The Last Day in May

Today is May 31st, it is warm and sunny. I feel promise in the air that summer will soon be here. I could relive today over and over. Nothing spectacular happened other than warm sun rays, family and relaxation. I don't relax well, today when I felt my mind wander I thought, stop and live in this moment. It's the weekend, there is nothing to be done but enjoy the three days I have off.

I started the day getting up at 6:00, everyone else was still sleeping when I woke up. I text Karen to see if she was ready to run. I threw on running clothes and woke the girls up to eat and get dressed for softball.

6:20: Run time. Three miles

6:50 Home to shower and get dressed

7:30 Girls hair, water bottles and snacks

8:00 leave for the field, stop at the store for COFFEE

8:15 Softball pics

9:00 Game

11:20 Game is finally over :) THEY WON!

12:00 Lunch

12:45, trampoline fun (and cat nap, such a warm place to lay) bike ride with my girls, Popsicle time.

3:00 Walmart run AND a Subway sandwich, I was Starvin'

4:30 Visit at Karen's

5:00 making dinner

5:30 blog post.

Next up is a big ol fat relaxing evening :) Maybe another run too. Ahh Sweet summer time :) 

The weekend

This weekend was so relaxing and fun. It's amazing what an extra day will do for ya! Friday night we stopped by Karen's to hang out while Daddy drove out to Liberty to meet up with Grandpa.

Saturday morning we went to Katie's to get my hair dyed and cut. A little girl time is great. Jenny, Katie, Bret the girls and I had breakfast pizza YUM. hours later, lots of hair gone, bellies full, nails painted, Frozen and Hotel Transylvania later we headed back to our house.

Randi, Cody and Hai baby came over to dye T shirts for our upcoming NH trip. They left around 9:00 and we crashed.

Sunday I met another Katie at the park where her little lady Reece played with my girls. She had asked me to take some pictures of her and Reece. I did a couple shoots for photography class so I agreed. Photography classes are on hold for the moment :( Boo, the girls have games most Monday's and when it comes to myself and my girls, they come first. I can't imagine not seeing every swing, every run every little everything.

Sunday afternoon we met Randi and the kids again for some fun at Walker park, A walk through my least favorite town (Camden) A bunch of snobby ass rich people. Seriously we had a group of adults cut us and our kids off sending our kids in different directions away from our reach in the street. Just because you have money doesn't mean you can be a total douche... I just said douche on my blog :/ No exaggeration most of them were just that.

Sunday the girls and Cody decided they hadn't spent enough time together so they had a sleep over together and I went home to run, only to have the worlds worst headache ever so no run.

Monday, picked up my girls, ran, visited with Karen. Had the girls next door over to play, cleaned, a quick dinner and a blog post :)

Now for another run when Daddy gets home.

I tried not letting my lack of exercise get me down this weekend. I am normally an early riser but I guess we all needed our rest this weekend. Once I was up it was too nice to be in the basement on my treadmill and Chris worked all weekend so I took the weekend off. Back at it. Whoot Whoot. Bring on a short week only to lead to another long weekend. Puffin Cruise next week with three second grade classrooms.

You know you are doing ok as a mom...

We have a rule around this house, no TV or electronics Monday through Thursday. Too much to get done and kids sucked into TV while we have stuff and school work to get done is annoying as all h!! We used to have a no TV at all rule but everything is OK in moderation. Tonight Ry asked to play on her tablet and I told her she could. She handed Devan her Nabi (tablet) and Devan said isn't it Monday? ;) YES! I love that they just know. This rule makes my life easier. They don't ask and I don't feel bad saying no all the time. AND no attitude when I say no. Now if we can get Daddy to understand that TV is a no no on School nights.... He caves more than I do, but only after they have their stuff done.

We don't have cable at all, I don't care to have it, I can't find the time to read let alone watch TV. I let the girls watch certain things on Netflix. This world is so crazy and the stuff on TV can be so obnoxious. I don't want sheltered kids by any means but I do want them to stay little for as long as possible.

