A New Day

A year ago I embarked on a new project of blogging.  It started off with inspiration from Pinterest and also doubled as a way for me to express myself during a year that involved much change.  It has helped me to cope with the loss of my mom and also to share with family and friends the miracle that is our Oliver. I started off with the goal of trying something new from Pinterest each week and blogging about it.  To that effect it was a major fail.  My energy and writing shifted from projects to just marveling at what my life has become.  A little boy has totally overtaken my life and my heart and these days that is what I love sharing.  So I accept the failure that was my goal of blogging about Pinterest projects. I still am completely in love with Pinterest and how it has changed the way I organize and decorate and cook but my writing has been so much more fulfilling when I have written about the adventures in this new life I have.  So with that being said I am putting to rest A Year on Pins and shifting to a new blog.  It's titled Dirt, Snails and Alligator Tails.  That's what little boys are made of afterall. I have always envisioned myself raising a brood of boys.  Maybe because I grew up in an estrogen filled house of 6 women.  However in execution I realize I know nothing about raising boys.  I hate dirt, bugs and anything icky.  I am deathly afraid of snakes, frogs, lizards and anything of the green scaly variety.  So here I am raising this boy and I know that my life is going to be filled with scary moments and dirt and snakes and other wiggly creatures.  I'm loving every minute of being out of my comfort zone and I want to share this life with you.  So thank you for reading my first blog and I hope that you will continue to join me on my journey and read my new blog which you can find here: Dirt, Snails and Alligator Tails

Enjoying Summer

Just a little blog post to let you all know that we are still alive and kicking around here.  We've been trying our best to enjoy every bit of summer, no matter how hot it gets and how little rain we have. We've enjoyed visits from grandparents and aunties.  We've taken trips to Chicago.  It's hard to believe that the 4th of July has come and gone and that Labor Day is right around the corner.  We have a few more exciting trips and visits planned and among it all we've tried to sit back and relax a little too. I'm short on time and on eloquent thoughts so here is the first half of our summer in pictures.

 We were so excited to meet the newest addition to our clan, our buddy baby Jameson Caley.

I bring you an orange dry erase marker, the symbol of eternal friendship.

Fun with Grandpa Rekers.

Relaxation with Grandpa Lisk.

 We took a fun trip to Chicago. It was hotter than Hades so we made a short visit to the Bean and cooled off in the fountains at Millennium Park,

 and enjoyed pizza in the park.

 We've enjoyed water activities inside and out. Splash pads and bath time buddies make the best summer memories.

We have made sure to fit in lots of silliness.

 But it can't all be fun and games. A kid has got to start doing chores early.

We hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are. We're going to squeeze every last drop of goodness out of it. Next week Oliver will get to experience our family camping trip for the first time, we're praying for cool temperatures, no mosquitoes and lots of gooey s'more filled fun. Then we embark on what is becoming our annual Iowa trip.  Corey will be riding in RAGBRAI again and Oliver and I will be visiting grandparents and friends across the great state of Iowa that I will always consider home. We'll be off the grid for a while and we hope that you are enjoying your summer as much as we are.