Insta-Friday

It's Friday!
The days seems to be flying by and summer is passing more quickly that I can hardly imagine.

I don't seem to be taking as many pictures, I think because we have been so busy.

Maybe, I don't know.

Anyways, pictures.

Last weekend while on our drive home Ainsley spotted this cloud formation.

Mama, look! It looks like a baby!

It totally does.

Do you see it?

Something I've been noticing lately, Kansas is really beautiful.

When I was younger I never paid attention to it other than to lament it's boring-ness.

But now, wow, my eyes have been opened to the beauty that we are surrounded by.

Yes, even when it's 106 outside,

Last weekend my Dad took us to go see Brave {thanks Dad!}.

They had a preview for Finding Nemo in 3D.

Now, normally I'm not a huge fan of 3D.

It costs more and ticket prices are ridiculous as it is.

But, I tend to get headaches during 3D, well, headaches during movies as it is.

But, Nemo in 3D, I think we are going to have to go.

Finding Nemo was the first movie that Adison ever saw in the movie theater.

I have such fond memories of that experience and would love to take her to see it in 3D.

This picture cracks me up, my Dad was teasing her and she couldn't help but keep an eye on him and his antics.

{Have I ever mentioned before that my dad is a big goofball? He is, I love it and my kiddos do, too.}

The other evening I was going through some of my old jewelry looking for a pair of earrings for Adison.

Homegirl has sen-si-tive ears.

She had a pair of sterling silver earrings on but the backs weren't and her ears were angry.

While searching for something else I found my old watch.

I loved this thing and wore it for ages.

I told K that we need to get a new battery for it so I can wear it again.

Isn't Minnie the cutest!?!

Coffee.

Enough said.

Well, except, yum.

So, the 5K is tomorrow.

Say what?

Yep, tomorrow.

I'm super excited.

Plus, to be honest, nervous as well.

I know that a 5K isn't that long of a distance, but I really want to run the whole thing.

I'm so excited about the whole experience.

The color being thrown everywhere.

The fun of running with my friends.

The whole thing.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I'm heading up sans kiddos.

Yep, my first night away from the little two for non-medical reasons {having a baby or surgery}.

I'm looking forward to having fun with my friends but slightly anxious.

It will be fun, it's not that I don't think that they will be well taken care of because, hello, K is an awesome dad.

It's just me. Being weird. Okay, I need to stop.

It WILL be a blast, I'm have been looking forward to this for ages.

It's time, time to get my 5K on.

Like Donkey Kong.

{I couldn't resist.}

So, yesterday I mentioned our shirts that we made.

This is our team name, Save the Snails.

I mentioned forever and a day ago about the epic snail crossings that we witnessed on our walks.

I'm talking hoards of snails crossing a busy bike/walking path.

My friends and I, having multiple littles among us moved them out of the way to avoid squishage.

The kiddos were so upset when we would come across one that had been squished.

So, back then, you know, forever and a day ago, when we first decided to do a 5K together, we decided that we would be team "Save the Snails".

Don't you just love when things work out as planned?
I do.

Okay lovelies, head on over and link up over at Life. rearranged.
I can't wait to see your pics from the week.

The Good, the Bad and the Funny

The Good: Pool time. The girls are little fish or rather, mermaids. Abby shocked me today with willingly putting on her arm floaties and wanting to go in the big pool. She then proceeded to swim the length of the pool {twice} and THEN learned to climb the ladder out of the pool to jump in BY HERSELF. Say what??? My 5K is this weekend! My friends and race team members and I made our shirts the other night, I am planning on sharing the pictures and story behind our team name tomorrow.

The Bad: K's cousin, Tiffany, found another tumor. This one was in a lymph node and was removed earlier this week. They are still awaiting pathology, prayers are coveted and appreciated. The fires in Colorado, please be praying that they go out. My dear cousin, Kelli, lives there and it worries me. {Although, I am *trying* my hardest to live without worry, it's an on-going process.}

The Funny: Abby is all about tossing Ainsley under the bus lately, saying all of these things that Ainsley is obviously not doing.

Ainsley is ready for bed.

Ainsley is done eating dinner.

Ainsley isn't eating right now.

Ainsley got out of her chair.

Pretty much anything and everything, it's hysterical.

