July & August--summer continues

How I thought I could fit everything into 1 or 2 posts, I'm not sure!!  Ideally I would blog all through the summer, rather than once it's all over.  .  .okay--but hindsight is 20/20--so moving on!!!

Had to throw this one in!  The 3 Amigos: Bryant, Molly, & Camden
They've been friends from the very beginning!!!

Okay so July--my GoPro gig ended up lasting through the month of July!  It was nice to make the extra money, stressful trying to find people to keep my kids.  I did learn that as much as I enjoy working, I am so thankful to be able to stay home and "hold down the fort"!!!  I feel like I said that in my last post, so we'll just leave it at that!!
Let's see--the first BIG catastrophe we had was that Evan fell and hit his head and had to get stitches.  .  .did I mention we were IN the doctor's office??  Yea, we were.  .  .did I mention I had an extra child with me??  Yea, I did.  .  .I thought I was staying calm, but I must've looked completely panic stricken b/c the NP that was helping me "STOP THE BLEEDING" offered to drive me and my children (loved the look on people's faces when I gave Sam's bday as 10/15 and Cam's as 11/7--they thought I was A-MA-ZING! to have children that close in age, even though, I'm pretty sure this is impossible) over to Scottish Rite and get us settled in!!  About 2.5 hours later we left with 6 stitches:

and a bracelet that stated: FALL RISK--well, NO DUH!!!!!!!!!  The bracelet was mainly just b/c of the meds they gave him to "calm him", but truly, I think I should have a shirt made for him.  .  .

Okay--so after this adventure the rest of July was pretty calm!!  We hit some birthday parties, hit the pool maybe once.  .  .(it's really a lot of work people), and then the week after the fall the boys went to stay in PTC with Nana & MoPa for the week!  This helped in so many ways, it was my last week at GoPro, and they were originally supposed to be staying with them anyways at the end of the week so we could go to Statesboro and Savannah for a Returning Warrior Workshop.  Camden had a great time, he was able to take private swim lessons which helped him so much with his swimming!  He's still not an expert, but HIS comfort level is higher and I truly think that is a good thing!!  Jason and I had such a great time on our weekend away!  We stayed overnight in Statesboro--we walked all around campus on Thursday--Georgia Southern has really come into it's own!!  I swelled with pride walking around and knowing that I went there way back when.  .  .GO EAGLES!!  The RWW was wonderful as well!!  I don't want to go into a lot of details, but to any of my military spouses who are dealing with a deployment--this workshop is  MUST DO!!  I think Jason and I have adjusted pretty well with his return to the civilian world, but it really opened up some "cans" that were maybe on the "backshelf" and I think made us feel comfortable dealing with them.  I can't say enough good things about our weekend!!  It also helps you to feel like you have a support system in place in case your spouse is ever deployed again.  .  .I don't like thinking about it, but I know it will more than likely happen. .  .Sorry no pics of the happy couple on our weekend away, some were taken, but we never got them!!!

The last week of July we went to visit my grandparents in Asheville!  We were actually supposed to go earlier in July, but we had to postpone b/c I was working.  It ended up working out fine, we had a nice visit.  We took the boys to the Children's Museum again (yes, I totally forgot my camera), and up to Weaverville to visit with Aunt Le!  I also had my Nana teach me how to make Mango Chutney!!  She makes it and it is SOOOOOOOO yummy!!!!  I'm so glad I learned to do it, it's not quite as intimidating as I thought it would be!

Me & Nana

 Me & Papa

The boys on their big wheels, you know, those things will hold an adult.  . .just sayin. .  .

So, our last week of summer we did some back to school shopping, went to see my MeMaw in Athens, and had a fun playdate at the bouncy with friends!  It truly was a great summer--I can't believe it's over and pre-K has started!!!  

Summer in a Post. . .or 2!!

Well, if you can believe it--summer has come and gone and I haven't had time for a single post!!  Right now, I have a second just to get started, I have lots of consignment things to tag!!  So I will start, and hopefully finish this post in a day or two--as a reader none of this matters to you, but if it's in here I will feel it looming and go ahead and take care of it instead of vegging in front of Big Brother!! :)  Our summer truly has flown right by--since there is much to tell, I will start with June, and then follow up with July and the one week of August that we had!!

