September Pin-Spired

Time to Get Pin-Spired for September with Mix & Match Mama and friends. While most of the country will be getting ready to transition into Fall in September, I will be in my summer whites for most of the month because I would die of a heat stroke otherwise. I may get to wear my new denim jacket a couple of times in the mall or in our house where M likes to set our thermostat to freezing cold.

Inspiration 1 is white shorts with a billowy top.  This is one of my fave combo for summer. The look in breezy, comfy and super easy.

My version of the white shorts and billowy top.

Inspiration 2 is one that I've seen everywhere.  The maxi dress with the denim jacket.  Perfect for the frozen tundra that is our house. But seriously, I love the look of a good maxi dress.  It looks great on anyone and it's so comfortable.  It can take on any personality with a few accessories.

My version.  I had to cut my face out of this picture because I had my 10-year old take it. This was the best pic to show the outfit, but my face was not flattering.  I was probably in the middle of telling him to make sure to hold still so the picture doesn't turn out blurry. Obviously, he didn't get the message.

Thanks for visiting and, hopefully, I'll be able to wear something more Fall-like for the October Pin-Spired Party. Enjoy you Labor Day weekend!

Back to School

The boys went back to school yesterday.  Michael is a 5th grader, going to a completely new school.  Matthew us now a 3rd grader and has the same 3rd grade teacher as Michael. It's all a little bittersweet for me.  A new school year means the boys are a year older and a year closer to being out on their own - good that they are more independent, bad that I can't coddle them as much.

Anyhow, here are the back to school picture. Michael has started to complain about having to take pictures.  He asked when I'm going to stop making him take back to school pictures and I said "Never." He was thrilled. I wanted to drop him off on the first day of school, but he said he wanted to take the bus, so off on the bus he went.

Matthew wanted me to take him to his class on the first day.  It was a zoo, but I'm so glad I did because in a couple of years, I'm sure he'll behave like his big brother.

 

Monday Randoms

School doesn't officially start until next week, but this week is when it starts to get busy with school related activities. And because the boys are going to 2 different schools, we get double the fun. This week will be filled with Meet the Teachers nights, Locker Night, Spirit Shop set-up, soccer practices, and getting back into the school year nightly routines.

I'm looking forward to the Fall season as always.  I love, love, love Fall.  It doesn't get cool enough here for it to feel like Fall until at least October, but I start decorating early September to get in the spirit. I start small by putting out Fall hand soaps from Bath and Body Works. And, they usually go on sale this time of the year!

Update on Mark since I haven't had one in awhile -

He's has been up to his terrible twos shenanigans as usual, but he's so darn cute!  His favorite word is "chicken pot pie" and "ice, baby."  We'll be sitting around and he'll just randomly start saying those words.

His favorite song for me to sing to him is "You Are My Sunshine." When he wants me to sing it, he says, "Sunshine." If I don't respond, he'll pull my face towards hims and say it again.  He's always been a demanding baby, but now that he's getting close to his twos, he's 4 times as demanding.

His favorite things to play with are pots and pans with spoons and spatulas. He loves to pretend to cook. When I ask him what he's doing, he says "I cook!" It gets pretty messy around our house when he "cooks" because he pulls everything out of my cabinets including the "poons," which are spatulas in adult language. He also loves playing with his Duplo blocks.  He wants me to build a "woof-woof" (dog) for him and when I do, he loves to give him kisses.

He also loves for me to play with his "choo-choo" (trains). I have to sit down right next to the train set and he sits in the center of the circle of tracks to play.

His favorite book for me to read to him is "Here Comes Thomas." He wants to hear it over and over again and again.  We have to hide the book sometimes because I get so tired of reading it. He says "I read" when he wants us to read to him.

Some of his favorite foods are spaghetti, yogurt, strawberry, blueberries, chicken, cookies, and anything that is sweet.  He loves sodas and calls them "Coke." He still loves to drink water, which I'm happy about. He says "I eat!" when he wants to eat.  He's been saying "I eat MAMA!" which cracks me up.

Michael's soccer season starts next weekend.  Matthew will be trying out baseball this Fall. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he likes it so practices won't be a battle.

I'm ready for the school year to start and I'm excited so for the Fall! Mostly, because I want to wear my new boots!

