Vacations 2015

Our vacation plans this summer didn't work out quite as grand as we hoped

but that's okay because a sweet little one was brought into the world

Our plan was to go to Virginia this summer to visit some dear friends

I didn't get any vacation until after July 28th so we were going to have to wait until August

Not our ideal plan but we would make it work

THEN their daughter announced she was due to have a baby August 12th

Yikes.... She lives in North Carolina and her parents would be traveling there when baby arrived

Baby could come a week early, a week late or right on time

Babies are not predictable so we decided to delay our Virginia plans
Little Charlotte came a few days late while we were on vacation to our other destination

Our "other" destination wasn't nearly as grand but we made the most of it

Everyone needs to attend the Iowa State Fair once in their life time, right?
I remember being drug to the fair when I was little and HATED it
It was hot, I was certain I would die from all the walking and I just wasn't a farm girl

Now that the boys are a little older, I thought it would be the perfect time to take them
They are young enough to still have fun and old enough to remember it

We saw the butter cow, ate fair food, let the kids ride some rides but their favorite part was:
Drum roll......
The cow judging
They loved the cows

We watched one boy get thrown by his cow
My heart broke for that young man
He worked all year with that cow and unfortunately that cow showed the judges who was boss

My best friend and her family camp the entire 2 weeks at the fair
Their 3 girls show cattle and hogs and perform in the Bill Riley talent show every year
Seeing them was the high light of my day at the fair


A few pictures of our day at the fair:

The FAMOUS butter cow

The Monopoly guy was new this year

Fair food is a must

Pricey but so yummy

The boys got to rock climb and zip line


While we were in Des Moines we went to Sky Zone





The boys
 mentioned that they wanted to go to Sky Zone
This place is AMAZING for non stop boys
Give them an hour of time and I guarantee they'll be wore out when you leave

We ate at Zombie Burger

People definitely hype this place up

The food was good, we can say we've been there but we probably won't ever go back

Who orders a salad at a burger joint?

That would be me because it looked better than a greasy burger on a hot day

After we finished up at Zombie Burger, we drove up the road to the pappajohn sculpture park

It was HOT and the kids weren't really interested in the sculptures as much as climbing on the wall

No, we didn't break the rules

It may look like Parker is sitting on the horse but he's really sitting on the wall behind it

One of the highlights of our trip was cooling off at Orange Leaf
I pulled out my phone and googled ice cream shops near us
{Isn't technology great? What did we do before we had phones?}
I saw Orange Leaf frozen yogurt was minutes away
 I hadn't heard of one of these
 but the minute we walked in the door I knew I found my new favorite indulgence

It was worth every penny of the $27 we spent
Some of our favorite flavors were -
Strawberry Lemonade
Peanut butter cup
Wedding cake
and
Peach mango


So Des Moines wasn't nearly as awesome as Virginia would have been
but we did some firsts and made memories and that's whats important

Summer? What Summer?

We had back to school nights this past week

Tuesday night for Spencer and Thursday night for Parker

I didn't take pictures because "we're to cool for that"

I decided that it would be best to have the boys one on one

I posted before about my love for having theses boys one on one

I love having them together but there's something about having them one on one

Having them one on one lets us focus on THAT ONE

When they are separated, their personalities come out more

We talk about stuff we might not talk about when the other one is there (they like different things)

They are different and it makes me more aware of how different and grown up they're becoming

It's sad but at the same time, it's absolutely amazing

On Tuesday night we went to Spencer's school

He ran up and down the steps and left us in the dust

He found his locker, his classrooms and introduced himself to all his teachers

At one point, I had tears in my eyes

This boy is something else!

Spencer can talk to anyone, this boy will have NO problem finding a job

He's outgoing and can have a conversation with ANYONE

I love that about him!

