Wedding Fun!

Saturday was a pretty good day!  After the 5k, we had some company roll into town!  Billy's sister and her family were passing through and able to spend a day or so with us!  We had a wedding to attend on Saturday night and they were kind enough to watch Lola for us (Blake was with his dad)!  Lola had SUCH a great time and even went to bed without crying!  Billy and I have only been out about five times by ourselves since Lola was born.  So maybe that was what we needed to be able to leave Lola more often! :)

My very dear friend (and neighbor), Rochelle was the one who got married!  And it was FABULOUS!  Everything was perfect and she looked like a princess!  Aaron (her husband) looked pretty handsome, too!  They are a wonderful couple and I'm so happy for them!  They had their reception at the Skyline Club in Indy.  We could see the whole city below us.  LOVED it!  We didn't get very many great photos but we sure did try!  The lighting was kind-of a hindrance and I only got one pic with the lovely bride!

Congrats, Rochelle and Aaron!  We love you guys!

5K!

So I have been running for a while now....pretty much every day for the last three months.  And a little before then, too!  Anyway, I'm the QUEEN of saying I'm going to do a race.  Then I don't.  I've actually signed up before and haven't done it.  Well, this time I ACTUALLY did it!  YIPPY!

I found out about the race on Monday of last week.  I asked my dear friend, Stephanie on Tuesday if she would run it with me.  She is a TROOPER!  She hadn't done any training.  Like NONE.  But she said yes.  And we finished that darn race together.  Guess what?  It was SUPER fun!  I've already planned my next race!  Stay tuned......

Here are some photos from the big day!  And yeah, I know a 5k is really not that big of an accomplishment for most people.  But for me, it is and it's a start! :)  The first two photos are before the race!  The sun bleached us out in the first one!  Oh well!  The rest of them are AFTER the race.  My little Lola wanted to hold my number!  Pardon my terrible appearance in ALL the photos  but what can ya do (besides not take photos, that is.....)! ;)

HAPPY! :)

It's already Monday?!?  Wow.  Can I just start out by saying Lola has learned to climb out of her crib?  Yeah.  So this post is following a DIFFICULT week in Yadonland....just puttin' that out there! ;)  But ya know what?  I'm WELL aware that things could always be worse.  So I'm gonna buck up and do the happy list.  You're welcome! ;)

1.  Diet Coke from McDonald's.  Have I said that before?  Probably.  But it's seriously the best drink around.  And I happen to have one right next to me!  YAY!

2.  Blake is outside enjoying the weather!  I love when he rides his bike and plays with friends.  It sure beats sitting around watching TV all day, ya know?

3.  Lola just told me she wants to cuddle with me.  After I figured out what she was saying, it made me pretty happy.....even if she has turned into a VERY naughty little thing.  It's moments like this that melt my heart!  Now if only she would sleep in her crib (*sigh*).....

4.  I'm happy I finished a 5k race on Saturday.  I will blog more on that later.  Now I'm excited to move on to bigger and better races.  Not that the first one wasn't cool, because it was.  I'm just sayin'.......

5.  Um, I leave for Florida in three days.  Can I get an extremely loud WOO HOO please?   Thanks.  I'm excited to see my sister.  I'm excited to see Florida.  I'm NOT excited to see a plane.  Ugh.  I don't love flying.  Maybe I can convince my mom to knock me out before we take off.  Ya think?  Nah.  Anyway, I can't wait to get away!

Have a hap, hap, happy week! :)

Swimming Again!

It's that time of year again.  Blake has once again enrolled in swimming lessons.  He's almost nine.  So maybe THIS is the year he actually learns how to swim!!!  He is doing pretty well!  I have a few pictures of him.  I can never take many because crazy Lola makes sure I'm all over the place.  It's a wonder she hasn't fallen in the pool herself! 

On day one of lessons, Lola decided to try a piece of gum from my purse.  Because I'm up for mother of the year award, I pretty much didn't care!  I figured she would get the hang of it.  Well, she chewed it (half a piece....at least I didn't give her the WHOLE piece) for about five seconds before deciding it was "hot" and swallowed it.  Welp, I guess she'll be working on digesting that for a while!  Anyway, here are the few photos I have!  I'll let you know if Blake passes the class and gets to move on to bigger and better things!!

He finally went off the diving board!  WOO HOO!

