Making the Most of Milwaukee

Day 30. I am grateful for snuggle time with all of my children. For the most part all of the kids go down for bed pretty easily. Until recently that is. In the last couple months, Piper has made it a habit to snuggle with Justin before bed. I'm okay with that, because it gives me time to get the other kids ready for bed. Plus, I know Justin really likes that time with her. Well, Justin has been sick, and last night he wasn't up for having Piper downstairs with him, so I attempted to put her down sans snuggling. She was not having it! So, after letting her cry for a while, I finally decided to take a break from my cleaning, and I cuddled with her until she fell asleep. It didn't take long at all, and it was nice to just sit and enjoy holding her. I enjoy cuddling with the other kids when I can too! Deuce is almost 6, and he still asks me to snuggle with him in bed pretty often. I know that it won't be long before he won't want to do that at all. But un...

Sometimes my kids drive me bonkers. I could describe all of the ways, but I'm not going to, because today they made me really happy and proud and grateful. Today I did my big grocery shopping trip at Aldi, which I usually do every other Friday. I brought in the first bags, and then went out to get another couple bags. When I came back in, all four of my kiddos had descended on the kitchen and were a flurry of movement... putting the groceries away! And it didn't stop after the first trip; they helped me with everything, asking me where certain items go when they didn't know. Even Piper was helping, sort of. She kept trying to put the canned goods into the fridge, but I still appreciate her effort! It really blessed me that they all did that without me asking. I love my kiddos! Day 29. I'm grateful for my helpful kids!

I keep telling myself to blog everyday, and then I don't follow through. But at least I'm a lot more consistent than I used to be. I've really enjoyed thinking about and keeping track of what makes me grateful each day. It's made me appreciate my life a little more. And it will be nice to go back and remind myself about the little moments that made a big difference. Anyway, today is a quadruple post. Monday. Day 25. Justin and I started a journey toward better health, and I am grateful to have him as my weight losing/ health gaining partner. I am using the MyFitnessPal app to track my food intake, as well logging workouts to estimate how many calories I burn. I'm also using my Jawbone UP2 app, which is synced to my fitness band, to track my daily steps. It calculates my resting and active calories burned too. Justin is totally on board with reducing his calories and eating healthier, but he doesn't seem as interested in logging all of his ...

Day 25. I am thankful to have Netflix that I can watch on my phone anywhere. Since I am still feeling pretty crummy, it was another low-key day, so I finished binge-watching a show called Broadchurch. I really enjoyed it. The show is set near England's Dorset Coast. The scenery is really beautiful, but the story is about a boy that was murdered, and the investigation. The entire first season is about finding the killer, as well as getting to know the families affected. The second season is mostly about the trial of the murderer, and another unsolved crime from the main investigator's past. For the most part, I didn't think the show was gratuitous at all. There is some cursing, but it doesn't feel out of place. The violence is minimal, and mostly flashbacks. There are a few, what I would consider, unnecessary sensual scenes, but they didn't ruin the overall show for me. I definitely recommend it. Perhaps it's silly to be thankful for a TV show, but some day t...

I had meant to publish Friday and Saturday's blog posts, but apparently, I got distracted and forgot to hit the button. Yesterday, I didn't blog like I should've. I have a bad cold, and I spent most of the day lying around. It was a very uneventful day. But, I did think of something that I was grateful for. Day 24. I took a short walk to the corner store and really enjoyed the fresh air. I know it's a little lame, but in the moment, I was very appreciative.

It's becoming a habit to write about the previous day's grateful experience instead of doing it the day of. I'm going to try really hard to stay on schedule. This will be another double post. Yesterday, I had a really good workout, mostly just walking/running in the house for an hour. I took nearly 6,000 steps, and by the time I went to bed, I was over 13,000 steps for the day. One great benefit of exercising is the increase in energy I get. Last night, I tidied up the whole house, with a little help from the kids. It felt so good to know that I was going to wake up to a house that did not look disheveled at all. Day 22. I am thankful for increased energy and a tidy home. Day 23. I am grateful for donuts. Thanks Grebe's for making them extra yummy this morning. And thanks Justin for going to get them so I didn't have to leave the house. I'm also thankful that Justin took the kids to swim lessons today so I could stay home and clean the house. I was abl...

