I've Been MIA, But It's Finally Summer

A recent sunset from my back yard

I've been a little MIA lately. Gosh, where has the last month gone? Yesterday was the last day of school for our kids and frankly, for me too. I subbed all the way through the last day of school. I wasn't expecting to be subbing for the last couple weeks straight, so other things got put to the side...including reading and blogging.

But, summer is here! All 87 days of it! Starting today, no more 6:00 AM phone calls or waking the kids up. It's going to be a little more relaxing around here. I am hoping to enjoy many more of those sunsets from my back yard....maybe with a book and a glass of wine in my hand.

We are joining the boys on their school band trip to Canada this summer. We are going to be visiting some pretty amazing sites and can't wait to experience it all with some really awesome high school kids.

This is also going on this summer. I came home to this hole in my front yard on Thursday and this is just the beginning. We are adding on to our home and even though it will be so awesome when it is done, the mess to get there can be a little stressful. But, we are all excited to see the process while we are home. I just have a lot of work to do to get ready for indoor construction. YIKES! I'll keep you updated throughout the summer.

All of us are looking forward to a summer of enjoying the moments. These summers with our kids are soon going to be memories and like the song goes, "I don't want to miss a thing."

Here's to 87 Days of Summer!


A post from today, 6 years ago - School's Out for Summer
A post from today, 4 years ago - Day #4 of Summer Vacation
A post from today, 3 years ago - Summer Planning Made Simple with Confident Mom
A post from today, 2 years ago - Book Review: The Qualities of Wood By Mary Vensel White
A post from today, 1 year ago - Book Review: Out from the Underworld By Heather Siegel

She's Golden

Happy Golden Birthday to our sweet girl!

This girl is our miracle and has been such a blessing to us.

She lights up a room. 

She's kind and generous. 

She loves music, cats, and annoying her brothers. 

She is incredibly creative and artistic.

She reminds me of my younger self more and more each day.

Happy 11th Birthday, Reagan! We all love you!

A Little Monday Inspiration - Family

With what pleasure do we look upon a family,

through the whole of which

reign mutual love and esteem,

where the parents and the children

are companions for one another,

without any other difference than what is made

by respectful affection on the one side,

and kind indulgence on the other...

Adam Smith

One of my favorite pictures of our family from July 2008. Taken in the Smokey Mountains

As our children have turned into a tween and teenagers right before our eyes, this quote has even more meaning for me.  The conversations we are having, the trust that we are building, and the love and laughter that is shared in our home reminds me of what a family is all about.

These cuties above have turned into strong-willed, intelligent, and funny young adolescents. I am amazed by their talents, their convictions, and their insights.  I have no idea what the future holds for them, but I do know whatever it is they decide to do, it will bring all of us joy!

Reagan, Patrick and Bennett on Easter 2015

Breathe, Laugh and Relax

I'm taking a few days off. 

I'm traveling to Denver and taking a few days 

to breathe, 

to laugh, 

and to relax. 

I'll be visiting one of my best friends as well as my niece.

I'm looking forward to sipping coffee in the morning and drinking wine at night.

I'm looking forward to catching up on life and sharing laughter.

I'm looking forward to seeing the mountains out the window and breathing the fresh air.

I'm looking forward to a little break from reality.

And when I return, I'll be refreshed and ready to tackle the next project!

Sunday Snippets 3.22.15

On Sundays I like to share snippets from our past week or weeks. If you don't already know, we live in a small town in Iowa and our kids are active in sports and music related activities. We have had a bit of a lull since basketball finished up last month and soccer games haven't started yet. Show choir competition season just ended and we have a few more concerts before the end of the year. I'm still subbing a lot as well as reading and reviewing. Pat is keeping busy meeting with his clients. So life is pretty mellow, or as mellow as it can get right now.

Here is what has been going on in our world the last two weeks:

Bennett had his middle school spring concert.

Patrick also had his spring concert.

Our final show choir competition was last weekend.

I'm going to miss watching our boys perform.

They are certainly talented.

Bennett had the solo during "Hip to Be Square".

All the boys looked so awesome in their "nerd glasses".

Their song choices dealt with an anti-bullying theme and it was so fun to watch their show.

Patrick took a risk and sang for the solo competition.

He brought me to tears and absolutely WOWED me!

He sang "Ten Minutes Ago" from Cinderella and scored a 88 out of 100.

For his first time and as a freshman, I was impressed.

The judge Lynne Rothrock worked with Patrick right in front of all of us.

She was amazing and gave Patrick some great tips for the future.

Bennett and a friend made this Crunch bar in art class. 

I thought it was pretty awesome.

The basketball banquet was held last Sunday 

and we were able to acknowledge 

all the accomplishments the freshman team had 

and thank our wonderful coach, Mr Conrad.

I was able to sit on our porch for a couple hours last week

which was pure joy.

Our cat Stormy has been begging to be out there non-stop all week.

She is going to have a rude awakening when we get some colder weather this week.

I have a new favorite drink. I found them at Target.

Even though they are bit pricey, they are a nice change from water once in a while.

