Slowing down...

This summer we are working on slowing down.

Taking a step back

Taking a breath

And not worrying about what we get done in what time frame.

We are concentrating on time together

And more time with this little man. 

I might have a few more posts about Motherhood, Friendship, and Marriage

And work on the home stuff in between all of it. 

I assure you there will be more projects.

And very soon.

But we are taking our time

Balancing everything.

The summers mean on top of everything else... 

we add in T-ball games

and carnivals

and fairs

and days spent at the pool

and BBQs with family
and days at the lake

And well life gets busy

and rather than stressing out about this blog

we are going to embrace life as it is

So this summer I might switch up the posts a little bit more here and there.
But hopefully you stick around and see what we figure out :)

This man

This man

This man....whispers I love you in my ear every single night.

This man....always gets me a glass of water when I ask. Even though my legs work perfectly fine to                         do so myself.

This man.... while getting that glass of water... never complains... not even a sigh... or an eye roll. 

This man...emails "I love you" when he gets to work

This man...always is ready and willing to fight bad guys with Maddux at the drop of a hat

This man... not only plays, but dresses up in superhero costumes with him

This man... is not only an amazing husband... but an even better father

This man... not only accepts my crazy... but embraces it

This man... gets me my favorite latte just because he went out to get gas

This man... can make me laugh even when I want to rip his face straight off his shoulders

This man... has youtubed woodworking for hours and hours just to give me my dream home

This man... kisses me on the forehead and still makes my heart skip a beat

This man... can drive me so crazy I am not sure if I will make it to my forties

This man... stays married to me... even though I tend to be Irrational Dramatic Charismatic

This man... gives our family 110% every single day

This man... makes me feel safe

This man... is my definition of happiness.

Photo by Melody Ann Photography

Halloween Photos in November

If you follow me on facebook or Instagram you already saw that my son went as Snake Eyes for Halloween. This year he was dead set on being a ninja. I still cannot figure out why. We don't watch any ninja cartoons... he doesn't play with ninjas... so somewhere along the line... someone stole his heart with this idea of a ninja. So I tried and tried to convince him to be a ninja turtle. because it was adorable. But nope. I was not winning. My child is stubborn. So Stubborn.

Luckily... he made a pretty cute Snake eyes too :)

So here he is in all his Halloween Glory. And a random photo dump (He loves posing for photos in his costume! )

Snake Eyes. Aka. Maddux.

My kid is seriously awesome.
Cracks me up with his Ninja Posing :)

Hope you all had a safe and warm Halloween!!

Taking Stock

Inspired by Meet me at mikes

Making : A new dining room table
Cooking : Vegetarian chili in the crock pot
Drinking : pumpkin spiced coffee
Reading: A few blogs I check daily
Wanting: 8 hours of sleep, uninterrupted
Looking: for Star Wars birthday party ideas
Playing: army men and super heroes
Wasting: time on Pinterest
Sewing: nothing, I don't sew
Wishing: for the perfect fall boots
Enjoying: fall approaching
Waiting: for the weekend
Liking: pumpkin flavored anything
Wondering: how long it will be before I notice a different, with the new workout routine
Loving: turning on the fireplace on chilly nights
Hoping: to get our dining room finished in time for Thanksgiving
Marvelling: at Maddux's imagination. I could listen to him play all day
Needing: a long vacation
Smelling: Autumn Leaves candle
Wearing: VS Pink sweatpants. Still love them.
Following: a workout routine
Noticing: Maddux is losing his toddler belly and chubby cheeks... when did he get so big? Man, he is growing up fast.
Knowing: everything happens for a reason... even if its not what I had planned.
Thinking: about everything I need to do this weekend
Focusing: on the person i want to be... for myself and for Maddux
Bookmarking: Fall crafts to do with my kiddo
Opening: a pumpkin spiced Hershey kiss (told you obsessed with all things pumpkin)
Giggling: about Maddux's new dance moves
Feeling: blessed

Embrace The Camera Day!!!

Last night I looked gross... but since i decided i would do this... i got over it and took the picture.

We just bought Maddux this toy last week. I really wanted to try and find one on Craigs List because I wasnt sure if he would like it or not... but luckily.. he loves it. so it makes it well worth the 50 bucks :)

We were having fun playing with the new table...

and just for added fun.... Look at this face :)

Such a cutie :)

Embrace the Camera

So this weekend I made it a goal to get in a picture with Maddux. My husband is more than willing to do this with me and thinks its a great idea :)

So this is our first week of participating in Embrace The Camera

we went out to the Apple Orchard this weekend with Maddux... I am sure we will be out there quite a bit this year. Maddux was overwhelmed with all the people there (he loves to people watch so it was hard to get him to look at the camera)

We had a great time... and I know I will cherish these photos :)

Embrace The Camera Challenge

The magic of Bubbles

This is a photo I took of my niece at Easter.

She is nothing but adorable... she looks so much like my sister its scary.

Its weird how looking at this face brings back so many memories of my childhood. she is such a little mini Holly on every level... its unbelievable.

I love this picture... Kylie will do anything for Cookies... or Bubbles :)

Forever and Always...

