Free Range Family

Some friends you have for your whole life, some friends you only have just recently met... Then there are the friends WHO you've only known for so long BUT it feels like you have known them forever. That's how Kari and I are... I met Kari in the fall of 2010, when I had just started working at the YMCA Child Watch department. She was in high school then but we had so darn much in common, we hit it off right away. She reminded me of my little sister and we became close friends fast. She supported me through many rough times as a new mother and I helped her with high school drama and parental problems. We were so close, that when Lon proposed to me Valentine's Day 2011, I asked her to be one of my three bridesmaids. She of course said yes lol! :) Fast forward to now, Kari is a grown woman who is now engaged and pregnant with her first child, a son that they are going to name Bryson! We are more like sisters then friends now, obviously. :) But I am just so excited and hap...

We have had such a slow few weeks. Haven't really been able to do anything. Its so terribly mundane, it feels like we are walking through a bog. Everything goes so slowly and there's so much to do but it never all gets done. Blah, I have been trying my best to keep posting on here, but I will miss a whole week sometimes! I'm sorry. :) Its finally starting to seem like spring out though, which is nice! And last week I was awarded the Tumble 1 and 2 gymnastics teacher position. I am quite excited to be in charge of this program now, and have some BIG plans for the program. How was your Saint Patty's Day? I know its a little late lol, but I am just getting around to posting this! :P Ours wasn't the most exciting but it was still a great day! We didn't really differ too much from our usual Monday schedule but the kids picked out their green in their outfits, we made shamrocks in daycare and then we celebrated with green cookies for dessert from the Leprechan! It w...

I am so glad that we finally have our car back! With a family of four, two little kiddos, its hard to not have your car for a week! I missed playdates, had to reschedule Alan and Anna's gymnastics classes and had to figure out rides to work. I am so happy our car is back with us! Even if we do owe the mechanic $500+ now lol. Blah... We had a simple weekend. Alan has basketball practice and I had a baby shower for an old family friend. Not too wild of a weekend, but I still enjoyed it! Alan is really getting into basketball. This week we learned what a jump shot is, how to play "Coach Says" and how to dribble and run. We also played a new game called Sharks and Minnows, Alan loved it! He did get hurt a few times though but I reminded him that sometimes in sports we get hurt. He is my strong boy! Alan loves basketball, his coaches and his team mates! Here are some photos from practice: Alan doing jumping jacks I got some time away from the kids too on Sunda...

Today was a typical Thursday. The kids and I walked down to Terry Park to meet up with DesiRae, Kelsie and her boys. We had a little picnic and then let the boys play. Afterwards, I had work and Anna had her second time at daycare too. She did very well and is a great baby they said! Everyone loves her there, and for obvious reasons. :) We had Aunt Natalie's baby shower on her birthday, last Sunday afternoon. What a different 21st birthday to be having lol! :) She sure enjoyed it though and that's what is important. We had a big barbeque in my parent's backyard. Thankfully, it was a gorgeously nice day out and it stayed that way the whole party. It was actually hot, like hot hot lol, which was weird for us since we have been so used to the winter cold. I liked it. :) Her party was dinosaur themed and we decorated the yards and living room that way. The driveway had big dino footprints walking up, courtesy of Aunt April. I could not get a photo of them where you could see...

Happy Wednesday my wonderful readers! I have quite a bit to love today! Here is this week's WILW! Enjoy and have a great day! I'm loving... that today is Alan's last gymnastics showcase before summer break. Lon has work and will not be able to make it but Grandma Melanie, Anna and I will be there! He will do awesome, I know it! Stay tuned for photos! I'm loving... the goregous summer weather we have been having this past week! We have busted out the tanktops, shorts, dresses and flipflops Mother Nature, don't you dare make it snow again! I'm loving... that Anna is having two MAJOR milestones happen this week: she turned 10 months old yesterday and is going to daycare for the first time today. My big girl! I'm loving... how well Aunt Natalie's baby shower went. Everyone had a great time, including the Guest of Honor herself. The games were a lot of fun too! Oh it was perfect! I'm loving... that we had a wonderful time with Aunt Natalie and U...

