Currently: Cold Front

Current Book

Current Song

Miley Cyrus Flowers - so good!

Current TV Show

1883 was good, this is GREAT

Current Audiobook/Podcast

Current Drink

Enjoyed a delicious Coke Icee at the movies {see below}, yum.

Current Food

Had over 600 boxes in my laundry room about 2 weeks ago, ha.

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

SEE ABOVE {grin}

Although to give us some credit, we are doing way better than last year!

Anybody need cookies?!?! Hit me up, and I'll send you the girls' link!

Current Outfit

A cold front blew in, brrrrr!

Also, how cute are my new Nikes?!

Current Celebrity Crush

Spencer Dutton from 1923

Current Mood

I had a great day with the kids, so I'm feeling very grateful right now!

Current Anticipation

We have some fun stuff coming up in the spring,

so I'm trying to just patiently-ish wait out winter!!

Current Wishlist

We are thinking about redecorating the living room, eek!

We've had our couch since our we bought our first house in 2006.

It's definitely time...and we think the kids are old enough to not destroy new stuff.

Current Movie

Current Picture

We got to dogsit our favorite puppy! Love him!

10 Looks Good on Drew

Our Drew Baby turned 10 on January 2. Double digits for this girl who is no longer my baby!!

Stats:

Height: 4'3" {10%}

Weight: 54.6 pounds {5%}

BMI: 14.76 {13%}

Clothes size: 6/S

Shoe size: 4 or 4.5 {even with her Mama!}

Teeth lost: 0

When I think about Drew, the first words that come to mind are: kind-hearted, compassionate, shy, silly, creative, and fun. She is the best big and little sister! She is our natural peacemaker and 3rd parent to Paige.

She is doing fantastically in school. The start of this year was rough - moving to Upper Elementary she went from being the oldest in her class with a core group of friends to being the youngest in the class with none of her friends and a new guide. It took her a while to settle into her class, but she's really happy now. And she's doing great academically and socially. We talked about her changing schools next year when Trent goes to high school, but she wants to stay at Goodwater, and I'm not sad about that!

She LOVES kids and cannot wait to babysit. She is always trying to take care of our neighbor, Emmett, and my cousin's young kids. I imagine she'll be babysitting before too long! She also loves animals and REALLY wants a pet! I'm working on Brent about this...but not making much progress, ha.

She is very much our silly child. Sometimes a little too silly! She loves to make people laugh and makes the weirdest faces! It's the only negative feedback we ever get from school - she can get a little wild once the sillies get started.

Drew is super creative! She loves to draw, is taking piano lessons, and just has that creative edge that I just don't ha!

She is still doing horseback riding and LOVES it. I'm really curious if she will do something with animals as an adult...

She likes to read but not to the extent of Trent. She really likes graphic novels and doesn't like to challenge herself with reading {even though she reads on an 8th grade level}. I've always said I didn't care what my kids were reading as long as they were reading, but I've had to work to get her to challenge herself. She LOVES to write though - she always has multiple stories going at a time. 

She's starting to enjoy more mature 'play' with friends - really into certain apps on the iPad or FaceTiming friends to be able to talk. She still likes Roblox/Minecraft. BUT she still plays a lot of things with Paige {lifesaver as a mom} like Legos, Hatchimals, and imaginary games.

Truly my biggest challenge with Drew is CLOTHES. She is so particular about what she will wear - her 'uniform' is black workout leggings from Old Navy {she has 3 pairs}, typically with her black denim shorts over them, and a forest green hoodie {also from Old Navy, she has 3 variations}. It's a fight to get her to pick anything else!

Her 'uniform' ha

Drew has finally wanted to cut her hair! We had several years of trying to get it as long as possible, and her hair is so find that it tended to look stringy. So glad she's decided to keep it shorter, yay!

She's still a great eater - has a big appetite for fruits and vegetables! She does not like anything spicy or any drinks with carbonation {not that I'd let her have a soda but even carbonated water}. 

 She's gotten pretty independent, which is amazing! I can give her some directions and know she'll get it done. It is a HUGE help!!

Brent and I love this little girl something fierce and I see big things in her future!

Broadway Across America: Pretty Woman

On Sunday, I went with 4 girlfriends to see Pretty Woman: The Musical. I was so excited to see it - I love the movie and had big {huge} hopes for it.

