Yard Work & Bonfires

Rob and I got breakfast moving early this morning, as we anticipated a day full of yard and boat work. We chowed down and headed outdoor for a day of weed-pulling, grass-mowing, boat-buffing and other miscellaneous meanderings around the house.

i'm insanely in love

See ya later, weeds...

pre-weeding..

At some juncture in the day, I received a text from Chris, inviting us over for a bonfire later that evening, as one of their friends from Cleveland was in town visiting for the weekend. We happily obliged, and after the afternoon wore on, we cleaned up and made our way over for a relaxing evening of friends, loom bands, bonfires and smores.

The sun went down, and the sparks went higher! 

We sure have had a happy Saturday, and we hope you have too!

xo | cmd

Holy Cow. FINALLY Friday

Aaaaand FRIDAY it was! In full Friday fashion, too, might I add!

The day did its due diligence of giving us a solid run for our money in stamina, patience and productivity, but we fortunately came out on top with the day at our command. The weekend is HERE, and I am ready to welcome it!

I'm pretty certain Sydni would agree:

It's gonna be a good one, I can see it already!

Have a wonderful, safe & rejuvenating weekend, friends!

xo | cmd

Bluegrass In The Park

It's almost Summer in Cinci! It's not quite here, but that's not gonna stop any of us from taking necessary steps to take full advantage of the pre-Summer fun that Cinci has to offer.

I snagged Syd up after work, and headed home to meet up with Rob; Syd made sure the evening romping started early, and as she became a colorful blur streaking through the yard, I couldn't resist some captures.

goshhhhh, this girl...love her. 

It wasn't long before the three of us were in the car en route to Washington Park, where we immediately caught up with Becky and continued on to find Brandon's selected patch of grass near the mini stage.

bluegrass in the park! | washington park, cinci, oh 

Let the fun begin!

training her up for the festival life! 

There was music, there was food, there were great friends, there was playing!

little hippie chick

Syd found the sand pit...

We caught her in action, and honestly, I'm not sure she even knew we were there... at least not for a little bit:

Hahaha :)

As the night wound down, we prepared ourselves to leave. The sun went from a gradual dip in the sky to a full eclipse, as the buildings aided in shielding its light. The water pad came to neon life at that point, making me regret not having clad Sydni in her swimsuit for the evening. Becky, per usual, came to the rescue with a middle-ground solution of walking through the dry passageways.

beautiful! 

It's been a beautiful, beautiful day & evening; I can't wait for Summer to officially settle upon us!
Happy [almost] Friday!

xo | cmd

In OTHER News...

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

I mean, at this point, who even cares that we lost our volleyball game tonight? [which is exactly what happened :(.. ]; The countdown to some games that really matter is ON and we only have a FEW days left until the opener in Winnipeg.

Gahhhhhh!!!! I can't WAIT!

xo | cmd

This Little Light of Mine

No, not the song.

♥

Today was one of those days that reaffirmed my faith in the world, thanks to the pure, unfiltered insight [& joy] of my own child.

It's been something of a trying time over the past couple of weeks, and it's taken its toll physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The devil seems to have taken special interest in my case lately [likely since he knows he's already loooong lost it], but his aggressive, unrelenting irritants have tried to root themselves all throughout the way here recently and it's all I can do sometimes but just stop... breathe... and focus on what needs to be done.. and then do it without looking back.

And then Sydni came home tonight, and in the midst of a cuddle session - in those moments of peace and silence, she reminded me with her powerful little words that the bigger picture is so much more than sweating the small stuff.

My prayer today was simple:

To continue being a Christ-like parent to Sydni, and ultimately, to model her not-so-little heart and curious approach to the world around her. To live with joy in the face of difficult situations and people, and to exude love & light in everything I do.

I won't live up to that prayer every day - it's impossible. I am human. I have and will continue to fall and falter, but thanks to the great God who loves us more than we are capable of loving each other, I know that it's okay. I can rest. And that's okay, too.

Thank you, Sydni. You have no idea how much your mama loves you.

xo | cmd

Hello, June!

This is what I think of, naturally, when I think of June: 

sunshine & flowers & green grass & pretty! 

And then I remember where we live - the gooooooood ol' Midwest, where the weather does what it wants, when it wants, however it wants, and we should just be thankful that we're not somehow drowning and burning simultaneously.. haha. Thanks for the rainy welcome, June! 

welcome to cincinnati :|

Anyway, it's all a state of mind, right?! RIGHT.

i'm on it! 

Consider it done, I said at 7am. I arrived at the office to greet the standard things of Monday: miniature fires needing to be extinguished and that generally-disorganized feeling that comes with a Monday.

Also, this is the weather that replaced what I would've liked to envision for the first day of June:

happy.... june? 

Wonderful, wet, dreary. Right?

I'm gonna go ahead and continue imagining this instead:

that's more like it. 

And that, friends, is how we're off to a blazing start for the month of June.
Let's all say a prayer for better weather tomorrow! I know we can do it, Cincinnati... c'moooon sunshine!

xo | cmd

Our Little Sunday

Church started off the day for this family, and to mirror Pastor Jeff's message on being prayerFULL with the intent of living full lives, this little girl brought the beauty to life in my life for the morning. Clad from head to toe in hues of pink & purple, she insisted [which is rare for her, given my never-ending requests for photo-ready smiles] on having her picture snapped atop a stone staircase in the far parking lot. 

I can't get over how much love I have for this kid. 

We splurged for lunch, stopping by Dickie's on the outskirts of Anderson for some BBQ & soft serve.

yes pleaaase! 

After lunch, it was on home to revel a bit in the USWNT U-23 team victory over England in the Four Worlds Tournament! It's World Cup Season, which naturally focuses the spotlights on the men & womens' cup teams, but that shouldn't discount the U-teams :). After all, they're the future of our National Team!

us u-23 wnt! 

I have a feeling it's gonna be another busy week, but I think this time, I'm ready for it :)
See ya there!

xo | cmd