P52 Week 29 - Movie Party

Over the past few weeks we've been watching the Star Wars saga in order from 1-6... We caught the first one on TV during the 4th of July weekend, and Jordan was hooked, so we decided to splurge and buy the set so we could watch all of them together.

We finished up this week with V and VI. I was reminded how much of a nerd I really am too, because I love these movies. And yes, I enjoy the prequels too, don't hate.

I love watching movies as a family. It's so fun to find things we are all interested in, and look forward to doing together. I think next we're going to get caught up on Harry Potter. Charlie and I haven't seen the last one, and Jordan might just be old enough now to be interested. We'll have to start with the first one and go through... I wonder how long that will take? I'll also have to find someone I can borrow those from, I'm not sure I'm willing to spend the dough for all that just yet. :)

P52 Week 28 - Summer Treats

Living in Florida, you may think my favorite season is Summer, with all the sunshine and beach access, but no, it is not. Summer is my least favorite season, with it's humidity, constant rain, and sweltering heat... Fall, fall is my favorite season.

But with the theme this week being Summer Treats, I started to think about the things I do like about summer, and I realized I don't really hate summer, I just don't like it as much as the rest of the year. But there is plenty of treats for us in the summer too. 

Like this week, on a not so hot you might feel like you are melting day, I went to a frozen yogurt place on  one of my breaks at work and sat outside, at my yogurt, and read my book. And I'll have to say, it was nice. It was hot, yes, and while I didn't melt, my yogurt was going fast, but it reminded me I really do like being outside in the sunshine.  Maybe I just need to embrace it more and enjoy the months of shorts and tank tops before I start wishing for the two or three days each year when I need to break out a jacket. (But the flip-flops are here to stay all year long. I mean, it is Florida)

P52 Week 27 - Ka-Boom

I learned something this week. Taking pictures of fireworks is not easy!! But alas, I still tried. I got a few good ones, and one great shot. I hope everyone had as fun of a 4th of July as I did :)

P52 Week 26 - School's Out

School is out, but around here that means we do more school work at home than usual. And it's not me, Jordan loves to work in his workbooks when he's not in school. Let's hope this continues when actual Kindergarten starts in the fall. I took some pictures of his little desk for this week. I think I'll better understand what "School's Out" means next year...

I did the math today and realized that we only have 52 days left until the start of real school, and only two more weeks where we'll be off, just the two of us, for our Wednesday and Thursday time. :( How did my baby grow up so fast!!

Check out how everyone else interprets this week's theme over at Kent Weakly's blog.

P52 Week 25 - Fathers

In our house, Father's Day weekend means The US Open golf tournament. It's watched all day Sunday, in between baseball games of course. 

I grabbed these shots of the boys enjoying some father/son time during the day.

P52 Week 24 - Sunlight

So, I'll be honest, this week got away from me. I had a slammed packed week, and I'm getting ready to head on vacation next week, so planning for that as well.

I was hoping the sunset tonight would give me some good opportunities for a sunlight shot, but with the rain we've been having it was so cloudy.

But I will say this. I'm proud I took a picture. I thought about using a past shot from a few weeks ago, but that's not the challenge. The point is to take a new picture, each week, to theme. So while it might not be the best shot I could have gotten, I still got it in, and I'm happy with that this week.

I'm also happy that this coming week's theme is fathers. It will make it easy to get a picture in early so I don't have to think about P52 while I fill up my memory cards with pictures of the Tennessee mountains later on in the week. Vacation here we come!

P52 Week 23 - Water

This week when I think of water, I think of rain. It's been raining for days. Nothing too strong, but just steady and often. This has been the view of the front for the past few days.

 It keeps us holed up inside so we have to get creative with things to do. I don't want to lose my mind. (For all of you with more than one child, just let me say it now, God bless you!) On Wednesday we pulled out Jordan's tent and set it up in the living room. He loves playing in there. He tells spooky stories to his stuffed animals and pretends he's having a sleepover. 

Even the dogs seem down when it rains. Abby gets super nervous, so she follows us around the house and then  wherever Abby goes, Shelby must follow. Since they just got groomed recently, I gave them some time on the couch to help them relax.

