Five on Friday!

Friday!  Friday!  Friday!

I hope you all had a great week.  Want to know what we've been up to over here?

Lucky you, it's Five on Friday time!

Let's do this!

Warning:  This is a long "Five on Friday," so buckle up!

{ONE}

The Crim Festival of Races!

The Crim Festival of Races has taken place every year in Flint, Michigan for the last 37 years.  The races include those participating in the Special Olympics race, a Teddy Bear Trot, the 1 mile race, the 5K and 8K races and the 10 mile race.  Approximately 50,000 people from across the country/world come into Flint to join in on the festivities and about 15,000 of those people are participants.  For me, the amount of anticipation and excitement in the days leading up to the Crim are some of the most nauseating (in a good way) and exciting moments of the year!

My sister, Kimmy, and I have both participated in this race many times before.  The first time we ever ran it together was after we had both had our first babies back in 2011; our little boys were 3 months and 4 months old.  We didn't run for time, rather we ran to prove to ourselves that we could make it to the finish line!  Haha

This time, we trained for this race together through MapMyRun, while living 2 hours apart.  We ran (and walked...#aintnoshame) the entire 10 miles together.  Our first 5 miles were great and we really held it together.  When the hills got tough at miles 5-7, Kimmy motivated me to stick with it.

When the race ended we hugged each other and told each other how proud we were of one another.  I then promptly found a place to sit, while Kimmy took off to run another 3 miles (crazy talk), which, combined, is essentially a half marathon.

Can I just say this - Even though my sister is three years younger than me, I've always looked up to her; she's an amazing wife and mother, she works hard at her job, and she's somebody who's truly making a difference in this world.  She's never ever been competition, instead, she's an inspiration.  I'm so proud to call her my sister!  Thanks, for the run, girl!

#ILoveMySister

Before-race-selfie!

Ready, set, goooooooo!

Medals Selfie!

{TWO}

On top of the run, I also went shopping with my niece/sister (she's practically my sister) last weekend.  It seems as though my sister, Kimmy and I are making it a tradition to go shopping with our niece every year in August.  It's always fun to watch the clothing she picks out over what the two of us would tend to lean towards, you know being a Mommy and all...LOL!  We had a great time!

{THREE}

Oh my gosh, the day after the race I was staaaaarving!  I was craving something delicious and Buffalo Wild Wings seemed like the perfect place to gorge myself.  During dinner, the kids were hilarious as always and Jon and I stuffed our faces as fast as possible!  ;)

{FOUR}

Henry's 4 Year Old Preschool Open House.

Oh. My. Gosh, you guys...Henry's Preschool Open House went sooooo well.  

Both kiddos demanded on wearing their new HUGE backpacks and they both had so.much.fun!  Henry even smiled when the teacher asked to take his picture, well, you know the smile with his hands up to his face that I've been showing you guys throughout the summer, but still, it's better than nothing!  

We're keeping our fingers crossed that this year will be better than last year.  Let's just say that there was a lot of crying involved last year from both Henry and myself.  I know, I know - world's smallest violin, right?

EEK!  Anyhow, I'm thrilled for him!  Only a couple more weeks until school begins.  Wish us luck.  :)

{FIVE}

Every week the kids and I get together with my girl, Sara and our friend Shannon for a play date.  We've been getting together weekly for over a couple of years now and we finally decided to take a few pictures of our kids.  What took us so long?

I love all of these kids so very much.  It's been amazing to watch them grow and learn and play together.  I'm so fortunate to have found these two amazing Mommies.  They've taught me so much and I can't tell you how lucky I am to have them in my life.  They're the best.

Also, can we recreate this photo in 15 years, please?!

I hope you all had a great week and I hope you're gearing up for an even better weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

XO,

Marie :)

I'm linking up with, Darci, April, Natasha, and Christina for the Five on Friday link-up Paaaaarty!

I'm linking up with A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, and Grace and Love for my Friday Favorites!

I'm linking up with September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for the Oh Hey Friday linky party!

Nautical Rope Knot Art

Hey there!

I thought I'd swing by this little blog of mine today to share this cute and easy rope art that I created a few months back. 

So here's the story.  Remember when I shared with you our vacay to South Haven?  ....And remember when I told you via Instagram that we had visited a couple of model homes?

Well, while in one of the model homes, I came across an adorable little bathroom and it had some cute little nautical rope art.  I snapped a picture and thought to myself, "Hmmm...that would be pretty easy to create and I'm sure I could do it on the cheap."

I kid you not, a day or two later (while still in South Haven), Jon and I were riding our bikes with the kiddos to the beach when I found these picture frames sitting on the curb!  

Hello, perfect nautical rope knot frames!  

They were definitely waiting for either the garbage truck to pick them up or some crazy DIY lady like me to take them home and put them to good use. ;)

Yup, you guessed right, the crazy DIY lady (that'd be me) picked up the frames and brought them home.

A few days later I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some paper and the pieces fit perfectly inside the frames!  

Bam!  Done.

The kiddos and I then ventured into Home Depot and bought approximately six feet of rope in hopes that I'd make two large nautical knots by tying two ropes together each.  I ended up using only one rope for each frame, and quite honestly, the less-is-more approach was looking way better.

