Happy 8th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Babe!  I know I can be a pain, but I am glad you have decided to put up with me :)  Looking forward to sharing many more years together-enjoying each other and watching our babies grow!

Happy Belated Events!

Last week was my mom and dad's anniversary and my mom's birthday!  We were able to spend time with my whole family this weekend (and even had a girl's day Sunday with my mom), but I wanted to publicly acknowledge these two great people!  I love my parents and would be lost without them.  I can't tell you have much my kids love their Mimi and Papaw Jim!  Thanks for being such a wonderful part of our lives!!!

Preschool Graduation

Last week, Lily had her final days of preschool.  I cannot believe that this year is already over.  She has grown-up so fast, and it is hard to believe that she will be starting kindergarten.

Hazelwood was a wonderful beginning for Lily.  We are so grateful to the teachers and volunteers who gave so much time to making the students feel loved.  My goal was for Lily to love school, and that was accomplished!  The preschool ceremony last week was very cute.  The classes sang songs, and then each child was brought up.  They told what each child wanted to be when they grow up and showed a picture of them dressed up as that profession on the big screen.  Lily wants to be a teacher :)

These moments are bittersweet and remind me of how precious this time in our life is.  We love you Lily Bug!

The gifts we made for her teachers.

Entering preschool one last time...

With one of her dear friends!

Walking the stage!

Proud smile :)

My Nephews are 2!

Nolan-May 3rd

We were so sad to miss Nolan's party in Ohio (Lily and I were sick with the stomach flu) earlier this month.  The spitting image of his dad, Nolan's personality is hilarious!  He is smart, and loves books.  He doesn't like for you to get in his space (and Parker is doing this a lot).  He is taking after his older brother and is getting all the baseball terms and moves mastered!  We love visiting him, and I am looking forward to watching Parker and him become best buds!!

Evan-May 22nd

What's not to love!  Evan has the most beautiful blue eyes you have ever seen (which will make all the ladies swoon over him one day).  He also doesn't really like Parker in his space (can't say I blame him), and I love hearing him say, "No, Parker!"  He has a great smile and laugh, and I can't wait to spend time with him at the pool this summer.  We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday this weekend!

 

It is hard to believe these two little guys are already two!  Seems like we were all just pregnant together.  TIME NEEDS TO SLOW DOWN!

Where is May going?

May has been busy!  The first weekend, I raced in my 7th Indianapolis Mini Marathon (13.1 miles).  This time, my brother Aaron ran with me.  It was a fun event!  This happened to be the same day as BSU graduation.  I skipped graduation to run, but I finally have my Masters degree in Educational Administration.  It only took about 5 years (I started when Lily was 5 months old), but I can say that I am done with classwork (unless I decide to become Dr. Quinn!).

I decided that is would be fun to go to a Reds game with Jeff last weekend.  He is a huge baseball fan, so I got Sarah to agree to let us drop off our kids for the evening, and we headed to Cincinnati for the game.  We had good seats, and Jeff even had a foul ball land in his hand.  We enjoyed our evening alone and are very thankful to Pat and Sarah for taking on four kids at once.

Mother's Day was also very nice!  I am thankful to be a mom to two amazing little people, and I am grateful to have a wonderful mom and mother-in-law in my life.

 Just love the note Lily made at preschool!  It cracks me up.  I really wish I took naps and I was 25 :)

In other news...

Can you believe this guy will be 20 months this month?  He is growing so fast.  It is funny to listen to him talking up a storm.  He is putting words together, and you can even understand what he wants.  He is sleeping ALL NIGHT LONG in his own bed with NO PACIFIER!  This has been going on for a few weeks now.  So proud of our little man.

Go Green (Well Light Green Anyways!)

Who has time to be healthy?!  I am trying to do better-especially since I have children who count on me to give them some guidance!  When I was visiting Traci in Florida over spring break, she made me try the juice she makes in her juicer.  I must admit, I was not sure about the color of it at first.  BUT, I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh it tasted.  I thought this would be an easy change for me at home.  I now try and have juice as my breakfast every morning.

Parker and Jeff refuse to eat veggies, but they will drink this juice.  At least they are getting fresh fruits and vegetables at least once in the day!

 There are lots of juicers out there.  I am broke (remember-I have been paying for grad school).  I bought this Black and Decker juicer for $35 at Walmart.  It works really well!

Here was my combination this morning-spinach, broccoli, carrots, orange, apple, ginger root, cilantro, tomatoes and lime.  You can put anything you want!

And...thanks to Traci...I thought I needed some blender bottles :)  These can be purchased at the local vitamin shop.  She also adds Mila seeds to here drink.  These seeds contain Omega-3, antioxidants, magnesium, calcium, and iron (to name a few).  I keep forgetting to get a bag from her so I bought Chai seeds at the local vitamin store and add a tablespoon to my juice.

 

Another way that I sneak veggies to Parker is by making smoothies with fresh spinach.  You CANNOT taste it.  We use milk, plain yogurt, fruit, slow churned vanilla ice cream, and a cup of spinach.  He drinks it down!  So easy!

My sister and I have also been talking about healthy products to use at home.  I found these at Meijer.  Mrs. Meyer's Cleaners don't use harsh chemical, and they smell awesome.  I am using the lavender counter top cleaner.  They also make laundry and hand soap. 

I also started using these "Yes to Blueberries" products.  Also found at Meijer for reasonable prices, these natural skin and hair care products have great reviews.  The company makes yes to tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and grapefruit products.  They even make baby products.  I didn't find the children's products at Meijer, but I may order some online (especially the sunscreen).  

I did find a product that I use called "Babyganics" at Meijer for the kids' bath.  It is only $4.99 and seems to be a good product.

And speaking of " Going Green"...we have been enjoying the beautiful weather in our yard and neighborhood!  Parker would stay outside all day if we let him!