Lovin' It

This week I am loving all kinds of stuff, tangible and intangible.

-Productivity!  Man, I have gotten some stuff done this week at work.  I read somewhere that simply looking forward to vacation can increase productivity.  Well I am a testament to this idea.  While my trip next week isn't exactly a vacation, I can't wait to get away to a cooler climate with my loves!  I guess knowing I'll get a break from the heat and the grind has given me some extra "go getter" this week.  And I'm loving it...I wonder if I take every other week off if I would get the same amount of work done.  I think this could be a legit experiment, but I will need multiple specimens to examine.  I'm sure my SIL would be willing to sacrifice a little of her time at work, as well as my sister Stacie. ;)

-Ballet Flats!  These are the latest addition to my collection.  Chocolat Blu Chloes, by far the softest leather these cute little feet have ever been in!  Regularly $98.00 and I got them from Rue La La for $39.99.  Perfect to walk around NYC come September!

-Country Music!  I've always loved country music mostly the classics, you know Willie, Waylon and the boys, Johnny, Merle, Patsy.  But here lately I have taking quite the liking to some of the newer singles cycling through iHeart Radio.  Andrew and I have been jamming out to some Dirt Road Anthem, You Lie, Mean, and of course his Daddy's ringtone Honeybee!

-Tostitos Multigrain Scoops!  We had "Nacho Night" Sunday and I spotted these at our local Albertsons and "scooped" them up.  They are bite sized deliciousness and went great with the BBQ pork and brisket toppings Drew and Denny fixed.  Try them, you won't regret it!

-Philip Treacy Hats!  My quest continues for the perfect Derby hat.  And my heart is all a twitter for Philip Treacy...well at least for his hats.  You may have seen a few of his pieces at the royal wedding seen here.

I know right?!  Aren't they fabulous?!

-62 Degrees!  That is the low next week in the Mile High City.  (Insert my Mama's OOOOOW! OOOOOW! When she's talking about cool weather!)  Goodbye, 93 feels like 103 and 117% humidity and hello to the Westin in Westminster!:  (Try not to hate me too much.)

-Swimming Lessons!  I think I have enjoyed Andrew's swimming lessons as much as he has.  There is nothing like the feeling of pride while watching your child learn something new, build confidence, and improve at something.  This is exactly what I have felt everyday while taking Andrew to his lessons.  I am reveling in the "Do-Dah's watch this!" and the "Did you see me do that?!"  It has been so much fun for us both, he wants to stay and swim after every lesson and he's already pretty bummed that tomorrow is his last day.

Andrew's goggle face, he just will not let me loosen them!

mmmm...love him so much.

-Amazon!  So my Kindle suddenly decided to get stuck on the screen saver and none of the troubleshooting tips worked.  So what did Amazon do?  Sent me another one!  I called on Tuesday and here I am registering my new one, just in time for our trip.  Amazon, you rock!

So tell me, what are you loving this week?

Getcha Nails Did

I started my weekend a little early yesterday and headed over to my favorite nail salon, TT Nails, for some hand and foot pampering.  I tried two new things while I was there:

1.  Nail Art.  I'm not much on my nails having a lot going on other than a bright color during the summer but the girl next to me had the cutest toes so I said "What the heck!"  And walked out with this. 

While they're different and I like them a lot I don't see myself giving up my usual OPI Cajun Shrimp or my China Glaze Outrageous very often.  But they are definitely FUN for now! :)

2.  CND Hybrid Shellac Nail Polish.  It's a hybrid between plain ole nail polish and gel, said to wear for 14 days without cracking, and my favorite part NO dry time! Read more about it here Get Shellaced!  I'll let you know if it holds up to its 14 day hype.

Lovin' It

• Crystal Light On the Go.  Specifically the raspberry-lemonade flavor.  It brings a smile to my face and a pucker to my lips!

•  My reusable tumbler.  I pretty much carry it with me everywhere...to mix my Crystal Light in. 

 

• Only 8 more days until we'll be exploring the Rocky Mountains, watching the Braves play, and lots more in Denver.

 

• Papa Murphy's take home and bake pizza.  It's so easy to pick up on the way home from swimming lessons, Andrew loves it (but not as much as he loves his Daddy's homemade BBQ chicken pizza, he says it's even better than CPK's!), and it's YUMM-Y!

• My kindle.  I love this little gadget!

