Freedom Rings...

HAPPY 4th of JULY to each of YOU!!!

...may your sparklers not die out and your cup never be empty...
xoxo

...happy to have Jordyn with me this month...

Can I get a Repeat?! Weekend Replay...

From spicy to comfort foods, duck hunts to egg hunts, and a lil' shopping....
down went another awesome weekend!

We're getting better at our family pictures. We've come a long ways since these bloopers.
Probably goes without saying, the pic above is a piece of Easter Sundays fun, lets crack into the weekend...

1// remember this quote? That FITSPO was in full effect Friday.
2// my trail run got me 5 miles of head strong, heart strong.
3// date night with my two boys! One has table manners comparable to an adult, the other prefers to stand in his food. Lets just say the waiter earned his tip.
4// shopping. My way of rewarding myself for the goals met in March.
5// Lucas wasn't feeling well, total shame because the weather was GAW-GUS. I took the boys to the near by wanna be lake. We searched for ducks, fish and frogs. For me it was a RestActive day and for the boys it was all play.
6// Braids = Casual, easy Saturday. May be the thinnest braid ever, but it's a braid! ha!
7// Which is cuter the kid or the dog? Dyeing Easter eggs was much more messy but fun this year :)
8// the whole gang minus just a few. Easter lunch was a feast and a good time had by all.
9// Which way to the egg hunt was a total laugh. the boys were in each direction and easily distracted by anything the wind blew in their paths. After a few minutes they got the hang of it and then were quickly distracted again. too stinking cute.

Right past the egg, headed for the hoola hoop. If you're not tired from the gazillion photo's be my guest at seeing Easters of the past few years...all intended purposes are for family and friends who frequent the blog but you know, you might just want in on it too...

You may have seen this guy on the sidebar. It's our friend for April!
March's fit challenge is done so it's on to the next one.
April's challenge is uber friendly!
Join the team, be more active than yesterday....

Check it out, team up with us!
It's literally as simple as taking an extra step each day....






Linking with Weekend Shenanigans, Bloglovin Hop, Life Lately

Looking back on Happy Easters...

Happy Easter Sunday!


This year....
I'm hoping to catch Lance at the dinner table again with his over the top cheesy grin. Wondering how Landon and his cousin will do when they each spot the same egg. And praising the heavens I got away with only having to bring deviled eggs to Easter lunch. (which I still haven't made!)

I hope you find yourself surrounded by those you love in rooms filled with laughter and yards filled with eggs. Our family has always enjoyed this holiday for it's truest reason, much like Christmas. And then there's the egg hunt, can not leave out the egg hunt. fingers crossed for a no-rain day. The youngest of our group are now old enough to understand the fun in Easter. I can hardly wait to watch them fill their baskets!

Much like the collage of Halloween, I spent some time digging up pictures from Easters gone by. As much as I talk about looking forward and setting goals, I couldn't help but get lost these pictures. It's truly a blessing to spend holidays with family and friends. Hope you don't mind the photo dump ;)

From VA to Hawaii back to VA we've spent Easters covered in snow, sunshine and sand. To see Lance grow through these years along with his cousins made my little heart melt tonight. Check out his surfer hair from Hawaii days!! What's more fun is his face at the dinner table. Not much changed in 5 years. Apparently Lance is one happy kid at the dinner table or us adults take far too long cooking the meal?! Landon's first Easter was in his own home. You can barely see him in the picture, he was just days old! This was the first Easter celebration I threw for my family. I don't know what got into me that year but somehow I pulled it off, and yes, Lance will never be too old for an egg hunt!

Last year we were able to spend the holiday at my sister's beach house. My brother and his family had since moved to Nevada but were able to fly home for the Easter weekend. I can't even describe the happiness my parents felt this week. Really, we all did. My sister, brother and I are the best of friends. Our children are close in age and love each other like best friends too. The 15 of us spent a long weekend together counting it all...bible verses, Carova horses, eggs, kids, seashells and our blessings.


Happy Easter loves!
See you soon with a weekend recap and more fitspo!





Linking with BlogLovin Weekend Hop, No Rules Hop,

Love-Dovey Day or Just Another Day?

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you love bloggers!!!
If you celebrate this day or not...I still wish you sweet hugs and kisses!

For the record...in case you haven't figured it out yet, here's my Valentine...

He's my McDreamy, McSquezzy, McEverything. He's my rock. He's my sexy man. My heart's keeper.