Okay--it's Friday and I'm back to writing!!!  Okay so--June! Camden was able to go to 2 weeks of VBS, he went on an adventure of the 'High Seas' at SUMC, and saddled up for 'Saddle Ridge Ranch' at Mount Zion.  I was able to volunteer in the 4 year old class at Mt. Zion so in essence I played a "fly on the wall" and watched Camden interact and play with other kids.  Other than the KILLER stomach bug I came down with the second day it was a great week!

In between these 2 weeks we packed up and headed to good 'ol Huntsville!  It was Family Day for NMCB 24--now the last time I went to Family Day was pre-deployment, it was hot-I was pregnant, knew no one, had a 2 year old to chase around, and had to sit in meetings regarding living wills, and power of attorney, etc.  .  .This time was different--it was still HOT!!  However, there were no meetings-just fun!  Also, I was able to catch up with some of my friends that I made while the guys were deployed!  Much different the 2nd time around, I just wish they would do it a little earlier in the year so it's not so HOT!!!!

Daddy at work (he's the one in the camo.  .  .)

This face paint lasted about.  .  .30 seconds!!  He wanted it so bad, then realized he was bringing attention to himself and people were looking at him, so it had to come off. . .

While we were in Huntsville, we decided to take the boys to the Air & Space Museum.  Thanks to the Military discount, we all got in for F-R-E-E--FREE!  I was so glad, b/c really they are probably too young for it, but we needed something to do!!!

Mommy and her boys!!

Ready to BLAST OFF!!!

I don't know why--but I just love this picture!!

The last week of June I went back to work.  .  .yep--that's right--I went back to help fill in at Go Pro!  Sometimes it's nice to do something different--it was nice to make a change for a while, but I'm really glad that I'm able to be home and close to my boys!!  I really enjoy being involved with them and their school and activities--and if I was working full time outside of the home I know that's something I just wouldn't be able to do in the capacity that I want to do it!!

So--the next post is JULY and AUGUST--wonder how long that will take me to get to?? :)

It Happens. . .

and by "it" I mean S&*%--I'll just go ahead and let you know that if you can't handle discussions of poop then stop reading now.  .  .

OKAY--I think I've given everyone a chance to exit if they feel necessary--now it's time for me to just have my say for a second, after all-it is MY blog!!

Summer is in full swing and with summer comes long afternoons at the pool with the kids--or sometimes early afternoons, but never mornings b/c if you go in the morning what will you hang over their heads all day to get them to behave???  This post isn't about that though--this post is about POOL CONTAMINATION.  .  .

Our neighborhood pool has been opened since a week or so before Memorial Day--since it opened we have had 2 incidents of POOL CONTAMINATION--now I'll be the first to admit that it is inconvenient to have to pack up and leave, or to have your plans cancelled due to poop in the pool--but let's be real here people, it's an ACCIDENT!!  People don't go to the pool thinking, "My kid is mostly potty trained so let's just see how they do without a swim diaper on today"--they take their potty trained kid to the pool and that kid has an unfortunate accident!  This doesn't make the parent in charge irresponsible, or dumb-it makes them a parent who's child had an accident.  If your child was potty trained would you put them in a swim diaper...just in case??  NO YOU WOULDN'T --SO BACK OFF.  Mom's of toddlers don't automatically decide to double up a child's swim diaper b/c they might poop and it might seep out.  If that was something that was necessary shouldn't the manufacturers correct that problem--rather than make us use 2 swim diapers (those suckers are pricey).  .  .and honestly rubber pants are not easy to find (I know, I looked today) so why would we buy them on the off chance that there may possibly be an accident at some point??

Okay--so I know what you are thinking, and I promise IT WASN'T ME!!  However, I feel bad for the moms that it did happen too.  Maybe it's just that it's so easy to vent these days and have everyone see it thanks to Facebook, but when the poop hit the pool the s*&^ hit the fan so to speak and these ladies were basically crucified for all to see.  I just want to remind everyone that it could happen to you--if you have a infant, toddler, preschooler, etc--swim diapers leak and children have accidents (potty trained ones have accidents too)--keep this in mind when you are talking about how dumb people are and criticize their parenting skills because their child had an ACCIDENT. .  .the next ACCIDENT could be one that your child has.  .  .

