Vacation, here we come!

We are headed for our annual family trip to spend the week at a favorite beach spot that has become a family tradition over the last several years!  With roof top decks, books, eating, laughing, talking, time at the beach, family adventures, more eating, games, movies, reading, sunsets... oh I just can't wait! 

I'm excited to unplug, unwind and and enjoy the time away with some of my favorite people!♥

It's getting very real...

Awhile ago we received a list of needed school supplies from Ryder's new school.  It brought this huge mixture of excitement and emotion, realizing that kindergarten was actually happening in the fall!

The other day we took our list to Target and checked all the supplies off our list.

 He picked out his back pack and I was SO excited that he went with something that can grow with him for a little bit...

 Oh this face!♥

His first day of school is coming so fast!  I just can't wait for all that this school year will hold for him!

A message to our Tustin Target~

I am SO SORRY for how things might have been a little disorganized when we left the school supply isle.  My three year old was in heaven playing in all the different items in the different bins and I was busy taking pictures of my big kid.  Sorry about that!

House projects can be like open heart surgery...

...you never want to walk in on the middle of it.

One of my first clinical rotations, I was able to observe open heart surgery, specifically: a quadruple bypass.  Watching the sweet patient from pre-op to recovery was an absolute, mind-boggling miracle.  But there was one point in the middle of the surgery that I thought, "If the family came in right now, there would be no way they would ever believe things would end up ok."   What you need is to trust your surgeon,  that he knows what he's doing and that he will leave things better than how they found them.  Now I know that is a dramatic analogy for house projects, but I can't tell you how many times during a house project or renovation that I have thought, "Kit knows what he's doing and the 'surgery's' not over yet..." I trust him when he says he knows what he's doing.  He has backed it up so many times...

Case in point: Mounting our TV and rerouteing some of our electrical outlets and wiring.

Here is what we started with:

Here is what I walked in on:

(Actually fairly minor for some of the house projects that we have done...)

Here's the finished product:

We spend so much time in this room and Kit has wanted to do this since we moved in. 

It feels nice to have this checked off the list.♥

framed nostalgia

When we got married, our "party favor" from our wedding was from a friend in Italy who hand crocheted doilies, tied in little bundles that contained Jordan almonds and an embossed card with our names on them.  It was incredible!

Italian translation for sposi: "to marry, to embrace, to wed, to be newlyweds"

I came across some extra cards at my parents house that she had given us and I really wanted to do something special with them.  Here is what I decided to do:

I placed it up in our bedroom, in our reading corner next to this ampersand I'd been eying for a while:

And here is the finished product:

Before:

After:
(Including my sweetest little helper...)

Every time I look at that corner of our bedroom, I remember what an incredible wedding day we had and what a beautiful beginning it was to our marriage.  I am so thankful for reminders that take me to places of joy and thankfulness in my heart, that wake me up to ALL that we have in this life that we get to share together... 
It's quickly becoming my favorite spot in our home!♥ 

bowling

This last week, we went bowling as a family.  It was Eden's first time and we really had fun!

 Final scores:

The kids can't wait to go again!

snapshots

You know when you have that moment that you wish you could just slow time down.  I don't want it to stop but you are enjoying it so much that you just wish it didn't have to end?  (We tend to feel this way when we are on family vacations...)  The kids are at fun (crazy)  ages and excited about everything.  I love the feel of our house right now and the home that we have been creating here and I just wanted to freeze frame little snapshots around the house, enjoying all the little things that are bringing so much joy to our family.♥

Remnants of making apple crisp...

...while the kids talked to me while eating their waffles.

 New metal galvanized letters on our message board:

(Yep, that room still has no furniture in it, so when I do something different on this board, it makes me feel like we are giving this little spot in our house some love...)

The kids love that there is an 'r' and an 'e' in RAE.  They both feel represented...♥

 The view from our kitchen window...

 ... and an up close look at our garden:

 Chili and cornbread on the stove:

(It rained and when you looked out the window, it felt like chili weather, until you actually walked outside and felt the balmy 90 degree weather and the 87% humidity...)

Eden not happy that Kit was not home yet:

(I told her I was texting him to double check where he was, then I snapped this photo.  The pout is real.  The bewitching hours are real...)

While Eden was sad, Ryder was enthralled with a new magazine that had come that day that kept him occupied for almost an hour:

I don't want to rush any of this... I want to soak it up! 

Every. Last. Drop.  

waiting...

One of the hardest parts of our day is waiting for Kit to come home.  It feels like it drags on forever for my kiddos, and lets be honest, for me too.  But one of the BEST things, is how close this house is to Kit's office.  

He tells us he's on his way, and instead of waiting for over an hour, its about 10-15 minutes until he walks in the door, and jumps in to all that we are doing at home.   My friends, I can not tell you what a gift that is...♥ These little guys love being on the look out once we get the call that he is coming.  

local tastiness...

As we have been here over the last year, we have had fun discovering little things about our little city.  One of our favorite things to find and research are the tasty places to eat! There are places that have become favorites that we have frequented many times and there are new discoveries that we are making, and each one leaves us with full, happy bellies!

The other night, we decided to grab tacos at one of our favorite little spots and then to try a new ice cream place that had just put in a new location near us.

 She LOVES spicy food, so having options on salsa makes her so happy!

Then off to Afters Ice cream:

 Next time we can't wait to get  a milky bun!

 Already a thumbs up!

 Oh these three...

 The flavors that we got were jasmine tea, cereal and milk, and cookie monster.

(Kit thought the jasmine tea was equivalent to eating potpourri flavored ice cream, but Eden and I loved it.  To each his own...♥)

 Guess who picked cookie monster?

Pure blue joy...