My 1 Month Post

Looks as thought today makes it a full month since my last post- I actually think I like the idea of just posting once a month for now, although they will probably be pretty long if I want to mention every detail of our month! Eh, that's alright.

This past month has been loaded with summer fun! It seems like it all picked up right after July 4th....

Lots of Disneyland!

And Jack finally got picked for the Jedi Training Show! He was so excited, but a little afraid too- I love this nervous face of his :)

Swimming in Our Red-Neck Pool :)

A Trip to our Favorite Local Zoo with Great New Friends!

One on One Dates With Daddy!

Averie Got Breakfast (and had to wear a dress)

Jack had a Lunch Date & BB Gun Time

Aislinn Insisted on a Dinner Date (like Mommy gets- she even did nail polish for him & dressed up in her Sunday School Finest- she kills me!)

Late Night VBS (we did a total of THREE this year- jeesh!) And yes, it was the awesome sort of VBS staff that hyped our kids all up on sugar before they went home! So fun!

That's only about HALF of our Summer adventures over the past month- I'll post more on the next post :) like ONE week countdown until Back to School! Crazy!

"You're a Grand 'Ol Flag..."

Is what I enjoy singing loudly to embarass the hubbs every 4th of July at the local community parade! hehe I just love being annoying sometimes....

We had a "grand 'ol" time on the 4th of July! Ya know, it really is one of my most favoritest holidays. I think mainly for my obsession with Navy, Red, & White ;)
We always head down to our little town parade and watch the local cheerleaders, pageant girlies, horses, fire trucks, etc. march down through Old Town. It is normally very hot and steamy but this year was FABULOUS weather! We had a nice little breeze and sunshine!

Then we headed over to a friends camping site near town for a BBQ and some sprinkler fun. Such a good time. I never realized how much I appreciate good, real friendships until just recently. It is such a blessing to be around like-minded people who love Jesus & each other. So thankful.

After that we took the late night plunge to go see fireworks- they didn't start until 9pm and the sprinklers came on in the middle of the show so we watched the finale from the car!

All in all, it was another wonderful Independence Day! So thankful for this country!
Hope you all had a great one too!

Love, Me
(Colleen)

Psss...Don't Look At the Date!

Alright, Alright....so it's almost July. Who knew?! Time flies with summer break I tell ya! We have been having OOOdles of fun and it wouldn't be honest for me not to mention- I'M TIRED. Thanks to goodness for swimming pools, my new found love {crochet}, and VBS or I would be pulling my hair out with trying to keep my 3 crazies entertained all day! Hope to be checking in again soon {as if anyone really cares but me! haha!} Love, ME (Colleen)

God is Amazing

I can't post enough at the moment but wanted to leave a little note to myself for future reference... Don't think the Lord overlooks your faithfulness and trust. Even in the littlest things/efforts, He is watching and guiding you. He is more than enough. He is far above our circumstances. He loves us with a love like NO other. He gives us the desires of our hearts. His will is perfect. You are not worthy, but He calls you into righteousness anyways. He blesses His children beyond our wildest imaginations. The trials and waiting is a blink of an eye once His blessings pour out. God is Amazing. Thank you Lord for your amazing power. "Nothing is impossible for you. You hold my world in Your hands." Amen.

Ahhh...Retreating

Why, hello lovelies. I just got back from a retreat- very fun. very relaxing. very quiet. very HOT. very encouraging. A good time for sure. Loved the reminders to leave a legacy & grow deeper in my walk with Christ. Ya know what's so cool about God? He never gets old. Ha! His Word (the Bible) teaches us in so many ways and on so many different occassions. It could even be a verse we know so well that was used in multiple ways through our lives, to speak to us. He is a living God, that's for sure! I'm tired- oddly enough- relaxing away from my 3 kids is sort of exhausting. ha! Honestly, I just didn't sleep too well in the hotel. And Hubbs is away on work stuff :( boo. But thank you Jesus for a job, right? I'll be back later, hopefully going to start beefing up the recipe page....i've been cookin' up a storm lately :) yay. Love, Me (Colleen)

