Flashback Friday

Grade School friends and their children(minus Zak and Nik) in 2008. Lucy and Peter were on their way.

Grade School friends 2009. Add Lucy and Peter.

Not so Wordless Wednesday

The Navy may move us to the South, but we will always be YANKEES!!!!

Will the parents of a little boy......

please stand up! I found out today that my dear friend/college roommate Chandra and her husband Nick will welcome a little man into the world in November! Baby Boy Homman will join sister Ayla(2.5) at home! Congrats Homman family!
We love you guys!
The Kennedy's

4th of July

Many of you probably do not know that The 4th of July is hands down my favorite holiday. I love the permanent scent of sunscreen on my body, the feel of the wind blowing through my hair on the boat, the sing along session with "Buffet", Cubs baseball playing in the background, the brats on the grill, and the fireworks lighting up the sky. I was so excited all last week to head "home" for a weekend of all the above. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had a different idea for this year's festivities. I arrived at my parent's house on Thursday with sunglasses on and so excited for the trip to the lake on Friday. Friday we headed to the lake and had a blast. Friday night we enjoyed brats and all the yummy trimmings. Saturday we woke to a steady cool rain that lasted till late yesterday afternoon. So much for a weekend of fun in the sun.....oh, well we were still able to spend time with the fam and see a cool display of fireworks. Of course now that my sister and Larry are gone it is beautiful and looks to be a perfect day for a trip out in the boat or to the pool.

Mom and her boys on the back of Grandpa's boat

Aunt Michelle had enough of Zak's NONSTOP talking!!!

Me modeling for the camera

The boys ready for their first tube ride

Aunt Michelle and Bella enjoying a cup of "joe".......or milk

Flashback Friday

After all her healthy eating for the last year, Bella has the strength the keep up with me while I do P90X.....

Bella working out with Mommy. She loves to get out my 1lb weights and act like she is doing what I am doing. She is pretty good....she does push-ups, squats, curls, ect. This is activity that actually keeps her interest for more than 5 minutes. She likes it and like that I am getting to spend even my workout time with her.....well maybe:)

Sunday is a big day for Bella and I. My wonderful parents are taking the kids to their house for a week alone. You read that right, Larry and I will be at home for a week without the kids. I have not be away from Bella overnight since she was born. My Mom is a fantastic Mommy and can probably do a better job with Bella than I, but selfishly I like keeping her to myself. I am sure I will shed many tears on Sunday as I drive away from her, but I know she is in good hands. Plus, she needs to get to know my Mom and Dad without me around. I have a long list of to-dos and I am looking forward to going full speed ahead to accomplish all of them. At the top of the list, Bella 1st year scrapbook....I am only 8 months behind:)

I will let you know how Sunday goes. Keep us in your prayers.....it is a big week for me and Bella!

Happy Weekend!!

Fun in the Sun....

Last week Nik was at a Cub Scout day camp. Zak and I had a lot of fun entertaining Bella all week. The highlight of our week was out trip to the base pool. Bella had a blast. Zak was really good about playing with her and helping keep her excited about the water.

Zak showing Bella around the big pool.

Bella playing with her toys....

Bella determined to drink every ounce of pool water....yes I was freaking out a bit, but she is a kid and kids drink pool water....like it or not....if you can stop yours from drinking it please let me in on your secret.....

Bella "jumping" in and Zak "catching" her.....it was more like Zak pulling her in, but he thought it was a really big deal that she would "jump" to him....

Messy Monday

The photos are first because I have been trying for a day to upload the video and the text will not move. Not sure why I cannot get the video to upload, but I am no IT so I am done trying.....

I think it needs a little sunshine....

So focused on what she is doing....

Now what?

Hey mom I am busy here can you put the camera away....

So, what does a Mommy do with three kids when the heat index is going to be 102-108 degrees? She takes them to the uniform shop to buy school uniforms. Great idea, right? Nope, she should have checked the uniform store's website to see that they were CLOSED on Mondays. Ok, on to plan "B". She takes them to Target to buy their shorts and pants for the upcoming school year. Like all others Moms she leaves with $125 worth of stuff she could have/should have left on the shelves. Two of the items this Mommy decided to buy were a box of finger paints and a roll of art paper. Bella is old enough, right? Sure she is. So, we headed for home. Shortly before we arrived home I was full of anxiety, what had I done? For those of you that know me really well, you can understand why the thought of allowing Bella to finger paint was causing me anxiety. I am a neat freak to say the least and anything that is meant to make a mess provides me with a little anxiety. The following is how the rest of the afternoon played out; we arrive home, I feed Bella and the boys lunch, I tape paper to the kitchen table, get Bella's booster seat strapped to the chair, open all the paints, put the paint on plastic dishes, strip Bella down, and let her go to town. The very first thing she did was stick her hand in the yellow paint and then lick her hand....calm down it was non-toxic, but apparently not very tasty because she had a pretty funny look on her face. I took the plunge and stuck my fingers in the paint and showed her what to do with the "stuff" in front of her....ahhhh she got it! That was all it took to provide her with about 30 minutes of entertainment. Amazingly it was not nearly as messy as I anticipated and the best part of it all is that I have a beautiful painting from my lil angel!