6 Pictures, 6 Things

Random Pictures, Random Thoughts

IMG_4523

IMG_4889

food

davidkind2

davidkind

IMG_3915

IMG_3905

foods

IMG_5025

mosaics

1. I have super bad eye sight (like -6.25). I used to just wear my contacts daily, but I’ve been leaning more and more towards glasses lately to give my eyes a break. I will be honest and say, I do love my trendy, cheap eyewear but I’ve found that with constant wear they’re starting to feel stretched out and too big. They’re always sliding down my face. The lens aren’t the best either. They always feel like there is a slight film over them. I’ve been looking for something more high end and was excited when DAVID KIND eyewear approached me to try out their home try on service. You fill out a style questionnaire and then they’ll send you this lovely case of glasses to try on. What really caught my attention was their commitment to quality lenses. It really makes a difference for someone who is going to wear their glasses a lot. You should definitely try them out!! I loved almost all the glasses they picked out for me.

2. Ballet. Ballet. Ballet. Rowan loves ballet. We like to watch ballet videos on You Tube and Netflix and then dance along with them. Anyone know of cute ballet lesson type videos? She takes ballet but not during the summer and I think she misses it so much. How cute was she at her recital?

3. These mosaic kits (above) are like the best thing ever. They are made by a bunch of different companies and in a bunch of different styles but Rowan just loves them. She will sit for like an hour putting all the stickers on. It’s really cute and a total life saver on the plane! Here are a bunch we like on Amazon.

4. We’ve been keeping life pretty busy around here. I think it’s so we don’t sit around stressing about all the changes that lie ahead. Everything is done on our end for the foster care certification. We are just waiting on our social worker to finish writing our home study. Being in the limbo stage is weird and if I find myself sitting around too long, I start letting my mind wander to all the “what if’s”. Keeping busy with fun adventures has been a great distraction. Also, I just love spending time with my family.

5. Grocery shopping has been such a bummer for me lately. I have favorites from a bunch of stores and I try to buy organic and unprocessed as much as I can, but there isn’t just a one-stop shop to get all these items at a good price. I am spread out over Trader Joes, Whole Foods, BJ’s, weekend farmers market and our normal grocery store. The problem is that I hate getting the kids in and out of the car all day long. It’s exhausting driving all over town with them just to get our grocery shopping done. How do I figure out a better plan? Just go grocery shopping at night when Kev gets home? Just suck it up, pay more and shop at one place? Whole Foods would be the most well rounded place to get all the things I need I guess. There is only one Whole Foods in our area and it just opened. It kind of makes me all ragey on the inside when I am in there though. It’s packed, the aisles are too small and some people are just wackos. Hahaha. This really isn’t a real problem, I am just venting because we literally spent ALL DAY trying to get all the items we needed for the week. It just feels like a waste of time. Can we please make eating healthier less of a hassle?

6. Camping this past weekend was so fun! I have a whole post planned with some pictures but also tips on what worked for us with the kids. Is there anything better than being away from it all? No service on your phone, lots of stars, a good beer and a roaring campfire? I think not.

7. Why are decisions on where your kids go to school so difficult? Oh boy! I’ve struggled with what to do for Rowan next year for PreK. Mornings? afternoons? 4 days? 3 days? closer school? better program? The list goes on and on. And don’t get me started on kindergarten. Anyway, seeing her graduate preschool was about the cutest (and most ridiculous) thing ever. The family picture up top is from her graduation a few weeks back.

Cheers to a random post on a random Tuesday night in July.

6 Pictures, 6 Things: Christmas Edition

So this will be more like 10 pictures, 6 things. Christmas deserves more pictures, right? I just couldn’t pick 6. Here are some pictures of our Christmas morning…

IMG_0580

IMG_0570

IMG_0521

IMG_0543

IMG_0457

IMG_0469

IMG_0513

IMG_0643

IMG_0624

1. Don’t you wish that Christmas was spread out over a few days? It’s just so fun and it goes by so dang quickly. I want to live guilt free in all my Christmas jammies and dessert heaven glory for at least a week. Don’t you agree? Plus, I just want to hang around with my family longer. It was so fun having my one sister around for a couple days. Carrie we missed you!