It has been Spring Break for us, but due to 

Patrick's soccer schedule, we weren't able to go anywhere.

So, Reagan had a couple friends over during the week

 and then she went to my sister's for the weekend.

Reagan and her friend had fun making these cute cupcakes and we enjoyed eating them!

We will be hitting it hard this week with a busy schedule.

But it will be all be worth it 

as Pat and I are spending Friday together celebrating our 16th Anniversary.

Thanks for sharing some of the snippets from our last couple weeks.

I hope you have found ways to reminisce on the big and little joys in your life.

Sunday Snippets 3.8.15

It's been six weeks since my last Sunday Snippets post.  February was a blur. We were busy nearly every evening with basketball games and practices and every weekend include an event or two as well.  Since it was so miserably cold here, I'm glad it went by fast.  I'm so thankful that our weather seems to be turning a corner just in time for Spring's arrival.  We are supposed to have some really warm days ahead this week and I can't wait to go for a walk around town and soak up some sun! I even mentioned getting our porch furniture out, but my husband thought I was thinking a little too far ahead.  So then I suggested maybe just one chair! We'll see!

I hope you enjoy some of the many snippets from our last few weeks!

Patrick and

Bennett working the basketball court.

Our first big snow fall came in February. 

Even though it was really cold, 

we had to go out and snap a few photos of Reagan in the snow!

Show Choir Season has begun. Both boys are performers. 

Bennett performs with the Middle School group, Illusions.

Patrick performs with our prep division, Jubilation, Inc.

Patrick has a duet as well.

Our nephew, Zach, also performs in show choir at his school.

Their school is doing a version of Peter Pan for their show.

Zach is Peter Pan and I love this shot I got of him...in a bit of trouble!

Patrick is the drummer for our varsity show choir, Celebration Company.

It's hard to get a photo of him because the performers are usually in front of him.

Bennett attended Iowa State University for the 

Middle School Science Bowl along with his teammates.

Even though they didn't win, they had a great time and worked hard.

Parent's night at our last home basketball game. 

Hard to believe only 3 seasons left with Patrick!

My great-niece was baptized last weekend.

I will never tire of cuddling a baby!

Finally, my cousin, Melanie is a web designer among many other talents.

She created this advertisement for the Walker General Store.

The ad features Bennett and her son, Jensen from several years ago on the lake.

I love the photo and it reminds me of such a wonderful vacation with them.

I know I probably went overboard in my snippets, but a lot has happened in the last six weeks. We have one more show choir competition and then we charge right into soccer for both boys. I am hoping the warm weather stays around for those soccer games ahead!

Please make sure you find time to enjoy the snippets from your last week or month! 

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Sunday Snippets 1.25.15

Another busy week has been left in the dust. I can't believe we are in the last week of January already! Another busy week is ahead, but today I'm slowing down and hoping to see American Sniper with some friends.  I could be doing laundry, organizing our daughter's room, cleaning, etc, etc, but I'm trying to continue to work on that "Balance" in my life and make time for fun with friends and my husband.

I hope you enjoy a few snippets from our week.

Reagan's basketball team won a very tough tournament with some very close games.  These girls are so much fun to watch and play so well together. They know how to be a TEAM!

Since we didn't have school on Monday,

 it was the perfect day to have Reagan's birthday date.

 We did a lot of shopping so she could spend 

her birthday money and gift cards that she received.

Reagan had fun trying on things at Claire's.

Of course, the date had to include ice cream and Reagan insisted on Cold Stone Creamery.

The cool thing was, 

it was RANDOM ACTS OF COLD STONE

 at that particular store at that particular moment.

We could have any ice cream treat we wanted for free! How cool was that?!?!

Plus, since we were out celebrating Reagan's birthday, they gave us a gift card too!

Free ice cream tastes so much better!

Basketball is still in full swing with all three kids! 

Here is Patrick in one of his games this week.

On Saturday, we all got up at the crack of dawn, correction....before dawn even broke....

to attend the Science Bowl at Iowa State University. 

Patrick and three other classmates competed.

Before attending, I thought I was fairly smart, but after today I am not so sure.

These kids competed against much larger schools, 

Juniors and Seniors who have already had 

Biology, Chemistry, and Physics as well as Calculus.  

They lost all four matches, but never lost their cool and did their best. 

For being freshman, who are all very involved in numerous activities 

and don't just study science in their spare time (I swear there were kids who do that), 

I was very proud of them!  

We go back again in a few weeks with Bennett 

for the Middle School Science Bowl. Should be fun!

Yesterday was also the Winter Formal at school.  Patrick and his date looked fabulous.

What a fun night for Patrick and his friends!

As I was uploading photos, I found this one on my phone that Reagan took during our lunch at Iowa State yesterday. The glasses are "fashion glasses". Isn't she adorable!?!?

There is another full week looming ahead including a show choir trip to Minneapolis.

I guess if I wasn't busy, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Thanks for sharing in the snippets of our life here in Iowa.

I hope you continue for look for the big and small joys in your week!