Ready, Set, Race!

This Saturday Bella ran in her first fun-run race!  Her Grandma Jody, who's a runner, knew of a kids 1K fun-run race nearby, so she asked if she and Bella could run in it together.  Bella loves to run, so we thought it would be a lot of fun for her.  The morning of the race, she practiced running a loop around our kitchen, dining room, and living room to warm up.  Then we were off to the race!  She was a little nervous at first, but she ended up really enjoying it!  Grandma had to carry her about 20 feet, but then she ran the entire way (except when they had to stop to kick a dirt mound for while!).  She finished in under 10 minutes, and came through the finish line with a smile on her face:)

Go Number 650!

Cheering on Bella-Boo!

At the start line

And away they go!

Running together!

Crossing the finish line

Grandma Jody and Bella:)

Getting some food after the race-all that running makes a girl hungry:)

Watching Bella!

Mmmm

Bella even won an award--3rd place in her age group (6 and under)!  Way to go Bella!!

                                                                What a fun run indeed!!

Love

                                  


                                         

        Love is helping your little brother learn how to crawl.

Love is a smile.

Love is a mother and daughter.

Love is a daddy excited to come home.

Love is being silly.

Love is Family.

Thank you Lord for all the LOVE in my life. 



Celebrating Summer!

We've had such a beautiful summer so far, I thought I'd share some of the fun things we've been up to!

1.  Celebrating Father's Day!  We have delicious bacon cheeseburgers, deviled eggs, fruit, and chips, and dessert was a sundae bar complete with homemade ice cream, mmm!  More than just enjoying good food though, we celebrated all the dads in our life: Al, Matt's father; Tom, my father; and Matt, Bella and Elijah's father! 

                       Here's a picture of my wonderful husband and our two great kids on Father's Day:)

                                               Happy Father's Day Sweetie!!  We love you!

2.  Walks around the neighborhood in our new double stroller!  Yes, that's right, we now have a double stroller-yay!  I found a great one at a garage sale for an amazing deal (you know how I like to find a good deal;-))  Anyway, it has been put to use several times already! 


                                        Here's a picture of the kids trying it out for the first time!

3. Tea parties, golf, and squirt guns at Grandma and Grandpa's house! Who doesn't love a good tea party at Grandma and Grandpa's house?  Complete with chocolate milk 'tea', cookies, and even mail from the squirrels!  If that weren't enough, we also tried our hand at golf and played with squirt guns! 

Drinking Chocolate milk tea!

Squirrel Mail!!!

Ready to dig

Golf with Grandpa

Grandma and EJ watched and cheered them on:)

Squirt Gun Wars!

4. Water fun with the family!  We have had a few chances to go to splash pads and pools to swim and play, as well as see a waterfall!  So much fun to explore the water:)

Ready for the water!

Love that smile!!

Waterfall

Bella and Grandma trying out the water

Daddy and Bella taking a quick break in the shade

Splash pool with two of Bella's cousins, Joey and Lauren

Bella didn't seem to mind that we didn't have a swim suit with-she just went in her clothes!  (Good thing we had extra clothing for afterward!). 

We have had so much fun this summer so far, and we are looking forward to enjoying much more in the days and weeks to come!  Hope you've had a chance to get out and enjoy it too!

Name Letters and Crate Shelving Project

I've been working on some craft projects around the house lately, and I've finally completed one so I thought I'd show you!  It started a while ago when I bought wooden letters for Elijah's name.  I saw an idea online to wrap the letters in yarn, so I found two colors I liked at the craft store and tried it.  Success!  I think they turned out pretty cute! 

Next, I wanted to find a way to display them in Elijah's room.  The letters don't hang, so we had to find a shelf or something to put them on.  I had seen some old fruit crates at my grandma's house, and I thought they would look really cool as shelves if we turned them on their side.  That way Elijah could have some unique shelving, and they would be meaningful-from his great grandparents!  I found two that looked like they were in pretty good condition, and (bonus!) still had the original labels on:) 

I cleaned them up, and Matt screwed them into the wall.  Then we put the letters in, and....ta da! 

What do you think?  We like it!  Here's Elijah helping model the new shelves and his name!

Here's Bella "helping"!

One more little update.  Mr. E has his first tooth!  Going to miss that gummy grin, but he sure looks cute with that little pearly white sticking up too!