Bramell, Party of Five: January 2015

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Frozen Fun {#sponsored}

This is a sponsored post. I am currently serving as a blog ambassador for The Jones Center, who has compensated me for such. The photos and opinions are real, and are my own. This is a reflection of my family's personal experience as members of the facility.
 
 
 
 
Because we are such excellent parents, we surprised Big Sis for Christmas by enrolling her in Ice Skating School at The Jones Center. She has just finished her third lesson, and is loving every minute of it. Her lessons are every Saturday morning for six weeks; she gets half an hour with her class and another half hour of free skating.
 
I love that she's making new friends and that her confidence grows with each week on the ice. I am particularly proud that she is enjoying this because we've tried a couple of other extra-curricular activities that have not held her interest at all. She's already told us that she wants to continue on to the next level of lessons after this!
 
The instructors are doing a great job with the kids; they split them up by age first, then by ability. Big Sis is in a small group of about 15 kids. It's fun to watch how they can split the ice rink into about 10 different groups and give the kids such great individual attention.
 
If you live in the area, I highly recommend the Skate School at The Jones Center in Springdale. We were able to score a fantastic deal during their Black Friday sale, but the regular price on enrollment is a very affordable $50 per session. Lessons are for all ages, even for adults! Make sure you check it out!
 
 
 

Monday, January 26, 2015

January Round-Up

I'm happy to say that I've made the first steps to getting this blog makeover show on the road. I've contacted a designer and I've picked a theme and color scheme---yay for progress! Now I just have to pull the trigger and wait for the magic to happen...
 
In the meantime, I've been chosen as the Blogger of the Month over at the Arkansas Women Bloggers site. I'm Miss January! I love being part of this statewide blogger network that is over 500 members strong. I've learned so much from this amazing group of people; I've learned to stand out, to fit in and to be myself all at the same time! These are my people. Click on over there to see what I've been sharing with them this month.  
 
 


The time I organized Boy Twin's room:  Click Here


Reflections on the new year:  Click Here


Friday, January 16, 2015

I'm BAAAACK!

Wow, I just realized that it's been two whole months since I blogged here. I'll be surprised if I still have any readers left.
 
Anyway, we had kind of a rough ending to 2014 with Girl Twin's surgery and how much time I was working through the holidays...just not enough time or energy to blog. We had a great Christmas with family, and the kids are still thrilled with all their loot.


 
 
Now, here we are at 2015. I'm trying not to freak out. There's so much going on in my head, I'm not sure that I can get it all out here. I'm turning FORTY this year, y'all. 4-0. I haven't given it much thought until the calendar flipped over...then, BAM, there it was. I don't think I like it and my body knows it--I've been gaining weight, my skin is breaking out and I have had an eye twitch for over a week now. It's time to fall apart, I guess.
 
I think about my mom when she was my age and it's really weird. When she was 40, I was TWENTY. Yes, that's right. She had a kid in college and one in high school; I have two kids who still need help going to the bathroom! I always thought she was so young and cool--now I know why; she was. I go to Big Sister's classroom and I'm probably the oldest mom there and older than most of the teachers, too. I guess I'm glad that I was so old when I had kids, but does that make it easier or harder? It just makes me tired. Oh well. I kinda like those little buggers and I hope they don't grow up wishing their parents weren't such old farts.


 
 
I didn't make any resolutions this year, but I do want to work on a few things. Mainly, I'm going to focus on finding motivation. I need a some serious motivation to get some things done this year. Here's my short list:
 
1) I'm going to do this darn blog makeover I keep talking about. I need to get on it and make it a priority. Like, now!
 
2) I want some new furniture. Seriously, Lee and I have been living together for nearly 12 years and we still have our mixture of his & hers hand-me-down furniture. The only furniture we've bought together is a mattress and our tiny kitchen table. I desperately want a new couch with end tables that match! I want a couch that doesn't smell like dog/vomit/juice/bodily fluids. Can we make this happen please?
 
3) I'm finally going to get my butt in shape and lose some of this weight. Because I'm turning 40, you know. It won't get any easier.
 
4) I cannot believe I'm saying this--I'm (probably) going to walk/jog a freaking half marathon with my friend Tara this spring. Why, you ask? Because I'm turning 40, I guess. She's asked me for at least 3 years to do this thing with her, and each year I decline and blame my fat. So, what better motivation to get in shape than to commit to some serious training? And please note two things: I only wanted to run a 5K before I turn 40 NOT a half marathon. And, two, we will probably walk most of it because, God love her, she's not the most athletic person I've ever known either. I can say that because I've known her for 30+ years and because it's true and I love her. She says if she can do it, then I can too. I guess we'll see about that. And to make it worse, she sent a Fed Ex package to my door with some new running socks inside; she's in my head now.
 
 
 

I'm ready to get everything back on track--I want to blog more, be healthier and make more time for playing with my kids. Keep watching to see if I can find the motivation.

 
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