I'm not sure where it came from because his dad and I are both a little quiet

especially when it comes to people we don't know

I watched other students steer clear of teachers or their parents introduced them

I'm glad Spencer can talk to them and can make a great first impression

After back to school night, Spencer wanted Cheri Top so that's what we had

Parker's back to school night was Thursday
As we walked into the school, he said Summer sure went fast
YES, YES it did!

We were certain he would have Mrs. Truitt because he has had all the teacher's Spencer had

Boy were we surprised to find out he has Mrs. Hartman

He was beaming ear to ear

He loves Mrs. Truitt but Mrs. Hartman is pretty darn cool

Her classroom is filled with animals

Snakes, lizards, fish, frogs, ferrets, hissing cockroaches.....

I can't handle the smell but the kids absolutely LOVE it

Parker put all of his supplies where they were supposed to go and he was out of there

That day he found a Subway coupon for a free sandwich with the purchase of a sandwich

Needless to say he was a super cheap date and was pretty proud of it

After we got our sandwiches, we drove to Weed Park to eat and check out the new lion sculpture

They will be off to school tomorrow morning
Ready or not

You have got to be kidding me!

You have got to be kidding me!

It's August 7th ALREADY?

We aren't wasting any time getting into August and we're fitting in as much as we can

Last Saturday was the Halo 5k in Bettendorf

You can read more about it here

Post race sweaty picture but we'll treasure the memories while supporting a great cause

The kiddos have some NASTY poison ivy

I think I taught them to believe in karma

They were told not to go down by the creek

Guess where they got into the poison ivy
The truth came out
Life's no fun when you have poison ivy, especially on your eye

On Sunday my brother and his family got back from South Dakota

They stopped in Iowa before heading back to Wisconsin

My mom did her annual Grandma Camp while they were here

Sadly, it only lasted 3 days but my oh my were those days fun filled
I'll be doing a separate post on Camp at a later date since my mom took most of the pictures

On Monday Spencer got his braces off

On Tuesday the boys had dentist appointments for cleanings
Dr Peterson couldn't believe how great Spencer's teeth look
{I'd have to agree!}
He said he sees a lot of the white railroad tracks from kids not brushing well
{I think Spencer was just lucky!}
I was a bit nervous to see how his restoration looked once the braces were off
Dr. Peterson did a heck of a job fixing the chipped tooth
 because he doesn't need to make any adjustments now that the teeth are straight


On Wednesday I had my follow up with the surgeon to check the lump in my breast
Everything looks good but he wants me to have a mammogram every year from now on
I can finally breathe again

The kids are signed up for school

This was the first year they tried to get everyone to sign up online

Let me just say, I was about ready to jump off a bridge by the time I was done

Technology is great for some things but there are still kinks to be worked out

We have about half of the school supplies bought 

I'm still trying to figure out why each 5th grader needs 10 glue sticks

Does one classroom really use 200 glue sticks in a year?

On to better things

We will be vacationing again soon

We're not going far but we'll be doing a few things we've been wanting to do so it's exciting

I'll be posting more on that soon

This weekend my mama is taking me away to celebrate my birthday a little early

We don't get enough time to spend together, just the two of us
She's also going to help me paint my kitchen
My goodness I LOVE that woman!


It's Friday and I couldn't be happier

It's Flying

This summer is flying by

I'm not taking the time to blog so I'll recap
 and will hopefully find time to go in a little more detail later

I've been reminded that school registration online is already open
I'm putting if off until the very last minute because I'm not ready to go bankrupt

I'm also not ready to have my baby start his last year at elementary school

and my oldest start his last year in middle school
Say what!?!?
I'm just not ready for all that stuff
When I became a mom, people told me time would fly but as Junie B. Jones would say,
woweee wow wow
Can't they just stay little so I can read them Junie B. Jones books again?

