Skiing 2020

Sunday wrapped up our skiing season for the winter.  We made it to the slopes a grand total of 2 times this year.  Ha!  I guess that's better than the 1 time we made it last year.  It makes me sad we don't get to go that often {hello 3 hour round trip & short season} because both of our kids {and Adam & I} love to ski!

I just had a flashback to almost the same photo from last year with their instructor, James!

Ignore my hat -- Adam HATES it, but it was so cold that day!! :(

that tongue! :)

riding the chair lift with their instructor - love!

Ice Storm 2017

Last Sunday night we had an ice storm on the horizon, so the Joynts called to ask if we were coming over.  Adam and I chatted that we could very well end up stranded for a day, or two.  Not one to break tradition, we quickly packed our bags, changed into our jammies and headed over.

The ice came, as expected, and we ended up having a sleepover.  The four little kids all slept in one room-- it was the cutest thing ever.  The adults played monopoly and ordered concert tickets {!!!} for April {I couldn't be more excited!} The next morning Jess made us all homemade donuts and the adults worked from 'home' with an island full of laptops while the kids played in the basement.  It was one of those nights we couldn't have planned -- definitely one to remember for a lifetime.  I say it all the time, but I feel so blessed to be living our life we friends like this! 

Afternoon chat...

Jordyn's first homework assignment.  She had to decorate a feather for the turkey & she chose to use watercolors. :)

If we were hanging out at my house catching up while the kids were playing, here's what I would be saying...

It's been unbelievably windy & rainy the past week or so.  Sticks & limbs are all over the yard.  The temperatures have dropped into the 'normal' range again and it's starting to feel a lot more like Winter than Fall.  It's certainly not helping me finish the last of my outdoor shoots for the year!  Rescheduling sessions is so hard!

Due to said weather, and sick kids, we've been staying in as much as possible.  Adam rented a few movies the other night.  My favorite was The Gift.  Very suspenseful!  I rarely find movies that keep my attention, but this one was great.  Speaking of movie rentals, he picked them up at Redbox & when I went to return them, I realized they took the Redbox location out of the hospital that I work at! Boo :( That was so convenient!  And speaking of movies…Adam has been making us homemade popcorn instead of microwavable and it is so much better!  We just heat coconut oil in a pot on the stove over medium/high heat and add popcorn seeds {& lid!} until it's done.  YUM!

Speaking of food, I won a copy of P90X from a personal trainer on Facebook and Adam has been working out & tracking his food consistently all week.  I'm so proud of him.  I have been totally unsupportive, but I'm hoping when things slow down a bit I'll be able to do the workouts with him.  Yay for healthy choices!

So my excuse for not working out right now is because of time.  I want to say I'm super busy, but in reality, I'm way less busy now than I was a month ago.  I shot my last wedding of 2015 last weekend which is bittersweet.  However, I'm sleeping a lot more than I was a month ago, too.  This time change is totally killing me this year.  I don't remember hardly being able to function after 8p last this before, so I'm blaming it on living in the country with no streetlights and huge windows darkening the entire house.  Adam offered me a glass of wine last night and I had to decline because I didn't even have the energy for that!  Clearly I'm beat! The other crappy part about the time change?  I'm unable to get decent iPhone pictures of my kids Monday through Friday because it's always dark!  Which is really affecting my Instagram game!

The thing I go to sleep and wake up thinking about is our 'new' house.  It's so fun dreaming about the kids running around outside & and what I want their bedrooms and play room to look like.  I'm stressing about the 'look' I want for the house and all the other fun stuff that goes into a new home.  It's good stress, for now at least! ;)

Speaking of stress, Adam won't be home until late tonight.  He's been working his butt off trying to wrap things up before year end.  Anyone with a husband in sales knows all about this! ;)  The anxiety is getting to me, and it isn't even my job!  Cross your fingers! ;)

What's going on in your life?