Time for a little Q&A....
Link-up Style with The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife
I ask Lucas a few questions from the list and compare his answers to mine. Let's see how well he knows me!

I asked him if he remembered our first date...
of course he did! It was dinner and drinks at a local sports bar. I know, how romantic!
under the circumstances it was. we loved each other's company and oh,lala had our first kiss that night.

Which of you said I love you first?
He admits...he did. And then I cried. Total sap. The man melted my heart.

The colors of your wedding...
He's stumped....uhhhh, we didn't have that kind of wedding! Oh so true. Marrying Lucas was one of the best days of my life although the story doesn't make for the best. I had flown to Hawaii to welcome him home from his deployment. We knew we'd marry that week. It was planned. We just didn't know which day he'd finally be coming home. It was this week 4 four years ago. In some ways it seems like yesterday  in other ways it seems like an eternity ago. We married in a room, second floor of some building in Honolulu. Not at all like I pictured my wedding day but he was everything I pictured my husband to be.

He'll tell you my most commonly used phrase is...
"5 more minutes!!!" welp, yes, he's completely right on that. hadn't thought of it that way but he's right.

Ask him who my favorite celebrity is and what my fave drink is...
He nails it. Bradley Cooper and Vodka & Ginger with a fresh lime. I'm total lime snob, I smell them before I use them. Seriously, a bad lime will ruin an entire drink. It's no one's fault but the limes. As for Lucas, his celebrity crush is Carrie Underwood and the drink I know to order him is PBR, runner up Blue Moon.

His favorite things about me...
He'll tell you my lips?! For the sake of this blog let's just assume he means smile. Then he says the way I mother, the way I parent, that he can trust my instincts because parenting is hard and there is no manual but when we work together we do it right and do it well. I really didn't know what to expect here, but I love it!

There are a ton more questions but those were the most fun for us! 


I've loved this man from sea to shining sea. He's been as far east as he took me west.

He's been my Valentine for 6 years now and we're coming up on our 4 year wedding anniversary. For us this week is much more than a Hallmark Card Holiday. It's a week we celebrate our love and all our blessings. We talk a bit more heavily on our future, especially with the upcoming move. We take the time to seek out a perfect gift for each other. We stop life and just hang together. We try to make this week a little different than the others.

And you? Do you have a lovey-dovey to celebrate?
Do the two of you do anything 'extra' special today?

Tell me and then get your Valentine booties over to The Life of the Not So Ordinary Wife and link up!

The Obvious Choice....and the best 1 minute EVER

Sometimes you just go with the obvious.
As in, hearts for Valentines Day....

When your daytime plans include a Valentine Party for 20 toddlers, heart shirts are the obvious choice. You just go with it and assume the obvious, like, other toddlers will be wearing your same outfit and probably half of the nearby high school and wonder how many Leona Lewis jokes you'll hear in one day.

Then you remember it's cool, you're cool and you're husband is amazing. You remember noticing the oddball outrageous purchase that showed up on the bank account just a few days ago. And, you get all excited for that purchase because it was to Stub Hub. You're so sure that it must be for the two of you since this time of year is not just for Valentines Day but also your wedding anniversary. You count the years married. one, two, three, four. And think yes, we'll be getting a night together and I may finally get to wear that dress purchased back over the holidays. The kind of dress you just can't leave behind but really don't know when or where you'll get to wear it. 

Then it gets better. Your mind escapes to food. ahhhh, simple easy treats like 1 minute cookies in a mug and healthy, sweet treats in simple packaging. You whip it up and sit back.....in all your coolness.

basic recipe used for a warm batch of chocolate cookies cut down to size...of course, melt the butter first.

mix all ingredients (flour last) in the mug. one dish people, that's it. stir well, heat in microwave for 1 minute.

Does it get better than that? Well, maybe. You could drop a scoop of ice cream in there or if you're really in the mood for a sweet treat and cookies aren't your thing...try this one minute to happiness.....

Brilliant. Best 5 minutes spent browsing Pinterest and best 1 minute spent in the kitchen.

So really you don't need the whole box of chocolates, you don't need anyone to gift chocolate to you.
You just need one minute and a spoon. And you can state the obvious in your attire...and get away with it.
At least I think you can...

