What's Up Wednesday

Hello, Wednesday!  It's nice to see ya again!

I'm linking up with Sheaffer and Shay for What's Up Wednesday! 

WHAT WE'RE EATING

Well, we're about to eat all the delicious Fourth of July food!

We're hosting a large group of friends this weekend and we'll be cooking up all sorts of summer goodness, one dish in particular will be my Mom's/Aunt's Rigatoni Bacon and Tomato Pasta Salad!  I blogged about this ages ago and it still holds up!

Bacon and Tomato Pasta Salad Recipe

WHAT I'M REMINISCING ABOUT 

My Dad.

My Dad is currently living with Vascular Dementia and oh how I miss what he used to be capable of doing.  My heart aches for my Mom, too.  I'll take any prayers that you may have and any advice if you've ever had a loved one endure this horrific disease.

Gosh I love him.

WHAT I'M LOVING

Slow summer days.

I'm loving not having to be multiple places in one day.  I'm loving Jane not being rushed out the door.  I'm loving our slow mornings when I'm able to drink my coffee snuggled up with my babies.  These mornings and days have been so nice.

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO

Decluttering all the things!

I've really been going for it.  I posted a little glimpse into our crawl space and part of the "why" of this massive decluttering journey here.  I've since gone through board games, more toys, the car, our kitchen cabinets and my closet.  It seems endless, but I can feel my brain clearing itself of all the clutter and it feels absolutely magical.

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT

We're about to host a bunch of friends for the weekend and while we're super nervous that all goes well, we're also super excited!

The girls and I did manage to work on some Fourth of July decor.  They did great and had so much fun making their own little Uncle Sam!

I shared their fun project on my IG stories - my handle over there is overatmaries. ;)

WHAT I'M WATCHING/READING

The Hobbit.

I'm currently reading The Hobbit to the kids (Henry and Eliza).  I'm hoping to finish it up by mid-July, but these summer nights have been slowing us down just a tad.  It's a great book and the kids are definitely interested!

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO

All the same podcasts as last month.

I've been listening to a lot of podcasts.

My current favorites:

Thrive

Blogging Unscripted

Clutterbug Podcast

Crush the Rush

Unruffled

Wannabe Minimalist

WHAT I'M WEARING

Amazon fashion for the win!

Jon and I recently went to a Dave Matthews concert down in Indiana and I wasn't sure what to wear since we'd be in almost 90 degree weather and I knew I wanted to be able to have room for a food baby ;) LOL!

I'm so used to wearing leggings and biker shorts, but it felt so nice to wear actual shorts for a change.  I tried on a bodysuit, but I found this shirt from Amazon and you guys, it was PERFECT!

SHIRT // SHORTS

WHAT I'M DOING THIS WEEKEND

See above - PARTY TIME! ;)

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH

I'm looking forward to weeks full of a clean and decluttered home without much of an agenda.  

We plan to go see my Dad for his birthday and then we may head to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for a fun little getaway.

FAVORITE AMAZON FINDS

I recently just ordered these items for myself for the weekend...

SARONG

AMERICAN FLAG TANK

Okay....and not to be outdone, I purchased this Betsy Ross dress for myself.  It's a child XL, but I'm hoping to squeeze into it on Saturday!  LOL!  If this kind of thing doesn't describe me perfectly...  *SHRUGS SHOULDERS* - I'm always up for all-things-over the top!  Hahaha!  Wish me luck and fingers crossed it kind of fits!

BETSY ROSS COSTUME

There you have it - my What's Up Wednesday!

Thank you forever and always for visiting my little corner of the internet!

Marie :)

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Hello Monday

Hello Monday!  It's nice to see you!

Last week was full of fun and lots of happy days!

MONDAY

On Monday we hosted some friends for a little playdate.  I informed Jane multiple times that she wouldn't be swimming with the big kids as it would be too difficult for her to be out there and the adults would be sitting and watching up by the house.  Everyone did great and the kids had a lot of fun!

 

The kids sang songs and it was just the cutest!

At one point, my neighbor, Amy, needed to change over her laundry so she took Jane with her to help!  LOL!  So funny!

