Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Currently: Calling Fall

Current Book


Current Song

Mama Cass - Make Your Own Kind of Music
We are digging the Barbie soundtrack {well the girls are},
but this is a song even Trent enjoys!

I'm also really excited for Tyler Childers new album, so expect that for September!

Current TV Show
I think this is what I'm going to start next!

Current Audiobook/Podcast


Current Drink

Planning a girls night this week to celebrate some work milestones.
I guarantee some Moscato will be in my future!

Current Food

Have you ever had vanilla cupcake Goldfish?
If you haven't...DON'T! Ha!

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

I just keep re-downloading Fourth Wing and Romantic Comedy
and re-reading my favorite parts. I love when a book hits me in the heart!
But...others might consider this especially nerdy! {grin}

Current Outfit

Workout clothes or a bathing suit is 97% of what I wear.
So ready for this heat to break!!!!!!
{Although the 10 day forecast is only the high 90s and not 105+!}

Current Celebrity Crush

I love me some Mariska Hargitay and loved this picture she posted celebrating her 19th wedding anniversary {which B and I will celebrate in October}.

Current Mood

So happy the kids are back in school and it's going well!!!
It's funny, I looked back at last month and wasn't ready for school.
But it's so nice to be back in a routine and have the house to myself again.

Current Anticipation

We have a fun little getaway planned for this weekend!
It's Brent's mom, me, and the Gurley first cousins!

Current Wishlist

We are looking at getting a Skylight calendar!

Current Movie

Hoping to see this Friday!

Current Picture

Will I ever get tired of pictures of her sleeping?


Monday, August 28, 2023

Let's Look: Our Worst Habits

Another fun survey? Why yes, let's do this! I liked the topic for this month's 'Let's Look' - talking about our worst habits {as usual I'm too late to link up but like this topic}. I'm going to take the approach Mix & Match Mama used and just let my mind flow and share alllll my bad habits that I can come up with! This list is probably very different from what Brent would list, ha. But it's my blog, so I'm not going to ask him what he thinks my worst habits are!


1) I'm messy. I want to get on my soapbox for a second and share my definition of messy. I'm not dirty. You won't find half-eaten food lying around or unvacuumed floors, but I am absent-minded and put stuff down and walk away. You will find 3 pairs of my shoes in the living room. You will find a pile of folded clothes sitting on-top of my dresser for 4 days. You will find my hairbrush, 3 clips, and 2 rubberbands on my bathroom counter. I'm working on this to pickup as I go...but it isn't my natural inclination, so I'm also building in 10 minute windows throughout the day to go tackle some project - usually cleaning off the kitchen island ha - the clutter there grows exponentially throughout the day, I swear!

2) I start projects and don't finish them. Similar to the above, I'm absent-minded and will start a project and either get distracted or run out of steam. I know this is one that drives Brent up the wall! Again, same as the above, I'm really trying to be more conscientious about the fact that my actions {or lack thereof} impact the other people in this house and not start a project until I can finish it! 

3) I talk too much and dominate conversations. I wrote this 3rd, but it honestly might be my worst habit. I LOVE to talk and share stories, and I'm not a great listener - I just want to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk! Brent actually pointed this one out to me years ago - he said 'You don't really listen to other people, you just wait for them to finish their story so you can tell yours.' OUCH. But sitting on it...he was right! I still talk too much and listen too little but being aware of it has definitely helped me to be more present in conversations and a better listener and not tell EVERY story I think of {maybe 75% ha}.

4) I'm loud. Hi, I'm Allena, and I'm LOUD. So not only do I talk too much, but I do it very loudly and it's pretty shrill/high-pitched. Some of our friends still laugh about how loudly I was 'encouraging' Paige to kick in the pool when she learned to swim. They will shout 'kick, kick, kick' in a shrill voice haha. And this was 4 years ago. I also don't realize how loud I am. Brent says a lot 'I'm right here, you don't have to shout.' when I think I'm talking normally!

5) I'm a bad bed partner. I am a very light sleeper and need everything exactly my way or I can't sleep. So while Brent would prefer to sleep with no fan and in silence...we sleep with 2 fans - one for circulation and one for noise. I even travel with fans! It's my way or else. I also will poke him a lot if he is making noise while sleeping {breathing too loud or snoring} - if you wake me up, I'm waking you up! After almost 19 years of marriage, he's adjusted to my selfish ways...but I don't make life easy on him.

