Facebook First Profile Challenge and an Update

This is overdue.  Sorry I have not good excuse.  OK, kid stuff has been crazy the last couple of weeks.  Charlotte hurt her knee - She's in a brace.  Ruby is doing PT for an ankle sprain.  The other two are just doing all their regular activities.  On top of that I'm navigating incorporating exercise and figuring out food. 

I did not participate in the Facebook challenge where you post your first profile picture and your current profile picture.  Why, well that last 6 years have not been kind to me.  Actually I have not been kind to my body in the last 6 years. Actually, that is not completely true.  Some of what lead to weight gain was me taking care of me and some of it was me giving up on my appearance.  Short explanation - hysterectomy followed by anxiety meds followed by weight gain from more chill approach to life and/or medication, followed by screw it who cares attitude.

 So I'll post it here. 

May 2007

September 2018

Between those two pictures I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight about 4 years later before gaining and weighing the most I ever have.  Ugh.  In true social media fashion if it isn't positive we don't post it.  So I didn't.  And it made me sad that I succumbed to being that vain.  Does it matter that I weigh at least 50 lbs more in one photo than the other?  No.  Is that really the end all be all of judging how the last 11 years have gone?  No.  But I was still embarrassed.  But here.  I get to talk about all the ends and outs and not just post two pictures.  And here, I'm determined to be honest with the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Now on to the update from surgery.  I am now 3.5 weeks out.  The eating plan has not been bad and my new stomach has reacted great as I've added more stages.  I'm now on the soft food stage.  It gives me a lot more choices than the previous stages have.  Monday, I am on full food.  Yippee!  

I saw my surgeon last week.  He said all looks well and I'm progressing well.  He lifted all restrictions on activity.  I am on week two of walking 3-4 days a week.  I'm slowly increasing my distance and am definitely getting faster.  Joining a gym is the next step in the plan.  I know I'll need weight training to minimize loose skin.

For those wondering I'm averaging about 600 calories a day.  I'm drinking 64-88oz of water plus other drinks.  I find getting the minimum of 60 grams of protein to be the hardest to hit.  I do great as long as I have at one protein shake.  If I don't have a shake I don't seem to hit the goal.  

Now for the stats.  As of Monday's weigh in I have lost 20 lbs since surgery and 29.8 lbs since starting pre-op diet.

Hopefully I'll be more timely in the next update.

Jenn

It's All Mental

Sorry for not updating closer to my surgery date or before now post surgery.  The pre-op diet was not hard.  I love that my doctor did not make me do a two week liquid diet.  I had to be mindful of my food and make the right choices but I did not go into surgery already tired of all my liquid choices.  

Surgery went without a hitch.  I was at the hospital at 6:00am, in surgery by 8:30, out by 10:30 and back in my room about an hour later.  My blood pressure was low after surgery so it took them longer to get me up than normal trying to give it time to come up a bit.  Once that happened I had to walk and use the restroom before they would send me home.  I was home by 3:00 pm.

The first two days were not fun.  Mostly from the gas pain that comes with laparoscopic surgery.  By the morning of day three I was not taking any pain medicine and the gas was much better! Day three was the first day I drove and ran a couple of errands.  From there on I have done a bit more each day.  

Days four and five started some serious cravings. It was all for meat.  I'm sure it was due to not getting enough protein in.  I have upped my protein and that has made most of that stop.

I know most of this journey and the success of it is mental.  I am trying to be very aware of my thoughts about food and weight and what is really behind them.  I know I have to have a very different approach to food going forward or this won't work.   I know I have to stick to the plan and if I can not do that now, I will not do it long term.  I've had thoughts of "Really, maybe I can have beans or cottage cheese now."  But they are not on the plan until next week.  I can wait a week.  But I have to talk myself through that.  It will not hurt me in any way to wait another week.  But trying to rush things can make me miserable and if I bend that rule, what will I bend next? 

Yes, I realize the irony in that.  I am rules are constructs to know where I can get around them kind of person.  And now I need to follow the rules.  This is very hard for me.  

The other huge mental side of this in weighing and actual amount lost at any point.  I made a rule that at this time I will only weigh once a week.  I know stalls will come and I know weighing daily will lead to obsessing about the scale.  I was good for the first few days, but by Thursday or Friday (days 4 and 5) I knew I had lost some weight and I really wanted to weigh.  I ran through the reasons to wait and stayed strong. 

Today was weigh in day.  I was really excited to step on the scale.  I lost 10.3 lbs. in one week!  Which is awesome.  Guess what?  I stepped off the scale and I was hugely disappointed.  I was sure it was going to be more.  Y'all, I was disappointed over a 10 pound in a single week loss!!!!! Do you know how crazy that is?  How many times would I have paid money for that amount of loss in a month, much less a week?  How could I be disappointed?  Y'all this is such a mental game.  I had to remind myself that this journey is not about a number on the scale, a certain size clothing, etc.  It is about being healthier long term.  As long as I am following the program the numbers do not matter.  

