A Weekend with the Tolins

The house is eerily quiet for the first time since last Sunday. Another week of non- stop activities, appointments, meetings, commitments and fun. Boy, am I  exhausted! I found time to complain about it this week and Cody told me, "Anna, God's preparing you for motherhood" at first I laughed at that, but now that I think about it, that sentence has been in my head all week- and with a sliver of hope in me....I think he's probably right. 

I got a glimpse of what it felt like when our God son came to visit!

 Between loading the dishwasher and washing machine multiple times, picking up baby toys and dog toys, cooking, playing and balancing a baby on my hip after a long week of giving my all...to teaching- I asked Cody, "Are you sure I'm cut out to be a mom- I just don't know if I'll ever have the energy." He responded with exactly what ended up happening this weekend, "Anna, God gives mommies extra energy -- it comes from a special place... Because we all know, mommies never rest." 

Well, sure enough - even though I was tired driving home from work Friday, as soon as I saw this little booger I got a burst of God-momma energy (thanks to God and.....spark) 

On Friday, Cody made fish tacos with black beans and fresh salsa... Ashley and I headed over to HEB to grab Dominic some fat baby smootie ingredients! Joe was the smoothie maker all weekend and even braved adding some broccoli (but totally paid for it in diaper duty)

After dinner we feasted on U-Swirl yogurt and the carmel pop-corn flavor was totally yum!!

We tried to stay up late but, we only made it to about 11:30....then lights out! 

Saturday, we cooked breakfast - pork,eggs, and sweet potato hash for our breakfast tacos, and played around the house in our jammies with Dominic! He's totally into balls and anything that resembles them! It's really cute when you ask him things, like "Where's Jesus" and he looks at the Sacred Heart painting we have! He's too smart for his own good (in fact is very picky with his food)!

A few hours later we went to a local Italian restaurant and dined on carbs, carbs and more carbs... Dominic's favorite (and baby Emmelia's too!)

We drove over to Veritas Catholic bookstore and played for about an hour while Dominic slept! Then we got a craving for something sweet so we went to The Cheesecake Factory! It was Ashley's first time (that she remembers) and she loved it! Dominic played on our side of the booth and we had fun!

This kiddo is totally into selfies! 

After this, we headed into the Galleria and shopped at the Disney store and played around! Then headed back home! I carried Dominic in the boba and it was fun! What a workout! 

Dominic's new Mickey:

It was an active night -- around 2 am our smoke detector randomly went off... Long story short it was just a random incident but Dominic didn't care- he was NOT happy! About an hour later he finally went back to bed! 

We went to mass Sunday at Annunciation Catholic Church, and after took some pics: 

Constantly saying "Dominic look here" he is definitely a wiggle worm!

Finally he looks:

This has to be the cutest face ever:

We came home to leftover pasta from Italiano's and a big green salad! I tried to make some healthy cookies but... Per Cody, "They'd be really good if you were like from Guatemala and hadn't eaten in a few weeks." I disagree! It was a clean cheat:

So, whatever- ya win some ya lose some!

Dominic and I played in the sink while his momma rested and his daddy and Cody talked boring junk... He loved splashing in the bubbles!

And of course we played with the ball over and over and over again

He's quick--- thus the blurry pictures 

We watched a movie and drank our "drinks" mine was spark, Dominic's was water ... But he thought it was the same! 

Hey making a spark, taking cookies out of the oven, and dancing to "Everything is Awesome" the song from the Lego movie, all while a baby is on your hip is challenging... But I have to say, I'm totally looking forward to that one day!

What a fantastic visit! Thank you Tolins for driving over to see us and let us play with baby D all weekend! It was a treasure I'll remember forever! 

It's only been 15 minutes since they left and Cody is snoozing! 

I think I may frame this one... I edited it to black and white and I just love it. Dominic is so special to us! 

My Classroom

This year I changed schools and with change, came some revamping and redecorating! A lot of the decor I had was over 8 yrs old and was given to me through the years-and some of it was still in good shape but eh, after 8 yrs it was time for a refresh button! 

Hey, for an ID pic-- this is pretty good, right!??

I went to Mardel Christian store in League City the weekend my nephew was born and shopped 'till I dropped! 

The school year has been busy, and I didn't get around to decorating everything and didn't get a good flow in my room (of supplies, composition book drawers, paper turn in trays, etc...) until just about 2 weeks ago!

After that I was busy day and night, bell to bell, alarm clock to lights out- and never had time to get it looking brighter!

