Weekend Snapshots | Jellystone Park

Hello everyone and welcome to the 4^th week of school! Hallelujah we made it! I know I’ve been a little MIA but the beginning of school is always a rough time for me at work, to add on to it we’ve had family member in the hospital and time has been scarce. Thankfully we’ve made it through, my family is at home recovering and the roughest time of year is settling down – YAY!

So of course we should totally go camping right? I know, maybe not the best time, but we did it anyway! Actually we had booked this little trip back in June but it was rained out and moved to this past weekend. So we packed up and headed out and let me tell you it was a welcomed chaos, to completely detach and worry about packing, food, supplies, and clothes and camping gear, was a total de-stressor!

We didn’t head far just an hour or so away to Waller, TX to Jellystone Park, the perfect place to go if #1 you don’t like camping and #2 if you have kids (or you’re a big kid yourself!). Why is it the perfect place to go camping if you don’t like camping? You can rent a cabin! A cabin with a bathroom, bed, kitchen, couch and a TV! See easy-peasy, we decided to use our tent so we booked a tent camping spot, minus some of the luxuries of the cabin the “tent camping” includes water, electrical outlet, one picnic table and a fire ring. Bathrooms and Showers are not far away and super clean, believe me I have been camping all my life and I’ve seen some bathrooms and showers that make you want to pee outside and you feel perfectly fine being stinky so this is a major plus!

At Jellystone there is something for your kids to do all day long, they have the swimming pool area, with kid’s slides and they have a few grown up slides too, they have a lazy river and a splash pad. Out of the water they have miniature golf, a playground, human fooseball, giant tetherball, a craft center and a stocked lake for fishing. The park organizes something to do all day, like free craft time and a train ride twice a day. You can take the kids to meet Yogi Bear (although Hailey really didn’t know who he was!!) and they throw in things like a Foam Party and a Fire Truck that comes out to spray the kids down! Really you will not be bored, they also plan events all year round for Halloween, Christmas, Easter and even Mardi Gras! 

We ended up using our trip to celebrate my little bears best friend's birthday and it turned out to be awesome! Just before the trip I made some shirts for the girls to celebrate their "wild" side and they had a blast. Even my 19 year old was able to have a good time, he even ended up have a little fishing lesson with the girls and they all did so great. Hailey was able to cast her line several times but most of all she was able to bond with her big brother. This crazy weekend was just what we all needed after some very stressful weeks in the real world. Little Bear says her favorite part of the trip was spending time with her fiends and family, sound like a girl after my own heart.

Finally being able to sit down and re-cap my Weekend Snapshots feels super good, remember to check out the other ladies at 3twentysix & The Reinvention of Jessica to see what they were up to this weekend! 

Yummy Breakfast! Eggs, bacon and pancakes! 

Yogi who?

Besties having fun! 

Human Foosball! 

Fun in the Sun

My little bear fishing! 

The girls just hanging out :)

My whole world...

The much needed group selfie!

A great feeling of accomplishment when you get the tent to fit perfectly back in its bag! 

Back to School | Seeing Things Clearly

Most parents around this time of year are running around getting everything ready for the next school year. You are probably stocking up on supplies, buying new school clothes, and maybe getting doctors appointments out of the way.

This year little bear is going to 1^st grade! How did that happen? Just the other day she was tiny and fast asleep on my chest, I could hear her little breath and feel her warmth… and this really did happen the other day ha! She is still a tiny human to me and even more precious she is a little girl. She is full of sassiness and life, Hailey is known for being a little fearless and in the same breath she is a worrier and an over thinker. At this young age she can dance around the house and not care who’s watching but then worry about what her friends at school are going to say about one little thing or another.

We are like this as grown-ups too don’t you think? Dance around the house with a broom and then fret about what to wear to an event and what others might say about you. Even the most confident worries some times. Thankfully our kids have us to back them up and help them out, so don’t forget about all the little tiny worries your kid might have as they take on this big scary new school year.

Towards the end of the school year Hailey started telling me about her trouble seeing in class, I knew then that she was going to need glasses – mind you my husband and I wear glasses and we have worn glasses since we were young kids. I was not totally surprised. Since little bear worried about what kids might say if she showed up to school with glasses from one day to the next and as a mom I also worried she’ll loose them or take them off because she is not used to them. I decided to wait and get her glasses when school was out.

So over the summer we went to the optometrist and she picked out her new glasses! After she tried on each and every pair of course! Just a few weeks in and little bear is super great with her glasses she wears them all the time. We chose to get her transition lenses to wear out and about to protect her eyes from the sun and a pair for indoors with a blue lenses to protect her eyes when she is one her tablet or watching TV. She has been super responsible wearing them and she even will switch them out when she plays on her tablet.

I think it’s important to build up her self-esteem and make her feel comfortable about the changes in her life. Although she worried about her first day at church and what her classmates would say she still rolled with it as she got ready for church and made sure her outfit matched her glasses :)  

She walked out of her room the other day hands on her hips and simply stated “I don’t care what anyone says about my glasses, I can see everything now!” I know I am a little bias but to me she is the cutest tiny human wearing glasses that I have ever seen! 