For those of you following along, I lost 10 lbs. on the pre-op diet and have lost 10.3 in the first week for a total loss to date  of 20.3 lbs, in three weeks!  

The left photo is no make-up, no hair styling, but I could already tell a difference in my face.

I have no regrets about my choice to do surgery.  So far I feel good.  I'm making good choices.  I'm meeting my protein and hydration goals for each day.  One more week of a liquid diet before I get to purees.

Jenn

Effort

We have many Christmas traditions.  Many of which revolve around food.  One of which is Christmas cake.  I've been making this cake for 21 years.  It was on the cover of the December Southern Living the year I got married.  It was beautiful and I decided I should try it.  It was a hit and a tradition was born.

This year.  One of my girls made the cake.  I was busy doing other things so she offered to bake the actual cakes.  Then, when it was time to make the frosting, I asked if she could make it and I would frost it.  She asked to do the actual frosting and I agreed.  She started while I was out running an errand. I wasn't there to offer support and advice.  

Y'all this is a hard cake to frost.  It is a red velvet cake with a white frosting.  It is very easy to end up with pink and red frosting.  That happened today.  She was sad.  And disappointed.  And frustrated. 

But y'all she made a three layer marbled red velvet and white cake with peppermint cream cheese frosting. She did it.  She persevered.  Is it the most beautiful cake you've ever seen?  No.  Is it the best Christmas cake you will ever eat?  ABSOLUTELY!  And you know what? Next year she will do better frosting it than she did this year, and the year after that, even better.  I'm proud of her.  Not because she made a magazine cover worthy cake but because she went all in and gave it her best effort.  And because she did so to allow me to get other things done.  

The cake that will be on the table tonight for six families to enjoy will not just be a cake. It will be the sacrifice of her own time, her caring of others, her hard work, her expectations, her love and a whole lot of  hope.  And I can tell you now it will be beautiful.  And it will taste even better. 

I have a daughter with a big heart for others and I love her dearly,

Jenn

This Guy!

I love my oldest.  He is a great kid.  He is funny and self confident.  He kind of defies description.

I happened upon this video on Facebook last week and out of curiosity thought I should watch it.  My second thought was that I wouldn't be surprised if my oldest was not somewhere in the video. He is in the last 30 seconds.


After watching the video, I had a bunch of questions.  Luckily it wasn't long until The Boy came home and I could get them all answered.  Maybe you have some of the same questions I did.

Were you the only student in the video?  Yes

Were there supposed to be other students in the video? Yes, but none of them showed up

Why in the world were you in your band uniform? The idea was that students from all kinds of organizations would be in the video and represent their organization by wearing a shirt or uniform.

Moral of the Story:  Always show up?  Ask who else is coming before you show up?  Either? Both?  I guess it all depends on who you are.

Pre-Op Diet Update

It's been a week today.  So far, so good.  Remember my surgeon uses a low carb pre-op diet, not a liquid one.  I think the hardest meal was when the whole family had pizza and the caesar salad I ordered arrived with zero romaine and all iceberg lettuce.  Many of you know that I do not eat iceberg lettuce under any circumstances.  Pizza for everyone in the house and iceberg lettuce for me.  I chose well and ate the iceberg lettuce.  Major accomplishment.

In other news, this time next week I will be officially on my new journey.  Surgery is scheduled for 8:30 on 12/31! 

Merry Christmas Eve.  I hope Santa is good to everyone.  I'm looking forward to an evening of great fellowship with dear friends and family.

Jenn

Pet Peeve: It's 2018 People!

Ok this is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but it drives me crazy!  Why are we still calling girls' teams Lady Whatever?  Why are they not just The Whatevers like the boys' teams? 

Eliza is playing basketball for her middle school.  They are The Leopards.  One of her uniforms says "Leopards."  The other uniform says "Lady Leopards."  They boys uniforms don't say "Gentleman Leopards" so why in the world does the girls' team need to have a gender qualifier?  If you are at the game and can see, you know they are girls! 

It is 2018!  Both genders play sports.  Why in the world do we still feel the need for this stupid differentiation? 

The worst team I've run into was the Lady Dawgs.  Now lets be honest, what is your first thought when you read that?  Yep you are thinking they are The Bitches.  They are a 12U Softball team.  Who wants their daughter playing on a team with that name?  I mean seriously people.

In other news.  I saw I hilarious elf on the shelf picture yesterday.  Here is the text conversation that happened with my family.

Keeping it Real and Not Always about Weight Loss Surgery

Sunday Michael and I were going to church at two different times.  I knew he told me that Rehm was going with him.  Charlotte and Ruby had babysat the night before.  When they arrived home at 1:00 am Charlotte said she would go whenever I was going and Ruby asked not to be woken up.  See where this is going? 

