.  I think the nerves got the best of him but his pitching coach told us to keep encouraging him and keep working at it until it becomes habit.  I, for one, was a nervous wreck.  I kept busy by taking pictures!

#pictureoverload
#sorrynotsorry
#proudmom

I hope Carson gets more opportunities to pitch but if he doesn't we are ok with that.  Not everyone can be a pitcher.

We did lose our game on Sunday to a tough team.  They played together last year and the wheels came out from under our team.  Our boys had no reason to hang their heads though.  They are playing well and having fun.  They are learning to play together.  Carson had a great hit and a great stop in right field.  He had to dive for the ball and came up firing the ball to get the out.  When we got home, we received a text from his coach that simply told us he was proud of Carson and that he is a great boy.  I got a lump in my throat.  I am so grateful for this opportunity for Carson to come back from the heartache of last season.  His team has accepted him and he seems to be enjoying playing again.

We came home and crashed after the game!  I was so tired!!  Fun, busy weekend!

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Y'all- I am back for a WWW post with BIG NEWS to share.

I am officially a Weight Watchers employee!!!!!!

I have not officially started my training yet but hopefully soon.  I will be a receptionist one morning a week in a neighboring community.  I am excited to see where this takes me!

I haven't really done a weight loss post in a while but the last time I weighed in, I was up 2 pounds (but I contribute that to Dear Aunt Flo) and this week, I was down 3.  I haven't done a single thing differently when I was up then down so it had to be that unwelcome monthly visitor.

#sorryforTMI

#rollercoaster

I stepped on my scale at home this week and saw the lowest number I ever have.  For once, I am finally happy with the number on the scale.  I have a way to go as far as my body shape, but I am happy in my skin.  I want to get better about weight lifting- I have always struggled with that.

One major struggle I faced since my last WW post was with clothes.  Since shorts season is pretty much here (and hopefully, to stay), I had to go through my shorts and try each pair on.  In the end, I could only wear two pair of my shorts in my closet.

#nonscalevictory

I went to Target (because most of my clothes come from Target) and bought a size 6 shorts.  I waited until I got home to try them on and they were too tight on me.  I was crushed.  This was about a week before my "visitor" but I didn't realize how much she has an affect on my body.  I reluctantly took them back and bought a size 8.  Since I knew (or thought I knew) the 8 would fit, I took the tags off without trying them on.  After my visitor went back to the hole she crawls out of, I put the size 8 shorts back on and they almost fell off of me.

Say what???

I knew I had to keep the shorts because I had already taken the tags off- although, truthfully, my Target loves me and I probably could have returned them for the second time.  Oh well, I can wear a belt with them and I think everything will look ok.  I might get a second pair of khaki shorts because I wear them so much in the summer.  And I'll be getting a size 6.

Lesson learned- don't try on clothes during your time of the month!

Ok- back to Weight Watchers....
We talked this week about Power Foods.  This was basically a refresher on what power foods are and to share ideas on how we fix power foods.  Power foods, like chicken, fruits, and vegetables, were the keys to my weight loss.  I forced myself to eat more fruit daily and what I found was that I wasn't as hungry in my weak times!

I am going to close this post with something I've never done.  I took a selfie at the gym yesterday.  Maybe it is the tank top that was a little big on me but I was happy with my look yesterday!  Heck, I even had second day dirty hair!!!

 

Spring Breakin': Part 2

Right after Carson's game on Sunday, we headed straight for our nation's capital.

We got to our hotel after 8PM so we watched the iHeart awards and went to bed.  We got up early the next morning and headed out to the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.  We took the guided tour that was over two hours (yawn).  Caylee and I lost interest but the boys loved it.

After lunch, we drove to the Metro station to go into downtown.  If you are planning a DC trip, plan on spending LOTS of money on the Metro.  We spent over $50 in one day to ride the crazy thing.  The second day, we drove into the city and parked at Union Station and saved quite a bit of money.

We saw several memorials, ate great food, and toured the Capitol.

Caylee danced her way thru DC.  She danced in the streets, the hotel hallway, in the museums, and on the steps of the Capitol (that is undergoing a major renovation).

It was a quick little getaway but fun!

Spring Breakin': Part I

Things I love about Spring Break:

• Not having to make two trips into town everyday.  The trip isn't bad but it does get old!
• No alarm clock!
• No homework
• No routine
• Time to catch up on little things that can't get done otherwise

We have been Spring Breakin' it this week.  Instead of doing a Five on Friday, I thought I would do a Spring Break recap.  

Our break started off  FRIGIDLY COLD.  Carson had two baseball games on Saturday morning.  I think the temperature was in the upper twenties.  We arrived at the field and told Carson to go on to warm up with his team while the rest of us sat in the car.  While they were warming up, little white fluffy things fell from the sky.  UNBELIEVABLE.  I have never been so cold at a baseball game.  I told Chad that it is simply wrong to have to wear three layers of clothes and UGG boots to a baseball game!  One of our moms said if we ever heard of her complain about it being hot, we needed to slap her.  They can slap me too!  

Carson was so cold.  He had on three layers of clothes but it wasn't enough in the thirty degree weather!

I plan on doing an entire post on baseball but I am still getting my thoughts about it together.  I want to talk about it because this blog is about our life and the circumstances surrounding baseball has taught us a big life lesson; however, I don't want my post to come across as negative or mean toward others involved.  I have prayed about how I want to share our story and am waiting for God to send me the right words.  

Since this was our first tournament and first time playing together as a team, I had no idea how things would go.  Actually, our only expectation for Carson is that he has fun, puts forth good effort, and is a good teammate.  Our expectations were met this weekend.  He had fun, gave good effort, and was a great teammate.  The coach's wife came up to me Sunday morning and told me how much they were enjoying getting to know Carson.  She said that her husband (the head coach) commented the previous night that he liked how Carson was an encourager to the other players and that he appreciated that.  My heart burst with pride.  That is better than any trophy on a shelf!

Please notice the eye black art.  I was scrolling thru Instagram and saw a post that Sam's mom did  on Monday.  Sam had the same eye black design as Carson.  Carson saw that Sam did his eyeblack this way last season and ever since, he's worn this design.  

We ended up winning our first game but losing our second two.  The boys had no reason to hang their heads because they played great.  We lost one game by 4 runs and the other by 2.  The biggest surprise to me was the base stealing.  It is so hard to get on base with first year kid pitching so once they get on, they are making more steals than a bank robber!  

Carson has come a long way since last season.  One thing he really struggled with was fear of getting hit.  He still has that fear a little, but he got hit in practice last week by another kid pitching to him so I think that fear has lessened.  Last year, one of the reasons Carson's was cut was that he kept stepping out of the batter's box due to that fear.  Well, this past weekend, Chris praised Carson for staying in the batter's box (other kids did go out of the box) so he used Carson as an example.  This was HUGE for him.  He was able to get a hit and was able to bring a kid home in our first game.  I call that success!

Stay tuned for more Spring Break fun that involves dancing on the US Capitol building steps!