a fall day and little things.

Yesterday was a beautiful Ohio fall day. Jon took advantage of the weather and brewed beer all day. After school, the kids and I attempted our first off site (meaning not in the backyard) photo shoot. I picked this location because I couldn't resist the bold fall colors. Afterwards we walked across the street to the library and loaded up on books and a couple shows.













There are so many little things that have been going on I thought I would share:

Next week Jessica turns the big O.N.E. so I'll be busy this week preparing for her party.
Without realizing it, I also booked an art show for next Saturday
so this week is going to be a bit crazy.
We're taking the kids to an indoor waterslide park. We've never experienced the waterparks so this should be interesting. I'm excited but a little nervous.
I always get a little nervous with the kids and water.
STS9 is playing next Thursday and I think Jon and I are planning on going. An early celebration for our anniversary and his birthday.

And...on a larger note....Benders Tavern (my husbands' family restaurant) won the local Taste of the NFL! We'll be attending the 2013 Super Bowl! Read more here. AND a few weeks back celebrity chef Robert Irvine was in our town filming a local school for "Restaurant Impossible" and happened to eat at Benders. One thing led to another and Robert and his filming crew filmed Benders chef and kitchen for an episode that will air in the near future!
Read here for more details.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend
♥

a jungle themed babyshower and a girls weekend.

Last weekend the girls and I hosted a baby shower for our dear friend Shannon. Let me tell you, Shannon is such an amazing woman. I am honored to have her in my life. In fact, I'm honored to have each and every one of these ladies in my life. We have know each other since the first days of college and have been on endless adventures and travels together. Over the many many years we have grown together, grown apart and grown back together again.

I think we have an amazing story. We all have amazing stories of our friendships. These four woman have influenced my life in so many ways. These woman are not just my friends they are my inspiration and I know I don't tell them enough. I only hope to grow together and continue on our journey for the rest of our lives. Here's to making that beach trip work ladies!

















Emily, Carrie, Shannon, Amy and myself



We all pitched in and helped with the shower. Shannon's mother in law made the beautiful cake, we purchased jungle themed cookies as a treat to take home, we served small sandwiches, fruit salad, various dips, an olive and cheese tray and plenty of sweets. For the decorations, I sewed a banner which could be used later in the nursery. I found my inspiration here. I also made tissue paper pompoms from this tutorial. For the centerpieces I used vintage milk glass vases filled with greens and placed them on a piece of zebra or giraffe print scrapbook paper.

camping with kids. part two.

These moments that we create, these moments that create who we become, are tightly tucked away in a special place in my heart. I will never let them go. I will never forget. The smile on Jonas' face when he actually caught a fish (his first ever), the echoing laughter that danced from Joshua, a hushed giggle from a small baby. The evening stars that mesmerized our eyes because surely this couldn't be an Ohio sky. The sounds of nature that drifted into silence.
The moment when we held hands while our children soundly slept and agreed
life is good.

Other highlights of our trip include:
reading by flashlight in the tent while Jessica slept
hiking through the woods as the sun began to set
making sausage sandwiches with sautéed onions and peppers
eating yummy gooey s'mores
enjoying a bottle of Soda Canyon Cabernet with Jon
hanging out around the fire after the little ones were asleep
cuddling with my loves all night long
Bailey not running away (although we did slip him an extra anti-anxiety pill before we left)

Do you like to camp? What are some of your special moments with camping?

And, just in case you missed Part One of our trip click here.

camping with kids. part one.

There's something about nature that makes my heart tingle.
The smell of evergreens and the open woods. The crisp feeling of autumn as it softly floats by you in a gust of wind.
The subtle sounds of running water and rustling leaves in the distant wind.

I meant to share our little adventure with you last week, but things are extremely busy over here and I'm about a week behind on posts. Two Sundays ago we had the best camping trip with the kids. Since it was our first time camping with the little ones we decided to go for one night to Wolf Run State Park, but I was ready for more. Jon picked up this humongous tent because our old tent looked like it went through some wear and tear from the pre children era. We had so much room to move it was great. And even Bailey enjoyed sleeping with us. In fact, Bailey was so well behaved I was amazed. It was also his first camping trip.

Oh, and if you've never danced in a tent, I highly recommend it. As you can see this was Joshua's idea and it was a wonderful idea.

And in case you are wondering, Jonas wore his Star Wars costume ninety percent of the time.