catch the moment: week thirty-six

I was excited to be the featured writer for Behind the Moment this month! Did anyone read it? Ha!  Hopefully I was able to share some helpful tips to anyone doing the 365 project who has not been as keeping up with it as well as they’d hoped or to someone who is planning to start it soon.

I also had another post on The Affordable Mouse this week that I hope everyone will check out. It’s been a busy week for me on the internet. I’m staying busy writing and I absolutely love it.

Aside from writing, I’ve also been staying busy by having lots of fun with my family as summer winds down. I published my Summer wrap-up post yesterday and can’t believe how much we crammed into this summer that has flown by WAY too fast.

Now I’m linking up with Mindi, Sarah, and Stephanie for week 36 of Catch the Moment 365.  Am I the only one who is subtracting whatever week we are on from 52 every week now, and cringing because I can’t believe the number of weeks between now and Christmas is in the teens!? GAG.

246/365: September 3rd. S’mores ice cream with a chopped up Reese cup on top. Because it was 10pm and no picture had been taken yet. And because, damn, that was good.  I wish I had a big fat bowl of it again right now. 9-03-14

247/365: September 4th. Just doing a little topless artwork while Mom cooks dinner.9-04-14

248/365: September 5th. Speaking of S’mores… Camping at Jellystone Mammoth Cave in Kentucky with my family.9-05-14

249/365: September 6th. My sister and her adorable family. LOVE & miss them so much.9-06-14

250/365: September 7th. Unfortunately Theo woke up Sunday not feeling well so we cut our trip short and headed home early. I took Dexter to the park while Theo rested. Dexter looooved exploring. And the 1:1 time with mommy.9-07-14

251/365: September 8th. YAY! After a day of resting at home with Dad, Theo was feeling all better. Some fresh air and dinner outside was nice. 9-08-14

252/365: September 9th. Proudly wearing their Jellystone/Yogi & Friends shirts that we tie-dyed at the campground to school Tuesday. They are a little brighter and more colorful in person, I promise. Although they did fade/blend some when I washed them. I’d never tie-dyed anything before but now I’m obsessed with trying again!9-09-14

So that was our week in a nutshell. Besides Theo getting sick, it was a good one. My favorite pictures this week are 249 (my sister and her family at Jellystone) & 250 (Dexter exploring the park). Which one(s) do you like best, hmm?

xo,

~C~

summer wrap up: 2014

High temps are predicted to reach only into the mid-60s this weekend, so the realization that summer is ending has become impossible to ignore or deny.  I always say that Spring is my favorite season because of the awesome weather and – oh yeah – my birthday, but truly it’s my favorite because it renews my spirit and gives me something to look forward to…Summer.  In the same vein, Fall is kind of my least favorite season.  I hate winter more than Fall for a lot of reasons but it’s hard for me to get wrapped up in pumpkin-mania and chunky sweaters when all I can think about is the fact that Summer is over and Winter is chomping at the bit to get it’s claws on me. My disgust for Fall and is something I have written about since 2010.  Nothing has changed.

I guess that’s not entirely true – what’s different this year is that we’ve had less than five 90 degree days and just as it finally started to FEEL like summer, it is ending.

Regardless…that’s not the point of this post. My intent was that this would be a happy kind of post. A reminder of how much fun we packed into this short, mild summer and how many firsts we experienced together as a family.  If I had made a Summer 2014 bucket list, I think just about everything would be checked off!

– The unofficial start of Summer: Memorial Day. We took a road trip to Tennessee for the long weekend to visit my mom, sister, and my sister’s family.IMG_8484– Strawberry goodness: Strawberry picking and a few days later, a strawberry festival that we have gone to 3 years in a row.IMG_8807IMG_9321-Theo found his way into the spotlight, singing “Let it Go” at Karaoke night at our favorite local ice cream joint.IMG_8743-Simple Pleasures: Countless picnics and trips to the splash pad, pool, parks, and the farmers market.IMG_8679 IMG_8781 IMG_8793