Sunday morning rolls around. Michael leaves before me.  I wake Charlotte.  We go to church.  As were are pulling in the parking lot, I get a call from Eliza.  She wants to know why I left her at home!!!!

Me:  Um...I thought you were with your Dad.

Eliza:  You didn't even check!

Me: ....

Eliza:  I really wanted to be at church today!

Me: I'm so sorry!  I'll send Rehm home to get you and bring you back.

Now, home and church are 20 minutes apart on a Sunday morning.  It was 9:00 at that point and youth programming starts at 9:30. Math is not in my favor.  I inform Rehm of the plan.  He is not happy.  His small group was going off site for a Christmas celebration and now he was going to be late to that.  So I managed to upset half of my kids but they all got where they needed to be and eventually Eliza got over being left.

Oh, it is also official that I have a new interim job at our church.  I am moving from Children and Family Ministry to Student Ministries (Youth- Middle and High School).  I will now be the Interim Student Ministries Assistant.  I keep joking that it is a step up from the Children's job as my title there was Interim Intern.  But it really is a joke as my role will be similar in many respects just with a different age group.  I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to continue to work at our church.  It is a great place and the staff is amazing.  I could not ask for better co-workers.

In other news, tonight everyone helped me make tamales.  This is the first year I've done the whole process on my own.  I usually go to a friend's house to roll tamales and she provides the red sauce and the masa mixture.  But we did it!  I made my own red sauce and all.  I think we made 9 dozen total.  We have beef, pork and bean this year.  That means we are ready for Christmas Eve.  And now my family has seen the whole process too.  Meaning this can be an ongoing tradition for the Maniacs!  That makes me happy.

And last but least, two days of pre-op diet down and not bad at all so far.  Yay!

The tamales should be cooled enough to be bagged and frozen now.  Peace out!

Jenn

And So It Begins

Today marks the start of my pre-op diet. Many surgeons have patients do a 2 week liquid diet prior to surgery.  My surgeon is not one of them.  I am very thankful.  My pre-op diet is very low carb but real food, except for the last day.  That day is a clear liquid diet to ensure the stomach is empty at surgery. 

The goal of the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver to make the surgery easier on the surgeon.  The liver has to be lifted out of the way to get to the stomach.  Overweight patients tend to have fatty livers.  The pre-op diet is designed to shrink the liver approximately 15%, thus making getting around it easier.

The last week or so, I've know that the pre-op diet was coming followed by surgery.  I have been having my last hurrah with all of my favorite foods that will not be on my plate in the future. I expected to really enjoy these meals, and some of them I really have.  But some of them have not been anywhere as delicious as I was expecting them to be.  I'm not sure if it is my mind make an shift or what.  I'm grateful though.  As it has made this next phase easier to enter. 

What was my last meal?  A PDQ Pimento Crunch sandwich and fries.  It was delicious.  I enjoyed the time with Ruby more than the food.  I love getting one on one time with each of my kids. We had errands to run and it was dinner time so we had a dinner date.  It was lovely.

 There have been some interesting conversations with my girls in the last week, the boy has been completely uninterested, I would even say oblivious.  But that is not surprising at all.  I've been open and honest with them about this procedure and my feelings surrounding it  One of my concerns from the beginning is how my doing this procedure will affect them.  I do not want to cause them diet or body issues.  That has always been a goal of mine and I'm sure I've already failed. 

I've always tried to talk about health, different body styles, embracing the body we have, taking care of the body we have, controlling what is in our control and accepting what is beyond it.  All of these themes continue.  I am honest with them about my faults - I'm an emotional eater, I eat more than I should, and I don't move my body.  I'm honest with them about my reasons for doing this surgery and my fears that I'll manage to screw it up.  We've talked about the fact that there will be some really rough days post surgery where I will probably wish I had never done it.  And we've talked about all my important reasons for doing the surgery.

 I pray I am handling this well with them.  I so want them to love their bodies. I know it is so hard for girls to do.  I want them to see how uniquely, beautifully, and perfectly made they are.  I want them to have confidence in themselves, to love themselves, to give themselves grace. 

If you see me this week and I'm a little less peppy.  Just know I just broke up with my life long love - food.  It's going to be a rocky breakup.  I chose it, but I will still miss the relationship and mourn it.  It is going to take some time to get to my new healthy relationship with myself that will ultimately replace the destructive one I had with my longtime love.  I'm on the right path. 

Jenn

Why Weight Loss Surgery?

Everyone has a different "why." And I'm writing about this not to justify it for anyone else but so I have my "why" written down somewhere.  I honestly don't need anyone reading to understand or to agree with me, but if you want some insight on how I got here feel free to keep reading.

I have never been thin in my life.  EVER.  And honestly, that is not my goal now.  I have always been the big one in the group from elementary school on.  Part of that is definitely genetics.  I look like most of the women on one side of the family.  We are naturally curvy with a larger butts, hips and thighs and no boobs to speak of, even when we are at a healthy weight.  When I am not at a healthy weight I am just, well, big.  