 

Luckily, Ainsley doesn't take it personally.   

It's going to be a while my dear

Ainsley was watching some Cat in the Hat show this afternoon.

They were talking about winter and were dressed up in the appropriate cold weather attire.

I need to find my scarf.

Digging through the scarf bin.

Now I need my hat.

Digging again, looking for her hat.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that it's supposed to be 108 tomorrow.

No, that's not the heat index.

108

Praying for everyone in Colorado, that the fires cease and for everyone's safety.

Another lesson learned- sleep

An oldie but a goodie, love it!

Don't celebrate, pat on the back, congratulate, high five or cheer for yourself.

Nor tell your mom, friends, the internets or your friends on your blog.

Why?

Well, because kids LOVE to prove you wrong.

I made the *mistake* of excitedly mentioning that Abby had smoothly transitioned into a big girl bed.

Oh silly little naive mama, what were you thinking?

Everyone out there knows that as soon as you do something like that the rainbow unicorn stops sprinkling fairy dust on your magically occurring situation.

Folks, this stinks.

She's tired, no longer napping well {tear} nor sleeping well at night {sob}.

Cranky, Cr-aaanky.

It's currently 4:39.

A.M.

As in 4:39 in the morning and I'm awake.

So next time I start to get excited about something please please please stop me.

I don't want the rainbow unicorn to stop sprinkling fairy dust because I doubt it makes very good coffee for the next morning when I am exhausted and proven wrong.

Think I could train a unicorn to make coffee?

Love,

Obviously over-tired mama

********

Okay, so I wrote that at 4:39 Sunday morning.

I ended up with maybe {MAYBE} four hours of sleep that night.

My word, how that brought back the newborn stage.

And oh how I love sleep.

We took the girls to see Brave yesterday afternoon so no nap.

{We LOVED the movie, more on that later.}

Last night after another failed attempt to get Abby to go to bed I put the rail back on her crib.

She's just not ready yet and that is a-okay.

We'll try again...later...maybe MUCH later, ha ha!

I was so exhausted from the early morning party my two year old decided to throw that I was asleep by 8 last night.

yawn

How was your weekend my lovelies?

One of my favorite pictures ever

Migraine + Pilates = puke

I learned a very important lesson yesterday evening.

It's quite simple, too.

Migraine + Pilates = puke

or rather

Migraine + Pilates + Heat + Humidity = puke

I have been having headaches a lot lately, I blame allergies.

or the heat

or the humidity

or the fact that the day of the week ended in "y".

Whatever the reason, headaches and I have been bff's lately much to my chagrin.

So, yesterday.

Headache as usual.

Did all of my usual "Please, dear Lord, make this headache go away" routine to no avail.

Oh well, I'm sure it will eventually go away on it's own.

Ha ha ha, you can join me in laughter, because, seriously dear little naive woman, when does that ever happen?
Oh yeah, pretty much never.

So, my friend, Clara, and I make it to Pilates.

All is going well, but somewhere in the middle of the class my headache decided to freak out to epic proportions.

Okay, I just have to make it to the end of class, get the kiddos and head home. K can get the kids to bed and I can get to bed. Piece o' cake. I can totally handle this.

Oh, dear little naive woman, your head had other ideas.

We gather our kiddos and head outside.

I'm feeling okay, at first.

Out of nowhere though, my head starts to freak out.

I started thinking, oh my goodness, I think I'm going to puke.

At that exact moment Abby decided to be a punk and run out into the road.

Nice timing Babs.

I manage to grab her two seconds before a car comes by, minor {okay, MAJOR} freak out.

By then though, my head feels like a train is driving through it.

Did I mention that our gym was hosting a swim meet so we had to walk about a block and a half to the car?
Awesome.

or not

I managed to get the kids to the car when the puke feeling starts to really kick in, like it's actually going to happen.

Oh no, I hate puking. Please. No. Puke.

Of course, right at that moment Abby decides to be a super punk and flip out about getting into her car seat.

Great timing kid.

I get her buckled {finally!} get in the car, get it started.

Oh no oh no oh no oh no.

Yep, it happened, again and again and again and again.

I started to feel better.

Well enough to manage the drive home.

Adison called K to tell him what happened so he was looking for us.

