In Training

I have some major goals to accomplish this year. This being my last year in a certain age group...The main one? Get fit. Like really fit. I am going to run a half marathon in the spring (it is waaaay too hot for me to tolerate EXERCISE in the Midwest summer...I am motivated, but not stupid). Until then, I have some events on tap. First up...SO EXCITED FOR THIS:

 See those pixelated photos?? The Color Run!!! It's a 5k coming up and I am so excited. Should be a blast! Excellent way to make running fun :)

I am participating in the Show Me State Games in July then in September...get ready...

This will be me (and the rest of the Diiirty Gurlz team...the spelling gives us street cred of course)...and even Aidan because they have a kids mud run too!!

So to prepare for my Year of Fit I am running...a lot. I have lost a bunch of weight (Score!). Actually I am 8 pounds away from my high school weight?!?! Too bad that exercise and eating right actually works, haha. My other goal is stupid, but I figured since we are making goals, let's try. I am going to try and grow my hair out. Just until my birthday. I always say I am going to try, but then get annoyed and chop it all off again. So, no haircuts until next year!! Well, trimming of course...let's not get crazy.

There you go. What is happening right now at my house. Training. And I love it. What happened this weekend? Well. We learned the importance of a level backyard and its direct relationship with White Trash Pools. Stay tuned...

Cars

Aidan loves cars. He loves cars like his momma. We share our little passion of muscle cars and ridiculously awesome exotic cars. The other day we were chatting about horsepower in exotic cars. Yes, he knows a lot of random car facts. And it's awesome. Anyways, he asked if we could buy a Ferrari...this one actually:

So yes, I then had to explain that these cars cost more than most houses and that probably wasn't a viable option for our family. Well. This is where Aidan shows his cognitive skills :) He says to me:

"Well that's easy. We will just sell our house and buy the Ferrari." Okay...so we are going to live in our car? "Oh no mom, we will drive our Ferrari and live at Grandma's for free." Ahhh, there it is. Sweet sweet boy.

 Um, no.

Hunter

Still on a break, but just wanted to say CONGRATS to Hunter's baseball team on making it to the State Championship tournament! They won in the quarter finals yesterday! It was so great! And dirty. And did I mention dirty? Aidan and Elin spent the last two innings seeing who could bury their arms and legs deepest in the dirt. Awesome. We are so proud of Hunter and his team (even if they are the WRONG Bulldogs hehehe).

Blog Vacation

Momma is going on vacation. Well, not really. I wish. But I am taking a blog vacation until next week. Enjoy your Memorial Day! I will be back Tuesday! If you just can't handle my absence, look at some of these fun things we did in the past...
Ghost Hunting at the State Pen

Redneckin' at NASCAR

or

PBR (the cowboys, not the beer) Fun

The Weekend in Photos

We didn't do a lot this weekend so I am going to be lazy and just post these photos. They give you a rough idea :) Aidan and I did go see The Avengers.  It was pretty fantastic. I won't lie. You should go see it. Aidan LOVED it. Okay, on to the pics...the weekend consisted of fishing, water and food. There you go.

Elin and her water table (she is actually trying to make this baby "go pees." Yeah, I know. But the baby has an ill-placed drain and Elin thinks it's hysterical)

 Hunter sporting his man scarf...again I love that he doesn't know when we get blackmail-worthy photos of him :)

                                                            The boys and their bounty:

                                                                 She did a lot of this:

So let's recap: we grilled out with friends Friday, the boys went fishing on Saturday, Aidan and I went to a movie, then when had a fish fry. Elin enjoyed water time. And then we rested. Whew.

Laundry Room

I am updating the laundry room. The red-orange in the hallway just killed me with the hot pink in the laundry room...even though you COULD just close the door. So. These are the things I have for the new look. The shade for the window is just a stripe pattern with the similar colors. The room is already a gray blue (Ben Moore's Marina Gray). It looks pretty fabulous so far. I just have to get my darling hubs to hang the shelf over the sink! Guess we know what is happening this weekend at my house!!

