[Satur]Day of Play!

Today's Highlight Reel:

1. Good morning, happy pup!!
>>> Stella is the stoic of the two, and since she rarely smiles to express herself, this was a rare glimpse of the cheesy face I love so much!

stella pittie!

2. Breakfast! Nom Nom Nom...
>>> I woke up with a craving for French Toast. So, I made French Toast.

delish!

3. Princess Cycling Gear.
>>> We broke out the bicycle for her first spin of the season at the house. We discovered some new parts of the neighboring areas and Syd proved she's just about ready for the training wheels to be weened away!

go go go!

4. Fields of Golden Flowers.
>>> Or, just our yard. While it certainly looks pretty, these little buddies will unfortunately disappear in the next couple of weeks when the lawn mower comes out. 

still kinda pretty ;)

 That meant some serenading [of the Frozen soundtrack, duh] from my theatrical little monster.. ♥

let it GOOO

candid running faces.. haha

more uh... jazz hands?

field of little flowers (:

5. The Scariest Donut I've Ever Seen.
>>> In a moment of extraordinary weakness, I caved and bought this disgusting star-shaped, overly-frosted, sprinkle & gummy crap-covered thing for Sydni. I had zero intentions of letting her eat this entire donut, but she was being good and caught me in a moment of generosity, so yeah. If you're wondering, I took one tiny bite of this thing and decided it was just as disgusting as it looks. I really don't know how people could eat these things all the time and not have heart attacks. Oh, well...

goooood grief.

6. My Family.
>>> These two are my everything.  Today it was team turquoise, apparently.. haha.

my little world ♥

7. Grilling Out With Becky!
>>> An impromptu visit from Becky, who joined us for dinner, suffered a gigantic foot splinter from our deck and still agreed to come back and dogsit for us. There rarely are better friends. (: Hopefully my bribing of homemade mac n' cheese along with Rob's perfectly-grilled chicken & potatoes were enough to alleviate the unfortunate 2.5" splinter that she had to remove from her foot.. haha.

best way to recover from giant splinters?
.... cloudgazing, apparently (:

So aside from gigantic fragments of our deck splintering off into our guest's foot, I suppose we have no complaints from today. Thankfully it was Becky, who is probably my most durable friend. Haha.

Splinter is gone, sun is fading and everyone's happy again. (:
That's a good Saturday!

xo | cmd

Backyard Bubbles

Once upon a time, I probably couldn't have told you the last Friday I'd spent at home, on the couch. Nowadays, I need a lot of encouraging to doll up and get out. Friday and Saturday nights out must mean some special event, because I am admittedly an old gal now and I enjoy those nights of going absolutely nowhere and impressing absolutely noone.

Oh, and also, I'm a mom, first. (: Sure, I love heading out with the crew and won't dare say that any mom should completely cut out adult time, but more often than not, I prefer the company of my 4-year-old over the bar scene.

Tonight was one of those nights. I don't know why, but I was just craving a Friday night in with her and Rob, playing whatever game or watching whatever movie happened to find its way into our evening.

We made that happen.
It started right after work, with a tube of bubbles and a wide-open back yard.

in motion! 

these two... ♥♥

 

^ Those two are my favorite thing in this world. I love watching them play together. Tomorrow, willing that weather holds out and stays nice, we'll all get out there and romp around for a bit.

 

For now, we are all parked here on the couch, bellies full and ready to bid tonight farewell. It's time for a movie (:

 

Woo hoo, weekend!!

 

xo | cmd

Friday The 13th!

.. and all that jazz...

Jk. That sutff doesn't really bother me.
... But just for safe measures, Sydni and I didn't do anything intensely precarious tonight. Haha.

The Friday fun started at work, when we did our weekly Friday lunch. This week it was Rusty Bucket, which was a sure blast from the past. I've not been there since I lived in Norwood... which was just, yenno, a mere six years ago. [Holy cow]. Anyway, not mad.. it was delicious, and Elisa, Nikki and I promised we wouldn't speak in detail of how carniverous we looked inhaling our lunch. Hah.. (:

rusty bucket veggie burger... y-u-M.

ahhhhhdore her.

After work, it was straight to get Sydni and off to do some grocery shopping. It's always an adventure with her, and tonight, because of a couple of select things that I couldn't find at Target or really just anywhere else, I settled on Wal-Mart. Sydni gave me her own shopping list:

[As read aloud to me from her "list," which was actually a {beautiful} purple circle with polka dot spots inside it.. apparently each signifying a grocery item. I've yet to decipher this code.. but I digress...]

