Monday, October 31, 2011

Guest Posting


I wrote a little post for our adoption agency about starting a new family tradition with my boys.  You can read it here if you'd like :)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Sunday

This is what we will be doing today.  Just like we've been doing since the beginning of September and what we will be doing until the end of the year.


Saturday, October 29, 2011

A Beautiful Evening at the Park

Last weekend Eric and I took the boys to the park and the lighting was just gorgeous, so Eric took some photos.








He is just so talented and I think he has such an awesome eye for these types of things, which easily explains why he is so successful at what he does.  I'm lucky to be able to learn from him.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Wheel Barrel Rides

If you meet my family, you'd think that they live out in the country, but they don't.  They live on a small island of 2 wooded acres surrounded by a gas station, highway, expressway and motel.  This is the house I grew up in.  This is the house where I have lots of fun memories as a kid.  This is where my kids go when they want to go for wheel barrel rides.

And that is just what they did last weekend when we visited my family.  My mom took them around the yard in a wheel barrel, and they had a lot of fun.





These are the kind of things I would do growing up.  Seriously, with my stories, you'd think I grew up in the sticks.  I guess I just made two acres go really far.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Last Week's Date Night

Last weekend we were given a date night out, and as always, took full advantage.  We went to dinner at a little place between our house and Eric's parents, where we dropped the boys off.  It's called the Dungeon and you literally have to walk down a flight of stairs to get there.  The food was good, I got a Mexican bean dip and the sangria that I got was delicious.  It was different than any sangria I have ever had before, in a good way.





After dinner we had some time to kill.  So we did what any kidless parents would do, we went to Staples to look at safes for Eric's office.  Sometimes, you just have to use date time to get things done.  It's so much easier running errands when you don't have to load and unload kids out of the car, so that's what we did.  Romantic, huh?

Once a sufficient amount of time was killed, we headed to the theatre, but not before we took a detour through Starbucks.  It's pretty much a given that I get a coffee for the movie.  And how do I do it you ask?  Well, I stealthily place our coffees in my purse, propping them up with notebooks, cosmetic bags and whatever else is handy and sneak them in.  I know it's against the rules, but the only "coffee" our theatre serves is powdered cappuccino like you get at the gas station and I just can't bring myself to drink that.


It was a nice date night, although the beginning and the end were the best.  Great dinner and a great movie.  You can't beat that.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Weekend Wears

This weekend was comprised of a fall festival, photos in the park, a date night, and time with family.  As you may already know, Friday was a night for a fall festival.  On Saturday, we went to breakfast, did some work in the yard, took pictures in the park and ended it with a date night.  This past week's weather has been pretty crappy, but this weekend more than made up for it.  It couldn't have been more beautiful.


Dress: Gap // Cardigan: F21 // Belt: Thrifted // Tights: Target // Boots: Aldo

Sunday was a lazy day to say the least.  We lounged around the house all morning, went and had a delicious dinner at my parents and then lounged some more while watching the Lions play.  For such a laid back day, one could only wear a comfy sweater.


Sweater: Camaieu // L/S top: F21 // Jeans: Levi's // Boots: Aldo

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Fall Festival

This weekend, our local YMCA hosted a fall festival for families and we decided to go check it out.  The boys were a little young to participate in most of the games, but the fish pond, barn area, cider, donuts and bunny were worth the entry fee.  And as a bonus, they were able to wear their Halloween costumes, although their hats didn't stay on for long.








Although we didn't stay long, I really like bringing them to events like this.  I think it's good for them to experience new environments and helps them to interact with other kids well.  It may not be something we do every year, but they had a lot of fun this time.  And the childcare staff is always excited to see them, which is really precious.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Some Pinterest Love

Don't you just love Pinterest?  And if you're not on this bandwagon, you should jump on, quick.  It's so much easier than bookmarking everything on my browser and I tend to find things I wouldn't normally too.

As winter approaches, I will be a pinning fool when it comes to kids crafts, games and all things indoor.  activities.  I can foresee myself thanking Pinterest for helping me keep my sanity this winter.