I saw this picture last week and got teary
This was taken a year ago

This was taken last week

Not the best picture but someone please put a brick on that boys head

I know there will come a day when he won't take a selfie with me so I'm treasuring every picture I get
My heart bursts with love for this boy


TRIP

We took a trip!
I'd like to call it a vacation but I read this and decided it wasn't a vacation, it was a trip
Yes, I finally took a day off work so we could go away over the 4th of July
We went to Wisconsin to spend some time with my brother and his family
My parents were also there at the same time
Great memories made in a few short days

Lake Michigan was COLD but it didn't stop these kids

Our trip wouldn't be complete with out this
Ice cream from Cedar Crest Dairy

Fire works on the 4th

Bro and Sis Coke cans
Oh and I love the seagull photo bombing us 

The Belmont cow
We stop at the cow every time we go to Wisconsin

BASEBALL
The summer ball season is over and it was an exciting year

 Parker's team took 1st place in the championship
This kid struggled to hit all year, he was the youngest and smallest on the team and just didn't have it
Then tournaments started and the switch flipped; the boy hit an in the park homeroom
Where was that all season?
Dad got to help coach the Bridgestone team
I was so proud of him for building the kids back up after the other coach would tear them down
Yes, it was one of those years and we're glad it's behind us

Spencer's team took 2nd place in the championship for their age bracket
Spencer's coach (back left) was fa-nominal and so positive
He wasn't all about winning like a lot of the coaches
Spencer did some catching and pitching and has decided to play fall ball this year

AMELIA

Our princess turned 4 and I forgot her birthday

Oh my goodness, we love this girl and she knows it


WORK
Work has been weird
 I'm so ready for normal what ever that might be
My coworker took a job in a different department July 1st
I've been working extra hours and spent the last week and a half training my new coworker
Later this week I start my new hours of 8-2
Life will be grand!


BIG NEWS
I started making time for ME
Yep, that's the BIG NEWS
My kids are in a million activities,
the hubby bowls
and
I do nothing
So I got frustrated, basically blew a fuse and told them that it was time I took some time out for ME
I signed up for 4, 5k's and 1, 10k
Yes, this is what I consider fun!
The night before a race, we pick up our race packets, have supper and shop for cute race clothing
How much more fun does life get?
We walk/run the race and then treat ourselves to Starbucks or a donut
I have some pretty amazing friends who are weird like me and love doing 5k's so it's great
When mama gets some "me" time, I'm much more enjoyable to be around


Well, that's a recap
We're planning one more trip before school starts
and the boys have a summer bucket list we haven't even got to
I hope the month of August creeps by

Our plans for SUMMER break

Dang it, it's hard being a working mama

I wish I would have treasured those summer days more when I was home with the kids

We're just going to make the most of it this year

I found out last week that my work schedule will be changing

For the last 10 months, I've worked 11-5

Starting July 1st, my hours will be 8-2

I'm not sure what to think 

The boys will be home longer by themselves

I kind of liked having the mornings to myself to run errands and get things done

but 

getting the kids supper and to ball practices and games by 5:00 is tough

I'm a morning person so it will be nice to get my day started early and get it over with

It's going to take some adjusting but I think it will be great

As for our summer plans:

We will be playing ball until the second week in July

We have a trip to Wisconsin planed

We will be taking the boys to the Iowa State Fair for the first time

I'm sure we'll be spending time at the Aquatic Center

We plan to do lots of reading

We'll be making a lot of smores in our new outdoor fire pit

Yesterday was the boys first day of SUMMER break

I left them a list of jobs to get done

One of the jobs was to write 10 things they would like to do this summer

Here are their lists:

Spencer

Go to Sky Zone

     Go  fishing

Go to the Aquatic Center

Stay up late

Be AWESOME

Go to Wisconsin and do fun things

Have a fire in the fire pit

Learn to play the piano

Go for a long bike ride

Go to Grandma's a lot

Parker

Go to Sky Zone

Make hot dogs on the fire

Have steak

Have smores

Go to Happy Joe's

Buy 5 things at the Dollar Tree

Stay up late

Play baseball with the family

Eat 2 pies 

Library stuff (The summer reading program)

Do you think Parker was hungry when he made his list?

