Transformation Tuesday

I wish I got this post up earlier, but let's face it, life happens.  If you read between the lines that actually says 'I was on the phone with Andrea for over and hour and while I'm terrific at most multitasking, talking on the phone and blogging isn't one.'

Anyway, Transformation Tuesday is about everything from weight loss to relaxation to changing the scenery in your house.  It's a pretty all encompassing title.  Today's post is about relaxation.

Over the weekend, Chuck and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary.  It was heavenly.  Truly.  It was amazing.  We have been long overdue for a weekend with just us.  Like 10 years overdue.

What we did wasn't exotic or anything like that.  First off, he surprised me with it, so I really had no say in the entire trip.  What we did was head down the road to Cincinnati.  We live in a northern suburb of the city and are down there often.  This time, it was different.  He had booked a weekend at the Westin in downtown.  Not only did he book a room there, but it overlooked Fountain Square.  I'm not above admitting that I did a flying leap onto the bed and sank right in.  I wanted to nap, but there were things to do.

The big event of the weekend was the Cincinnati Reds game.  Now, if you want to know one thing about me, it's that I'm a tried and true Reds fan.  Did you know that your 10 year anniversary is called your diamond anniversary?  I didn't.  Chuck did though.  According to him, he bought me the biggest diamond in the entire city.  The Reds ball diamond.  Cute huh?

I'm not trying to make this a recap of my great weekend.  It's all about relaxation.  Something that parents really don't get a whole lot of.  That's my experience at least.  Rarely do we get time to just hang out with our spouses or significant other.  That's what this weekend was about for Chuck and I.

Here's a couple of things I've thought about and helped make our relaxation weekend great.

• We laughed.  A lot.


• We took time to listen to each other.  No rushed conversations.  No interrupted conversations.


• We took naps.  Several of them.  It was the best rest!


• Do you remember what it's like to sleep in on a Saturday?  Until this weekend I had forgotten.  Having lunch at 11A.M. isn't so bad.


• Neither is dinner after midnight.


• It is possible to have a wonderfully affordable getaway close to home.


• Um, the Reds won.  Enough said.


• Spending time with the person you love in an environment that didn't require deadlines, schedules or anything like that can be the best thing to remind you how far you've come and what you have accomplished as a couple/family.  10 years ago we couldn't have done anything like this.  We spent half a day just remembering and laughing about how little we had when we first got married.  10 years ago if someone had told us we'd have 3 kids, a chaotically wonderful home and rarely get time together we'd have laughed at you and said "No way that's happening".  Today, we wouldn't change anything.  Well, maybe more time together just us, but nothing else.

How do you relax with your spouse or s/o?  Do you have getaway weekends or make time for one another every day?

Oh and PS.  I did get some real diamonds for our anniversary too.  In ring form.  :)

[caption id="attachment_6140" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="What a terrific weekend!"][/caption]

Kandi's Confessions ~ 10 year anniversary edition

My confessions this week are going to be super short and super sweet.  You've been warned.

• As I'm writing these I have ten thousand other things I should be doing.  First on that list is taking a shower.  Second is getting packed for our anniversary getaway.


• Today is our 10th wedding anniversary.  It's kind of a big deal.


• We both stayed up until midnight last night to exchange gifts.  We are that corny.


• I handed Chuck my gift and he said "aw, what did you make me?"  I think I may have been on a big crafty kick and he thought I 'made' him something.


• Side note:  I did make him something, but will give it to him later.


• He was speechless when he opened his present.  I hope that was a good thing.


• Speaking of gifts, he got me a weekend in Cincinnati.  I realize that may not sound exciting to some, but for me, it's perfect!


• Did you know your 10 year anniversary is your diamond anniversary?  I didn't.  However, since I'm not a jewelry girl, he got me a big diamond!  He is taking me to the ball diamond to see my Reds play!  I cannot believe the seats he got.  Phenomenal!


• The kids started school this week.  It's been an adjustment, but a good thing too.  We are all more settled and happier.  As much as I hate to admit it, all 5 of us are routine lovers.  Go with the flow isn't in our vocabulary.


