Our Summer has Closed

We had an amazing vacation in Idaho/Canada starting two weeks before school started.
But before we left for the Great Northwest, we had our last fun days with our neighbors.  They moved!  NOOO!  (But, "Yay!", cause they had amazing opportunities else where.)

I had gotten this bumper wheel on clearance before Christmas, so it seemed appropriate to open it in August.  (It was in one of those forgotten boxes in the corner of the garage.)

It was a fun night.  We started out with just us fam, then Bruce and Colton joined in.  Their parents were busy packing, so it was just fine to look after those two wild and awesome boys ourselves.

The summer seemed to close that night.
The next day we drove to Atlanta to fly to Boise, Idaho… and we knew once we came back home we only had two days before school started for all.

So, hooray for our last care-free summer night!
(The bumper wheel subsequently poped a few days after we got home from the West.  Will have to find a new one!  The boys LOVE this thing, Matt included. )

I've Gained 20 Lbs, and it's OK

If you've been one to follow this blog, or you've seen me periodically in the last 10 months, or I've spoken to you about it, you have probably deduced that I have gained weight.   And that logical train of thought is correct.  I have gained weight.  A whole whopping 20 pounds. 

What I weigh now is what I weigh when I'm full term in my pregnancies with any of my boys.  

What I weigh now is the heaviest I've ever weighed. 

What I weigh now is still a healthy BMI for my age and height. 

And I'm okay.  

I wasn't into daily exercise routines till after Eli was born--summer 2009.  As one may imagine, having a little "heart" baby was really stressful, and I found a great release in running a few miles everyday.  It was also that summer when I began to watch what I ate more carefully.   I had had my gallbladder removed a month after Isaac was born (October 2006), and it slowly occurred to me that I felt better with less fat is in my diet.  No gallbladder + heavy/fatty food = awful feeling Shannon when she ate those beautiful greasy things. 

The summer of 2010, after Titus was born, saw a Shannon obsessed with eating well and running more than 2 miles.  I incorperated muscle building work-outs, I started P90x in Jan of '11, and once I stopped breast-feeding Titus I began to cut more and more calories out of my diet.  

The year of 2011 was one major stress bomb.  I just can't even begin to put into words how uptight, tired, worried, quick to tears I was.   A few things contributed to this, including:

- having 3 kids, within 3 and a half years--the lack of sleep for consecutive years was extremely hard to bare 

- one child needed his 3rd and (hopefully) final open surgery in Aug 2011

- Matt was pretty much MIA from Aug of 2010 to May of 2012; for his 18 credit a semester MBA, ROTC trainings, and National Guard obligations ate up all his time

- and hardly a penny to our name didn't help either 

I found control and relief is running, working out, and "keeping a thumb" on my eating.  I got REALLY skinny.  

The stress of life abated a little after Matt graduated and commissioned in the Army in May of 2012, but do to military trainings he was not with us from July thru November.  We saw him every 2 weeks, which was awesome, but I was still (in all intents and purposes) a single parent with 3 small boys to look after.   Stress induced "Skinny Shannon" continued.

Matt deployed in March of 2013 to Afghanistan.  And you guessed it: stress induced "Skinny Shannon" continued.  

But then me and the boys moved to a new home (in the same town) Sept '13, two months before Matt came home.  I had lost another 5 pounds during the move, and I was so exhausted from the move and all that happened that year, that I hit a wall and just started to sit. 

And sit.  

And sit.  Oh, and eat fries.  

I slept a lot in October 2013, and me and the boys ate a lot of fast food.  Which is totally disgusting, I know, but in a lot of ways it was a therapy.  Feed the feelings of exhaustedness.  

During that 6 weeks of sitting and eating and waiting for Matt to come home, I gained 20 pounds.  I've been actively trying to lose the weight since Jan of this year, but nothing has really budged.  BUT, it's okay. 

Really, it is.  

I look back at those photos of me being super skinny, and I have no warm feelings.  If I have to be super stressed to be that skinny, then it's not worth it.  NOT WORTH IT.  

A few things have been annoying since gaining weight, obviously.   My clothes are tight, a lot of things don't fit, and I hate how "large" I look in photos.  

But my mental state is finally level, which is amazing.  Truly, it is.  I think the last time I've felt this well was summer of 2008.  

I'm not saying this extra 20 pounds is good for me, and I have a plan to help lose it, but a happy mind is so much better than a crazy mind.  

I like exercise, and I love to eat well--it's not toucher.  But I will NOT obsess about 1.5 hour work-outs.

 I will NOT obsess over each calorie.  That may mean I only lose 10 to 15, and that will be fine.  Being a happy and whole person means so much more than being a size 2.  

I want my boys to have good memories of me, and not think of me as a "functioning anorexic" (which I'm afraid I was at one point).  