Softball Continues

The girls had their third softball game last night. Both girls are doing pretty good. Devan is shy and timid when it comes to the ball. SHE IS DETERMINED TO HIT THAT BALL. She is such a spunky little kid. Her coach has been working really hard with her, you can tell that he likes my spunky little Devy Doo a lot. She hit the ball on her second time to bat and made it to first without getting out. Pretty sure her whole team was cheering for her for a good five minutes because everyone knew just how bad she wanted to hit that ball. She ended up making it home too :) Ry is the opposite of Devan, she is confident and puts everything in and is OK with the outcome not being a grand slam every time. She didn't get a hit tonight but learned the importance of swinging within your strike zone.  Their coach said, "I can finally tell them apart, by their personalities" I laughed, he is right on the money. I didn't help when buying leggings and long sleeved shirts I bought the same color, so now they are dressed identical. Oh well, both outfits cost $8.00. I am pretty sure the girls mostly look forward to the post game treat after a win, which has been every game. Coach Mike gets them pizza or ice cream for every win. Spoiled girls. I wont lie, I totally use this as bribery for paying attention to the game, keeping calm in the dugout and paying attention. They simply are not allowed to participate in the fun if they don't make the game the most important part of the evening.  A little tough love never hurt anyone.

Here's to the end of the school year and softball, gymnastics and field hockey this summer. WHOA it's going to be a busy one! I can't wait to see my girls grow into what they they really LOVE. I would guess for my Ry it will be field hockey, cheer and softball and my Doop, cheer, drama, creative writing and lost in books learning every fact in the world. Yesterday she told me, Mom butter milk if good for pigs skin. I asked her where she learned that and she said Chartlottes Web, funny I read that book several times and never picked facts out of it. She is constantly learning facts.

Skeptical about batting.

Her hit! Notice how she is not even looking at the ball ;)

Ryleigh girl up to bat. Coach Mike told her to put her weight into her back leg and laughed and said what weight you have. The girls were less than impressed to be mistaken for T Ball players at the store.

THIS pictures is SO Devan.

Fun and games in the dugout.

A pep talk from the coach.

Dairy Queen

Welcome Little Piggies

This post is a bit late, I have some catching up to do.

A few weeks back we visited the Terra Optima Farm in Union to welcome the little baby piglets. This was the first time the farm had opened to the public and I just happened to run across the event on facebook.

It was a rainy dreary day but we made the best of things, the kids had a BLAST! They loved being at the farm.

Toll House Cookie's

 Toll House cookies are a very favorite childhood pass time for me. I moved frequently and this is one of the things that followed us wherever we went. From little bitty until I graduated I have made these cookies. My brother, sister and I were (well from what I remember) self sufficient in the cookie making department. We LOVED to make these for our Mom.  I remember one time in particular my mom was curled up reading a book waiting for the cookies to me done, we were so proud. Now that I am a mom myself I am sure that memory was a little different for her.  It is time to train the girls and pass down the Toll House torch. We are not even close to ready to let them fly solo making cookies but they will get here ;)

Now here's for hoping these cookies are gone before tomorrow. I am not a fan of warm chocolate chip cookies. I always go for the day old in a jar accompanied by a piece of bread for perfect storage, add a glass of milk and you have a perfect treat.

Softball year one

We have finally graduated from T ball to softball :) The girls coach is amazing with the girls. I can't wait to see how far they come. I didn't see it happen but Devan came up to me saying she got hit in the head with a softball :( poor kid. She must have been feeling overwhelmed because she had a bit of a melt down. She was calm but cried saying she didn't want to play anymore. I told her there was no way she could quit 20 minutes into her first practice. She kept trying, I was proud of her. She stepped cautiously up to the plate to bat, she swung a few times and missed but got to run. Ryleigh hit her ball first swing. They both are getting good at catching the ball. I say they will be pretty good by the end of the season.

I'm excited to see them grow in sports! 

