Pre-K Farm Day

Yee Haw, ya'll!  Today is Pre-K Farm Day at Emma's school.  So, in spirit of this special day - filled with fun activities, food, and fun - I dressed Emma in a farm girl getup. 

Star Student

Emma was the "Star Student" in her Pre-K class last week.

How does one become a start student, you ask?

Simple. You have me as your mom.

HA! Juuuuuuuuuuust kidding. Not really.

Emma's teacher is fantastic, and she has started the "Star Student" program where every student gets to be the "Star" for the week. They get to take home a special backpack on Friday, where they fill it with items that they like and mean something to them. Then, for the entire week, they get to share these items with their peers. Not only does this teach them valuable lessons - like confidence, taking turns, and sharing - but this also allows them a chance to truly shine and feel special. And every kid needs that.

Some items that Emma brought in her Star Student bag were her soccer ball, her gymnastics leotard, her Rapunzel doll, a picture of our family, and an arts and crafts case.
 

Noblesville Homecoming Parade

Every year, the students at Noblesville put on a Parade through the streets of downtown Noblesville to celebrate their Homecoming Game. The students involved in extra-curricular activities create different floats, with all sorts of different themes. Some of the themes that they did this year were Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, and The Incredibles. The band kicked off the parade, followed by the football players and of course - the cheerleaders. They were a big hit with Emma.

It was a rather short parade, in comparison to a more "official" parade, but it was perfect. It was so cute to see all the kids on the back of trucks or convertibles. They're having the time of their lives and I just thought it was so cute to watch. Oh, how it feels like only yesterday I was wearing my "Senior Boxers" and acting like a hot fool! As evident below.

Waiting for the parade to start!

Always with a truck.
Always.

I think the coolest thing for the kids was riding on the gator!

Ah, yes.
The memories!

HSE Homecoming 1997.

Chris Brown Concert

I was fortunate enough to be given some pretty sweet tickets the Chris Brown concert Sunday night. Sweet as in VIP passes, which includes Greenroom access, premier parking and seats. I'm talking front-freaking-row! It was awesome. Aside from what you think of him personally, the kid can DANCE. I was amazed.

Here's the Green Room at Verizon Wireless.  It's so cheesy.....I don't think it's been redecorated since the early 90's!

CB's set.

This is how close I was. Seriously. There's no zooming action going on here.

The kid likes to take his shirt off. And I'm not complaining.

"Moving at the speed of light into eternity."

I Don't Know How She Does It

Have you seen the previews for this movie with SJP?!? I can't wait to see it. Not only because I'm an SJP fan (Carrie Bradshaw will forever hold a place in my heart), but this struck a chord with me. People often ask me, "How the heck do you do it?!?" Meaning how do I:

• work a full time job
• train for triathlons
• be an engaging Mommy to my 2 awesome kids
• be an awesome wife to an awesome husband
• all while still finding time for myself?!?

And here's my short answer.

I just figure it out.

1) I want to work. In fact, I like working. I love my job. (I know, I know. I've mentioned this before quite a few times.) But in all sincerity, this is key in my mind. You've GOT to find something that you enjoy doing. Period.

2) I want to work out. I want to lead a healthy lifestyle for not only myself, but for my children as well. This is a huge priority for Andy & I. Remember this post (click here)?!? Bottom line = I make the time to get a work out in.

3) I want to be an engaging Mommy. I have the two best kids ever. I love my Missy Lucille and my little man Drewbie. I can't imagine my life without these two little beings. So I make the time for my munchkins. And I make it count. I just don't sit around and let them watch TV. I interact with them. I do things with them.

4) I want to be an awesome wife. Do I succeed at this every single second of every single day? Hell no. But I give it my best effort every morning that I wake up. I made a commitment in front of my family and God, and I value that commitment. So I work at it. Every. Single. Day.

5) I still find time for myself. Uber-important. Even if it's only 10 minutes a day. Which - let's be honest - that's about as much as I get right now. Some days (okay, most days) this is achieved with item #2. Working out. If I go 2 or 3 days without working out, the whole world knows: Momma isn't happy. So it's imperative that I take the time for myself to re-focus my energy and priorities. I can't tell you how much this has improved my life!

