Tonight I had planned to write a post about our weekend.
However, I feel compelled to write about something else instead.
It's a topic that has saturated the national headlines quite a bit in the last few weeks. From Paula Deen, to, Zimmerman, even to one of my favorite guilty pleasures "Big Brother". Of course I am referring to the ever present issue of racism.
I'm not going to go into my feelings about the Paula Deen thing, or even the Zimmerman verdict. I will say that it was down right painful and nearly unbearable to watch the episode of "Big Brother" that CBS aired tonight. We all know there are "Aaryns" out there in this world, but it's not everyday that all of us have to hear/see the disgusting behavior she displayed tonight and in previous episodes.
Tonight at bed time Dylan carefully selected the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" for his bedtime story.
I just opened it up to the middle and began reading whatever was there on the randomly selected page, as I always do with that book.
Maybe if everyone read a little more Shel Silverstein while growing up the world would be a better place.
Just maybe.
I know that I can't change the world all by myself, but I do know that I will sure raise three children who see everyone as we do "when we turn off the light".
Two words, "summer cold" are pretty much the theme for this week.
I have felt awful since waking up Monday morning and the kids have all had their sickly days this week too. Luckily we didn't have too many things on the calendar and were able to rest and recuperate.
Here are a few highlights from this week.
Leah lost her 3rd tooth.
She promptly went to her room to write the tooth fairy a note.
Then she made this pizza face to match her missing tooth grin.
This adorable little peanut turned 17 months old on Tuesday. So hard to believe. He is walking like crazy and eating us out of house and home. He smiles almost constantly and is very good at attempting to repeat things that you say. He is also FINALLY sleeping through the night!!!! Just an absolute joy to be around.
I said goodbye to my long hair.
Lots of time just watching the adorableness flow out of this guy.
Devouring an apple.
Too cool for school!
Aside from having the crud, we had a nice relaxing week at home. I am feeling better today and crossing my fingers that we are all close to being well again.
Okay, this is going to be a picture saturated post, and a bit of a long one at that. Bear with me here.
We spent the 4th of July weekend in Pleasant Hill with our families and it was jam packed with lots of fun! Maybe a little too much fun...the kids were a hot mess today and I imagine they will remain that way til about Wednesday. It just takes them a few days to recuperate from being away from home so long, late nights, and just being out of our "normal" routine all together.
Anyway, back to the fun part.
Thursday night we went out to Nathan's brother's house to shoot off fireworks. Some of which were nearly the size of my 3 year old nephew Brett!
This next picture pretty much sums up how Grant felt about the fireworks this year. Not really a fan and it didn't help that it was already WAY past his bedtime. Thank goodness Grandma was there to lend him a hand, or two.
Thankfully Dylan did MUCH better with the fireworks than he did last year. He really enjoyed himself! I enjoyed watching the boys have fun blowing stuff up. I've never really cared much for shooting the fireworks off myself, but it's always fun to watch someone else do the work.
Friday was a nice fun yet chill day. We enjoyed some more time outside. Grant really became quite the "Nana's boy" this weekend. What little boy wouldn't love a Nana who lets you stand on tables and plays baseball with you, I mean really???
We also got to hang out with Aunt Sam for a while. She is such a dedicated Aunt to toss some baseballs with the kiddos even while battling morning sickness. She's going to make one great Mommy!
Oh yeah, Gigi was visiting too! She was sitting on the deck trying to dry her hair out. I guess you could say this is a payback picture for all those times she put my hair in curlers as a little girl. Hee,hee!
Nana gave Grant a spin around the house on Gigi's walker. I think next time we might need to put a helmet on him though. She's a bit of a crazy driver sometimes. (J/K Nana, we love you!!!)
Of course we saw lots of this gal. She's good people. One of my favs.
Sisters
We met Grandpa and Grandma at Guidos for lunch. Can't go back to P-Hill and not go to Guidos at least once.
Grant is always pretty stoked to go to Guidos!
Next up, was riding with Aunt Nancy.
Leah has been begging me to let her go ride the pony at Aunt Nancy's house lately. Lucky for her, she invited herself over and got the chance to do just that. Ha!
4 out of 5 of my favorite little people in this world (you have to squint to see Evan...he is by the horse in the background).
Leah and Dylan helped Aunt Nancy brush Cherokee for approximately 5 seconds. Then they wanted nothing to do with any of the work that has to be done to prepare for riding. What am I to do with these silly, lazy, city kids???
Brett and his horse, Dotty
Poor Cherokee...Leah talked Aunt Nancy into braiding his hair. "But he's a BOY!!!!" Dylan exclaimed when he saw the braid. I'm not good at reading ponies, but I think Cherokee appreciated the sympathy from Dylan.
I so badly wish these two lived closer to each other. I am sure they would find all sorts of trouble to get into together.
These two have always had the sweetest relationship. It melts my heart to watch them together. Evan is the best big cousin a girl could ever ask for. Leah sure does look up to him and love him a lot.
Happy girl on a pony.
Leah got brave enough to try out Dotty.
We always have fun at Uncle Aaron and Aunt Nancy's house. It's a good time watching my little city kids get a good ol' dose of country life.
Saturday night we left Grant with Grandma and and Grandpa and headed out to the races to cheer on my cousin Dean.
