10 months old!

Yesterday my sweet Jack Jack turned 10 months old! Wow time is just flying by! We couldn't be more in love with this little guy! Here is what Jack is up to these days...

• pulling up to standing on anything that will hold still long enough
• cruising around the furniture
• clapping 
• putting his hands up in the air when we say "so big"
• trying to steal all of his siblings toys
• back to not sleeping through the night :(
• wearing 12 month clothes and size 4 diapers
• {probably} getting his first haircut on Saturday!

a last minute {perfect} dinner picnic!

At 3:45 this afternoon I decided that we needed to do something fun this evening! I already had this ah-mazing chicken salad in the works and it just seemed too picnic-y to leave it at home! So, I called up the hubs and asked if we could meet him at the park by his office for a little dinner picnic! The kiddos were excited and so I finished gathering the necessary "supplies" and off we went!

The glorious food! On the menu for the evening:

Chicken salad from The Pink Pistachio

watermelon (sadly, not in the shape of stars!)

Eatsmart Naturals garden veggie sticks

sweet potato chips by Food Should Taste Good

Tazo Passion Tea for the grown-ups

o.j. for the kiddies (per their request because I think orange juice at dinner is ick!)

hubs caught me on camera enjoying my dinner!

so naturally turn around is fair play

and these sillies LOVED having a picnic at the park!

Max hard at work on the playground

 Jack has a strong desire to be one of the big kids

 We had never taken the kids to Shaw Park before but they really loved it

 Max likes to climb things

 these instruments were a big hit

 trying to cooperate for a picture

 Sophie-Girl LOVES to swing

 and Jack enjoyed watching all the action

It felt like a perfect kick off to summer! I think we are going to have to try to meet up with Nick more often for evening picnics!

*also linked up at http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/06/outdoor-table-for-two-link-party/

Sunday Letters... on Wednesday!

As long as I get them in sometime during the week, right?

Dear Max,
You were so good while your Daddy was out of town this week and I am so thankful! You have been expanding your make believe games beyond animals lately which is a nice change of pace! Some of your favorites are playing airplane while we are in the car (I love to hear your little voice in the back say, "allright Pilot Mommy, we are ready for take off!") and playing restaurant during meals (where of course I am Chef Mommy). It just melts my heart it is so cute! Yesterday you were SO excited to get to go visit your Grandma at school. The whole way there you kept telling me, "my Grandma is a great teacher!" You absolutely loved her classroom filled with animal pictures. She gave you some animal magazines to take home with you. You were so enthralled with them you couldn't even eat your lunch. You love animals so much!

Dear Sophie,
You are such a Daddy's girl these days. You missed your Dad sooo much while he was gone for a few days. You have been so happy to have him home. You are very shy these days around people that you don't know. But, when you get around, "your people" you are non-stop! You love being with your grandparents, your great grandma, your aunt and uncle, and your Lauren and your Katie (your babysitter). The cutest thing you said this week was when you told your Daddy that when you are a grown-up you are going to go to the gym and drive your pink car there. You are Mommy's girl! The only thing that would have made it more perfect is if you said you were picking up Starbucks on the way home... but don't worry! I have time to teach you these things still. You found these baby headbands and have started wanting to do your own hair for things. The pic below is how you did your hair for a birthday party we went to this weekend! If you were any cuter I don't know what we would do with you!

Dear Jack,
You are kind of a crab lately but you are still so cute! I think you might be getting a tooth. You have been up a lot at night and you have been much fussier than usual. I can't believe you will be 10 months old this week! You are just growing and changing so much everyday!

Dear Nick,
Where do I even start? I am so proud of you! I am proud of you for serving with Calvary Church in Joplin this weekend. It was so cute to hear Max tell everyone that his Daddy was in "Joblin helping people after the tormados" (sound it out!) I am also so beyond proud of you for getting a promotion at work this week! You are such a hard worker and I am just so grateful that you have a job you love and that you are good at. It is fun to hear you come home pretty much everyday and tell us that you had a good day at work! I am getting so excited for our little out of town trip together here in a few weeks to go to your high school reunion! I just love getting to spend time together. I love you!

(Simon and Nick on Memorial Day)

Update:
Please pray for my sweet friend, Jessica and her family. They live in Minot, North Dakota and yesterday had a mandatory evacuation of their home. She has the sweetest little family and her blog is so much fun to read! She is down to earth and I love it! Plus, she pulled an all nighter painting her living room this past week so let's pray that her home is untouched by the flooding!

