Free Range Family

So yesterday was my birthday. Isn't that so cool, that my mom had her first child the day before her birthday? Yeah we always thought so too lol. :P My friend and I at Relay this year, sorry I took no photos of my face on my actual bday lol I didn't do too much crazy things for my birthday, in fact when I told my friends at work my plans, they all teased me and said I sounded like their parents lol. I guess most people don't think 25 year olds want to take their kids to a water park and then go out to dinner with their husband for their birthday, partying and bar-crawling was the typical idea they had. But I am no typical lady. :) I had a good birthday too! I was able to see all of my favorite students at school, they sang to me twice there. I took my kids and my brother to an awesome place (even though we missed my bestie and her kiddos because we were too slow, boo), and then I got to spend some quality time with the man of my life. It was a perfect birthday, even ...

I've had several important posts to do this week first, but here is a post about our weekend. Hope you enjoy! Our Labor Day weekend was not super busy because Lon had to work both of his jobs, but the kids and I did manage to do some things. And I even got some great deals on Fall clothing for them! More about that later, check out our weekend: Saturday afternoon Aunt April, Alan, Anna and I went to Pioneer Park. I brought the Moby Wrap with the stroller as back-up and was grateful I did so. About five minutes in, Anna decided it was too hot in the Wrap and she wanted to be in the stroller. Alan wanted to take us on a walk around the park first, then play on the playground so we followed him on his exploration. Anna enjoyed the views and the bumpy ride put her to sleep after some time. It was a great walk. I love Pioneer Park, its so beautiful! Its one of my favorite parks, there are so many trees! Fun fact: Did you know that Pioneer Park was designed (without the playground) b...

Today is a hot one. I didn't have any art classes to teach today, so we thought we could sleep in a little. NOT! We woke up pretty much when the sun did, because of one thing. THE HEAT!! Ahhhh I've been up for like three hours now and its only getting warmer outside. Why don't we have AC????? Where is the nearest swimming pool???? Is it considered offensive if we continue this somewhat nudist colony when we got out in public???? Cos its too hot for clothing! :) I can't wait until it gets to be a hundred and ten degrees.... NOT! It is a month away from my birthday today! I will be turning a wild 22 years old lol! :D Not really... When I go out for my birthday, I will be going out to drink only for the third time ever! I hardly did any drinking when I was 21 and I think it will be the same when I'm 22. So not really wild at all lol. But still, tune in to see more birthday posts, because I am still excited for my birthday! Here's Toddler Talk Thursdays guys! ...

April's dance recital last night was just breathtaking. She and all of the other girls danced so beautifully! I was amazed at how much my former students have grown since I had last seen them. Those cute, silly 8 and 9 year old girls are now in high school and are beautiful young women. :) I saw one of my girls dance her solo and it brought me to tears. They are almost adults now. Where did the time go? This also made me realize how fast my own baby sister was growing. Already 12 years old, and in a dance company, going to Las Vegas for Nationals this summer, dancing in a way that would make Mia Michaels faint, and cleaning up after her dance sisters. Wow. :) Today feels kinda like a 3 post day to me lol. Already posted earlier this morning for Rosalie's birthday, and after I wanna write a more in depth post about Aunt April's recital. So stay tuned for another post later today! Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend! Here's Five Question Friday! How cl...

Ahhhhh, my favorite season of the year is already upon us! Yes! This weekend was just fantastic for us! Summer is officially here, with the weather being sunny and WAAAAARM (estimated 80 degrees both days) and windy too lol. Saturday, we went on a play date with Lon, Aunt Ariel, Korbin and his mama Erica to North Park. We played in the water park for a whole hour and a half! Alan was scared of the water sprinklers at first, but he would chase Korbin into the water, trying to "save" him lol. He would chase after Korbin, yelling his name, and once he caught up to him, he would grab him and say "All better" lol! Too funny! Aunt Ariel loved helping watch the wild toddlers too, she would chase after them for us. We were so grateful for her, it meant we didn't have to get soaked ourselves! :) We had a wonderful time with the kids, and Alan was so tuckered out afterwards that he fell asleep in the car on the way to the wedding! :D Unfortunately, Lon had to work a...

As a skin cancer survivor, I am a huge advocate for sunscreen especially on children. Now that it is June, we all need to start thinking about what types of sun protection we will use on our little ones. Did you know that just one blistering sunburn in childhood more than doubles your chances of developing melanoma later in life? Unfortunately, 54 percent of children burn or tan in their second summer, and 22 percent burn in their first, according to one US study. (Information thanks to the Skin Cancer Foundation) Here are some tips on keeping your toddler sunburn free this summer: -Try to keep your toddler out of the sun and in the shade as much as possible between 10 am and 4 pm. This is the hottest and sunniest part of the day. -Have your toddler wear a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses. I like these types of hats best for Alan because you can strap them under their chin so they won't blow off during playtime. Via And we get strap-on sunglasses, like these,...