This & That {w.5}

Did this:
Adam's car broke down so w were a single car family all week
Planned a girls' night for next week
Had a headache for 5 days straight {my neck is out}
Donated items for a special needs prom at our church
Listed/sold a bunch of stuff that was laying around the house
Watched Aliya, Peyton, & Ava play basketball games
Started Valentine's mini sessions
Jordyn had a sleepover with Nessa
Fell down the stairs while holding Cullyn {& nearly took out Jordyn & my nephew Peyton!} :(
Celebrated Vanessa & Peyton's birthdays
Came home early from the lake because of the storm
Got 13+ inches of snow
Watched the SuperBowl
Still potty training C

Instagrammed that:

Edited this:

Shot that:

Scheduled this:

M: This & That

T: Blog Revamp

W: My Kids 5/52

T: January | Dates + Deeds

F: A Photo

Snow Fun {brought inside}

We've got more snow in Iowa this February than we've got in October, November, December, & January combined.   I LOVE me a good snow day {still hasn't happened this year}.  Unfortunately, with negative 3293984 degree temperatures {day after day this winter}, it's impossible to take the kids {2 & 10 months} outside.  So…I decided to bring the snow inside.

1.  Start the fireplace {obviously optional}

2.  Lay several layers of quilts on the living room floor.

3.  Grab a few buckets, fill them with snow, and bring them inside.

4.  Give the kids some containers {muffin pans, disposable tins, etc.} and utensils and let them play.

5.  This entertained the kids {and let mama and daddy watch the winter olympics} for over an hour.

Plus…I can't be the only mom that's totally over this sight...

Apple Orchard {Photos, photos, & more photos!}

Since I work such long hours Monday through Friday and we don't get home for the night until at least 7p, I've been trying to make Fridays a day for me and the kids.  We get out and do something fun.  Something for them.  Sometimes it's just the play place at the mall or a walk to the park for a while, but in an effort not to waste any of our last days of summer, last friday we visited an Apple Orchard with our friends.  {We are stealing as many Fridays as we can before Jess goes back to work from maternity leave--I'm still praying every night she'll tell her boss she can only work Monday through Thursdays from now on!}  

We picked apples, shopped for caramel apples, ate apple donuts and {thought about!} sipping warm apple cider {unfortunately it ended up being 90* and full sun, so we had ice water--the kids and wine--us}.  *Please note I did not make my child wear a sweater the whole day--only for photos--because you know, I couldn't possibly take photos of her at an Apple Orchard in the Fall while wearing the swimsuit she wanted to wear! :)  Can we also talk about the crazy sizing at the Gap?  The sweater my daughter is wearing--it's a 6-12 MONTH sweater.  She is 23 months…and average sized…what the heck?!

This & That

Did this:
Got my hair 'did'
Went to our first 'soft opening' for a restaurant
Spent a few hours at the park with BFFs
Visited 'Auntie Esha' and her school 
Celebrated Adam's 33rd Birthday at Riverside Casino
Adam smoked Brisket and Turkey and we hosted family lunch
Watched the Vikings blow it in the last minute {again!}

Instagrammed that:

This week I hope to: 
Get the totes of Fall decorations out of the garage and put them up!  I know everyone else is all 'I love Fall' and 'I put my stuff up the middle of August' and I'm sitting here like 'our summer rocked, does it have to be over already?!'  Don't get me wrong, I love Fall & I'm super excited for it, but I'm never excited about putting up {& taking down!} decorations.  Especially since nobody usually even sees it!

I can't believe that: 

Cullyn turned 5 months on Thursday and Jordyn is 23 months today!  My babies are growing so fast!

Scheduled this:
M::This & That of the Weekend
T::Jordyn 23 Months
W::My little Vikings!
T::Dad's 50th {pontooning!}
F::Senior {Lucas} Photoshoot

Thankful that:
The weather is starting to feel like Fall.  Perhaps this will inspire me to get my decor out of the garage! :)  Also thankful that we finally got some rain this past week!

Iowa State Fair {2013}

Last Thursday our sitter took the day off {since it was the first day of school for her boys} and it happened to be my birthday {& I always have Friday's off} so I decided to take the day off to make a long{er} weekend with the kids.

I'm so glad I did because although the weatherman forecasted rain, the weather turned out to be perfect.  Typically it's about 100*, so I welcomed the cool, cloudy weather and packed up the kids to run a couple of errands and head to the Iowa State Fair.

