meintraining

[meintraining]

Two date nights in less than a week, best anniversary present we could ask for. Still crazy it has been 19 years together, with 14 of them married. ❤️

#14yearweddinganniversary #date night

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Yesterday it snowed for us. This is not something that ever happens where we live. Maddie has been asking all month if we could visit the snow in Big Bear. I mean I am off the hook for that, right? She got snow in her own front yard! Anyway, I had to document the snow making it to Redlands!

#snow day #it never snows here #weekend things

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Today the library had an event where you bring your stuffed animals in so they could spend the night at the library. We will pick them up tomorrow, and apparently we will get photos of all the fun they are having tonight.

I love how excited the kids still get over things like this. Oh and also ice cream, we are always excited about dessert around here. It’s the only way to start the weekend right.

Happy Friday! Here’s to hoping the weekend goes by very slow.

#friyay #life with three

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Friday morning recap. Emily and I went to school to watch Maddie get an award. I love how Maddie is still so excited to see me when I am on campus.

Emily and I had a coffee date after, and I am hanging on to having one last baby at home with us. I am currently obsessed with oat milk in my coffee and she is obsessed with thinking she is also drinking coffee.

It was a good morning. ❤️

#lifewithmygirls #Friday things

[meintraining]

I always find my way back to tumblr, and it usually happens as we near the end of the year. My attempt early 2022 to get back on here was short lived.

2022 was a year that was kind of a blur. Ending with losing my mom 6 weeks ago. Hands down it has been the hardest time of my life. I am so grateful for all the family and friends that have given us so much love and support. The picture above was drawn by one of my younger cousins, and it was the perfect Christmas present. My mom at the center, with all of us surrounding her. ❤️

As we start a new year without her, it has/will be painful. But I hope we live life the way she would have wanted. That we continue to hold on to the sweet reminders of her, and that her grand babies continue to know the amazingness that was their Nanay.

[meintraining]

Today Emily is officially 3! The everyday joy this girl brings is incomparable. I thank God everyday that he blessed us with one more baby!

Her only request for her birthday was a pink flower cake. Throw in her cousin bestie and some Jolibee, and it was the perfect afternoon celebrating her.

#emily turns 3 #life with emily

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<3

#ChristmasEve

#christmas 2021

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I wasn’t kidding when I said they are so grown up. Life with a 9, 7 and 2 year old is pure beautiful chaos. ;)

#life with three #family pics 2021

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Hey There!

Not sure what made me randomly log into my old forgotten tumblr acct. My tumblr totally missed the 2021 year of life around here. Lots of kids growing up too fast, small little trips here and there, and everyday life here at home. Since we are barely into the 2022 year, here is a few things to put in this memory bank. 

Celebrated TJ turning 40 with a quick weekend trip to Napa. The air balloon ride was the highlight of the trip. 

Vegas is also a big hit with the kids. Definitely see more little trips there this year with them. 

Lukey turned 2 and Maddie turned 7 last month. <3

We are also season pass holders at Knott’s now. Noah's goal is to ride every single rollercoaster he is tall enough to go on. I volunteered Matt to be his rollercoaster partner...lol.

#life with three #2022 memories #hey there

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Second weekend in a row for morning hikes. There are so many trails around us, and it is nice to actually close my exercise ring on my watch before the day really gets started.

Summer time vibes yesterday during winter is how it goes here in California. But I am hoping all the rain in the forecast is right for the coming week. Seriously, I do not need to be running the air in the middle of winter. Working and school at home, and really just being home so much more, has definitely reflected on our electric bill this year.

The older kids slept across the street last night. Funny how I was up by 5 AM this morning when I always complain about them not knowing how to sleep in on the weekends. But really, I slept so early last night that Maddie woke me up when she called to say goodnight.

In other news, I chopped off my hair yesterday. More like TJ chopped it off. I joined the quarantine haircut crew with an at home haircut. My poor hair just gets so damaged with the heat I use on it. I also managed to give Noah a haircut on Friday without giving him any bald spots! Apparently not good enough to convince Matt to let me cut his hair again...lol.