• This picture.  I first saw it in July's edition of Popular Science, I thought it was pretty amazing.  During last summer's floods in Pakistan millions of spiders took to the trees for refuge.  The result being silk covered trees.  Pretty spooky!

Like a Fish to Water

Today, Andrew started swimming lessons!  He was pretty nervous/excited about it, but he was a big boy and when they called his name marched off to meet his teachers....then about 3/4 of the way to his group he turned around and did the "bird run" back to give us goodbye kisses.  I guess his teacher, Miss Courtney, felt a tug at her heart strings (I mean how could you not) because as we were leaving she caught us and said that they don't normally let parents stay but we could stay and watch from the observatory upstairs.  So of course we stayed!  We snuck upstairs to watch our little man.  He did great, of course!  He was so brave, he kicked hard and straight, let Mr. Steven dunk him, and even put his head underwater to blow bubbles.  There we're only 3 kids in his class and two teachers so he got plenty on one on one instruction.  Drew and I can't wait to see his improvement in 8 days.  When his class was over, he wanted to stay just a little bit longer...whew what a relief!  We are so glad he liked it!

On our way home he was of course starving!  He ate two ribs, a piece of pizza, a half link of sausage, a whole plum, two pieces of sugar toast (thanks Aub for creating a sugar toast monster!), a root beer, and finally before bed a mini-chocolate milk protein shake!  Holy moly!

Tangent Notice:  While he was eating his ribs, Andrew asked where the "stick" came from in the meat.  I half laughed (not sure how he was going to take the next tid-bit of info) and told him that it was a bone, a pork rib bone.  "What's pork?" A pig, and I showed him where his ribs were.  He looked at Drew and I for a minute and then busted out laughing, "Ahhhahaha! You mean I'm a meat eater?!  A meat eater like T-Rex?!  I can't believe it, I ate a chicken and a pig today!  Hey Dad, can I eat another pig rib?! Ahahhaha!"  

We're still laughing about it now...man I love that kid.

Fourth of July at the Bay

Friday night Denny and Drew headed down to the Bay St. Louis camp, so they could wake up early and build some shelves in the lower storage room for Poppy & Willie.  Saturday morning, Andrew, Brady, Sandy, and I drove down to meet them and spend the weekend.  We had a blast!  The boys were connected at the hip all weekend.  Brady even convinced Andrew to try some shrimp...which he now asks for daily!  They fished, the played Ben 10, they swam, they rode rides at Crab Fest, watched the fireworks, had a water balloon fight- definitely a fun filled weekend.  Come Monday I was worn slap out!

An Evening Boat Ride:

 Andrew, Mrs. Sandy, and Brady

Daddy's little fisherman!

"Camps" on the coast and on the rivers in Louisiana are very far from anything "camp" like.

 

 Poppy & Willie's Camp

 I love this one because it's round!  

Probably not fun to build, but definitely interesting.

 Another one of my favorite camps!

Fishing Around:

 Brady and Bud fishing in the canal.

I think they were hoping to see the 6 foot gator that hangs out there from time to time.  Wildlife & Fisheries has yet to catch him...maybe they should call Troy and he'll choot 'em!

 

 Fishin' in the dark!

Golf-Cart Parade!

 Andrew was working his charm!

 

Neighborhood Covered Dish:

Bay Cove had a covered dish dinner for the whole neighborhood so Denny & Drew whipped up a jambalaya and we headed on over to meet the neighbors.  There's nothing like a little Southern hospitality.

Watermelon head!

 

 Food for days!

Fireworks!

 The boys oooh and aaaah (and so did I) for over an hour!

Now that is ALOT of fireworks!

 From us to you, we hope you had a great Independence Day!

A little joy in July!

Andrew and I are getting ready to head to the Bay to meet Daddy and begin our Fourth of July weekend with the beach, fishing, crab fest, good food, good friends, fun, fireworks and lots of LOVE!  We hope you all have a great weekend celebrating our great country.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell when we get back!

Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.  ~Louis D. Brandeis

 My handsome man!

Last night we made some Freedom Berries!

 He did an AWESOME job! 

(Like usual...)

And this morning was Chore Surprise Saturday!

 I'm so proud of him look at all those stickers!

"Well, even though I'm not 10 I like doing my chores, so I'm just going to keep doing them because its fun here."  

According to Andrew, chores aren't done in TN until your 10!

 

He's such a big boy, I can't believe how much he's grown this summer, both in height and as a person.  :)