Wedding Weekend

This weekend was so much fun. To begin, I had my husband home for 48 hours and I was not working. A huge blessing all around. Saturday morning we packed up the kids and headed down for a 6.5 mile run along the greenbelt. After our workout and hanging out with our children, Dave and I picked up our babysitter and headed out to help a friend celebrate her new marriage. Yeah!
I love weddings. They are magnificent. With the divorce rate sky rocketing in this country, I am a huge believer that every wedding I witness is one closer to being that relationship that God wants us to encounter. God had a specific role and design tation.plan in mind when it came to marriage - the one sacred relationship. I love being married and I now wish that for my friend Tracy.
So I thought I would share a few photos from the momentous day. Most of the pictures are of Dave and I getting crazy with the camera - but I really did end up taking some of Tracy and Jeff as well. I just was so crazy happy and love on Saturday night, I wanted to document it. Plus, it has seemed like forever that we had a babysitter and actually went out for more than 2 hours - so that in and of itself deserved documentation.

Swimming Lessons - Daddy Style

Before leaving for the week, Dave took Mon. morning off and headed into swimming lessons with the girls. This was a huge blessing to me as I was then able to concentrate on watching both girls rather than being consumed with Paloma and her lesson (since she is still in parent/toddler class). Plus, I think Paloma secretly liked having her daddy there instead of mommy.











Paloma is doing fabulous and even gets to be bumped up to the "Pike" class next session. I'm a bit worried as the minimum age requirement is 3 and she is only a mere 2.5. But, I really want her to start learning some skills and she is just not doing that in the parent/toddler class.
Mattea is also doing really well. She has had to repeat her "Super Pike" class several times because she just can't float well on her own. But she has made some amazing strides this session and so we are hoping she gets to graduate. We'll keep you posted....

Mattea Moments

Tonight as I was laying in bed tucking Mattea in, our conversation went something like this...

Mattea: Mommy, why don't you sleep with daddy?

Me: Because daddy is out of town.

Mattea: Oh, do you usually sleep with daddy, and he brings you coffee?

Me: Oh yes, daddy brings me coffee huh?

Mattea: Yeah - and that's why you love him?

Me: You got it sister!

Wordless Wednesday

Blog Hop

This week, on TUESDAY, 7/14/09, the theme is THREE THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ME.
I sure hope some of my blogging friends will join me on our weekly Blog Hop.
So to begin....



1) This is my husband Dave. We have been married 7 years in September. I feel blessed beyond words to be married to such an extraordinary man. Anyone who knows me already is aware that I gush about how completely lucky I am to have in my life. But what you may not know is that I took up running for this man, I make cooking attempts for this man, I try not to cry in front of this man (although it has happened), and I am deathly terrified of appearing weak in front of this man. Granted, he has seen me at some pretty vulnerable time - ie childbirth. But in all reality, my desire is for my husband to see me at my finest and not remember my weaknesses. I fear being seen as a weak individual - by those around me - but especially my husband. Crazy huh?



2) Dave & I have talked on many occasions about being open to the possibility of adoption. In fact, on our 2nd date, we discussed adoption and shared our dreams of internationally adopting a child. After we had Paloma, I think we were both terrified to even contemplate adding any more children to our family for fear that we would literally be driven to the brink of insanity. As our children are maturing, life is getting easier. As our girls grow and become more independent, I can definitely sense my self revisiting the idea. I think both Dave and I share the idea that God has blessed us with two amazingly beautiful, healthy little girls whom we absolutely adore with all of our hearts. We can't think of a better way to thank God than to provide a home to a very deserving child. (And secretly, I realllllly want to adopt from India. Some may know that, some may not.)



3) This one dates way back to college - and of course I'm not too proud to admit this to all who know me out there but here goes....
I had to retake my nursing math test 6 times in order to pass - and the only way that I ended up passing was to cheat. I hate math, don't understand algebra, and use a calculator all the time. Was that going to make me a bad nurse - NO! So in my head, that is how I justified cheating. I remember thinking to myself -all those years ago-that this math seemed hard and it was going to be a shame if I couldn't pass and all my hard work that went into studying to become a nurse would be wasted. Mind you, this was like 6th grade math and in hindsight, this test carried absolutely no weight. But at the time, it seemed like a huge obstacle. Well, needless to say, I did pass, I went on to get good grades in college, passed my NCLEX on my first attempt, and have yet to make any major math errors in my years as a nurse. So.....