Now, don't get me wrong. There are days when I feel like I'm not succeeding at one of these. Like: missing an outing at Emma's preschool because of other responsibilities. How much of a Scheisse-Kopf do I feel like that I'm not one of the parental chaperons at the visit to the apple orchard?!? Or like: going a whole day without so much as having a true "adult" conversation with my husband. But you know what?!?.....that's life. Everything is not going to be 100-freaking-percent at all times.

But you know what else? That doesn't matter. I lead the life that I want to lead with the man I want to lead it with, doing the job that I like to do. I've set my priorities in life, and when things go astray, I just figure it out.

Papa's Birthday Weekend

On Saturday, we spent the day with Papa, Grandma Ann, and J.D. to celebrate my dad's 62nd birthday. And naturally, Emma couldn't wait to get up there just so she could wear her "river shoes." I swear, that's all the girl could talk about.....wearing her freaking river shoes!

We had such a nice time. The kids had a blast exploring the river, taking "rides" on the back of the riding lawn mower, and discovering all the fun things there is to explore at their house.
 

The kids checking out the kayaks. They can't wait until they're older to go down the river!

Hey, safety first. Life jacket: check. Intertube: check.

And of course. What is Drewbie drawn towards?!?
The broom.

Cleaning up all the rocks!

Taking a ride on the back of the mower. I remember doing this as a kid out in Thorntown. I think Emma enjoys it just as much as I did!

Sheer delight!

Emma caught found a fresh water mussel in the river...

...So Papa opened it up. Big hit with the kids!

Happy Birthday Papa.  WE LOVE YOU!

Tuckered out. But not too tired to let go of his truck.
He always has to have a truck or a car with him!

Katy Perry Concert

I re-visited my teenage dreams last night by attending the Katy Perry concert. 

And it was such a fun time! 

She surely puts on a girly show, complete with the smell of cotton candy infused in the air.  Her stage was super-fun....it was set to mimic her "California Gurls" music video, which is basically a racier candy land.  Between the dozens of costume changes, pyrotechnics, confetti and foam wars, it was a fun concert.

(Only problem was that it was on a school night.  Getting home at midnight then back up at 5:30 is hard on this working momma!)

Outfit #1

Katy shot some foam out in the audience during her grand finale of "California Gurls."  It was super-fun!

Pantry Re-Org

I was in one of those moods yesterday.  You know, one of those I-Can't-Take-This-Hot-Mess-of-a-Pantry-type-moods.  And I remembered a post by one of my favorite bloggers, I Heart Organizing (who doesn't?!?), where she reorganized her pantry. 

So I  hopped in my car, ran to Lowes, and got myself a little wire door organizer.

Before.  Yuck.

After.

Love my wire door organizer!

Emma's First Soccer Game

Emma's first soccer game was held this past Sunday, where she jumped straight into a game. There were no practices or drills before jumping straight into her first official game. Reason being, A) the weather. Rain + mud = a cancelled practice. And B) she missed the first "official" practice because we signed her up late. Whoops.

So how did she do?!?....well, I'm happy to report that I think she's going to like it! Unlike baseball, there is more running around and "playing" involved in soccer. Emma didn't care too much for baseball because the majority of the time, the kids just stood there in the field. Remember this post?  They were either more concerned with the planes flying in the sky, or with the shapes they could make in the dirt. 
 
Well, with soccer, there's really no time for that.  Which, as Martha would say, is a good thing.
 
Emma is on the U6 league (under 6) with the Glendale Soccer Association.  The same league that Daddy played in 30+ years ago (in the freaking '70s......before I was even born. Ha!), where he actually met his long time friend, Quincy.  It was kinda sentimental; Emma's first game was against Quincy's son's team.  So I think they had a good time "reminiscing."

Looking "tough." 
As per usual, she's the biggest kid on the team. Both teams. I think maybe even the entire U6 league. Someone asked if she was 7 or 8.
She's 4.

Emma getting after it. You can't really see her from this shot, but she's dribbling the ball behind #2.

