Winter blahs

The entire family has been stricken by the winter blahs I'm afraid. This week started off GREAT - everyone was back on normal schedule. Mom & Dad off to work, Tyler off to school & Delana off to Grandma's. There were high hopes for winter to be ending - temps above freezing, snow melting, green grass peeking out on the sides of the road, Tyler's school finally figuring out how days were going to be made up (even if I think the extra half hour plan is ridiculous at least they've got it figured out) and the sun - the SUN!

AND THEN 3-5 inches last night and no school today. 1-3 tonight, 2-4 tomorrow.........
DAMN THAT STUPID GROUNDHOG!

Delana was a royal pill today, acting out over everything. She wound up spending a little time in the crib screaming at the top of her lungs. Tyler is back talking worse than usual. And Bryan and I are just going through the motions it seems. The Jenkins family is seriously done with winter.

But I won't leave on a negative note. Here's a cute & related Tyler story:
As I said, he did have school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. When they're done with their worksheets, they must be told to draw a picture on the back while waiting for others. Every day this week, Tyler has brought home a worksheet with a drawing of a pop up camper on the back of it. You think he's trying to tell us something?

Back to the grind...

We've all been trying to get our life back to normal, well as back to normal as it can be when there's still mounds of snow on the ground, another holiday for me & no school for most of the week......

Tuesday started the back to the grind week with both me & Bryan working (since last week there was only day that happened) and the kids going to grandma's. The roads were NASTAY on Tuesday morning which made for quite the long drive. It usually takes me 45 minutes to drive to the meeting spot & then on to work. It took me FORTY minutes just to get to the meeting spot. Ugh. The kids were being really good in the car though, which is always helpful. They made up a new song and I have yet to figure out what it means. They sung it to the tune of Frer Jacques
Grandma's cryin
Grandma's cryin
Don't know why
Don't know why

What is that all about?

Wednesday & Thursday continued the back to the grind week as I was able to get to the actual gym (rather than working out at home like I have been) both nights. And it felt great. I had an awesome workout both nights!

Today, was the ultimate back to the grind happening - TYLER WENT BACK TO SCHOOL! Granted there was a 2 hour delay this morning but hey we'll take it. He had been off school for NINE continuous (school) days. NINE DAYS. I hope that's a record we'll never break. His school is running on what they're calling alternate bus routes but again, we'll take it. He has to be taken up to the state route (about 2 miles) to board the bus and drop off is the same. There is still so much snow on the back roads that the issues at this time are busses getting stuck, having enough room for vehicles to pass each other & busses being able to turn around. Thankfully officials in Belmont County declared the entire county a state of emergency and so now ODOT can help get this snow moved. There was a big difference in the road conditions from this morning to this evening. PLUS IT HIT ABOVE FREEZING today & was sunny. That helped a lot too.

Good week I must say!

Workout progress

I've been working really hard at getting myself back into the shape I want to be. I've mentioned it once before on here but I just have to again talk about my progress. I normally get tired of things by this point but I am doing so well that I'm motivated even more so. I'm mixing things up with different weight training workouts and cardio workouts. I do treadmill, zumba, or Denise Austin for cardio depending on the day. For weights I either do a plan a good friend of mine put together or I do this one Denise Austin video at home. And really zumba has some elements of toning built into it so that mixes it up some too.

Friday was our weigh in day for the biggest loser challenge I'm doing with my girls on my mom board. I WON this week! That made me very happy! Really though I'm winning every week right now because I feel so much better physically and even mentally. Pants are looser & I can feel muscles in my legs that weren't there 6 weeks ago. I took some almost halfway pics (our challenge is 8 weeks) but I think I'll wait until the challenge is completely over to share here. I even uploaded them to Facebook but then decided to only allow myself to see the pics. I'm not sure how the online world would react to someone posting pics of herself in a sports bra & a pair of running shorts. I did share them with my mom board but they asked for it. hahaha

Since the beginning of this challenge (January 8) I have lost 8.6 lbs so yeah I am pretty proud of myself. Now keep in mind, this started right after Christmas when I pretty much made it my J-O-B to eat cookies. :)

Weekend wrap up

In my last post, I mentioned we would figure out a way to sleep in a tent in Tyler's room on Saturday. Well it actually wound up happening on Friday instead because Bryan and the kids built a tent in Tyler's room that day. Yes, Tyler was off from school AGAIN. In case you're wondering, the tent is not nearly as comfortable as our camper. I toughed it out though and slept all night with Tyler and Bryan. Bryan had no problems sleeping at all - this should be no surprise if you know him. He can sleep ANYwhere. I mostly tossed and turned all night but it was worth it because Tyler was so excited in the morning to see both of us still in his tent with him.


