Family

Short Fuses and Winning–Ying and Yang

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With caution I’m super excited about our progress after Chemo #2 on 10/15.  We set goals and made sure to take advantage of energetic times and get Brad the rest he needed when his energy needed to be refueled.  Going into the weekend without any experience after Chemo 1 and knowing what to expect and avoid after Chemo 2 is night and day difference.  For now we are just focused on nutrition and rest and enjoying a week with no appointments.

I’ve been reflecting on everyone’s needs and how they collide at times.  I think everyone sees when I’m at my breaking point.  My typical solutions is to pretty much run for the door to go run an errand or anything outside of my house to get some non-cancer related fuel in my body and mind.  I hope soon I’ll incorporate weight training and stretching because I feel like my muscles have shortened from the stress pulling on them from head to toe.  Ugh I need to release that stuff asap and get rid of these aches and pains!

So with the kids…I’ve been trying to watch for trouble signs and they pop up in different forms and different times.  I remember seeing moods and behavior in other families dealing with cancer and now see similar behavior around our house.  I remind myself that they are suffering from the weight of all this along with normal trying to grow up kinds of things.  I just pray they aren’t impeded by this stress or thrown off their trajectory because they were all on a really good path prior to 9/15/18.  My main objective is to keep them as close to that same path as possible.  I try to remind myself, Brad and each of the kids that it is ok to feel “off” or have to have some mental health breaks however they need to get it but then also get back to that place of focus.  I remember being a teenager and how hard and stressful it was.  The thought of putting all of this on top seems suffocating.  I had my own suffocating circumstances and came out strong than I ever would have so I know they can too.  Bad moods aren’t such a bad thing and we need to give each other time and safe places to release that negativity so it doesn’t stay bottled up.

Going into this week I’m hoping for less short fuse situations, more Zen time and using this seemingly light week to get some rest.  We also have to do list items to get checked off before the whirlwind of family visits starting with Whitney’s Alice In Wonderland ballet and then the holidays.  Brad spent a lot of Friday picking out a new vacuum so that should help out with the to do list especially since everyone has actually been excited about using it!  GENIUS!!  New Vacuum = People Using it Besides Me!  Write that one down in your book of tricks!

We had a beautiful Fall weekend and took advantage by taking a few pictures when we went to visit Carter for his 19th birthday which is coming up on Thursday!  I wanted to take a bunch of photos all over Lawrence among the beautiful trees….but energy, moods and lack of showering for some made it not the ideal time for a photoshoot.  Whitney and I literally jumped out of the van on the way to the grocery store on Sunday and took some on a side road that I’m pretty sure isn’t really supposed to be driven on but we made it work.  So, check that off the list…fall pics with pretty trees CHECK!

Sigma Nu Dads’ Weekend
Carter my big boy
My Fall Colors Model

 

 

A truly fresh start for 2016

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Last year was insane and I found myself overloaded. I tend to take it too far then hit the wall and feel like I’m not doing anything right. I had a successful year with all of my ventures but was left stressed out. So I decided to streamline.

Although I’ll always love crafty projects I found that the sport and dance schedules were too demanding to do it for a commitment of selling product. It was hard to let go of my booth at Bella Patina in the West Bottoms but it was such a liberating exercise to purge items I had been holding on to hoping they’d find their way into someone’s home. I had a “Fire Sale” the last month and went out with a bang earning money to Christmas shop!  I’ll miss treasure hunting but will be able to do it for fun and not guess if anyone else will like the finds.

Bella table

I’m still full steam ahead with photography and hoping to book some Spring shoots and Seniors in the coming weeks. I had the honor of working with some great families this last Fall and some amazing Seniors as well.  I was also honored to take team pictures for Russell’s baseball team and Saint Teresa’s STARS dance team!  Lord knows I have lots of practice when it comes to sports and dance so that has been fun to mix it into the family and kid photo assignments.

January 2016 was blah… not to be negative out of the gate but just being real. I think I was figuring out how to transition from an exhausting Nutcracker and Christmas into a productive schedule. I was tired and felt like doing absolutely nothing on the weekends. At the end of the month I was ready to dust off the funk and start fresh.

The Hubs and I decided to start a very difficult diet/cleanse. I’m already feeling a huge difference. We are breaking bad habits and I hope will have a new addiction to feeling awesome. I can already tell this will help me be more committed to working out and staying motivated. I’ve been wanting to make big changes for awhile and just didn’t have the spark, I guess it took a month of “meditation” to get me in the mindset to go for it. Sometimes it is easy to talk about making healthy changes…then you grab a cocktail and make nachos…and that all goes out the window. Thankfully my husband is on board and not making nachos and other yummy food while I’m trying hard to keep my will power.

Cheers to a healthy and awesome 2016!

Woods Fam Xmas 2015

 

 

Super Spring, Let’s Go Summer!

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I’m in awe of how Mother Nature has cooperated this year with all of our outdoor activities.  On the days we could use a break it rains and on the days we really need to play the skies clear.  It has been a nice Spring with the rain we need just when we need it.  My backyard is an example of this rain as we haven’t been home to trim bushes and clean up.  We’ll get to that soon.

We added a Family Reunion to our Spring schedule over Memorial weekend.  It was a lot of fun and boy does the Woods/Wright/Stears families make cute kids!  There were piles of them.  The boys played baseball THE ENTIRE TIME and a few brotherly scuffles had to be broken up.  They are competitive!  The sweet Brown girl cousins fell in love with Whitney and Caroline cried so hard when they were leaving she talked GG and Mimi into bringing them to recital at the end of June.  It will be great to have them at our house as they’ve never been.

Blake and Jack ate 1000 popsicles together, you’d think it was a race!

Black and Jack

Black and Jack

Whitney was the pied piper of the little ones and had fun playing with them.  The little girls were dressed up like southern belles with big bows and cute outfits.  I told her I wished she would have let me dress her like that and she said, “Why didn’t you?”  I told her she was as stubborn about her appearance then as she is now and wouldn’t let me do a thing about it!  I find myself telling her that often when she asks why I let her run around with ratty hair and no shirt when she was 5.

Photobooth fun!

Photobooth fun!

Russell was the big hitter and broke the pinata!  He was so proud and put his baseball skills to work!  We found out recently that he made the A Team U9 for his competitive soccer team!  I’m so proud of him!

His pinata trophy!

His pinata trophy!

So June is all about Baseball and our team is doing well.  They had a slump but seem to be coming out of it.  Carter had an awesome hit, I was so relieved.  Slumps of any kind stress kids and parents out because we all just want a hit and a win!

My BIG #45 Pitching

My BIG #45 Pitching

We play the State Tournament this weekend and kick it off on my birthday, Friday the 13th which is always a lucky day!  Hoping for big things!  I’m not going to focus on the fact that this could be our last weekend for this team to play together, I’m hoping to play some next Summer if we can!  LOVE LOVE LOVE these boys and families!  They are priceless and if I write about it anymore I’m going to be in a puddle of tears.  GO SSCowboys!!!  BIG STU Baseball!