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goal.

 

she scored her very first goal today.  so very proud of her.  this is only the second "season" she's played and let's just say she's not as competitive as her mama.  

she's more timid when it comes to taking the ball away from people.  or being agressive and running to where the action is.  she's the one that's concerned when someone from the other team falls.  and that's totally okay.  because today she actually was trying to be in the mix with the other three and four year olds playing.

today she showed some of the spunk i know all too well.  we had talked about running towards the ball and kicking.  and making her way to the goal.  and on the very first play of the game that's exactly what she did.  i'm one proud mama.  i may have yelled a bit too loudly.

this is where i'll also admit to bribing her a bit to get her motivated.  a new berenstain bears book of her choice if she kicked the ball at any point during the game and a second book if she scored a goal.  love that her love of reading may be fueling another passion.

a rainbow snack.

 

it was camryn's day to bring snacks this morning to preK and as they had been doing rainbow themed lessons this week, i thought a rainbow snack would be the perfect choice.  i'm also known to go a bit over the top with things - my husband loves this about me, ha! - so rainbow fruit kabobs seemed to be the obvious choice!  

and because i don't have indigo AND violet represented on the kabobs - i'm not that clever - they're being served with grape juice.  problem solved.

last weekend.

 

thanks to a great deal i found online, we took the kids to the dells for our first family overnight trip.  i went into it not knowing exactly how it would pan out but we all had a great time.  much needed time spent with the daddy of the house.

 

 

leighton loved the wave pool and having it wash her to "shore."  she thought it was hysterical.  there is never a dull moment with this girl.  love the boys in the background of this shot.

 

 

leighton's new smile.  which appears in every.  single.  photo.  as of late.

 

 

this was the first time in a hotel for the girls.  and thankfully it went better than i could've hoped for.  this was also leighton's first time sleeping in an actual bed instead of her crib.  she had a queen bed to herself so i'd say she moved up in the world!  

 

 

the only downside of our trip?  the girls decided to wake up at 5:30a saturday morning.  they've never done this at home, so i'm guessing they were just that excited to start our day.

 

 

the girls loved this large gorilla statue and i promised i'd take their photo with it.  carson looks thrilled to be in the mix with his crazy sisters, doesn't he?

 

 

because of their early wake up call, everyone was asleep within five minutes of heading home.  a blissful ride home being able to chat with my husband without any interruptions.

we had such a great time that we're hoping to go again before leaving next summer.

she pledges.

 

i can't believe that in only 10 days of class, she's learned this.  have i mentioned how much i adore her school?  is it possible that i could take it with us to ohio for my other children to enjoy?

and that ball of fur in the background?  oh yeah, he leads a pretty rough life.

project life | week 26.

 

I've done two other weeks that I need to photograph as well - two weeks fnished last weekend! - but this is the week that I chose to document this month for BasicGrey.

I remember that this was the week that I conquered taking all three of my children out and about by myself for our usual schedule.  It’s funny that now it’s old hat to me so I love that I’m able to look back and see how far I’ve come and how easy it’s become now.

[Left Page] A trip to Costco.  Instagram shot.  Dress up.  Playgroup.  Hot weather.  Storytime.  The two four year olds of the house.

Love, love, love how easy this week’s title card was to put together.  I used a sheet from the Soleil 6×6 Paper Pad and a few embellishments and the finished product looks like it took a lot longer than it did!  I swear that paper was made for this project.

As I mentioned before, these two lines coordinated so beautifully.  Hands down my favorite products that I’ve put to use thus far in this album.  Love that Details Flag stamp from Elle’s Studio as well as the BG Soleil Vellum Tape Stickers.  If you haven’t tried the stickers yet – what are you waiting for?  They’re great as they can be used just like washi tape but they’re thicker like vellum so the quality is amazing.

One of my favorite pieces from this week.  The perfect marriage of BasicGrey and Elle’s Studio product.  Even with a dark photo – it’s so hard to photograph a black cat!  I used one of Elle’s Sweet Life Large Journaling Tags as a base, added my photo and then used the Soleil Alphabet Stickers to create a vertical title.  I love the alphabet stickers for my weekly layouts as it has three different alphas on one sheet, all of various sizes.

[Right Page] Tummy time.  Reading in the closet.  Book delivery.  A quote.  Nightly walk. Church clothes.  A Skype session.  Love from an aunt.

Another favorite from the week.  Those 4×6 Sweet Life Large Journaling Tags make the perfect base for Instagram shots!  My obsession with the Soleil Alphabet Stickers continued with a title and monogram here as well as a pennant from the Soleil Die Cut Shapes.  I’ve come to believe that when you limit the amount of product you’re working with each week, you actually tend to be more creative than when you have your entire stash at your disposal.  That’s what I enjoy about this series – attempting to show you how BasicGrey coordinates with other products to create a cohesive layout.

I loved the small stars from the Soleil Die Cut Shapes and used them all on this layout. A photo needed an extra something?  Those stars were the perfect finishing touch!

I also enjoy being able to house all the random quotes that my daughters say in this album – here I used a tag from Elle’s Daily Note Tags set.  I know that if I weren’t doing weekly layouts, they would never be recorded.  I can only imagine how fun they will be to look back on in the years to come.

 

go tigers.

