POOF

...a dusting off of the ol' blog.

Imma blog a bit.  I'm gonna tell you ten things to catch us up, and then hopefully do some blogging regularly as we move into the summer.  You've missed me haven't you?  Welp, here goes...

10 things you didn't know, you didn't know, during a blogging break.

one.

This girl.  Malia Paul has changed our world. It is breaking my heart how quickly she is moving through the baby stage.  Gosh, doesn't it seem like it goes faster with each kid? YIKES!

two.

We had an awesome (but totally exhausting) trip to Disney. I hope to blog about some more things we learned along the way of traveling to Disney with kids... that'll be a future post!

three. 

After discussion, prayer, more discussion, more prayer...we've decided to stay in our little house in Redford for at least another four years.  I might change my mind tomorrow, but that's the plan for now.  I love every inch of this 1,000 (and some change) square foot house, and honestly, there's just a lot we can do if we stay in this home.  So that's the plan. For today.

four.

Now this is a VERY complimentary picture so don't get too excited... BUT, Aaron and I have both made a pretty big commitment to health in the year 2016.  I plan on losing 60 lbs this year (of the 77 lbs I'd like to lose to get to 'goal' weight, which I am pretty sure is still 'overweight' by modern standards)...I am JUST shy of 25 lbs off.  Excited to hit that milestone. I'll be telling you more about that later this week.

five.

I have SO many things I want to write about the latest controversies in 2016. So.Much. 

But I have been resisting and I think I will continue to?  

 Although occasionally I can't resist on the social media, for the most part, the resistance is real. Honestly, it's kind of depressing, but I think our world has gone SO crazy, it's tough to even have rational conversations about things, you know? It can make you feel like a crazy person,  It can ruin days and moods to look hard at where we are at as a culture.  So, for the most part, I'm focusing on the internal change, and waiting for Jesus to come back.  

six.

My brother, his wife and their seven kids are moving back to the area!  WOOT freaking WOOT. I am so excited to have them back here, to have cousins the same ages as my kids to play with, and to watch them grow up together.  Lil' A was beside himself to have his cousins at his birthday party in April!  It's all so exciting.

seven.

Schooling for next year is going to look like this.  Aaron will be in Kindergarten and Joey in pre-K at St. Michael's Catholic School.  Kindergarten is all day, which I don't love, but I love the school and so does he.  So, gulp, I will have to get used to my baby being somewhere else the majority of the awake hours of the day.  I can hear homeschooling mom's hearts break everywhere. 

eight.

This is a TERRIBLE picture, but I'm not gonna let that stop me :)  Aaron bought me a beautiful claddagh/mother's ring set that is suppose to be a 'family ring'. I love it so much. like, so so so much.  My wedding ring has not fit since all these babies, so I generally just wear my engagement ring.  However, I think I've decided until that wedding ring can fit back on, this ring will stay on my 'ring finger'.  I love to look at it and all that it represents.  

nine.

We finally cut Joey's hair.  Though I miss it, he looks so awesome with it cut.  My sweet boy.  Now we start the process of growing it out again.

ten.

We are joining the fancy gym again, with my brother's family.  And I am SO excited to bring the fancy gym back into my life.  For those of you in the know, the fancy gym is 'lifetime'.  Aaron calls me a professional 'lifetime' quitter...and he's kind of right.  It's far away from our home, and in the winter/pregnancy it's just not worth it to me.  But, it's going to add a lot to our summer lives.  AND, I have big dreams of family dates there with my brother's family.  The possibilities are endless.

Hopefully I didn't bore your socks off. I'll be back with more later this week :)