I came to appreciate my curves in my 30s and accept the genetic body I was given.  I got to and maintained a healthy weight and size for me multiple times through that decade.  That was the decade I actually liked my body.  Curves are good.  

The other part of the equation is I am an emotional eater.  Every emotion makes me want food.  Sometimes in my life I have dealt with this better than other times.  But controlling this is what makes or breaks where I am health and weight wise. 

I can lose weight and I can even maintain it for a period of time.  I've done this many times over my adult life.  However, something always comes along and derails me.  Yes, that something is ultimately me and how I deal with stress and crisis and change.  And I know I still have to do a better job of that going forward.  

I know that weight loss surgery is not a cure all.  It is a tool.  I can succeed or I can fail.  I am fully aware.  And it terrifies me that I will fail.  I also know that it is currently the best tool I have to maintain weight loss and not be back where I started a year, two years or five years from now.  

I know many people have many opinions about weight loss surgery.  Not everyone will think it is a great idea for me.  I ask that you support my journey and trust that I have done the research and the work to know what I'm getting into and what all it entails.  This was not a hasty decision.  It might seem that way to many who are just now hearing about it.  Just because you haven't heard about it until now doesn't mean it hasn't been in the works for months and honestly researched for multiple years.  This is the decision I feel is best for me.  That doesn't mean it is the best for everyone or that there aren't other ways to achieve a healthier body.  Trust me, I'm aware.  We all have to choose what is best for us individually.  Please respect my decision.  

I know, I'm already long winded.  But why am I doing this?  Well, I'm obese.  I've always been overweight but for the last 6ish years I've well surpassed overweight and hit full on obese.  And it has affected my health.  I have sleep apnea, high triglycerides, and weird headaches.  I have family history of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure.  I want to be around a long time.  The absolute best thing I can do to decrease my current health issues and prevent the others is lose weight.  Did I mention how much I despise the cpap machine?  I can not wait to kick it permanently to the curb.

I am worth the effort, work, blood, sweat and tears that I am putting into this next chapter of my journey with knowing and loving myself.  Is it going to be hard? Yes.  Am I going to wonder at times if I did the right thing? Yes.  Is it drastic? Maybe, but honestly probably not at this point.  I need to be healthy, for me, for my husband, for my kids.  This is the first step in the journey of getting back to a healthy me.  

Thanks for coming along on this journey,

Jenn

*****I know I am sharing my personal journey.  I ask that you be respectful and encouraging in any comments you may feel led to leave.  I want to be honest and open about this process.  I will remove mean or judgemental comments.  *****

New Chapter

Its been a long time.  I miss blogging.  Its always been my sanity.  I stopped mostly because my kids asked me to.  They did not want their antics available to the public.  I understood that and needed to respect that. 

There were a few downsides to not blogging though.  The biggest is not having the family history documented.  Even the kids regret this part.  The other is not having a place to process and work through my issues.  Writing really is how I best keep my emotional sanity.  And a journal just doesn't cut it for me. 

Life is to a point that I need to be writing again.  I am starting a new chapter and in true Jennifer fashion I feel the need to let it all hang out.  My hope is it will help me personally but it might also be helpful to others on the same journey.  No, I don't think I'm all that. But, I know I am not one to only talk about the positives or to show life only in the social media "best light." I'm hoping by chronicling this chapter honestly it will be useful. 

You are probably wondering what I'm talking about.  I'm having weight loss surgery, specifically gastric sleeve, on December 31.  I'm excited and terrified all at the same time.  It has been a long road to get to this point and I'm sure I'll get into that at some point.  But for now, that's the news - Weight loss surgery on New Year's Eve. 

Blog Bio from May 2016

I'm updating the blog bio for all of us, but after reading through the current one I decided I should post this one so that it did not get permanently lost.  Here it is:

This is what happens when two math geeks marry and have four kids!

Jenn
I am a stay at home mom. I love to quilt, sew, craft, blog and read. Sometimes I love to cook, sometimes I hate it, mostly because no one will help with menu planning but everyone complains about what I serve. I hate doing laundry and dishes. I love a good novel, but am not much of a non-fiction or literature reader . I love animals and rescue. In addition to our four two-legged kids, we also have three four-legged kids, plus an extra long term four-legged guest. Having a foster dog or two is not that unusual for us as I am a sucker for an animal in need. I love my kids and being a mom, except for when I want to run away from it all. In my next life I would like a clean house.

Michael
Our crazy leader. He loves all things Texas A&M (whoop!), college football, good beer, coaching kids sports, and his family. He even loves his wife enough to put up with all her crazy ideas, pets, and foster pets.

Sam-I-Am
Our firstborn Samuel Frank who died at birth in 1999. He was our gorgeous, curly, red-headed baby boy. He may not be with us on earth but he is still a big part of our family. We miss every day and love him very much.