Fall Fun List

1. Go to the Pumpkin Patch.
2. Pick Apples.
3. Make something with Pumpkin.
4. Decorate the house in fall décor.
5. Go on a Hayride.
6. Play & Jump in the Leaves.
7. Go to NHS Homecoming game and parade.
8. Go to IU & PU football games.
9. Make Apple Cider.
10. Plant more Mums.
11. Winterize the yard.
12. Go to the Children’s Museum Haunted House.
13. Take a stroll through Butler’s campus.
14. Have a Colts Party.
15. Run a ½ Marathon.
16. Carve Pumpkins.
17. Take Swimming Lessons.
18. Host Emma’s 5th Birthday Party.
19. Start on Christmas lists.
20. Finish the Basement. Minus the “mud room” area.

Summer Fun List Recap

1. Go on vacation.
2. Do at least one triathlon (sprint to start).
3. Do a century ride. In one day. That's 100 miles.
4. Take weekly trips to the pool.
5. Have a family and friend cookout.
6. Get a sno cone.
7. Go to the Indiana State Fair.
8. Go on a ride with Drewbie for the 1st time at the fair.
9. Go on a picnic at Fort Benjamin Harrison.
10. Have a summer date night with the hubs. Complete with wine and a evening stroll. Anywhere.
11. Go to the Fishers Fire Station.
12. Go to an outdoor concert at White River.
13. Take a walk along the canal.
14. Go to Nashville, TN with Malnar.

Well, I achieved 8 of my 14 goals this summer. Which stinks because I really thought these were all attainable.

But I'm loving this concept. It really makes you put paper to pen so to speak, in doing what you actually set out to do. Instead of just saying, "Oh, I'd really like to do that some time," this really encourages you to actually experiencing what you'd like to! So I think I'll keep at it. Fall Fun List to come, stay tuned.

Ice Cream Face

It's so hard to get him to stand still for more than 5 seconds!

Labor Day Weekend

Courtesy of my job's Flex Fridays, I enjoyed a nice little 4-day weekend this past week. As per usual, I started the first 3 days off right, with either a spinning class (Friday---Sharon kicks our A$$--it's fantastic!) or a morning ride. Have I mentioned that I LOVE cycling? No? Hmmm. I guess I need to work on getting that point across a little more clearly.

On Saturday, Andy headed down to The Luc (Lucas Oil Stadium) to watch the Hoosiers get destroyed by the Ball State Cardinals. [Poor Hoosiers. You know you're bad when you're getting trampled on by BSU.] I stayed home with the kids, where a fast and furious storm ripped through our neighborhood, taking down many trees and our power. Kinda scary, now that it's all said and done. Lightening stuck the transformer in our backyard, leaving us without power for 26 hours. As much as it sucked being without power for that length of time, the scariest thing was the lightening that stuck. Like I just mentioned, multiple trees got struck, taking out parked cars in people's driveways. We're fortunate that the lightening just hit the pole, but we could have easily been unfortunate and had our house struck, or one of our trees could have fallen on my car, as it was parked in our driveway.

But we were lucky. We were just without power for 26 hours.

And we had a cookout to get ready for. We weren't going to let a silly little thing like POWER stop our fun times. So we did what we could with what we had, and a good time was had by all. For those that hung around "late night" (when you get old, late night is defined by 8:30), we even had some premier entertainment: the IPL truck. Much pomp and circumstance was had when the trucks came pulling up our street; you would have thought that Justin Timberlake himself pulled up to our front door!

We then completed our weekend with a trip to the park. It's so cool to see how much the kids have grown; it amazes me so much to see Emma whizz across the monkey bars when she couldn't do that at the beginning of summer. Or to see Drew climb up some "kiddie" ropes, when he couldn't do that at the beginning of the summer either.

Ah, how I love my long weekends. And my family!

S'more Push Pops I made for the kiddos.  If you're interested in how I made these, click here.

The Hot Dog Customization Station.

Our night's premier entertainment: watching IPL install a new transformer.

Emma attacking the monkey bars.  She's quite awesome.  And she's only FOUR.

The queen of the Rope Thingy.

You can't go any higher than this!

Attacking the rock wall.  We were having timed competitions.  Again, she's awesome.

Hanging out in the tree.  See those kids in the background?  They're envious.  My girl can rock the tree climbing event.

Drewbie Doo, climbing his own rocks.

He's so stinkin' cute. He and Daddy were having their own "conversation." Drew: "I go through the woods, okay Daddy Daddy?"  Daddy: "Okay Dubie. Watch out for the ghouls."

My two monkeys.  LOVE THEM.