2. I got a Garmin forerunner for Christmas! Yippie. Although, I am a little nervous to be constantly reminded about how slow I am running. I am excited to use it and hopefully train a little bit more effectively. The Honolulu marathon was ROUGH. Ouch. It was tough. Hoping the next one won’t be so difficult. Let’s just say I am blaming it on the 2am wake up call the morning of the race, jet lag and the fact that we had been training in 20 degree weather (Hawaii is of course the polar opposite) as the reason why we ran it over an hour slower than any other race I have run.

3. Kev’s parents and my parents live about 25 mins from each other. And although the pictures above are from our Christmas morning at my parents house, we had a wonderful time at his parents house as well. We are very lucky to have such loving and supportive parents. It’s a bonus that they live so close to each other. It let’s us pop back and forth all holiday long.

4. Kev got T25 for Christmas. Anyone done it? We are pretty in love (I mean LOATHE) with Insanity. Hands down BEST.WORKOUT.EVER. But we were getting bored with doing the same videos over and over. We were pretty excited when we saw the infomerical on tv a few weeks back. I was hooked on it being 25 mins. Sometimes I just don’t have time for an hour long insanity. I watched (yep, watched) Kev do the first one tonight. I am holding strong to my week long pjs and cookie fest. Monday morning is going to hit hard though. Back in the game.

5. Finley got this cute little walker/push toy for Christmas. Ooooh she loves that thing. I have never seen a baby be so excited over a toy. Well, I mean over something for longer than 5 minutes. She pushes that thing around with such pride on her face. She giggles, smiles and laughs the whole time. She has been taking a few steps here and there on her own and I am super excited for her but I kind want to push her down too. hah. Just kidding. I just want her to stay a baby though. Don’t grow up sweet little Fin.

6. Do you do the whole Santa thing with your kids? We’ve never made a big deal of it with Rowan. We always wanted her to know and focus on the real season we celebrate Christmas but it’s inevitable that your kid will learn about Santa. We decided this year we would just roll with it. We made it a point to tell her Santa only brings 1 gift though. I want her to be thankful and polite to everyone who gives gifts rather than think they are all from Santa. We left out a carrot and some cookies and in the morning left her a little note from Santa. It was pretty darn cute.

p.s. below are some iphone pictures from Christmas Eve. I had to post them because I just thought the girls looked so dang cute in their matching glittery dresses for church. I made Rowan her felt flower crown but ran out of time to make Finley one. It was probably for the best though. Finley would have never kept that on. It was the first time I really ever dressed them in the same outfit and oooh I might be addicted now. Some how during the service I ended up in the pew with Rowan and 2 of her little friends all by myself while they were all holding lit candles. Talk about the most stressful 4 mins of my life. I was sure something or someone was going to catch on fire. Even though it was stressful, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE candle light Christmas Eve services. So magical.

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

6 Pictures, 6 Things…

IMG_9090

IMG_9099

IMG_9409

IMG_9900

IMG_9914

IMG_9917

1. Rowan went to visit her Grandparents for the weekend. All last week I was looking forward to the down time we would have with just one little one at the house. Isn’t it funny though, that as soon as they are gone (or fallen asleep) you are dying to see them again? I missed her so much all weekend. I did get to sit and actually watch Hart of Dixie in the middle of the day on Saturday and that was AWESOME, but I don’t like being away from my kids. It’s so hard. Yet awesome. Yet so hard. Yet so awesome. Anyone else? Awesome probably isn’t the best word. It’s not awesome to be away from them. It’s just a nice break from time to time.

