catch the moment 365: week twenty-nine

Another week of summer has zoomed by and this one was filled with fun and festivities - our first trip to a semi-local amusement park, Ryan's birthday. As much fun as we had, there was a shadow of sadness as the anniversary of my father's death passed once again.

Linking up with Mindi from Simply Stavish, Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer, and Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming for week 29 of this fun, year-long project.

198/365: July 16th. The night before our road trip down to Southern Indiana to visit Holiday World & Splashin' Safari. Wednesday night before we left, the kids were SO excited.  I don't think Dexter fell asleep until after 11pm. And then was awake before 6am. WHAT.

199/365: July 17th. The sun setting over Holiday World.  I was sitting with Dexter as he slept in the stroller while the others rode a ride or two.  I didn't take a lot of pictures at Holiday World, sadly. But that's alright - I was busy having fun with my babies and friends.  I posted a separate post about our trip.

200/365: July 18th.  We ended our second day at the park by running around and hitting every ride that the kids could ride but hadn't yet.  Loved the lights on their old carousel.  Holiday World has been around since 1946! 

201/365: July 19th. We camped at the adjacent Lake Rudolph Campground and RV Resort in this RV. I took a few pics of the RV inside and out as we were packing up to leave on Saturday morning. I never got around to taking any more pictures that day.

202/365: July 20th. Ryan's birthday. We celebrated at Ryan's parents' house with a little chocolate cake decorated like a watermelon. The boys thought it was too cute.  I figured Nana would have some candles so I didn't bring any but she didn't so we had imaginary ones. It was just as fun. 

203/365: July 21st. Back to life. Back to reality. Bedtime on Monday night.  One word. ROUGH.

204/365: July 22nd. Theo building a Lego creation after we got home from work & the babysitter.

205/365: July 23rd. The 7th anniversary of my dad's death. A few weeks earlier, my friend and I had planned to meet for dinner on this day. All day I was feeling down and having second thoughts but it was a nice distraction and good to reconnect since we hadn't been able to meet, just the two of us, since April.  We ate at Mesh on Mass and I couldn't resist this appetizer that did NOT disappoint: 

MILK AND HONEY CROSTINI: 

CAPRIOLE SOPHIA GOAT CHEESE / BAGUETTE / 

PICKLED BLACKBERRY / SWEET LIFE FARMS HONEY

Favorite pic of the week? Hmm. I can almost taste that crostini when I look at the picture. The Holiday World pictures are probably my favorite though as they represent such fun, new family/friend memories.

Does any one photo stand out for you this week?

xo,
~C~

catch the moment 365: week twenty-eight

I'm not one to complain about summer - ever. But why is it going by so fast?  WAAH!

Linking up with Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer, Mindi from Simply Stavish, and Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming.

Day 191/365: July 9th. Just a Wednesday evening playing at home. It starts out like this: "Daddy, will you help me build {insert name of dismantled Lego set here}?"  It ends like this: "Daddy, that's okay. You can just finish it by yourself." 

Day 192/365: July 10th. What time is it, Dexter?  We were out to eat, celebrating the successful completion of a project I had a love/hate relationship: "Frugal June." I really need to write about my attempt to decrease non-essential spending for 30 days. 

Day 193/365: July 11th. My friend's sweet baby boy at the splash pad on Friday evening. Why can't they stay this age forever!?

Day 194/365: July 12th. This photo is pathetic. Saturday was a nice day ...relatively uneventful but not without opportunities to take some nice photos. I just wasn't in the mood. This picture was the only successful {if you want to call it that} attempt to get a picture of all 5 of these wild boys having a picnic.  A picnic with 5 kids ages 4 and under isn't that relaxing, for the record.

Day 195/365: July 13th. Sunday morning bowling. I could feel a cold coming on late Saturday night so while I still felt halfway decent, we took advantage of Sunday morning happy hour at the bowling alley. Ryan and I hadn't been bowling together in YEARS and the boys had never been at all.  It was actually really fun and I was surprised at how much the boys seemed to enjoy it. Dex tired out on the 7th frame but Theo finished his game and Dexter's.  We'll have to go again soon.  Also, the tiny bowling shoes were adorable.

Day 196/365: July 14th. This is the kind of fancy dinner my kids got once the head cold was full-blown and there were 87 gallons of snot in my head. Bologna & cheese roll-ups, applesauce, and shelled edamame.  Cleaned their plates...figures. 