The Daily Word

Happy Monday! What better "word" could there be other than God's Holy Word.... Through this week I will be challenging myself to read it daily, but not an hour long study, just a few verses a day to start, and this is why {other than the fact that every Christian should do this!).... I've recently been fighting a strong battle with my flesh on negative thinking. It has been a life-long habbit I formed about the age of 7- probably in much relevance to my parents divorce. I will have moments when my thoughts will encircle this belief that I will never be good enough & my life is bound by my circumstances. This has carried into my adult life and the longer I struggle with it, the more I am realizing {more than ever before} this is not only crippling my relationships with the ones I love most, but it is sin. It's a self-punishing sin. It's ugly and I hate it, but I have felt helpless against fighting it {due to really not noticing it's grip on my life but just thinking "this is just the way I am"}. So I push people out, especially the good people, and I isolate myself so that I can keep myself comfortable in this sin and not have to face it. In doing so, I go further into punishing myself and giving my thoughts over to the enemy instead of to the Lord. I will value what the enemy is telling me and grow comfortable living with the lies. But I'm coming to a break through. I'm finding myself asking this question: How can a child of God- the creator of the universe who simply breathed all things into exisistence with a single word and then send his one and ONLY son to die in our place to secure an eternal life with our Father in heaven (the Father I didn't have, who meets my every need)- tell themselves, "I'm not good enough". As if we even have the slightest idea what the Lord thinks of us. It's as if my own son, who I love immensely, came up to me and said "why do you love me? why did you give birth to me? you made a bad choice" How would I as a mother feel about that? We NEVER want our children to question those things with us because we build them up in love and gave them life, they are a treasure to us. As so to the Lord are we a treasure, a blameless (thanks to Jesus' death), pure, righteous (when living through the Holy Spirit), LOVED, child of the King! It's a slap in the face to God when I go about living in pity, negative thinking, comparing, being jealous or envious, and questioning my worth. It takes away His ability to use us, to grow us, and to love us. It seperates us from the Lord, and anything that hinders God's full calling on our lives is called sin. And I don't think I have ever recognized it in this way before. It's so AWESOME. Yeah, it took 20 disgusting years of battling this before I've noticed my need for repentance on it {I've always thought I just need to fix it or change it- not really repent of it}. God has given me the simple answer to the horrible lie of not feeling good enough: We don't have to be. Our price was paid. Our short comings, bad choices, regrets, mistakes, our parents mistakes, spouses mistakes, circumstances, doubt, fears, insecurities- ALL of that was paid on the day Jesus carried that cross up the mountain and put himself in our place- so that we can become a child of God. Any time those feelings come about in our lives we must recognize they are lies and the enemy is feeding them into our minds. The best way to fight them is with God's Word. It is my sword in the battle, it's what I can use to fight against any ill thought the enemy feeds in. We are NEW creatures in Christ- we are not helpless against fighting sin. We are more than conquerers in Christ. So, I've honestly never been more excited to read the Word and I'm eager to live my life differently- in pure joy. Thank you Lord for new beginnings! If you find yourself ever struggling with this sort of thing {I think a lot of us do}, bring it to God- whether you trust in Him or not- and see how much He can change you! Love, Me (Colleen) Women Living Well

Bye-Bye Brother!

I've never felt more weird about life until last weekend. If you're wondering why, read this. (towards the middle)

Kenny got married last Saturday.

It was a beautiful ceremony and I am so very happy for my little bro. His wife is very sweet and I know they will make it as a couple.

It's just so strange to go from being care-free kids together to having our own families & spouses. Granted, I got married 7 years ago and left him first....I guess as an older sister {Kenny probably doesn't care as much}, it's just like saying a final goodbye.

Goodbye to those childish ways and on to the real deal of life.

Goodbye to the many mindless joking & banter and on to more discussions on how to deal with financial hardships and newborn sleepless nights.

