Lazy, Crazy, Hazy...Summer Daze

Lazy days 

mixed in with

Crazy days

mixed in with 

Hazy days

(although i have to say that we have been incredibly blessed with a not-so-miserably-hot summer)!

Henry David Thoreau once said

"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter."

...and I think we've done a pretty good job (so far) on fueling up for the winter! 

A trip to the ocean where we enjoyed sandy feet and salty kisses,

Climbing trees,

Mastering handstands,

Running a 5K Warrior Dash,

Devouring enough watermelon to feed all the 'starving kids in southeast asia'
(quote from Dirty Dancing, right?...which by the way, is a movie that my 5 year old is begging to watch),

Watching sunsets - beautiful, beautiful sunsets,

Relay for Life,

Singing cicadas - that are so loud, become deafening at times,

Picking flowers (and weeds) to put in vases,

Sunbathing (people watching) - their mother's children...

Catching critters - tadpoles, crickets, fish - and having tanks and cages all around the yard,

Riding bikes, practicing without training wheels,

Swimming,

Swimming,

and more swimming,

Catching lightening bugs,

Picnics,

Ice cream and popsicles in the backyard,

Cookouts,

Sprinklers,

Piano lessons

Watching storms roll in,

Listening to thunder,

Becoming mesmerized by lightening,
Making new friends,

Lake of the Ozarks,

The fair,

Riding rides, 

Cheese on a stick,

Sweet corn,

Water Parks,

water parks,

and more water parks,

Splash Parks,

Plucking and picking fruit,

Bare feet,

Late night walks,

Putting up pony tails

(my baby looks like a little girl)

**Just Loving Life**

What's been our favorite part about summer?

Kevin - Hanging out with the kids, taking the kids to the racetrack, going to Florida, going to the Ozarks.
Tracy - Driving through the country with the windows down, watching the fields twinkle with fireflies, and smelling the country air.  And, of course, spending time with my kids!
Makayla - Praciting riding my bike without training wheels.

Mason - Swimming in the pool.

Mia - Pool.

We're preparing for a camping trip this weekend, and then I think I can officially say that our summer will gently be winding down.

Whewie!

See this?

This is my living room right now.

"ugh" is right.

Ridiculous.

Embarrassing.

Real life.

Don't judge.

It may be messy, but at least it's "clean".  I have 4 bottles of Clorox wipes throughout the house and a can of Lysol on the counter 24/7.
(when i get overwhelmed by looking at the clutter in the house, i think to myself that my house must be clean and free of germs & dirt because my kids didn't get sick one single time this past year.  it makes me feel better to say things like that)

It's the clutter. 

I just couldn't keep up with it this week.

And I don't want to make excuses, but throw Kevin's working 3rd shift on top of our super busy schedule this week, and the clutter/toys/junk moves to the bottom of the list when it comes to priorities.

Let's start with Thursday (because that's as far back as I can remember)

Dance Class!
Makayla had her first lesson in dance.

*it was so fun to watch these cute, giggly, little girls*

Makayla joined a summer class of tumbling and jazz.  

After her first lesson, she was in love!  She loved the studio, she loved her teacher - Miss Audra, she loved watching herself in the mirrored wall, she loved getting a sucker at the end of class, she loved it ALL.  

...and now let's move on to Friday.

Relay For Life!

This is our 3rd year in participating and being a part of Logan County's Relay for Life and if I can help it, I'll never miss a relay.

(i've noticed since having three little kids, i can't keep up with the picture taking like i used to.  a few of these pictures are taken from a friend and wonderful photographer - ann.  thank you!)

Miss Makayla and KJ coloring with chalk.  This was right after Makayla and Mason got their faces painted - a ballerina on Mak's cheek and Spiderman on Mason's cheek.

 Our dear friend, Nicole, who has fought her own battle with cancer, played an important role in making this year's Relay for Life so successful...and Friday night, she did a very brave thing - she cut her looong locks of hair to donate to somebody in need.

She's a beautiful young woman.

Brave, inspiring, and selfless. 

We're proud of her.

...and now let's move on to Saturday.

St. Jude's Warrior Dash!

The Warrior Dash is a 5K mud run with 15-20 obstacles giving participants a dirty and extremely fun way to raise money for St. Jude.

It was an awesome adrenaline rush and 

totally & completely exhilarating to finish the race.

We are looking so forward to doing it again next year!!

I'm so thankful for the memories that were made on Saturday with my husband, brother in law, and sister in law.

...and now let's move on to today - Sunday.

Father's Day!

We started the day off with going to church and continued with the series "The Pursuit of Joy".  It was a good way to start the day.