So looking forward to the fact that tomorrow is not the beginning of the work and school week. Happy Sunday!

[meintraining]

In New Year Things...

So just a brain dump for the official beginning of the new year, because the last three days didn’t count. We fully enjoyed the time off of work and schedules, but we are back in it today.

I am not calling these resolutions, but just some things we are trying to be mindful about in the coming year.

Eat healthier and move more. I already did my first workout of the year this morning. It felt good to get it done first thing in the morning. Just getting myself motivated enough to wake up early each morning to do it before life begins for the rest of the house is the hardest part. Also, back on tracking my food on an app. It always is helpful! I got back on the scale this morning and I have gained 5lbs out of the 15 lbs I lost last year in the month of December. So I am definitely ready to reset. 

Consistency really in everything, including the above. I do not want to feel like I am always catching up on things. That includes work, home stuff and all things kid related. 2020 helped my procrastination quite a bit, but there is definitely a lot of room for improvement.

I de-cluttered a lot last year, and I need to continue to go through all the rooms of this house. I got excited about those vacuum storage bags that came from Amazon this weekend. This is probably considered very lame for most, but imagine all the space in my linen closet will soon have...lol.

#beginning of a new year

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So this was the time back in the summer when we very impulsively decided that we wanted to get rid of the pony wall that separated the entry from the formal dining room. We pretty much took hammers to it before we could change our mind. As you can see, we ended up turning it into another living space since we never use our formal dining area. This was the project that also made us finally replace our carpet.

I am hoping regardless of what happens in this new year, that remote working will stay at least to some extent. So the project for the new year will be to turn the once formal living room into an office area. Needless to say, I have been going down the very dark hole that is Pinterest.

#home projects #matt learns to drywall

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See Ya 2020!

Last pic of 2020. While the year was so different than any other, and in many aspects harder, there was still so much we could be grateful for.

Matt and I both still have jobs. Jobs that have allowed us both to work remotely. It has created such a healthier work/life balance for us.

Savings. We have saved more this year despite paycuts and less overtime for Matt. Such a shift when you go to only wanting what you need because you don’t know what tomorrow will hold. 

After 8 years, 3 kids and a dog, we finally were able to replace our carpet downstairs. We always talked about how we never thought we would have enough extra money to get it done.  I thought I would miss carpet, especially when it got cold. I do not miss it at all! Matt also took out the pony wall right when you come in to our house. Thinking of what home improvement projects we can tackle in this new year. 

Slowing way down. I have that “go,go,go” mentality, and I tended to fill up our days with things to do. Now I probably enjoy the not getting out of our pajamas a little too much. Matt even congratulated me this morning for staying in bed till 8AM. Haha he said he knew it probably took a lot out of me. 

Having so much more time with the kids has been the biggest blessing. Walks to the park, hide n seek, fort nights and all the stuff in between, more time for it all has been amazing.

Not sure how 2021 will look, but there are some changes we made in the last year that I want to take into this new year. 

#happy new year #family

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Christmas 2020. This last year has been nothing we could have imagined, but I am so thankful for how much togetherness Matt and I got with our kids. Even in some down right chaos at times, we have some great memories this year that will last us a lifetime. Merry Christmas!

#merry christmas 2020

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We played hooky on Friday from work and school. My own version of a snow day here in S. Cali. It was a nice way to kick off a three week winter break for the kids. Emily wasn’t allowed in, apparently there is a 36-inch rule we didn’t bother to read about. We still managed an almost 4 hours day of tubing with Matt and I taking turns in the parking lot with her. 

#snow day #family time

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Don’t mind me, just trying to keep the magic of Santa alive for one more year. 

#Noah is on to me #Christmas 2020

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We did two mini Christmas session last weekend. Our clients were going for two very different looks...lol. Noah and Maddie keep saying they wish they could have come to meet the Grinch. Clearly the “Grinch Experience” wouldn’t have been as entertaining if I did it to them. 

#photography #mini sessions