Belated Birthday wish

Wow, I'm a putz.

Yesterday was a special day for a special lady and I failed to post a Birthday wish :(

MOM, I LOVE YOU!!!

I hope you had a wonderful day and enjoyed your wine at Enjoy!

We can't wait to see you again, love you, and miss you!

(now, don't judge me too hard, I did talk to her on the phone yesterday and gave her the little gift from the girls last weekend!)

*Also, while I'm on the Birthday subject... Happy Birthday to my lovely sister-in-law Kim!

Have a great day woman!  See you in a few weeks!*

Our wonderful long Memorial weekend!

I apologize, this is a little lenthy... bear with me, they aren't all like this!

We had a truly great long weekend, and I honestly enjoyed just about every minute.

(I say "just about" because lets get real people, I have two young children!)

Ryan took Friday off, so we had 4 solid days of family time and let me tell you...

we packed it all in, and still somehow managed to feel relaxed at the end of it!

Here's how things went down...

Friday:  This was probably my favorite day of the weekend.  We headed out shortly after breakfast

and met my mom and step-dad in Stillwater a little before 10am!
Since before Ryan and I were married, they've had this fabulous little floating retreat I love!

Lila was on it once when she was still a baby, but as many of you know, summers' just go way too fast, and with Elle making her arrival, it's been a whole 2 years since we've visited!  IT WAS TIME TO GET BACK ON THE BOAT!

The girls thought it was fabulous, the weather was perfect, and the river was quiet.  We had a large part of a beach to ourselves most of the morning!  We played in the sand, snacked, chit-chatted, had a few beverages... all the things you should do when you're on a boat!  The girls even got in the water (as long as you didn't go in too far, it wasn't horribly cold!)

... excuse me while I pause to admire my husband for a moment....

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..

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ok, I'm back now.

After the girls took their naps, 

E just waking up

we spent a little time feeding the ducks before the other "party people" started showing up.  When the rap music ensued, it was our cue to continue on our cruise!  We headed back into Stillwater, and trooped into town for dinner at a cool little joint called the Shanghai Bistro!

  This is the Pu-Pu platter at the Bistro! Yum!

After dinner, we walked across the street and the girls wore themselves out at the Teddy Bear park! So cute if you haven't been there!  We were all exhausted, but happy at the end of our day!  Mom and Alan, thank you again for such an awesome day!

Saturday was a work day for us. Ryan's parents came down with our niece, Calli.  The 3 girls played all day while Ryan and his dad worked in the basement, and Barb (bless her heart) helped me sort, organize, and price garage sale stuff! (don't you worry, I have photos of our basement, but those will wait for another day!)

Lila was so sad Saturday evening when Calli left, that the next day after running some errands (gotta love Menards!), we decided to again meet up with Ry's parents and miss Calli!  The girls had a blast going on some rides, and we finished out the evening by getting the girls ice cream cones and driving through a wicked rainstorm on our way home!

Lila and Calli ~ Cousins!

Daddy riding the roller coaster with Elle

Yesterday was a day of mish-mash.  A little bit of everything, including soaking up the great sunshine while the girls napped!  We went to a Memorial day parade that lasted about 4 minutes, but all was not wasted, as we found a brand new rolling cooler near a community garbage! Ha! I know this sounds disgusting, but honestly, it's a great cooler and after we washed it out (yes, bleach was used) you can't even tell it's been used!  We figure we're up about $30 from that little trip to Jordan for a 4 minute parade!

Ryan got a toilet and light fixture placed in our bathroom downstairs, I got my car cleaned out, the garden was tended, the yard mowed, and I felt happy as I went to bed last night!

This week will be my last "off" before I dive back into the work scene, so I'm going to enjoy every second I can!  

Lastly, but not to be forgotten...

A heartful THANK YOU to all who have served, are serving, or will serve our country!

What we've been up to

I was looking back through photos from May and realized I had a TON I would like to share.

Because I'm not feeling inspired today, nor do I have much time in the next week to complete lots of separate posts... I'm going to lump them together in a photo overload!

So, without further adieu ... Here's what we've done so far this May!

We've enjoyed getting the grill out more, dining al fresco, and having our first taste of summer via corn-on-the-cob!

We've taken trips to the zoo.

I managed to injure my child in attempt at taking photos while on said zoo trip.

(the camera literally smacked her in the forhead.  Nice.  mother of the year, right here folks!)