Le President
Our oldest son Rehm. He is my walking encyclopedia. He loves politics, band, scouts, friends, school, learning, debating, leadership, and being right about everything, even when he's not. We affectionately call him Captain Oblivious because if there is something happening that he is not the center of he is completely clueless. He is currently binge watching The West Wing and mad that we didn't clue him in to the show ages ago. He only likes to read non-fiction, which I really don't understand.

Latte
Our oldest daughter. She is the most empathetic girl I know. She loves school, swim, dancing (even though she doesn't take lessons but will be part of the middle school team in the fall), performing, and all things social. She is loud and dramatic, mostly in a good way. She hates riding long distances in the car. She is as stubborn as her mother, especially when dealing with her mother.

Rubylicious
Our feisty second daughter. She is very dramatic. Her world is one of extremes. There is never any doubt about how Ruby feels about something or someone. She loves gymnastics, reading, friends, arts and crafts, making a mess, and her pets. Ruby is currently reading the Beverly Cleary Ramona series and the Junie B. Jones books.

DirtOur cautious third daughter. She is very sensitive and likes to do things in her own way and own time. She loves to play sports, any kind of competition, getting dirty, being tough, reading, playing with the neighbors, being in the middle of the action, choir, and scouts. She dislikes change of any kind for any reason. Eliza Claire is currently reading the Little House on the Prairie series and just finished the Percy Jackson series.

Updated May 2016

Maybe We Are Doing this Parenting Thing Alright

Here is a Facebook post from Rehm, posted today:

"As I have been reflecting on the inauguration and what was said I saw something in the news that made me grateful to be in this country. It was the fact that in The Gambia, on the same day as the inauguration, a coalition of West African nations invaded. Why? Because the incumbent president who lost an election seen as free and open, had refused to step down. It took an invasion for democracy to work there.

Here we saw the outgoing president have tea with the incoming president. We saw the outgoing president ride with the incoming to the inauguration. We saw them shake hands after the oath of office was given.

We should not discount the peaceful transfer of power we have here in America, because there are a lot of people who can only dream about that happening on their nation."

I had no idea he had written it until I happened upon it in my news feed. He has always loved politics, from the time he was tiny. I guess he gets that from his Dad. I definitely was not aware at his age. 

I'm glad to see that regardless of who is in office he sees how amazing our system is. 

Feeling proud, 

Jenn

First Impressions

My kids keep telling me I need to get back to blogging.  So here I am.  I do really miss it.

Charlotte is getting a new Language Arts teacher.  Yesterday the new teacher was in the class observing/getting to know the class.

My beautiful, intelligent daughter made an awesome first impression.  She had to ask to leave class to go to the nurse.  Did she have some illness? No.  She had managed to get part of her headphone stuck in her ear!  Somehow, when she pulled our the headphone, part of it stayed in her ear and she could not get it out with her fingers.  She had to go get the nurse to get it out with tweezers.

Of course, Charlotte did not share this story with us until 10:30 last night.  And she didn't start with "I had to go to the nurse to get something removed from my ear."  No, my girl started with "Oh, I need new headphones, mine are broken."  Only then did the rest of the story emerge.  There is never a dull moment with her.  Ever.

Jenn

A Fun Reward

Ruby has been working very hard in gymnastics.  She recently got her front hip circle on the bar.  I would tell you what that is but I can't.  I don't know how to describe it.  Anyway, it was a big deal and she was very excited and proud, as she should be.  She asked if we could go to Bahama Bucks as a reward.  I was happy to oblige.

We don't got to Bahama Bucks often but we all enjoy it when we do.  If you aren't familiar with it, they sell snow cones.  I like it because their birthday cake snow cone with chocolate drizzle tastes very similar to snow creme.  Given I live somewhere it never snows, it is awesome to get a taste of snow creme occasionally.

It seems to take a while for the snow cones to be made.  I guess because they have to shave enough ice off of a giant block of ice to make it and even with a machine, it just isn't quick.  Bahama Bucks has several games you can play while you wait for your order and while you are eating.  My family loves this.  We always have the best family time.

This trip we got to play Headbands.  Hilarious!

Signs Your Daughter is as Softball Player

I was helping Eliza Claire clean up in her room this weekend.  We were cleaning out her closet, getting rid of all her shoes that were too small.  She came to a pair outgrown cleats.  She asked if she could keep them.  She said they had lots of special memories.  They were the cleats from her last year of 8U All Stars and first season of 10U fall ball.  I agreed that she could keep them.

Eliza Claire started to put them back in her closet.  I asked her to hand them too me.  I thought about putting them on her bookcase but then I had a better idea. I tied the laces together and hung them over the rod where a quilt hangs in her room.  She thought that was an awesome place for them.  I remarked that we really should clean them off.  She was emphatic that we were  not going to do that.  