I laughed reading them because for one,
I was impressed that the things they want to do are not over the top like I thought they would be
and because the lists have their names written all over them

Spencer is all about being awesome and Parker only thinks about food

The boys are enjoying sleeping in and today they'll be hanging out with Grandma

How much better can it get?

Summer Break 2015

The boys are officially on SUMMER break

I can't believe we have another school year under our belts

On our way to school Friday, Spencer reminded me that he'll be an 8th grader next year

What that heck!?!? 

Excuse me, I'm feeling a little nauseous

We celebrated the last day of school with Dunkin Donuts for breakfast

Parker got to go to the Aquatic Center with his school

Spencer had field day

and we got Tees ice cream and closed the place down

Hello SUMMER! 

31 days until our family vacation but who's counting

Life Lately

Life lately has been keeping us on our toes and making us feel incredibly blessed

We are in the home stretch of the last month of school

with a million activities to fill the last 2 weeks

Spencer was given the Best Attitude award at his orchestra concert last week

and also got an award for getting a 1- on a solo and ensemble piece

We have a choir concert Thursday and movie night at school this Friday

Baseball practices have started and oh my goodness how we missed being at the ball field

The boys LOVE playing ball and we LOVE watching them

Opening ceremonies was Saturday and we had gorgeous weather
Whats not to LOVE about ball park food, sunshine and great friends 

 While there is no place we'd rather be, practices 3-4 nights a week take time from other things

Two months ago, I was asked by the PTO to treat our teachers for Teacher App. Week

Last week was THE WEEK and we delivered 52 gifts every day

with an added bonus of breakfast on Friday for all of the staff

It was fun but I've never been so happy to put all my craft stuff away
Maybe this is why I don't get any of my own projects done

I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to add a little more work to our lives but we did

After wanting to remodel one of our bathrooms since the day we looked at our house (15 years ago),

things are finally starting to come together

The corner shower leaked after multiple caulk jobs so I finally said, THIS IS IT!

I should say that more often because things happen when I say that

I spent a month picking out a shower (I could never build a home- there are too many decisions)

In my mind, I knew I wanted this particular corner tub we had seen at Menards

but kept thinking it would be too big

I didn't want to have my knees shoved in the side of the tub when I was on the toilet

We measured and measured and drew lines - I'm a visual person

In the end, we decided to GO BIG

Here's a  photo of the work in progress:

The old leaky corner shower
 

We had to do some floor repair due to the leak

I'll post more pictures of the bathroom when it's done

While all of our projects were in full swing, 

I fit in a few Dr appointments for myself  that I had been putting off

I've had a sore on my foot since December that I tried to treat myself but it didn't work

It was a deep plantars wart that's going to need some more attention

Bummer!

Two days later I had an appointment for a yearly lady exam and some blood work

What should have been a quick exam ended up being a 2 hour appointment

My Dr. found a lump in my right breast

4 days later (the longest 4 days of my life) I had a mammogram and ultrasound

So far everything looks good but I'll be seeing a surgeon later this month

Mother's Day was a little more sentimental than it has been in the past

A week prior, I wasn't sure what my future would look like

Life can change in the blink of an eye

I'm so thankful that I'm on the other side of this and blessed

The boys made me breakfast and cards on Sunday and we spent the evening with my parents

Our jobs are going well

The hubby is working a lot of over time
 and I'm thrilled to be working in a t-shirt rather than my parka

I had my 9 month review last week that went fabulous

My boss is kind of a negative nancy so I was dreading my first review

A great review and a raise can turn anyone's day around

Our vacation plans are in the works

I've worked 9 months with NO vacation
This was quite a change from the flexible schedule I had before

Come the end of July I will FINALLY have vacation time and I'm going to CELEBRATE
So far we have 2 trips planned

Well, that's a wrap up
I'm hoping to write more blog posts this summer

Vacation