Blake in his goggles!

I swear this photo is of Blake and not of his teacher!  It looks kinda suspicious!

This is how Lola looks when she thinks the flash is going to go off on the camera!  It makes me laugh so I'm including it in this post!

Showing us the gum she loved for such a short time!

3v3!

This is the THIRD summer Blake has participated in 3v3 soccer. He loves it but it has been pretty darn frustrating in the past. The teams are crazy good and it seems like they are professionals in the 3v3 world. Our boys are used to playing on a normal sized pitch so it's VERY hard for them to work in the smaller space! So basically, most of the games would end in a loss and MUCH frustration for the parents and kids. Yes, I'm a nervous wreck watching the games.


Well, last Saturday kicked off the first 3v3 tournament of the season. And I'm happy to say that The Crew (Blake's team) came in THIRD place. Which means they got a medal and qualified for regionals in Cincinnati. WOO HOO! Yeah, I know I should be a tad disappointed with third place. But believe me....those boys fought tooth and nail to win a medal. And by golly, they got it! I should also mention that their two losses were only by 3 goals total. Blake had 5 goals in 4 games and the whole team was incredible! Can't wait for the next tourney!

I should also add a P.S. the weather held out for us during the games! However, the morning of the tournament was a nightmare. It rained SO much. The fields were basically like a swamp. For reals. Lola found a puddle right off the bat. Sat in it. And was drenched. Did I bring a change of clothes? HECK no. I can't be that responsible, can I? She also broke the umbrella. And basically caused mass destruction all over! Anyway, besides dealing with that for 6 hours, it was totally fun! :)

New York (STATE)! :)

I seemed to have caused a lot of confusion on my blog and on fb about my recent trip to New York.  I WISH I went to NYC!  Not that I'm bashing my sister or her town!  But it is definitely more small city in Rochester than in the Big Apple!  I will get to the BIG city one day!  I have to!

Anyway, since you all know a lot about my trip from my happy post in New York so I will skip ahead!  We had a GREAT time!  My sister is a gracious hostess and my brother in-law even watched my kiddos for several hours so us girls could get away!  THANK YOU, Brandon!!!  Genevieve is such a cutie and it was so awesome to see how the two girls got along.  Lola misses her so much already!

Blake's favorite part of the trip?  Swimming in the Oldham's (Brandon's parents) pool.  AND....staying up really late playing video games with his Uncle Brandon.  I didn't get pictures of that.  But I did get some pics from the pool!

Lola's favorite part of the trip?  She couldn't answer for herself but since I'm a genius, I'm gonna say it was playing with Genevieve's toys (and shoes)!  And watching movies with Genevieve!

We can't wait for our next trip! 

HAPPY! :)

I'm going to make this short and sweet!  Five things that make me happy?  Ready.  Set.  Go.

1.  Listening to the new My Morning Jacket album, Circuital.  It rocks.  I love hearing my friend slap da bass!  I'm happy I was able to listen to the album TWICE today while out running errands!

2.  Blake jumped off the diving board at swimming lessons today.  That kinda made me smile!  He's getting so much better.  I won't mention how he did at the backstroke.  Cuz that was pretty much a giant disaster.  But it also kinda made me smile.  Is that bad?  ;)

3.  I'm especially happy that it's NOT storming right now!  HOLY ANNOYING this morning!  The storms rolled in around 5:45 and conveniently woke both of my children.  Then the storms decided to grace us with their presence for roughly FIVE hours.  I'm not kidding.  What kind of sick joke is that, Mother Nature?  It shouldn't storm for that long.  Like EVER.  I'm just putting that out there.

4.  It's almost time for the kids to go to bed!  Yip yip YIPPY!!!!  Don't get me wrong.  My kids are pretty awesome.  But mama needs a break!  SOON!

5.  The Yankees are currently beating the Reds 4-1.  I would be happier if I was actually there cheering on my Yanks.  Alas, it didn't work out.  :(  And should the Yankees blow their lead and lose, then no, I will not be happy anymore.  Period.

Find reasons to be happy!  I do! :)

HAPPY! :)

I have arrived in New York.  And I'm blogging from here.  Seriously.  I mean, I have ignored my happy blog enough lately.  And I should have plenty to be happy about!