Aside from kids crafts, I like to pin outfits, food, DIY projects and anything else that looks cool.  Here are some things that I have found lately.

I decided this is my go-to fall outfit: cardigan/blazer, scarf, leggings/skinnies and boots.




The boys would love these!  Baxter already loves playing dress up, especially with bags and scarves.






If the boys would stop growing so fast and not dirty everything they wear, I would buy these outfits in a heartbeat.




I should make this.  I love Mexican and it's really easy to accommodate gluten free restrictions.






A fun little craft for me, and one that I can admire often :)




Good motivation for me to still run, because Lord knows that I feel like I get nowhere.





Oh Pinterest, you are just so lovely.  Thank you to whoever thought this up.  It's a dream and something that takes up way to much of nap time.  But I'm currently okay with it.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Just for Fun: A Survey



I'm currently sitting in Starbucks, enjoying a venti carmel latte, trying to avoid the numerous social media sites and do homework.  So what am I doing instead?  Blogging.  It's totally justifiable since today does need a blog post.  Plus I read this on Holly's blog and it sounded fun.


A. Age: 24
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the toilet/tub
D. Dogs: One dog, a boxer named Bella. 
E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast!  It's my favorite meal of the day.
F. Favorite color: I love teal and navy, but this summer I don't think my toes were anything other than coral :)
G. Gold or Silver: Usually silver, but I love gold and antique brass too.
H. Height: Technically, 5' 10 3/4"
I. Instruments you play: I took piano lessons as a kid, but couldn't play you anything other than chopsticks.
J. Job title: Stay-at-home mama and part-time student.
K. Kids: Baxter (17 mo.) and Atticus (15 mo.)
L. Live: Michigan, USA
M. Mother’s name: Nancy
N. Nicknames: Tere, Reese, Seesaw, Rosie, Treese
O. Overnight hospital stays: None (I haven't even broken a bone).
P. Pet peeves: Drivers that are moving slow, then speed up as you try to pass them (frustrating!)

Q. Quote from a movie: "Remember the four hours we spent in the hot tub after winter formal?  This is so much better than that!"  Elle, Legally Blonde (My absolute favorite movie as a teenager)
R. Right or left handed: Right handed.
S. Siblings: 3 younger brothers, 3 sister-in-laws and 2 brother-in-laws. 

T. Time you wake up: It depends on the day, when I go to the gym 6:45-7:15, when I'm home in the morning, 6am.
U. Underwear: Xhilaration 
V. Vegetable you hate: Mushrooms, despite Eric's attempts to change my mind.
W. What makes you run late: My husband and my children.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Aside from dental, a chest x-ray for our adoption.
Y. Yummy food that you make: White Chicken Chili (Eric's favorite thing I make)
Z. Zoo animal: I've always loved the penguins and the otters.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

New Fall Tradition: Apple Picking

My friend and I have been talking about taking our kids apple picking for the last several weeks and this past weekend, we did!  And as a bonus, Eric was there too.  I thought he had to work in the morning, but it turned out he wasn't needed until after lunch.  Over the years, Eric and I have been to orchards ranging from those that only offer apples to those that are like fall amusement parks.  My hope was to find something in between, somewhere that wasn't over the top but also had a lot of fun things for kids, and I definitely found it :)

There were goats and bunnies to pet, chickens to look at, hay to play in, a big barn slide, a corn kernel sandbox, tricycles, apples and pumpkins to pick, and of course, donuts with cider.  The kids were definitely much more excited about the fun things to do than actually picking the apples, which we only spent about 10% of our time doing.  It was cold and windy, but the kids didn't care.  They had so much fun.

















Before we got to the farm, Eric was a little nervous about how much the boys could actually do, being so young, but they were able to participate in almost everything.  Eric ended up being pretty impressed with our little family trip, which means he'll be that more willing to go again next year, and the next year, and the next year (you see where I'm going with this).  We never went apple picking with my family, so it's exciting to start a brand new tradition with my own!  Do you have any fall family traditions?  Please share!