How was your April? We had a decent April. A lot of important things were figured out and we celebrated lots of milestones for this family. Here is what I wrote about: There was a few birthdays this month and also our wedding anniversary. We were very busy with all of our celebrations! We started out the month celebrating Uncle Tyler's birthday. He turned 27 this year. We had Aunt Sam and him over for birthday dinner at our house. Then was Aunt April's 14th birthday. The kids and I took her shopping for her birthday. We had a lot of fun! Nataional Siblings Day was a few days later, I sent my awesome siblings some love. Then I celebrated my blogging friend Hollie's birthday online.  As well as my good friend Chelsey's 24th birthday. A couple of my girlfriends and I took her out for drinks that night. It was one of the first times since I got pregnant with Anna! Speaking of Miss, Anna also turned nine months old, along with that came a new desire to stand on he...

I did not write a post yesterday. I tried to write this out, but I am too unhappy with myself right now. Grrrr... Tuesday night, I hurt myself BAD while running and being a dork. It was dark outside and we live off a dirt road, consequently while running I stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle. At first, it did not hurt too terribly bad but as I slept it must have gotten much worse. I have only memories of pain from that night lol. I must have rolled it a bunch or been rough on it, the next morning I could barely walk on it and my ankle was the size of a golfball. My doctor confirmed that its sprained and told me that I should be on crutches for the next few days. Uh, I am a mom of a baby and a potty training kid, crutches are OUT OF THE QUESTION lol. He said I could get a boot to wear around, but I opted for a less bulky brace. He also instructed me to R.I.C.E. it for the next few days to a week. For those of you that don't know what R.I.C.E. is, its Rest Ice Compress...

Today is the big day for me! Well kinda lol, today is my dress rehearsal for the dance showcase this Saturday. My kids will be in full costume for their dances and I am excited to see how it all looks. I am very anxious but excited too! We will see how it goes! :) The kids and I are going shopping today with Aunt Sam. The kids are excited, we should have a lot of fun with her! I don't have any extra cash lol, but I might try to get Aunt Natalie her birthday present at some point. With her birthday coming up this weekend, I am running out of time to get her something lol. I also have to get Alan's glasses fixed. Crazy man has officially broken his glasses for the first time lol! :) Oh well, at least it was just one of the ear pieces. This morning, Anna surprised us all by pulling herself up on the ottomon! We had just had her standing up with us holding her for a bit, and Lon set her down on the floor to play while he got ready for work. Miss Anna army crawled over to the ott...

But I felt like it today lol! Just for fun and because I am a little bored lol. Both kids are napping at the same time! I am so awesome, although I'm not sure if its such a feat anymore. Its the little accomplishments... Aunt Natalie is officially in her third trimester! Yay Aunt Nat! We all cannot wait to meet Baby B! Her baby shower is a week away from today, I am almost ready for it. I am not sure if my family is though lol, this will be a totally different baby shower than all mine have been. But its for Aunt Natalie, so of couse its going to be different from mine! :) I think that all my little ideas for the dino stuff will be super cutsy! Friday we met up with Heather and the girls at Veteran's Park. It has been sooooooo very nice out the past few days, very horribly windy but nice. I cannot complain. Alan chased Tatum around the playground, then he swung on the swingset with the girls. He is getting more and more into swinging, which I think is cool. I used to just...

We woke up this morning to find a nice blanket of snow covering everything, for like the third time this month lol! So much for my holiday plans, darn! We were going to go to Norm's Island today and go on a nature hike. I also had plans to finish the yardwork and plant the last of our flowers. This will probably not happen in the snow with a potty training preschooler and a babe. We are watching Disney movies all day to make up for it. Le sigh... whatevs Mother Nature, if you want to be a drama queen today, then that's fine! You had just better behave on Arbor Day, I won't take no gruff from you then! :) This weekend wasn't too crazy. My family was out of state for Aunt April's dance competition and workshop, but I did have my bosses' baby shower I helped decorate for. She is having twins, a boy and a girl, around the same time Aunt Natalie is. The party was rubber ducky themed, which I thought was adorable! I loved the color palette: blue, pink, purple an...

The weather has just been WILD and bipolar lately. One day its low 60s out and the next its trying to snow! How crazy! Make up your mind please, we would like to have a consistent wardrobe lol. :P Anyways, I have a lot of things to love today, so let's go ahead and get this thing started lol! I'm loving... that my wedding anniversary is in 6 days. I love you Lon! Happy anniversary! I'm loving... how well hiphop class has gone today! We are soooooo ready for this performance, I cannot even wait! They will rock it! I'm loving... that Alan is doing so well potty training again! I think that we will start wearing underwear at school and in public now. So proud of him! I'm loving... that Anna will also be going to daycare starting next month. She will be going two months earlier than planned, but this is due to my dance class schedules. I know that she will be fine, everyone loves her. I'm loving... all the acts of kindness invovled with the Bo...

