Owen Summer Fun pt 2

Soooo technically we are back in school but it's still hot outside so it's still summer!! 

This is part 2 of our summer fun list;

Train Ride- we were super late to church and decided on a whim to just go ride the train at Hermann Park instead. It was beautiful weather that morning and we enjoyed the ride! 

Me and my big babies 

Sno-cones:

There is a delicious snocone place in the heights called "mam's snowballs". Originally they started in a little food truck and just changed to a real building! Anyways since the Heights is a little far for us, we had a play date with our friend Kyndall that morning who lives near there and then got snocones! Pretty fun day! And Violet's picture is on the wall!! 

Make Vietnamese Food w/Kimmy 

This was much anticipated all summer long! We love Vietnamese food!! Violet thought this up all by herself to add to our list. So Kimmy and Ryan came over for dinner one night and taught the kids (and me) how to make springs rolls. So easy and delicious! (And I made them like 3 more times that week!) thanks Kimmy! 

Spring rolls! 

Splash pad

While we visited my sister in Ft Worth we played at a park and splash pad! The kids had The best time....until Parker slipped and hit his head :( I didn't get any pics of them playing, but it was fun to see the cousins playing together.

Build a fairy house 

This girl loves her fairies! We watch one of the several Tinkerbell movies at least once a week. Violet and I had fun making this together! She is so creative! I helped guide her but she was full of ideas! 

We have had wonderful summer and have ONE more thing on our list to do: go to the beach!! We will get there eventually!! Thankfully it's only an hour and a good day trip activity! 

Big Boy/Girl Bed

This past week we changed the kids into new beds. Parker is 2.5 and HUGE! He is way to big to sleep in pack n plays when we travel but we still let him since we haven't bed trained him yet. At home in his crib he sleeps like a log and has plenty of room.

BUT last week he has been climbing out of his crib...and heads straight to Violet's room! It's actually pretty funny!! And long story short...our shower has been leaking and we are in the process if remolding Parker's room and our bathroom. So P has been changed temporarily to the guest room...and many of you know Violet is a "nomad sleeper" and likes to sleep in different places. 

All this to say...a friend gave us a bed that is perfect for Violet! And we changed Parker to the twin! Everyone has been sleeping soundly and doing a great job in their new arrangements! We were a little nervous how Parker would do with the transition but after a few threats of "stay in bed or you are going to time out" he fell right asleep. Violet loves her bigger bed and let's all my dolls and stuffed animals sleep with her! Haha! 

My little big boy 

New bed with her new horse sheets! (She's a cowgirl at heart!) 

Owen Summer Fun

Summer time!! For the past two years we have made a "summer fun list" at the beginning of summer. Whether or not we actually do those activties is one thing, BUT we try really hard to do them. I usually brainstorm a little and then ask the kids and Bryson what they would like to do. Parker doesn't have that many words yet, so he is along for the fun most of the time. Violet on the other hand is bursting with ideas.  I really like having a summer list because it gives us ideas and things to do during our days. Since Violet is out of school this summer, she loves a plan and to follow a routine, this was good for everyone. We didn't always make a plan depending on the activity, but it was a good reference to look at and then the BEST part is to check it off once it was done!

 In my perfect organized world I have a theme for every week of summer, with different activites that correspond with those themes and all is pleasant and happy. LIFE happens and it's not perfect or organized so we go with what we have.

So far we have had a great summer and have been able to cross off a lot:

Swim Lessons: CHECK 

Both kids took swim lessons for a WHOLE month, Monday-Thursday for 30 mins. A lot of people thought I/we were crazy for signing up for two swim sessions each day. Our lessons were very inexpensive compared to other places and about 10 mins away. But we had a great time AND the kids loved it! It gave us something to do each morning, the kids loved the water and the one-on-one interaction with the teachers and some days we would stay and swim all morning (which meant long naps! win-win!) By no means are the kids ready for the 100 Individual Medly race, they do feel more confident in the water, can blow bubbles, hold their breath and the BOTH were able to take a class at the SAME time! (which was so wonderful!)