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a super busy weekend. Well, it felt like it at least. Friday night we had t-ball. The kids did amazing. Our coach pitches 4 times to the kids and then if they still don't get at hit, they bring out the tee. Apparently the opposing team was intimidated by this (this makes me laugh just typing it) and their coach came over and requested our coach to stop pitching to our kids and only use the tee...it was "hurting their feelings." Yeah. They don't even keep score at these games! What the heck does it matter if our guys can hit off pitches???? Oh lordy. I almost became THAT MOM. The kids didn't care of course. And even better?? The perks of being on Team Dairy Queen: blizzards after the game! SCORE!! So after some tasty treats we took the very tired children home for some sleep!

Saturday was Chad's birthday and his request was for a day of fishing. So Aidan and Chad loaded up and headed off to the ponds for man time. Hunter came out with them. Elin and I headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for the afternoon (well, Walmart if you are Aidan, wink wink). It was a great day. The boys caught tons of fish and threw back a ton as well. It is probably Aidan's most favorite thing to do these days.

                                                        Inspecting the pond off the dock:

                                                                         Drink break!

                                            The men getting ready to filet up their catches!

 Mother's Day started off with a gourmet breakfast prepared by my dear hubby. We ate ourselves silly. Then what is a Sunday without a trip to Walmart? I swear it is our second home. I got 2 dozen beautiful pink roses:

                                                                          And THIS:

My hero Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible. So excited. I laughed after I took the picture because I stashed it under my "Calories" cannister. Exactly. Chad's comment about the book: "Why do you want to cook me fat?!?!" Again, Exactly. Because it is delicious :) It was a wonderful day.

Happenings

It's Friday. My brain is tired. Today I am making a list. It is Mother's Day this weekend (and Chad's birthday!) so let's talk about my favorite thing: my babies

1. Aidan: He is playing t-ball. He can now randomly ride his bike without training wheels. Like he literally just decided to do it, got on his bike and took off. Chad and I stood there with puzzled faces. It was awesome. He LOVES living in the country. Fishing, bug catching, frog chasing. Getting dirty. He starts kindergarten this fall (sniffle).

2. Elin: She is getting so big. Talking up a storm. It's hilarious that I see a difference in Aidan and Elin with their first words, like real words. Elin's? Tractor. Cow. Other general countrified terms. Aidan didn't hear "tractor" for a long time. Elin sees them everyday driving down our road and the cows live right across the street. It's great. She also loves "oh man!" She is about to need a hair cut. Her wild curls are just a little out of control at this point. Elin is loving daycare and all her little buddies. She is a daddy's girl. LOVES shoes (aw just like her momma). Bossy. Has a little temper (I mean, is a little diva). Is adorable.

3. Cookie: This one is easy...a general pain in my arse. But a cute one. Psycho bulldog. Never knew such a stout little creature could jump like a deer. She is bananas. And we love her.

4. I really don't have a #4, but I do have a touch of OCD (can you have just a touch of that??) and the 3 were bothering me.

5. The weather is awesome right now. Chad's birthday is tomorrow!! Maybe this year he will remember how old he is. He completely thought he was a year younger than what he actually was last year...true story. Poor guy :)

First Haircut

Woo! Elin had her first hair cut today! She no longer has an afro-mullet combination...it is now merely an afro...and so adorable :)

Long Week

It has been a very long week. So...this:

                                              This is where I want to be right now. Ahhhhhh...

                             Let's all play pretend and imagine we are there instead of working:
                                                      Ugh, I am ready for a vacation!!

                                                                      Almost Friday!