 While I do enjoy the rain from time to time, it's time for it to move on now and bring back the sunshine.

P52 Week 22 - Playtime

With a crazy summer schedule starting, and then Kindergarten right around the corner, my days of play with Jordan are quickly coming to an end. So, I'm determined to make the most of the few we have left.

This week on Thursday we headed to a nearby park for some playtime in the water fountains they have there. And having water to play in around this time of year is a good thing, because you know how you spell hot? F-L-O-R-I-D-A.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the day.

P52 Week 21 - Favorites

I love wine... It's my favorite adult beverage, and my favorite way to wind down from a stressful day (or like this week, a few stressful days...) I started collecting corks from wine bottles several years ago. I didn't know why, or what I  would do with them, but slowly my collection grew. As it did, people started to give me things to do with my corks.

The first thing was a "cork board" set where you supply the corks. My sister gave me this for Christmas a few years ago. It's too pretty to actually hang anything on, but I have it hanging in my dining room (which has a wine theme, of course) and people love to ask "Did you drink all those?" And the answer is yes, with a little help from my husband, but not much.

 Then, a few years later my MIL bought me this really neat wine bottle shaped holder, specifically for corks. I love this thing! I only wish it was bigger (or that I had more of them).

Now I need to start thinking of some new things to do with corks...

Sharing with P52 over at kentweakly.com. Check it out for more of everyone's favorites this week.

Sunday Funday

I love Sundays... It's our one day together as a family. We don't have any chores to do, or big errands to run. We make up the rules as we go along, and we always have a great day. I get to cook, which I love and miss right now without people to cook for more often, and we just enjoy each other.

This week was no different. After we all slept in (thank you Jordan, Mommy and Daddy needed that this week) we took a little time to wake up. Then, and Jordan's request, we played some Mario Kart (How is my 5 year old getting better than me at that? I'm going to have to put in some practice time after he goes to bed).

In the afternoon we took some time outside to enjoy the day. I have to start remembering to apply bug spray though if I'm going to keep doing this. While Charlie and Jordan got out unscathed, I ended up with about 20 bug bites all over my legs today... Can you say itchy? I guess I'm just sweeter. That must be it.

I got some great pictures of Jordan playing,
on the trampoline;

with some bubbles;

 
and on the swings.

And my Sweet Abby....

Don't get me Daddy!!!

And for dinner, a real meal... Stuffed pork tenderloin with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli.. Yum! A great end to a great day.

P52 Week 20 - Mothers

I had an original thought this week about the picture I wanted to take. Something with me and Jordan together. Here's what I ended up with.

 Honestly, I wasn't thrilled with it, but you can't always get something you love, right?

On the way home from work tonight though, I decided to go in a different direction. I was about to find myself in a rare situation. HOME ALONE! Can you believe it? No human in the house but me, myself and I... A rare thing for any mother.

And yes, we all love our children. More than life itself I might say, but I don't think I ever valued my time on my own more until it wasn't as readily available. So.... I sat down with a glass of wine and a book, put some music on and lit some candles, and was just alone... And if you do that a few times I think you'll be a better mother in the end, because if you don't take care of yourself sometimes, how can you take care of anyone else.

So have a glass of wine for me, lock yourself in the bathroom or come home an hour early from work. Just take some time for yourself to enjoy you so you can enjoy your kids more later.



P52 Week 19 - Still Life

When I saw the theme for this week I had a lot of ideas, but after Wednesday, and a great day at Disney World with just me and my baby, (see pics here) it made start to think about how precious these last few months before kindergarten are going to be.

With Mother's day just a few days away, I decided to take a picture of one of my favorite Mother's day gifts, one of my Willow Tree figurines. I started collecting these right after Jordan was born, and I have a few that I love, but this is one of my favorites.

I feel so blessed to have had such an amazing opportunity the last five years to spend such quality one on one time with my boy. He has been more amazing than I ever would have thought he could be. Yes, there might be a sibling in the future, but right now I know that I'm content being Mommy to this beautiful and wonderful little boy.

Check out more P52 pics at http://my3boybarians.com/