Discovery Green: CHECK 

Bryson's parents came in the middle of June and we went over to Discovery Green on morning. The kids loved the park and the fountians! We ran around and enjoyed the morning together. It was a lot of fun do something different together and go downtown.

Memory Verses: CHECK
We all learned two memory verses this summer. (a new one is coming soon!) I was trying to think of a verse that applies to our lives and that would be benefical to everyone, including the kids. We have been working with Violet and Parker to be nice, to use nice words, be kind, help others etc. I use to babysit for a family while I was in college and they had two elementary girls. There was a bible verse posted in the bathroom that the mom wrote out with words and pictures. I loved that she drew pictures with it to help the girls memorize it...and it helped me remember it too.  (And it actually ended up being one that we used) Here are our two verses:

"Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones" Proverbs 16:24

 

"Be kind to one another and build each other up" 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Go to the Movies: CHECK 

There are so many cheap kid movies in Houston! A lot of theaters have summer series during the weekday that are usually under $5. This past week our friends invited us to go see Madagascar 3 (i didnt even know that there was a second one, let alone a third!) The movie was d-u-m-b but the kids liked it. Kyndall and Violet sat the whole time eating popcorn and giggling. Parker enjoyed half of it and the other half he enjoyed walking up and down the stairs.

Paint: CHECK 

This past was very wild in our household. Bry was home sick two days and I think it through the kids off. So Friday we stayed home all day and painted. I set up paper outside and different paint brushes and let the kids get good and messy. It was really funny to watch them! We then painted our boat Bucky and the kids loved that...and then it rained that afternoon! oops!

Houston 1:8 : CHECK 

Every summer our church does a misson week within Houston. Our sunday school class joined up with a refugee apartment complex to have VBS, food, and crafts all week. Our class works with this apartment complex monthly too, so it was neat to see the whole class come together for a whole week each night.  Our house is the closest to the site, so we provided childcare to the little kids in our sunday school class. We had anywhere between 7-10 kids and about 5 adults and about 5 of the kids were under 8 months! So we had a busy house, but it was fun to play with the kids and spend time with the other moms who volunteered.  Bryson was a trooper and the only guy who volunteered and was a great helper with the big kids and feeding the little babies too!

Go to The Bluebell Factory: CHECK 

My friend Liz mentioned she has never been before so we planned on a day to go together! Im SO thankful I had an extra pair of hands to help! For some reason, maybe because it was a Friday, but it was packed at the factory tour! We had a picnic lunch before the tour and loved our free ice cream sample afterwards. It was a fun trip!

Backyard swimming 


We have a month before Violet starts school again so here's to more Owen Summer FUN!

Summer Kick-off

We are officially on summer break...at least Violet gets a break! As for the rest of us it's just a time to enjoy the relaxed schedule and soak up the heat! 

We kicked off summer with a little sugarland skeeters baseball game! Amazing stadium! My kids had the best time and did NOT want to watch the game! We only stayed for an hour before meltdowns started happening, but at least we tried it! 

Go skeeters! 

Violet ended K3 with a fun water day and ice cream sundaes! It was a lot of fun to see her with her classmates! She really loves school! 

Yay for school! 

Kim, Kimmy and I decided to take a little day trip to visit LeighAnne and meet her new little one Emma. We had a good time chatting and catching up. It's like time just stops and it's right where we left off. I love these girls and their families!

Welcome Baby Emma

Parker decided to kick off summer with Hand, Mouth and Foot virus! This is seriously the nastiest virus!! My kids have had it before and it's not fun. Little sores break out on hands mouth and feet and are pretty painful. This time Parker only had them in his throat. He wasn't sleeping at night and and all we did was this all week...