The Family Fitness Plan

If you have followed me in the past you know that I started Running in Faith, to journal my running, fitness and weight loss journey. It was a great ride for about three years and then something happened. Through my love for running has not faded, the love for spending my most of my free time training has. I realized as I attempted to train for a full marathon that I did not want to spend every free moment and sometimes not so free moments away from my family. I found myself stressing to keep up with one thing and longing to be a part of another – so I threw in the towel and I fell back on just running the half marathon. I walked away from the 2016 Aramco Houston Half Marathon with a different mindset.

For the past few months I’ve back off from the running schedule and I’ve spent time doing other things I love. DIY projects, cooking, baking, family and traveling near and far have consumed my weekends. I’ve loved it, my waist line not so much! In January I mentioned to a friend that I was afraid that backing off running (my weight loss hero) that I would gain back the pounds and I was right! So what to do?!

Thankfully my church started up a series called #NotMyOwn based on the following scripture:

¹⁹ “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” -1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

The series, although my pastor is encouraging us to be more active, is not solely about working out. More so it focuses on being a healthier person inside and out, yes spiritually but also eating better and knowing your body and its needs. Going to the doctor and listening to what you doctor advises, do you have high cholesterol? High sugar? Blood pressure? How is your mental health? Do we chug along and ignore those flashing lights and subtle hints that your body gives you when changes need to be made?

The Family Plan: Along with this series we are signing up to do a 5K in May the 12^th Annual Pear Run and we have started to go out every night for a walk/run as a family. During our evening outing the Little Bear rides her bike as we try to keep up with her – hence the running.  I want to check pace and distance all the time!! Hey we went 1.75 miles! We were a whole minute faster tonight that we were last night!! Truth is - no one cares. We are just out there reaping the healthy benefits of being active together as a family every night. My hubby is cutting back on junk food, the Bear is learning how to ride her bike, the fur babies are loving every walk and I get to cook on the lighter side helping me stay on track.  Not to mention the connection that we are making with each other as father and daughter and as husband and wife, I’d call that a healthy choice too.

Daily walk/run training plan & scripture @ New Hope FB

I’ll keep you posted as the Family Fitness Plan moves on, yes I am hoping for weight loss but it is so much more than that. I am hoping for a lifestyle that sticks around for the long run, for Little Bear, for my hubs, for myself and for my family.  

Weekend Snapshots| Weekend of Love

Busy weekend much? Yup this one was another crazy weekend and I was fighting a cold the whole weekend that is still trying to get me down. I almost didn’t recap this weekend because I feel like poop but I have tons of pretty pictures so I’ll share! I'm linking up with 3twentysix with Weekend Snapshots the perfect way to recap all the weekend fun!! 

Friday Night: We played it low key and grilled some shrimp and potatoes and sipped some vino while we chilled in our own backyard. No fuss no muss just us :)

Saturday: We took the bear to Froberg's Farm in Alvin, TX to pick strawberries!! This is something we do every year and it was time to get picking. I think the warm winter made for a not so great strawberry picking season but the girls had a great time and we still filled a whole bucket.

In the evening we went on a double date with my bestie Clari and her hubby and we had a great time. I didn’t take pictures of our dinner so you’ll have to take my word on it. We decided to live on the edge and we all ordered the “Chef’s Tasting Menu" at the Rainbow Lodge here we were at the mercy of the chef and had a six course meal with a little bit of everything on the menu from swordfish to venison (YUM). It was an experience and it was delish! For some after dinner fun we headed to Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar as always it was a good time :)

Sunday: The crud started to really hit me :( we made it to church and had a nice breakfast with our family but I just wanted to crawl into bed and not move fortunately with the bear things don’t always go as planned. We made chocolate covered strawberries and homemade bubbles that the bear could catch and bounce! Thank you Pinterest! (again)

We wore cute matching shirts "All you need is Love" 

So not the cute picture I was hopping for :( I just felt so blah I just wanted to cuddle on the couch with my bug. 

I figure strawberries are full of vitamin C - so it's okay!  

Monday: Presidents' day aka a day of no school for the little one. We tried to go to work but after only two hours we were done. We came home and took it easy, we worked on some crafts and I made some soup. I don’t know about you but soup makes me feel better. 

Creamy Wild Rice and Chicken Soup - Warm and Yummy

Chocolaty S'mores Rice Krispy Treats

So there is a first time for everything, so today I bring you a quick yummy recipe! 

This weekend I enjoyed not having to wake up before Mr. Sun, instead when I finally crawled out of bed, I turned around and crawled into my couch and watched some Food Network with my little bear.

Just an episode into Pioneer Woman, Hailey looked up at me with wide eyes and said 

“Can we make rice crispy treats? I can help you!”

So sure enough, we got to work and taking cue from Ree we came up with a S’more Rice Krispy Treat, adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Nutella Krispie Treats.

Super Yummy and Chocolaty!! 

The stuff

The Little Bear's Action Shot!

TADA!! Mission Accomplished!!