1. Bread
2. Peanut Jelly [yes, the blend of two great things]
3. Pasketti [spaghetti]
4. Carrots & Ranch Dressing
5. Yogurt
6. Waffles, but "not the kind with spots" [aka blueberries or chocolate chips]
7. A castle. Maybe next time on that one.
8. A pony.

We didn't get the castle, but we may or may not have made some freely adapted arrangements for a pony.. (:

Aaaaaaaand, I almost failed to mention: today was the first day that I walked outside before work to air that just felt like fall. You know.. that crisp pinch and that leafy smell, or whatever the scientists will call it. I realized it's finally turning seasons, and while that means many things, the first and most important thing is that it's indicative of BEANIE SEASON!
-- What's beanie season? Easy: It's a span of time in which the weather will allow the wearing of beanies. Haha. I refrained all summer, since I already have a solar panel built onto the top of my head. Wearing a beanie on top of that would probably melt me.



beanie season!!!

The evening consisted of Syd and I sticking close to the house; it's been bike riding, bubble blowing and coloring. She's fighting off sleep now, and I think it's time I help her - and me - get some shut eye. Tomorrow's soccer practice and whatever else we can get ourselves into.

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

☼ SUNDAY WITH SYDNI!! ☼

Today was the best day overall that I've had in a very long time. To the core, I have next to zero complaints about the day, other than the fact that it's over.

First stop: Picking up Sydni and heading to breakfast! We have a thing for going to Taste of Belgium every time we're in town, so it only made sense to take Syd there for her first time. She definitely didn't mind a fruit waffle, and I definitely didn't mind having breakfast with two of my faaaavorites: Miss Sydni, and Mr. Rob. ;) 

taste of belgium | cincinnati, oh

After breakfast, we decided we'd go take some pictures and enjoy the goooorgeous day. It wasn't hard to pick the place; by default I toted us out to the one and only Eden Park, my all time favorite park in the area. It's served as my refuge since college, and I jump at the chance to take visitors up there. We had a blast. I figured I'd show it rather than tell it.... enjoy ♥ 

this little face... melts me, every time.

duck pond!

hangin out with mr. rob (:

mama & mini

she's suuuuuch a model! ;)

"mommy! look at me and mr. rob, we have monster faces!" - sydni

walking around the mirror pond .. and maybe splashing in the water ;)

with my two favorites ♥ ♥

*Sigh. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Like I said, my only real regret is that it's coming to a close. I had the opportunity to meet Joe's new girlfriend today, and have to say she's a sweet girl. It's been a long road, but I'll suffice to say that we all deserve to be happy, regardless of what we've done and where we've been.

Even the drive home was tolerable; I made some final touches on the decorations for Ali's birthday tomorrow, and spent most of the time just reveling in the amazing day we had. I caught the last few shots of the night on the drive back, and was reminded that I'm surrounded by beauty, from the smallest things to the bigger picture. 

God's canvass : aaaaabsolutely beautiful.

To sum up today: [a gift from my amazing friend Ali : lovelovelovelove her!!!!] This is what hangs now in my mirror and reminds me every mile of the way....

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

We're home now, after a stop off at the office to decorate for Ali's work birthday celebration; I'm preparing food for the office lunch and hanging out with this weirdo boyfriend I kiiiiinda adore. :p

Love & more Love, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Pittie | Parking Job | Play!

I've been back and forth over the last four months now on whether or not to get a dog.

Welp... 

... Got a dog. 

Meet Stella. (:

'ello, pretty girl! 

Not only have I been back and forth about whether or not to get a pup, but I definitely grew up knowing better than to set foot within touchable range of a puppy mill. [Dear Mom, I was listening.] I found this little girl through a random string of connection, and met up with her owners this afternoon to see the little porkchop. I fell in love. Long story short, I now have a beautiful little snow & caramel pittie, and I am excited for us to get to know each other. Sydni's gonna love her....

Rob went to Supercross over in St. Louis today, which looked like an amazing time. In the interest of sparing everyone from the bajillion pictures of actual supercross action [though I'm definitely not discounting any of them!], I'll give you one most of ya'll probably didn't see unless you happened across the parking lot today. Hahaha. 

parking job by the boyfriend.... haha...

Meanwhile, back here at the house, we were full swing in getting miss Stella acclimated. I think we're doing great so far; the only thing we need to conquer in the immediate future would be a bath [tomorrow]. Otherwise, we're off to a great start! Thanks to the Radcliff family for making the trek out here with her.

