Life!

What we have been up to lately:

Blake and I have gotten to lots of one-on-one hang out time lately thanks to L's preschool! And I'm pretty sure he's loving the extra attention. :)

Even though we're not hitting up the pool quite as often as we were now that school's in session, we've still been trying to make it for some afternoon swims every once in awhile! 

Jen and I went to a Publix Cooking School a couple of weekends ago, and let me just say - the food (and wine) was amazing!! Makes me wish I was a better cook. Most nights I feel accomplished if I can just manage to throw something edible on the table by 5:30.

The Moores came to visit for Labor Day weekend and we had so much fun! Sadly the picture of me and Melissa didn't turn out (that's what I get for hanging the camera over to Daniel ;)) but we got some good ones of the kiddos!

I absolutely LOVE Playalinda beach, and if was so perfect that afternoon - low tide and breezy!

We even got a chance to relive my lobster dinner from last year at Dixie Crossroads. This one was sadly less eventful - or I suppose I should say thankfully for my tablemates ;)

Another beautiful beach day at Playalinda!

Fun afternoon catching frogs with his buddies :)

Jen and I both ran in the Jeff Annas 5k.

My Moms Fit 4 Fun girls representing in our all pink&black gear for the 5k! These girls are some of the fastest runners I know!

Painting

Some watercolors and ink&watercolor

Preschool!

My big man started preschool this past week! And let me tell you, I don't know why I was ever worried about this whole "separation" business. He has been a champ! He was so ready.

He did great his first day. We had to fill out a little questionnaire from his teacher, and here are some of his answers (verbatim!):

What do you like to do? Play with my cars.

What are your favorite foods? Pizza, grapes, milk, yogurt, pasta, sandwiches.

What is your favorite toy? Play with my cars.

Who is your best friend? Blake.

What is your favorite color? Green.

He 

Loved the Blake answer! They have really been getting along famously lately. So cute.

He picked out his backpack himself - green with a basketball on it! My little eager beaver was the first one lined up at the door when the teacher opened up the classroom. I was a little sad when he didn't say good bye, but it's really hard to be too sad when he was just so excited!

 

Here's to a good first year of prek! :)

My newest venture into the world of hearing

So...I am the new owner of a fun little gadget.

Granted, I'm about 50 years younger than the average owner of this fancy gadget, but nonetheless I am totally stoked to be using it!

I really haven't told anybody about it, just in case I tried it and hated it (and that did happen before, when I tried one about 15 years ago). But technology has changed A LOT in the past 15 or so years so I thought I'd give it a go.

(Oh, and for those of you who read this and don't already know, I was born with hearing loss in both ears due to congenital rubella)

Yup, a Widex Dream. So, this little doohickey is totally amazing. There's a new thing called "open fit" that didn't exist during my last go 'round with these, and it really makes all the difference. Before, I felt like I lived in my own tunnel where my voice echoed in my head and it felt like I constantly had my ear stuffed up with water. Ugh! Now I can hear even if it's turned off - allowing my ear to essentially 'breathe' and my voice doesn't get trapped in my own head. 

The audiologist emailed over a cool program that plugs in my audiogram so that Daniel could hear how I naturally hear things around me. It was neat to see him finally understand that it isn't just volume that I'm missing, I miss a lot of key sounds and everyday things. Birds chirping, certain consonants, and high pitched tones - all things I don't naturally hear. 

It's been so awesome to hear stuff I've never heard before. Music sounds totally different (not to mention I can listen to it at a lower volume!) and I heard palm fronds blowing in the wind. There's been some adjustments too, which the audiologist warned me about. Ummm, it sounds like I live in a rainforest (the A/C is SO loud!!), the toilet flushing is crazy obnoxious, and our doorknobs make an annoying rattle. But apparently my brain will adjust to the everyday stuff and tune it out.

And another upside? It's so tiny, no one has noticed it all (that's the vain part of me coming out, haha). Basically, I love it so far! Andddd that concludes more than you probably ever wanted to know about hearing aids :)

Summer loves

A few of my summer time favorites:

1. Cocktails, compliments of Pinterest! ;)

We've been experimenting around with some different sangrias, a strawberry lime red wine concoction (I don't even know, I just threw some stuff together :P), and yummy mint mojitos.

2. All of the fun summer prints on everything at Target, conveniently on clearance so I can buy it all! I scored a new tray for our ottoman in a fun turquoise and yellow rose design for only $3. I don't care if it's not summer year round, it is in my house! :)

3. Pool days!! The kids love the water an we've been having a blast using their puddle jumpers in the pool. That is one thing I'm going to miss when "summer" is over here in South FL!

4. So this is not really a "new" thing, but it's new to me! I have discovered a recent love for all things monogrammed, gold, glittered, and Lilly Pulitzer! I know, I really think it's my proximity to Palm Beach...it's starting to rub off on me! hah. Daniel is in for a real treat when I start redecorating the house...haha, just kidding ;) maybe I'm just finally embracing my southern roots?!

5. Last but not least, I'd like to give myself a pat on the back...I sewed my second pillow ever and it only took me 30 minutes this time!!! Haha. This is a huge improvement over my first one, that took (only) 2.5 hours and an in depth course from YouTube on how to rethread a sewing machine. I still don't know how the darn thing operates (magic?!) but whatever, it sewed a straight-ish line for me tonight. And I'll take it. The pillow is nothing special (I used some old fabric I had laying around forever) but I'm going to keep it forever as a keepsake of my handiwork! ;)

Oh yeah, and because no post is complete with Logan and Blake...here they are in all their ice pop glory.