Saturday was a wild and crazy day that just never really flowed for me. I had all kinds of plans and nothing went the way I wanted it to. I guess you'll have that some days. The only thing that saved the day was pizza, Doritos and beers with some friends while the kids played like perfect angels! There wasn't even a mess to clean up before we left.

Sunday was Valentine's Day of course! I am not really into the whole stupid holiday so we decided to do something fun with the kids instead. We met some friends at Elm Grove lanes to go bowling together. Well they didn't open until noon and we had decided to meet at 11. Whoopsie! Since McD is just down the street, we took the kids there for an early lunch instead. Don't we just know how to celebrate in style? We all bowled two games each and then decided to call it a day - the alley was getting pretty crowded with birthday parties and other families bowling. (Elm Grove Lanes has a special on Sundays - $2 games and $2 shoes in case you didn't know.) We spent the rest of the evening just relaxing, getting things ready for tomorrow and then watching the Olympics. Bryan & I LOVE the Olympics!

So there you go, that was our weekend. Hope yours was fun too!

Camping in February?!?!

It's safe to assume that most of my readers (haha, as if I have readers) know that my family loves camping. We camp pretty much every single weekend Bryan is off in the summer as well as a a couple of kickoff trips early spring and sometimes an end of the season trip in the fall. And heck, we even camp in our own backyard as well. Most of the entire summer last year we slept in the camper even at home just cause we felt like it. The kids think it's awesome & honestly I sleep pretty darn good myself! Tyler has been asking when we're going to go again. Judging by the amount of snow we have, my best guess would be August. HA!

Today in a moment of inspiration I came up with what I thought would be a fun activity after dinner - we'd build ourselves a tent RIGHT in the living room. We've built tents before in the playroom but not the tent I was envisioning. This was to be the tent to end all tents. People would see it and think I was starting my own circus by God!


So how did it fare? Well let's just put it this way - I am very thankful that I wasn't the person building our house. It kept falling apart. So I gave up the dream of the circus tent and decided to be happy with a much smaller version. And it held up!



Tyler & Delana peeking out of the entrance:


About halfway through our camping adventure, they asked for a snack. We headed out to the kitchen to get some Doritos (cursed nacho chips - evil little triangles!) and the kids promptly went to their seats at the kitchen island. Oh but did I ever surprise them - I told them to eat it in the tent. They thought this was the coolest thing EVAH.



Our tent even came with all the amenities. According to the kids, there was a TV on the ceiling. We're watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on it in this pic. Tyler and Delana even sang the theme song for..oh wait I mean the TV even played the theme song for the show.


Delana declared herself "my tired mommy" shortly after the snack so I got her up to bed and then Tyler and I just hung out in our little tent until Bryan got home. We had so much fun just talking about goofy stuff. He was very much concerned about what I do at work & why the people couldn't "just live in a tent if they don't have a house." I decided it best to save that conversation for another day and just explained that it would really cold in a tent on a day like today. He bought that answer and then we talked about future camping trips and fun stuff instead. I also promised him we'd sleep in a tent in his room on saturday night. I have yet to figure out exactly how this is going to happen but it will!

Saved by a tea party

To say we're all going a little stir crazy right now is a huuuuuge understatement. The kids have left the homestead all of once since Friday afternoon and that was only for our little drive to Family Market. Thankfully Bryan and I did get out of the house on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl with some friends at least. As you can imagine, we're all just tired of each other! I also lucked out today because my office wound up being closed due to lack of parking of all things. Unfortunately the luck ended there - the kids were wired today - WIRED. Tyler and Delana are very much like me in that they thrive on schedules & knowing what to expect. I'm sure some of that is because that's all they've ever known. It's always been this way - Dad being off certain days (and even that was screwy) & Mom working through the week (and again that was screwy!) Add in no school for Tyler for 2 days and Delana not on her regular schedule of going to grandma's well you've basically got a disaster. And that's pretty much what we had today - constant aruging over everything, complaints of being bored, refusing to eat, refusing to nap........

