Well, it's been awhile - yet again - and I've had a request for an update (waving to Sam) so I thought why not. Usually I don't post, because our days are just so much of the same but that aside...

First off a shout out to my pal Austin Cousino. Austin is my friend Nat's little brother and this past week he was in Taiwan competing in the junior Olympics on the USA baseball team. They won and he also got some individual awards as well and I am so proud of him! I've known the kid pretty much his whole life...I think he was 2 - so he's the closest thing I'll ever have to a little brother. I'm very proud of him!

We do have a few things going on around here. This past week I started helping out in the K-1st grade Sunday school class at my church. It's a HUGE class, so I am glad that I felt the call to help out because they need it. I think we had like 22 kids, and I'm sure there will be more next week because yesterday was the first day. I am also now the main teacher for the 4 & 5 year old class for this years Pioneer Club. PC is for kids 4 yrs through 6th grade and it's at the church on Wednesday nights. Basically we go, have dinner then my little ones will go to childrens choir practice, then from 7-8 we have class which is a bible story/lesson and a craft. I'm a little nervous about being in charge because I've never done it before, but I think it will be fun. And they keep telling me that I'll have helpers!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that. But I've been looking around and already have some great craft ideas for my little ones, so I'm really excited for those.

Let's see. The boys are both doing great. The big kid will go back to school after labor day, so that is exciting. He's more than ready to be back and I can't wait for him to learn new things! He's reading on his own now which is really exciting. He can read most of his level 1 and 2 books by himself with just a little help from us, so that's a lot of fun. Our little guy talks up a storm, can pretty much count to 10 on his own and is learning his ABC's - although most of the letters at this point sound very much the same. But he's trying which is awesome. He had his 2yr check-up a few weeks ago and he's doing great. He's on the short side, but nothing that they seem too worried about, although it's a big change from my big kid who was (and still is) always off the charts for height because he's so darn tall for his age.

I signed up to run in the Race for the Cure again this year in October. I'm looking forward to that. It has always been a really great experience for me, and it's for a good cause. Oh and I'm doing a mini woman's triathlon this weekend. It's very non-competitive (no times or anything like that) and you even get to choose your own distance for the bike and run portion with the longest for bike being 6 miles and run is 1.5. It's sponsored by one of the local hospitals to get women involved and active. A friend of mine did it last year and said it was just a lot of fun and really cool to see women of all ages out there!

The hubby is about the same. Working hard as usual, doing really well. We still love it here in our little bubble and the time is going by way too fast. We are now under a year from moving again, which is sad, but I also always look forward too.

Okay, so this has been a REALLY long post just to get updated on some stuff, and so I guess that means that I need to post more often. I'm going to try my best. However, that being said, I started this yesterday (Monday) and it's now Tuesday morning...hope things are going well for all of you!

Ooops...

So I just remembered that I promised more pictures from our night at the rodeo...I realize it's been awhile, so I'm sorry about that, but here they are. Better late than never eh??

Here is one of the three of us before the rodeo started. And as I think I mentioned before, yes, it was July, and yes we were in jeans. That weekend we hit record lows and so I think it was in the 60's that night. However, the next week or so it was back to highs in the 100's so we weren't "chilly" for long. Anyway...moving on.

The big kid with his snow cone. He insisted on wearing his finest cowboy gear to the rodeo after the trip to the fair earlier in the week.

My silly little boys...trying to get a good picture of the two of them together is never an easy job, and usually doesn't work out quite how I planned...oh well. They are still cute.

At the petting zoo again

We got to "meet" some of the horses on our way out. The boys loved the bull riding and calf roping. We had a great time.

So far this weekend has been pretty laid back. It rained most of the day, so we stayed inside and played. I cleaned and went to the gym for a very short stint. We all did a little quiet time this afternoon, and then around 4 our friends dropped their little girl off to hang with us so they could go to a movie to celebrate Glenn's b-day. It was fun having her here and the three of them wore each other out. Now my little ones are fast asleep, and I'm heading downstairs to watch a movie with the hubby. I'm going to TRY and get my butt up early to go for a run with the running group I ran with all last summer. I have been meaning to meet up with them again now that I am back to it, but just never feel like getting up quite that early. But a friend of mine is going with me, so that is motivation to get my bum out of bed!

Alright, well I think that's it for me tonight. I hope you all are enjoying your weekend so far and hopefully I'll be back soon with something to post!