Plot: A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets...only to fall in love.

Review: Fan-freaking-tastic! We loved it! We all were curious how the songs would be - super fun {although the Edward character seemed to be singing an 80s power ballad every time...we got tickled and couldn't pull ourselves together every time he sang}, how they would translate it from screen to stage - wonderfully, if it would be as good as the movie - it was! This was a really top notch experience, yay! 

Pretty women at Pretty Woman

6 Year Comparisons

Where is the time going that I'm comparing my kids at 6?!?! I know I'm biased, but this sure is a good-looking crop of 6-year-olds. {grin}

Trent:

Height: 45" {42%}

Weight: 44 pounds {31%}

BMI: 15.3 {46%}

Drew:

Height: 42" {10%}

Weight: 37.4 pounds {10%}

BMI: 14.6 {31%}

Paige:

Height: 43.5" {20%}

Weight: 39.2 pounds {17%}

BMI: 14.56 {30.75%}

I know BMI is an outdated/biased mode of measurement, but I do find it interesting that Paige and Drew's calculation is almost identical! AND that Trent had lost 3 teeth, Drew none, and Paige has lost 7! Genetics are fascinating and make my nerd heart so excited. {grin}

Book Breakdown 2022

It's time to see how my reading stacked up for 2022! I am a giant nerd {SHOCKER} about stats and love seeing how it all shakes out. I read 123 books this year, 1 less book than 2021 but more pages according to Goodreads - 46,475 pages in 2022 an 44,070 in 2021.

Book Goal: 100

Books Read: 123

Physical Books: 12 {10%}

eBooks: 94 {76%}

Audiobooks: 17 {14%}

Fiction: 93 {76%}

Nonfiction: 30 {24%}

Female author: 100 {81%}

Male author: 23 {19%}

White author: 87 {71%}

POC author: 36 {29%}

Genres [I choose these myself and can give a book more than 1 so this won't add up to 123 for anyone checking my math and honestly some I didn't give anything past 'fiction' if I couldn't pin it down]:

• Chick-lit: 35
• Romance:  40
• Classic/Children's classic: 
• Biography/Memoir: 19
• Culture/Gender/Sexuality: 6
• YA: 7
• Fantasy/Sci-fi: 16
• Thriller/Mystery: 4
• Historical fiction: 13
• WW1/WW2 {subset of historical fiction}: 6
• Race/Antiracism: 5 
• Educational: 3

And here is my book bracket for the year! I ended up with a tie which might be viewed as cheating, BUT one is fiction and the other is nonfiction, so I felt like it was really difficult to pick between them because they are so different!

How the Word is Passed - nonfiction winner!

The Great Believers - fiction winner!

It's super fun {for me at least} to look at how my year of reading shook out. I already can't wait to see how 2023 will go!

Paige's 6th Year

We finally had Paige's well check on Wednesday! I cannot believe my BABY is 6! Where has time gone?

Stats:

Height: 43.5" {20%}

Weight: 39.2 pounds {17%}

BMI: 14.56 {30.75%}

Clothes size: 5T or XS

Shoe size: 12

Teeth lost: 5 {7 in total!}

When I think of a word to describe Paige, it's JOYFUL. She has an infectious personality and smile. We get comments ALL THE TIME about how sweet and fun she is, and it's true! 

Paige LOVES school. She loves her teachers and being a helper in class. She is a leader, and her teacher is always telling me how she helps enforce the rules and gets onto kids who aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing. She loves to learn and is doing amazingly in Kindergarten. She is reading on a 4th grade level and has had amazing scores on their MAP testing {tests that compare their knowledge to what is expected of them to know by the end of the school year}. I'm a little sad thinking about her moving out of her beloved Sassafras class next year, but I know she'll be ready!

Paige is a great eater - pretty adventurous for trying things {she's been eating raw onion, definitely doesn't get her taste buds from me}. She loves fruits and vegetables. I am so thankful for this after what we've gone through with Trent.

Paige loves to draw, color, be read to {right now we are reading a ton of Baby Blues comics together}, play board games and with Hatchimals. She's not much into her Barbies anymore. She loves stuffed animals and Squishmallows. She struggles to play independently, but we're working on it! She is my little shadow a lot of the time when we're at home. We're also working on being helpful - cleaning up after herself and doing chores {without complaining}.