1.  I'm happy that we arrived safely tonight.  And I'm happy to report that I didn't actually need ear plugs, anxiety medication, a cliff to drive off, etc....I was seriously very worried about how my kids would do.  Not having Billy to help out was also a (HUGE)....and I mean HUGE) stress factor.  But guess what?  My kids were (ahem) ANGELS.  Kinda.  But really, it couldn't have gone (too much) better! YAY!

2.  I'm happy that Lola only cried for roughly five minutes (or so) before falling asleep in a pack and play...in a strange environment.  Go Lola!  And because of that, I'm able to type this blog.  You all are oh so happy....RIGHT!?!

3.  I didn't eat my way across the country! I wanted to.  But I stuck to my guns.  Okay, so I may have snuck in a few handfuls of goldfish crackers (you all know of my addiction).  I may have had a few missteps at my sister's, too, but nothing major.

4.  Of course my number one should be seeing my sister, her husband, and my cute niece, Genevieve!  It really is my number 1.  But these are in no particular order.  So pretend this is the first thing I said.  Because I LOVE this sweet little family up in New York!

5.  I get to go to bed soon.  It was a LONG night.  And it was a LONG ten hours in the car.  I believe I will fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.  Maybe.  Or I might sit there waiting for Lola to wake up.  And Blake to wake up.  And so on and so forth.  Until then....I will be happily drifting off to sleep!

Have a HAPPY week, my friends!

HAPPY! :)

1.  Goldfish crackers.  Even though I'm TOTALLY not supposed to be eating any!

2.  My children being good about going to bed!  HOORAY!  I sure hope they stay asleep!

3.  The fact that I didn't do anything stupid on the treadmill today!  Last week, I accidentally knocked the key off while running for 62 minutes.  The key then got tangled up in the machine.  It took a long while to get it out.  Then....I did it again.  Like five seconds after I got back on.  DUH!!!!  So today I managed to stay on the treadmill without ANY mistakes!

4.  I'm happy that the TWO accidents on the freeway didn't add too much time to my drive home from Louisville!  I'm still wondering why people can't drive.....

5.  I'm sitting down!  That makes me SUPER happy!  I've been so busy the last couple weeks that I haven't had much down time!  So right now, I'm going to sit here and watch TV and eat my goldfish crackers....and be HAPPY!!!

Have a super smiley week, my friends! :)

Memorial Day Weekend!

Okay so the weekend started out as a comedy of errors.  And by that, I mean a comedy of HORRORS!  Comedy?  No.  Not funny at all.  Anyway, driving even ten minutes in the car with the crazy dog and two children is torture.  So driving to Louisville by myself with the dog and two children is just lunacy!  What would normally be a two and a half hour drive turned into 4.  Why?  Because an accident on the freeway had all lanes closed.  I almost ran out of gas so had to get off the freeway and then detour around the accident.  All while sweet little Lola was spitting all over Blake.  Yeah.  Spitting.  Is she a camel?  Seriously.  So they were arguing and the dog was whining pretty much non-stop.  Awesomeness.  For reals.  Oh, and I mustn't forget to mention the stalled car on the bridge from Indiana into Kentucky.  When we finally made it, I was happy.  But not really.  The trip took a toll and I was in a pretty foul mood (sorry, family)!

Moving along.....here are some of the things that happened over the weekend:

1.  Lola learned how to climb out of the crib at my parent's house.  Awesome.  So night number one was slightly (SUPER) stressful.  Billy ended up sleeping in bed with Lola.  And I was left to wonder why I even bothered to go there since I wasn't getting to see my husband anyway!  Stinkin' crib-climber-outer (LOLA)!

2.  We went to a baseball game with my sister and her family.  It was lovely.  Except all the kids wanted to play on the playground instead of watch the game.  Hmmm......so we basically paid for tickets to use a playground.  Oh, and Lola got to go "yee haw" on the merry-go-round.  That was fun.  Until she had to get off and pitched a tantrum.  Is the world's smallest violin playing for me yet????  Sorry for all the whining!

3.  Here's something positive.....I got to see my sister Katie's cute house!  And I got to see some friends!  YAY!

So that's about it.  I guess I didn't really need a list!  Oh, and guess what I'm doing this weekend?  Something new!  I'm driving to LOUISVILLE with my crazy dog and two children!  Wish me luck!  Anyway, here are some photos!