Blonde Moment Monday

• Hey Everyone and Happy Monday!
• How was your weekend? I can't believe that I forgot to mention that it's already August and we are now into our second week of the month.
• My how time flies now and I am trying to soak the summers staying at home with my children in even more.
• Speaking of this, I overheard a woman at church last week talking to someone about how her summers with her kids mean so much more to her now that they are in school. I have to say that it really clicked for me to realize that I am lucky I still have the next two school years at home with Ryder before he starts Kindergarden and I really need to savor each day.
• Yes saying this now and saying this when he is knocking his sister in the back or yelling at me from the top of the stairs that I am a buttface (yes that has really happened recently ha!, and yes he got his mouth washed out with soap afterwards!) are two different worlds.

•  So to wrap up the last few days, I took Ryder and Brynley to a nearby town that has one of the nicer Hobby Lobby stores. I am on Operation Birthday Party mode and no matter how adament I am to say I just want a simple birthday party for my kids, I must have been a party planner in my former life because I just love to look online for ideas and pin things I love.
• {on a side note I'm so so elated to find out that my town will finally be getting a Hobby Lobby soon! Maybe by then I will have talked myself into buying a sewing machine, and a Cricut machine and can take some classes I've always wanted to take!
• After Ryder and Brynley endured a very long and very stressful (I must give myself a pat on the back for this one my friends, and I am quite shocked that it's becoming quite second nature to go shopping with just the kids and myself) shopping experience, I promised him I would take him to lunch afterwards, and then to see the train and play at the huge Splash Pad.

•  So here is one very happy little boy aboard the train at the park, one very sweaty, hot, and tired Mommy from said shopping experience that resulted in a $300 shopping spree, which later had to be mostly returned, because quite frankly said Mommy was worn out and couldn't think by the end of said shopping. And you also have one very squirmy yet sleepy baby that enjoyed the train ride maybe as much as her older brother, or just a chance to feel a nice breeze in the 100 degree weather!

•  Oh and yes the train ride wouldn't have been complete without a slushee drink for just $1 and that smile is just priceless! Although later he did ask me why the train was so small and I explained the best I could that we were riding on a smaller version of a train since we were in a park. I'm not sure how much of this my little guy really understood, but he was happy nonetheless!

• So yes like I mentioned above, I am working hard on planning a sweet first birthday party for my baby girl. Oh how the months have flown by!
• I am throwing her a pink lemonade party. I knew I wanted pink incorporated somehow, and then I saw these items at the Dollar Spot at Target and they were my first inspiration. Then I thought about how much I craved Chick fil A and their lemonade, and the idea was born!
• I've found so many cute, fun things on Pinterest and can't wait to share more.
• I am truly in the book reading mode lately, and just finished Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. It was so so good, and had me searching for more of her books. In fact I just watched her on Watch What Happens Live, Bravo and her new book, The Next Best Thing comes out next and I can't wait to read it! With that being said, the kids and I went to the library last week. {You know, the day I went in the closet after said trip to the library, and called Scot crying because it was just one of those days and it was exhausting and would he be coming home soon because I really needed a break and Brynley hadn't stopped crying for most of the day, and Ryder was being as cooperative as one could expect, but was starting to really push his limits too.}
• Anyways.. so yeah while I was there, the few minutes I had to browse in my section before heading down to the Kids Korner, I picked up two books by Jackie Collins, another favorite author of mine. So with my reading underway, do ya'll have any other great books to recommend?? I am such a book worm and used to read all the time, but I'm slowly getting my book reading groove back!

•  Boy this is a really random post today, or maybe not so much random as out of order. I will blame it on the fact that I once again slept crooked and have dealt with a pulled sciatica nerve for most of the day, and so when I uploaded most of these pictures, I may have gotten them out of order, so bare with me! Anyways, these were at the same park but after we changed in our bathingsuits and headed to the Splash Pad. To cool off and wash the sweat away!
• I was so proud of both of my children, especially Ryder, considering he's usually so afraid of the water and being splashed. Maybe it helped that it was so hot and the water felt great.
• It was another proud Mommy Moment to go down in the books, because let me tell ya, it wasn't easy tackling a day at the park, chasing down trains and changing hot sweaty children into their bathingsuits. Let alone keep Brynley occupied long enough so that A) she wouldn't touch anything yucky in the public restroom as we were all changing, and B) to wrangle her from everything else. But all in all it was a super fun day, which led to super great naps!