The third Thursday of every month is supposed to be my MOBs meeting. MOBS stands for "Mothers of Blessings." We get together to enjoy a potluck meal and great conversation, without our children. This year we are going through a book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss called "Lies Women Believe, and the Truth That Sets Them Free." I look forward to it every month. Unfortunately, I forgot about the meeting when I gave Justin the go-ahead to spend the evening with one of his friends. Sure, I could've have requested that he cancel his plans, and he probably would have, but it was my fault for the mixup. I tried to get a sitter, but I was unsuccessful. So instead I decided to make the most of the evening with the kids. I took them all out to eat downtown at AJ Bombers. We got there around 5:20 or so, and avoided the dinner rush, but still had to park around the block and pay $8. Oh well! I picked AJ Bombers, because it was vot...

Day 20. I'm grateful for the little outing that Josie and I took, just the two of us, to the library. After school, I told Josie that we were going to go on a Mommy-Daughter outing, and she requested to go to the library. She did specify that she wanted to go to the one with the play lighthouse, which is the Central Library downtown. While it's a great library, I wasn't up for messing with downtown parking and all that. Well, we waited for Justin to get home, and then I took her to the Forest Home Library, which is like five minutes from our house. The first thing we did was sign up Josie for her very first library card. Then we went looking for books. She has a limit of five books for the first month, and then I'm pretty sure the limit is lifted. She didn't take long finding her books: two chapter and three picture books. I also picked out a book: A kids' book in Spanish! They had lots to choose from, which isn't a surprise considering our neighborhoo...

I have limited battery life on my laptop, so this will be a quick one. Day 19. I am thankful for new recipes. I've decided to make Tuesdays the day that I experiment in the kitchen with new recipes. I really like making lots of new things, so keeping that to just Tuesdays might be a bit of a challenge. But I think I can do it. Today I made chicken parmesan and homemade gnocchi. The chicken was breaded and fried and then baked. It was so juicy and delicious. I thought about making on without the breading and frying part, but I'm sure it wouldn't have tasted as good. The gnocchi was also pretty good. Considering I've never made it, and it's been ages since I've had it, it's hard to say if I got them just right. The kids and Justin liked dinner, and that's always a big plus. I also made brownies for dessert, but they didn't turn out well. They were dry and cakey, not at all the texture that a brownie should be. But, a little ice cream and some hom...

One of the Christmas gifts that Josie received from Grandpa Jones and Grandma Vicki was a kids' cookbook. I got the idea to ask for a cookbook for her based on how often she looks through mine. The one Josie got is called "The Disney Princess Cookbook," and it looks like it has really good recipes! The cookbook is separated into categories: breakfast, lunch, dinners, snacks, sides, drinks and sweets. Each recipe has a little Disney spin on it, or at the very least, they add one of the princesses' names to the title of the recipe. At the end, there are several sample menus, which combine multiple recipes for a complete meal. This morning, Josie and I made Abu's Monkey Bread. It was actually my first time making monkey bread, and it went really well for both of us! It's a little difficult for me to let my kids do things that I know I can do better and faster. But I'm really trying to learn to take a step back and let them be slow, and even mess up now and ...

