Thoughts On A Monday

We picked Todd up in Nashville yesterday. The flights out of Chattanooga are lame and disappear all the time.

He only has today off...more lame.

I just went shopping solo at Costco. I'm a strange one when it comes to buying groceries. I like to know where our food comes from.  I don't buy things with funky ingredients or words I can't say. That multi pack of Kraft Mac and Cheese had a great price but why must it be colored with wacko chemicals??

On that note, Lauren gets Cheetos as a treat sometimes at the pool. Hypocrite much? :)

I don't party plan way in advance or go all out with decor but there's a food truck in town that makes all natural donuts. I think I might hire them to come to the house for a joint party for L and C. This is after I swore I'd never have another party at home. I love people doing the work for me somewhere else.

I'm on a major cleaning out spree. I hate clutter and I'm on this year mission to living simply. We just don't need so much stuff. People in other countries get by with way less.

I'm logging what I eat in My Fitness Pal. Holy batman, I only get 1200 calories a day to lose some extra poundage. I went over by 900 calories yesterday. Yes, 900. Darn Rainforest Cafe food. I've done great the other days though.

Because of this, I had to only have 1 roll instead of 2 at dinner tonight. Ugh.

Any good places in Destin or Ft Walton I should know about? That's our next fun family adventure....

Childrens Museum

We recently bought a membership to the Childrens Museum here in Chattanooga. It's such an awesome museum with 8 million things to do. I tell ya though, it's a workout taking both kids solo. Connor is a wild man :)

Ears Pierced

Look who got their ears pierced. Sweet little girl. Lauren started noticing earrings about 6 months ago. When we took her to Chicago in February, she loved the section of the American Girl store where the dolls can get their ears pierced. We left that store empty handed but Caroline, her favorite doll, has been on her wish list for her 5th birthday. I asked her if she wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday and then take Caroline to get hers done. For the longest time that's what she wanted to do. This past weekend she totally changed her mind so we totally did it.

 

We watched videos on YouTube of little girls getting their ears pierced. She knew what to expect to a T. She jumped right in that chair and picked out pretty pink sparkly flowers for her ears and was ready to go. She didn't even cry right when they did it but my goodness, she cried about 3 seconds after. It took everything in me not to cry. I felt like the world's worst mom. I really didn't think she'd cry. She later made me feel better though and said it didn't even hurt. It was the noise of the little machine that scared her. Her crying only lasted about 10 seconds. 

 

We promised her a visit to Build A Bear after the big event. She was so excited to pick out a puppy. She then proceeded to show everyone her beautiful earrings :) 

 

We went out to eat for a super late lunch of Mexican because that is her favorite. She can down some cheese dip. Sweet baby brother loved her new puppy too. 

 

I took her on a fun "girl's only" date to see The Wizard of Oz at an outdoor theater with some friends. She was so excited to wear her sparkly new earrings for a night out. 

 

I'm so proud of my girl. I love that she picked this out all on her own and was so excited. Every single day she tells me how much she loves her earrings. She's so good at taking care of them and making sure we clean them 3 times a day. Sweet sweet girl.  

Go Cubs

One of my most favorite things to do is head up to Chicago to meet Todd at work. We joke that he actually lives there and just visits home. 

I flew up to Chicago to tag along on his last day of work. I love flying on the planes that he is flying. He was working the Kalamazoo, MI flight and was spending the night there. I decided to tag along for that ride. I have always loved Holland. My good friend, Andrea, went to college there at Hope College. She and I worked at a Young Life camp in Minnesota during the summer of 2004. We stayed in touch and she was even a bridesmaid in my wedding. I miss her dearly.

We rented the car and drove the hour over to Holland. I got to shop at my favorite little boutique 

JB & Me. I found some fabulous jeans on sale and great lotion. We went to eat at my favorite brewery, New Holland Brewing. It's so so delicious. Holland is such a quaint town that sits on Lake Michigan. It's so beautiful. I tell ya, I like the south (sometimes) but there's something about this area of the country. People are a little more laid back and there's just this chill factor. It's so refreshing and fun. 

 I met up with Andrea the next morning before catching another flight.

 

Beautiful Lake Michigan or the "beach" as it's called up there. Simply amazing. Andrea had a little cottage on the lake in college. I remember visiting her and sleeping with the windows open. You could hear the waves crashing and it was so peaceful. Todd and I looked at moving to Holland back in 2010. Having a little cottage on the water is something we would love to look into again. It's just so peaceful walking along the water. We were the only ones out there. The kids would love it. 

 

 Todd was flying the 7am flight from Kalamazoo back to Chicago the next morning. I skipped out on his flight, met up with Andrea, and then took the 11 or so flight back to Chicago. He was waiting for me and off on another adventure we went. I saw the Cubs were in town so I grabbed some good tickets and we went to the game. I fell in love with Wrigley. We enjoyed the little restaurants that are by the stadium and the fun street vendors. I found the cutest $3 necklace for Lauren and she was so excited.

 

We went to our favorite German restaurant, Mirabells. When Todd lived in Chicago, this was his favorite little authentic German restaurant. It's so quaint and delicious.

We ended up at the hotel bar that evening for a light dinner. We loved their french onion soup.

 

We had quite the little adventure getting home. Flying home on a Monday after a holiday weekend (the 4th) can be a little difficult. Flights were all full going from Chicago to Atlanta. We needed to be in the ATL to get the kids and our sweet dog. We finally made it hours late and couldn't wait to squeeze our little loves. 

Aquarium Camp

Little L went to Aquarium Camp at the Tennessee Aquarium the first week in June. She had the time of her life. They learned about all of the different animals, what they eat, they got to see them up close, have snack time, make crafts, and play in the water fountains outside. She cried and cried when Friday came and camp was over. 

I took some pictures of her on her last day. They were having water day so she was all ready to play outside. I did find out from her counselor that when Lauren is ready to put on dry clothes, she just strips right there outside and gets herself dressed. Goodness gracious. She obviously has no personality. I love my pint size almost 5 year old. She's a wild one.

 

When Sissy was at camp, this wild man and I had fun together. He's so busy. His version of sitting at Sissy's desk to color is climbing it, standing on the seat, jumping from the seat, and then laughing. He's so fun!

Oh goodness gracious, I just discovered Lauren in the sewing room cutting her dress I was making her. It only takes me 500 hours to complete 1 dress. Duty calls!