I am not the greatest photographer... I would really like to learn more about it... which hopefully i do... but i think it will end up being a lot of trial and error... and time.. .which i dont seem to have much of... unless its 9 pm and maddux is sleeping and Jerry is occupied in Volleyball Land. Then I get some me time... but thats not really the prime time to play with my camera.. I keep hoping I will just win the lottery... then i would have time (and money) to play around with hobbies... a girl can dream.

anyways... on with my photo...

I love this photo... for several reasons.
This is a picture I took of my husband's cousin at her wedding. This is of their first dance. and if you cant tell from this picture she is a wee little thing. :) She is an absolutely amazing person. She is so unbelievably caring... I mean if I need something she will do everything she can to help me. and really those types of people are far and few to come by. She has always supported my husband no matter what... She means a lot more to me than I can explain on this blog... but i think she knows and understands how much I love her :)
but i Really Really love this photo... because on accident (and if i had better photography skills... it would be better) but it caught a tear when they were dancing :) and i just thought it caught quite a cute little moment... and she looks stunning.
 

Love them both <3

My little water baby....

So last night... nothing was going right. Maddux was upset... nothing was making him happy. All he wanted to do was look at me and cry. He refused to eat, refused to play, he was just upset at the world. So at this point it was 8pm and i was ready to just give up and call it a night. So after trying to get him to eat for 45 minutes I put him in the tub... and apparently that was the trick. The water does Magical Things to my son.... my screaming, crying, angry baby turned into this....

A day at the museum....

I took the day off of work a week ago to take a day to hang out with Jerry and Maddux since our weekends are always so rushed!! We didn't want to end up just sitting around the house all day, so we decided we would check out the Burpee Museum. I haven't been there since I was in grade school. and well Jerry hasn't ever been there. People always tell me Maddux is too young for all these things, but its getting him out of the house and getting him to see new things.. so really why is it such a bad thing? Plus as you will see in the photos, he had a GREAT time!

Well Burpee Museum... had a few cool things. The dinosaurs were cool. i remember as a kid thinking the fossils were cool. As an adult.. not so much. But if you say the word science to me.. i immediately feel my eyes get heavy. So I am lazy.. and I am not really one that wants to learn about dirt and fossils. I figured they made me do that in school. and i am over it now. But one day Maddux will think its cool... and I am sure that will change my opinion on it.. well maybe. At least I will pretend it does ;)

Well anyways. back on topic. The museum dinosaurs was neat. They are putting in more dinosaurs... since I cannot spell the dinosaur names. I will refer to them as their Land Before Time names... they are suppose to be getting a Three horn (Sarah) which was my Favorite in school. So that will be neat :) and the Indian Part was pretty neat too. But the section on fossils and fake looking animals... and the various levels of dirt and rock... i zipped right thru that.

But I can tell you Maddux's favorites. Were the fish... Looking down at the river walk they are building.. and sitting in the canoe... (which i realized there was a huge sign that said do not let your kids sit in the canoe... OOPS) i really didnt see it until after. Oh well.

Well anyways... here are a few pictures of our day out to the museum the other day :)

The Canoe...

him reading about the Idians and where they live in the winter :)

Jerry and Maddux... Running for their lives!

I am posing... maddux.. he is eating :)

... and the best part for him... FISH

Forever Young....

So me and the hubby had to take a quick run to Target Sunday to get Maddux some more food. We decided we would move onto meats… Big moment. I refuse to try them… pureed meat… I cant even imagine. However, I do make Jerry try them. and by the look on his face.. not good. However Maddux so far has been a fan. Apples and Chicken Simply delightful for him 


So anyways. I know that most women say their husbands are like children. And I think most are. However I am not sure that most women have a husband that has 12 shelves filled with star wars action figures that are not allowed to be touched. He has taken them out of the box so he isn’t completely crazy and saving them because “they will be worth a lot” (I couldn’t handle that) however. He has all of his action figures set up by shelf in battle formation. Its sad. But so true. Luckily this is in our basement… In case you were afraid this was in our bedroom or even worse our living room. So rest assured this is in our basement. I have been guilty of buying him these toys, so I don’t have a right to complain too much since I do add to this vice of his. I do however put my foot down when it comes to his Brett Favre action figures. Those are boxed up. Every girl has her breaking point.

But to get on with my Target story… I am walking thru the toy section (I should have known better) I was looking for a certain board game for my niece…. When Jerry is all of a sudden no where to be found…. So I yell out his name… to find where he went off too. no answer… I turn the corner and my husband is standing in pure awe of a star wars night light. A night light people!!! I mean I had a grown man begging for a night light… for Maddux not for him. It as a light saber that you build yourself that goes on your wall and apparently has every color... which I was explained was insanely cool. At that time I decided we could survive without this night light for the evening. But told him if you still want it for Christmas… we will talk. So my husband is pouting like a child… takes three steps and all the disappointment leaves his face… when he sees a boba fett helmet. He looks at me with sad ridiculous puppy dog eyes… and all I can think of… in a few years I will be outnumbered. There will be two of them… he will suck Maddux into this nerdy world… and then how will I resist. I did resist last night. However. I will not be surprised if this weekend he comes home with both items “for Maddux “ … Of course.

 
And here you go... a few summers back when McDonalds gave out Star Wars toys... Boba Fett was flying around my head while I was driving home.... pure joy on my face :)