Day 16. I'm thankful for some pretty cool in-laws. Yesterday afternoon around 2, Justin's dad, Alan, his stepmom, Vicki, his two half sisters, Lindsay and Alana, and their fiancées, Jon and Ryan, came over to hang out and give the kids their belated Christmas presents. It was a really nice time. The kids got a bunch of great gifts! All of the kids love Grandpa Jones and Grandma Vicki and their aunts and soon to be uncles. Deuce especially looks forward to seeing Jon and Ryan. It'll be great for him to have uncles that live a lot closer than my brother or sisters' husbands. A fun part of the afternoon was when we played Pie Face. When I say "we," I of course don't include myself. I'm not opposed to playing, just not when I'm ready to go out to eat and am wearing makeup. Anyway, Josie and Margo played, as did Justin, Alan, Ryan and Jon. Deuce didn't want to at all. And I actually had Vicki buy him the game thinking he'd get a kick out of ...

Day 15. I am grateful that I was able to participate in a neighborhood photo project. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I received an email from the community outreach manager of the Layton Boulevard West Neighborhood group, looking for volunteers (I wasn't the only one who got the email) to take pictures of Layton Boulevard. I thought it would be a fun way to get involved in the neighborhood, so I volunteered. On a couple different days in December, I drove and walked up and down Layton Boulevard, taking pictures. Because it was so cold, there wasn't a whole lot going on outside, but I got a lot of decent shots of the houses, as well as a few pictures of people. Now, I am no Mo Schultz or Julie Collins or any other awesome photographer, but it was a fun activity. I was also asked to do a little write up, describing my experience living in the LBWN. Some of the photos I took and the write up were published today on the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service website. Basically, tot...

Day 14 (Sorry it's a day late). I am thankful for breakfast for dinner and a husband who is easy to feed. Dinners on the Thursday before payday are often interesting. Either we're scraping together leftovers or having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or like last night, breakfast! I'm actually a big fan of breakfast for dinner, for a variety of reasons. Often it's cheaper, quicker and easier than regular dinner food. Plus, I am usually able to make stuff with things I always have. Last night's dinner was a bit of a hodge podge though. We had oatmeal coffeecake, which I've made before. It uses cooked oatmeal, and I happened to have some left over from breakfast the day before, so that was convenient. I also made turkey sausage patties. They were tasty, and the kids gobbled them up. And, since I generally like to serve a vegetable with dinner, I chopped up and roasted a sweet potato and half a butternut squash. I found a maple cinnamon recipe, so they were a...

Day 13. I am grateful for my daughter, Margo. If I had to describe Margo in one word it would be: LOUD. She was a loud baby, she was a loud toddler, and now she's a loud little girl. She's loud when she's happy, and she's even louder when she's throwing a fit. And let me tell you, little Miss Margo throws a lot of fits. Margo is also smart. She learned how to speak quite a bit earlier than Josie and Deuce, and she has seemed "with it" from an early age. She's so pretty with her cute face and her long flowing hair and even her missing teeth. Sometimes Margo is a nutcase. It really amazes me what she insists on fighting for. You know, totally reasonable things like, not getting to put the cinnamon on her own toast. She fights me a lot, but I've learned to find humor in the craziness.  And of course, I discipline as necessary. She's sweet. She's quick to give hugs and kisses, and she's helpful. When she knows that I'm cleanin...

Today was the first full day with my new fitness tracker. I had one a couple years ago, but it stopped working. I really liked it, because it helped me stay aware of how active I was or how idle. I am hoping to have the same experience with this one. It's the same brand: Jawbone. This time I got the UP2. It looks kind of like a bracelet. This is the one I got. Day12. I am thankful for my fitness tracker to help me stay active and healthy. Let's start with when my steps started being counted today. That was at 3:32am, when I found out that my favorite 3 year old wet the bed. So there was lots of activity changing her clothes and getting her and her sister settled elsewhere. Then I stumbled back to bed. By the way, last night I set my UP2 alarm, which is supposed to gently wake you up by vibrating when your sleep cycle is at a good time for waking up, and is close to when you want to wake up. Not sure if that made sense. It's worked for me in the past, but this morning...