Last day of school suprise

Growing up as a teacher's kid the last day of school was basically a national holiday! I still feel that way! The past two years we have celebrated the last day of Mom's Day Out by going out for ice-cream. So, when I told the kiddos that Grandma's last day of school was Tuesday they asked if we were making her a treat! I have been eying these cookie cutters for awhile now and decided that this was a great excuse to buy them and make something special for Grandma! 

My pictures aren't the best but I dyed some of the dough yellow and left the rest white. I have some practice to do but I still think they turned out pretty cute!

 And as we all know- presentation is half the battle anyway! So, I thought this box with paper grass in it and a yellow flower on top just said, "summer"!

We are planning to head over to Mom's school today and deliver these to her! I think she already has some volunteers to help her eat them!

Did you all grow up with after school traditions or do you have any of your own that you have started with your kiddos?

Because I love it...

So, in the next year or so I am hoping to start a new blog. I am not sure what kind of blog... I am leaning towards mostly recipes and little DIY projects... we will see. But with that, I have been thinking a lot about the "why". I mean, I am not looking to create a blog in order to make money and I am really not that concerned about having a lot of readers... but those seem to me like the "good reasons" to start anything but a family blog. But, then it hit me recently- I love blogging. I love blogs. Blogging has become my creative outlet. I don't really like to journal and I don't really like scrapbooking anymore, but I really LOVE blogging. And I think that is as good a reason as any to do something in your free time.

A lot of people have asked me how I find the time to blog. It used to hurt my feelings. Because I think I felt like the underlying question was- shouldn't you be playing with your kids? cleaning your house? cooking dinner? instead of blogging? But, I still do all of those things. We all make time for what we enjoy doing. So, while some people are watching The Bachelor or scrapbooking or reading for pleasure, I am blogging! Because I enjoy it!

I will keep you updated when I am close to starting a new blog. As you can probably tell I have started doing more food and decorating posts than I used to and the main reason for that is that they are the most fun for me to do!

Memorial Day

First, I have to give a big shout out and thank you to all of the men and women who serve and have served our country. I do not take for granted the fact that I live in a free country and have the opportunity to worship Jesus freely and openly. I am forever grateful to those who have died so that my family and I can enjoy the life that we have. What an amazing blessing.

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. When I think Memorial Day I think: bar-b-ques! Is it bad that I immediately think food? Ha! I just wanted to share a few cute ideas that I found on Pinterest if you are looking for some summer foods to take to your next cook out or pool party! These were both delicious, easy, and fun.... the perfect combination!

First off is these Funfetti Blondies. How cute are they? Anything with white chocolate chips and sprinkles just shouts; "celebration time". And they are SO yummy!

 Here is the link to the recipe for these, http://www.beantownbaker.com/2011/05/funfetti-blondies.html

And how genius was this little idea? I used a little star cookie cutter to make star shaped watermelon pieces! Super festive and easy! And who doesn't love watermelon? I think you will be seeing these babies again on the 4th of July and possibly at a certain someone's first birthday soiree! 

This was my inspiration, http://pinterest.com/pin/30104549/

I don't know about you, but to me Memorial day says that "summer is here". From this day forward you will most likely find me playing outside with the kids or hanging by the pool! I love summer!

Sunday Morning

Happy Sunday everyone! This is my favorite kind of Sunday... the kind where the hubs has Monday off!

Nick got home last night around 9:45 or so. I was so glad to see him! I didn't really get a chance to talk to him while he was away so it was so good to see him and hear all about what he and the team did in Joplin. It sounds like they really had an opportunity to help and I am so glad he went.

When I first met Nick back in college he seemed like a super nice guy. I asked my campus minister, Christy, about him. She told me that he was the nicest guy. She told me that he would visit the nursing home once a week to visit with the people there and that he had a lady there that really loved him. The lady, Mary, told Nick that she really loved oranges so Nick brought her some. (Mary actually ended up coming to our wedding! She really loved Nick so much!) Now, who doesn't want to get to know a guy like that better? Nick really has an amazing heart for people and it is something that made me fall in love with him when we first met and that still inspires me to this day.

Okay... enough gushing!

Nick and the kiddos actually just left for church. We were all ready to go together but Jack was just in a funk this morning and we couldn't get him settled down. I don't know if he is teething or not feeling well or what. So, I put him down for a nap (where he is sleeping peacefully!) and Nick took the older kids to church. I think I am going to put a Mars Hill sermon podcast on here in a minute and enjoy the morning worshipping at home! I love going to church but am glad Nick was able to take the kids and am thankful for a sweet little baby even if he changes my plans sometimes!

I am hoping to do my Sunday Letters later this afternoon but I make no promises! Happy Sunday everyone!