Day 197/365: A couple weeks earlier we went to a friend's house to picnic and swim. It poured down rain on the way there and our picnic ended up taking place on a blanket on my friend's dining room floor.  Tuesday night Theo asked me if we could have a picnic in the living room but it was a gorgeous night so I convinced him and Dexter to take it outdoors. 

I felt like my pictures were a little uninspired this week. I'm sad to not feature at least one nature/landscape shot but it just didn't work out that way. I found myself more than once feeling that me messing with my camera settings and trying to get the right shot was turning into more of a hassle, taking AWAY from the moment, and I just put the camera down.  Do you ever feel this way? 

My favorite picture this week is day 193 - my friend's cute little boy at the splash park. 

Which one do you like best? 

catch the moment 365: week twenty-seven

We've returned to normal life after a crappy run that was divided up over the past two Catch the Moment posts. Woo hoo & yay for good times!!

Linking up with Mindi, Sarah, and Stephanie for this year-long Catch the Moment challenge. I have to tell you -- I had a hard time narrowing down my choices on a couple of the days below. When we've had such a good week and gotten this many pictures that put a smile on my face -- life must be a-okay.

183/365: July 2nd. A friend and I went to a local sunflower patch. I got some wonderful photos and posted some of my favorites HERE.

184/365: July 3rd. Okay, so this isn't a great photo at all.  I took it at about 11:40pm after publishing last week's Catch the Moment post when I realized I had been too busy running around (getting ready for the long weekend) to pull the camera out once all day long.  The polish looked cuter at Target. I didn't realize it was going to look like Queen Elsa had painted my toenails.

185/365: July 4th. "Hey Theo - think of something funny!" This is what I got. Love these crazy nuts. 

186/365: July 5th. Our 11th wedding anniversary and dinner at a fancy (to us) restaurant. We're easy to impress but this place was really nice and we enjoyed sitting in the "silo" with the kitchen view at FARMbloomington. 

187/365: July 6th. The boys discovered a love of cherries over the holiday weekend.  I'll finally be posting our July 4th weekend recap on 7/11 so check back!

188/365: July 7th. A night when I knew we wouldn't be doing anything spectacular so I just snapped a quick pic of the boys watching cartoons while I fixed dinner to get the pic-of-the-day out of the way.

189/365: July 8th. A trip to the park after getting ice cream on a warm summer night.  This is the simplicity and joy that I miss yearn for during the winter.

Which picture do you like best this week? I really don't even know how to choose between the two of the boys (days 189 & 185) versus that nature one (the sunflower on day 183).  I'll just print and frame them all! Yeah right -- is anyone good about doing this or am I a total failure?  At least I've got my blog, right? 

xo,

~C~

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.

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. 

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. 

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.  

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.

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!

181/365: 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. 

182/365: 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~

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.

169/365: June 18th. Lunch date with a friend from work at the historic Willard. Great food and great ambiance.   

170/365: June 19th. Just one of a few photos I shared in a previous post about my grandma's recent visit.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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~

catch the moment 365: week twenty-four

I'm sharing yet another week of photos and linking up with Mindi from Simply Stavish, Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming, and Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer for Catch the Moment 365.  I feel like a broken record saying "I can't believe we are {insert any number between 3 and 24} weeks into the project" and / or "we had such a great week." And while life ISN'T all roses all the time, this project is great for making me realize how good I've got it. Whether it's the big things or the little things, every day we're making memories and enjoying the ride down this crazy road we're on.

Speaking of moving on...

162/365: June 11th. We traded babysitting nights with friends in order to squeeze in a much-needed, mid-week speed date. We were able to grab a quick dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the movie theater.  We'd been dying to see Maleficent for almost two weeks. Spoiler alert: It was so good! (So was that salsa and queso).

163/365: June 12th. A little water play between dinner and bedtime, which for Dexter equates to taking a bath. Soaked from shoulders to knees!

164/365: June 13th. I had to document a rare occurrence... I painted my nails. It lasted less than 24 hours, but it was fun anyway.

165/365: June 14th. I blogged all about our refreshing weekend visiting friends a couple hours away HERE.

166/365: June 15th. Father's Day. I typed out the interviews I did with the boys about their daddy HERE.