It's been WAY too long since I've seen him race. I forgot how much fun it is. We all had a really great time and Dean did an awesome job driving! Ended up 2nd out of 26, I believe it was.
Go #68!!!!
Of course he looked adorable, as always.
The kids had a blast!
Dylan was especially excited to see the race cars and also enjoyed watching the tow trucks in action.
Grant must have had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's because this is how I found him when I went to pick him up Sunday morning.
FINALLY, thank you for hanging in there with this super long post...here is your reward...
Poor Grant, he was such a good sport while we teased him about the way he walks.
We had a fun weekend despite the mosquito bites, sunburns, and of course the undesirable behavior from the exhausted children today. Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July and holiday weekend!
Cinnamon Tortilla Chips and Strawberry Mango Salsa
Here are the recipes so you can taste this delicious combo for yourself!
Strawberry Mango Salsa
3/4 Cup Strawberries, finely diced 3/4 Cup Mangos, finely diced 1/4 Cup Red Onion, finely chopped 6 Basil Leaves, finely chopped 1 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt 1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
Combine all ingredients and allow to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, covered.
Cinnamon Tortilla Chips recipe can be found here...
We enjoyed a weekend at home. It was full of relaxing family time and fun in the sun.
Dylan put this outfit together by himself. He said, "Mommy I have to wear my tie today so will look handsome." I commended him on his excellent job of color coordinating and his handsome tie, but was quick to assure him that he looks handsome all the time even without a tie on.
Love this sweet handsome boy.
Saturday we all went to the water park at the Y. We let Grant hang out in the Kidzone again and the rest of us had a blast splish splashing and riding around the lazy river (Mommy and Daddy's favorite thing to do at the water park). Leah and I shared a double tube in the lazy river and she was very proud to be able to sit by herself in one of the seats. It was a bit windy which made it a bit chillier than one would have expected on a hot summer day, but we all had a great time none the less!
D and I trying to warm up and dry off a bit.
Sunday Nathan woke up early and went for a bike ride. He told me that he was almost "cold" when he started out that morning. I am so thankful for the cooler temps!
Once everyone was up and ready to go we headed to Sedgwick County Park to play for the morning.
We began at the always fun play place.
Beautiful Girl
Grant was acting really tired and I thought he was just ready for his nap a little early. Later in the day I would find out I was wrong.
Grant chilling at the park.
Part of the reason we decided to go to the park was to enjoy some delicious pizza from the Hopperoni Express for lunch. Our favorite local pizza dive, Wichita Brewing Company, recently opened this mobile wood fired grill. We were so excited to finally get to try it out. Nathan had the privilege of enjoying it for lunch last week when they were in old town close to Airbus. Can't beat a 10 inch pizza in 3 min. (that's one hot oven!!!) for $6-$8. It was really yummy and just what we needed to fuel us up for our bike ride.
Well, maybe not for Dylan. He only lasted about 5 min. and was ready to call it a day. I also thought he was just tired from a busy week and late bed times...again, later I would discover I was wrong.
Once we got home it became very apparent that Grant was not just merely tired. He was definitely coming down with something. He had a fever of 101.8 and crashed in his bed as soon as we got home. The rest of the time he was awake during the day was pretty much spent crying and whining. I felt so bad for the poor guy. He was obviously not feeling well.
Dylan is also fighting off something. He has had a low grade fever off and on and has mostly been struggling with a lot of drainage. We have to get these boys well again so we can be ready to celebrate the 4th of July! We are headed to the doctor on Tuesday for Dylan's 4 year check up and I am hoping Dr. Haynes will be generous enough to give Grant the once over while we are there too.
Sunday night Nathan made he and I some delicious curry. I love a good curry, but I also love not having to cook dinner just as much! It is always a treat when Nathan makes his chicken curry and I must say it seems to be tastier each time he makes it. It tastes so much like the amazing curry we enjoyed while living in England.
Speaking of cooking, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I have been doing a terrible job of meal planning/prep. So, I am determined to get back to the grind. I purchased this little dry erase calendar about 7 years ago when we were living in Albuquerque (YIKES has it really been that long ago???). I have since then used it, almost, religiously. We don't always eat what's on the calendar for that specific day, but I at least know what our options are with a quick glance at the calendar. I usually purchase all 2 weeks worth of groceries in one, sometimes two, trip(s) to the grocery store. It can be an exhausting, time consuming chore, but I like to know that we are eating good home cooked meals and not eating out too much.
I am also attempting to get the kids on some sort of snack schedule. If I had a penny for every time I hear "I want a snack!!!" during an average day I would be a RICH Momma! So I compiled a list of fun/healthy snacks that we are going to try out over the next couple of weeks.
Today it was our "gone fishin'" snack. The idea is they use the carrot for a fishing rod, dip it in the Ranch dressing, and then "catch" goldfish crackers with it. They thought it was fun, but ended up just eating the carrots and Ranch, which was fine by me!
So there you have it our weekend in review. The calm before the storm. We are all so excited to head to P-Hill for the 4th of July holiday weekend. Hopefully we can get everyone well before then.
Grant had an icy pop for dinner tonight. I think his throat is sore. It's so hard when they can't tell you what hurts.
Hope you all had a great weekend as well! Wishing everyone a fun and safe 4th of July!!!