So this is me.  In all my curvy glory!  

(You know what?  I'm was still a size D even when I was lighter.  I come from a line of big chested women, and that's where I'll stay…  So my life long dream of having Kate Hudson's "boy body" is not going to be realized.)

4th of July / Baseball Camp / Mom Vacation

As promised, I'm delivering the much anticipated blog about our first two weeks of July (cue: *eye roll*)

**The Fourth of July**

My middle sister Ashley flew into B'ham on July 1st, and me and the boys headed to Bama to visit (and meet Piper!) on the 2nd.   Matt stayed home, cause you know, work.  "Boo!" to work! 

Our time spent in Bama was a lot of fun.  Lots of cousin time for the boys, and lots of sister time for me and Ashley.  She's been in Idaho for like 7 years, and she and her cute family are moving to Auburn AL for her husband's masters/professional program.  In short: there is going to be LOTS more sister time in the future.  We now only live 5 hours apart!  

Mom asked me and Ashley to finish up the July 4th menu.  I was mainly conceded with desserts, and Ashley just wanted starches.  

--So Ashley and I made only TWO desserts (when I wanted to make 4, haha): a homemade coconut cream pie and a homemade brownie Oreo truffle bar.  

--Ashley really needed some potato salad and delicious rolls in her life.  I really can't blame her for the rolls… I still question the relevance of potato salad ;) 

My mom had taken all the grandboys, all 4 of them, to Krispy Kream earlier in the day and then all of them to the pool.  (Oh man, these grandboys LOVE their Grammie!)  So me and Ash had the kitchen to ourselves.  

That evening as the sun was setting and the neighbors were starting to shoot off fireworks, all the boys played in the neighborhood.  Up and down the streets, running back and forth, pretending they were in a war zone.  The fireworks added lots of effects to their pretend world. 

We had hoped to see the large firework show from the hill my parents live on, but it was a no go.  But we enjoyed all the local neighbor fireworks.  Eli really loved them.  

The next day me and Isaac loaded up the vehicle, and headed back to coastal GA… 

… That's right, it was just me and Isaac.  We purposely left Eli and Titus behind!  WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD.  

Baseball Camp and "Mom Vacation"

The "summer of sports camps" continued into the week following the 4th.   I had signed Isaac up for a baseball camp, and this camp was 6 hours long.  

And my parents had kept the little boys. 

So that means… YUP!  I had HOURS and HOURS and HOURS to my self for one whole week.  Crazy, right?!  I thought so, too.  But after the first, oh, few seconds to myself on that first day I started to really enjoy the time.  

You know, I've never really had a "relaxing" vacation.  I tend to fill my time with as much as possible… and really, I've never had a true break from motherhood.  If I've ever left my kids I would worry and worry.  My children have been young, and hard, and require a lot of work.  But now they are all potty trained, talk well, and are pretty reasonable.  In short:  WE HAVE ARRIVED.  

(I used to think our stay at Ronald McDonald House was like a vacation.  One should NEVER think of stays at Ronald McDonald House as a "break", especially when one is there for her child's open heart surgeries.  Not. Right.  (The years between 2010 and 2013 were just a "bit" stressful, haha.)) 

So me and Isaac would get up and ready and out the door by 8:45, and I'd drop him off to his baseball camp, and then I'd go and run or walk or do whatever. 

Poor Isaac, though.  It was SO hot.  Just hours in the hot and humid sun.  A few days had overcast clouds, but mostly just sun.  I'd pick him up and he'd be a sweaty little boy.  We tried to have him wear lots of white and light colors… I think it sorta work.  He survived, at least.   And I think had a lot of fun. 

On the last day of camp it was really thunderstormy.  Lots of ominous looking clouds formed around lunch time, and when I arrived at the camp at 2:30 for the award ceremony it started to pour buckets and buckets of water.  Plus lots of lightening.  

We all crowded into the covered batting cages, and the award ceremony commenced.  However, none of the parents heard anything since the tin-roof was really loud under all the rain.  

When Isaac we released from the huddle, he came to me with a 3rd place ribbon.  He placed in batting for his age group.  Very cool!  

We then had to RUN through lots and lots of rain, with thunder strikes hitting all around.  We basically took a shower during the two minute run to the car, haha.  

The Pick-up

On Saturday, me, Matt, and Isaac met my mom in the middle of nowhere Georgia and picked up the two little boys.  I think they were happy to see us?  I'm not sure… Again, Grammie is pretty cool!  

We basically spent that whole day driving, and taking pictures of funny signs.  Love me some really conservative signs! 

But on Sunday we were really able to reconnect together.  Lots of family time, and exploring our new Minecraft game.  It's a pretty awesome game, guys.  