Goodbye to spur of the moment concerts & throwing parties while Dad is out of town {sorry Dad} and on to scheduling a month in advance for a time to hang out.

Goodbye to midnight singing & guitar sessions, dreaming of being rock stars.

Goodbye to being the person he needs to talk to about girls and struggles {that will actually be nice}

Goodbye to our innocense.

Goodbye to many things, things that at one time were taken far too much for granted.

In my own selfish thoughts- I want them back.

But then I would miss what is to come in this new chapter in his life. Being there in a different way for him, a more mature and perhaps even more meaningful way- as adults, spouses, and parents. As far as I can see it, it can only get better. It will be a "new normal" eventually. It makes me feel blessed to have a sibling I care so much about- a real friend. Congratulations Kenny & Ingrid Robertson!

In Case You're Wondering...

I'm alive.

Barely.

With 2 different Spring Break schedules & Easter stuff- life was pretty nuts around here for the past couple of weeks!

We enjoyed EVERY minute of it, but Mama is ready for school! haha!
Jack and I enjoyed a date at the park {just the two of us}, Pump It Up, a local zoo & Disneland {yes, both of those in one day}, and his FIRST trip to Legoland {just the two of us!}. It was a BLAST of a week and I think he thouroughly enjoyed his break. The poor kid has had a rough first year in school (and his school is not easy) with a new schedule and lots of homework- so I spoiled him :)

The girls have just finished their spring break and we had lots of fun little playdates with their preschool girlfriends & a mommy-date to our local Family Fun Center, Mulligan....

All that PLUS Easter festivities has made for one tired, but blessed, Mama!

Hope to post more later! Starting a new "challenge" with Women Living Well this week! I'll be back soon to give more details....

Love, Me
(Colleen)

The Weekend Re-Cap

Maybe it should be better known as the "WRC"...

We had a very busy weekend! It started with Friday because that was Jack's first official day of Spring Break! We got the Hubbs to take off work and go spend the day with us at Disneyland. It was a very long day- we have typically been going for 1/2 days (after church) so to be there all day was quite a different experience. But so much fun- as always!
The crowds were much better too, which helped. I can't believe how packed that place gets! Isn't the economy hurting??! jeesh! The beauty of a season pass means we can miss a ride and put it on our list for next trip. So far, we already have 5 rides on our list for next trip...the Haunted Mansion was all Jack's idea- he was set on going- we get to the entrance {that spooky elevator} and he startes losing it! Then of course, Averie {in her most determined brave face} begins to cry too. Luckily, we were able to just turn around and get out! LOL Aislinn started crying too as we left, but not because she was scared, she wanted to STAY! Oh-EMM-Gee- these kids are crazy! So we get off and have a little "pow-wow" {more like a frenzied conversation to calm them all down} and then Jack is crying and wanted to go BACK on! I, of course, told him no way we will try again next trip. So, it is on our list for next time...we'll see how THAT goes!
Our disneyland survival mode is now set to letting each child pick their very favorite ride that they would like to go on, and no matter how long that line is, we ALL go on it. Then with our extra time after those rides we try to catch a show or Mom & Dad get to pick, or maybe {on a good day} they will agree to a ride.
This trip was long and crazy {ended up at Chik-Fil-A for dinner at 9:30pm} I don't think we will do more than a few ALL-DAY trips this year.

Saturday Our morning was spent resting, hanging around the house, and such. Later in the afternoon, I went to San Diego for my friends 30th birthday party. We had dinner in Cardiff and went to the Belly Up for a Beastie Boys tribute show....it was actually a lot of fun! I couldn't believe how talented the musicians were in Karl Densons band!! Very good show. It was a late night (I think I got home at 3am) but worth it!

Sunday Our church had it's One Year anniversary party, so we stayed afterwards and had a BBQ on the lawn. It was pretty cold, so it didn't last all day, but it was fun. Free lunch is always a great thing! We came home to do the normal household chores and hang out.