• CS starts pre-K on Monday.  We went and met with her teacher this morning.  She's in love!


• I need to publically thank my Mom and Grammy for taking care of the kids so Chuck and I can have a little weekend getaway.  We haven't done this since...well.....having kids.


• Oh, I thought I'd share a couple pictures.  Please note that they are scans of the originals and that they originals are copyright protected from the original photographer.  Okay, disclaimer over.


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  [caption id="attachment_6137" align="aligncenter" width="241" caption="It's official!"][/caption]
  
  [caption id="attachment_6136" align="aligncenter" width="219" caption="I was jumping and so giddy!"][/caption]

Transformation Tuesday ~ I did it!

I know I've been talking about it on here for a few weeks.  I'm sure you're probably tired of me talking about it, but this is the last one.  I think.



On Saturday, I ran/walked the Color Me Rad 5k!  I did it.  I actually did it.  You have no idea how excited I was.  Or how colorful.  I'm going to share a couple of pictures from the race though, so you'll see exactly how colorful I was.

A ran with me.  I think I may have forgotten to add that in all my previous posts.  She was so excited to be there.  As we were standing at the starting line, she was stretching and plotting out strategy.  According to her, we would run through the colors and be done in 5 minutes.  Who was she kidding?

Reality is that we jogged the first 1/3 of the race.  Then we walked the middle and jogged the last 1/3.  Yes, my goal was to run the whole thing.  However, I'm a Mom first, so my job wasn't to get a good time or run fast.  It was to spend some quality time with my 7 year old and share a few laughs in the process.  I'm so happy for my success at meeting one of my big goals.  I'm more happy that A made it through the entire race.  3.1 miles is a big deal for someone at that age.

What was the best part?  Well, I have several.  Being able to participate with A was the best part.  Next to that would be the color itself.  It was so much fun being pummeled by the Color Bomb Squad.  My only suggestion to this would be that the Color Bomb Squad pay more attention to the fact that kids are in the race.  A got sprayed in the face.  She became very smurfy a little bit later as she danced her way through the blue color!

Would I recommend this race.  Yes!  It was a lot of fun.  It was messy.  It was exciting.  The best part of all, it was for charity.  What's the biggest downfall?  Cleaning up.  A little soap, a lot of scrubbing, and then more scrubbing.  Oh and if you have light colored hair I would highly recommend something to cover your hair.  A's blonde hair is quite colorful.  Thankfully she's little so it just looks like a cool summer style.  She has green, blue and some pink in her hair.  She thinks it's quite cool.

And, here is a picture of us post race.  We were very, very colorful.  It was so worth it!

[caption id="attachment_6054" align="aligncenter" width="194" caption="So much fun!"][/caption]

Disclaimer:  For promoting the Color Me Rad race, I was given a free entry.

Kandi's Confessions

My confessions are quite boring this week.  Nothing really happened.

• It's rained off and on the last couple of days.  My garden grew an inch overnight.  Thank you Mother Nature for making my garden (and me) happy.


• I got the nicest message on Facebook from a friend this morning.  He has been on his own lifestyle change journey.  He lives in a different part of Ohio, but wanted me to know he was supporting me in my journey and to know that he'd be cheering from his part of the state.  It was so sweet, but then, he's a nice guy (and his wife is ultra sweet as well!).


• I've been turning on the TV this week and putting it on a video station like old Mtv videos or VH1 or CMT.  However, they repeatedly show those "vaginal mesh lawsuit" commercials.  I just have a serious dislike to "phishing" commercials.


• My kids have been hysterically funny this week.  Saying some of the cutest things ever.  Here's a quick sample of them.   "Ren just got a letter from his teacher. The beginning said "Can you believe you're going to be an older in my classroom this year?" (They have the same teacher for 2 years at his school). Anyway, it went on to say how she looked forward to him being a wonderful leader and responsible role model this year. His response? "oh pickles Mommy, now I have to knock off the funny stuff".


• I am in a funk.  Like an *I'm almost worried I may be getting depressed* funk.  I know why I've been feeling this way and there isn't anything I can do to change it.


