Cruff Family Chronicles

The other day this picture popped up on my FB from 4 years ago. This was about 6 months before we moved to MI. It just seems crazy that it's been 4 years since this picture. These kids don't look anything like this anymore 😢. It reminded me about all those times people told me "Time flies, cherish the kids while you can" while I rolled my eyes and picked up my tantruming toddler off the ground. It gave me all the feels because it's so true. My oldest is 8. She doesn't need me to brush her hair, put her shoes on, pick out her clothes, etc. And while having a child with that kind of independence is awesome, it's also a little sad. She needs me just a little less. Now, I know if you're in the thick of it you're thinking "I can't freakin' wait!" just like I did. It's hard to enjoy and cherish the moments when they drag like turtles in peanut butter. Take solace that these needy years WILL end. Even Avi needs me less. I fe...

Yesterday, in small group, we made a list of labels we identify ourselves with. Mom, wife, friend, etc. Me being the honest and oversharing person that I am, I put even unpleasant things I've been associated with: Mean, Stubborn, etc. It's taken me a long time to accept myself and my identity. It's definitely still a struggle. No, I don't have it all together. The point of the lesson was that those labels are not as important as our identity in Christ. It really spoke to me because I am not perfect and I don't claim to be but no matter what anyone calls me, I know that the only name that matters is that I'm His. Anyway, there's a label that I've come to terms with: Girl Mom. If you read my post when I found out we were having a 3rd girl, I honestly struggled with it. One year ago today, I permanently sealed that label by getting a tubal ligation. I can tell you that with all of my heart, We are still at PEACE. I LOVE being a Girl Mom. These were the...

The other day on FB I wrote "I think I'm having a 1/3 life crisis. 2 weeks til 30 ." I know people thought I was being funny and I sort of was but really, I wasn't kidding. The other day I'm cutting the crusts off my kid's sandwich (I don't like the crust either) and I literally thought to myself "What am I doing with my life?" I'm going to be 30 soon and I have no college degree, a measly dental assistant certificate that I can't even use and I'm a terrible housewife. I can't even do this job well. I know, I know. I sound dramatic and was throwing myself a little pity party. With Middle being in school 3 days a week, I just felt like there's something more I could be doing. Something that maybe would contribute more to the household. I do realize that being a SAHM is important work. I do. But some days, it's hard to see that. Well, I decided to do something completely out of my comfort zone. I decided to join Younique. ...

June 30 will be my one year fit-aversary. I'll be on the road so I decided to post about it today. The last year fitness wise has not been without incident. Sick kids, missed workouts, low motivation. I still to this day do not "enjoy" working out. I know that it works so it's a necessary evil. I don't hate it as much as I used to because I have seen the good side effects from taking care of myself and moving my body more. I do enjoy running even though some runs just plain suck. I have learned a lot this past year. What my body is capable of, my own strength (physical and mental), what works and what doesn't. I am not as strict with my eating as some are. I used to be a lot more strict in the beginning because that's what you have to do to lose the weight. Plain and simple. You still have to watch what you eat. All in moderation, that's what I like to preach. This is the longest I have ever stuck to exercising. I would stop once I got the results ...

I wanted to share a story with you all. Not for pity. Not for attention. In hopes to help even just one mom who sometimes struggles, just like I do. This weekend was jam packed! Saturday morning, I ran a 5k. It was windy and cold but I still got a personal best! Adam brought the girls to come watch me. Now, from experience, I know that can be so stressful but he does it anyway. I really wanted to get a family picture as we have yet to get one so I let Adam know before the race. After the race, he walks back like he's heading to the car when he was just getting out of the wind (like I said, cold and windy race). So my defense mode goes up and I get grumpy because I just wanted one stinking picture. Was that so hard? I could sense his stress which further dampened my mood. I know it's hard. Kids are not the most patient people on the planet. They have to wait 30 min for me to start the race and the 30+ until I cross the finish line so I know it's hard for them too, especial...

All my life I have been able to eat what I want and still be skinny. Until I had my 2nd kid I think. It wasn't until recently that I realized I've always been "skinny fat". Where the outside looks thin but is not strong. When I was working out at the Y, I tried a fitness class and almost left in tears from how hard it was. I remember there was an older lady who looked at me and said "You're skinny so you should be able to do this." Goodness, that stung. So after having my 3rd baby, I wanted to give myself some time. I wanted my milk supply to work out its kinks so I took it slow after this one. After my 2nd, I started running at 5 weeks postpartum. I don't even think I made it a year. I worked up to my 5k and quit. I've always been on and off with exercising so I'm hoping this time it sticks. So I shared a pretty big change pic the other day in a tighter fitting shirt. The angles were a little off but you could still see the difference. ...

If my kid's obsession with Minecraft and my constant postings about it annoy you, believe me, you aren't the only one. It annoys me too. I've been thinking about this for a while now. Last year, I was so anti-Minecraft. I don't like getting into "what everyone else is into" and I know that's what a lot of kids are into so I didn't want Bri to fall into the trap. I didn't know much about it. I think Bri was introduced to it from my MIL's iPad because she has it for her students up in Alaska. All I knew was that's all she wanted to do when she had access to it. "Hi Grandma! Can I play on your iPad?" wasn't really a very nice greeting when she got off the plane from Alaska but Grandma took it in stride. This summer the passion grew in her and Avi. It was installed on our iPad to keep the girls from fighting over Grandma's. Once Grandma left and it's all they wanted to do, it was uninstalled. They weren't happy but i...

So lately, Bri has been complaining about a 2nd grader who's been picking on her on the bus. It's on and off and sometimes the girl is nice and sometimes she's mean. Other times she's mean only when a certain other friend rides the bus. Before winter break, this girl had broken a prize of Bri's (something cheap like the magnetic hair with the face games). I finally spoke to the bus driver and asked her to please move her when she got back from break. Well, of course, 2+ weeks is a long time and she didn't move her. On Friday, she told me that this little girl threatened to come to our house, beat down the door and kick her face in. Um, excuse me? So now, I have to talk to the bus driver again and someone at transportation. Listen, I am not a helicopter mom. Kids will get picked on wherever so I am not panicking and starting to take her to school. It's one thing to say mean things but when you threaten violence, no, you need to get spoken to about it. Bri t...