We woke up to negative zero temperatures this Monday morning. And as much as I would've preferred to stay in bed, I got all the kids bundled up and to school with time to spare (which often doesn't happen). I had a productive morning, in terms of getting the kitchen clean and the house tidy. Then when the mail was delivered, I got my new fitness tracker. So I got that all set up, and even did some stairs and walking in the house. I also made some chocolate chip cookies for dinner tonight. The whole Jones family was invited over to have dinner with our great friends, the Bessas. We had a  good time of chatting while we waited for dinner, and then a really good time of eating. Kim made chicken parmigiana  with pasta, broccoli and garlic bread. It was a delicious meal! The obvious plus was that I didn't have to cook or do the dishes (that's what the Bessa kids are for!). After dinner we visited some more in the living room. I could have  (and would've loved) to sit a...

Yesterday was a pretty typical Sunday for the Joneses: The morning was rushed and the rest of the day was relaxing. Throughout the day I noticed that different little things made me think about being grateful. I think that's a good sign, because not only am I thinking about what makes me grateful in retrospect, I'm also feeling grateful in those moments. Day 10. Today I am grateful for a day full of little moments that add up to a really blessed day. This morning I made breakfast burritos for my family. I sautéed a yellow pepper and half an onion and put them in the scrambled eggs. I was happy that Josie gobbled up her breakfast burrito, not seeming to be aware of the peppers (which she says she doesn't like) in her eggs. The other kids liked their breakfast too. Grateful moment number one. Justin and I usually have good teamwork on Sunday mornings to get the kids ready for church. We made it just on time, which is better than late! Grateful moment number two. Tod...

Day 9. I am grateful for Deuce's tender heart. Today was a relatively laidback day until naptime. This morning we had breakfast (waffles), played a little, Justin and I chatted, the kids cleaned up their rooms, ate lunch, and then naptime... After I got the little ones down for their naps, I took Josie and Deuce with me to run some errands. I needed to make a few returns at and near the mall. Oh, and we stopped first at Culver's for a little snack of cheese curds. I noticed that Deuce's coat was getting too small for him, and while at JCPenney returning a couple Christmas gifts, I saw that they had winter coats on clearance. I ended up getting one for under $22, which was totally covered by the returns I made. Woohoo! Next we went to Kohl's, and I returned Piper's robe (which had a hole in it) and Deuce's (which was too small). Then we started looking for new robes. I found a Star Wars robe for Deuce that fit him better, but unfortunately, they didn't ha...

Today, when I should've been cleaning up the house for guests (more on that later), I was taking down Christmas decorations and organizing. It didn't take too long, which was nice, but the house definitely looks emptier. When Deuce got home and saw that the tree was down, he was so sad. He told me that he wanted to keep it up for his birthday (in February). Sorry Bud. Speaking of Deuce, we had some interesting conversations today. This morning he noticed a couple of mouse traps in the pantry, and wondered why we wanted to trap mice. I believe that honesty is always the best policy, so I told him that we don't want to trap the mice; we want to kill them. I knew that he was feeling bad for the mice, so I told him that mice don't have feelings. But then on the way to school, I felt the need to explain myself a little more. I don't want my kid thinking he can just kill animals willy nilly. So I explained that sometimes it's okay to kill animals, and sometimes it i...

Day 7. Today I'm thankful for last minute plans. This morning, I got a text from my friend, Sam, letting me know that today is a free day at the Milwaukee Public Museum, and that it might be a good day for an outing. I thought about it, and decided that I could take Margo and Piper and spend a couple hours at the museum with Sam and her kids. I also thought it would be fun to take Josie and Deuce later after school. Plus, Justin agreed to come home early from work, so I didn't have to worry about having to wake up the girls from their naps too early. I'd originally though about getting to the museum at 9:30, but then realized I couldn't leave the house in its current state. So, I cleaned up the kitchen, tidied up the living room, folded some laundry... Once I got the first floor presentable, I packed lunch, and got the girls ready to leave. We got to the MPM around 10:30, and met Sam, her kids, her friend, Rebecca, and her kids in the f...