Snuggle Buddy 

I have been slacking on my workouts lately. I'm getting about 3 in a week. I feel like a slacker compared to the 5-6 I was doing when I started the T25 program. But I know this whole journey is not about how many workouts I do, it's the actually journey to continue working out regularly and eating healthy. So I will continue to do so. And for a little push/challenge I registered for the Houston Half marathon lottery. Eeeek!! I don't even like to run! But I have always wanted to run a half and I thought might as well! I'll find out the end of June if I have a spot or not! 

This was my pic I sent Bryson one day and I captioned it "#sunsoutgunsout" lol I was entertained! 

A few things to look forward to this summer (and hopefully blog about): 

-six year wedding anniversary 

-annual "summer fun list" 

-swim lessons 

-nana and papa visit 

-4th of July with the Havliks 

-reading the chronicles of Narina 

-Houston 1:8 

Happy Summer!! 

Camp Violet and Parker

This past weekend we had a combined birthday party for Violet and Parker. Since their birthdays are 6 weeks apart it was the only logical and inexpensive way to celebrate. 

I love parties! No, really I love planning, hosting, delegating/telling Bryson all that needs to be built! I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. There are SO many amazing ideas on there! And then all the ideas make you feel bad bc you don't know how to sew, or because you aren't a millionaire...I digress...

I wanted a gender neutral, fun, easy party for the kids this year. No need to get stressed or spend out of budget. So since a current favorite book is "Curious George Goes Camping" we went with a camping theme! And it was a hit! We borrowed two other tents from friends and the Burchetts so kindly brought us a large canoe. 

Backyard campout 

Charlie and Violet paddling the Newman's

Bryson recently did a bunch of yard work and saved leftover branches and tree limbs and made us this awesome campfire:

Campfire 

Since the party was at 3:30 a meal wasn't really needed, I decided some good snacks all that would be needed. 

Water, juice, DIY s'more fixins, grapes, apples, pigs in a blanket, pretzels, trail mix, Cheetos and cookies. 

Don't forget...

Please DO NOT feed the bears! 

My personal favorite was the s'more goodie bags! Golden Graham's, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips! 

S'more of what?? 

The cupcakes were super fun to make too! 

Campfire s'more cupcakes 

The kids had SO much fun! Running from

tent to tent chasing each other, eating way too many cookies, catching bugs and paddling the canoe! 

I still can't believe my kids are 4 and 2! Time really goes by so quickly with kids! (And I really need to be better with getting pictures developed and photo albums made!) Thank you to our friends and family that came to celebrate! We had the best time! 

Happy birthday Violet and Parker! 

Happy New Year

Our new year has started off with a bang....literally! 

On New Years Eve morning, I was giving the kids a bath. While Parker was about to get out he slipped and cut above left eye. Lots of crying and blood. I was freaking out. I couldn't decide if it was bad enough to go to urgent care or really what to do. My first response was to call Bryson. The bleeding finally stopped and the cut was finally clotting...and Parker started to wrestle Violet. So we knew he was okay. 

Bryson came home early and we decided  we should have a doctor look at Parker's eye just in case. Out regular pediatrician was closed but they recommends urgent care, Nightlight Pediatrics, in Sugarland.

I'll spare you the details but they recommended Parker needed stitches. I stayed with him while Violet and Bryson went to the waiting room. (The doctors name was Dr. Gentles!! for reals! she was amazing and so "gentle" with our parkey boy!) It was intense and poor Parker cried himself to sleep just in time before they stitched him. (Which was really cool to watch). We came home and Parker was so happy and are a huge lunch:

What stitches?!

So we continued with our day as planned and headed to my parents. We were going to all spend the night there for New Years Eve...we were going to put the kids to bed and then head to a friends for a little party. 

Parker was NOT interested in dinner, which is very abnormal. So we just let him down to play. About 7pm we noticed he was very tired, but very warm. 103 temperature. We thought he had an infection due to the stitches. So my dad said he would watch Violet while we went to find a doctor. 