Rough Week

We had a rough week last week.  M hurt his back on the soccer field last Monday. It was so bad that we had to call the ambulance to come take him to the emergency room at 6am Tuesday morning. I'm sure the neighbors loved that.  At least it was not on a weekend.

We called his dad to come over to be with the boys and I followed him to the hospital in my car. There was a lot of waiting after that. We waited to see the doctor. Then we waited to get his x-rays done. Waited for the results. X-ray showed not nothing was broken.  Doctor told us that he doesn't know what to do. Should he send M home with painkiller and steroid? Keep in mind, at this point, M can't even move. We told him that we would like M admitted, get an MRI done and see and orthopedic doctor.  He agreed. Frankly, when a Dr. tells us that he doesn't know what to do, it's a little bit scary, but at least it was easy to get him to agree to admit M. 

Mark keeping Daddy company in the ER exam room. He loves the iPad!

Turns out that it was a herniated disc. M stayed in the hospital overnight and and most of the next day. They treated him with painkillers and steroids. Poor baby. However, the hospital rooms were very nice and he had "room service." Seriously, they gave him a menu and he can call down and order his meals. And the nurses were so sweet and attentive. So although it sucked for him that he was hurt and had to be a the hospital, at least he was well taken care of. 

Boys visiting Daddy at the hospital. Again, Mark with the iPad.

Mark hanging with Daddy this weekend. And again he's got the iPad. He knows how to work that better than me.

After only a week to rest, M is back to work and is actually traveling today and pretty much all of this week and next week. I'm praying that he doesn't re-injure anything, especially on the road. 

Hopefully, this week will be less eventful.  I went and got all the back to school supplies for the Michael and Matthew over the weekend.  I still need to pick up a couple of things for Michael this week, but then we are ready for school to start. I only buy school supplies and not really any new clothes.  It's still so hot when school starts that they just go in their shorts and a Dragon T-shirt. If they were girls, I think it would be a little different. I can't believe we only have 2 more weeks left!

Division 1!

It was a hot and humid weekend and we had to be outside for Michael's soccer tournament!  At least they won all their games and qualified for Division 1, which means that they do not have to play next weekend. Which means that I will not have to be out in the 100+ weather. And, cherry on top? No practices this week. After 3 a week practices for the last month, it's a nice little break. Yay!

I was only able to make it to 2 games on Saturday.  The first game was great and stress-free because Solar won 7-0.  The second game was definitely a nail-biter.  The other team scored first and they were up 1-0 up until the 4th quarter.  But, the boys came out of a slump and with the help of some lucky breaks, they were able to score 2 points within minutes of each other to pull out a 2-1 victory!  We were so relieved.

I had to miss Sunday's game because I went to a baby shower for a friend.  She has 3 little girls and is expecting another little girl.  So happy for her because I know that she's wanted this for so long. Of course, I did not get any pictures, but I had a great time catching up with my ACE girls. 

 

{five} for Friday

                                     

Time to link up with the good life blog for another installment of five on Friday.  I love participating because this is a great way for me celebrate the little things in life.

{one}

This little one is a handful! He's discovered that he can move the stool around and is wasting not time using it to get into trouble.

{two}
I'm loving that we live in a neighborhood with so many children and most attend the same school.  This is what our  playroom is like on a typical day. We get visitors almost everyday.

{three}

We are headed for the Gaylord Texan for the Labor Day weekend.  I think it's fun little getaway to say good-bye to summer and hello to Fall!

                             

{four}

French toast for breakfast this morning.

{five}

Qualifying Tournament is this weekend! Michael's team is ranked 7 out of 50 teams in the DFW area.  I'm hoping they win all 3 games easily.  We don't need any nail-biters. Go Solar!

August Pin-Spired

Happy first day of August! Twenty-six more days for the boys to enjoy their carefree summer days until school starts, but a couple more months until I can start breaking out my fall pieces.  I cannot wait to wear my boots, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy wearing my summer whites!

This is my first time participating with Mix and Match Mama's link-up. Looking forward to seeing other Pin-Spired posts!

Here's my inspiration for this month.

I love the pink and dark denim but for the TX summer heat, I wanted to lighten it up so I paired it with white ankle skinnies.  I still have to master the half-tuck, but I thought this was close enough.

Gingham Shirt/TJMaxx, Belt/Target, White Skinnies/Calvin Klein, Watch/Michael Kors, Bracelets/Forever 21