He came out to get the kiddos while I made a mad dash for our bed and promptly crashed.

The whole ordeal finally catching up with me.

The chills/hot flashes that I get with a migraine.

The post puking shakes.

The whole nine yards.

yuck

Praise the Lord for the clear head so I was able to get my precious cargo home.

Important lesson learned here folks.

Migraine + Pilates = puke

No me gusta.

 

*Virtual Coffee*

Yay, I'm so happy that Amy from Lucky Number13 is hosting Virtual Coffee again!

Stop by her place, check out her lovely pics and link up!

Head on over, scoot!

***

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about the new {to me} delicious tasting coffee creamer I tried over the weekend.

It's by International Delight, the Sweet Cream by Coldstone Creamery.

So so so good.

On the way home though I realized that I left it at my in-law's house, sadface.

I think I am going to need to get some more.

yum.

***

At church, for our small group and our L3 journal, we have been reading 1John.

Love.

This one word has so meaning.

It's stretching me, teaching me and inspiring me.

This weekend we visited my in-laws to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday.

We had a lot of fun and celebrated at a yummy Mexican restaurant on Saturday evening.

Sunday was spent relaxing and hanging out.

The girls had a lot of ice cream, Abby at this point was wearing more of it than had consumed.

The Midwest is windy.

***

A couple of weeks ago I mistakenly admitted {I should know better} that Abby was sleeping so well in her big girl bed.

Sigh.

I admit defeat.

I'm tired.

She has not napped well for several days.

yawn.

***

My sister-in-law, Betsy, shared this super cute headband.

I love it, Adison and I have been crafting this afternoon. 

***

Ainsley's ears are much better.

Yay for modern medicine.

Number one rule~ Love

Adison's beautiful chalk drawing, I love her creativity.

How was your weekend?
Father's Day?

Ours was very nice.

I have a lot of pictures to share, but am thinking that I may do that tomorrow.

Today though, I wanted to share something that my insightful and inquisitive nine year old brought to my attention.

We were having a conversation that has been had many times, and if you have children or was a child once {ha ha!} I'm sure you've had as well.

It was about living the way that God would want us to live, to be respectful and have a positive attitude.

We went over expectations and consequences, as well as going over the rules again.

Adison at one point said, Mom, we need to have a list of all of these rules.

Me: You know what, you're right. Well, Jesus told us to love one another and to treat others how we want to be treated. When it comes down to it, that's the one and only rule in our house. We are called to love one another, to treat others how we would hope that they would treat us. If we follow that one, very important rule then everything else falls into place.

Love.

That's it folks.

It all boils down to love.

We now have one and only rule in our house as well as one expectation: to treat others with love. To love them as they deserved to be treated. To love them as Jesus loves us.

Anyone who loves God must also love his brothers and sisters. 1John 4:21

Isn't it amazing how children can help us to recognize the complexity in life.

It doesn't need to be so, in fact, it can be quite simple.

Love.

Practice it, show it, live it.

Insta-Friday

Insta-last-few-weeks, I've didn't share my Instagram pics last week.

How has your week been?

Have you taken any pictures of your week {or weeks in my case}?

Head on over to Life. rearranged and link up!

Dentist appointments.

Cuddles with Daddy.

Leaving the pool.

Visiting the zoo, we just got penguins.

Little cutie in Mama's sunglasses.

Seeing the beauty of God's creation.

Swimmer's ear diagnosis.

Working out, kicking my butt.

Afternoon tea courtesy of a certain four year old.

Suddenly fearless while swimming {baby pools for the win!}.

She likes to do things first

What is it with my darling, princess middle child that loves to have medical issues first?
Let me start out by saying that we have been blessed.

Our children are so healthy medically speaking and we haven't had anything major/scary happen {praise the Lord}.

With that being said, my middle child loves to through me for a loop...or two...or three.

I experience parenting firsts with her like never before.

Exhibit A.

The rock incident.

Why in the world she decided to put this thing in her mouth in the first place is beyond my understanding.

But, put it in her mouth, swallow it and then have it pass through her digestive track, lovely.

Exhibit B.

Stitches.

Not fun, my poor baby, she was so brave.

4 stitches for a 4 year old.

 

Exhibit C.

Swimmer's ear.