The afternoon wound up getting a little better because Delana settled down and did finally fall asleep (at 3 pm) and Tyler kept himself busy by playing Lego Star Wars. Unfortunately Delana woke up on the wrong side of the crib and man was she in a mood. After dinner Tyler & Delana retreated to the playroom and I cleaned up the kitchen and got lunches prepped. Tyler kept insisting I had to come downstairs soon and after I finished my work, I went downstairs. I was immediately greeted by a "tea party" in my honor!


I made them pose with the setup - I really was surprised at all the detail - place settings, books for bear to sit on, throw rug, tablecloth.....it was all just TOO cute!


I guess the tea party actually was a dinner party. Tyler is reading me the menu. My choices were: chicken wings, macaroni & cheese, crab legs or chicken nuggets (yes my kid said crab legs). Of course I ordered the crab legs.


I'm sure you are all wondering exactly what he used for crab legs. Well wonder no more. They were divine.



Of course no dinner party is complete without dessert!



It's amazing how one simple little dinner party can complete change your entire day isn't it?

Out for a Sunday drive

Today we thought it'd be fun to take the kids for a little drive to see all the snow. We needed dog food too so off to Family Market Custom Killing we headed (see told ya I still loved you!)

Bryan mentioned this first sight when he got home yesterday but I have to say seeing it person was pretty amazing. I wish you could as well. This had to take some serious effort to get the head up on this thing. I'd say it's about 8 feet tall.




Right before you turn on to our road, there's a hillside and at least once every winter someone runs off the road (likely because they're driving like a damn moron) and ends up over the hill. This year, this person is seriously screwed. Good luck getting that car out any time soon sucker!



On Ogilbee Road there are several spots with a lot of trees and they are so loaded down with snow right now. It made for some pretty pictures!

Snow...love it or hate it, it's here to stay for a while

So much like the rest of the US we are snowed in. I can't say we're in nearly the predictament of many of my friends living in the DC/MD area but we still got snow and lots of it. The most we've had since we moved out here. This kind of snow has been a real fear of mine since we moved out to the boons. I have always lived in the country but at least it was still only 5 miles to the grocery store. Now we're 12 miles to the nearest big grocery store (no offense Family Market Custom Killing - nothing but love for ya!) and it's a winding, twisting 12 miles at that. Besides that the last almost 1/2 mile to our house is a private road (read: no plow) so the 12 inches of the big fluffy snow that fell overnight equals quite the mess this morning. And you know, as Murphy's Law dictates: Bryan had to work this weekend!

The good news here is that this storm had been forecasted as early as Tuesday as "significant snowfall" so we had a plan of sorts. My dad brought his Kubota tractor down to the homestead on Friday morning with the plans to again come down this morning to start digging us out. Bryan had spent the night at his sister's as it was extremely nasty out last night - you couldn't even see where the road ended and the ditches began!! (He wound up calling off though - it was crazy bad at 5a still) Last night the sheriff called Belmont County as a Level 3 state of emergency. This basically means that you need to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary and you can even be arrested if you're out (although I know no one who has ever been arrested). Do you think that stopped my dad from working last night? Nope. So after he worked, he headed out here. Little problem was that even Ogilbee Road hadn't been plowed yet. My dad's plans to dig us out were not to be thwarted - he plowed through that snow himself. Snow was coming up over his hood it was so deep! This is what my dad's tire looked like when he got to my house:


Crazy, right?


The snow was so heavy that it took a long time to get it moved. And thankfully at about 1/2 the way done our awesome neighbor finally got his truck with the plow (truck term used loosely - this truck is a POS but oh well!) running and he finished the rest. Here's my dad hard at work - don't let him fool ya, he loved it.


The end of the road, literally. Actually there is more road here, somewhere, just no more houses.



The aftermath of all that plowing is drifts for Tyler to conquer



Or perhaps to conquer Tyler:


And no worries, Delana was out having fun too!

Just some fun!

Delana has been going through a phase recently where she wants a horsey ride just about every night. She thinks it's the funniest thing ever. Tonight though she added a little twist to the game - SHE wanted to be the horsey. Now seeing as how I outweigh my daughter by some 100 lbs, well that is quite the task. We did the best we could do - I had her be the horsey and then I just horsey'd (yes I know that's not a word) over her. Now if you have more than one child, you already know what happens next.......your other child MUST get in on the action.

And that my friends, is how the World Famous Jenkins Double Horse was born!