A Day in the Life

Years ago when I first started blogging, I didn't do it to make extra money, to start a business, and I really didn't even care to draw in readers.

I did it because there are things, days, and events that I don't ever, EVER want to forget.

I did it because every few years my husband prints my blog into a book and this is a keepsake for our family.

Sadly, at times, I'll admit, I've been busy.

Like, too busy to blog, busy.

Often, blogging was put on the backburner and I'm a bit disappointed because I know there are things I missed documenting and that saddens me.

I thought I'd share a "Day in the Life" over on Instagram last week mainly so I can remember these, oh-so-busy-tiring-never-ending-exhausting-days.

And to give you a peek into our life.


I am in a season of my life right now where I feel  exhausted  almost all of the time.

Just plain ragged.


I have four kids; ages: 11, 10, 9 and 3 years old. I’m not complaining about that. Well, maybe I am a little bit. ;)


Don't get me wrong-  I know that there are people who would give anything for a house full of laughter and chaos, so believe me when I say I do not take this crazy life for granted one bit.

But, I do find myself often wishing time would speed up, like, maybe that basketball was over already or questioning why we even signed up to do UIL. I find myself secretly wishing for things to be less chaotic and more quiet.

But, then there are times when we are running from basketball to softball and I'm making a five minute stop at home to stir the dinner in the crockpot and my three year old tells me as I'm getting out of the car, "mom, you need me to help you?" or "mom, watch out for that brachiosaurus!!!"  And I laugh and then he asks "please kiss my face real quick."

Or when my eleven year old asks to borrow a shirt or if we can have a 'girls day' just her and I....

Or when my ten year old tells me how beautiful I look just as I rush them out of the door like cattle in the morning....

Or when my nine year old begs to sit by me at a restaurant .... and literally tears up if she doesn't get to.



It's times like these that I can hear that country song by Trace Adkins.  It reminds me that I will totally- without-a- doubt miss this season one day.

“You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this”


I know one day I will miss this crazy life of never catching up because one day everything will catch up.


And I tell myself all the time that one day you’re going to miss it.

So as I tackle the mounds and mounds of never-ending laundry, sign the dreaded Wednesday folders in the morning (in the car line), cut the crust off the sandwiches, find the lost sippy cup, fix the ponytails, I want to take a minute to take in every single minute if this crazy little thing they call motherhood.



I want to remember every second of every day.

Here's a look at a typical day for us:

4:00 - I wake up.

4:30- Gym for about 30-40 minutes.

5:00- Shower

5:20- Start a load of laundry and start the dishwasher.

5:30- Lay out kids clothes and uniforms for the day and Josh's too.

5:45- Quiet time. I read my devotional and check emails.

6:15- Wake the kids- except for Ryker. My parents live across the street and my dad comes to our house to watch Ryker everyday so the kid is super lucky and gets to sleep in. Josh also sleeps-in until about 7:40. He has to be to work at 8... haha. Luckily, we live 7 miles from his work.

6:15-7:15- I switch the laundry and the kids get dressed, brush their teeth, grab breakfast (cereal, yogurt, waffles, toast, or frozen sausage biscuits).  I take out something for dinner, make a quick grocery list of anything I may need to pick up on my lunch, and the kids relax while I get dressed.

7:15- We are out the door for school. School is a quick 5 minute drive.

7:35-7:45- I pull into work. I do my makeup in the car. I've done this for years. There is something so relaxing about doing my makeup in the car. No one is yelling for mom, no interruptions, just me and the radio, haha.

7:55- Head in to work.

11:00-12:00- Lunch break! My break usually consists of me running around like crazy. I usually head home and throw something in the crockpot or grab Raigen's cleats (or Rilyns choir folder) because she has lessons or practice at 5.

4:45- Kids get off the bus and have a snack at the shop.

5:00- Josh is off and I arrive at the shop to get some of the kids. Josh will take Raigen to lessons or practice and Rilyn, CJ and I will head home to pickup Ryker. (Josh and I work about a mile apart on the same street.)

5:15- Get Ryker, check crockpot, and CJ changes into his practice clothes. His basketball practice is from 7:30-8:30.  We have a couple of minutes to spare if the kids want to eat dinner early, if its ready, they will grab a plate since we won't be home till late.

5:50- Head to Raigen's basketball practice. Josh and Raigen head straight from basketball to softball as soon as practice is over and if I need to I wait with one or two girls until their ride shows up. 

6:35- Then we head to softball. I collect dues for the team and chat a bit until we leave for CJs practice.

7:15- Head to CJ's basketball practice.

8:30- Basketball practice is over and we head home.

8:40-Finally home for the night! Everyone grabs dinner, quick shower, and off to bed by 9:30ish.

10:00- I will hang up and sort laundry while I binge something on Netflix.  Josh will put up dinner and give Ryker a bath and I usually load the dishwasher. Ryker is my little night owl and I don't mind a bit. He gets to sleep in pretty late in the morning so he is always up late at night and I love the extra time we get to spend together. I couldn't imagine him going to bed at 8 and all the time we would miss out together.

Sometime around 11:00- I'm off to bed.

And that's what a typical day looks like.

So, let me say it again...  you're gonna miss this.

This crazy season?

Yep!

It’s the season where you get to see Christmas, Halloween and the Fourth of July through your kids eyes, and isn't it so much more fun and magical than it would be just through your own eyes?

 It’s the season where you get to watch your parents be grandparents…and look how awesome they are.