I am feeling very scatterbrained today. Like I am really REALLY missing something very important, but I cannot seem to put my finger on it! Maybe its my brain I am missing lol... Be prepared for one WILD post because I cannot even remember what I was going to write about for this weekend. Wow. I. need. some. sleep. Teething sucks, for mama and baby lol! Anna, can we go to bed for more than three hours tonight lol? You can nap during the day but I can't! :) This weekend was fun for us. Saturday was Aunt April's birthday shopping spree. I had to take the kids with me so it was more like an "Aunt April Shopped While I Chased Kids Around Spree" if there is such a thing lol! She did get a cute shirt and a top for dance though. And we had yummy tea. We had a great time! I am getting so close to my dance showcase, its nerve wracking! I have been losing sleep on it, work choreography wherever I am at, have been loading dance picture after picture for last minute i...

Not too much has gone on here the past few days. We were going to go to a park today but the weather was not the best (where did Wednesday's spring weather go?) and Alan wasn't feeling his best. But we did get him a new pair of shoes, the first pair EVER with shoelaces. :) Alan insisted on learning how to tie them right away lol but after many attempts, our gungho guy gave in and let me help. In due time, young one! :) Started the plans for Aunt Nat's baby shower. She wants it the day after her birthday and to be dinosaur themed. I bet I can think of some cute stuff to go with that! :) My darn camera has yet to show up, ugggggh I may be the most impatient person I know lol. But I want it here nowwwwwww! Lol how juvenille can I be? Other than that, its been pretty quiet around here this week. Just catching up on EVERYTHING from last week when everyone was sick, work and housework and the like. We got my car finally fixed and are still under investigation with Lon's...

There are a few things that I am loving today and though I have yet to figure out how to link up on this app, I will still do a WILW post. Because especially right now, I need to be focusing on all the POSITIVE instead of all the crazy negative stuff that keeps happening to us. Here you go, wonderful readers! Enjoy! I'm loving... that I will be getting our family's new camera today! Its a Nikon Cool Pix (I just LOOOOOOVE Nikon) with waterproof capabilities! Very cool! I can't wait to try it out! I'm loving... all the new apps I got on my phone this week: Angry Birds, Blogger, Skype, and Instagram. I love my smart phone! I'm loving... the inspiration that has come flooding into my body after this weekend at Spotlight Dance Competition. I love watching other choreographers' work! It really gets my creative juices flowing having that connection with fellow teachers! Gah, I could go on and on about it lol! I'm loving... this new book I bought off of K...

Its my first Five Question Friday in the New Year!! And actually my first one in a while. Its hard to keep up with weekly blog hops when you no longer have internet at your house. I make do but sometimes without the blog hops, which isn't as fun lol. But I am definitely glad to be back and glad to be able to find some new blogs to read! I have definitely been lacking in some reading material lol. :) I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! This weekend I am swamped with work and it sucks. This will be a lot for me. This is one of the first weekends since I have had Anna that I am truly busy, like chicken with their head cut off BUSY. I got double booked for birthday parties tonight and am fully booked for them tomorrow. I will only be working like seven hours total, but for me that is a lot. I still pump and nurse my daughter, thus am only used to working three to four hour shifts. Like I said, this is a lot for me. I will be pumping at work, something that will be an adventure o...

We are still currently living in our old apartment. Spoke with our new landlord on Friday and he is just waiting on a furnace part before we can start moving in. He said Monday, but I have yet to talk with him today. Keep your fingers crossed for us, we may get our keys and such tonight! How awesome would that be???? This weekend was a nice and easy weekend for us. No crazy moving, although I would have been okay with that. Maddie's baby shower was Saturday afternoon. Sunday, we stayed home and did some more packing. We are now down to having only the necessities unpacked and alot of our belongings have been gone through. I have four big boxes full to the brim with stuff we are donating to Good Will, we have developed so much clutter in these past two years of living here. I thought we had gotten rid of most of it over Memorial weekend before Anna was born, but this weekend I have found the most random things (I think I may do a post on it later this week). I have become the new ...