Insta-Friday

It's Friday again, so it's time to share with you some pictures taken on my iPhone this week.

Friday night I went to see Magic Mike with a couple of friends. I was there for the dancing & not for the plot & the dancing DID NOT disappoint!

By Saturday, my kids were finally feeling better after a week long viral infection. So when it started raining, they grabbed a couple umbrellas & ran outside to play in the rain.

Sunday was July 1st & that meant it was time for a new Instagram a Day photo challenge.

Day 1: self portrait

Nick ran to the store Sunday morning to grab a few things, including toliet paper. When no one was looking, Alex grabbed the pack of toliet paper & took it to the playroom. And this is what I found! Looks like Captain Destructo struck again.

But at least it didn't all go to waste. I wrapped Addy up like a mummy.

A strange (but effective) way to eat a banana, lol.

A few flowers blooming in my backyard. The pink one is a confederate rose & the white one is on an okra plant.

My first tomatoes of the year

This giant butterfly flew up & landed on my lantana. Addy walked right up to it & almost touched it before it flew away.

Day 2: Busy... This is our list of things to do over the summer.

Monday night Mommy & me yoga

Tuesday afternoon we drove to Beaumont for the 4th of July. Nick & I went on our monthly date Tuesday evening. We went to Carmelas (our favorite restaurant) & to see The Amazing Spiderman.

Day 3: The best part of my day... I was in a funk about my upcoming birthday & these 3 things right here made me feel much much better!

Waiting for the movie to start. And by the way, The Amazing Spiderman was amazing!

Wednesday morning, Addy drew this picture of a computer. I said "Oh look, she got some of the keys in the right place." But honestly, I don't know the order of all the letters on the keyboard, so I wasn't sure which ones were correct. So Nick pulled out his phone & we looked at the keyboard & yep, you guessed it, they were ALL in the right place! Do you know (without looking) the placement of all 26 letters on the keyboard??? I didn't think so, lol! But apparently my 6 year old daughter does.

Day 4: Fun...We celebrated Independence Day by swimming

and eating banana pudding

and popping fireworks.

Alex LOVES the song Starships by Nicki Minaj. He makes us listen to it over & over & over again in the car. He wants it loud & sings along & dances. "Starships were menat to fly, Hands up & touch the sky"

Day 6: Chair...Mommy & Addy sitting on a bench eating lunch at Chili's.

Daddy & Alex being silly

And there you have it, a small glimpse at this past week. I hope you all had as great a week as we did!

Nature Walk

Last week Nick & I took the kids on a nature walk around the neighborhood.

I made up a picture chart for them to bring along & they checked off each item as we found it.

Heading out on our walk

Addy checking off her first find... Ducks in the pond

Alex needed a little help to check off his list.

Hurray for nature walks!

"Come on Mommy!"

My sweet girl

We found flowers.

We found rocks.

We found clovers.

We found leaves!

We found a bird & a tree!

We found dandelions (which weren't on our list but are lots of fun!)

We were almost home & still hadn't found a squirrel. Addy was not too happy about this. She's quite a perfectionist & had to have her list completed before we could go home.

Alex said he was "running out of walking power" so Nick carried him until his power was restored.

Once his power was restored, Alex & Addy ran along the fence dragging a stick. Daddy taught them this fun trick!

We made it home with everything checked off on our list. And even though we all had a great time, it'll probably be awhile before we go on another nature walk. It's already just way too hot in Texas!

Happy Mother's Day!

First off, I want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to 2 wonderful ladies in my life, my momma & my mother in law. You both are such amazing women who love their families & have been great examples to both Nick & I. I love you both so much!

And now, let me tell you about my Mother's Day.
(Well, it was really more of a Mother's Weekend than a Mother's Day.)

It started on Friday when there was a knock on the door & these 2 dozen roses were waiting for me.

And then a few hours later, this giant red box was delivered.

Curious as to what was in the box??? I know I was!

It's this really cool picture frame collection from Red Envelope. It's so nice, but I have no idea where to hang it just yet. Anyone have a suggestion?

And when I picked up Addy from school, I had even more Mother's Day surprises.

A card that Addy made at school

And a cute little planter that she painted at school. The butterflies on it are her fingerprints.

On Saturday, I got the kids to help me wash my car. I told them it was a great Mother's Day present for me.

Sunday morning, we woke & were hanging around the house. Nick told the kids, "You know today is Mother's Day." Alex said "Oh yea, I love my mommy!" He's such a sweetie!

I asked Alex "What do you want to do for Mother's Day?" And he told me "Well, I already washed your car yesterday!" Lol! That he did! I guess he's all settled up then!

But when Nick suggested that we go swimmming, both him & Addy said "YES!" (So I guess Alex could do one more small favor for me on Mother's Day. He would go swimming, but only if mommy really really wanted him to, lol.)

And so I spent Sunday swimming, eating, playing in the back yard, laying out & reading! Basically, I got to have a lazy & relaxing day with my family. I even had time to organize my Pinterest boards!!!

I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Weekend & I definitely couldn't ask for a better family. I'm not sure how, but somehow out of all the kids in the world, I have the 2 most amazing ones! I absolutely love being a mother to my sweet sweet kids!