Then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Curry's house for lunch and the kids got to play with their cousins - Tyler and Brennan.  Makayla had Tyler did a lot of playing "house".  Makayla was the baby and Tyler was the daddy.  It was cute.

Last year, I asked Makayla a few questions about her daddy and wrote her answers down.  This year, I asked the same questions to her again and I also asked Mason.

Note:  I did ask the kids separately so they couldn't copy answers.  It's apparent that their visits to the pet shop with daddy are important to them!

Dad - A son's first hero, a daughter's first love. 

Kevin is blessed!

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We've been busy.

Busy having fun.

Busy learning.

Busy enjoying life.

...and now I'm going to get busy picking up this clutter that has been staring at me for the past hour while I've been writing.

(although it drives me *bonkers* to have my living room looking like it does, 

dance classes, 

relay for life, 

running in the warrior dash, 

and celebrating father's day 

is a lot more important than making sure my living room is picked up and presentable)

In just a short while, we're going to head over to Grandma and Grandpa Allen's to end this beautiful Father's Day!

From Relay To Father's Day

Our weekend started out with Relay For Life and ended with Father's Day with

shopping,

eating and gaining weight,

visiting family from out of town,

falling and getting boo-boos and ouchies,

a birthday party for a one-year old,

swimming,

getting sweaty and dirty,

...and just having fun in between!

This was our second year for participating in Relay For Life.  It was just as amazing this year as it was last year - very fun and very emotional.  I won't go into as much detail this year as I did last year when I wrote about the relay, but you can definitely read about it by clicking here - The Tears At Relay - 2011, where I was a lot more detailed.  For an extremely quick recap this year, we remembered those we have lost to cancer, celebrated those who have beat cancer, and raised lots and lots of money to help those who are fighting cancer.  We walked, we clapped, we got our nails painted and our faces painted, ate lots of food, played with balloons, listened to the bagpipes, laughed, cried, and just had a lot of fun.  It was a beautiful night.

Throughout the rest of the weekend, we spent our time with family and friends.  We played hard and were on the go non-stop. 

...And then to end our weekend we had a wonderful Father's Day celebration. 

A great church service.

Lunch at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Dinner at our house.

Kevin worked hard all day Sunday smoking meat.  He smoked two different pork loins, a brisket, and ribs.  It was yummy and we had our wonderful family over to help us eat all of the delicious food, mingle, and celebrate Father's Day.  It was a beautiful night.

The moon was never so close as when I rode on your shoulders.

-unknown

The Tears At Relay 2011

Relay For Life 2011.

I was a hot, blubbering, wet mess last night. 

There's something about friends and family uniting, coming together for a purpose.  What I experienced last night is indescribable.  No words or pictures could do it justice.  Being there is something you just have to experience for yourself.  Being there to see everybody come together to set up camp and become family for one night. 

Compassion. 

Peace. 

Love. 

Support. 

And lots of tears.  Happy tears and sad tears. 

There's so much I love about Relay.  Let's start out with the the Survivor's lap.  The night started out with our teams lining the track.  (Our team, The Kangaroo Crew, raised over $2000!) Once all the teams were announced and lined up, the survivors gathered and took the first lap of the night, together, while the crowd cheered them on.  It was a sea of purple. 

They walked and we clapped. 

They held hands and we clapped. 

They cried and we cried. 

Like I said, I can't describe this event.  I was bawling.  Thank goodness, I held Makayla in my arms.  Distracting her and holding her helped me to keep my composure at a normal level!  Why was I crying so hard?  First of all, I was so happy to see so many people I knew walking around that track.  They are survivors!  My heart goes out to them for what they have gone through in their lives.  The pain, being scared, the fight.  But they are here and they are alive! I cried because I played the "what if" game.  What if I ever got cancer and ultimately it took my life.  I would leave my babies here on this Earth without their mother.  I thought about that and everything that goes along with that.  It made me stop breathing for a little bit.  Then I thought what if one of my babies ever got cancer.  I wanted to drop to my knees.  I squeezed Makayla a little tighter, cried a little harder, and thanked God for my life right here, right now.   I know a lot of people who have had and do have cancer.  I am also in the healthcare field.  I see cancer everyday.  It's real.  It's scary.  It happens and there's nothing we can do about it but fight, pray, hope, and believe.  So, during the Survivor's lap, my mind was busy!!  Although I was a crying mess, I wasn't the only one.  I'm sure there wasn't a dry eye in the building.  Seeing all of the purple shirts is your only clue that they are cancer survivors -- each one having their own incredible journey of recovering from, fighting or surviving cancer.

After the Survivor's lap, it was time to have some fun.