Thankfully the same urgent care, Nightlight pediatrics, has an office close to my parents house too. So at 8pm on NYE we waited 

So sad and sick 

The doctor said no infection to the eye but confirmed strep throat.  Poor Parker! 

It was sad to see him so out of it! 

We got meds and headed home. We got the kids to bed by 10pm. Bryson and I chatted with my parents and went to bed at 11:30pm. Happy New Year! 

The next day..Violet had a fever off and on. I ended up taking her to the doctor and she too has strep throat!

Lumpia eating and strep throat sharing 

They both took 4 1/2 hour naps on January 2 and are now on the mend.

Selfishly I feel like my New Years was robbed. I know, I said selfish. I'm thankful my kids are relatively healthy and doing better. But I love the celebration of New Year's Eve and want to have a "NYE re-do Party". I hope 2014 doesn't continue to be this rough...

Favorite Friday

I know what you are thinking...."where is foodie Friday?" Well this gal needs a change every once in a while and motivation to blog too! 

Thanks to Kimmy at TheNewmanWay blog, every now and again Id like to do a Favorite Friday. This weeks favorite is: Memorial Park! 

After living in Austin, Tx for two years I grew very fond of walking Town Lake a few times a week. It was centrally located, great trails and pretty views. I have always missed this about Austin. Buy Houston does have trails you just have to look a little harder. Memorial Park is central and only 15 mins from my house. The trail is 3 miles and is great for people watching. While the view isn't as pretty as Austin, it still is a great place to exercise. 

Now that the weather is a little cooler, I've been trying to get outside more. And I've been lacking in the exercise department.  So this week I made a point to exercise!  Our first trip we met up with our good friends Allison and Madeline. Violet and Madeline had so much fun riding together. We let them walk/run a few times which was pretty hilarious! They were all over the track and would scream everytime someone came running towards them! They were greatly rewarded for their good behavior by getting to play at the park afterwards!

Violet and Madeline 

Parker and I went two more times this week. He napped while I walked...oh to be a baby! When he was awake he waves at everyone that walked by and said "dog" to every dog! 

Me and P

If you didn't know I tan very very easily! Also meaning I get the most random tan lines...And walking outside 3 times this week hasn't helped. 

Excuse the crazy look but check out thr tan lines after day 2....day 3 was worse. Ha! 

I hope to make walking memorial a habit, especially with nicer weather approaching! 

Real Kid Lunches (part 2)

In honor of school in full swing and having to pack a kid lunch 2 days a week...sometimes I'm in need of inspiration! That being said I know others may need a little inspiration too!  Here are four lunches I have made for my kid.

Real preschool lunches:

1. Toothpick kabobs: cucumber, lunch meat and grape! Mini saltine crackers, string cheese and a personalized clementine

2. Grapes, goldfish, candy (violet asked "who's name is on my candy?!"), applesauce pouch and mini burritos (leftover from dinner)

3. Homemade tuna slider, pickle, fruit loops and apple slices 

4. Fruit loops, plums and oranges, cream cheese and jelly sandwiches and meat roll ups

Hope these help give you ideas for your kids lunches! 

Too fast

The days go by too fast. Sometimes I wish they would go by faster. But today I want them to slow down.

Parker, 15.5 months, 26lbs, walking (finally),wears 2T clothes, loves books, laughs a lot, my snuggle bug

Violet, 3.5 years, 32lbs, smarty pants, draws people, writes her name, loves tinkerbell, sings and wears dresses (almost) daily, so helpful and full of questions 

They are only small for such a short time. It's hard to "savor every moment" when they are screaming or when you are trying to get dress or make dinner. ButI'm  trying. I'm trying to put my phone away. I'm trying to play more and just sit and enjoy them. 

I love capturing pictures of my kids sleeping. They are just so sweet. (I've even snuck in a few times and napped beside Violet just because) 

Thankful for these precious gifts that God is letting me have for a short time. They truly are a blessing. 