TUESDAY

On Tuesday we ran errands and well...we just needed to get out of the house...lots of summer bickering was occurring.  So I went to try on clothes for mine and Jon's upcoming concert date.  I bought this bodysuit, but ended up not wearing it.  The kids were so funny with their opinions of what I was trying on and they were complete goofballs while in the dressing room area!  

We picked up some dollar store Fourth of July decorations and I worked on a tiny little project for my fireplace mantel.

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday we visited with some good friends and the kids played in their pool and new and amazing playroom that they just had finished adding onto their house!  Jane loved their dog, Izzy, and we had an amazing time chatting and catching up!

THURSDAY

On Thursday we headed to Jane's Nature Class and we learned about birds and went bird watching with "binoculars."  Henry and Eliza once again loved spending time on the trails and building nests together.

FRIDAY

On Friday Jon and I headed down to Noblesville, Indiana to go see Dave Matthews!  It was a long drive and I kept saying that I felt like I forgot something...due to me not having a million and one things with us like we usually do for the kiddos.  We also took my car so that we could go to Target and pick up a few items.  My car just felt so empty inside!

We didn't research enough about where to eat, so our dinner wasn't the best, but the beers were delicious and I really enjoyed spending time with this smoke show of a husband.  ;) 

After dinner, we found an Uber and arrived nice and early at the Ruoff Music Center.  I love, love this picture of us!

We were so happy to have arrived nice and early so that we could just sit, talk, people watch, drink another beer and wait for the concert to begin!

Also, for it being nearly ninety degrees it wasn't too bad outside.  

We had the most amazing time!  We did leave the concert just a tad early due to it being so dang far from our hotel and knowing we'd need an Uber.  I'm sure we would've waited forever and a day had we not left when we did.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

We woke up bright and early on Saturday and were home by 10:30 to see the kiddos.  I was feeling...well, I was feeling pretty tired.  I managed to get in a run to keep up my energy for the rest of the day and both Jon and I drank lots of water throughout the day.

I managed to accomplish more decluttering on both Saturday and Sunday...

...and on Sunday I got in another run in the park.

It was a great week and a busy one, too.  This week we're preparing for about 30 guests, we're standing at 28 people at the moment, to be arriving this weekend for a big Fourth of July gathering and I have so much to do, but we're getting excited for the fun to begin!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Monday, friends!

Marie :)

I'm linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday.

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!

Who's ready for the weekend?!

I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites!

ONE

Nose Hair Trimmers <----I'm cracking up as I type this.

Let's get this party started with a nose hair trimmer!  LOL!  This may be the very reason I may never make it as a professional blogger - blogging about nose trimmers.  Bahaha!  But you guys, this nose hair trimmer is so good.  Yeeeeeeears ago one of my besties basically told me that I needed to do something about my nose hairs - she said it so eloquently and yes, we're still besties - and ever since that day I try to give these nostrils of mine a taming here and there.

ALSO, THIS SHIRT...

We're heading the Dave Matthews tonight and I needed a shirt so I quickly ordered this one from Amazon last weekend.  For some reason I thought this shirt had flowers on it so I was surprised to see it was a leopard print pattern.  I don't wear a lot of animal print, but this shirt is so cozy and the fit will accommodate all of my food consumption ;), so I'd figured I'd roll with it!  I tried it on after not being sure of the print and to my surprise I absolutely looooved it!

TWO

These pajamas.

I purchased these pajamas at my "mini Target" in town.  We live far away from most large stores, but we do have a store that receives lots and lots of items from Target and other well known retailers, so, I refer to it as "mini Target."  Ha!

I bought these pajamas at said store and I'm in love, the pants even have pockets and the material is extremely soft!  However, I have no idea where they came from.  I've tried to find this brand, Flora, but yet to find these exact pjs, so if anyone out there knows where to find these, I'd love, love, loooove to know where they're from and order more!

THREE

WEEK 2 OF NATURE CLASSES WITH JANE

Jane had her second week of nature classes and we're loving it!  This week we looked for birds and all the kids using their cardboard binoculars was the absolute cutest thing ever!  I'm very grateful for this program.  I'll recap our fun on Monday!