Paige still sucks her thumb and loves her Sackie. She also grew attached to Trent's old blanket {Blankie} and a Girl Scouts koala Drew earned last year named Kate BUT Blankie and Kate got left in Hawaii. Kate got flown back from Hawaii {I found the same stuffed animal on eBay}, and she now has a little Elf doll one of her school friend's mom made her named Elfie. She has all 3 with her at all times but Sackie is still #1. 

Speaking of thumb sucking, we're going to start working a little harder to break that attachment. She has a speech evaluation next week, so we will see what the speech therapist says once we start her actual treatment. She misuses her tongue for speaking and has a lisp {just like Trent}.

The other big hurdle we're working on is her sleep! She still struggles to fall asleep on her own, so I sit on the floor every night, but she has still been consistently coming in our room in the middle of the night for WAY TOO LONG {and a regression from last year}. We've got her sleeping back in Drew's room in the top bunk, and I'm hoping we can keep that going - she hasn't come in our room in 3 nights!

Paige tried soccer for the first time this fall and had a great time {even though their team lost all their games and only scored 1 goal all season} and is looking forward to the spring season. She also joined Girl Scouts this year as a Daisy! Cookie sales start next week, and she's so excited. She and Drew are also still doing horseback riding lessons, but I'm not very consistent at signing them up for their lessons. My goal is 2 times/month, they both love it!

Paige largely likes to wear dresses, but she's recently discovered jeans! It's fun seeing what outfits she puts together every day, ha. She doesn't let me fix her hair very often which makes me super sad, but I like seeing her independence and style. {grin}

I'm surprised she's lost so many teeth! By this age, Drew hadn't lost any! Could be the thumb sucking, but I find it wild to see her big teeth coming in.

Paige is addicted to 2 things {besides me}: sugar and screen time! We struggle with tantrums over those 2, and I think part of it is me babying her a little too much. So we are definitely working on this!

Paige likes Roblox and Minecraft - what is it with kids and these games? All 3 of mine have loved these! She also likes to watch YouTube and has a handful of people/families she's allowed to watch. She also really loves music! She has a very extensive playlist on my phone and loves to listen to it.

I know I say this over and over again, but I am so glad I got my 3rd baby - she is such an amazing person, and she completes our family perfectly!

Monthly Musings: Goals for the New Year

I didn't have any 'official' goals in 2022 - largely because I utterly failed at accomplishing my 2021 goals, and I didn't want to put that much pressure on myself since I was feeling pretty lame, ha. But I'm formulating my goals for this year, and while I marinate on them {hoping to get published by the end of the month}, I thought I'd answer these questions!

1. Do you make resolutions/goals for the New Year?

Not always, and not last year, but this year I am!

2. Do you have diet/exercise goals?

I do! The same as every year for the last 6 years, I want to lose weight. I know, I know... 'love your body'...and I'm working on that part, but I am still overweight on any metric you want to look at, and while my bloodwork is consistently good, I know it won't stay that way if I don't get better control of my relationship with food {specifically sugar} and my weight. 

I am very proud of my exercise routine over the last 4 years - ever since I joined AmpedUp, I am very consistent with my exercise - most weeks I work out 5-6 times per week - if it's ever below that, something is wrong. {grin} So I really do want to get both sides of this puzzle more in-line. More to come!

3. Do you have personal/professional goals for 2023?

Personal - yes. I will focus this year on some for me, some related to family, etc. Professional - no. I am very content with my current job/role and want to just keep doing what I'm doing. :)

4. Do you use a planner? Paper? Electronic? Combo?

Nope! I have my work calendar linked to my email that I put everything in, we have a family dry erase calendar, and I keep several notepads {I got my first Erin Condren notepad and felt really fancy} with notes. But no official planner.

My current view with my To Do list {mostly work related}

5. Do you have a word or phrase for 2023?

I'm ruminating on one! I like that Natasha wants to savor and enjoy, and what I'm thinking about is similar, but we'll see what I finally come up with.