Ali made her way over early evening, with DeShawn not far behind - we made dinner and tidied up before heading out to McKendree University to see one of Ali's childhood friends in a theater production. We stopped to grab their friend Joey and made our way down to Lebanon to The Hett Center for the Arts, where we settled in for "Somewhere In Between."

"somewhere in between" @ the hett | lebanon, il 
deshawn. joey. cori. ali

It's been a while since I last went to an actual stage play; it catapulted me back to my short tenure in the world of theater. I won't venture to say that I was a theater pro by any means, but it was definitely a blast, all the way from the rigorous practices, dry runs, dress rehearsals and shows. Here's just one flashback, circa 199.....9?

"south pacific" | 1999 | mt. vernon players, mt. vernon ohio
mrs. kahrl & yours truly... backstage in full gear for bali hai ;) 

*Sigh... hilarious.

Anyway, after the play, the four of us made a pitstop at good old DQ before we rolled back to my house. We made several attempts to get my NES [if ya don't know, take video gaming back to the original NINTENDO, my friend.. haha] working so we could do some Duck Hunt damage, but to no avail. It looks like I need to do a cleaning on that system and try it again. We were so close a couple of times, but still needs a little work. Not bad for a gaming system that's older than I am. ;) 

The fellas have gone and Ali and I are calling it a night. We've got church in the morning, so we'll see ya then! 

xo | cmd

Four Day Weekend Begin!

We got a ridiculously early start for not having to be out the door by 7am.

rain rain...

Kyle came by to pick up Tessa early this morning, but not before we'd already done baths, dressing, and some light toy clean-up to get the day moving. I decided to tackle some last minute cleaning before Syd and I packed up for the short trek to the airport. Nana & Pappy are here, safe & sound! We picked them up from Lambert just before 10 and brought the whole party back home. Since then, we've made it to the grocery store, Target, and a couple other pit stops. Mom went straight to the kitchen [shocking, I know] and laid down some of her crazy culinary skill. Yayyyy, parents! Haha...

Oh, and it's been raining off-and-on all day. We've been taking advantage of the short dry pockets throughout the day, retreating back under shelter when the drops start falling again. Since rain has been such a foreign thing around here for the past few months, the only complaint I have for all this precip is that it scheduled itself for the weekend my parents are here. Selfishly said, I know. We've made the best of it though, even if it is a bit damp out there.

playtime with nana & pappy! 

Dad called me out at one point to check out the new mailbox decoration. I think it's a good look - certainly unique, and probably in violation of some sort of law. Just my guess. Haha.

mailbox topper!

It's almost dinner time. Joe gets back tonight, too. Sydni & Jacob's birthday party is tomorrow.

In other words: Weekend, we're a-comin' for ya. :) 

xo | cmd

Hangin' Out With the Mini! (:

It's obviously not unusual for Sydni and I to have plenty of mama-mini time whenever Joe is out of town. Our solo weekends vary from the tame nothin'-at-all days to the more adventurous days. Today fell into the category of spur-of-the-moment outing, which might seem, at face value, ridiculous considering it's still 110+ degrees out. Wellllll.. when the AC in your house is just blowing air, not cold air, it almost seems like a better avenue to get outta there for a bit. Check.

We started off with some errands, some long-overdue [grocery shopping], some just plain overlooked. We knocked out all of the more monotonous pitstops on the list and geared ourselves into downtown Belleville. My original thought was to stop and see our new friend Bulent and get some gelato, but I'd forgotten he was closed Saturdays.. this one at least. *Sigh. We spotted another digs right down the block and decided to check it out - I'm so glad we did! YAY, for local businesses!!

Welcome to Peachy! It's a frozen yogurt bar, surely no stranger to the locals, but a new discovery for us, and a perfect reprieve from the heat.

peachy | goofin' around.. biodegradable spoons, duh  ;)

i. let's see what this is all about | ii. tryyyyy it....
iii. love it, mama | iv. approval!
= a+ from the foodie critic!

Good stuff. Of course, since we were down in the heart of the Belleville local adorably unique shop district [that's obviously not official, but that's how I feel whenever I'm there!], I took Sydni in with me to check out the latest happenings at Peace by Piece. She was the smash hit of the staff, especially the owner's dog, with whom she immediately bonded and even kissed on the head before we left. I ended up ceding to a mega TOMS sale [shocking, I know], and left with some ballet flats. < First time with these; I'll have to see how they fare compared to the classics. Of course, TOMS are TOMS, and I support the core mission there, too, so I have less reservation about spending less than msrp on them today. Bwah bwah bwah.....

