I can't believe I have a 5 year old!! Where did 5 years go!?! I am one proud mama of this precious boy! He is smart, loving, curious, and creative! He is a wonderful big brother and such a precious child. We celebrated his birthday together with family and friends at our local recreation center. He loves all things superhero, especially Batman so we had a Batman theme party. We rented the rock climbing wall and a classroom to use for the party. It was a blast and worked out really well! All the kids really seemed to enjoy rock climbing. I think it was a unique, fun activity.
I saw where another friend of mine interviews her son on his birthday each year and then blogs about it. I thought this was an excellent idea, so I am copying her. :)
So I asked JP a few questions and these are his responses:
-Who is your favorite superhero? I LOVE them all!
-What is your favorite food? Pepperoni pizza and pretzels
-What is your favorite TV show? Super Hero Squad, Batman from 1970s, and Doc McStuffins
What is your favorite song? On My Lips by Ross Parsley
What is your favorite resturant? Chick Fil A
What is your favorite color? orange first, then green
My favorite thing to do with mommy is go on a date.
My favorite thing to do with daddy is go on a date.
I loved all of his answers and loved that I knew the answers to all of these before he ever answered. I do love knowing my children so well. We do try to go on 1:1 dates as often as possible. Guess we need to schedule on really soon for him!
This post has been whirling around in my head and heart for a while now and I've debated on whether or not to write but here goes. I share from my heart and I hope that you can hear that.
I've been convicted lately with the question "What if we were real?" I think so many times we can hide behind our computer screens and make it appear that our lives are so wonderful by posting amazing posts on our blogs or posting only the positive Facebook statuses. Social media has become so popular these days and while it does have its benefits, I want to be real and genuine here. What if I shared with you that I only wear makeup 2 out of 7 days a week? What if I shared that I raise my voice at my boys too often? What if I shared that lately we haven't done too many preschool activities? Mainly because I am nursing a sweet 4 month old often and I'm a tired sleep deprived mama on top of that. Would you think less of me? Would you still read my blog or follow my blog? I hope so. My heart's desire when starting this blog a year ago was to share with other stay at home mommies the activities that they too could do with their little ones. In the process I have met an amazing group of blogging mamas and learned so much! My heart's desire is still to share what we are learning and doing, but I desire to share that in a real, genuine way. I too have hard days. I call my sis or dearest friends and say "HELP! I'm about to lose it again!" So if you are having one of those hard days today, please take heart and know that you are not alone. 1 Peter 5:7 says Cast your cares on the Lord, for he cares for you. So I encourage you to cast your cares upon our God who loves you so!
I love the lyrics to this awesome song my Mandisa! She says it so well!!
"What If We Were Real"
Well, I'm tired of saying everything
I feel like I'm supposed to say
I'm tired of smiling all the time
I wanna throw the mask away
Sometimes you just have a bad day
Sometimes you just wanna scream
Tell me I'm not the only one
Tell me that you feel just like me
We keep tryin to make it look so nice
And we keep hidin' what's goin on inside
But what if I share my brokenness
What if you share how you feel
And what if we weren't afraid of this crazy mess
What if we were real
What if we were real
I'm over hidin my tears
I think I'm gonna let em' go
I'm over actin so strong
When I ain't even in control
We make it so complicated
But why does it have to be
Why can't we open our hearts and let everybody see
We keep tryin to make it look so nice
And we keep hidin' what's goin on inside
But what if I share my brokenness
What if you share how you feel
And what if we weren't afraid of this crazy mess
What if we were real
We'd think a little less of ourselves
We'd care about someone else
'Cause we'd know just how they feel
Maybe we could let someone love us
Maybe we'd a little more like Jesus
Why can't we learn to real
We keep tryin to make it look so nice
And we keep hidin' what's goin on inside
But what if I share my brokenness
What if you share how you feel
And what if we weren't afraid of this crazy mess
What if we were real
You've got to be real
You've got to be real
You've got to be real
You've got to
You've got to
Na,na,na,na,na,na,na
Na,na,na,na,na..
