the post in which i may be entirely too honest

or the post that is mostly a bunch of my instagram pictures so that i have a personal record of the past month. 

let's chat. this month has been incredibly tiring. 

things i want to complain about:

thomas' ridiculously long work hours. he's got one of the biggest projects of his life going on right now and he gets home each night between 12-4am and then gets up early each morning to do it again the next day. it's been hard on all of us but especially hard on him, naturally. we miss him! we like him! i try and wait up for him but i usually just fall asleep watching jeopardy reruns or blue bloods. but before the end of this month he should be done with this major project and getting back to his normal really long days, getting home between 9-11 each day. 

things that are great:

 thomas' dedication to supporting his family.

he makes incredible effort to play games with the kids on sundays and early saturday before he heads back to work. he doesn't ever complain. i complain in my head. 

we leave each other notes on the bathroom mirrors on the days that we don't see each other and it really does make all the difference. 

things to complain about:

dragging all 4 kids to every activity under the sun by myself. the cub scout visit to the fire station was truly disastrous and i wanted to never go in public ever again. plus, it was really humid and i couldn't keep my pants from sliding down every 5 seconds. that's just plain embarrassing.

things that are great:

scout leaders who truly try and include reagan in all the activities and also give him the space he needs when things become too much. ir, when he doesn't wear his scout shirt which is always. 

 things i want to complain about:

reagan sticking a small lego up his nose and us having to spend the morning between two doctors trying to extract it. $400 later, it was out!

things that are great:

after much struggling and fear and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and me having to hold reagan down in a figure 4 leglock and the doctor using a tiny vacuum to try and suck it out, we had one last chance to get the lego out of this nose before they were going to schedule anesthesia for the next day. the doctor and nurse left us alone for a few minutes for us to talk it out. i was talking bribes and reagan suggested that we pray to get it out. i was completely humbled by him. reagan said and short little prayer asking for the lego to be removed to his nose. the doctor came back in and reagan said he didn't need me to hold him anymore and he sat in the chair by himself while the doctor popped that lego right out. prayer is real. the Lord hears and loves this boy.

 things to complain about: blythe started preschool. i mostly just miss her and that's the only thing to complain about.

things that are great: blythe started preschool. she absolutely loves it. she finally has something to keep up with her busyness. and i go grocery shopping without her. nothing better than that.

things to complain about:

paperwork and projects. scarlett wanted to do the reflections photography contest. so i got to do the reflections photography paperwork for her and i stayed up waaaay late to fill it out and i realized that i printed off LAST YEARS application, like a dummy. i had her turn it in anyway because the deadline had come and i've been really nice to dumb people lately so karma is going to help me out on this one.

things that are great:

i have an 8x10 of this cow picture representing "soaring dreams" or "reaching for the dreams of the stars" or "inspiring dreams of tomorrow" or whatever pseudo inspirational phrase we were supposed to be inspired by. can't wait to frame it.

things that are great:

scarlett's soccer team. they are the cheetas. which is really fun to shout during a game because it sounds like, "GOOOO CHEATERS!" look at that boy checking her out, he has excellent taste.

things that are great:

i've started a new weightlifting routine and i feel like i'm finally able to walk and run with minimal pain. plus, every time i run in alabama gear on friday or saturday, alabama wins. the one time i didn't, sneaky, scum of the earth ole miss beat alabama. so, i need to look into a couple of BYU shirts for running so i can help them out too.

 things that are great:

father son matchy matchy sunday outfits. also, please note the lady in the background of this picture is my friend sarah and blythe sits with her family each sunday and is perfectly behaved and then she comes back to us and wreaks havoc.

great:

lunch with my college friend amondah! she lives 20 minutes up the road and i keep running into her at target but we had yet to officially hang out after 1 year of living here! GO COUGARS!

THE GREATEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED:

my beastie, bratalie, came to atlanta for a nanosecond for her daughter's baptism and i was able to enjoy her briefly. and then it rained to 2 weeks nonstop in response to our worlds colliding. the universe cannot handle us.

things to complain about: 

this beautiful house belongs to someone else and our realtor was no good.

things that are great:

this house belongs to someone else and thomas is smart enough to handle a real estate closing when your agent isn't really on your side. the best gift thomas has given me is seeing him working through several very difficult situations and going above and beyond the call of duty. his capability is better than flowers or presents or exotic trips.

the updated kitchen:

(safety first)

one of the 4,415 new lighting fixtures we installed. 

four stinky kids sitting on brand new carpet next to the newly spackled and freshly painted wall that had a big hole in it from our renters. they will be on my list of people to punch in the face for a while.

FYI. this is my current uniform. stretchy h&m skirt and blousy h&m top. i have it in 3 versions. if i must be dressed, i will wearing this.

and that was september!