Ballin'

Aidan had his first t-ball game on Monday night. Actually his first was Friday night, but we had The Plague and that just wasn't going to happen. So first game! It was so adorable. Little people in offical uniforms playing organized sports are to die for. Poor Chad didn't make it in time as he had to be in St. Louis for the day for work :( Aidan did amazing! He even got a hit off of a pitch!! Though it is t-ball, their team gives you 4 pitches first, then if you don't hit it you hit off the tee.

Giving everyone their positions at the beginning of the game:

 Aidan was catcher!! Funny because he has NEVER even heard of this position until that very moment. He handled it like a champ :) It was helpful once the coach realized and came over to give him some direction.

                              Doing his catcher duties of setting up the tee for the other team:

 This kid on the other team HAD ON A CAPE?! I was unaware this was a regulation thing...how in the world were we supposed to compete with a superhero!? It was beyond cute:

                                                                               Batting:

                                                Also? Chris Brown was at our t-ball game:

 Yeah. You see him there? Had no idea he loved Midwestern preschool sports so much. I maybe don't hate him as much anymore ;) But seriously? IDENTICAL twin of Chris Brown.

                                                                      Running for first!

                                      Checking out the scene AKA chaos, in the dug out area:

                                    Elin enjoyed snacks and Julie for the duration of the game

                                                             She loves her some Julie:

                                                                     Last time to bat!

                                                     And the end of the game high fives:

It was a great game. The kiddos did awesome. Aidan had a blast. AND they got pizza afterwards. I would definitely call that a win :) And I am totally saying they won even though they don't keep score and there were often times 2 kids on a base at once, heehee.

Elin's Fiesta

Well our baby girl turned 2 this weekend and to celebrate we had a fiesta. That's what you get when you have a birthday so close to Cinco de Mayo!! Well, and this is the last year she won't have an opinion I am sure :) So we had a fiesta. And here it is:

We didn't do a cake. We had lots of cupcakes. Yummy cupcakes. With whipped icing--my favorite!! Oh, and Elin's too :) They were topped with little sombreros and fiesta signs and the others had the tootsie roll peppers on them. I was so happy with how they turned out:

 The table had little signs in Spanish letting you know what you were eating...as if you already couldn't tell. But hey! Everyone loves a little Espanol Learning Time. We also had cookies with marshmallow Mexican flags and sombreros:

                                                                   The Gracias Table:

                                                                      Party Central:

                             Everything in the room,  I either made it or found it at Hobby Lobby

                               The little signs and such were printables from PiggyBank Parties

                And also, how perfect were my snappy Jonathan Adler cannisters??? I heart them :)

                    My very fabulous set up crew taking a break from the 90 degree temps!!

                                           Everyone's favorite part?? Well, the kid's at least:

                                                         Momma and the birthday girl:

                                                                     MORE FOOD:

                                                Of course you have to have a taco bar:

                                                                My sister and Emily:

 Glad I got all the kitchen painting done that week. Not only did I paint during the first half of the week, but a NASTY stomach bug hit our house Thursday. It was pretty much The Black Plague for 24 hours. Our whole house was down. Good thing I am so OCD and things had been ready for a week :)

                                                                 I adore this picture:

                          Cookie covered in confetti from the cascarones...ha say that 5 times fast

                                                                    That darned dog:

                                                     Dawn really loved her sombrero:

                                Can you tell it was hot out?? The big boys clearly had a blast:

                                                     WHEW. The poor clean up crew:

 Jamey, Connie, Justyne and Hunter were so amazing to stay and help us clean up the aftermath. We adore them more than they will ever know!!!!

The next day? Elin of course had to get out all the babies she accumulated. Blackmail? This pic of her and Aidan playing with the swimming babies in the tub:

                           In her new dress from Grandma and Grandpa, on our way to church:

 AH HA. Hunter thought I didn't get a photo of him in his sombrero, but as I was scanning my pics, WHAT DID I FIND???? THIS:

You're Welcome, Hunter.

It was the best party ever. Everyone had so much fun. We were so happy with how everything turned out. Now to recover for the next!