Yesterday around dinner she came to me and said that her ear was wet.

Weird, I know.

But, I checked and lo and behold, the hair by her ear was wet, looked at her ear and there was a pinking tinged discharge coming from her ear.

Weird, but I started thinking that maybe she had some water in her ear from swimming lessons?

This morning though, more discharge, now it was bloodier.

A few minutes later she told me that they other ear had earwax in it, nope, not earwax, blood.

Ew.

That definitely sealed the deal, no swimming lessons for her and a phone call to the doctor's office.

Long story short, homegirl has swimmer's ear in both ears.

Antibiotic ear drops are in order and no more swimming until the pain/discharge stops, probably though for the full 7 days of the antibiotic.

I had taken a picture of her ear, but believe me when I say that you'd thank me for not sharing it :)

Yep, this girl o' mine loves to keep me on my toes :)

A new family photo

On Saturday, we decided to take the girls to fly some kites.

{Pictures/post coming soon}

Before we did that though K had the great idea to take a new family photo.

The last one that we had taken was from last year.

LAST YEAR.

Adison was 8, Ainsley was 3 and Abby was 1.

It was time for a new one.

He decided on this lovely location at a local park, which is perfect because we frequently take the kiddos there.

We took several takes because Miss Abby kept looking off into the distance.

K would tell her to look at the flashing light *snap* distance.

I would tell her the same thing *snap* distance.

Her sisters would encourage her to look at the blinking light *snap* distance.

Ha ha, it makes me laugh.

She's smiling and that is all that matters.

Okay, so I'm going to fast-forward through some things.

Abby ended up not taking a nap because we were out having fun.

Then, I needed to be a church to work in the nursery so we headed there immediatley after the kite flying.

Saturday night church = later than normal bedtime.

No biggie, weekend + summer = late bedtimes anyways.

K and I fully expected the girls to sleep in a bit, because hello, summer + weekend, but no.

They were up at their regular time.

*yawn*

Abby eventually climbed into our bed, we cuddled a bit and then without warning she fell asleep.

*collective awwww*

{Yes, she still has a pacifier, it's either that or her fingers/thumb, oh well.}

K and I talked about the fact that she didn't have a pull-up on but she has been staying dry during nap time so *hopefully* she wouldn't pee in our bed.

K so sweetly mentioned At least she is sleeping on your side of the bed.

Ha.

Fast forward an hour and a half, I'm enjoying my little cuddle bug {who, shhh, don't tell her, but she snores occasionally}when I feel warmth on my arm and side.

Oh my goodness, she's peeing on me!

Abby, wake up, you're peeing honey!

She wakes up with a sheepish little grin on her face, I not peeing anymore.

We all got a big kick out it, especially K as she was on my side of the bed :)

Prayers for Tiffany

This is K's cousin Tiffany.

{Isn't she adorable!}

This picture was taken a few months before Tiff was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Before their precious baby girl was born.

Before things turned upside down and inside out.

Tiffany just turned 33 and is still in a battle with cancer.

Cancer.

It sucks.

Not a little, but a whole lot.

Knowing that someone that you love has it, can render you speechless.

Heartbroken.

Devastated, that someone you care about is suffering.

Is fighting, fighting for their life.

 

It turns out that the wonderful news that we had heard post mastectomy, that the tumor had been shrinking, that there was no lymph node involvement and that there wasn't a need for radiation was false.

It was wrong.

How did this happen?
How was she told that?

Now, well, now she is headed for a second opinion out of state.

We praying for some answers.

Please please please be praying.

Pray that they receive some encouraging answers.

Pray for strength for this next leg of the journey.

Pray that they can feel God's comforting arms around them.

That Tiff would start to feel better.

I am begging you to surround this family in prayer.

thanks you guys, xoxo ~ me

 

She is stylin' and profilin'

This girl.

She is amazing.

I think she knows it.

She knows that I know it, too.

I mean, look at this face.

I adore her.

Completely, absolutely, 100%.

{I had to Instagram it, obviously.}

Just keep swimming...

and in our case: swimming and swimming and swimming.

Hey-o!

This is me after day two of marathon swimming {soon to be three and then hopefully four!} yay sunscreen.

Today {like yesterday} the girls had swimming lessons {see the picture below}.