New Kicks

Devan and Nanny spent the day together this Saturday while Ry and I had our one on one day. Devan proudly announced when she got home that she had bought a new pair of shoes. They are high top basketball sneakers, I’m pretty sure they are boys. If you know Devan you know that she likes a verity of things, sporty, tomboy, girly, frilly and everything in between. She goes through stages with each of these styles. Today she came out in what was intended to be a PJ shirt from Oshkosh, the shirt has a dog catching a Frisbee. It is a boys shirt she fell in love with, it cost a dollar and the deal was if I bought it she could wear it to bed. She wore her Capri’s and decided on her new sneakers. She looked pretty spunky, especially with the pink Hello Kitty headband she topped the outfit off with. I like her spunky sense of fashion. The girl could pull anything off with her adorable little face. We were walking into the school when she started walking slower and slower and then stopped and said, “I don’t want to go in” I asked why only to find out she was worried about getting picked on. I explained that what she likes is what matters not anyone else. She asked if there were any shoes in the car she could change into, of course there were no shoes to change into. I could tell Devan was really worried about the day and her choice of foot wear. The girls hung up their bags and coats and Devan was on the verge of tears. I reminded her that Leighton wears what he wants without worrying about what other people think, it’s good to be you, to be different. Kids are jealous of the kids with a, I don’t care what you think attitude. Nothing I said was helping. Then Ryleigh took off her shoes and offered them to Devan. I was so proud of her. Ryleigh is my girly girl and I was pretty sure I would never see her at school with her pair on. Devan looked at me and said, “mom Ry probably won’t get made fun of in these shoes because they boy who has them in her class likes her” I asked Devan if she wanted to trade but she said no because she didn’t want to chance Ry getting picked on. I seriously considered making myself late for work to make her feel better, but I figured this is a fear she has to face. She likes the shoes so she should wear them. When I left Devan was feeling a little better and she and her sister walked hand in hand to the other kids. I watched Devan show everyone how Ry’s pink hair matcher her AG doll. I wish I could protect them every minute, I wish I could keep them from all hurt. I hope I said enough for Devan to keep her head held high for the day. I hope she comes home and wants to wear her shoes to school again tomorrow, because overcoming fears and being yourself is a huge accomplishment.

Side note, Devan totally picked those same shoes the next day ;)

50 mm lens

I purchased a 50mm lens with my camera back in February, with class and a million settings I have yet to really play with it. Learning to USE your camera the way it was intended is like learning to drive a car... I am talking mechanics, learning what the settings are for and how they work. I remember almost driving off the road in drivers ed when I had to turn the windshield wipers on, hence the resemblance. It is a lot of work at first. It would be easier to flip the damn thing into auto and click away but then you are left with boring pictures you could be getting with a Kodak Easy Share. Not everyone could learn to really use a DSLR, I have learned this in class, you can know how to operate it but it takes seeing potential to really use a camera. We had a night shoot in Camden a few weeks ago and were all pointed out a few spots to take pictures, I most of the time turned back to the class to get pictures of something entirely different because I don't want to take pictures of what everyone else is. This week we focused on portrait photography, great time to break out my 50mm lens! My assignment for the week was to take pictures of people, I found some people I am quite fond of to take pictures of :) I obviously have a lot to learn, I will always be learning but I am ready for that. I had my camera in my hands from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. I took tons of pictures and was in my glory. I am in no way shape or form awesome but I am creating everlasting memories for my family <3 and="" class="separator" div="" randi="" s="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">

HAILEY is straight up adorable

Mother Daughter Day

Ryleigh and I spent the morning together on Saturday. It was amazing. She cried Friday morning at home because a really important friend to her picks on her when she has her "best" friend around. My heart broke for her. The worst part it, this was the first time she really complained about this situation. I got thinking, I wonder if I gave her extra love on those days, I wonder if her attitude at home those days was less than perfect and I was hard on her. I decided that she needed to feel really special and loved, so I found a sitter for Devan so Ry and I could spend some quality time together. Ryleigh decided to dress like her American Girl Doll Isabelle, she looked adorable. She told me her dream day would be to go to the AG store and or be on the cover of the AG magazine <3. Devan parted with Nanny and Ryleigh and I wasted no time heading out. We stopped at Walmart to buy the sun glasses Ry has seen a few days before next we hit up Duncan Donuts and then to Sally's for some spray in hair color. We sprayed the bottom layer of her hair pink like her AG doll. Next Ry had her first manicure at a salon. She was so cute and big sitting in her chair watching every move. I don't get a lot of one on one with my kids but when I do I appreciate them even more. Ryleigh is such a sweet little girl. We did some shopping and went for a walk down by the water in Camden. Ryleigh really enjoyed looking at all the store fronts and exploring. I haven't been to Camden in a while other than for photography class, I was surprised at how much it as changed. Last, we ate Subway and headed to pick up Uncle Isaac. Ryleigh enjoyed her day with my as much as I enjoyed it. She skipped along happily taking full advantage of being the center of attention. She was so polite the whole time. I wish I could relive that day, every other day ;) Next up is my day with Devan. She had spent the day with Nanny, she wore poor Nanny out shopping and of course HAD to stop by the animal shelter.