2. Kev had corrective eye surgery on Friday. It went very well. He is already seeing 20/20. Isn’t that crazy? The whole procedure is like 2 mins and then you can see. Man. I should totally get it done. I am blind as a bat. Anyway. Finley and I waited out in the waiting room for about 2 hours for him. I don’t know why but it made me really nervous. I know that it was something pretty routine and it was elective but still. It was really the first time that I’ve ever had to wait for something like that. We have been blessed with health thus far in our marriage and with our families. I can’t imagine having to wait for a surgeon over something very serious. My heart breaks for parents, spouses or families in those situations. I felt like I was going to burst out in tears when the doctor came to tell me he was doing good and would be out soon.

3. OK. This is embarrassing. I have loved that stupid Miley Cyrus song (although the video makes me feel very old- I don’t get it) since I first heard it during the summer. I kept hearing people talking about it’s drug references. I thought, Sure! They must be in there, she is talking about partying. Then last week, I heard it on the radio and they were bleeping out part of the chorus. It was a weird part to block to me, all she was saying was “dancing with Miley”. haha. Oh I am so naive. A friend told me she was saying “molly” and that Molly was the drug reference. I don’t even know what drug that is referring to. Whoops. Also I don’t know what twerking is and I refuse to look it up.

4. You know what 2 songs are the best pump up jams for running? Brave by Sara Bareilles and Roar by Katy Perry. Totally helped me get through one of the most terrible 16.5 miles runs ever yesterday. I was the crazy person half crying, half running, belting out the words by myself on the side of the road. What are your favorite songs to workout to?

5. Have you guys tried Stitch Fix before (pictured above)? It’s super fun and awesome for Mom’s who don’t have time to go shopping for themselves. You fill out a style profile and can even link to a pinterest style board to share your style. Their stylists will then send you a box of 5 hand picked items for you to try on. Keep what you like, send back (for free) what you don’t. You can set up a recurring monthly fix if you want. So fun! (This is not a sponsored plug. I just like using them)

6. As Finley gets older it’s so much fun to see her and Rowan play together. She is finally at an age where she can interact with her on her own. The other day they sat together in the morning sun and played with some toys for like 20 mins. I just watched from afar as I got to drink some hot tea. It was so cute. Oh man. I am so glad they have each other.

6.5 Kev looks like a ghost buster blowing leaves.

6 Pictures, 6 Things…

IMG_4716

IMG_5487

IMG_5492

IMG_5494

photo1

IMG_5538

1. We had a major storm pass through here last night. Holy Moly! It was crazy! Tornado warnings, flash floods, hail and then a full double rainbow.

2. The town pool opened!! Yay! We got a pass this year and I can’t wait to spend all summer there. I want to try to get Rowan into some swim lessons. The next few days are going to be in the 90’s. Swimming here we come!

3. Since Finley was born, decorating and getting settled in the new house sort of took a back seat. The past month though the overwhelming urge to get things done has returned. I am trying to focus on getting one room done a month. That way it’s not too much all at one time (even though I want it all done now!)

4. I have a feeling June is going to be a really great month. We have some fun things planned this month and we also celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary! That is so exciting to me! I can’t believe how much time has passed since that http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3632036059/.

5. I decided the other day that I am not going to run a marathon this year. It was a hard decision but considering time and nursing and other things, I just don’t think I can do it. I will however train for a half and then run a few of those this summer and fall. Kev and I are planning on finding some cool ones we can travel too and make a fun weekend out of it, hopefully exploring some new cities. A full marathon will just have to wait till next year.

6. We are getting a trampoline this weekend! We are all so pumped about this one!! Did you have a trampoline growing up? We did and I have so many fun memories playing on it with my sisters. We use to camp out on it too.

*the dollhouse is a Barbie Dream House from the 70’s. It was a gift from a friend and Rowan is smitten
**4Moms generously gifted us the Breeze Playard and I have nothing but amazing reviews for it. It comes with us everywhere.

Hi, I'm Jen!

Welcome to my personal lifestyle blog. It features topics such as motherhood, family life, fashion, cooking, and all sorts of adventures. I hope you enjoy what you find!

Jen Loves Kev
css.php