Wow -that was harder than I thought. Hope you've enjoyed reading. Won't you play along? Have a blessed week!

Garden Glory

Introducing Pretty P

I have been downright frustrated with Paloma's hair lately. She is in that crazy toddler phase where her hair parts funny, combs funny, looks funny, and smells funny. It is frizzy yet curly, fine yet thick. And it seems to be growing but at super slow speed. So, I did what any good mother would do -I cut it all off. Yep, I was sick of it. I wanted her to look cute with hair that was low maintenance and healthy. So this weekend, our entire family headed out for 3 haircuts and an eyebrow wax. (In case anyone was wondering - I did not miss out on the action, that eyebrow wax was for me!) For the record - my haircut actually comes tomorrow when I am heading into the salon for an afternoon of cut/color/style. Even getting a babysitter people!
So without further ado......
Here is pretty Paloma!!!!!

Not Me Monday

It has been awhile since I've played - but excited to be rejoining "Not Me Monday." If you'd like to play along, hop on over to MckMama's blog and catch up on all the latest rules and regulations or to simply check out what all the other MckMama fans have 'Not Been Up To.' Either way, here's to another week....



1) I certainly did not entertain the idea of packing up my two sweet little girls and my husband to head off to the local baseball park to take in Dollar/Family Night. Ummm, hate sports way too much to think that we'd actually have a good time. But I most certainly did not go into it with a bad attitude.... While we were there, my children did not load up on sugary, rotten, bad for you stadium food. I of course would never forget the wipes or go anywhere without napkins while my children are trying to down their 'not very good for you stadium food'. In a panic after Paloma spilled her slushy all over, I did not dig through the diaper bag and begin using Cinderella panties to clean up the mess. I am never unprepared and way too civilized to be using toddler panties in public. Not me.

2) I absolutely did not look up the other night to find Paloma intently looking and then digging in her toes. I then did not witness her stick her finger in her mouth. After questioning her behavior my daughter absolutely did not tell me she was eating the dirt from her toes. I raise my kids better than that. UGh! NOt me.

3) After completely believing Dave and I were going to get up and run a 10K race on Saturday morning, I did not carb load on a bag of Cheetos and then completely justify it by examining the carb content in a serving size of extra crispy Cheetos. And then.... Dave and I absolutely did not skip the race (for many reasons) and completely blow off running altogether that day to lay around and do nothing while our children played in the next room. Not us.

There's a brief glimpse of how my week did not pan out. I'm sure if I examined it more closely, I would not be able to add another ten things to the list. As I'm running around in scrubs and flip flops, this rendition of Not Me is as good as it gets.

Have a blessed week!

Family Night

Wednesday night was family night at the local stadium here in town. Being only that tickets were $1.00, our family decided to try it out. With neither Dave nor myself taking any sort of interest in baseball whatsoever, we decided that $1.00 treats were our motivator.



Paloma jumped right up and began checking out the field.



Wasn't long before the discounted treats started rolling in. With several rounds on board, the girls actually sat in their seats and watched a couple of innings.



Of course, my girls wanted to run onto the field after the 7th inning and sing with the big "Chicken Bird." Not knowing the words to 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,' they kind of just stood out there and watched.



And when mom and dad had had enough, we bought one more bowl of ice cream for the road and headed back home. Spending less than $15.00 the entire evening made it worth the drive down there but really - who sits and watches baseball anyway.



Is this picture not simply adorable?

Sweet Dreams

Wordless Wednesday

Blog Hop

"Run Forest Run"

What a fun little game we have going on. I happened to stumble upon it by accident - but here I am participating in the "Blog Hop." Anyone want to join along.....