Last Weeks Goals:
1) Homeschool 2 days....We did 1 day! And a library trip.

2) Take a vitamin each day....Sadly, I kept forgetting! The kids always have theirs!

3) Drink 4 water bottles a day....Yes!

4) Read 5 chapters of Matthew...Got through 2, plan on finishing more this week

5) Watch a Movie with the Kids...Yes! It was fun :)

This Weeks Goals/Desires

1) Do two adventurous activities with the kiddos for Spring Break

2) Read Matthew 2-10 and change memory verse board

3) Research Campsites for this Summer and maybe book a couple!

4) Take Jack on a date while girls are in Preschool

5) Challenge Spend two complete evenings with my hubby (no computer, reading, etc.) We get busy doing "things" and then our evening is over before we got to spend time together. I hate that.

Happy Monday!!
xo
Love, Me

Drool Worthy Inspirations

One of the many things I can not wait to do when we buy our home is to do my kids' rooms! {again}

We have had their current sets for about 3 years now...I know, that's not a long time but when you enjoy kids room decor as much as I do- 3 years is time enough to switch it up!

Jack has had a camping/outdoorsy room with mainly browns, greens, and blue. Very cute set that I pieced together from different places. Unfortunately we haven't stayed anywhere long enough for me to totally complete the look I was going for with it, but it was still cute. You can see his room here.

But when we move, and as he is nearing 7 years old now {yikes!} I am really excited to "beef up" his room a bit. That sounded gross. I just mean make it more grown up looking, ya know? I saw all of these today from Land of Nod, and I just LOVE the bright colors!

This rug is super cute- probably not for Jack's room, but I love it anyway. Why can I just picture myself gluing thousands of those craft pouf balls together to make my own version?? Hmmm...

Loving RED for his new room. Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am a sucker for navy, red, and white- and of course, nautical items.

I see, "Nautical goes Pirate" in Jacks new room...These pillows are neutral enough to pair up with bright colors- I think :)

Too cute!

This would definitely be easy to make on my own, but again, perhaps too young for his "beef'd up room"- still SO cute! {I'm thinking birthday}

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I also hope to put a cool loft type bed in his room...and depending on the size of the room- his own writing desk {with hutch possibly} or if size is too small, I hope to do a loft bed with desk underneath.

Somthing like this, and put my own desk underneath...

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Or this would be cool (in a dark brown or navy) if we were really limited on space...I think Jack would love this idea...

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Ok, dreaming is over for now. Can't wait to see what we come up with after we move!! {don't even get me started on the girly room!}

On another note- I can not WAIT until Spring Break!! So many fun little things planned with the kiddos....starting with Disneyland on Friday! w00t!
This mama needs a break and some fun times with the little guys :)

:)
Colleen

Better Late than Never!

I say that a lot as a Mother of three....

Happy Monday?! So, yeah, a little late this week but I'm still going to give my quick recap of the weekend {I'm the one who reads this like my family journal, so who cares}.

Saturday- St. Patrick's Day! This year we had So. Much. RAIN. Ick! We were inside all day. The hubbs set up leprachaun traps with the kiddos the night before and then ater they were asleep, we had so much fun setting up a little treasure hunt for the kids- I make every "holiday" sort of a big deal around here {well, not every, but the ones that mean something to us and that I want my kids to be a part of}. I got to the craft store the night before at the last minute, so there wasn't a ton to work with {why do my ideas always come too late?!!} but I found some giant clovers to write the clues on, a glitter clover garland (for his magical trail), some "gold" (wanted gold coin chocolate but ended up with yellow skittles), then printed these ideas out (changed a few things), and set it all up. It was time consuming, but so worth it.

My son was hilarious that morning. He always changes right when he wakes up {because he still wears a pull-up...don't judge- it's not that uncommon for a 6 year old boy to have this issue} and when I walked in he hasn't even gotten to his underwear pants yet {ahem} he was SO excited about looking under his traps! So I come in and he is going nuts over these clues, and of course, the sisters follow his lead (always).

