A Little Picnic & Kickball

Shawn's work does an awesome family get together each year. One year we did Silver Dollar City at Christmas (fabulous!) and a couple of years we went swimming at a huge local pool (had it all to ourselves!) This year they reserved a local park and we had a picnic and kickball tournament.

The kids absolutely LOVED it. First of all, there were several different areas of play equipment for them. Easton was my little fearless one and went down every single slide by himself. And, I was so proud of my shy little Lauren as she talked to the other kids, gave several adults high fives, and got right in line with her daddy to number off for the kickball teams. It was just too much!

Here are Lauren and her friend Nate waiting in the kickball line. They are just a few days apart in age so it has always been fun to get together with them!

Easton was all over everything about the day. The dirt? He loved it. The heat? Didn't bother him. You have water balloons? He'll take 7. He was quite the little trooper.

I was cracking up because we had a pre-game rules talk. It was awesome and so up my alley!

My man and my babies taking the outfield. You didn't want to mess with right field. We had it covered.

Lauren played HARD. So hard that when we got home later that evening she had little blisters on her big toes. Poor thing!

Easton? Well, Easton played in the dirt. A lot. His toes may never be the same.

We had our game faces on! I love that Shawn is so alert and ready and that Lauren was giving that don't mess with me look!

My absolute favorite part of the game was watching all the little kids get their chance to kick. I could not have been more proud of Lauren as she went right up to kick!

She was ready and kicked her little heart out. I was cheering her on as she ran the bases with Shawn right beside her. It was perfect!!!

They were so cute taking a little breather between kicks. :)

Thank goodness for some Capri Sun rehydration!!!

 

The water fountain was a pretty big hit too. It was crazy hot after all!

Oh, and see that gold cup? Yep - our team won and we teased over and over that Easton was learning to enjoy the sweet taste of victory. :)

We had so much fun and even though it was hot and very HOT we enjoyed getting out and playing together!!! Here's to next year!

Our First Official Family Movie Night!

Even before I had kids I dreamed of creating fun and memorable memories with my family. Life has been an absolute crazy train the last year and just the other day I looked at my kids and realized the obvious. They are growing up. Thank goodness I still have some years at home with them before they do something crazy and go all out in the real world, but still.

Sometimes, ahem, okay, I always have big ideas and plans and dreams but I rarely have the follow through. It's become an increasing frustration with myself over the past few months but something I believe can be changed. :) So, in that spirit, I decided to quit pinning ideas and just do something.

Enter our first official weekly family movie night!

I was originally going to show Toy Story, but Lauren just got a new Tinkerbell movie and hadn't watched it yet so I figured we would start with it!

I'd planned on making homemade pizza using this recipe and it turned out amazing. We did finally get a pizza stone so I think that it helped, but seriously - that crust was amazing. I made the kids a pepperoni and cheese pizza while Shawn and I ate this beauty...

Tomato Basil Pesto Pizza

After dinner we did baths and jammies early. Of course Lauren had to get her Tinkerbell doll and wear her matching jammie dress.

Earlier in the day the kids helped me make cupcakes and while they napped I decorated them. I just did a simple green icing with purple sparkles, very Tinkerbell-ish. They were a huge hit with both Lauren and Easton!!!

Here is a super fuzzy picture of my little family. :) They were so cute all ready for the movie to start. Even Easton was pretty engaged and excited. 

We popped popcorn and enjoyed our little family evening together. Shawn and I had a no cell phone or computer rule (although I did break it to grab these pictures on my phone) and Lauren absolutely loved the cuddle time and complete undivided attention. This is definitely a tradition we look forward to continue! (Side note....I love this picture of my babies)

He is a popcorn lover just like his mama. :) It made me way too happy to see how much that little guy put down! 

We can't wait for our next Family Movie Night!!! We are hoping to see The Lorax!!!

...

Looking through old iPhone photos today and wondering where this little girl went. 

A Personal Summer Challenge

It's been too long since I've been serious about getting in shape. I have great resources at my fingertips now to help propel me toward some goals I've got and I am finally ready to just get started! Thanks to Stacie over at Motherhood on a Dime I was inspired to make this little journey a challenge for myself!