Makayla:  Mission Ready

Getting her face painted like a kitty cat. It was her first time getting her face painted and she loved it.  She was quite dramatic as it was being done.  Every time the brush touched her face, she dramatically jerked her back and blinked her eyes 50 times.  I was laughing so hard, I had tears rolling down my cheeks.   

 Notice the whiskers are smudged!  She scratched them immediately as she was getting out of the seat!

Mason just woke up from a 45 minute nap in his wagon.

This was actually a site to throw wet sponges at Bob's face.  After Makayla attempted her three throws, we just decided to get a picture of her as a kangaroo.

After a little fun of walking, playing games, winning prizes, eating, visiting, and laughing

...along came my second breakdown of the night.

The Luminary Ceremony

 All of the lights were turned out and the track was lit up with luminaries honoring those who have won their fight or are still fighting and remember those we lost.  The first lap was led with the bagpipe, playing "Amazing Grace".  That alone is enough to bring me to tears, but to add the reason why we were united together - to find a cure for cancer - made it even worse.  Thank goodness the lights were out.  After the lap of "Amazing Grace", there was a second lap of PURE SILENCE.  The luminary ceremony had an incredible impact.  Once again, I can't even begin to describe this and the feelings I had.

It feels good inside to know that, in some little way, my participation has helped improve the life and health of at least one cancer survivor - someone who struggles and fights for their life every single day. It's "that" feeling I get, that makes me want to participate in Relay For Life. 

It was a great time celebrating together and I hope that our efforts will one day make cancer a stranger to all of us...that we can one day raise our families in a cancer-free world.

We will be back again next year to celebrate, to remember, and to fight back!

I Love Sunny Days And Celebrating More Birthdays

Right now it's storming.  Nonstop rolling thunder with the pleasant scent of summer rain drifting through the house.  You know the scent of summer rain?  It's earthy, it's fresh.  I especially love it when big, fat raindrops fall on a hot pavement...the smell of warm, wet asphalt.  Maybe I love it so much because it's a smell that stays with me my whole life.  A smell that I love and a smell that's welcoming if it stays for only a short time.

Before the storm hit, this weekend was filled with sun and heat.  It was a weekend that drew us outdoors for the entire weekend.  A weekend spent at the parks, in the grass, at the zoo, picnic-ing, buying flowers to plant, and driving around with the windows down. 

We started our weekend garage saling and having a bake sale in the park. 

We love going to garage sales.  I'm always looking for clothes for the kids and Makayla is always excited to buy a toy.  This weekend we found a steal of a deal for Mason - a walker.  He loves it and really likes cruising around outside, making him feel like a Big Boy.

After our garage saling, we spent time in the park at the Farmer's Market.  We had a bake sale to help raise money for Relay For Life. 

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I know many people who already help with the fight against cancer, but if you are interested in donating money, please support me in my efforts by using the link below to visit my personal web page and make a donation. Every dollar raised brings us one dollar closer to a cure, and to a time when no one has to hear the words, "you have cancer." Thank you so much for your support. Together, we ARE saving lives and creating a world with more birthdays!

 Relay For Life

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 My hunny bunnies playing in the park:  Mason is cruising around in his walker and Makayla is swinging, climbing, and sliding.  She's running around playing hard and she got to spend a little time with her cousins. It was so funny to watch them play.  The girls have a very good imagination and spent their time playing house and school on the playground, while Kole spent his time running around red-faced and climbing over every piece of the equipment.  I love how they love each other.  I love the excitement and squeals that come from their little bodies when they see each other and spend time together.   

Today, we had fun at the zoo.  Aunt Nina joined us in our outing and the kids had a blast.  It's so fun and so exciting, as a mommy, to watch the growth of Makayla from year to year.  We've been taking her to the zoo since she was an itty bitty baby and each year she gets smarter and smarter with the animals and gets more and more drawn in to the scene.  She gets excited and asks questions.  I love it!  I love watching her grow and mature.  Next year will be the same way and I'll get to watch Mason as he gets more and more excited about the animals.

We had fun seeing zebras and giraffes, wearing masks, and petting the ponies.  It was a great trip and of course, we got to shop the gift shop and Makayla got to get a souvenir. 

I'm a believer in letting the kids pick out a souvenir.  We can always find a cheap souvenir that helps make the trip a little bit more exciting and helps to serve as a reminder of our fun times. 

She picked a "boy" toy and went home with a safari truck and a helicopter.  Recently, she's been into "boy" toys and last time we went to the doctor, she asked the doctor for "boy" stickers.  I'm convinced she's so into the "boy" scene because it excites her friends at daycare (which are all boys) more than a barbie or dolly would.

And that's the wonderful thing about family travel: it provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind.

-Dave Barry