Mini Sessions

Our favorite photographer was doing a "Mommy & Me" mini session back in May, and I knew instantly that I wanted to have pictures made with my kiddos for my Mother's Day gift! I wanted to capture some candid moments with my sweet babies. The session was fabulous, we love Kimberly! She was able to get some sweet shots and was so great! As soon as my pictures came in Kyle said he wanted pictures with his babies too! And so we had pictures of Kyle and the kids for his Father's Day gift. They all turned out so wonderful!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Run or Dye 5K

Several months ago I heard about this super duper fun 5k and just knew that I wanted to do it. I've always wanted to get into running and do a 5K (and maybe a marathon) and I thought this would be a fun one to do for my first 5k. I wanted something relaxed, where I could go at my own pace and enjoy myself. Run or Dye was just that! It isn't timed and was such a blast! Everyone was super nice and happy and it was just a great atmosphere. I told my sister about it and we decided to do it together. I was super pumped to have my little sis join me!

The kids and I went the day before to pick up our packets and swag bags! We each got a back pack, t-shirt, a bag of dye, a couple of temporary tattoos, bracelet, and then I bought us more dye and some sunglasses.

 

We got up super early and headed down to the train station. I kept asking myself why I was up so early on a Saturday....why did I wake my kids up 2 hours earlier than they normally wake up? Why was I going to run/walk 3ish miles? Why did I think this would be fun? And I paid for this? What was I thinking?!?

Anyway, so we rode the train to Fair Park...which was fun until about 5 stops before Fair Park...by the time we got to our stop there were approximately 5321 people on our little section of the train. Like for realizes..so.many.people. And we had a double and single stroller to try and maneuver. Fun times. So we made it and headed to the starting line.

The people. Oh.the.people. I have no idea how many people were doing this 5k, but I saw peeps with numbers 0138 and peeps with number 84567.....so yea. At the starting line they sent groups of 500-700 people every 5 minutes for about two hours.

They had a DJ at the starting line and people were singing, throwing dye, laughing, and just generally having a great time. Once the race started they had dye stations every half mile where people would throw dye on you. It was so fun. I knew it would be, but had no idea how much fun. It was nice to step outside my role as Mommy and just do something for me. I had some fun one on one time with my sis. My days are spent with little kids, and all that comes with that and I sometimes forget that I'm also a 27 year old woman who needs some time to myself! I love my days at home with the kids, but it was nice to get some time to do something fun with my sister.

 

 

 

 

 





Before & After
 







My sweet friend Whitney!

 

 

My two guys!

WE DID IT!!!

 

 

 

After the race we went out to eat and then headed to downtown Grapevine where we shopped, grabbed fro-yo, and enjoyed the square.

All cleaned up

 

Bushel & A Peck

Finley just finished her first year of dance! She had a spring recital on Saturday and danced to "I love you a bushel and a peck." She loved going to dance and loved Mrs. Lisa!! She start back up in the fall along with little sister.


Here is my girl on her first and last day of dance! Wow she has really grown up since August!

 

Here is the end of year gift we made for Mrs. Lisa. I had to go to three different fast food restuarants to find the right drink holder but  many weird looks later I was successful! Thanks Taco Bueno! I filled a mason jar with bird seed and glued a dollar store bird nest on top, bought a cute tumbler and filled it with drink packets, filled the carrier with tissue paper, wrapped it in craft tape, added a flower, and wrote a note on a paint strip that was in my purse...and had Finley sign her name! Super cute...I got a ton of compliments on it at class from the other moms.

 

 

 

 

A few months ago I saw this super cute thing on Pinterest and just knew I had to do it for my kiddos. I bought this book on sale at Target and will have every teacher, coach, etc sign it for Finley and give it to her once she graduates. Since we plan on homeschooling I wanted to include dance teachers and coaches so it's not just a book with notes from me! So Mrs. Lisa was our first teacher to sign it. I'll get books for the other two kiddos once they start dance/sports.

 

 

 

Finley in her costumes ready for pictures!

 

 

 

My girl & me in our matching recital t-shirts. They have the names of all the dancers on the back.

Getting ready to perform!

Finley and her dance friends.

Finley was so happy that Grandma came to watch her!

Finley with Grandma and Mrs. Penny--a sweet family friend--who also came with Grandma.

Grandma asked Finley to sign her program since she is such a star!!

Mimi, Papaw, Aunt Sissy, & Uncle Ben sent Finley flowers and balloons!

 

Loved watching our girl shine!!!

 

 

 

Lenny & Lemonade

I don't think I've ever done a blog post on our pets! So here goes! For Rowynn's 2nd birthday my parents and sister and brother-in-law got Rowynn a pet guinea pig and a few days later we bought a beta fish. RoRo LOVES all things furry and crawly. She gets so giddy over animals, is always collecting rollie pollies, and loves any kind of animal. ANY.KIND.


So here is Lenny the Guinea. He is so playful and sweet. He loves apples, spinach and carrots, squeaks when he is happy or hungry, loves to be petted, and is huge!! We really need to get him a bigger cage so he can get more exercise. The girls love feeding him carrots and petting him. His cage gets messy super quick, so that's annoying, but still easier than a dog!

 

And Lemonade II...this is actually our third beta fish. Our first one, Bob, died a couple of months after we got him and Lemonade (the first), didn't survive over Christmas while we were away...his water got too cold! Oops! So the Sraders got Finley a new beta for her birthday!

We also get caterpillars each year and observe them turn into butterflies and I'd like to get Row a pet frog. We may soon have a small zoo!

My Little Artist & Sno Cones

Both of my girls LOVE to draw/paint/create and they have both gotten pretty good at it lately. Check out some of these great drawings!!!

Finley drew this cupcake!

Finley's Art
Princess & Flowers
She's all girl!

Kyle taught Finley how to draw flowers, such a good daddy!

Rowynn's Happy Face, she's gotten good!

 

 

 

The other day we took the kids to get Sno Cones. My favorite summer treat!