Shoe Shopping Observations

I took the bigs to get their back to school sneakers this week.  Rehm started band camp this week and Charlotte has dance team camp next week.  I always wait until the last minute to do this shopping to make sure their feet are as big as possible, hoping they will be able to wear them a little bit longer before I have to replace them.

This is why I have not taken the littles yet.  I'll take them in about two weeks.  It is driving them crazy that their siblings have gotten new shoes and they have not.  Tough!  Your feet might grow in that two weeks.  And the way Eliza Claire has been growing lately that is a very real possibility

Anyway, it is hilarious how differently my son and daughter shop for shoes.  Each was given a $50 budget.  Anything over that comes out of their own money.  In the time  it took Charlotte and I to run to the restroom and measure her foot, Rehm had picked out shoes.  Not only did he have shoes, he had found a pair of his favorite brand that were originally $90 on sale for $40.  My guess is this is the only pair he even tried on. He asked if he could get some new socks.  Since he was  under budget I said yes.  He grabbed those and was done.  Bam!

Don't you love the "Are you taking a picture? and Why?" look?  Actually, I think he asked both those questions.  Silly boy.  He should know by now that his mother takes pictures of everything.

Charlotte.  Had to look at every shoe in the store.  Try on a half a dozen pairs.  Realize she needed a whole size bigger.  Have a minor melt down because she did not want shoes that size (a 10).  Her brother thought this was completely ridiculous.  Come to terms with her new shoe size.  Try on several more pairs.  Debate a bit.  Pick a pair.  At least they were in her budget.  But she had to buy her socks she decided she needed with her own money.

Yes, she is enjoying the process way more than her brother.  This was pretty early in the process.

By the time we left Rehm was beyond annoyed.  Part of that was because he had to sit around Academy for an extra 30ish minutes and part was because he was exhausted from day 1 of band camp. I keep reminding him these experiences will make him a good husband one day.  Or they will make him decide to never get married.  Either way.  He will know what it is like to live with a girl and know what he's getting himself into.

And once Charlotte had picked out shoes she was bubbly and super talkative and in the best mood ever!  I thought her brother was going to come unglued before we made it home.

Its never boring around here,
Jenn

Must Have School Supply if your Children Make INBs During the School Year

First of all I know some of you are wondering what in the world a INB is.  It is an Interactive Notebook.  Many middle school and high school classes use these.  Basically the students use a five subject notebook to paste in all of their handouts and notes and anything they need for the class.

The one problem with INBs is they get huge and take a beating.  It is very important to have a really good five subject notebook.  Otherwise, your kid will spend half the year trying to tape theirs back together.

My kids started using the Mead Five Star Advanced line of 5 subject notebooks when my oldest went to middle school for all their INBs.  These notebooks hold up for the entire year without breaking a sweat.  They are the best notebook ever!  I'm serious.  What makes them so much better than the rest of the spiral notebooks?  Two things, vinyl on the front and  back and a cloth cover over they wire spiral.

Now having said all that, they aren't cheap.  They are typically about $8 each.  And...they can be a bit hard to find.  You have to know where to look at each store for them and be a bit persistent until you find them.  In fact, throughout the year when I happen to be in the office supply section of any box store if I see one of these babies I grab it and stash it for the next school year.

You can find the Mead Five Star Advanced Five Subject Notebooks at Target and Walmart, I know.  Sometimes they are in the special school supply section and sometimes they are over with the regular school and office supplies.  Wherever they are they will have maybe a half a dozen of them if you are lucky and they will be hiding near the rest of the other spiral bound notebooks.  Amazon does have them but they are double the price so don't even bother.  Oh, on the Target website it will tell you if your local store has them and what aisle they are on.  According to the website all of the Targets near us currently have them in stock.

I'm telling you, run, don't walk and buy these precious guys now!  You will be sad if you don't.  I currently have six of them in my stash.  I have no idea how many my kids will need this year, but I'm ready.  And yes, I waited to post this until I had all I needed.  I didn't want there to be a rush on them and not be able to find them. I kid, kindof.

Jenn

30 Days of Mayhem: Beach Photo Shoot

Here are some of the best pictures from our quick photo shoot while at the beach.  Mom likes to have a picture of all five of the grandkids to hang in her living room and needed a new one.  For 20 or so minutes of our time and a novice photographer (me), I'd say they turned out pretty good.

My Nephew Zander

 

 

Photo Credit to Charlotte

My Sister Sherri and Zander

Mom, I have not forgotten that I need to send these to you.  I have not been anywhere to get a flash drive.  Will hopefully do that this weekend.

I think there are two more 30 Days of Mayhem posts (I found pictures of things I haven't posted yet) then I really am done.
Jenn

The Tacky Tourist Picture

My dear, wonderful husband may have rolled his eyes when he caught saw me purchasing this family picture at the NC Aquarium.  I knew he would but I wanted it as a memory of our crazy 30 Days of Mayhem.  I paid the extra $5 to have both the digital and printed copies of the photos.  This might just be the tackiest of the bunch but I love it!

