Monday, July 13, 2015

A Random Collection of Goods

I have all kinds of ideas and posts and stories swirling around in my head today, so I figured I'd try to combine some of them into one random post.

Namely, everyone at work is all a-buzz because several of us who weren't able to do so in the past will now be able to work from home!  Can I get an AMEN?!?!?!  The first wave of people (25 of them) will begin working from home this Thursday and I need them to be completely successful so that the second wave of people (19 people total) can go home!  I'm in the second wave, and we're hoping to be home by mid-August!  Can I tell you how perfect that would be??? Yes, I know that working from home would come with its distractions and disadvantages.  I know I'd probably get tired of looking at the same old wall day after day.  I might get bored without hearing others chit-chat around me all.day.long.  Sure, I could experience any of those feelings.  HOWEVER, I know the good will outweigh the bad.  For our family dynamic, the opportunity for me to work at home will be golden and much needed. Stay in prayer that things go smoothly with the first wave so that I can ride the second wave straight to the house!

Aaron and I are working hard at curbing our Starbucks addiction.  He had the fabulous idea to buy coffee creamer (on sale!) at Publix this weekend so we could make our own flavored-iced-coffees at home instead of shelling out mucho buckaroos for Starbucks.  It's working out great!  They are so delicious!  We use Folger's Classic Roast and brew a cup in the coffee machine.  We pour that over ice into a Tervis Tumbler.  We splash in some almond milk (we don't keep dairy milk anymore, for Noah's sake) and we finish it off with some flavored coffee creamer.  This week we tried International Delight Chocolate Caramel creamer.  Very tasty. 

My mom and dad treated us to a night of free babysitting last night and let us go out on a date!  Can I just brag on them a minute?  Both sets of grandparents that live near our boys are always so willing to help out and give us reprieve when we need it.  Mom sent a text on Saturday night saying that she and dad wanted to watch the boys for us.  We were so thrilled!  We've been aching to go on a date for a little while now, but we wanted to get Michael fully settled with his insulin pump before we did so.  Last night was the perfect opportunity. 

Mom and Dad arrived right when the boys were done eating supper.  Aaron and I scooted out the door to hit up our favorite sushi restaurant. We beat the dinner crowds and didn't have a wait at all. It had been SUCH a long time since we've eaten sushi that we knew we wouldn't be able to choose just a couple rolls.  Sooooo, we split 5 sushi rolls.  :)  We chose our favorites and made a challenge to eat every single bite.  We did it and we were so full, but so happy.  Hmmm mmm mmm.  Our sushi quota has been met for a while. :) 

We then headed to Kohl's because, let's face it, they are ALWAYS having a sale.  Now that Aaron works in an office, he has to wear fancy clothes.  And to be honest, I was getting tired of seeing the same 5 shirts come through our laundry machines.  So we added 4 new shirts to his rotation and we also picked up some fun and funky dress socks (think blue & teal argyle, and of course, a Ninja Turtle sock set which he wore today!) :)  I sure love him. 
We also snagged a pair of black dress shoes for Michael to wear in Andrew's wedding this fall.  Michael will be the ring bearer.  :)  I've been piecing together an outfit for him to coordinate with the groomsmen tuxes because I refuse to rent a tux for him from Men's Wearhouse for the same price as Aaron's Best Man tux rental.  Hello!  Michael will be using a fraction of the fabric that Aaron's tux will be made from.  And they cost the same price?!? Ridiculous.  So I've been finding pieces here and there to add to our repertoire until we get a full outfit. :)  The shoes we found at Kohl's were cuter and the same price as a pair I had in my amazon cart.  So we grabbed the pair at Kohl's.  One item checked off the ring-bearer outfit list. 
We also found a cute set of tennis shoes on sale for Noah.  I've recently decided to sell all of their "used" shoes that I've acquired in past consignment sales.  I had my reservations about used shoes, but couldn't beat the price, so I ignored my inner feelings.  However, with Michael's type one diabetes, the last thing I need is for him to get a foot fungus from a used shoe.  And sure, Noah would probably be okay, but I can't make one child wear used shoes while the other child only gets new shoes.  So I decided that I am going to sell all of their used shoes at the upcoming consignment sales, and I will replace their shoes as I find pairs on sale in stores.
We saved more than we spent at Kohl's (which is always a plus in my book!) and we even got some Kohl's cash to use this upcoming weekend.  I might like something too, you know! :)  Just kidding.  It's way more fun to shop for others!

After Kohl's we headed to Target.  We needed to stock up on prize-bag items for Michael's CGM insertion change.  We also grabbed a couple of movies to watch together on future evenings at home after our work-outs.  We picked up a couple of sturdy plastic bowls on sale for 79 cents for the boys to use with their oatmeal, etc.  We got a swimmie-floatie for Michael to use this fall when we will be staying at a hotel with an indoor pool for two nights (more on that in a second).  They did not have a size small enough for Noah, so we'll be on the lookout throughout the summer.  We got an item off of Andrew's wedding registry and headed to the check-out. 

After the dinner, the trip to Kohl's and the trip to Target, we spend a good deal of money, but it's all right.  We don't get to do date nights very much, and we checked off a number of things on our "Should Buy Eventually" list (like wedding shoes for Michael, a swim floatie, prize bag items, etc).
A date with my hubby is always worth it.  Now we feel refreshed and rejuvenated and better able to tackle the whirlwinds that being parents of two little ones can bring-- especially with Type One Diabetes thrown in the mix!

So.... back to talking about the wedding this fall.  My brother-in-law (Aaron's older brother) is getting married to a sweet lady this September.  They will have an outdoor wedding at a rural location in South Georgia.  Michael will be the ring-bearer and Aaron will be the Best Man.  Family is coming in from all Washington state and it will be a super fun time!  Since we have to be at the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, and since the wedding is not until the late afternoon on that Saturday, we will be spending that Friday night and Saturday night in a hotel!  This will be our first attempt at taking the boys to a hotel, but I am super pumped!  When we were researching rooms in the hotel that Andrew has reserved rooms for the family, we were trying to find a room with a fridge.  We know that we'll be bringing soy milk or almond milk for Noah (read why here), and we know that we'll be bringing more diabetes supplies than we need, and some of the supplies will need refrigeration.  I didn't see that the standard double queen rooms came with fridges, so we tried to book a queen suite (still has two beds, but also had a living area and a fridge).  However, there were no queen suites available, so they told us we could get a King Executive Suite.  We chose to do so simply for the fact that it came with a fridge.  The day after the room was booked, I checked the hotel site again and this time I saw that the standard rooms came with fridges too!  I asked Aaron if we should cancel the suite and just get a regular room, and he said that we should keep the suite.  We've never stayed in a hotel suite before, and it might be nice to have that extra space since it'll be our first time as a family of four to stay in a hotel. The King Executive Suite has a living area, a main bed area and then a separate bedroom off of that with another king bed.  It will be nice to let the boys share the spare room, especially since they go to bed before we do!  I'm really excited about our upcoming hotel stay!  The hotel has an indoor pool and the boys will get to swim in a pool for the first time!  (Yes, Michael will be 3 and Noah will be nearing 2, but what can I say?  We don't have friends with pools around here).
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to all of the family time we will get, and the excitement that comes from a wedding!

This post is pretty long already, so I'll stop here for now.

I have a bunch more random ideas and stories in my head and pictures to go along with that.  Check back soon for a picture post!

Until Next Time,
Much love,
Reba





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