the big grape bubble gum challenge

We started off our New Year with a bubble gum blowing contest!  

The kids love chewing gum.  They are always asking for gum gum gum. While shopping I saw grape flavor Hubba Bubba at the checkout line and it made me want to chew gum.  I remember blowing bubbles as a kid and it was the best fun.  

Y'all, chewing gum isn't for sissies.  That piece of Hubba Bubba was huge.  I couldn't get it chewed without a jaw cramp.  I finally started blowing bubbles after about 10 minutes of chewing.  It's like that big blob grows 4,000 times its original size in your mouth and promptly loses it's flavor and gets hard. 

Chewing gum and life issues are similar huh?!  Some things start out full of flavor and you have to conquer that blob to get it to the bubble stage. Then after a few bubbles you move on and spit out the hard gum.  

Leave it to me to over analyze our gum chewing fun. ;)  

Back to the contest... 

 We all gave it our best shot, but I think I actually had the biggest bubble.  I tried to get one of Gary's giant bubbles on camera, but it popped too fast, so we're just gonna say I won. I'm pretty sure the kids are ready for a rematch soon!  

driving range date

While I do get bummed out on some Saturdays when Gary is working, I do appreciate our Mondays together.  If he works on Saturday he will take off on Monday.  Monday the kiddos are at school so this is date day for Gary and I.

We weren't able to get in a full round of golf, so the driving range was a great alternative!  The weather was perfect and just look at those puffy clouds.  

I'm loving golf lately and I'm hoping to master my swing.  I feel like golf is a workout and working out is my therapy, so I loved my golf day date with Gary!

let's camp!

We're camping for my birthday weekend! YAY!!

We arrived at the campsite this afternoon and had to get everything set up.  I love to feel at home right when I get there.  This is our first camping trip in a few years, so it took us a few extra minutes to get everything set up.  

Layla is making sure the hammock works ok! ;)

Hayden is making sure he'll fit on the jet ski daddy brought from work.  We love being able to try out new motorsports toys !

Gary said we look like Sanford and Son, but we have everything we need to camp, even though it's a little cluttered!

After we got everything just right we had dinner and then ventured out for a walk to explore the campgrounds alittle more.  What a great sunset view!!

I love all those characters behind me!  I'm excited for a fun weekend!

spring soccer is in full swing

These two munchkins had their first soccer games today!

They each had one practice due to the snow and rain we've had, but both of their teams played great.  I was impressed with their ability to work together even though they all just met.

Layla's team won and she played great!  She ran her heart out and I am so proud of her.

Hayden's team won their game also.  He scored 2 goals!  

He looks ready to play in this picture huh?!?!

Hayden looks so tall this season.

I love seeing Layla back out on the field with that pony tail swinging!

~ Monster Jam 2015 ~

The last time we went to Monster Jam was back in 2012 when we lived in Texas.

Last night we went to the Georgia Dome here in Atlanta.  The Georgia Dome is huge compared to the smaller arena we sat in when we went back in 2012.  I think that is great for our ears.  Last time it was soooo loud.  

We indulged in Monster Jam cotton candy and Hayden got a Monster Jam snow cone.  It was sugar overload for our very excited boy!

Layla had a fun night too.  She had fun taking tons of pictures and making collages of all the trucks.

I cheered on my favorite Monster truck named Monster Mutt.  He crashed twice, but put on an amazing show.

I just love to see his ears flop around when he jumps all the giant dirt piles.  He has a pretty cute tail too.  I'm all about anything dog-ish!

Just in case you don't know, Monster Jam is now a racing series.  You can watch it on Fox Sports channels and there is usually one event per week, similar the the motocross series.   The huge trucks started the night battling race style to see who was the fastest.  Then they finished up the night doing freestyle tricks to oooohhh and aaahhhh the crowd.  It is loud and rowdy and super fun for our loud and rowdy family!  We had a blast and it was awesome to live so close to the Georgia Dome.  We were 1.5 hours from a big city in Ohio, so being less than one hour is amazing!

a girl brunch and elf painting

Layla's new friend Aislin and her mom invited us to a girls day out!

We had brunch at a fun breakfast restaurant downtown and the girls had a gift exchange.  I was happy to meet a few more moms and talk about the school and our neighborhoods.

After brunch we went to a fun painting studio and the girls got a step by step tutorial on how to paint an elf.  It was so fun and right up Layla's alley.  She's a lover of arts and crafts, so painting was a perfect artsy activity for her.

She had to dry the paint so she could add to the elf!  I loved this place so much and I want to go paint something someday soon!

The finished product.  She looks so proud!!!  She did an amazing job.

I love seeing all the painters in the studio and how their elves turned out.  Each and every elf was different and showed the kiddos personalities.  Oh what fun!!!!

my birthday dinner

I have been wanting to try The Buckley House restaurant for months now and so I decided to do that for my birthday dinner.

The food was absolutely amazing and I loved every single bite!

We went with Erin and Sean and they are great company.  We had a nice low-key dinner!  It was perfect.

After dinner we went out for drinks and listened to a fun band called The Bash.  It was a great way to start out my birthday weekend!

For the love of backhand springs

I'm happy to say .... Layla seems to have found a love. A goal. An activity that she pours her heart into. It wasn't soccer. It wasn't tap dancing. It isn't reading books, although she does it because she has too.

It is tumbling! And she is so good at it. She is so flexible. She is so happy on the mat! She has a goal.....

She wants to be walking backwards talking to a friend and just bust out a back handspring! I can't wait for the day she does that!

It all started all those years ago when she put on that first little gymnastics suit. She's got this and I'm one proud momma!!

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a visit to the Christmas tree farm

Last year we had a fun time picking out our first real Christmas tree.  

We had so much fun we decided to do it again this year!  Every year before we moved to Ohio we've just had an artificial tree.  We started a new tradition upon moving north!

We walked through the rows of pre-cut trees and couldn't find anything we liked, so we walked up the hill with a tarp and a saw and picked our very own tree!

It was a real Griswold family moment, minus Audrey's eyes freezing! 

Look at this view.  It is amazing!

There she is!!!!!!

She is the perfect tree for our family.

Gary sawed her down in 3 minutes flat.

Layla showed real muscle by helping daddy pull the tree down the steep hill.  She did great.  We all got so muddy.  The tree farm was a nasty mess, but we had a fun time for sure.

And now we must decorate her!