And that's us!  That's what we've been up to!  (PS, the boys desperately need hair cuts.) 

Basketball Camp and Soccer Camp

This was my first summer with boys at our home… since… like… 2010?  Yes, 2010.  The year Titus was born.
Every summer since then has been spent at either my parents' home or Matt's parents' home.  See? ::

2011--my parents, Bama.  Because we had like no monies, and Matt was doing military training in Washington State for the summer for his ROTC evaluation.
2012--my parents, Bama.  Because we were in the middle of a move between Idaho and Georgia, and Matt was in Kentucky for the summer to instruct young ROTC cadets in a condensed Boot Camp style.
2013--Matt's parents, Idaho.  Because we me and the boys wanted to see family, and Matt was in Afghanistan for the better part of the year.

This summer Matt was home, so it was a pretty easy decision to stay.  Matt time = awesome life.

But I wasn't really sure how to handle all the free time.  I do best with unstructured-ness, but I knew we'd all quickly get fairly bored.  So I decided to enroll the boys (or mainly Isaac) in sports camps.  I mean, it makes sense, right?  Get them good and tired, so maybe we could have a relaxing afternoon?  Yeeeahhhhh…. after about 10 minutes of being home all the boys would be back to bouncing off all the walls.  CRAZY HOUSE OF BOYS.  We'd then spend our afternoons at the pool (that is, if the thunderstorms didn't come in and ruin it all).


The first camp was BASKETBALL.  Isaac attended it from 9 to 12 each day during that week.  He was told to wear the "basketball camp shirt" everyday.  And he did, but I didn't wash it.  Instead it got really yummy smelling towards the end of the week, haha
Isaac was awarded the "most improved" certificate for his age.  He always gets that one :)  He had a really good time, though.  One of his baseball teammates did the camp with him.  Life is better with friends.

Me and the two littles spent our days doing little errands, and trying to play at the parks early before the heat and humidity set in.  We always like to say "hi" to the local baby alligators and turtles.

 
The following week was the BRITISH SOCCER CAMP for all the boys.
I pretty much didn't understand that the British Soccer Camp was taught by BRITISH people.  Cool, right?  (Haha, how could I NOT put that together? I guess I thought it was a camp teaching British soccer techniques, so something like that… I dunno.)
But then I got this email asking for volunteers to house these traveling British soccer coaches.  I ignored it.
But then I got a phone call asking if I'd be willing to host one coach.  I tried to say "no," saying that I didn't have the space… but, "put me down 'just in case' there wasn't enough housing found."
And then two days later I got the email thanking us for hosting a coach.  Well… adventurous?

We picked up the coach on Sunday night.  There were 3 young men, around the age 20.  Each had an awesome northern English accent, and each had a great English sense of humor.  Fears abated, and we ended up having a fabulous time.  During the week he and the 2 other coaches would come in and out of the house as they needed, and all were super nice.  (The boys slept in their playroom, and "Soccer Matt" took their room.)
Each had a paralyzing fear, which made living in Southeast US really hard:
-- One had a fear tornadoes
-- another a fear of alligators
-- and the other a fear of snacks

For Isaac the camp was from 9 to 12 each day,  and the two littles went to camp from 10:15 to noon.  Each boy learned A LOT, and started to really enjoy soccer.   Plus, they loved the gear that came with soccer.  A new ball, a new bag, new shoes, and new jerseys.  Sa-weet!

(In the middle of week me and the boys took a day off from camp and went to Isle of Palms near Charleston SC for a beach day with Dana and Christi and their families.  LOTS of fun!  And we all got super burnt, since our sunscreen didn't work.  Lame-o.)

On the last day of soccer camp they all celebrated the World Cup.  Each "little kicker" was supposed to bring a home made flag of any country of his/her choice… EXCEPT for Scotland, said the coach.  Apparently there is no long between Englishmen and their northern friends the Scots.
When me and the boys were going through all the national flags, Eli immediately picked out a blue flag with a white X… SCOTLAND!  Hahaha!  He then picked out Jamaica's flag.  He must love that "X" look.
Titus picked out Brazil and Puerto Rico,
and Isaac was on the USA team (so he had to make that), and then made Germany's flag.
The awesome flags were made from dish cloths, sharpies, and glitter glue.  Matt and I helped the littles, of course, but Isaac was able to do it all on his own.

The next day when Eli arrived with Scotland proudly waving, all 3 coaches just shook their heads and laughed.

There was an award ceremony, each kid getting to run down an aisle and high-fiving all the other participants.  Isaac was on the USA team thru the week and they won the "World Cup" of the camp.  Apparently they were undefeated--Isaac only scoring one of the goals, haha.

The next day the British coach left for other adventures.

Up next:
Fourth of July and Baseball Camp…