Oh! Almost forgot. I met Heather today, who both works at Peace by Piece and is a local artisan. Her jewelry [kindred spirit!] sells at PxP, and in an effort to continue supporting local folk, I ordered a little something that she'll be crafting. I won't say or show what just yet; I'll share that whenever she's finished :).

park baby

Anyway, from the time we got up this morning, Syd had been asking: "pretty please, can i, caaaaaan iiiiii???" to go to the park. I ultimately obliged, but not without trying to redirect her desire in another - any - other direction. It was her afternoon, but I certainly was thinking, sure kid. The park. It's as cool out as the sun's surface, but let's go to the park. ;) 

Like I said, I caved, so for a full 45 minutes, we were the only people outside I'm sure, within a 10 mile radius. Haha.

I realized I must've been asleep or somehow otherwise not paying enough attention to her all the other times we'd been to the park recently, because it seemed so sudden when she turned on some avid climbing skills. Yeah, I'm sure it's probably a standard developmental landmark, but I was prepared to aide her somehow. Not the case.

She's a regular little monkey! I'm so proud :).

mini monkey mode - she's fearless!

To my surprise, I was met with absolutely zero protest when I finally decided it was time to head home. Every surface of the play equipment at the park was "too hot, mommy, it's too hot," so after about 12 times up and down the spiral climby thing, we brought our day out and about to an end. She was asleep by the time I had the car started. Hah.

oh hey, sweat..

Now, I'd heard on the radio a day or so back that it's been clinically proven that prolonged extreme heat affects mental functioning. I think I knew that before I heard it, but it certainly made sense and I'm certainly blaming my random afternoon decision on it, too. I for some odd reason thought it would be smart to go running. Any other day, absolutely, but I'm declaring it official that the heat warped my logic so much that I actually forgot.. about.. the heat. Sad, sick irony.

Anyhow, 3 miles later, I was back home, more thankful than ever that I'm headed to Heaven when my time here is through. This weather made me think of a preview of the other neighborhood, and my sentiment on it is that that rat Satan can take and keep this weather ;).

110+ degrees. Running. Outside. I need to suck it up, I know... I just wasn't quite prepared for it today. Haha. Ohhhh well. Three miles is three miles no matter which way you spin it, even if it meant sweating my weight before I was halfway done. Mehhhh...

We are done runnin' around for the day. We're about to head down to camp out in the basement and watch The Little Mermaid for the umpteenth time. Speaking of which, as a sidenote: I was emptying out our dishwasher earlier and Sydni exclaimed, quite articulately:

"Mommy! Look at aaaaall those dinglehoppers!"
[[ credit: Mo.... haha ]]

Whoa. Moments in the life of a toddler girl's mama. Unscripted!

Haha. It's gonna be an early day tomorrow. The VBS kickoff is less than 24 hours out at this point; say a prayer for us!!

'Nite, beloved blogbots.

xo | cmd

Mother's Day 2012

The number one thing on my mind this morning:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

the mamas of my family
niece cynthia | sister heidi | mama | me :)

I know that in my immediate family alone, there are four mothers. We each have our own style, our own tastes, and of course, our own daughters. These three women are three of the most incredible ladies I've ever known. They are among the ranks of mothers who constantly surpass the expectations of being mothers, and for that I admire them.

.. But they don't stand alone. For every mother, every where, I'm celebrating your victories today: both big and small! :) The world moves because of you. Thank you to my mom, my mother-in-law and all the other moms who are the example we need to follow. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

=====================

We started church off this morning with an incredibly fun performance of the Mom Song, sung by Robin & Rachel. Great job, ladies!

rachel & robin : the mom song! :)

Once church was out, we made a quick pitstop at the store and grabbed some last minute grub before heading over to base to the Babots. We joined Alex & Lara, along with the Gobles & all the little ones, and also Lara's friend Brooke, for a grillout. We filled the afternoon with eating and playing outside. Jason showed up towards the end, right before Lara got the slip-n-slide out for the kiddos. 

Here's how that went.....

tom. jason. alex. joe.

landon & jason | getting air!

kids tying each other up ;)

she's getting so darn big! :|

alex setting up the slip-n-slide

three little ones in a row
jacob. sydni. landon

i. love. this.
syd & jacob

water!

"mama, i'm cold. brrrrrrr!"

"daddy: march!

slugger :)

paparazzi ;)
brooke. lara. cori

what a beautiful day :)

time to go: that is one tuckered-out little lady ♥

 Happy Mother's Day, everyone :)

xo | cmd