6. Ring in the New Year or asleep by 10 pm?

Ring in the New Year for sure! I don't think I've ever been asleep before midnight since being an adult. We didn't take any pictures this year, but our neighborhood crew came over, and we partied so hard with 6 adults and 6 kids. {grin}

12:02 AM 1/1/22

7. Favorite thing to do on New Year's Day?

Whatever we want! I love that, for the most part, we don't make plans on New Year's Day. We typically just hang out at home, and it's so nice after the craziness of the previous week.

8. Any travel plans for 2023?

We are discussing a few things, but nothing is firmed up at this point. I think/hope our goal going forward is 1 family vacation and 1 adult vacation, which would be wonderful!

9. Things/events you are most looking forward to in 2023?

Largely it's just doing life with my people. Some things that are either on the books or being discussed:

- We might be getting a dog!!!!! {more to come!}

- I'm taking Drew to see Wicked in June in Houston, and we are both BEYOND excited. {more to come!}

- Vacations - however they shake out

- We have tickets to a music festival in April in our town that looks super fun.

- I always look forward to the 2 parties Brent's company has in June and December. {After the Holiday party, I sent a text to the wives of Brent's 2 coworkers who are part of our framily and said 'Let's start talking outfits for June!' ha}

10. Will you be watching any bowl games on or around New Year's?

We watched Brent's favorite team, the Texas Longhorns, play on December 29...not well though ha.

Movie Review: I Wanna Dance With Somebody

 Allison and I snuck in 1 last movie of 2022 a few days after Christmas. We are both suckers for biopic films and were excited to see this one about Whitney Houston.

Plot: A joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, one of the greatest female R&B pop vocalists of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.

Review: 'Heartbreaking' was the exact way to describe this! Allison and I both enjoyed it so much and obviously knew it didn't have a happy ending, but to see the way it all played out...ugh...so, so, so sad! I teared up several times. The acting was strong, hearing all her songs again was so nostalgic, too. My only complaint {and this is nit-picky} was the last scene - they cover a 10 minute performance Whitney Houston did in 1994, but it was the actress 'singing' - Allison and I both found that weird and thought for a 2.5 hour movie they should have actually showed the recording of that performance. Overall, though, it was a great movie!

That's a Wrap: Christmas 2022

We had a great Christmas 2022! I'm sad - and a little bit in disbelief - that it's all over! I go HARD for Christmas, and it never feels long enough. But I know that's part of what makes it so magical, that it's such a small window of time. We have a lot to pack in, and we did our best to make the most of our time.

The kids got out of school the afternoon of December 16 {the day I had Lasik} and Paige's party was December 17! So we definitely started our break off with a BANG. In our first few days off, we played with friends, made bath bombs {one of Paige's birthday presents}, celebrated Paige officially turning 6, went shopping in Salado with Nana, and went to look at Christmas lights in a town about 45 minutes away, also with Nana. 

Christmas Eve we went to my parents' house to open presents with my parents and my sister's family. We stayed until almost midnight! It was hard to leave because everyone was having a blast together.

Babs and Pops and #theSwopesix

Patnode clan

The Gurleys

The OG Swope 4

Cousins opening their gifts

Drew has wanted LED lights for her room - she was so excited!

Our annual Christmas wreaths picture

Babs hit a homerun with this Manga hoodie!

Christmas morning, we opened presents here. Then I wanted to go back to my parents' and the kids all wanted to come too, so we got more time with the Swope family, yay!

Santa got Paige an Instant Camera

Drew got a Cricut Joy - very excited to get her craft on!

And AirPods for the teen!

Lots of koalas for Paige, including a new Kate 

{her FAVE stuffed animal that got left in Hawaii}

She was so excited to get a bunch of fidgets, ha

Not sure where this came from but Trent asked for some Star Wars Lego sets!

Our matching pjs pic - what stands out to me is NO GLASSES!!

Already building!

We had to get new Baby Blues books!

He asked me to help him build, swoon!

We got back from my parents in the midafternoon and got ready to go to Brent's parents' house for dinner with his brother's family. I didn't take very many pictures, but we stayed there until midnight visiting. Paige's meltdown over macaroni prompted us to go home!

5/6 Gurley grands

All the Gurley grands! Branden came!

Trent was pictured out ha!

The kids all slept in on 12/26 - no one was awake before 10:45 AM! We had a great time but were WORN OUT!