(the clues)

(the gold)

(the magical Leprachaun Pete trail)

(the evidence)

(the end result of a fun treasure hunt- pots of gold, sugar cereal & green milk with shamrock toast)

I just LOVE how my son is so excited about the little things. I know our day is coming (too soon) where he will not wake up pantless out of too much excitement over the house leprachaun that came to visit...so I cherish every moment of this, as often as possible.

This is what makes being a Mom, a "Mommy"- you know? Someday it will just be "Mom" but right now, I am Mommy {or more so around here, "Mama"}. I never want it to end, but that's the beauty of it all, getting the time to enjoy every stage of our children's lives and making memories along the way. Such a blessing!

Later Saturday evening, the Hubbs and I went to see a movie. He has been wanting to go for awhile {not my favorite pass time}. It was a great movie. One that changes your prespective. I like movies like that. Meaningful, real, and impactful. Wished we took our picture!

Sunday- The rain stopped for good periods through out the day. We had a great morning at church and then ended up at Jersey's Pizza with a few families afterwards. After all that, it was cleaning time...deep cleaning, I guess perhaps even "Spring Cleaning" around here. My amazing, sweet hubby even did a bunch too- all on his own- that always makes me want to clean even more when I see him helping me. It was sparkly clean around here without a piece of dirty laundry in sight and the kids had some great playtime outside while the sun was shining. Love Sundays!

Last weeks goals (major failure on most)
1.Get to the gym twice (its been hard to get back on track after sickies)
Nope! But my exscuse? My girls have been getting sick way too easily over the past month and I'm very afraid of them catching anything right now. Too many parents at the gym, sadly & honestly, are more concerned with their "workout" than thinking about bringing sick kids to the childcare and spreading germs. But, I am going to try better this week.

2. Pray in-depth for my family at least once a day- CHECK!
Yes. God has been speaking to me a lot recently about being patient and giving Him the power to move in our life.

3. Two homeschool sessions with the girls- Technically, No.
We had some educational discussions- you know, the kind where you're driving and you ask them to name that letter {I give them the sound, they tell me what letter it is} and homework times at the table. But no, nothing formal this week.

4. Menu Plan for the next 2 weeks- Not Quite.
I usually ALWAYS plan for 2 weeks at a time, but this week I actually wanted to see how it would go to do just 1 week at a time. So I did plan out this week's menu. Next week, I think I'll have better ideas to plan stuff.

5. Challenge Goal- Read the word each day.- Not Quite.
I know, this one makes me sad. I read alittle of the Bible everyday, but I wanted to actually READ this week. Didn't happen. One day I got through a whole chapter. But not as much as I was wanting.


Goals for this week:

1) Homeschool Time with girls, two days. (usually the days they are not in preschool)

2) Take a vitamin each morning.

3) Drink 4 water bottles a day. (thats a lot for me)

4) Read the first 5 chapters of the book of Matthew

5) Challenge Watch an entire movie with my kids. (Mom of the year, I know, but I have a hard time sitting through ANY movie!)

That's All for now! My posts keep getting longer and longer! Does this mean I'm getting old? I have noticed I talk a lot more about things....LOL
Oh well. The beauty of blogging is you can always just click that upper right red box with the big "X" on it and be done! haha {but don't tell me you do that before reading all this super important, mind-blowing stuff?!!}

:)
Colleen

Weekly Goals

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I've recently been inspired by this sweet little blog called Alicia's Homemaking, where she mentions goals, recipes and shares about her journey as a Mom and Wife- alot of what I desire to do here at PaRty of 5 {just probably a way more crazy spin because, well, I am crazy}.

I love the idea of setting goals. In fact, this evening the kids and I read our Proverbs Book and talked about Ambition. I think I can naturally be pretty ambitious in a lot of areas, but I really want to become more ambitious in the stuff that, for the most part, does not come "naturally" {like meekness or self control to name a couple}. Just for fun, since I have so much extra time on my hands once those 3 little monsters angels go to sleep, I thought I would look up the best definition I could find for this word.

