My Girls.

I just can't tell you how important my girlfriends are in my life.

I adore my husband... I'm in love with being a mom to my two kids... I've even been blessed enough to find two career paths that I am passionate about... you could say I have it all.

But there are still days where I feel like everything is overwhelming me, or I'm not doing a good enough job at something... or maybe I'm just having a rough day.

Enter 5 amazing friends.

I'm pretty sure that when God designed my being, He designed me to be a companion. I love companionship, I love communication, and I love my friends. The six of us have this perfect combination of different personalities- each that balance and compliment one another in different ways- and all combine to make a pretty fantastic group. We balance raising our kids, being wives, running our households, balancing careers, and finding time to still get together to uplift each other and pray for one another. And once a year, we escape somewhere out of town to reflect, drink lots of wine, laugh, talk and relax.

Perfection.

This year was the first year that we didn't have any babies tagging along! One is on his way, but that doesn't count ;). We drove a few hours up to a new place in the mountain town of Strawberry, and spent a glorious weekend relaxing and talking.

Seriously- lots of talking. We had no cell phone service, no internet and no TV... and we didn't even miss it. Honestly! You know you are in the midst of true friends when an entire weekend goes by and you have spent the entire time just talking with each other. I could go on and on about our funny conversations, hilarious new inside jokes, and our favorite traditions that we enjoyed- but you probably wouldn't find it nearly as funny as we did ;).

But the best part of the weekend was a fantastic evening spent belting out karaoke at a local dive bar. We dressed in our boots and jeans, and put on quite a show for the poor locals who never saw it coming... Strawberry will never be the same.

Have you ever heard me sing??

Exactly. It's not pretty.

But we had the time of our lives..in fact, it was probably one of the most fun evenings I have had in a long time. And it gave us LOTS of material for our stories and inside jokes for the next year =).

I could tell you the details- but then I'd have to kill you ;)

Love you girls! And stay tunes for the special picture... you know what I'm talking about.....

Home Sweet Second Home

Ahhhh San Diego.

A place near and dear to my heart since I spent many of my own childhood years on these beaches... and then met and fell in love with my husband in San Diego many years later =) It's a little piece of my heart, and we escape to it as often as we can. This time, we stayed for a week- and it was seriously one of the best weeks' we've had in a long time. Sleeping in... morning walks on the beach to get breakfast and coffee, spending out afternoons at parks and beaches... totally perfect.

Ty's new favorite thing to do this trip was to use his shovel to collect sea shells.... which are obviously in plentiful supply in San Diego... and so I had about 5 pounds of sea shells by the end of the week. I just didn't have the heart to throw any back, each time he ran up to me eagerly with a new tiny shell =)

One night we took the kids to our favorite ice cream shop when we were in college. And I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach because I really overdid it with my portion! I don't have the metabolism of a 19 year old anymore! ;)

We played in the pool each day after wearing ourselves out at the beach, and the kids were more entertained by climbing and wrestling with dad, than anything else.

And one of my highlights of the trip was an afternoon spent at the La Jolla Cove, which has always been one of my favorite places ever. I remember going there as a little girls, and hunting in the caves with my bucket- searching for tiny sea crabs and cool things that were nestled in the tide pools. If you haven't ever been to the Cove before- you really need to go! It's a little gem of San Diego, and it made me so happy to see my kids enjoy it as much as I did when I was their age =)

We played mini golf, went to Belmont Park, and even went on a real pirate ship (more to come on that soon!)

And of course, we spent an afternoon at Disneyland =) I can't even count how many times we have been this year.. we are sure putting our passes to good use, that's for sure!!

And nothing says, "We had so much fun at Disneyland" like this picture:

More to come soon!....

My Little Sunshine

One of the most fun new things about Bella's school life this year is the "Little Eagles" cheer squad that she cheers on. It's for 1st and 2nd graders, and it is about the darn cutest thing I have ever seen. They practice once a week, and it's more about the friendship with her buddies on the team, and the fun of practicing- than it is about actual performances. But they do have a few performances through the year, as well as the ability to cheer at a few of the football and basket ball games. This particular night was her first time cheering and performing at the varsity football game, and we loved every minute of it!!

Here is my baby, practicing before leaving~

Each girl had an older varsity cheerleader who was her "coach". They stood by their coaches and followed along through each cheer with them. John and i were cracking up at how Bella would confuse which arm to raise when- but she had a huge grin on her face the whole time, which is all that matters!!

Ty preferred to sit in Arece's lap and eat a whole bag of popcorn :). Seriously though- he wouldn't even share it with me!

Then at halftime, they performed their dance routine which was sooooo awesome! The girls were actually much more polished and coordinated than we expected, and we were so proud of her little moves and the smile on her face. My particular favorite was when she threw her arms up with such exclamation as she was atop the pyramid ~ absolutely A-dorable!!

Bella is the tiny one in the middle front, right on the 30 yard line :)

I love you my sweet little sunshine! Daddy and I are proud of you, and the incredible girl that you are.

Me & My Boy

So now that Bella is back in school, I get to spend some special one-on-one time with my favorite boy in the whole world... my buddy Ty =))

Ty constantly keeps me laughing during our outings, running errands and hanging out at home together. He doesn't mind when I drag him all over town running errands or grocery shopping- usually because we always try to sneak in at leads one fun thing together during the day ;). A special Mom & Ty lunch out, or maybe stop at the mall to ride the carousal and the train, or cap off an afternoon with a trip to his favorite frozen yogurt place. Sometimes after John and Bella leave in the morning, we even go down to Starbucks in our pj's for a special treat, or to Dunkin Donuts to get his favorite chocolate sprinkle donut. I just can't help it- I'm a sucker for that little boy. One of the best things about Tyler is that he is a love-bug with a capital "L". I swear, he gives me more hugs and snuggles and kisses then any little boy I've ever seen. He's such a sweet momma's boy, and I know that someday he won't be hugging me and kissing me so much... so I'm soaking it all in now.

I love him to the moon and back, and I absolutely savor these days at home that we have together.

(and thank goodness for my iPhone! Since it's always with me, I'm constantly snapping pictures of my boy during our days together :) )

I love you buddy!

I love being with you during the day, I love your company and our little talks, and I love the little boy that you are.

Love, Mommy

First Day of 1st Grade...

Man, I just can't seem to escape it!!

Every time I turn around, my little daughter... the one that I can still picture holding as a newborn... has grown even more. After a super fun and super busy summer, we were all ready for the changes that fall brings... one of which being school starting again. Last year was kind of our "fun" school year, since Kindergarten was her introduction to "school life". But now, she's in the big leagues. First grade is like a whole other world, and my little Bella is now such a big girl.

It's hard to admit that!!

She was eager and ready that morning.... and me? Not so much :(

She found her best little buddy Lauren right away. It's so funny for me to watch her giggle and whisper and socialize with her friends... when did she become this little person of her own??

The two of them walked off hand in hand to their new big 1st grade class... and I pathetically followed them with my phone... snapping pictures as I held back my tears.

Can you even imagine what a mess I will be some day when she graduates high school? College?? And when she gets married???

Oh boy, it won't be pretty.

We got her all settled in her new desk and {reluctantly} said good-bye. Poor Mrs. Goss had to practically throw all of the parents out of the room, because every parent seemed to linger for just a fewwwww minutes extra :)

(PS- the handsome boy sitting next to her is Calvin, who the darling son of my friend Robin :))

Now that it is almost October, we have definitely settled into our new family routine with the school year starting. Bella has cheer practice once a week, regular homework, and all sorts of social things that we seem to juggle.

Life is definitely changing.... and so far, I'm doing ok with it all!