I bought these pictures so that I could put one in a frame somewhere in our house as it has all six of us in it.  We don't get a lot of pictures of all six of us.  All four of the kids, sure.  The kids and Michael, sure.  Occasionally me and the kids.  But I'm usually the one behind the camera or the one shying away from having my photo taken.  I want to remember being silly and having fun with my kids.  And I want them to remember me doing those things as well.

When I looked at this picture today, I realized that it told an even bigger travel picture than being part of 30 Days of Mayhem.  Michael is wearing a Camel City Goods t-shirt.  I bought it last November when I was in Winston-Salem (Camel City) before heading off to quilt retreat with my mom.  For those of you who don't know, Winston-Salem is Camel City as it is the home of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company - the maker of Camel Cigarettes.  I grew up on a tobacco farm and both my parents worked and retired from Reynolds - I even worked there a summer. We won't get into a smoking debate, we will just notice that this is nostalgic for me.  Rehm is wearing one of his uniform shirts from his trip to Sea Base in the Bahamas with his Boy Scout troop.  Ruby is sporting the 30 Days of Mayhem trip shirt, she might be my favorite child for that.  Charlotte is wearing her Hamilton t-shirt that she bought in NYC a block from the theater.  It represents the trip but also something she is currently passionate about.  Eliza Claire is wearing a Mickey shirt that I made for our 2015 trip to Disney World.  Another great family trip with lots of family bonding and good memories.  Then there's me.  I just wanted to be comfortable.

So yeah, it is a tacky touristy over priced picture, but when I look at it, I hear a story that weaves through the years and interest of my family.  And well its just funny because its tacky.

Yes, I will eventually quit writing about this crazy trip of ours, but I make no promises on when,
Jenn

30 Days of Mayhem: Retrospective

So we've had a bit of time to get away from each other.  Yes, we have spent a lot of time in our own rooms or at least in different rooms.  I, for one, have spent more time than usual in my room with the door closed.  I'll blame the door being closed on Ramona. She likes to chase the cats.  Its just easier to keep them separated.

My house is a disaster, still.  I think most of the suitcases have been unpacked.  They might have all been unpacked at this point, I honestly don't know.  The cooking box is still sitting on the dining room table as I haven't wanted to tackle it.  I really just don't know where many of those items are going to go and have not wanted to figure it out yet.  And then there is the stack of mail.  I have not been through all of it yet.  Bad, I know.  Good thing all the bills are paid electronically.

Now for the fun stuff.

1. What was your favorite place we visited?

Michael: Niagara Falls, Ellis Island and the Smithsonian American History Museum.  Niagara Falls was just cool with the volume and power.  Ellis Island because of the stories from the immigrants and thinking about grandparents coming through those very buildings.  American History Museum because it was full of cool stuff.

Rehm: NYC and DC.  I just kind of liked seeing places I had heard of before and seeing them in person was kind of cool.  And just getting to see some of the places where some of the most important decisions in the world are made and where some of the best television is made I though was really cool.

Charlotte: NYC.  (She didn't tell me more because she is telling me by text but she liked it best because there is so much Alexander Hamilton history there and because she got to see the theater where it is playing.) 

Ruby: Niagara Falls because it was beautiful

Eliza Claire: Niagara Falls and the Beach.  They felt the calmest to me.

Jenn: Connecticut.  I would love to go back there and spend a couple of weeks.  What a lovely state with beautiful scenery.  And our hosts, were the best!  Thanks Beth, Chuck and Andy. If I went back, I would want to do some day trips or mini trips to Boston, Vermont and Maine.  Niagara Falls, again gorgeous.  I love nature.  It was just mind boggling to watch. Pine Knoll Shores.  Nature again.  My most favorite place on earth.  If I could live anywhere, it would be PKS.

2. What was your least favorite place?

Michael: Times Square because we were tired and it was so crowded.

Rehm: Nashville.  I didn't think it was as interesting as everywhere else. 

Charlotte: The Crater of the Diamonds in Arkansas (Did you read that as Ar- Kansas?)

Ruby: New York City because it was crowded. It was cool.  I might want to go back eventually?

Eliza Claire: The Van.

Jenn: I think Arkansas. Maybe its because we lost the piece to the Instant Pot there.  Or maybe its because it was 10 million degrees when we were mining for diamonds and we didn't find any diamonds.  I don't know.  I would go back in the fall or spring, given the opportunity and try again.  I feel bad saying I didn't like it and I think it really was the weather more than anything.

3. What is something unexpected you liked about the trip?

Michael: How well the Roku worked. How much fun it was to cook in hotel rooms.  (He didn't do any of the actual cooking)

Rehm: I didn't think I'd like Connecticut as much as I did but I liked it a lot, especially all the nuclear submarine stuff.