• This funk has to do with Chuck and his new job.  I know things will even out eventually, but it's been really hard on the kids with their Dad going to work before they get up for the day and coming home after they are already in bed for the night.  Ren got angry yesterday and I ask him what was wrong.  He yelled at me "I need my Daddy because you won't understand".  Broke. My. Heart.  I mentioned it to Chuck and I know he feels awful about working so much, but there really isn't a lot he can do right now.


• With all this working I'm worried about the upcoming soccer season.  3 kids, 3 different leagues.  If their practices wind up being at different places on the same day, I'm screwed.


• CS is officially enrolled in the local Catholic preschool.  She is beside herself excited!  I'm pretty happy as well.  We love this school and the teachers.  The other two kids attended here as well and loved it!


• I want a new car.  I'm so envious of all the bells and whistles on Chuck's new truck.  Really, I just want a minivan with automatic sliding doors.  Choosing the type of car is something different.  I don't know if I want another minivan or move onto something like a crossover or SUV.  The kids are all in booster seats at this point, so room for the big bulky carseats isn't really an issue anymore.


• We are hoping to go camping in the next few weeks.  Hoping being the operative word here.


• Tomorrow I will run/walk in the first 5k I've ever been in.  I'm so nervous and a thousand different scenarios keep playing in my head.  I know I will finish and I know it will be fun.  The Color Me Rad 5k is visiting various cities throughout the US.  Check the website and see if it's coming to yours.  I promise to share pictures of the adventure next week!

Well, that's it for now.  I need to get some housework done before my 3 little tornadoes can make it any worse.  Have a terrific weekend everyone!

Are you ready to "Rumble in the Jungle?" *Giveaway***Closed**

*****The winner of the tickets, when I put it into random.org, was Jeremy Jackson.  Random chose #1 and he was the first to enter.  I have honestly never had #1 appear in all the giveaways I've done.  I thought it was neat, so I had to share.  Congrats to Jeremy!  Thanks everyone for entering.  There will be more giveaways coming soon!!*****

You read that right.  You see, around the Cincinnati area "the jungle" is a reference to Paul Brown Stadium.  So what's all the "rumble" about? Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam is coming to soar, fly and delight!  Have you ever been to a monster truck show before?  Last year was my first year to attend and we loved it.  Let me rephrase that.  Ren loved it so much he HAD to have a monster truck to bring home.  Long story short, he is know the proud owner of around 5 or 6 monster trucks, all from the Hot Wheels Monster Jam line of vehicles.  They look just like the ones seen in the show!  As a matter of fact, we have the two pictured below.  He loves them.



I know you may be wondering why I'm writing a post about Advanced Auto Parts Monster Jam right?  Well, the reason is simple.  I *may* have a giveaway.  Yup, you read that one correctly.  I have a 4-pack of tickets to the show at Paul Brown Stadium!  How exciting is that?  I know I'm excited to go, yet we're keeping it a secret from the kids.  This is one surprise I can't wait to let them in on!

First though, I want to share some details.  If you don't win the tickets from my giveaway, you can always purchase tickets for the event.  Simply log onto Ticketmaster or by phone.  Mention the code MJ2011 and save $4 off of all $20 and $10 dollar tickets. *This discount cannot be used to purchase kid seats, cannot be combined with other discounts, and there is a limit of 6 tickets per purchase*. Yet, with kids seats only being $5 this is a really fun way to spend some family time without spending a lot of money.

Now for the fun stuff.  Here's the details. Advanced Auto Parts Monster Jam is going to be in the jungle on July 23.  I'm going to be ending this giveaway on Wednesday, July 13 at Noon.  The winner will be chosen by random.org.  Here's how to enter:

• Leave a comment letting me know which truck you'd most like to see.


• Head over to the Advanced Auto Parts Monster Jam facebook page and "like" them, then come back and leave me a comment.


• "Like" Mommy Confessions Blog on facebook or let me know if you already do.


• Tweet: @MomConfess is giving away tickets to see #MonsterJam in #Cinci, and let me know you tweeted by leaving a comment!