This was my favorite:

Ambition- strong desire for success, achievement, or distinction.

It would be wonderful if I could say I am ambitious in ALL areas of my life, but I'm pretty sure normal human beings can relate to the impossibility of that. I mean, how can one truly become successful without at least ONE failure? {true success is rising above failures, in my book}

So, this spoke to me in a way and I want to implement more ambitious qualities in my life- even in the areas I'm weak in {probably best place to start!} I guess I will start setting a weekly goal(s) and go from there. I'm going to try to put one goal on there that is challenging {I think meeting any goal while raising 3 crazy kids and maintaining a household is kudos enough!} So, for this week, here are my Top 5 Goals :)

Goals for the week:
1. Get to the gym twice (its been hard to get back on track after sickies)

2. Pray in-depth for my family at least once a day

3. Two homeschool sessions with the girls

4. Menu Plan for the next 2 weeks

5. Challenge Goal- Read the word each day. {I know you're so shocked to find out this is my challenge- that I'm not spiritual enough to read the Bible everyday- it's ok, God still loves me! haha}

I'll be back on the following Monday to post how the week went. {yes, I know it's Tuesday already but I'm being ambitious remember?} I'm sure, soon, I will try more goals in a week but for now 5 is a good start!

fUn? :) thanks for the idea Alicia! (she has no idea who I even am or that I wrote this LOL- is that scary? beauty of blogland I guess?!)

Do you set goals? What is your biggest struggle/distraction in achieving them?

xo
(Colleen)

Weekend Re-Cap

Happy Monday!

This weekend was very uneventful, for the most part. The kids had to go into Doctors on Thursday for antibiotics- this time it was bad sore throats and I knew if we were going to kick this thing, it was time for medicine. Sure enough, by Friday {next day} they were already doing so much better.

Saturday the kids were back to normal, so we just hung around and got a lot of sunshine outside painting and playing with the dogs {lots of movies too}

Later Saturday evening, we met with friends, after kids bedtime, to hear our favorite Irish band play {same one from Justin's birthday}. Always a fun time, but on Sunday I woke up with a major ache in my calf- I'm gettin old! It's pretty hard to dance to Irish music for too long, I'll tell ya. My poor friend had a bruise on her arm from all the swinging of arms we did LOL Well. Worth. It.

Sunday was spent at church most of the late morning/early afternoon- our church sells produce (mainly vegetables) after service and I finally got a bag full today. Farm Fresh and only $5 to load up a bag! It's so great. I usually don't have the cash on me -why is it so hard to carry cash now days?!- or one time I got there too late and it was picked over, so I was one happy {vegetable} camper today!

{it's a good thing my hubby loves tomatoes and squash!}


Then after church we had some fun family time watching a new movie- "Little Rascals" so cute!- and I ran a couple errands with my mom and sis (in-law) which really brightened my day. Then I came home, made dinner, and hung with the family until bed. Simple days are sometimes the best days.

My Weekend Reflection: I am so very thankful for my family & friends who know me, understand me, trust me, and believe in me even when our views may not line up all of the time {love you guys}.

I'm always learning a little more about myself as I near 30 {still will claim to be the best age ever!} and right now I've come to a conclusion that forgiving will always be easier than forgetting. I am the first to forgive someone {and truly forgive with my whole heart}, but the past always haunts me. When that happens I am encouraged by a verse:

"The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation."

I'll be very clear on what I know to be true through my walk with Christ... this verse does NOT mean God never forgets our sins or uses our sin against us. The Bible says "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions (sin) from us" Psalm 103:12

However, the Lord is JUST and He will not allow us to reap ANY benefit from wrong doing...yes, we learn from our trials and become blessed through them eventually....but we will always pay a price for our wrong doings.