It’s the season of life filled with field trips, sports, class parties, costumes, swim lessons, sports,  bubble baths, dance parties, sports,  loose teeth, and family game nights.

Oh, and sports. :)

And although all these things are super fun.

Man, they are hard, too.


Sadly, it goes by in a blink of an eye. So cherish it all, friends.



Every.  Single.  Bit.



Follow me on Instagram! 

@allaboutthelongs

I’ll be posting “a Day in the Life” pictures all day tomorrow!🙂

BASKETBALL {2019 OUR 1ST YEAR!}

 

We are SO excited to kick off our first season of basketball! Both CJ and Raigen are  loving basketball!

 

 

Raigen was the only one on her team to score (twice!) and CJ did great too!

 

 

I can see a lot more basketball playing in our future!

 

The Longs go ICE SKATING!

I'm a bit embarrassed that this was our first time taking the kids ice skating.

 

 

BUT, in my defense this is the first time they have been truly interested and it was the perfect time!

 

 

Both Raigen and CJ got roller blades for Christmas, so when they found out we were headed ice skating they were stoked! Ready to put all that roller-blading practicing to the test! HA!

 

 

They both did so good, too! The other four of us... not so good. 

 

 



We ran into some of our favorite people there, too!

 

 

 

Check out Ryker- one EXCITED kid right here-----

 

 

 

 

His excitement was short lived though, ice skating was too much for him. He was so mad that he couldn't skate. He watched with me from the sidelines.... with the skates on.

BECAUSE HE WAS NOT TAKING THEM OFF! HAHA!

 

 

 

 

 

My Josh is a trooper, ya'll!

Can you spot him trying to ice skate with a toddler! Haha

 

And that wraps it up! We had so much fun!

 

 

Glad we were able to cross that off our Christmas-break bucket list!

HANGRY ROXIE UPDATE #9

After a holiday break I am back doing low-carb.

 

 

 

Its week one, and I've lost 5lbs, wooo-hoooooo!

 

 

 

I also got a new swimsuit!

 

 

 

Excuse my messy mirror- thanks, Ryker! Also, the before picture isn't recent, but I wanted to show how far I've come.

 

 

 

 

Ya'll that is a huge milestone for me to post a swimsuit picture on social media.

 

 

 

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I'm doing a 30 day challenge since I have 30 days till my cruise! YAY!

 

 

(If your not following me, you should! :) @allaboutthelongs)

 

 

Over there I'm documenting what I eat everyday and some other fun low carb recipes, too.

 

 

 

My goal is to lose 10lbs before my cruise and I'm excited I'm half way there!

 

 

Let me just add this:

 

 

If you are doing low carb and getting discouraged with the slow weight loss, be patient this has to be the hardest lesson to learn.

 

Last time I was really strict with low carb, and for the first couple of months (before the holidays), I lost hardly anything. That was so hard.

 

 I am losing weight now, but slowly.

 

Just keep reminding yourself that your way of eating now is so more nutritious than when you ate carbs and processed foods. The weight WILL go, you WILL gain control of your appetite, and you WILL succeed. There are so many benefits (in addition to weight loss) that eating low carb brings.

 

  Happy Tuesday!

 

 

 



Our Cozy Spot

This month I'm linking up to show you the coziest spot in my house!

 

 

 

By far-  its my living room!



It's where we all hang out.

 

 

It's where you can always find a basket of blankets.

 

 

And it's always where all the fun happens!

 

 

 

It also opens right up to the kitchen, which is probably my favorite thing about our house!

 

 

 

 

My special people can make anything pretty cozy!

 

 

Especially in Christmas PJ's!

 

 

My favorite!

 

 

 

And because Christmas décor makes any room cozy!

#HEARTEYES!

Annnnnnd........

 

 

 I'll leave you with this cutie in his batman undies... just because!



 

 

 

 

 

 

"The" Santa Picture.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, isn't it?

 

 

I loooove, love, love it and NOTHING makes it more special that a toddler.

 

 

I, mean, he is just SO into it. He loves everything. He's stoked about Santa. And he loves talking about "the newborn King".

 

 

He wont let us call him baby Jesus... he said Jesus is dead.  So he is only the new born King. :)

 

  

(And in our defense we have been trying to teach him how Jesus DIED for our sins.)

 

 

Kinda-sorta back fired when we volunteered at Bethlehem in December when he yelled, "the newborn King is dat way... he's dead!"

 

 

 

And I'm all like who's kid is this?..........

So in midst of all the Christmas festivities....a  few weeks ago one of our elementary schools hosted a North Pole Breakfast with Santa.

It was SO cute!

I took Raigen and Ryker.

 

 

 

 

We had so much fun and the highlight was definitely Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Raigen said she is SURE they were the real thing because you almost never see Mrs. Claus with Santa.

Everything was great until this.......

 



Let me explain... Ryker is obsessed with Softball (and baseball) and wants nothing more for Christmas then to get a ball, bat, and bag like his big softball playing sister!

So- when they asked Ryker  what he wanted for Christmas here was his reply:

"I want a bat like Raigen's, she can hit dat ball like this POW! And it goes to the grass! I want a bag like her too, with wheels."

Then he adds, "Raigen is a pitch!"

The 'er' suffix has never been more important.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you what they thought he said.... but it was not pitch.

And what he meant is Raigen is a pitcher!

 

And that my friends is how Ryker made the Naughty List 2018! :)