County Fair (part 1)

Sorry I've been slacking (thanks Nat for pointing that out - hehe). Haven't really been all that busy or anything, but I also haven't been on the computer all that much. We've been taking it easy and enjoying the nice (unseasonably cool) weather we have been having.

Last week (and this past weekend) the fair was in town so we took the kids. They had fun riding the carnival rides and petting the animals in the petting zoo. We actually went both Wednesday night and then again Saturday night. Wednesday we just did the rides and walked around looking at all the animals and booths they had set up...oh and eating my weight in kettle corn (YUMMY). Here are a few pictures from night one.

Riding the elephant ride

Feeding the goats

Watching the mini-tractor pull - it was the little kids pulling

So there are some pictures for you. Saturday night we went back for the rodeo which was a lot of fun, and I'll post those pictures later.

Not much in the way of "news" to report. Some of you probably already saw on FB but my sister-in-law found out that the twins are both boys, so that is pretty exciting. I'll have little twin nephews come December. I'm learning how to knit (very slowly) but I hope to make them little blankets, or maybe little hats, as a baby gift, but I still need to get A LOT better because right now, I wouldn't give anyone what I've been making.

That's about it for me today. I'll try to post those other pictures soon. Hope you all are having a good week, and enjoy your weekend!

Sweet Summer

I know I was going to post more about our trip...but maybe later.

There are so many thing about summer that I love, but one of my favorite things, is just the slower pace (well most of the time). We do get pretty busy, but this last week or so has just been so nice and laid back. We've been doing lots of family stuff, going to baseball games, riding bikes - you get the idea. Not this past Saturday but the one before, we met up with friends and took the boys fishing. Here are a few pictures I took. It was a fun time and a great way to pass a lazy Saturday.

Enjoying a quiet breakfast by the lake

Fishing with Daddy

This past weekend was also really nice. Saturday I started off the day with a nice run, then later that morning some of our really good friends came over for the morning/afternoon. Angie and I took off for the farmers market while the guys stayed at the house with the kiddos. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it last summer, but we have such a great farmers market here on Saturday mornings. I stocked up on all my veggies for the week, Ang got her stuff, then we were off to the grocery store to pick up some meat for lunch, then home to start fixin' some lunch. The hubs grilled and Angie and I worked on the rest, then we all ate some really good eats! Chicken kabobs, brats, veggie pizza, grilled eggplant, baked beans - YUMMY!

After lunch we did a little quite time, and then we left to go look for me a new bike. I've been trying to decide for a LONG time about getting one. I wanted to make sure I REALLY wanted it for me and that I would ride it, because it is a bit on the pricey side. So we went to the bike store and I test rode a few, and fell in love with this one. Forgive the pictures, they were in my garage after I got back from my first ride, so I just wanted to get the pics taken.

Close up of some of the detail - leave it to me to get a "girl-ish" sporty bike

And here is a picture I made the hubs take of me after I got back. I had already taken the helmet off but you get the idea.

So, there you have it, my new "ride". I've been out on it twice now, and just love it. I would have gone again last night, but I needed a rest after running and biking both Saturday and Sunday. I am hoping the rain holds off tonight so I can go for a spin after dinner.

Anyway, so that was my big news. Sunday was low key - church, lunch, and a quick trip to the mall to use up some gymbucks at gymboree for some new school clothes for the boys (well really just big kid because little one isn't in school yet).

So far this week has been nice - although it is only Tuesday. This morning the boys and I hit the gym for a while, then it was off to the park for a picnic lunch and play time - just the three of us. Now they are doing naps/quiet time, I'm doing laundry, and I've got a pot roast in the oven cooking along with all my fresh farmers market veggies...all in all it's been a great day!! Well, that's about it for me. I hear the wash is on the spin cycle, so I'm going to switch loads and then maybe read a bit. OH - I just finished the book "Eat, Pray, Love" and was slightly disappointed. I had heard great things, but it just didn't do much for me. The point was good, but just SLOW and hard to get through. So, I just thought I'd throw that out there. It was a book for book club, and now I'm onto Fahrenheit 451 (which I think I was supposed to read in high school and never did) so maybe it will be more interesting.

The big 2.0!!!

Hello everyone...sorry, I didn't mean to take so long to post another "while we were gone" post, but I was behind on a lot of things around here that needed to be taken care of before I could get back to posting. You know all those fun things like getting the laundry done, unpacking, catching up on emails/phone calls...you get the idea.

