Spaghetti-O's!

Gotta love spaghetti-o's night! Tanner and Carson are great eaters! Can't you tell he is thoroughly enjoying them? Ha!
We have been told that boys can eat, ours are only 1 and 2, and I hit the grocery store to refill on just the basics: bread, milk, and fresh fruit and veggies about 3 times a week! I'm nervous for the teen years!

Tanner goes swimming!

On Memorial Day, Matt, Marie, and I took the boys swimming at a neighbors house. It didn't dawn on me until I was getting in the pool with Tanner that this was Tanner's first time in a swimming pool! I guess we have been extra cautious since his tubes surgery! He absolutely loved it! I picked up this floatie at a garage sale for 50 cents months ago...it was perfect! Matt taught Carson how to hold onto the side of the pool wall and walk his hands down the side. He picked up on it super fast, and all of their "pool wall" talk came in handy at Carson's first swimming class days later! Daddy takes Carson on a "dolphin ride"! So fun!

The Mommies Musical

I found out about The Mommies Musical through a kids consignment event I was apart of a few months ago. It had great reviews and looked like a fun Mommy's night out. A few of my girlfriends were excited about it too, so we all got tickets and planned a great night out. The musical was extremely hilarious and very therapeutic to laugh (and cry!) about our biggest joy in life - being a Mommy! After the musical we went out to Houlihan's for dinner and enjoyed our meals all to ourselves and the adult conversation! :) Can't wait for our next Mommy's night out!

Splash pad!

The boys and I couldn't wait to try out downtown Winter Garden's new splash pad! We invited our friends Landon and Chandler along for an afternoon of splashing. The boys took off through the middle of the fountains instantly! Chandler Rae stood back and watched for a bit. She was adorable in her new bathing suit! Landon and Carson ran all over the place. They had so much fun running in and out of the fountains. Our little water baby TT was SO excited about the water! We laughed as he would completely drench himself in the fountains and thought it was so much fun. Good thing he had extra tight ear plugs in!
We are so excited summer is here and can't wait for more splash pad fun!

End of the Year Small Group Party

We wrapped up another amazing year with our high school small group on Sunday night. This year we have had such a great group of kids. We spent the majority of our year together going through the book of Revelation, and we were pleasantly surprised when they would show up each study eager to discuss what they had read and ask all kinds of questions. It really made for a fun year for Matt and I! A party with our high schoolers wouldn't be complete without food! I have learned that especially the boys in our group...they can eat up LOTS of food! :) So I went with 3 full pans of baked ziti, salad, and garlic bread. What's great about this group is how close they all are. The majority of them hang out at school and church and our house is full of laughter when they all are around! The girls are quite the bakers. They brought cupcakes, brownies, and cookies. Carson's favorites!
Matt can easily revert back to his teen years when the boys are over. The boys have been into making "spud guns" (very interesting, right?) but they don't just shoot potatoes out of these guns, they shoot whatever they can find and decided to set up a little game in our backyard. They were attempting to shoot small corks at these boxes sitting on top of Matt's canoe.
Laura and Alex watch from our boys playset... But after getting fussed at by our next door neighbor after a piece of cork flew into his yard, we decided it was time to go inside and play another favorite...SPOONS! This year we have had 3 senior girls in our group. They have been in our group for a few years actually, and we will miss them so much! Matt and I feel so blessed to have been apart of this group this year!

Orlando Science Center

The summer heat has definitely arrived! It's sad to say but our days outside at the park are very limited. We decided a few weeks ago that getting the family pass to the Orlando Science Center would be a good investment! There is plenty to do at the science center which makes it great when we visit at least once a week. This past weekend we went together as a family. We were excited to participate in craft time, something we've never done before at the science center. Carson was actually very interested in making a stained glass window craft.
Tanner walks all over the place! He especially likes the farm animal section and the under the street walkway. Carson loves to look at the fish and stingray aquarium. Infact, last time I took the boys to the science center, Carson walked too far ahead of me and I found him a couple of minutes later (long enough to put a mother in a complete panic attack) over by the aquarium. "See the fish Mom!" We also had another first...the IMAX theater! Unfortunately, after this picture was taken and the movie began, Carson got a little scared and shouted "Time to go! Time to go!" We made our way to the very top of the theater and hung out by the exit doors so Carson could get used to the sound. Eventually he started to enjoy the movie about animals. It was cute! The popular exhibit, Curious George, has been at the OSC for over a month now. It will move it's way out next week but we've been several times to enjoy this fun exhibit!

Serving Journey through the Decades!

Our annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner was this past Friday night at our church. All staff and volunteers were asked to come dressed up in your favorite decade! Our family was mixed! The boys were dressed in 50's, Matt went for the 90's grunge look, and I was dressed mixed in a couple of different decades...haha.
Journey went all out making sure everyone enjoyed themselves and felt appreciated for their service. They had different food stations set up for each decade.

The best part of the night was everyone having a blast doing karaoke! Alot of our friends went up, including Amanda and a friend singing Britney Spears! Awesome! The entire event was completely kid friendly which made it enjoyable for Matt and I. Carson and his best friend danced all night! A little break dancing... What a fun night!

Time to get creative...

With our growing family, Matt and I have had to get a little creative with the use of space in our house lately. Recently we painted our kitchen from the taupe color we chose when we first were remodeling, to a much brighter color - yellow! We decided it was time for our table for two in our eat-in kitchen to go. We listed it on Craigs List Saturday morning, and within 2 hours, we had a buyer and our cute little before kids table was carried away! We have turned our eat-in kitchen space into a creative space! Carson was thrilled with his new painting grounds!

We've put out playdoh, coloring books, paint, chalk, and a toys basket for Tanner. This has worked really well in the evenings when I'm cooking dinner, the boys have an area to play where I can keep a close eye on them. Oh the things you get excited about when you have kids! :)

Shutterfly project

I'm excited to share Tanner's thank you cards for his birthday party with you. In sharing this project, I will receive $10 off my next shutterfly order!

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Backyard Fun

Now that Tanner is walking, the boys have a blast together outside in our backyard. Tanner has discovered the sandbox, but doesn't know how to get in it just yet! Carson will say "Come on Tanner" and take him around to do different things. Guess they found something interesting to look at! Tanner loves to watch Carson from the top of our playset. He also loves being helped down the big slide! Cute brothers playing together - I love it!