IMG_9417IMG_0999IMG_9111-The YMCA: Soccer Clinics & Swim LessonsIMG_9485IMG_2512-Father’s Day weekend: Spent with friends at the lake.IMG_9786 IMG_9886-Family: A very special visit from my mom and grandma. That’s four generations right there.IMG_0090-Sunflower picking.IMG_0573 IMG_0559-4th of July/11th anniversary weekend.IMG_0719 IMG_0687 IMG_0659-Mini-vacation: We went with some friends to Holiday World for the first time. The boys and I camped in a camper for the first time. 7-19-14IMG_1157-Bliss: A beautiful backyard wedding. True Love.IMG_1506 IMG_1665 IMG_1670-First time bowling as a family:IMG_0984 -Dexter started pre-school:IMG_2103 – The Indiana State Fair.IMG_2292 IMG_2423-Time spent with my long-distance BFF.bffwammfestphoto-Fun celebrating a wonderful friend’s 40th birthday.IMG_3016 -Fun with friends on the lake.IMG_3094 IMG_3114 IMG_3134 – Fun with friends at the Luke Bryan show.IMG_3259 – Fun with family camping at a Jellystone Campground + Resort and Mammoth Cave.IMG_3382 IMG_3408 IMG_3434 IMG_3441 IMG_3526Looking through these memories, it’s hard to believe we squeezed so much into three months.  Summer, oh, summer. Why do you have to go?

xo,

~C~

 

catch the moment: week thirty-five (Labor Day)

We went to a concert, visited with Ryan’s family, and worked hard in the yard over Labor Day weekend. All in all, it was a good mix of being home and getting out on the town. Time with friends, time with family. No complaints from this gal!

Linking up my week 35 of Catch the Moment 365 with Mindi from Simply Stavish, Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming, and Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer.

239/365: August 27th – I got the boys some sleeping bags for an upcoming camping trip and they had fun testing them out in the living room.8-27-14

240/365: August 28th – We took the boys to a local cupcake shop to reward Dexter for an accident-free week after struggling with adjusting to pre-school. They were proud of their “big bellies” after eating their treats. 8-28-14

241/365: August 29th – Feeding the ducks and fish some bread after pick-up from the babysitter.8-29-14

242/365: August 30th – Tailgating with our good friends before the fantastic, wonderful, fabulous, oh-so-fun Luke Bryan concert.8-30-14

243/365: August 31st – We woke up Sunday morning and Ryan mowed while I de-weeded part of the jungle that has taken over our front beds.  The summer has been pretty mild and wet – usually by this point in the summer the grass is dead and weeds aren’t much of an issue.  As you can see, a month of ignoring the weeds didn’t really work this year. It started pouring rain so we called it a day and went to Ryan’s parents for most of the day Sunday and spent the night.8-31-14

244/365: September 1st – Labor Day.  We left Ryan’s parents around 11am and got back to work at home.  After more weeding, digging up a dead bush, and ripping out very stubborn ivy, I could barely walk the next day. Our house, from the front anyway, looks a million times better. Now we just have to stay on top of it and keep working on getting rid of that ivy. Who ever thought that crap was a good idea???9-01-14

245/365: September 2nd – Our long weekend came to an end as we transitioned back to normal life. Preschool, work, dinner, baths, and bedtime stories.  I feel like I repeat “not right now” too many times when they ask for attention because I’m “busy” cooking, cleaning, working, or otherwise occupied with day to day necessary tasks.  I really treasure story time and bedtime (even when it drives me crazy) because that’s at least 1 hour when they have our nonstop, undivided attention.  I love that we reconnect as a family at the end of every day.9-02-14a

Shoot, I know I shouldn’t like my own pictures this much and I feel like a broken record saying I can’t decide which I like best, but I can’t help it. Every picture means something to me. I love my silly boys at the cupcake shop (240), the concert (242) and both before and after progress shots of our landscaping (243-44). Oh right, and the bedtime one (245). So yeah – like I said… I suck at this.

Since I’m biased, you tell me. Which picture(s) do YOU like best?

xo,

~C~