I had a funnel cake for breakfast and brick oven pizza & a glass of wine for lunch, and still made it home for naps that afternoon.  Since I was solo with the kids we pretty much just walked around and looked at everything.  We saw grape stomping and I almost convinced Jordyn to participate in the 'little hands on the farm' activity where they learn about farming and get rewarded with a treat at the end for all of their hard work, but after she was out of the stroller she wanted nothing to do with it!  :)  So we ended up going to the horse and cattle barns to meet up with my cousin.

It was a great day, but we really wanted to experience it as a family, so Friday night we went back for a while.  This time it was all about the food.  Adam's parents joined us and like last year, we all get a bunch of different foods and share them.  We had a Fair Square {rice crispy treat on a stick}, a Pork Chop on a stick, a Corn Dog, Tator Ribbons, a Deep Fried Snickers Bar, a Funnel Cake, & State Fair Lemonade.  YUM!  Jordyn was most excited for the Big Slide!  She went down it with Daddy & Papa and had the ling not been as long {and the stairs so high!} she would have rode it all night! :)  We didn't stay at the fair as long as we would have liked since Jordyn had no interest in her stroller which made for a stressed {read: grumpy!} mama.  Cullyn puking down the front and back didn't help.  Neither did the fact that I got almost NO photos before the sun went down.  ::sigh::

All in all it was another great year at the fair.  We hope to make it a tradition to take the kids for one day each year.

State Fair 2012

We Got Our Snow Day!

Well it only seems appropriate to publish this post now that we're having our 2nd snow day of the year.  This one happens to be from right before Christmas.  My baby sister was staying with us and we had so much fun.  We 'baked,' we watched Christmas chick flicks, and we lounged in front of the fire while it snowed all day.  Snow days with my favorites are the absolute best!   I can't wait until Jordyn's ready to go play in it! :)

SNOW!!!

Although I'm the biggest fan of snow days ever & I've been praying for a white Christmas...the timing of this could not be worse.  It's supposed to snow through Thursday afternoon [10+ inches] and then blow [30-50mph] until Friday.  

My plan was to head for home tomorrow afternoon [right it the heart of the blowing while driving on open interstates for 100+ miles].  

Oh, and guess when the next set of storms is supposed to hit...the day we're planning to head home.

Careful what you wish for I guess!  :)

The [last] Walk

The walk that in 2010 Murdock would have been ran me
The walk that in 2011 would have been to a waddle
The walk that about blew us away last night
The walk that was 67* on March 6th


But most of all...
The walk that reminded me just how sick our Murdock is. 

A 1/2 mile into our walk Murdock just could not take anymore.  I was so thankful that I decided to stay on our side of the rode for fear this would happen.  I knew I would never be able to get him and her across the busy road as quick as I would have needed to.  I thought he was going to collapse coming up the stairs again. 

The last walk for Murdock.

Just Thursday..

*Seriously guys...one day I'm going to make a new button!

Outside my window..it's cold & gloomy.  27ish degrees and 3" of snow headed our way again.

Today I feel..exhausted!

I am thinking..I'll take a nap after I post this :) 

I am thankful..I have a hard working husband 

Tomorrow I am going..to pick up a hand made gift for our friends J&J's little one [arriving any day now!]

I am wearing..sweats!

I wish..all of our family could come this weekend

This weekend I..My baby sister is coming to hang out with us!

I am reading..The Happiness Project.  Finally!  :)

I am working on..housework..

Yesterday I..worked and our friend Dave came over for dinner.

Today's supper is..potato soup...mmm!  Can't wait for it with this weather!

I am hoping..to rent a couple of movies tonight, too!

I am hearing..silence!

I bet you didn't know..my sister is going to stay with us every Sunday though Thursday for a while, because SHE GOT A NEW JOB & IS MOVING TO DES MOINES!!!  We're so excited for her!!

Something I'm looking forward to is..Meeting my first ever BLOG FRIEND!!  Tommorrow!  It's going t be brief, but I'm still very excited nonetheless!