Picnic in the Park

Today was Colton’s Picnic in the Park celebrating the end of First Grade!  Boy did the year fly by!  As challenging as it was for him this year, he has impressed me with his eagerness and the pure enjoyment he shows in learning new things.  He loves to read books to me, play word and card games and is always asking to use the computer to practice his math skills.

Colton & Hunter G.

Hunter G., Colton & Chance (BFFs)

Playing Football

One Last Shot Mom!

2012 First Grade Class

The boys had fun playing football together and enjoyed their picnic lunches.  Trying to get them to pose for pics was difficult!  Those boys are always moving and play so rough.   

I spent a few minutes talking with Colton’s teacher about our summer plans and she assured me that she has taken special care in recommending Colton’s teacher next year.  She was so sweet and gave me a gift for being Co-Room Mom this year.  Is this not just the cutest idea ever!?!?  Fingerprint Art!!  And Colton as a little ball player – just PERFECT!

We had fabulous weather which helped make it an awesome day.  I’m sad that the school year is coming to an end, but excited to start working on our 2012 Summer Bucket List and preparing him for Second grade!  My “baby” is growing up!

I’m A Blog Star!

Hi I’m Heather and this is my little ‘ol blog.  I haven’t been blogging for too long, and although I try to post on a regular basis, sometimes I’m too busy living life.

I am a huge fan of “blogland” and read many blogs daily.  Mine started out as just a challenge from a friend who didn’t think I could keep it up for over a week, and once I started it, I really enjoyed it.  I love interacting with my readers, as well as those I follow.   I think it’s amazing that you can connect with someone over the color of nail polish they chose that week and before you know it, you have a new bestie.

If you want to find out more about me you can look here.

And to save you some time blog stalking, some of my favorite posts include:

• 2012 Summer Bucket List
• Beginning To Cook
• 2011 Movies – How Many Have You Seen?
• First in 2011
• Sometimes When I Say

I love making new blog friends and hope you want to follow me to hear about some of my adventures!  I always follow you back too! 

P.S.  I want to thank Mrs. Monologues for hosting this link-up party!  Looking forward to checking all the links out!

Playing Hooky

I played hooky yesterday!  Well, technically it was planned, but it still felt great!
Ash’s class took a trip to Greenfield Village yesterday and my girl was excited to have me tag along.  .
I dropped Ash at school at 8:00am and headed over to the Village to wait for the buses.  Unfortunately, I drive fast and arrived and parked by 8:30ish.  The buses were scheduled to arrive at 9:15am.  So I had some time to kill.  I couldn’t remember if I had actually bought my ticket ahead of time, so I went to the ticket counter and bought another one just in case.  That was $29 I didn’t need to spend – because when they arrived – low and behold I had already bought my ticket!!! Oh well, the ticket will get used eventually!
Upon their arrival I was given my “packet” which consisted of the tickets, a note specifying departure time and rules, and a map of the Village with the must see “points of interest” highlighted.  You were then on your own for the rest of the day.

Ash, Abby and I took off and although it was sprinkling outside – we had an awesome time.  We wandered the Village from 9:30 to 12:30 and hit all the spots recommended, had a quick brown-bag lunch and even had time to take a tour via train. 

Around 12:45 we headed to the gift shop because the girls wanted to make sure we had ample time for them to shop!  I bought them some rock candy suckers (which were a favorite of mine as a child) and even bought myself and my mom so Hobo Bread.  If you’ve never had Hobo Bread – do yourself a favor and do so!  It’s fantastic and it’s so hard for me to not eat the entire loaf in one day. 

We met up with the rest of her class around 1:10 and I took a few pictures in front of the fountain.

and even one of us!

I loved hanging out with them and listening to them chat and just being silly girls. It won’t be too long before Ash will not want me spending time with her and her friends, so until then, I’ll soak up every single moment I can!
They boarded the bus and I headed to her school to wait for the buses so I could sign her out (at her request and the school’s approval) and we went home and watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie (um yeah it was bad). 
We ended our day at Colton’s baseball game, and again my boy made me proud!  Check him out in action below – just make sure your volume is turned down – because I am really really loud cheering him on!

Mom cheering her boy on!

Do you ever play hooky?  What are your favorite things to do when you do?

[Gurlee]Girrl Friday

Linking up with Tara and Vicki for another:

This week I chose:

Sally Hansen color ROCK N ROLL

It took 3 coats to get it this dark!  I’m not a fan, but I put too much time into it to not wear it for a few days. I’ve had it one for 3 days and it didn’t last very good either. I think because I had 3 coats and 1 top coat it was to thick and began peeling.  This color is quickly going into my daughter’s collection.

Now on to some Friday randomness:

• I am so getting pumped up for the weekend!  The weather should be awesome – reaching 90 tomorrow!!  Thank goodness we have a pool – my kiddos have no excuse to complain to me about the heat.  They are both already little-tanned pool bums.
•   I will be hitting the golf course for the first time in awhile.  I hope I’m not to embarrassed by my performance. 
• I attended two school functions yesterday, one at my son’s school - Volunteer Appreciation Day where his class sang a few songs, and one for my daughter’s class – her choir concert.  So I guess you can say it was a musical type of day.  I have little bit of Cole’s class performing – of course being the crazy mom that I am – I cried through most of it – damn you Tamoxifen pills!  My boy is in the middle row – 2 in from the right.
  

Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

• I am totally in love with my Keurig machine.  I alternate between my three favorite flavors:

       Do you have a favorite flavor I might be missing out on????  DO TELL

• I’m very proud of the GTuck for landing a new job, and he wasn’t even looking for one!  He’s excited to take on the challenge, and although I’m sad I won’t get to lunch with him as often, the opportunity is to good to pass up.  Congrats!!!
• As much as I L-O-V-E my iPhone (which I’ve had for 2 years), it still takes me twice as long to text on it.  I totally fat finger every letter, and the motherfreaking auto-correct is even more aggravating!! Am I the only hater out there?
• And while laying out by my pool this weekend – I’m sure I’ll be drinking on a few of these - just wish they were calorie free!

Have an awesome weekend friends!!!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

My daughter’s 5th Grade class planned a trip to the ballpark.  We’ve been looking forward to it for weeks now.  Unfortunately, Colton had a conflict with his own ball game, so Ash and I invited my parents to tag along. 

So we grabbed our tickets:

And headed off the the ballpark.  It was a beautiful night for a game!

Our view wasn’t too shabby either:

The GTuck had raved about a cheddar dog only available at the Linenkugel stand, and it did not disappoint!

Ash cheered our Tigers on, alongside her Papa, while fueling up on peanuts:

The crowd (or at least our small one) went wild when they got a shout out on the Score Board!

We ended the night enjoying our favorite Roasted Almonds! 

Unfortunately our Tigers lost to Cleveland with a score of 9 to 6, but that didn’t dampen our spirits one bit!  We had a great time and can’t wait to visit the ballpark again to root on our loved Tigers!

2012 Summer Bucket List

I see bucket lists all over blogland.  Most are Life Bucket Lists or the 30 Before 30.  I always think how cool these lists are - but I've never been a list kinda girl. 

 

Lately, I've seen a few Summer Bucket Lists around and thought it would be a neat idea to create my own. It took some thinking, but I came up with 50 fun  kid-friendly items: 

• Go Bowling
• Fly Kites
• Read Family Book
• Make Popcorn (air popped)
• Make Ice Cream Sundaes
• Water Balloon Fight
• Trip to Zoo
• Trip to Beach
• Build a Sand Castle
• Go Fishing
• Visit Farmer’s Market
• Visit Kensington’s Farm
• Go to Drive In
• Make Tie Dyed Shirts
• DIY Mani/Pedi
• Make S’mores
• Schedule 5 Play Dates
• Scrapbook
• Go on Nature Hike
• Make Kool-Aid Pops
• Bake a Cake
• Make 5 New Recipes
• Play a Board Game
• Play Cards
• Play Catch
• Crazy Socks Day
• Make Hand Print Art
• Watch Fireworks
• Go Canoeing
• Play Mini Golf
• Go to Outdoor Concert
• Take a Nap in the Shade
• Go on a Picnic
• Do a Puzzle & Have it Framed
• Go to the DIA
• Run Through Sprinkler
• Mis-Matched Outfit Day
• Paint Pictures for Wall
• Go to a Movie
• Visit the Library
• Have a Dance Party
• Write & Mail a Letter
• Go on Bike Ride
• Go for a Walk around a Different Neighborhood
• Do Jumping Jacks
• Hula Hoop Competition
• Jog Around the Block
• Hand Make Cards & Send
• Movie-Night at Home 
• Do MANY Random Acts of Kindness

Now I know my kids are gonna get a hold of this list and demand that we do every "fun" item all on Saturday of this week, eliminating more than half of them at one time.  That's not gonna happen. 

 

I plan on stretching the list out over the summer, in hopes that each activity becomes a special memory or event to them that we can talk about for many years to come.  If it's a hit, I will create a Summer Bucket List each year for us, or at least until they don't want me to (which I pray is a VERY VERY VERY LOOOOONNNNNGGGG TIME!!). 

 

Have you done a Bucket List before for you or your kids?  Did I leave off any must-do activity? 

 

I might even make myself a Challenge Bucket List with items that I normally wouldn't do like zip lining!  If you have any ideas for that - CHALLENGE ME!

[Gurlee]Girrl Friday

Wow! Has it really been a whole week since the last time I actually chatted with you all here?! The week flew by - short work weeks are the bomb!

Since it's Friday, I am linking up with Vicki and Tara for this weeks:

After having such a light color on all week, I grabbed a darker and less-summery color for this week:

China Glaze - Hook and Line

Now on to some Friday randomness:

• I had the BEST time camping this past weekend.  We went hiking, boating, fishing, swimming, shopping and just sat around RELAXING!  It was just what this momma needed.
• Men In Black 3 was our movie choice this week.  I don't remember too much of MIB or MIB 2 - but I will say that this had a pretty good storyline.  I enjoyed Josh Brolin as a young Agent K.  I even shed a tear or two!  If you enjoyed the other MIB movies - you will thoroughly enjoy this one.
• Nicole had a link to this reading test.  I scored 515 words/min, which makes me 106% faster than the national average.  Just call me speedy.
• 
  
• Not sure what I find funnier - the fact that the Biebs got into a fight with the paparazzi and lost his shoe
  
  or his video for Boyfriend.  Love the song - but seeing him trying to be a "lover" is killing me.  Sorry Biebs.
  

• I am super excited that Colton's baseball season kicked off this week.  They are all 1st & 2nd graders and shockingly they are pretty good! They ended up tieing their first game.  My boy got a solid hit too, which earned him a double!! Proud momma right here! 

Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!