Then I found a moment! My color scheme is based of school colors (purple) and I added black and white, yellow, and lots of chevron!! Many of my posters are colorful, so I feel like my room is a mix of mod and rainbow bright... Which is totally fine by me! Take a look at what I snapped:

View from my desk:

Other side:

ELPS board, really for all kiddos:

More mature (than what I org had and brighter too) thanks Kel!!!

Projector and assignment board! Gotta keep those kids responsible for their work!!

Before sticky notes:

During: (kiddos fill out periodically at end of lesson)

Window with my chevron print material:

Fabrics from hobby lobby:

Princess Mrs. Castillo- who feels like the teacher she used to be!

BTW look at this awesome love note I got from the librarian- she's pretty fantastic-- love her and all my co workers!!

Rainbows After the Storm: iifym week 4

Today was a rainbow day- you know, the kind of day that is warm, glowy, sunny--- a colorful spot after a week of storms. It rained here a lot this past week. And many days I was riding the storm of life, barely hanging on. 

But today was different! I said "yes" to me and divulged in too many pleasantries... It was nice to finally reach my pot of gold this Sunday. 

I ran myself into the ground, again this week, busy busy with lots of commitments after work. When the weekend arrived I didnt have much to give, but I did and I'm glad about it. I visited my Chas for her small group and we played scrapbooking... I may or may not have had candy corn in copious amounts...and here we are at 11:00 pm drained from teaching all week:

Finally Saturday night Cody and I went on a date-- it's been too long that we tried something new. We went to the Woodlands Waterway and enjoyed PF Chang's. It. Was. Phenomenal! 

We relaxed outside with plum wine, shared 2 egg rolls for an appetizer, and dined on Mongolian Beef and steamed rice....I'm still drooling over it! It was my first experience with PFC's, not Cody's... And I'm looking forward to a return visit! 

Today after mass and a nap, I went to Old Navy. My good friend Kelly and my mom BOTH adhered to the BDAY list and got me Old Navy gift cards! HOLLA!! Let me tell you, it was SO nice sashaying through the store (I rarely have time to shop anymore) and choosing items, trying them on- and having to put things back because they all fit and they all look adorable! I'm proud of how easily I can change my body when I invest the time to cook clean foods and stick with my macros all week. This is the end of week 4 for me. By this time I wanted to reach a 10 pound goal, but the reality is I didn't do everything 100% so I'm not too let down! I have lost a toal of 6.5 lbs in 4 weeks and that's a start. I'm ready to lose 3.5 more lbs to reach my 10 lb mini goal! 

I have to stop cheating on the weekends and only cheat once a week, or it seems I spend Monday- Wednesday working off Saturday and Sunday! Eh, it happens! 

I felt really good today. My body isn't perfect but I'm finding that I accept and love it more when I reach small goals (for ex: losing something each week) I may have only lost 1 lb this past week, but it will add up! I can see where I want to be better with my diet and exercise but I also allow myself error and deliciousness! 

Today was a rainbow day because I not only chose some really cute things with my Old Navy money, it all fit...well! I even got a pair of jeans in a size 12 to zip! That's a great accomplishment for me! It means I'm making progress... The KEY is not stopping! For some reason I always give in about this time but this time ....so I am trying to keep my eye on the prize! 

The 12s fit but they were snug. So instead of buying 14s I'm going to prove it to myself and lose more weight/inches! Hopefully in another 5 lbs lost and I will walk out of old navy with my 12s in a few weeks!

Check out what I got: 

A super soft baby pink light sweater 

An awesome orange and black 3/4 flannel

Light grey stone washed skinny jeans (super comfy) and thought my they would be cute with my purple shirts on Friday 

Another regular pair of skinnys for school

Here's what I left behind:

A navy shirt dress (getting it in 5 more lbs lost) it was a little snug in the chest 

This grey heavy sweater dress (for winter with tights, boots, and a long sleeve shirt underneath) just didn't want to spend an extra 30.00

Some things that I ate this week were:

Dinner:

Lunch:

And because most days I ate the same exact things, I stayed on track for the most part ...EEeek!

My new grocery store healthy sweet treat... I rewarded myself with 1 each night and YES it tastes like chocolate mint ice cream!

Meal prep helped me and Cody stay the course too! Just a few hrs last Sunday and voila 

I got a few sweat sessions in and have to devote more time to that this week- which means learning to say no. Is that hard for you too? It seems I'm a yes gal. Which means saying no to myself! I need to change that for sure. It was great doing cardio and sweating it out in the steam room though the few times I did!

And last but not least, this week's funny is brought to you by the citizens of Dayton Tx: 

Here's to another week! I'm setting a golden goal of getting out of the darn 180s!