There's Always Time for Some Fun

                                            

What an amazing day I had yesterday.  Amazing in the sense of how much I got done and how much I did.  And amazing in the sense that I'm still able to walk today, and I'm not totally EXHAUSTED.

My day started with one mission and one mission only:  Clean my bedroom.

I had become a hypocrite to my children, and I had to change that.  I'm constantly on their case about cleaning their rooms, making sure their clothes are kept where they're supposed to be kept, putting their clean laundry away and making sure dirty laundry is in the hamper.

Yet, my room had become a disaster zone.

Clean laundry that hadn't been put away, piles of stuff that needed to be put away (somewhere) that was just piled up in various places around the room, and my room looked like it belonged to a teenager.

Not good.

Plus, I was more than ready to make the closet conversation from winter to spring/summer. 

One thing I lost moving in to our new house was my walk-in closet.  I had one in my old house, so my entire year of clothing was always hung.  Spring and summer were on one side and fall and winter were on another.  That was awesome.  But, I gladly sacrificed a walk-in closet for the amazing house that we now have.  

But, now that means I can only keep half a year's worth of clothes in my closet at one time.  The other half of the year are kept in storage tubs under my bed.  Being that it's the time of year to start making that transition, I thought it would also be a good time to go through all of the tubs and clear out stuff that I no longer wanted or that no longer fit me.  Sure, I want to lose weight, but holding on to tons of clothes that are about 6 sizes too small for me just isn't reasonable or realistic.  Maybe I'll lose that much weight, eventually, but I think it's better to focus on a size or two difference and let someone else enjoy the clothes that are not seeing the light of day.

By the time I was finished, I had two bags full of stuff.  All those clothes will be donated to a worthy cause, and someone else can get some enjoyment out of them.  

My closet is now full of bright colors and I'm now ready for spring.  My closet is also all cleaned out to where I can see what clothes I have, and shoes, and I'm now strictly using my closet for those reasons and those reasons only (versus the make-shift storage area it was before).

Everything has been unpacked and put away, or it's been put in the "donate" bags.  It was time.  Time to make my bedroom look like a bedroom, and not something off of an episode of Hoarders.

Anywho, in between all the cleaning, I decided to take the kids to the park.  The weather was beautiful, and I hated that I was indoors cleaning.  So, we jumped in the car and drove up the road to our town's park.  Jelly went off to play on the playground, Butter decided he wanted to go for a jog around the track, and Peanut and I decided to play some volleyball.

I love that our little town park has so much to offer.  Basketball courts, volleyball nets, running/walking track, a baseball field, and three separate playgrounds for the kids to play on.  Not to mention the HUGE open field in the middle to use for soccer or a family picnic.

We spent some time playing separately, and then spent some time all playing together.  We had a blast, and decided right there and then that we'd make it there more often for a little time out of the house.

A little mother/daughter volleyball

Me being silly with Butter

The stupid "fierce" pose that all of the kids are using nowadays

Mom and daughter selfie

Mom and son selfie

Mom and baby girl selfie

All in all, we had a blast.  And I'm so proud of myself for remembering to stop to take some pictures.  I want to document all these little fun things we do together.  It's important.

When we got home, I finished up my bedroom and then went out to sit on the patio while Hubby was grilling dinner.  He made us some FANTASTIC barbecue chicken and corn on the cob. 

After dinner, I pulled out my grading and got to work on that.  I spent several hours relaxing and grading.. at the same time. Yeah, I can multi-task like that.  I even managed to work a little on my lesson plans for next week.

Around 1AM, I decided it was time for me to head to bed.  I knew I had a fun-filled day in store for us today, so I needed my rest.  My back and legs were sore from all of the activity, and it felt good knowing that with all the fun, I'd also managed to get in some exercise.

Today, I'm taking the kids to the zoo.  Butter asked to go for his birthday, but we wanted to wait a couple of weeks until the weather warmed up a little more.  The weather is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL today, with highs in the 70s and sun shine all day long.

I've already decided that this weekend is a reflection on how I want our summer to be.  Day trips, park trips, barbecues, and FUN.  

I spend so much time on the weekends worrying about grading and lesson plans and other work that I need to do, that I often forget about what the weekends are SUPPOSED to be about.  Spending time with my family.  OK, so not ALL of my work might get done, but as important as my work is to me.. it's always FAMILY FIRST.  I am going to keep reminding myself of that.  NOTHING will ever come before my kids.  There might be some weekends that we can't go out and do something, but I have to remember that I can always take a break for an hour or two to go to the park.

And there should ALWAYS be something going on at least every couple of weekends.  That's why I've already decided to buy year passes to the zoo, season passes to Silver Dollar City, and put some cash away for other fun activities such as bowling, skating, hiking, museum trips, etc.  

But, right now, I better get to getting.  My kids will be mad if we're not on the road in the next hour.  They are ready for a day at the zoo!!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!!