Here's what I'll be doing:

- Thanks to our garden and the fabulous gardens of our family members we plan on eating more raw veggies this summer. I've also pretty much weaned myself from soda. I say pretty much because it isn't necessarily the intense craving that it used to be. I can say no. I can choose water and not feel completely dissatisfied anymore. My goal is to go completely soda free.

 - I'm starting back with Jillian Michael's The Shred. My goal is to work out using this DVD 3 times a week. I am also hoping to be able to attend a pilates class with my wonderful (and super inspiring) friend Tammy at least once a week this summer.

- I want to lose weight. Real weight. So, I will be taking a picture of the scale each morning. I don't think I'll share the picture because I know every person is different, but I might be calling on a few of you I could message the pic to to help keep me accountable. You in?

- I'm using the app My Fitness Pal to help keep track of my calories taken in and burned. It's a great app and so easy to use!

And, today as I officially begin this new little personal challenge, I am going to be taking a full body before pic. Ugh. As I've scoured Pinterest I've seen all the before and after pics and honestly it has been so motivating for me. I want to be able to see how far I've come!

Each week I'll be checking in with a little update as to how this thing is going. I know myself well enough to know there will definitely be some slip ups, but I am hoping I can get some real traction going!

Swim Lessons

Today was the first day of swim lessons for my little girl! She has been so super excited (even if this mama was so super nervous) and she could not wait to get her swimsuit and sunscreen on. She even paused long enough to let me snap this picture of her before we left!

The swim lessons are taught by a lady in our neighborhood. She has an excellent reputation and I couldn't believe our luck that not only was she within walking distance of our house, but that we actually got on her super long list! Lauren goes two weeks, four days a week, for 50 minutes. Easton's lessons start in July. :)

I caught this picture of Lauren on our walk to lessons. She was so happy. So carefree. So excited.

Here Lauren is waiting for her teacher before the lessons began. Oh my goodness she was just too cute in her bathing suit.

The parents don't actually stay back for the lessons so that the kids can pay closer attention to the teacher, so I snapped this picture of her little swim class learning the safety procedures of the pool before their official lesson began. Easton was having a major fit because he wanted in the pool so I had to get out of there quickly.

And I think this picture just about sums the whole first day up....

she was one tired girl. But, she absolutely loved swim lessons and cannot wait to go back tomorrow!!!!

Our Easy Father's Day Gift - 2012

I don't know why but Father's Day always seems to sneak up on me. This year, we had a particularly busy week leading up to the big day so when I thought of this idea (I'd seen it on Pinterest) early in the week I knew we had to go ahead and get it done!

We started with a white 8x10 canvas I had in our craft supply and a bunch of odds and ends stickers. I wanted a Bible verse for this gift since we were making it for Shawn to hang in his office. I loved the message of Proverbs 20:8 and so I got to sticking on stickers. I made sure to stick them down as tightly as I could. (The color of the stickers won't matter since you'll be painting over them anyway.)

After I got the stickers all on, I let the kiddos loose with the paint! I chose manly colors of blue, green, and yellow but I think any combination would be pretty! Easton might have sneaked in a few tastes of the paint while he was working. I made sure Lauren knew to paint lightly over the stickers because I didn't want any to accidentally fall off.

Both of the kids had a great time painting over the letters. It was messy, yes, but so worth it!

I made sure to let the canvas dry completely before attempting to remove the letter stickers.

I peeled letters off while I watched the kids playing on the deck. I was so excited to see the finished product!

The paint bled through in some areas, but I think it gave it an even cooler look! :) The best news was that Shawn absolutely loved it. He proudly hung it in his office!!! 

It's A New Year....Wait - it's June?!

Remember back in January when I was full of resolutions and excitement and passion for the new year? I created a book list for 2012 that I was so motivated to push through. Well, needless to say I've not even finished a fraction of the list. It's been an interesting first half of 2012 for me. Lots of personal struggles that have kept me from reading (and blogging).

I've stepped away from a few things just recently so I am hoping to get a better grip on some personal goals I've had.

I'm hoping to read more. And these are just a few of the titles I have on my list....

And blog more. This place used to be my sacred space. Yes, some people read it, but I felt safe here. Seems like this blog has gone through an identity crisis in the past 6 months. So many times I opened it up but just could not write. It's time to get back to why I started blogging here in the first place. For my kids. Our memories. The thoughts their mama had. Documenting our lives together.

So I guess today sort of feels like a New Year to me.