Awkward & Awesome

Awkward
- when you remember to send your 2nd grader off to school with the drinks for his class Valentine's party but forget to send him with his valentine's cards/treats to hand out. (Which is kind of the whole point of the party to begin with.)

- when you not only forget to send the valentines, you forget to even DO his valentines with him. Even though you bought the stuff for it a solid three weeks ago.

- when you're chatting with a girlfriend at school pick up and your 12-year-old son notices he has a slightly loose molar tooth, points out this fact to you, and then to your horror reaches in and wrenches it out and the scene pretty much looks like this...

- unrelatedly, in case you were wondering if it's possible... the answer is yes, apparently you can get strep throat three times in a row.

and it's the pits.

Awesome

- when your husband has the day after Valentine's Day off work so you can actually go out and celebrate on a Sunday night! Date night ahead... woo to the hoo!

- when you finally decide to investigate goodreads late one night, create an account, and then spend two hours finding all your favorite books and rating them 5 stars so it will give you good book recommendations, something you've been wanting for at least five years. Always on the ball, this girl.

- blue skies, coffee, and taco trucks. In that order.

Blake-isms

Stats: 

age 7

2nd grader

family hooligan

baller

weirdly into fashion

ladies man

good at cuddling

(Quoted lately)

While holding his thigh and limping: "Mom, I really hurt my palm."

Out of the blue while playing with legos: "You know why I wouldn't want to be a giraffe? What if you got a rash on your neck? How would you itch it???" Ok Mr. Randompants. 

Climbing into bed with me in the morning: "mom I just had the BEST dream. We were driving all over the country getting candy from everywhere we went! We had so much candy!!!"

"Mom, my tummy's exhausted, because it needs food."

While singing the national anthem to himself as he unloads the dishwasher: "...Oh say does the star banner, to the Lord our God, we sing..." Nailed it.

Love this fella.

Weekend in Lincoln City

Devil's Lake, Lincoln City

I arrived home yesterday from an awesome team-bonding weekend trip to the Coast with Russ, his assistant, Lisa, and her husband, Jay, and their basketball teams (varsity and JV). No ball games were on the agenda, just fun and relaxation, in the most amazing house we've stayed at yet, Laurel Haven, on Devil's Lake. 

Activities included a LOT of shopping and eating out, going to the movies, relaxing at the house while watching movies/napping/singing in impromptu acapella arrangements/what have you, daily trips to get coffee, and many, many group photo sessions ;)

I can't tell you how fun it was. These girls are a hoot and easy to hang out with and so... good! There was no drama at all, and with 17 girls together for 3 days that's saying something ;) 

Russ and I have done these trips before but this year was a new experience, having Kendall along as part of the group! I tried my best to leave her alone and let her just be part of the group, and failed pretty miserably if I do say so myself. 

,

MOMS. There's no taking us anywhere! 

(Except when we're needed for photo-taking. We're pretty useful then.)

Monday Confessional

While driving to work the other day, I was be-bopping along to the radio like the dork mom that I am (read: dancing in the car like a fool), when I realized... hey I kinda really like this song! It's so catchy! And kinda funny! 

So I shazammed that sucker (because I drive a 1999 suburban that doesn't have a fancy stereo that tells me the song title and artist, like those of you living in the current decade) and this is what the app brought up: "Love Yourself".

by... JUSTIN BIEBER.

And I swear I said outloud: "What? No. Wait, what? No! Really?! Oh crap NO!"

But the fact remains, I still like the song. (and dare I say it, the clever music video.)

This is a very conflicting time for me.

Oh How We've Grown

When I started blogging back in 2010, this is what our family looked like...

{photo credit Be Photography}

(I still have this picture on my blog's "about me" page. Perhaps it's time to update it? Maybe?)

But look at us now!

Suuuuper crazy, right? I mean, TEENAGERS.

(The story behind our recent pictures is kind of funny. I wanted a picture for our Christmas cards so I asked my sister to come over one Sunday after church and we piled in our suburban and drove a couple miles up the road. We pulled over on the side when we came to a pretty spot, hopped out, and posed right on the center line while she snapped a couple shots. Maybe 5 total. Then we hopped back in the car and drove home, never seeing another vehicle. The whole thing took 10 minutes. We used my camera and I edited the shots and ordered my christmas cards online that evening. If that's not the easiest photo shoot you could ask for, I don't know what is. Thanks, Kelly!)

A lot has changed in six years. Back then I was an at-home mom working on potty training my youngest. I was home a lot more, had less commitments, and consistently blogged 5 days a week. For years.

Now I work outside the home part-time, run kids around to their different activities full-time, and am listening to my youngest recite multiplication, for pete's sake. I'm lucky to blog 2-3 times a week, or be caught up on laundry for even one day.

What hasn't changed though? I love my little blog, and I love my life... exactly how it is right now. Our theme in bible study this year is "seasons" - enjoying the season you're in - and I'm really embracing it. It's such a good season!

Can't wait to see where we are in another 6 years.