We then have a few hours for errands, lazying around, lunch and nap time for the Babster.

We then meet up with my besties {Clara and Jennifer} to work out.

It has been fabulous, I Never Never Never would have thought that I would actually enjoy working out, but I do.

Then, we get the kids ready and skedaddle out to the pool where we spend the remainder of the day.

The older two girls are taking swim lessons this week and next week.

The super fun part is that we scheduled it so that we go with my besties and our kids are all best friends too!
{I don't know if I have mentioned before, but Jennifer and Clara are sisters-in-law, so I guess I should have said the kids are all best friends/cousins.}

Next year Abby will get to take swimming lessons as well, say what!

This sweet girl is LOVING the pool.

and the snacks

and the friends

and the jumping

and the splashing

and the, well, pretty much everything

Project complete- check

I just can't figure out the wreath I was working on yesterday.

It still needs something more but for the life of me I can't decide what that "something" is.

I did work on it a bit more yesterday though.

Oh well, it's a work in progress.

I still need to put another coat of paint on the chalkboard thing I am making.

It will get there, eventually.

I did though manage to complete one of my projects.

The darling picture of the girls is the one that we sent out on Mother's Day using Postagram.

{The picture was from Easter.}

 He sent one to me as well and I have been trying to decide what to do with the little pop out picture.

I had the spray paint out from working on the chalkboard thing and thought it would be fun to spray paint a picture frame the same green color.

Then I had the paper out since I was trying to figure out what to do with the wreath and thought it would be a pretty background.

I also had made the felt flower for the wreath so that was easy.

I grabbed some stickers from my scrap booking materials and voila!

It is currently sitting on my mantel and I lurve it!

Insta-weekend

Hello my lovelies!
How was your weekend?

Ours was pretty good except K is not feeling well.

He spent most of the weekend in bed, sadface.

I was pretty busy though but managed to have some down time and some craft time.

I kinda okay, really want to get another tattoo.

I would love to get one that says love on my wrist.

I have all sorts of reasons for it, which I will share if I ever decide to get it.

After church on Saturday the girls and I picked up some dinner before heading home.

Jose Peppers or according to my kids: Mr. Peppers, Dr. Pepper and Joe-se Peppers.

They have delicious enchiladas.

So tasty.

I have a new writer that I am loving, Abigail Reynolds.

I have only read two of her books so far and they are g-o-o-d.

She takes Pride and Prejudice and writes what could have happened if things hadn't of worked out how they did in the book.

Mr. Darcy is so sigh worthy.

::sigh:: 

I'm working on another chalkboard project.

I'm obsessed with this apple green color. 

I will share some pics when it's finished.

Puzzles.

This girl, she loves them.

I'm thinking we might need to get some new ones for her to work on.

Another project.

I'm working on a wreath.

This thing keeps stumping me though.

I keep thinking of what to put on it and it's just not coming together for me.

::sigh::

Poor Adison.

She was moving a pizza and it fell, splat, on the floor.

Talk about a mess and tears.

Poor girl was so upset that she dropped it.

It cleaned up quick and K helped her make another one.

How was your weekend?

Are they trying to give children nightmares?

I saw these "dolls" today at Walgreen's when I was picking up prescriptions.

I think we could use the term "dolls" loosely here.

I would be more tempted to call them...demon, nightmare, terror inducing things.

I feel like I should preface this by saying that I'm not a huge fan of dolls.

Yes, my girls LOVE dolls and have many {and I mean MANY} of them.

I just have a "no creepy dolls in our house" rule.

My dislike of dolls came when I was younger.

I watched an Alfred Hitchcock movie with my dad involving dolls.

The little girl in the movie got a doll as a gift.

For some reason the dad didn't like the doll and the doll tripped the dad causing him to fall down the stairs and died.

Yes, DIED.

Ever since then dolls have kind of freaked me out a bit.

Well, not all dolls, just the kind that look like you might try to kill you if you weren't nice to them.

Like they might be hiding a shank or planning your demise.

These dolls, well, let's just say that they stopped me in my tracks.

Sure, they were a good price and I do so love a deal.

However, I draw the line at demon dolls that might try to maim me and terrify my children.

I mean, we all have to have a line drawn somewhere, right?