Whirlwind of a Weekend

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend. Ed and I were blessed with another weekend away...we could get used to this....one in July...one in September...THANK YOU Grandma Charlie for coming and watching the boys for two nights. I know they can be exhausting.

Ed stood up for his good buddy Casey so we had the rehearsal dinner on Friday night and then the wedding on Saturday. It was fabulous! Lots of fun seeing good friends and even meeting new friends. Casey has been a friend of Ed's since childhood. He has become a good friend of mine and I am so thrilled to see him so happy with his wife Katie. She is so fun and I know she will be a good friend for a lifetime. Their wedding was so special and unique. The view from the ceremony and reception was this:


The whole event started at 7pm so the first few hours during sunset as the evening city turned to night was spectacular! I am really disappointed in the pictures I took of the bride and groom. I was hoping to capture more of them. But I got swept up in the fun. Thanks for such a fun evening Casey and Katie!

Arriving home on Sunday we were both tired. But being away for two nights we had the itch to hang out with the boys. So we got out our fire pit and made a fire for the first time in our yard. The boys each roasted a few marshmallows. It was nice.




Today we went to our favorite apple orchard and picked two huge bags of apples. For dinner the boys had a bowl of cereal and apple caramel sundaes...yum! Charley starts school on Wednesday! Can't believe summer is pretty much over. We delivered homemade strawberry freezer jam to our neighbors tonight ...Charley thought they could make their first peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with it. So it was 'Good luck in school tomorrow' jam.





Good night!

Friday night...on the town...

Good Friends - fun times!

Jacket, Jeans, and a Martini!

Could he be sophisticated? Love HIM!

Because of them we get a weekend away. Tomorrow is will be their magical day. Casey is getting married to an amazing woman, Katie. She will be a life long friend!
Can't wait to celebrate their life together.

I may not have a daughter...

But I have two little boys who bless me with these moments. Boy are they going to make great husbands. Charlie and I treated ourselves to pedicures Friday morning. Henry sat on my lap as content as can be. Charley did this with me at this age too. Blows my mind that they will sit like this for me. Charley stood by grandma and she read him stories...while we got leg massages and painted toes! The life of a mom with two boys...

My Child

You are as tall as the golf ball retriever thingy that is included in my Grandma's set of golf clubs.

You are that tall!
You. are. ONLY. that. tall!

Yet you can whine, crab, and be so irrational that you almost drive me into the loony bin!
You whine when you are tired.
You are irrational when you are exhausted.
Life is good son - go night night!
So tomorrow you can try and catch a cloud again.

Rest. Dream. Sleep!

Updates = Life is good:

1. Grocery Shopping challenge:
Last night for dinner we had enchiladas, salad, and corn on the cob.

This morning for breakfast the boys both had some apple, one eggo waffle, and two bowls of Target brand Lucky Charms! NEVER GOING BACK to "THE LUCKY CHARMS"!

Lunch we had turkey, lettuce, cheese sandwiches, cucumbers, and a banana.

For a snack Charley and his buddies had ice cream cones with mint chocolate chip ice cream.

For dinner we will have brats, baked beans, salad w/ lettuce, cucumbers, and a tomato from our garden. Maybe some pita chips and hummus for an appetizer.

Definitely not a fancy day but no money spent, pretty balanced meals, and everyone is happy.

2. This morning we had a great walk and then headed to meet Charley's new preschool teacher. It should be a nice year.

3. Charley had a playdate with his twin friends John and Michael. They played in the sandbox, ate ice cream, and caught grasshoppers! Love those boy playdates!

4. Ed arrived home early which is always a fun surprise. We have a long evening ahead of us to fill with family time....or I could go get a pedicure...hmmmm....

5. The weather here this week has been absolutely perfect! The mornings are cool - perfect for walking. The afternoons get nice and warm but with the windows open the house stays cool enough to be comfortable. My allergies have so far been tolerable. Our grass is green and not burned up from dry days and hot sun. It is just perfect!

Life is good.

The Days are Long but the Years Short

This article today really struck me. It is titled Ten Ways to Be a More Light-Hearted Parent. This short video tugs at your heart too. But to make you laugh...check this out (for this one hit the replay button it should be a cartoon). Enjoy!

September's Grocery Challenge

One of the blogs I read is having a grocery shopping challenge for the month of September. She has done it the last two years and has challenged others to give it a try. So we are going to try...although the month has a few challenges...

1. I am hosting a family "Survivor" weekend and that will require buying more food than normal.

2. I am hosting Henry's baptism...which might require more food...depending on what we do for it.

3. A wedding/mini vacation weekend for Ed and I.

So taking those three events into consideration I am going to commit to spending no more than $75.00 on groceries a week. I am focusing on food so this will include eating groceries. I am not ready to commit to liquor/beer/toiletries/ and other household goods. Maybe next month. HOWEVER, this also includes eating out! Whether it is ice cream treats, dinner out, etc. My friend Lynelle has already been helpful by encouraging us to come home for lunch today instead of going to get pizza after our Choo Choo Bob's excursion. Thank you! This afternoon I went to Target to get groceries and spent $60.80! So I still have a little left for the usual forgotten items.

Today I bought:
turkey lunch meat
bag of hearts of romaine lettuce
soft taco shells
soft burrito shells
can of cream of mushroom
can of tomato soup
can of enchilada sauce
nectarines .99/lb
bananas
3 boxes of cereal
hotdog buns
loaf of bread
2 onions
powdered buttermilk
gallon milk
1/2 gallon whole milk
2 pounds ground beef
2 frozen lemonade concentrates
1 extra large bag of shredded cheese
1 small bag of shredded cheese
1 box of butter
1 package of spreadable butter
1 container of hummus

Where I could have saved...
I didn't really need the powdered buttermilk at this time but I have been looking for it forever. I didn't need to buy two lemonades.

I saved money today by buying Target brand cereal for the first time. I usually buy name brand cereals but since Charley wasn't along to be the whiner who is begging for the box I am going to give it a try. I also didn't buy the bread that we usually buy.

So here goes our first week! Can we do it? YES, we can!

Choo Choo Bob's

Could I be more in heaven watching my boys enjoy story time so cozy.

I am always looking for new, fun, free, things to do with my boys. And this morning we packed up and went to story time at Choo Choo Bob's Train Shop. It was our first time at the shop and we were NOT disappointed. We got there early and they opened the doors to us because they could see we were excitedly waiting for them to open. The back of the store has at least 6 train tables with different train sets set up and ready to play with. We will return with Mama's book because I could totally read while they putter for an hour! Then we got to meet Engineer Paul who read stories, played his guitar, sang, and did a little lesson on counting. It was awesome. We went with our friends and all four kids (including Henry) sat in the front row completely entertained for the 40 minute story time. WE WILL GO BACK!

Moments like these...

We recently got some fun mail. My Aunt Pat sent the boys a little hello note and in it she included some ice cream money. So today we ventured out to enjoy a cone. Thank you Aunt Pat for making our day! This outing caused us to slow down and enjoy each others company. It lasted about 45 minutes and it is moments like these when I really love being a mom.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Grace in Small Things #19

1. A nice Sunday with my family...a visit from good friends (Thanks Casey and Katie for stopping by.)

2. Ready for another good week with the boys. Walking really does wonders for my soul! Ahhh!

3. A motivating sister! Let's do "the program" Raina!

4. A lemonade vodka in a tall glass on a summer evening.

5. Henry's snuggle - may he always find me, his mama, to be a safe place.

6. This song...it was on that video with the wedding entrance. A friend played it at a playdate...and it reminded me that it totally makes me smile!