6) I'm a picky eater. I can go eat at any restaurant under the sun, but I am VERY picky about what I'm going to eat. It is a miracle if I can order something the way it comes on the menu. I am always taking things off {tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, guac are some of the biggest offenders} or substituting things. It is almost impossible to share a meal with me because I have so many issues with food. {When Trent did food therapy for the second time a few years ago, I told the therapist 'I don't know if you can inherit food aversions, but Trent 100% got all of his aversions from me.' Ha!}

6) I'm indecisive. It is SO hard for me to make a decision sometimes and I will sit on something and sit on something for forever. Like paint samples that are still on our walls for YEARS ago. Or it taking me over a year to buy a new quilt for our bed - although I did finally find one a few weeks ago, yay. Another thing that drives Brent crazy - he doesn't understand how I can't just pick something!!!!

7) I have a quick temper. This is probably what I dislike about myself the most. I can go from 0 to 100 very quickly, and it never ends well for me. I shout, say things that are hurtful, basically throw a temper tantrum like a toddler. Being a mother has helped me a little with this, but I have to apologize more often than I'd like to for losing my temper. Ugh.

8) I love to sing...loudly...and I have a terrible voice. I love to sing, just love it. But I have a terrible voice! You would think that would stop me, but it doesn't. Just sharing my 'gift' with the world!

Well, sheesh, this was a lot of fun to write but reading it all back to myself - I'm feeling kind of low ha! I know I have some redeeming qualities in there though. {grin}


Monday, August 21, 2023

Back to School: The Obligatory First Day Pictures 2023-24

We are a few days into our new school year and settling into the new routine. The first week is tough on everyone, but I think we are figuring it out! This year had some big changes for our family, which I stressed over big time, but they seem to be good moves for us, so I'm focusing on that!

First up, Trent started HIGH SCHOOL this year! I can't believe I have a kid in high school, time is wild y'all. He 'graduated' from our Montessori school {it goes PK3-8th grade}, so he definitely had to go to a new school this year. We had decided a while back that another local charter school, Gateway, was where we wanted him to go. {It is a K-12 school with each grade having about 100-125 kids in it.} We applied in January and found out we were waitlisted - they do a lottery selection when more kids apply than they have spots for. We had a long wait but found out 6 days before school started that he got in! He started on Monday and was excited that his best friend would be there and they had some overlapping classes.

Thanks for posing for a picture, Trent!

We also applied to move both girls over there as well, and they were also on the waitlist. I had mixed feelings about moving the girls, but Drew wanted to move {her 4th grade year wasn't her favorite}, and if I'm moving 2 kids, I might as well move all 3. Well, as I mentioned in our Port A post, we found out Friday morning that Drew also got in! I thought she would start Monday as well but found out Sunday night that her first day would be Tuesday, which was also Paige's first day. So on Monday, I took Paige to get her nails done {I promised her this all summer}. Drew was NOT interested. But we found the summer reading list for 5th grade, and she started the book her grade was supposed to have read - Number the Stars.

Miss Priss getting a different color on each hand and foot!


Tuesday, both girls started - Paige at Goodwater and Drew at Gateway. [Reminder that Brent was out of town from Sunday afternoon - Tuesday night so I did all this BY MYSELF. So glad book club was Friday night for some girlfriend and wine time.]

5th grade at Gateway is the beginning of middle school, so she needed a laptop {which came in Sunday night!} and would change classes for each class! I had to walk her into the building to get her schedule. She has her best friend in a few of her classes too, yay!

The big 5th grader!


And last...but certainly NOT least, Miss Paige! She moved up from the Primary class {PK3-Kinder} into lower elementary {1st-3rd}, so she was a little nervous about having a new guide, but her previous guide, her beloved Ms. Liliana, told me her new guide, Ms. Jackie, is an excellent teacher, yay!

In her Port Aransas shirt - tie dye on tie dye!


I sort of got Trent to take a picture for me...teenagers are so fun. Sigh.


Happy girl going into school!

This week we've been scrambling to get all the school supplies and things, but we are trying to embrace this new season. Brent is able to take the big 2 to school - it's on his way to work, but I'm having to get all 3 which is taking me about an hour and a half right now. SUPER fun. Very thankful for Teams, so I can work while sitting and not moving in 2 different car lines!

Here's hoping everyone a great 2023-24 school year!


The Bogg Bag Saga

I posted in last month's Currently post that I was coveting a Bogg bag. This is probably a silly post to write, but I had to share with everyone how the acquisition of said bag went down for me.