Charlotte: Family time.  (I honestly don't know if this is Charlotte's answer to this question or the next.  She is answering via text.  I sent her three questions, she sent back two responses.  I'm guessing this is where this response goes.  It was either here or her favorite thing about the trip. I'll insert another answer here for Charlotte as well - Dramamine.  She loved being able to sleep in the van, not getting car sick, and not getting bored.  She probably loved the lack of boredom the most.)

Ruby: The fireworks in DC.  I kind of liked it with the cloud.  It was neat to get a different experience.

Eliza Claire: I didn't realized that we were as busy as we are when we are home - I liked that we got to spend a lot of time together.  

Jenn: I had really low expectations for the trip.  I really thought there would be more fighting and complaining than there was.  I also thought I would go crazy not having any alone time.  I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things went and how much we all enjoyed it.  It was not nearly as stressful as I anticipated. Wow, don't I sound like the most pessimistic person ever? I liked how well everyone adapted and did what was needed to make the trip a success.

4. What was your favorite thing about the trip?

Michael: Getting to see so many cool things all together with all six of us.

Rehm: Seeing all the places I'd like to work or intern later in life, or possibly go to college.

Charlotte: See Charlotte's #3 answer.  She would not go back and answer more.  I said I would make up her answers for the ones she did not answer.  I'm going with her Hamilton shirt.  Seeing the Theater where it is playing.  She would be very annoyed that I do not know the name of the theater.  I could look it up.  But if she would have answered the question this would not be an issue.  Oh well.  And in general all things realating to Alexander Hamilton and the Revolution in any way shape or form were her favorites, made her light up, and start talking 90 miles an hour.
Ruby: Riding the boat into the Falls

Eliza Claire:  I liked playing dominoes in NC at the beach even though it was very loud and crazy because it was fun.

Jenn: Visiting with friends and family. It was so great to get to see friends and family we don't get to see frequently and to meet friends that I have known for 17+ years but never met in person. Relationships are so important to me and this was the highlight of my trip. The other thing that I loved and truly humbled me was the hospitality shown to our family by our friends and family. It is no small task to host a family of six and some many people went out of their way to do just that!  It left me complete speechless, grateful and awed.  The other thing that stands out as a favorite was sitting around the table having dinner and playing dominoes in our apartment on Staten Island.  It is such a treat to spend time all of us in one place that doing so while doing something so typical was just pure joy and a real highlight of the trip.

5. What is something you learned about yourself on the trip?

Michael: How nice it is to be unplugged from all work stuff. 

Rehm: I don't do well being with my family for 30 days straight, in close proximity. (He did great, he just didn't like it)

Charlotte: I need some wind down time

Ruby: I can't eat hotel biscuits and gravy for breakfast or I get car sick.  And I like marshmallows in my yogurt. (Breakfast in Niagara Falls had yogurt with lots of toppings)

Eliza Claire: I learned that I can get homesick.

Jenn: I really can spend this much time in small places with people and not explode.  It was close,but I did it.

6. Would you want to do a trip like this again?

Michael: Hesitant Yes - but it is a really long time to be away from the house.  Might prefer one or two smaller trips over the same time frame.

Rehm: possibly.  In five years? Yeah, sure.

Charlotte: Yes, I would think you were insane if you asked me this for real but eventually I would decided I wanted to go

Ruby: How soon? Not as big.  

Eliza Claire: Yes!

Jenn: Absolutely, with out a doubt, in a heartbeat! But please not this summer.

7. If, so where would you want to go next time?

Michael: I guess the Rocky Mountains or Europe

Rehm: More big cities - LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas

Charlotte: The west half of the country

Ruby: I don't care.  Anywhere.

Eliza Claire: Chicago, Oregon 

Jenn: Great Britain and Europe or Australia - so not happening but a girl can dream.

8. Is there anything else you want to say about the experience?

Michael: I was impressed overall with how well everyone coped with stuff. And all the cool things Jennifer could do to keep it running smooth (I'm just typing - he really did say that).

Rehm: America is pretty big and pretty diverse.

Charlotte: Next time we need to be better prepared for problems with the cooking and bring extra parts for anything that can break or come off of the Instant Pot.  I liked the way this trip was planned.  I liked that we had a plan of places to go but that there was flexibility in the plan as well.  

Ruby: It was really fun.   

Eliza Claire: I was very lucky to get to do this with my family.  

Jenn: I am so very glad we did this.  It was crazy and daunting to think about and plan.  We all went into it with a bit of trepidation, though I do think Michael and I did a good job of selling it to the kids.  My goal for this trip was to create lifelong family memories for us and we definitely did that.  The other goal was to give the kids a taste of many different places and experiences.  There is so much more we could have done in each and every location but that was not the goal.  The goal was to whet their appetite for travel and adventure and doing things that seem a bit crazy and impossible and that sometimes feel a bit scary (but not left on the subway scary).  I'd say we succeed on all counts.  

And that friends concludes 30 Days of Mayhem,
Reveille Rider over and out