 

now that football season is here, you'll find us all decked out in our mizzou finest each saturday.  and thanks to night games, you'll also find me shushing my husband after great plays in hopes that he doesn't wake our sleeping children.  we definitely bleed black and gold at our house.

a different type of season this year as it's our first in the sec.  so very hard to trash talk friends when you don't even remotely know anyone at the opposing school.  no worries, we still despise the chickenhawks and rejoice when we see them on the losing end of things.  some things will never change.

 

menu plan monday : 9.17.12.

 

ack.  a few weeks out of practice in the meal planning department.  not good at all.  looking to get things back on track as our schedules continue to be chaotic at best.

meatless monday : southwestern black bean, quinoa and mango medley.  this was awesome the first time i made it a few weeks ago.  something i can easily put together throughout the day or even more in advance if i have my act together.  will likely make a double batch for an easy lunch option this week as well.

i've selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i'm nice like that.

tuesday : crockpot tex mex chicken lettuce wraps.  i made a quadruple batch of our typical lettuce wraps last week for a meal swap but didn't make an extra one for us - ugh.  so i'm going to give this recipe a whirl as i already have everything on hand.

wednesday : grilled cheeseburger wraps.  found this one on pinterest.  who doesn't love a good burger?

thursday : lemony lentil soup.  from an issue of parents magazine that i was flipping through before donating it to camryn's preschool class to use for collage photos.  putting my friend the crockpot to use and hoping for a a great soup to add to my aresenal.

friday : spaghetti with meat sauce.  the author claims this is the best sauce ever...  i usually make a marinara sauce for pasta so i'm going to change things up a bit with this meat sauce.  i know my meat loving husband will rejoice.  thinking comfort food is the perfect start to the weekend.

 

last week's new recipe reviews

chili chicken lime burgers.  andy and i were out to dinner on friday night and were discussing the weekend and something reminded me of this recipe i had stumbled across earlier.  run, don't walk, to make these!  if you've ever had the trader joe's version these blow the original out of the water.  so wishing i would've doubled the recipe to put extra in the freezer for another night.  will definitely be making these again.

mini funnel cakes.  at 9:30p last sunday night, i was in the kitchen making funnel cakes.  and couldn't have been happier.  so absolutely amazing.  although a bit worried that now that i know how easy they are to make i might make them a little too often!  hint : i used one of the popular "pancake pens" to squeeze my batter into the oil and it was the absolute perfect gadget for this recipe.  i doubled the recipe and was able to make five regular sized cakes.

 

carson : 3 months.

 

three months already.  time is flying by.  we're reaching the point where he is constantly changing and growing.  loving all of the new discoveries.  he's such a good natured boy.

at three months, carson :

• weighs approximately 16.5 pounds.  crazy to think he's gained two pounds/month since birth.
• is wearing 9 month clothes, primarily for length.  his shorts/pants are better sized at 6 months.
• goes to bed around 7:30p and wakes up around 7a.  he's been waking up around 5a to eat and then goes back to bed.  
• has started the "my pacifier has fallen out of my mouth come put it back in and i'll go back to sleep" game of which i am not a fan.  there are nights when this happens repeatedly and i end up sleeping on his floor for part of the night so i don't have to keep going back and forth from our room to his.
• has officially been sleeping exclusively in his room the past few nights.  i kicked the girls out of our room and the pack and play at three months and figured it was time as well.  he was sleeping in his room until he woke up to eat and then sleeping in the pack and play so it hasn't really been that big of a transition.
• takes a morning nap that's usually 1.5 hours and a longer 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.
• when he wakes up he usually just chats to himself.  if he wakes up crying, i know he's not ready to get up.
• eats every 3+ hours.
• nicnames = from mama : handsome handsome, handsome boy.  ironically he doesn't really have nicknames as of yet.  the girls refer to him as buddy, buddy boy or just boy.  not really fond of any  of those but they adore him so whatever.
• is becoming a master of getting out of his swaddle, yet needs it as he otherwise will take out his pacifier and become agitated and not go to sleep.
• has started using the exersaucer and loves being able to watch the girls' antics from an upright position.
• has hair!  it's blonde to very light brown.  it's in the spikey stage and is so very adorable.
• loves his bath and loves to kick and cause mass flooding of the bathroom with his antics.
• has the most amazing face consuming smiles.

 

 

and because i took a photo of all three of them last month, i figured i'd continue as long as all three of them fit in the same chair.  carson definitely is a mix of his sister's looks.  he has camryn's coloring and leighton's build.  so love these three.

 

her first day.

 

today marked her return to preschool.  the older class and a new teacher.  we woke up to thunderstorms and wind but by the time we had to leave, things were beginning to clear.

and oh, was she excited and had a million things to tell me afterwards.  even more so than last year.  she was the line leader AND the flag holder.  she had a juice box, goldfish and TWO gogurts for a snack.  (WHAT?!)  she colored, played with beans, they read a book and they played in the gym.  and on and on.

the most eyebrow raising detail of her day?  she got an awared for LISTENING.  listening, people!

i have no doubt she's going to have an amazing year.  love this girl.

 

his special day.

 

wearing the same gown his sister's wore previously, yesterday carson was baptized surrounded by so many family and friends.  we are blessed beyond measure.