I couldn't wrap my brain around paying full price for a Bogg bag, but the more I wanted one, the MORE I WANTED ONE. I have several friends who bring their bag every week to the pool, and I was drooling with jealousy, BUT I was on the hunt to get one on sale...which is nearly impossible to find.

While we were in Arizona, I found a bag 50% off...that seemed to be from a legit site and a legit bag...until I got email correspondence in Chinese. Womp, womp. I still need to get onto my cc website and request a refund for that order, ha!

THEN I found a new bag through the Mercari website - for 1/3 off! I quickly ordered it...and then didn't hear anything for days from the seller. I was very nervous.

The picture on the Mercari website

About a week later, I got a big package from Dillard's and was really confused as to what it was. Because it wasn't a PEACH Bogg bag, it was a BLUSH Bogg bag, and the Mercari site still didn't show any updated shipping information.

The bag that arrived

Finally, the Mercari site updated...and I got a blush Bogg bag, ha. I didn't really care - but it was interesting that a different color was advertised and then took so long to update.

The last piece to this ridiculous story - I didn't even end up using my bag on our beach trip because my sister kept taking her bags with enough towels for everybody haha. But it has been fun to take to the pool for our last few trips of the summer! {grin}


Thursday, August 17, 2023

Port A Swope Vacay

We had a great beach vacation to Port Aransas with my family last week finishing out the end of our summer vacation. [Although we're still working through our summer bucket list - using the 'season' of summer to get that finished ha.] 

Thursday, August 10 - We could check into our house at 4pm on Thursday, so we left our house about 11:30 {it was a 4-hour trip} and made it in great time - just 1 snack/bathroom stop! Brent and I had to take separate cars because he had to go to Houston directly from Port A, so I had Paige and Trent in my car, and Brent had Drew.

We got checked in, picked rooms, unpacked, got dinner ready, all the things. My dad took the kids to the beach for a little bit but that first day we mainly stayed at the house and took advantage of the pool.

Playing YuGiOh with Trent - we played several matches and he was so happy!

Nighttime cousin swim!

Friday, August 11 - Our plan was to spend a lot of time at the beach, but we didn't rush to start the day. Each family brought a different breakfast dish, so we had lots of options.

The late sleeper, ha

We got some great news Friday morning that Drew got accepted to the school we have been on the waitlist at for 6 months! I will have to do a full post about it, but needless to say we were very excited!

Paige sharing the good news with Drew!

I spent the morning getting her registered, ordering her a laptop, and freaking out, ha. We then loaded up and hit the beach!

Seeeeesters!

These 2 are thick as thieves, I love to see it!

Sassy pants

Not a bad view for a Friday!

20 weeks - it's going so fast!

The kids had a blast finding crabs and sand dollars

Most of the boys...

The 2 littles {for now} - these 2 play SO well together!
We've been really lucky with how well everyone plays together.
And this new baby is going to have 6 kids vying for their affection!


Playing with Babs and Pops


A dad and his daughters LOVE

Said crabs


We played a lot of games while there - dominos and Skip-Bo being the 2 who got the most use! 



Saturday, August 11: We were slower to get moving Saturday after a full day of beach~pool~beach~pool! And everyone had a little bit of a sunburn even after lots of sunscreen application. So we decided to go shopping before the beach.

Morning Skip-Bo

Morning mimosas too!



Got Paige a cute t-shirt where she got to pick the t-shirt AND what was ironed onto it {Drew couldn't find anything she liked, and Trent didn't go}, and it's what she wore on her first day of school. So fun!

Brent's college roommate {and best man in our wedding} lives in the area, so he and his wife met us for lunch - we had a great time catching up! While we were lunching, the kids swam at the house.


#theSwopesix...for a little longer!

Totally random - a friend from Paige's school/grade was there!

Not a bad view!

We drove around and got ice cream that night.

Sunday, August 13: Unfortunately, we had to pack up early for checkout, but we managed to get a family picture with all 12 {and a half} of us!


And we stopped for lunch together because apparently we hadn't had enough of each other by Sunday afternoon, ha!


Brent had to drive to Houston for a work training, so I had the joy of driving the kids home by myself. And the girls dozed off...the last 5 minutes of the drive. Of course!


Thanks girls!

Trent started school on Monday {and we thought Drew would until 9:45 that night ha}, so the rest of Sunday was spent organizing for Monday. In hindsight, this maybe wasn't the best timing for a trip, but we had a blast, and I can't wait to do it again!