18 months

WOW--where does the time go!  I can hardly believe my MonkeyMan is already 18 months old!!  Well, technically he was 18 months old a couple of weeks ago, but I held off on this post so I could post his stats from the doctor!

WEIGHT: 24lbs 13oz (32%)
HEIGHT: 32 1/2" (51%)
HEAD: 19" (61%)

As you can see--still a pretty big head!!  He was healthy as a fiddle, which is good considering he was just at the doctor Friday with an ear infection.  .  .and he woke up this morning with a fever.  .  .I swear we've been to the doctor once a week for a couple of months!!  The doctor's only concern is that he has NO words!  He downplayed it a bit for me I think, I told him he understands us and can identify his family, etc--he just doesn't really want to talk back yet.  .  .there's plenty of time for that!!  Anyway, he gave me the number for Baby Can't Wait--I'll probably call when we get back from Huntsville.

Here are some more interesting tidbits:

Nickname: MonkeyMan or The Evanator
at 18 months you are into EVERYTHING--so active!!  I can't take my eyes off of you for long, if I do you will have crawled on top of the kitchen or dining room table, thrown everything in sight into the trash can, fed the dog anything you can find, or splash in the toilet!!  It's safe to say "The Evanator" suits you well!!
You are a very happy baby, though you do have a witching hour around 5 and you want to be held, and held, and held--and I can't just sit down, I have to walk around b/c that's what you want.
You are very good about playing with your toys, your favorite at the moment is your Fisher Price cash register--it's a retro one and one that Mommy always wished she had when she was little!!  You actually do quite well with it and you can sit and play with it for hours. .  .okay, it's more like minutes--but do you know what I can get done in that 15 minutes??
You don't like for anyone to feed you, from the time you discovered utensils you have wanted to feed yourself--and I let you, you actually do quite well!
I would say your favorite food is bananas or yogurt.
You LOVE the water!!  There is no fear at the pool--we put you in arm swimmies and let you go!!  Well, not completely b/c you do have a heavy head and it tends to make you a little top heavy--but you love to kick and splash.
You love to play chase, and you LOVE to dance!!
You also really love your brother--when I say "come on Evan, let's go get Camden from school" you squeal and run to the garage door!!

MonkeyMan--you've got a personality like no other!!  We love you more than you will ever know!!

Your Favorite Shoes:

YAY for a Successful Dinner!!

So, if you check out my blog list over on the right hand side of this blog you will see that I read several cooking blogs!!  For the first time today I finally tried a recipe (actually 2 recipes) off of one!!  I'm so thrilled that I had success I thought I would share!!

The first thing I tried was the Buttermilk Ranch Dressing--I am a big fan of ranch dressing, especially homemade.  We have our own personal preference of ranch dressing in the Conner household, it's the one I grew up with, but I thought I would give this one a whirl!  It really is very good--nice and creamy and I made it with lowfat mayo and lowfat buttermilk to help knock down some of the fat.  I will warn you that it has 1/8 of a tsp of Dill--Jason is not a huge fan of dill so I'm not sure I'll be able to trade out our old dressing, but I will use this recipe again, maybe I'll even try it without the dill (or maybe he won't read my blog and won't notice, but it's a pretty strong flavor in the dressing)!!  Camden LOVED it!!!

The next recipe I tried was the Spicy Honey Chicken--the boys LOVED it!!  Now they suggest using chicken thighs, but I used regular old chicken breast and it turned out great!  I only cooked one pack of chicken, so I mixed up the rub as instructed and saved 1/2 of it for the next time.  Before realizing what I was doing I put all of the honey mixture on the chicken (I should've cut it in half)--but it turned out just delicious!!  I paired it with brown rice, and steamed broccoli and carrots--CAN YOU SAY CLEAN PLATES???  Camden even went back for MORE chicken!!  It is not "spicy" as in "hot", it's "spicy" as in a lot of spices!

Don't you love when you find a good recipe and your family just chows down?!  I sure do--this has given me inspiration!   I'm going to start my "try one new recipe a week" tradition!  It usually doesn't last long, we get so busy--but if I can get a few more recipes to throw in the mix it's totally worth it!!!

Have a great week!!