catch the moment 365: week twenty-six

OFFICIALLY at the halfway point in this project – I feel like celebrating!

This week of photos represents two very different weeks — the end of a bad one and the beginning of a new, fresh one.  If anything COULD go wrong the last week of June, it DID go wrong. Something – no, multiple things, went wrong every day and the week just kept getting worse and worse.  Sunday afternoon things started turning around for the better and this week has been great.  Thank goodness.  Glad to bid adieu to the end of the first half of 2014 and move on to the second half.

Linking up with Mindi, Sarah, and Stephanie — the hostesses of this year-long Catch the Moment photo challenge.

6-25-14 176/365: June 25th.  The boys wanted to go swimming but in the midst of our crummy week, I didn’t feel like packing and lugging all our stuff to the YMCA after dinner. They were more than satisfied with the little blow up pool we got for Dexter’s 1st birthday. They had fun showing off their jumps. I think the neighbors enjoyed the show too.

6-26-14 177/365: June 26th.  Twenty minutes before I was going to walk into a meeting, I got a call from the babysitter. She said Dexter had thrown up and had blisters in the back of his throat.  Nine kids had already come down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease that week so there was really no question as to what was going on.  He was sick the rest of the night but woke up Friday feeling better. Ryan stayed home with the boys.

6-27-14 178/365: June 27th. After an early nap, Theo woke up late Friday morning blazing hot.  He slept off and on all day between temperature checks and Ibuprofen & Acetaminophen doses.  When I got home at 2:30 I took Dexter, who was feeling much better outside to play.

6-28-14 179/365: June 28th. Theo’s fever continued throughout the day Saturday.  It’s so hard seeing him so miserable. It’s so hard being cooped up in the house. Especially when one kid feels good and is going stir crazy.

6-29-14 180/365: June 29th. Theo’s fever continued through about 1am Sunday morning. He had his last dose of medicine and woke up Sunday fever-free and feeling fine.  He had blisters in his throat too so we thought it best if we stayed home yet again Sunday.  In the afternoon I decided to clean out my car and the boys enjoyed their little pool again, which turned into making mud puddles!

6-30-14181/365: June 30th. I kept the boys home one more day from the sitter to be on the safe side and worked a half day.  In the afternoon we went swimming with a friend but I didn’t even get my camera out.  I realized I still hadn’t taken a picture on my way to Target later Monday night.

7-01-14182/365: July 1st. Last day of soccer clinics. Thank goodness. They didn’t put forth their best effort, let’s just say that!  But we had a decent night at soccer (not their worst!) and went swimming right afterwards.

Not a thrilling week in pictures, but not a thrilling week in real life either. I’d have to say my favorite one from this week is day 176 – Theo making a big splash in a little pool!  Which one do you like best this week? Might be a struggle to choose, I know! And not because they are all so fantastic! Meh.
xo,
~C~

sunflower fields forever

One of my co-workers has been telling me about her friend’s sunflower field for some time now so I finally decided to check it out after picking up the boys today. It was a little hot and a lotta buggy, but we had fun perusing the beautiful varieties and settled on 7 pretty flowers to take home with us.  I thought I had six, but I miscounted — I owe someone $.34! Bonus – it was a quick, fun photography experience.

IMG_0550 IMG_0552 IMG_0559 IMG_0560 Theo wasn’t really into it — he was more interested in complaining about the bugs and trying to climb the fence to the cemetery.

IMG_0569 IMG_0573 IMG_0579 Dexter liked helping me choose and snip flowers, then he would put them in the bucket.

IMG_0601
Final bouquet. Total cost $2.  (And $.34).

xo,
~C~

catch the moment 365: week twenty-five

Let me start this week with an apology. My pictures are not the most inspired.  I feel like I’ve been rushing around so much that just getting a picture — not getting a picture I love — was the priority. I’ve overbooked us/myself the last couple of weeks with plans every single night so I’m looking forward to (hoping for) some low-key days in our very near future. I love being busy and having fun but eventually, duty calls. So does the couch.

6-18-14
169/365: June 18th. Lunch date with a friend from work at the historic Willard. Great food and great ambiance.
6-19-14170/365: June 19th. Just one of a few photos I shared in a previous post about my grandma’s recent visit.
6-20-14
171/365: June 20th. A hurry up and take the picture kind of day. A friend at work gave me her iPhone 4 to borrow until I can get an upgrade in September. I feel like I’ve gotten a HUGE upgrade since the phone I had before (Ryan’s OLD phone) barely held a charge for 5 minutes.
6-21-14
172/365: June 21st. What better way to welcome the official start of summer than spending a day jumping in a lake with my kids?  My cousin visited with her sweet little cousin (see day 173) and we spent the whole day maxin’ and relaxin’ on the water. Perfection. By far my favorite day of the week!
6-22-14
173/365: June 22nd. Sweet little J playing on the playground before they headed back home on Sunday. I wasn’t much in the mood to take photos that day but I wish I’d gotten more of her sweet face.
6-23-14
174/365: June 23rd. While I was working really hard to relax and entertain the boys, Ryan and his dad were doing ACTUAL work. Monday night they finished installing our new over-the-range microwave.  Now we just have about 2 million other things to do before our kitchen remodel is complete.
6-24-14
175/365: June 24th. Another get-it-over-with kind of picture day but as it turns out, I really love this one. It was raining when I took this so I didn’t even get out of the car.  I’m kind of in love with this barn apparently. It always looks different based on the pretties growing around it. Remember the poppy picture? And the snowy winter scene?

Wow, Theo didn’t even make an appearance this week and there’s one measly shot of Dexter. I have taken pictures of both of them, for sure, but for some reason, these are the photos that stood out to me as the ones I wanted to use for week 25. I hope you enjoyed them — at least a little bit.  I love day 175 – the barn & day 169 – lunch at the Willard.  Which is your favorite?

xo,
~C~