Linking with Random Wednesday, WIWW, Workit Wednesday, Walkabout Wednesday, Style Sessions, WhateverWhenever, Look What I Got  -cookie recipe found here, tweaked just a bit.

from...The One, Who Stole Christmas

you start with the reason for the season. taking time to focus on all that was given up, for us the have each of these days to cherish.

then you have a hearty breakfast.

and like good brothers do...you help each other open gifts from under the tree.

as you prepare yourself for all the places to go and people to see, you think back to the day before and remember the sweet new wheels you got, the hard work you and your cousin put into cooking,

and you thank your big brother for letting you, again, steal the show.

all of this, is too much and the day is still young, you pass out on the floor as you and your brother almost did the day before.

you awake to Christmas feasts, family, and more presents. again, you steal the show.

thankfully, us other lovelies got in for a pic or two. Great Grandma's. Grandma's. And sisters (one pregnant with round two).

and for dessert, we paused to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. A tradition my mom started years ago.
soon you'll understand why.

from three different camera's (don't ask) and a view from the little guy who stole Christmas......
we hope you felt as blessed as we did. We hope your home was overfilled with laughter, love, and generosity.  We hope you kept within your the heart the reason for the season and were not lost within the hustle and bustle required by each of us, on what can be, the busiest day of the year.

At times we lost sight of it and have talked about how to ensure it becomes more prominent in the celebrations for years to come.

Things we'll miss most about this Christmas season....

-being minutes away from family and friends. Next years Christmas is "still to be told" as we will be living in Colorado.
-being secure in our family of 4 being together...see mention above, between the lines most likely holds a hint that hubby could be deployed.
-the lights. Our neighbors home is on the tacky light Christmas tour, it's been such a joy to see the lights from our front porch.
-the generosity and togetherness the season prompts. As difficult as it can be to find the perfect gift and be when and where, it's a thrill.
-the sheer excitement in our children's eyes brought on only by the wonder found in this season.


Tell me, how was your Christmas?! 
Point me to your stories so the Joy of Christmas can go on!

P.S. Thanks to the shockingly WARM Christmas weather we enjoyed...mine and the hubs outfits were rather last minute. See, when you're sweating before you even the house...you know better than to wear the wool sweaters (originally planned) to another house, full of Merry. So if you came to find some form of fashion...have a look at last week's post of Leopard.Bows.and Naughty Snowman.

P. to the P.S. I won't ever dump that many photo's on you again!! errrr....unless it's one of their birthdays or next years Christmas!

I've linked with Random Wednesday brought to you by Shanna and linking with Walkabout Wednesday! Linking up with Katherine for Thursday Favorite Things 

50 Ways to SURVIVE the HOLIDAYS

A chocolate candy bar gifted to me, offered more than just a whopping 600 calories, it's wrapper suggested 99 ways to survive the holidays. The repetitive tip was EAT CHOCOLATE.

So while I enjoyed half of that candy bar, I decided to make some corrections changes to their list.
I'm sharing with you silly and legit stress busters for the holiday season...even if it's a little late!

49. remember the true meaning of Christmas
50. Head over to Katie's blog for a chance to win a great group giveaway! I've sponsored her blog this month and am offering a Bath and Body gift card as part of her giveaway fun!

Healthy Holidays tips can be found here.


From my family to yours, we wish each of you Happy Holidays and homes filled with laughter, love, hope, and blessings!




I've linked with Monday Meetup via Covered in Grace and YOLO Mondays via Lipgloss and Crayons

...the before the perfect Holiday Photo

The good. The bad. The ugly. Tell me your family has these too?!

Every year my husband begs for a professional phtographer to do our Christmas pictures and every year I'm like, "No, I got this!" such the optomist.

So every year we go through this....

It's a beautiful thing. Two a@@es, two handsome smiles, and too much space for a toddler to run free.

But trapping toddlers is never a good idea either.  Damn't.

And limiting a family of 4 to a 10 second window isn't recommended either. Although, I try every year.

and no, we are not singing carols.

And, just when you think you may have captured the perfect picture for your Holiday Cards...you later realize it was out of focus and of no real quality. Shiitake!!

It could have been much worse. I could have forced everyone into cheesy, matching outfits expecting us to fit perfectly around the base of a tree in some awkward pose. Or I could have demanded we all buy Christmas themed pajama's and sit together wrapped in Christmas lights, which would have undoubtedly sent our youngest into an almighty fit. I don't know how those families pull it off. Instead, I carried my camera with us throughout the day (abused my timer switch) as we waited over 3 hours to see Santa...more on that later.


So, yes dear hubby, next year we will do professional pictures.
Meanwhile this gem will do for Christmas 2012.

Happy Holidays to all my Blogging Buddies!




Linked with Embrace the Camera Challenge and Mom's Monday Mingle