We Heart Nonna

We were so excited Friday when Nonna came for a visit!  It was a beautiful day so we grabbed some cupcakes and headed to one of our favorite parks...

We spent the better part of two hours playing in the sunshine.  My kind of Friday afternoon...

The girls were so happy to spend some time with Nonna...

Unfortunately the temperatures dropped overnight and Saturday morning we had to bundle up for Carter's first soccer game.  The Thundering Herd will definitely be a force to be reckoned with this year (thanks Brenda for all the great photos)...

Carter is loving being on a team with quite a few girls from school and their sweet teacher Ms. Richter came to watch them play...

I love being a soccer mom.  It's definitely all it's cracked up to be and more...

After the game Carter and Nonna headed out for a little date just the two of them (Carter was thrilled)...

And speaking of date's, Nate and I got one as well!  Nonna hung with the girls and we took advantage (and I do mean advantage as in I think Donna may have worried we had run off to Mexico) of the free babysitting...

We spent the afternoon and evening with a couple of our favorite peeps...

After spending the week alone while Nate was in Hawaii for work (rough life I know) it was great to have such an A+ kind of weekend.  Happy Tuesday (aka day before Survivor)!

TEAM KIM GIVE-A-WAY!

Because it's Monday I'm giving away one official TEAM KIM t-shirt (you know you want one!)  But wait, that's not all...The winner can email me a photo and Kim will tell you what animal you are (she doesn't know it yet but I'm totally gonna' make her do it).  To enter head on over to SURVIVING KIM (CLICK HERE) to enter (and see all the "official" rules)...

TEAM KIM FOR THE WIN!

My Little Buttercup

She's about the sweetest thing you've ever met.  She says "yes ma'm", "thank you very much" and "go to the store and get some" about 100 times a day.  She sings, she dances and she's my favorite daily errand running until her sister gets home buddy.  She's my little buttercup and she has the sweetest smile...

She can also be quite a little toot.  So the other morning after I put her in her crib for a time out imagine my surprise when less than a minute later she came waltzing into the kitchen.  Yep, looks like we have a little escape artist.  So yesterday I  lowered her mattress to try to keep her contained just a little longer...

She busied herself with a book...

She's also been spending a lot of time on one of her new favorite activities, dress up.  She usually opts for princess dresses and crowns but today she found Carter's leotard and soccer shoes and insisted upon wearing them (I think it's safe to say that right now when Emme grows up she wants to be just like Carter)...

We also ran a few errands this morning.  Every time we park somewhere she say's, "Emme come too Mommy?!"  And I swear I've never left her in the car so I don't where she got the idea that she wouldn't be coming with me!  We had a few routine stops and our last one was the post office which just so happens to be next door to Central Market.  Someday when I'm rich I'm gonna' do my weekly grocery shopping there, but until then I'll settle for an occasional stop when I just need a "few things".  I stroll slowly so that I can enjoy the ambiance.  Today I decided to treat myself and splurged on a hanging basket full of succulents (it rode home underneath Emme's happy feet)...  

She insisted we get the one with the "purple flower" and I obliged her . I think sometimes buying something "just because" makes life a better place...

That and saltine crackers...

For some reason this week I have felt a little more aware of the sweet little everyday moments.  Like when Emme dances to the "gumdrop song"...

Sometimes the moments seem to fly by and when I glance back I feel this slightly panicky "I don't want to forget this" thing creeping up.  Truth be told I think that's why blogging resonates with me.  So in the spirit of remembering here's a few things that I have "forgotten" to post about lately.  


The weather seems to be on a bit of a roller coaster lately.  Cold or Hot?  It's having hard time making up it's mind.  We've been rolling with the punches and on one of our more recent chilly afternoons we bundled up for a walk...

I love being out and about with my girls.  I'm not going to pretend that I get the "racecart" every time we go to the grocery store (I would lose my mind).  But maybe that means when I give in it makes it all the more special...

Special is one of those words that I hope my girls will use when they look back at their childhood.  Special as in "we made homemade Valentine's"...

Or "my mom took me for an after school snack just the two us"...

Or special as in "I remember that one time she went on my class field trip and drew a worm on my lunch sack (who knows maybe it will be the little things they'll remember?)...

Little things like snuggling after an unexpected Saturday afternoon nap...

Sometimes it's good to look at all the "little" moments and remember that they can add up to one great BIG happy life.  I'm so grateful for that.  For good friends (we recently spent the evening celebrating Bryan and his birthday)...

For Chik-Fil-A ice cream...

For soccer stars in the making...

For the unexpected makeover I got during the Super Bowl that made me feel like a million bucks...

I'm grateful for all of it.  Because even though sometimes it doesn't seem like there is anything monumental going on from day to day it all adds up to some pretty great stuff.  And leaves me feeling...well...special.

No Shame

That's...

What...

I'm Talking...

ABOUT...

Watching last night's episode was a blast!  Carter gripped my hand tightly and we both held our breath for the better part of the immunity challenge.  Those girls are awesome and finally smoked the boy's (not once but TWICE)!

Kudos to the girls for sticking it out through what looked to be and I quote Kim, a "Horrendous" night.  I also love the fact that come morning there was no shame in putting their charm to good use and getting warm at the guys fire.  You know what else there is no shame in?  Beating the guy's twice.  Did I mention that already?  Oops.  My bad.

I think everyone loves a good underdog story (think David and Goliath or one of my fav's Rudy).  There is something about the Salani tribe that just makes you want to pull for them.  I might be wrong but I think I even saw a few of the guys on last nights episode smiling when the girls won.  It was pretty darn fun to see them pull together for a "W".  

So the boys headed to Tribal Council for the very first time.  Most of them were squirming in their seats but Bill appeared to have found some kind of happy pill out there in the jungle, that boy was trippin'!  Queen Colton and his band of misfits get a smiley face in my book for voting out Matt.  Good Riddance.  I'm not sure I could have handled much more of the ego...it's just too big for the small screen!  Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey heeeeyyyyy, gooooodbye...

Last night we celebrated Matt's departure by demonstrating the many ways you can wear a buff...

Joel goes with the Sahariane...

Bryan went with the Pirate...

Although he's also a BIG fan of the Balaclava...

Kim demonstrated the Blindfold technique we saw in last night's episode...

And Carter and Cayce went with the always popular tube top and mini skirt options...

I'm a Diadem girl all the way...

And a proud member of TEAM KIM FOR THE WIN!!


Oh, and speaking of TEAM KIM if you are more interested in missing all the "Beth and Co." family stuff feel free to follow SURVIVING KIM.  It's all Kim all the time (some duplicate posts but it's strictly survivor stuff)!