167/365: June 16th. Sun shining through the clouds over a cornfield on my way to work. 

168/365: June 17th. Not the best day ever but we managed to enjoy parts of it.  I had my car scheduled for a 45 minute service that ended up taking 2 hours and 10 minutes. Which overlapped with the boys' soccer clinic. Which was a nightmare because neither of them *really* wanted to play. Meaning Theo was lying on the ground refusing to participate. And while Dexter gave it a decent effort, he saw how Theo was acting and wanted to quit too. I was able to keep him somewhat engaged but Theo was a lost cause.  After we got home, ate dinner, and gave them a shower...THEN we had some nice, not-so-stressful moments picking stickers out of Dexter's Batman Lego sticker book. Then bedtime was kind of a disaster. But that's enough about that. 

Which is your favorite picture this week? Mine is that Father's Day (day 166) picture of Theo hugging Ryan with the "love" art piece in the background. Love, indeed. Followed closely by day 165 - our day at the lake. 

xo,

~C~

catch the moment 365: week twenty-three

Almost halfway through the year and this project. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Sorry for yelling at you, guys. I'm just in disbelief. Earlier this week, I posted a blog about a fun summer festival we always go to.  I linked back to the blog posts from the same festival from 2012 and 2013.  I guess I'm feeling a little sentimental and wishing, wishing, wishing that time would slow down JUST a little bit. Seeing how much the boys change in one year, and especially over TWO years, is mind-blowing. Especially since it feels like just yesterday when we first discovered our little strawberry fest.

Okay, okay. Enough whining and crying and belly-aching.  It's been another fun and busy summer week.  I am loving this time of year and subsequently, this stage of the 365 project. Great summer light and doing much more than sitting inside playing Legos. Yessss. Finally.

Linking up again this week with the three co-hosts leading this project and Facebook group, Mindi from Simply Stavish, Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming, and Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer. Don't forget -- it's never to late to join in! You can start a Project365 any day of the year!

155/365: June 4, 2014. Just acting silly between arriving home from the sitter and heading to the YMCA to burn some energy.  Dexter suddenly became obsessed with that blue bus he got as a souvenir from Disney World. Just as quickly, he's over it. Dang.

156/365: June 5th. Quick trip to a new (to us) park we'd never been to before. Theo loves swinging. Dexter does not. Presents quite the conundrum when I take them by myself and Theo wants me to push him and Dexter is roaming off, climbing up some huge contraption.  Somehow we balance it all out.

157/365: June 6th. About an hour after I got to work Friday morning, I thought to check the FedEx tracking number for my wedding rings that were being shipped back from the jeweler in Tennessee. While at the jeweler, we had them size and solder the rings together. They replaced all four outermost prongs due to normal wear and tear.  They also did an amazing job cleaning them. Now I can't stop staring at my pretty rings!

158/365: June 7th. First trip to the pool in 2014 was a smashing success.  That is an extreme grin if I've ever seen one.  What a great day at the pool...marked by the first time I didn't have to worry about them running off, chase after them around, or constantly remind them not to run, not to take someone else's toy, or splash grown ups in the face. Hallelujah! 

159/365: June 8th. Some sweet neighbors down the street have boys a few years older than ours.  The mom has delivered previously enjoyed toys and art supplies to us several times.  On Sunday we decided to try this paint spinner thingamabob and it was really fun!  We ran out of paint. Otherwise, I think the boys would have made little masterpieces all day long.

160/365: June 9th. We watched our friends' kids so they could enjoy a fancy anniversary dinner out. We walked to a nearby park, where I snapped this pic of 5 year old M running through a field.

161/365: June 10th. First night ever of soccer clinics. That was interesting to say the least!  Seeing 3-5 year olds stretching and trying to lead each other was pretty adorable. Unfortunately my boys were tired from staying up too late the night before and checked out about halfway through the 45 minute session. 

This week, I think my favorite picture is the one of my wedding rings. Words just can't express how happy I am to have them back. It had been about a month since the diamond fell out of my wedding band so that was definitely the longest I've gone in almost 11 years without wearing it. Now I feel complete once again. I also love the look on Theo's face at the soccer clinic (day 161). Doesn't he just look like he's up to no good?

Which photo is your favorite from this week?  

xo,

~C~