Real Kid Lunches

I'm always interested on blogs and Pinterest what people are feeding their kids. I often ask my friends what their kids eat too! I ask myself a lot  "what do I feed my kids today?" A lot of the times for lunch it's left overs from dinner or something fast and easy. I'm thankful my kids aren't picky eaters, so they eat what I make for dinner. Violet is old enough to tell me what she wants to eat, so I make up two options and let her choose.  I'm not opposed to chicken nuggets or fish sticks! Let's face it kids eat them and they are easy. (but I feel guilty sometimes about them.) I always try to make their meal healthy. Whether that's adding fresh fruit and veggies, or homemade food. 

Here are real kid lunches I made for my 3 year old:

Ice cube tray: fish sticks w/ketchup, pretzels,cucumber, strawberries, black beans, edamame and almonds

Tray lunch: Spinach w/tomatoes, red bell peppers, homemade crunchy onion baked chicken, grapes and oranges  

Leftover dinner: Spinach Salad w/tomatoes and avacado, carrots, corn on the cob and mini meatloaves 

Easy lunch: Watermelon, plum, homemade sweet potatoes fries, tomatoes and ham lunch meat rolls

Tray lunch: strawberries, salad (again! Violet loves them), fish sticks, cucumber and carrots

Hope this helps anyone out there looking for quick and easy lunch ideas for their kids. 

Movies and more

I went to bed last night craving cookies. I thought it best to just go to sleep. Well I woke up and the craving was still there! I had pinned a "healthy peanut butter cookie" recipe. I had all the ingredients (except the applesauce so I used regular oil instead) and added butterscotch and white chocolate chips. They tasted incredible! I was a little skeptical but they tasted great...especially at 7:30am

Sorry bad pic! But as you can see they were disappearing quickly! 

The beginning of June I made a "summer of fun" list (with the help from V) of things to do this morning. One was "go to the movies"! I really really try to do the kids "firsts" with Bryson so he can have experience with them too. But being a SAHM that is really hard to do. Unfortunately the kids summer movie deal is only during the week! So the kids and I buckled up and headed to Studio Movie Grill in City Center. They were showing "Clifford's Really Big Movie" for $1 kids and $2 adults. What a steal! My friend Kendra and her little boy around Parker's age joined us too! 

We all sat down and I unpacked the lunch we brought and the movie started shortly after. Both kids were so still and in awe of the big screen! It was SO fun to see them like this. I had prepped Violet by telling her "it's a really big tv". Thirty minutes into the movie Parker got real squirmy and I ended up sitting on the floor with him so he could crawl a little. (Insert thoughts about germs) He calmed down and he watched the rest of the movie in my lap, crunching crackers into tiny pieces. Overall it was a lot of fun! We hope to go back again this summer! 

First movie theater movie!! 

Hand and Mouth

Last weekend Parker had a fever and basically slept all day. No biggie right? Kids get colds, viruses all the time. A little red bump started forming on his lip. I get cold sores so I thought maybe he was getting one. No biggie right? 

Until more little red bumps started forming on his hands, mouth and feet. I knew then he had "Hand mouth and foot virus". Violet had it the at the exact same age as Parker, 14 months. It's a nasty virus where small blisters break out on your body. The say the blisters are very tender in the skin. Sadly there is not medicine for this and doctor recommends to give Tylenol. Thankfully Parker had a very mild case (unlike Violet) but is still highly contagious until his blisters scab over. We have been washing our hands like crazy hoping it doesn't spread to us!

This is what the blisters look like before they blister up. I guess it's a good thing he isn't walking yet!

Violet and I collected half of all the toys and gave them a disinfecting bath. 

When the scabs clear up I plan on giving the other toys a bath too! 

It was pretty rough for a couple of days! Parker was just so fussy and not wanting to do anything but be held. Hard to do with two kids. But by Wednesday although he still had blisters and scabs he was back to his normal happy, climbing, onery self! 

My little big man!