•  Then Saturday we attended my friend Sarah and her son, Beckett's 3rd birthday party. I must say, two birthday party weekends in a row. Both 100 degrees outside, and both held outdoors. With water involved, but for the kids only. Talk about H*O*T!
• Now I'm not normally one to complain so much about the summers in the South (well except when pregnant), but man it's been hot! I was proud of Scot for manning his Daddy duties and accompanying me on not one but both parties. My how we've changed! I used to be the sweet, shy one who didn't really mind one way or another on most things, whereas he was the one who was very much into his comfort zone and didn't like to go to certain events or crowds. I think now the tables may have turned a bit!

•  Ryder and the Birthday Boy! I was laughing so hard to see Ryder playing with the girls that were at the party too. Normally he just ignores girls, or tells me he doesn't want to play if any are there, but he was so happy with the ones he met at the party and they were so cute together!
• Uh oh.. his days of girls may be sooner than we thought.

•  And if one word could describe this little girl, it would be BUSY! I'm talking, walking like a mad woman to one side of the yard to the other, scoping out the bouncy house, then the neighbor's fence, picking up random shoes in the yard, trying to climb the porch stairs, squirming to get down and play in the grass, stepping on a fireant hill (which by the way they have been awful this year and not only her, but both Ryder and I also suffered from a fireant invasion at various times during the party. Same ant hill.) But she sure is cute!
• Not to mention I stepped on a fire ant hill just last weekend. Same leg! I hate those boogers and find myself wondering just what their purpose is and what makes them so angry!?

•  Sarah and I.. yes it's becoming quite clear that I am getting chubbier and chubbier. It seems that no matter what, somewhere between my motivation during the week, come the weekends and I find it a must to eat and drink badly. I am praying to work on this and my hopes are to find other things than food to express my emotions. Because I love me some cheese dip. And all things fried. And I am determined not to have to pull my fat pants out this winter ha!

•  Not quite sure why I was raving and ranting just then by one simple photo, but here's my Brynley girl making friends with this sweet baby girl, who is 16 months. Presh :)

•  Say hello to my Little Friend!

• So after selling our 4 year old Graco travel system stroller, and our 4 year old umbrealla stroller was on its last leg, Scot and I decided maybe it was time to invest in a new light weight stroller for Brynley, considering she will still be using one for the next 3+ years.
• We looked at Target and Buy Buy Baby, we looked at Walmart.com and a few other stores, tried and tested a few name brands, and even went to a consignment store. Where I almost left with a badly tattered stroller for $42 just because it was a Maclaren. And then Scot told me for that, we could spend just a little more to get one not so beat up. And then I was almost convinced too that I needed a double stroller. A Peg something or other.
• Decisions were flying all around and I was at a loss of what to do. The pregnant women were everywhere, and the kids were over shopping, so we left. And we thought about it, and came to the conclusion that a single stroller, lightweight, was the best bet for us. (Well me really since I'm the one getting all of the use out of it during the day). So we got this awesome Chicco stroller. I love the color and I love that it isn't pink, since Brynley has SO much of the color.

• With our trip to Disney in just a few months to celebrate my Mother in Law's 60th birthday, I have started to think about some cute outfits for the kids. One day while there, will be Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party, which means we will just be dressing in our Halloween costumes, but for another day at the park I thought some of these were cute.
• Which one do ya'll like? I wish I could get them all but I'm pulling teeth just to get Scot to agree to one. I'm also trying to find somewhere that makes tshirts in the Disney font to wear as a group that say something cute to recognize my MIL's big birthday, as a surprise to her. Any ideas??
• So have ya'll been watching the Summer Olympics? I hate to say it. I setup my DVR and was all set to go. And then realized just how many of the events were kind of boring, and how much of the tv time it would take just to see one of the events I like. But I've heard good things and that of course, Michael Phelps has been awarded yet another Gold medal!
• Well, it as tax free weekend here this past weekend, which also explains so much of the spending we've been doing. Scot's already trying to reel me back in, and has more than once reminded me that the spending needs to stop so that we can achieve our next goal which is to try to sell our townhome by next year. It is exciting to think that we have started achieving many of our life goals, paying off some of our debts, Scot working for a new company, and the possibilities of so much more.
• Not one week ago however, did I mention to Scot how much I love our new church (well, we've attended since last December, and became members recently.. so I guess it's not that new). Anyways, I just mentioned to him how much I loved it and I didn't want to committ to anything just yet, and no sooner did God have other plans for not just myself, but Scot too. As we dropped the kids off at the church nursery yesterday, the director informed us that she thought we'd make a great team teaching the first graders in Awanas this Fall. I'm sure our mouths must have dropped, but after much prayer, we both felt that this is the right decision.
• Isn't that funny how you set your mind on something, just knowing the path you want to take, and no sooner find that is not the path chosen for you.
• Well, it's getting late and I'm proud of those of you that have stuck it out reading this long!
• Happy Happy Monday and I'm hoping for some pink lemonade party or Disney inspiration from some of ya'll!