It's that easy to enter!  For those of you who are looking for some fun facts or things to share with your kids to get them excited about the event, here is a link to a fun coloring page.  I printed a couple of those off this weekend and the kids had so much fun coloring them in!  Good luck in the giveaway and I hope to see you there!

**My family was provided tickets to attend the show.  We are really excited to go and want to thank the wonderful people at Feld Entertainment for the opportunity to attend.  The words and thoughts contained within this post are my own unless otherwise noted.  Thanks!**

Cincinnati Museum Center

Friday we grabbed the kids, some friends, and snacks.  We were on a mission to visit the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.  We had so much fun!  First came the game plan.  You see, the Cincy Museum Center actually offers 3 museums in one building plus an Omnimax theatre.  I forgot to mention the "revolving" exhibits (which is Cleopatra right now) and the fact that it is still a working train station!  That should give you some idea how BIG this place is!  

Our first stop was the Cincinnati History Museum.  For me, this was a must see.  They have a huge model of Cincinnati, called Cincinnati in Motion.  To say Ren loved it would be putting it mildly.  He was going from station to station pointing out things and using the interactive displays to learn more.  Both Chuck and I thought it was super cute when we got to the Crosley Field portion and Ren said "Hey Mommy, isn't that where the Reds play?".  While Great American Ball Park does resemble Crosley, according to my Dad "it in no way compares".  He would love seeing that model!  Then it was onto my favorite part of the Cincinnati History Museum, the Cincinnati goes to War exhibit.  I have a thing with WWII and the 1940's in general.  My cookbook collection is proof of that.  Not to mention my vintage Christmas decor that is put up each year.  I was so thrilled to be checking out all the exhibit information.  The kids, well, they loved the streetcar.  Yup, you read that right.  The museum has a full sized street car and they thought it was the coolest thing ever!  Well, the coolest thing since the steamboat exhibit.

[caption id="attachment_4583" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Riding on the street car"][/caption]

Then we headed out to the main area for some snacks.  Followed closely by the Museum of Natural History and Science.  This was where A was in her element.  She spent quite a long time looking at the different displays.  She wanted to know all about glaciers and by the end of our tour, she had learned a lot!  Next came the cavern tour.  We actually did this one twice.  Once on the easy route, just in case someone got scared.  Then, at the begging of the kids, we did the harder route.  It was so neat!  Well, it was really neat right up until the kids ran us into a small area.  By small I mean A had a hard time fitting through.  Chuck and I had to dunk under a rock crawl through the opening, only to find out there was a way that was so much easier to navigate a few seconds later.  At least the kids got a good laugh at our expense.

[caption id="attachment_4584" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Taking a break for snacks! "][/caption]

To round out our day and saving the little ones favorite until last, we headed to the Duke Energy Children's Museum.  Oh. My. Goodness.  We walked in and the kids literally gasped!  Then they looked at each other and each took off in a separate direction.  Do I need to remind you that we have 3 kids?  Oh, and there are only two of us?  Yeah.  Chuck and I glanced at each other and followed someone.  Chuck went after Ren who headed straight to the building centers.  There were blocks and rocks and rockets and all sorts of things to feed his creative imagination with.  Within minutes he was building sky scrapers and rockets to the moon!  I took off after the girls and reached A first.  She was in the area to learn about different cultures.  I loved that she was asking questions and wanting to learn more.  Thank goodness for the people who volunteer/work there.  They answered many of her questions!  I'm sure you're wondering where CS was?  Well, she was washing dogs and helping sick kitties.  If that didn't make sense, she was pretending to be a veterinarian.  The Children's Museum has various areas set up for little ones to explore different jobs.  There's a vet's office, grocery store, cafe, house, nursery, mechanic's shop among others.  CS was content to help the dogs and cats.  She has such a huge soft heart for animals (much like Chuck) that it didn't surprise me at all that she wanted to stay there.  She had on the little lab coat and everything!

[caption id="attachment_4582" align="aligncenter" width="293" caption="Whoops! Building rockets is hard work!"][/caption]

If you are local and haven't been to the Cincinnati Museum Center, I highly recommend you go!  There really is something for everyone.  If you're not local and ever get the chance to visit, please do so.  If only to take in the beauty of the building, which is gorgeous!