Too Cute Tuesday

Back To The Pool

With only a week off, the girls (and mommy this time) are back in the water for yet another round of swimming lessons. Feeling bad because Paloma has just been too young to participate (most activities require you to be at least 3 years old), I decided I would suck it up, put on a swimsuit (in public) and head into the water to take Paloma to swimming lessons. She was so excited this morning.
Mattea has rejoined and continues in her 'Super Pike' class. She is only a few skills away from advancing on to the next level. She just can't seem to comprehend that whole 'floating thing.' Oh well.
After only about 10 minutes in the pool, Paloma's teacher told me she was doing great and she would try and advance her to the next level. That means she could participate alone - not needing mom present. Hallelujah! I love hanging out with my girls and having fun with them, but to be quite honest, I'm not all into the 'Mommy & Me' classes. Those are just things they should be able to do alone. Does that make me sound like a bad mom? Well, we'll see what happens.
For now, my babies are looking super cute and super buff (not to mention super tan) in their cute little bathing suits strutting around the pool. They make this mommy proud!

Summer Afternoons

This is exactly how the girls and I have been spending many of our summer afternoons. Oh my goodness - life is getting so much easier as the girls are getting older. I can completely lay on a lawn chair uninterrupted (except for potty breaks) for a minimum of 45 minutes while they splash away in the pool. Sometimes they take their babies in and pretend they are giving them "swimming lessons." Sometimes they just take an old cell phone in and pretend they are texting their daddy from the beach.
Whatever they are doing, I don't care. They are happy, playing nicely together and I'm getting my daily dose of vitamin D and enjoying tantrum free time. Life is sooooo good.

Snack Time

What was on the menu tonight for snack time??

Flax Seed Fruit Smoothies with 15 calorie Whip Creme of course!!

A Fun Time For All

Just yesterday, Dave and I had the privilege of hosting a "Make Your Own Pizza Party." We so desperately crave adult interaction but find that it is so hard to do when you are constantly having to keep track of young children. So what better way to satisfy that much needed craving than to fence the children in, give them a pool and a swing set, allow them to make and eat as much pizza as they want, and surround them with other kids who have way more energy than them. The adults - well, we got to sit around, eat with minimal interruptions, and enjoy some great conversation. My kids at least thoroughly enjoyed making their own pizza - they each got their own crust and a plethora of toppings to adorn.







Before long, the kids were off - they couldn't resist splishing and splashing in the water. And inevitably, what one will do, the rest will follow. So true. I totally didn't mind at all. It was a great group of kids who played and interacted well. Besides a few minor "incidents" it was a great evening.















Dave & I couldn't help but comment how when it came time to eat the boys migrated to one table while all the girls (including Sydney) migrated to the other. There was no intermingling. It was funny~I can't wait to host another party. Have I mentioned that I love hosting. We are tentatively planning a luau in the new future. What a way to end the week!

Is This What It's Like When Your Water Breaks

Congratulations to Kim. Too cute. I liked reading through the comments that were left but this title hit me immediately. Thanks all for playing. I'll have to host again soon. Kim - your prize will be out in the mail soon - soon meaning within the next 6 months(ha!).

And on the off chance in case you guys were wondering what Mattea was up to in the Wordless Wednesday post that was displayed earlier - well wait no more. I'm here to tell you she was correctly irrigating her baby's nose with saline, as she has seen mommy and daddy do with Paloma a few times. She said her baby had a stuffy nose and who was I to tell her otherwise. Smart cookie my little Mattea.

Happy hump day everybody. Can't wait to post pictures of how our family spent hump day - super fun. Quite possibly tomorrow after our fun play date, I will get an opportunity to actually SIT and blog. Hope everyone is having a blessed week.

Wordless Wednesday

(Dare you to guess what Mattea is doing to her baby - I'll reveal along with the contest winner later this afternoon.....)

Had I Not - Then I Could

Had I Not:
- gone for a fantastic run in the morning
-spent time with the girls practicing their letters and cutting skills
-ran to the gas station for gas to the lawnmower
- mowed the entire front and back lawn
-fertilized all of my flowers
-taken a shower
-cleaned the upstairs
-prepared lunch
-gone out to dinner with my family
-hung out at the park
-gone to the store for last minute pizza party needs
-read my babies their nighttime stories



Then I could have:
-posted this great picture for 'Too Cute Tuesday'