Up To Speed

I may have bitten off more than I could chew, cramming four months of life into one itty bitty blog post. But I promised an Up To Speed blog post, so I will do my best to deliver.

Home Sweet Home:
Let's start with our new home, shall we? I've had a few requests for a tour of our new place & I have pushed those requests off because honestly, I didn't want to show off a home that in no way, shape or form reflected the personality of our family. Decorating a home, I have learned, is a constant work in progress. Sometimes this reality drives me insane & I find myself wishing I could wave a wand & have my home be just exactly the way I want it. And other times, I quite like seeing the small improvements take place over time, watching a house transform into a place that looks like the people that dwell there.  We've got a loooong way to go, but I've waved my wand on a few areas in our home & slowly but surely, it's feeling like us. Here are a couple of those areas.

Not sure if you remember, but my kitchen in the old house had a chalkboard on the wall. I loved it. And I love that this new one whispers "home" to me. Now to learn the art of chalking...

Hello there, pop of color! I heart you.

Turns out, I had quite the disposal of letter B's lying around {obsessed with initials, perhaps?}. So I turned them into a "B" wall for our entry. 

A Craigslist dresser I painted & switched out knobs  & ta-da--instant toy storage. 

I plan to give more photos & complete details about how I brightened up the place & how we are utilizing some of the spaces in our home that didn't quite fit our fancy when we moved in. So hold your horses for more photos & details on that.

Location. Location. Location.
You know the neighborhoods you see in the movies--the ones where masses of children run the streets on foot, on scooters, on bikes, playing hide & seek & tag? That's the neighborhood we live in. And I love. every. single. bit. of. it. Kids dart through our back yard all day long. They hop the fences. They ring the doorbell asking if Jett can come out to play. They congregate at dinner time & we hand out grilled hot dogs to anyone & everyone who'd like one. This neighborhood is a dream & it's hard to believe that  a few short months ago I questioned if I could ever sink into & love a neighborhood like we did our previous one. It's hard to believe that a few short months ago I wondered if the pain from  moving away from our old familiar would ever ease. Yet, here I am today, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that we are right where we belong. This neighborhood is home. The people we have met here have become friends. There is no other place I can imagine raising our family. We hit the jackpot of jackpots when it comes to where we live.

This isn't even a big crowd of neighbor kids. I think I've counted 12-15 kids in our backyard at one time. 

Party of One:
Lulla Beans turned one at the end of May & we celebrated accordingly--with one of her momma's over the top birthday parties.  We had a backyard birthday bash with flower filled mason jars dangling from a big Cottonwood tree, pink lemony-lemonade served ice cold & every shade of girly we could think of sprinkled all over the place. We sang the birthday song. We ate cake. It was a sweet, sweet day. I will never grow tired of celebrating these little lives.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted:
This summer marked our very first summer vacation as a family of four & let me just say, I do believe we've found our spot for the next oh say... the rest of our lives. Seaside, Florida-- the most magical place one could dream of. So many of you have asked for details about our trip to Seaside & I plan to compile a separate blog post dedicated solely to our trip, complete with details on traveling with little ones {we drove--all 32 hours--so yes, I've got quite a stash of tips & tricks}.

I Like To Move It, Move It:
After the longest winter in the history of the universe {Okay, I may be exaggerating, but it WAS a really long winter}, I needed get up & get moving. I was tired. I was dragging. And frankly, I was sick & tired of looking at the leftover baby weight I was stashing in my butt & thighs. So the running bug bit me & off I went. Since March, I've been running like a mad woman! Three different 5k's are under my belt & I'm mustering up the courage for a 10k in the upcoming fall. I'm working on my speed & I'm enjoying the plunge back into a fit & healthy lifestyle. Oh & I'm thirteen pounds lighter! No more baby weight on this momma. I think what's kept me motivated is that my neighbor/friend has joined me & we are knocking out the miles-- together. We meet on the street in front of our house at 5:30 a.m. & while we bust out our morning routine, we chat about everything under the sun--from babies who wake up in the night {both her youngest & my Lulla were born  5 days apart} to the funny stories from when we were dating our husbands. I look so forward our runs, to our mornings of laughter & to our blooming friendship. Everything is better with a friend by your side.

My first 5k this year--A Mother's Day Run. My precious hubby & kids made this sign & came out to cheer me on. Talk about blessed.

My running buddy

A date night at the Glow Run with my greatest fan, biggest encourager & sweetest supporter--my hubby

Sweet Summertime:
We are in full Summertime mode. Staying out & playing til' dark. Sleeping in late. Schedules pushed to the bottom of the pile. Summertime has been sweet & being a summertime momma has been even sweeter. We've got a pool pass we haven't been shy about putting to use. Jett took swim lessons & transformed into a little fish--swimming completely under water & going down the big slide with his friends {without Momma & Daddy}. We loaded up two cars of friends & watched Monsters University under the stars at the drive-in. We visited the blackberry patch & picked a bounty of berries. We grilled hamburgers with friends on the Fourth & watched the night sky light up in the company of our entire neighborhood. We enjoy popsicles in the backyard every night before bath time & evening walks around the neighborhood before we turn in. We throw pallets on the living room floor & eat popcorn & have sleepovers", as Jett calls them. Summer is breezing by quickly, as it always does, but we have & are continuing to make the very most of it.

This little swiper was nabbing blackberries off the bush when we weren't looking. Busted.

Sweet friends on the Fourth of July

Smoke bombs!

So there you have it. More of a scratch-the-surface blog post than an up to speed one, but I hope this will suffice until I get back into my blogging routine.

A huge thank you all for the sweet welcome back messages! You are too sweet to me & your comments both here & on facebook have brightened my days!



 It feels good to be back :)