The Lord gets the final say on our choices and actions, He just does. The longer people fight with that truth, the longer their lives will go without peace. And if anyone is going to judge me, I'm glad it's Him because He is a loving God.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved". John 3:16-17

I can rest in forgiveness with someone because I have two promises from my Savior...
1) God is just &
2) No matter who hurts us or judges us, God is loving and He has our back.

He is my heavenly Father (the kind of Father every girls needs and desires- not the kind you may have gotten- don't relate the two)

I can be free from guilt, shame, emotions, hurt, and anger because HE takes care of me. I'm learning this slowly. Sometimes I want to react right away for an instant gratification {sadly and honestly, I usually do this}. But God knows us and only He gets the final say on how things are going to work out. I'm thankful for this truth in my life.

Some deeper thoughts this weekend, but its a good thing to dig deep once in awhile, especially when trying to walk like Jesus! {because its not easy!}

Looking forward to a beautiful week! xo
Love, Me
(Colleen)

My Motivation for Doing the Dishes

Is coming on here to blog about needing to do dishes.

We have an inside joke in our family, made possible by a very verbal and bright young boy named Jack and it's this simple phrase:

"I don't wanna!" :) It was his famous line as an independent 2 year old.

That's how I feel today. I just "don't wanna" do DISHES. And my eye will not stop twitching!! I think it has something to do with doing dishes and I should take it as a sign to rest my little stressed-out self. Unfortunately, I do not know how to do that.

So, I'm off to do dishes. *sigh*

But before I leave, I must give a very important Birthday shout-out to my beautiful, smart, funny, sincere, mouthy, strong, passionate, courageous sister-in-law {who now I just would rather call sis} Eliizabeth!! Happy Birthday Sis!! love ya!

xo
(Colleen)

The Weekend Re-CAP & Mondays

As my huBBS just said, like 2 minutes ago as I'm getting on here, "I wished weekends were longer". Of course I agree, but I also get a little eager for Monday and a FRESH start to a new week. I'm like the girl who thinks starting a diet on Sunday is the best way to be successful- as if it declares a new beginning or something. lol. But seriously, Mondays are nice, especially because Jack doesn't start school until 8:45am! Gosh, I love his school. Of all the days they had to choose from for a late start, they picked Monday. This means we can ease into the "work week" a little better. ScOre!


It all started with a MUCH needed night out with the bestie girl :) We had so much fun hanging at the Yardhouse {a personal fave of ours} and then walked the mall being our silly, crazy {normal} selves. We had both had some hard weeks days with sick kiddos, so we were ready to have a little free time. I love this girl to pieces :)

Then we spent Saturday hanging with family {best way to spend time!}. My Sister-in-law is celebrating her birthday on the 7th, so we went up to the beautiful San Diego Botanical Garden. I honestly wasn't sure how this was going to be, with having the kids and all, but it was lots of FUN! This garden is gorgeous! They even had a "Children's Garden" for the kids, packed with a fake Tree House, the "Spell & Smell" garden, Tic-Tac-Toe, fun art pieces, and even a building blocks area (my kids always love building with those). It was a BEAUUU-Ti-FUL day outside and I enjoyed soaking up the sunshine with my loved-ones :)

I totally wanted this for our yard, it was only about 7k, we all decided we would just take turns with it and split the cost :P I LOVE carved wood sculptures! Isn't this one amazing?! It speaks to me....

MY little beauty girl wanted to pose by "Grandma's favorite color flowers"

The tic-tac-toe game in the Children's Garden- they loved this, and how easy would this be to make for the backyard?!

My little Daddy's girl- I love this little moment captured in time of these two.

Averie posing in front of a beautiful little waterfall, so beautiful!

The birthday girl and my mother-in-law

On the walk back we saw this very cool piece made of bamboo

Before we headed home we had to stop by one of our favorite beaches, in Encinitas. It was so bright and sunny- which made for some fun quick pics.

California Peeps never keep their shoes on too long ;)

Happy Monday!