We've busted out the flip-flops!

We've played with our "new" dollhouse!  Thank you SOOO much Millmann's, this has been delightful!

We've read books together.  Some current favorites ~ The Very Cranky Bear, and Hickory Dickory Dock!

The girls have had fun playing with "Dandy-flies"

Lila wanted to have curlers put in her hair one night.   I obliged.

Ellie got her first skinned-knees of the season, and it melted my heart watching Lila comfort her and rub her back!

The girls brought home fun little Mother's Day gifts for me and Ryan and I went to a Twin's game on Mother's Day!

We've continued working on our basement.  Doors are done and ready to go up, we put some carpet remanent down so the girls have a place to play, and as of last night we started tiling our bathroom floor!

I've realized my girls are growing up.  How the heck does this happen so fast?

We've played Play-Doh

And lastly, I've taken moments to stop and just appreciate the beauty that is all around me!

Visitors

I put out the feeder and in less than 12 hours, we've had lots and LOTS of company!

I love Hummingbirds!

They are just the neatest little creatures!

And now that I have this lovely, simple little feeder, I get to enjoy viewing them right out my kitchen window!

Our visitors make me happy!

Because they're Beautiful

I feel like this photo should be shared with some great story,

or a great quote, or a great message...

but the more I look at it, the more it just speaks for itself!

I'm am so blessed!

Belated

I realize I'm a day late, but that's just how it goes sometimes!

To all the wonderful women out there who are blessed to be called "Mom",

a very Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Challenge

I know I've mentioned that back in January, Ryan and I made some serious changes to our lifestyle.

We signed up for gym memberships (and used them), made changes to our diets, and have progressivly been making our lives healthier.  

Ryan, he's... well he's... 

 Ok, lets call a spade a spade... he's ANAL. 

 Completely Type A, thrives on routine and schedule, and has this touch of obsessivness.  He tends to take a project and eat, breathe, sleep it To DEATH.  

This has, however, in this particular circumstance, proven to be quite useful.

He looks amazing! 

Me on the other hand...

I'm NOT a schedule follower.  I am laid-back and just "go-with-what-feels-right" kind of gal.

I also love bread.  And pasta. And cereal.  Oh, and chocolate, sugar, and all things sweet.  And lets not forget how much I dislike vegetables.

So, needless to say, this lifestyle change has been a little more difficult for me.

Seeing Ryan's progress is both motivational and annoying to me.
Like, "Hello Ana, you can DO this, just get your head in the game" and
"What the hell?  Why does he look like an Abercrombie model, and I still have back-fat?"

However...

I AM making progress.

My weight has actually gone up 4lbs (much to my irritation), but my clothes fit better (much, actually) and I can feel how much stronger I am.
I am s..l...o..w..l..y.. coming around to vegetables (I can now eat raw carrots without gagging, thank you very much) and am becoming a little more receptive to Ryan's suggestions. (Don't get any major ideas honey.)  As the weather is getting warmer and I'm anticipating some time off this summer, I have many reasons, and few excuses...  just have to keep going!!!

I'm sweaty and disgusting as I sit here and write this, since I just got back from the gym.

Funny how even when your legs feel like they might fall off, after a good workout, you feel like you can take on the world!!

Sweaty Betty

The other day, I was going a little camera happy.

Ok, A LOT camera happy and just couldn't stop snapping away.

Elle ended up taking a longer than normal nap, so I went to wake her up.

I saw this.

This sweet little thing, hair all matted and curled up...  

I just had to grab my camera!

Because even as I kissed her sweaty forhead, I couldn't believe how beautiful she was.

Sweaty hair, damp shirt, big ole bruised knot above her eye...  so, SO beautiful to me!

My little sweaty Betty!

Cuties

Couldn't sleep last night, so what else do you do at 3am but sort through the hundreds of photos you've taken in the last 10 days?!

Just wanted to share a few snaps of my cuties, just being cute together!

**They were trying SO hard to be patient while we were trying to get their kites in the air!**

**Checking out the sharks and stingrays at the zoo!  They get a little braver each time we go!**

**Speaking of brave... look who scaled the rope ladder?!**

** This one almost makes me tear up (not that it takes much)...  something as simple as watching them brush their teeth.  Side by side, in their cute jammies, just doing normal, everyday things... but so, SO precious to me!**

Happy Monday!