So, on of the BIGGEST things that happened while we were in GA was my little "baby" turned TWO!!! I can't believe it's been 2 years, that just seems crazy. We had a little get together for him with family. My in-laws came as well as my Brother-in-law and his wife, my sister was there, and my parents of course (we were at their house). The little one was of course showered with gifts, and big kid got a few new things as well!

The Birthday Boy

Time for presents

Thomas Cake (he LOVES trains). It's from Publix complete with my FAVORITE butter cream icing...sooooo good!!

Playing with some of the new toys with his big brother

All the family

It was a great day, and like I said, great to see family!! And, we also got some great news while we were all together...I'm going to be an AUNTIE. Yup, my Brother-in-law and his wife are pregnant, and not just that but they are having TWINS!! I am very happy for them, it's very exciting. These will be my first nieces or nephews. She's about 17 weeks along, so soon we will get to find out if they are boys or girls...or one of each.

So, there you go...another highlight from our trip. I'll try to be back again with another post. We did so much that I shouldn't have any trouble coming up with posts for awhile.

For now though, I must run and get to folding the last of the laundry. Then the boys and I are heading off to the gym. It's raining here today, so I think we will just spend the morning there so that they can run around and have fun. Hope you all had a great weekend!!

My favorite things...

Well, we made it home!! The trip back was long, but uneventful, which is good when it comes to 17 hours of driving with two kiddos and a whole lot of stuff in tow. The kids were troopers and made the trip like pros. We had such a nice visit, I didn't want to come back home, but now that I am here, I'm glad to be back. Today I've got lots of unpacking to do, laundry, cleaning, all that fun stuff, but that is going to wait until the boys do quiet time. In a little bit we're going to head over to the gym so the boys can play and I can work off some of the extra "baggage" I brought home from all the good food I ate!

Which brings me to my first post about our trip...all my favorite things to eat in Atlanta...there are SO many. The hubs and I made a list of some of our top choices and I think we hit all of them. One of our most favorites is The Vortex downtown. They have these AMAZING hamburgers!! I rarely treat myself to hamburgers, but every now and again I figure you've just got to have one, and if you're going to eat them, this is the place to do it.

There are no kids allowed in the restaurant, probably something to do with their "decor", so we made a lunch date out of it and met my sister, Justin and Marc (friends from college) down there. Here are a few pictures I took while we were there.

Me and my lil' sis

My wonderful burger - it had teriyaki, cheese, and pineapple...YUM

Jessie taking her first bite of the "Elvis Burger" - peanut butter, fried bananas and bacon - I tried a bite and it's actually really good...if you like peanut butter that is!

Yes, it was delicious. Some of the other treats we got while we were down there was Publix Subs, Pappa Deaux, and the hubs and I went on a date night to another favorite place, the Sundial. You can check it out HERE. Here are a few pictures I took from our date night. The restaurant is 72 stories up and rotates so you see all of Atlanta - and they have AMAZING food! Check out the menu on the website. I wish I would have taken a picture of my dinner but I was just enjoying my night out!!

The hubby and I at the bar before dinner

View of Centennial Park/CNN Center/GA Dome from 72 stories above

Atlanta at night

We had a great night out. It was nice to get to go out on dates and such. We don't do that a whole lot here because sitters get so expensive, so we took full advantage of the grandparents that were all but kicking us out the door! And while we did do a lot of eating, we also were good about keeping up with our running. One of my other favorite "dates" was our morning run together. We never get to do that, but while we were gone, we went for a run almost every day, it was fabulous - but I'll get to more later.

For now I need to run and get us moving so I can get to my treading class at the gym. I'll be back soon with more highlights from our trip! Hope everyone is having a good week so far...oh and leave me comments...I'm feeling a bit lonely in the comment sections!! Hehe.

It's been good...

All good things must come to an end... We've had a great time here in GA/SC and I can't believe that I am actually saying this...but I don't really want to leave. It's been so nice seeing family and catching up with friends!! But the hubs has to return to work and I suppose 2 weeks is long enough for vaccation. I'll have lots of posts here soon to share some of the highlights from the trip. We did SO much stuff. Everything from the pool to the lake to the aquarium - I even got to run in the Atlanta Peachtree Road Race so I'll post a fun race report from that as well!

Okay...time to pack up the computer...hope everyone out there is well!