FOUR

SCREENSHOT FUNNIES

Our bedtime has been a little later as of late...

Gotta love a good laundry couch!  LOL!

My favorite "salad" is the Snickers and apple salad! Hahaha!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I love Friday Favorites so much!  Happy weekend, friends!

Marie :)

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I'm Decluttering Everything.

Welp, that blog title ought to explain this post.  I'm on a major decluttering mission and it feels so good.  I kind of consider this part of my decluttering process Phase One.  I know that this is just the beginning of a process that will most likely take quite some time and I'm hoping that during this process I'll want to go through and get rid of even more of the chaos and junk that is taking up space in our home and in my head.

So far I've decluttered the kids' closets, the kitchen, my closet, our office area, books, books and more books and now I've headed into our crawl space, AKA our worst space.  Our crawl space houses our seasonal decor, memory boxes, kids clothing and so many other random items.  The problem with the area is that I can't even stand up in it and the floor is dirt (covered in plastic).  It's dark and it's uneven, which makes for decluttering and organizing exceptionally difficult.  Oh how I wish we could dig that sucker out!  BUT - I'm hoping that by decluttering I won't need to get in there as often and when I do, I'll have less to navigate around.

I haven't been taking many pictures, mainly because I've been too embarrassed to do so, but I've started to take some pics and video here and there as a reminder to myself and to possibly...possibly post an Instagram reel, that is, IF I'm brave enough.

I'm realizing that all I do is clean and all I do is pick up the same items over and over again.  Sure, my house looks clean when people come over, but I feel like a fraud with how much mess there is behind closed doors...and when guests leave, out comes the mess.  It's an awful cycle and I'm just over it.  Our kiddos are only getting older and I don't want all of our memories of weekends and summers being spent on my organizing items I don't even care for or endless decluttering.

I've become ruthless.

I'm also realizing that I reminisce a ton about the kids being really little all while I'm watching them grow right in front of me.  These moments are fleeting.  I don't need to save every single little piece of clothing to remind me of our fun or every shoe or every drawing or every tiny little piece of paper.

I have to let it go.

A deeper part of my decluttering journey would be the impact of my Mom.  My Mom is a very organized woman.  She's frugal, never misses a payment, she's crafty, a hoot to be around and she has the most loving heart.  She's currently my Dad's primary caregiver, as he's been diagnosed with Vascular Dementia.  She has items that she would love to go through and spaces she'd love to clear out, after all, my parents have lived in their home for almost 50 years, but being my Dad's caregiver only allows for my Mom to care for him, partake in basic cleaning, work on her house full of memories a little at a time and then she doesn't have much time for herself - to reminisce, to enjoy the process of letting go or to be in the moment with the items she cares the most about.  She just doesn't have the time to do so...you could say that this has scared me.  Her situation has pushed me to realize what's important.  Without sounding too cheesy - it's not the things, it's the moments.

To be fully in the moment. 

To be able to let people into my home without cleaning for three days ahead of time, to be able to open a closet door without being embarrassed, to be able to sit with the kids and know that the work is done for the day and I can honestly just sit and be with them - physically and mentally.  To be able to enjoy baking or cooking for family and friends without frantically shoving items into a closet so nobody sees, to be able to easily clean the house and for everything to have a place...to enjoy the items that I want to keep and to hold them close to my heart.  

Now, before you see the pictures below, just know that it's been difficult for me to even get in the crawlspace - due to being pregnant (I couldn't fit inside - hello baby belly), having a newborn, virtual learning and chasing a toddler...so this is yeeeeears in the making, not including all the items that were stored in this space prior to 2018.  Yikes.

My crawlspace decluttering so far this week...

My baby clothes from the 1980s...

Piles of Henry's shoes...

Stuffed animals and baby toys...

AAAAAAAaaaaaaand now I have three empty baskets!!!

This took me maybe 45 minutes and I already feel so much better and so much less stuff!

What do you guys think?!  Should I continue to share this decluttering journey of mine?  This space is going to take me months and months...  Oy.

Thanks so much for stopping by for this very real and raw post!

Thanks, again,

Marie :)