Tonight, I'm posting this blog from my phone while tucked into bed. It's currently 9:08, and I've actually been in bed for like half an hour. Sometimes it's really nice to go to bed early. And that's what I'm thankful for right now: the ability to not care what the house looks like just so I can crawl into bed at a reasonable hour. (Yawn) Good night!

Day 5. Last year, I threw away my snow boots, because they were falling apart. I should have bought a new pair at the end of last winter, but procrastinated as usual. And obviously, Wisconsin is not the best place to be without snow boots in the winter! So, after the snowfall, I finally went on Amazon the other day, and ordered a pair. Shortly after I finished the last blog, the doorbell rang. My new snow boots had been delivered! Of course, I tried them on immediately. What do you think? Today I am very grateful for new, cute snow boots that I was able to buy from the comfort of my home with an Amazon gift card. Now when the kids ask me to play outside in the snow, I can!

I went to bed last night at like 9:15, and obviously didn't blog before crashing, so this morning I will get yesterday's gratefulness post, and do today's later. Day 4. In years past, I wasn't a huge fan of Aldi. The fact that I didn't couldn't do all of my shopping in one store annoyed me. Plus, I'm picky about certain ingredients, and I had a hard time finding foods that didn't have ingredients like HFCS or hydrogenated oils, for examples. However, this year I decided to give Aldi another chance, and I am so glad that I did! They have definitely made some changes, offering a lot more quality foods that are organic or more natural. I can buy almost all of the groceries I need there, for way less than at any other store! The one thing that I've not been able to find there is thick cut pork chops. Otherwise, I really can't think of anything that we eat on a regular basis that I can't buy there. Also, Aldi is so much smaller, so it take...

For a minute, I thought it would be fun to type this blog post in Spanish, but then I remembered that I'm not fluent, and it would take me all night to figure out all the correct words. So English it is. Day 3. I am thankful for my rekindled desire to learn Spanish. I studied Spanish for many years - from fourth grade to sophomore year in college. I even considered minoring in it in college. It's too bad that years and years of classroom Spanish never resulted in true fluency. I could read it pretty well, and if I had found myself in a Spanish country, I could probably survive (well, that's debatable, depending on what country, but you get the point) with the little I could communicate. Unfortunately, after graduating college, eventually getting married, having children, and just going about life, I've had little reason to use any of my previously held Spanish speaking skills. And like so many other things, if you don't use it, you lose it. My sister, Meg...

Day 2. Today I am thankful for low-key family days like the one we had today! I didn't feel like cooking or making any dishes, so I sent Justin to Grebe's to get some yummy donuts, and we ate them on paper plates. Not a bad way to start the day, as far as I'm concerned. By the way, I'm getting back on the healthy eating track on Monday, in case anyone was wondering. lol After breakfast, Deuce and I played a couple games: Mancala and a partial game of Othello. (He also played checkers with Justin.) My parents got Mancala for Josie for Christmas, but Deuce has taken more of a liking to it. Another game we really like to play together is called Scrambled States of America. It's fun, and helps kids learn geography.  Overall, he likes games better than his older sister. I've always liked games too, so it's nice to have someone to play them with! Later, while Margo and Piper took their naps I played Duolingo, a foreign language learning app with Deuce and Jo...

It's a new day and a new year. I am determined to be better at blogging (whether or not anyone else reads what I write). 2016 is going to be the year of gratitude... The title of my blog, "Making the Most of Everyday" is all about appreciating all that each day has to offer, and that's just what I want to do. I can't promise I'll remember to post every single day, but I really want to try to be mindful and grateful for those moments that are especially joyful and/or meaningful. Day 1. I am so grateful for the annual "Minute to Win It" New Year's Eve party that we host. This was the second of many NYE shindigs that will be held at our house. Last year, there were five couples total, which seemed like a great number. This year, we had four returning couples, including us (one of the couples, our dear friends, Jon and Mo, were unable to come to the party again due to being booked to photograph a wedding), and we added four more couples to the at...