So here is to more authentic, real, writing and sharing. Blessings to you and yours,
Trina
My boys LOVE muffin tin meals! I don't know what is so fun about eating a meal out of muffin tin meal, but it adds a lot of excitement to lunch at our house! Lunch is not my favorite meal of the day anyways, so whatever I can do to spruce it up is fine by me. I find lunch can become boring and mundane, even for me. I am not really a sandwich kind of gal, unless it is loaded with all the yummy veggies like at Subway or something. So I try to make a muffin tin meal at least once or twice a week. I don't always add anything too spectacular or even introduce new foods too often, I just enjoy presenting it this way. I do like offering six foods with a lot of them being fruits or veggies. Here are a few we have had recently that the boys devoured.
In this meal I served carrots, cottage cheese with sprinkles, turkey deli meat rolled up, grapes, pretzels, peanuts for CA and craisins for JP.
Then one afternoon I served this snack while I cooked dinner. They loved it! They ate delicious golden apple slices, round crackers, carrots, and grapes.
Feel free to check out other awesome Muffin Tin Meals here:
I found this today on another awesome blog and I thought I would share! I want to be intentional and meaningful with my words to my family. Lately I have been trying to praise the boys specifically when I see them doing something praise worthy. I printed this awesome list so I can post it somewhere in my home where I will see it and use it often. I thought I would share it with all of you just in case you like it too!
Hello Fellow Blogger Followers and Readers,
If any of you are still there, I am still here! We have had a wonderful, busy summer diligently working on our 2012 Summer Bucket List. We have enjoyed a lot of family time together and are now gearing up for the Daddy to return to work and for the Fall.
We enjoyed an amazing double rainbow one night.
Celebrated that TC is now 3 months old! I love this picture as CA is waving at me and barely holding sweet baby brother! Oh my sweet boys!
My three treasures and biggest blessings! Melt my heart!
We also enjoyed our first family vacation to Colorado! It was a ton of fun! Stay tuned for more pics soon!
I have a lot more on my heart and head to blog about but to be real honest, today was a hard parenting day and I am one tired mama and need to join my sleeping family. Toodles for now! Please visit me again as I do plan to blog more often asap!
Hugs,
Trina
One of the things I wanted to do this summer was to make ice cream sundaes at home together! So I bought our favorite ice cream and all the sundae toppings I thought my boys would like! We had Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, m and ms, chocolate chips, and cherries! I let the boys build their sundaes themselves. We don't keep ice cream and a lot of sweets in the house so this was a huge treat. We had my parents over for dinner and had this for dessert. The boys were so excited they told Nana and Papa that we were making ice cream sundaes the moment they walked in the door. It was a lot of fun!
Daddy and the boys building their sundaes!
JP liked the m and ms and cherries!
Nana and Papa enjoyed holding baby brother while the big brothers made their sundaes!
We are diligently working on completing items off of our Summer Bucket List. One of the things we've wanted to do is to participate in the Kids Bowl Free program.
You can learn more about it my clicking on the picture below. But here is a summary for you: Select bowling centers and schools around the country are
participating in the first ever Kids Bowl Free program. This
program is designed by bowling centers to give back to the
community and provide a safe, secure, and fun way for kids to
spend time this summer. Children whose age does not exceed a limit by a participating
bowling center are eligible to register for 2 free games a day,
all summer long, courtesy of the participating bowling centers.
The Daddy helping CA.
The Daddy coaching JP.
Bowling with my boys!
We had a blast! It was so fun! This was a fun indoor activity to do on a hot day! We did have to pay for the shoe rentals, but the games were free! A fun savings! Another mama I met at the bowling alley shared with me that she bought her kids bowling shoes at Academy Sports. She bought them one size up and allowed her kids to wear two pairs of socks so that they can wear them this summer and next summer. Smart tip! We might be heading to Academy soon. :)