I taped off and burned the ends of the rope so that they wouldn't fray.  Then I Googled, "how to tie nautical knots."

Yeah...about that...never ask me to tie up your yacht!  Haha!

I'm loving the way these frames turned out and you may have even noticed one of them a few months ago when I shared my chalk-paint-stenciled-chairs.

Oh and just to keep it real, check out this adorable little photo bomber I was maneuvering around while attempting to take pictures for this blog post.  I'm sure Henry is somewhere in the reflection of one of the frames, too.  LOL!  

#momlife #bloggerlife

Thanks so much for stopping by...oh and don't mind the crumbs and the dust, just keepin' it real over here!  ;)

XO,

Marie :)

Five on Friday!

Happy Friiiiiiiiiiiiday!  It's Friday - Shout it from the mountaintops!  Alas, Friday has arrived!

Too much?  Yeah, probably...

Are you ready for Five on Friday?  

Let's go!

{ONE}

Last week, Jon and I went on a date night to see Jim Gaffigan!  Oh.My.Gosh.  You guys, I thought my cheeks were going to fall off from laughing so hard!  Seriously.  If you've never met me in real life, just know that I'm sort of the female version of Jim Gaffigan, especially when it comes to food. 

Blurry, grainy camera phone selfie in 3....2....1....

{TWO}

My jogging/running continues!

The big race is next Saturday and I'm super nervous.  I don't know why.  I've ran (okay ran...and walked...) this race a few times before, but I've been getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.  Why is that?  I mean, the only person I'm up against is myself.

Anyway, I've been trying to dedicate more time to running this summer.  Last summer, I attempted to train at the eleventh hour and ended up messing up my left knee.  #notworthit 

The training has been paying off and I'm pretty proud of myself!

  I'm not the fastest and I won't be winning any prizes, but I've come a long, loooong way.

{THREE}

Speaking of running/jogging.  This is my favorite little path.  It brings back lots of memories; walking with Jon before we had kids, pushing a stroller with an itty, bitty baby inside while feeling completely overwhelmed and exhausted, watching both kids run through the leaves in the fall, and now jogging while soaking up all the precious moments that I've spent here.

It's a little path, but it holds a special meaning in my heart.

{FOUR}

It's fair time in our county!  The kids have been waiting all summer to go to the fair.  We usually take our time walking around the fairgrounds and go and visit all the animals.

....Not this year...

The kiddos were on a mission to find cotton candy!  

They succeeded. 

Give this boy some sugar and he'll smile for days...  :)

Next up were the fun houses and rides.

Henry loved the first fun house and he seemed to be pretty confident to take his little sister on the roller coaster.  He even said, "I'll keep Eziza (that's how he says her name) safe!"  He waited patiently in line and he was all ready to go until he realized that he had to give his tickets to a stranger.  He then wanted nothing to do with the roller coaster.  #strangerdanger #gameover

Poor Eliza was sooo excited to go, but we didn't want her to go without Henry, as we knew he would keep her happy and sitting down.  She left the ride crying, "Henwee keep me safe!!!"  

No worries, we made up for it with this bad boy...

Eliza said that she wanted to ride the swings that swing around way up in the air for her next ride.

This girl has no fear.

{FIVE}

Henry and I took Miss. Eliza for her two year pictures on Wednesday.  I know, I know - I'm a little behind schedule.  A little late than never, right?  

Let me tell you that pictures have been difficult this last year and a half, so I've been a bit apprehensive to the whole "picture thing" and let's face it, they aren't cheap.  

To my surprise, Eliza did great and the photographer even captured a few moments with both kids...and they were both happy...and smiling at the camera...at.the.same.time!  

The photographer has been taking photographs of the kids since they were hours old.  He and I were both thrilled.  

Oh and Miss Eliza wore this cute little number...

Don't worry, we left the boots and the bag at home.  :)

What a week!  Have a happy weekend, everyone!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Marie :)

I'm linking up with, Darci, April, Natasha, and Christina for the Five on Friday link-up Paaaaarty!

I'm linking up with A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, and Grace and Love for my Friday Favorites!

I'm linking up with September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for the Oh Hey Friday linky party!

University of Michigan Youth Day!

Last Thursday, Jon and I took the kiddos over to Ann Arbor for the University of Michigan's Youth Day that was being held at The Big House!  This is an event that, until a few weeks ago, we had never heard about.  The event was free and so was the yogurt (Chobani Yogurt to be exact...Mmmm...)!  Anywho, we couldn't pass up "free" and we thought it'd be a great opportunity to take the kids to the stadium  A. Without having to pay and B. Without an overwhelming amount of fans (It's usually around 110,000 people - for realzzzzzz)!

 

Our little Henry was soooo excited to be wearing his new U of M shirt and to being standing in front of the big "M."
 

Both kids kept pointing to their clothes and to the "M" saying, "Go Blue!" and "Michigan!"  They also kept mentioning that they looked like Daddy because he wears a lot of Michigan clothes.
 

Warning:  Cute Little Michigan Fan Alert!

Here are Henry and Eliza walking into The Big House for the first time!  It was an exciting moment!

While inside the stadium, Coach Harbaugh gave a speech and the football players and coaches were introduced.  We were able to sit as close as we wanted to the field!

 

After the team took their official team photograph, the football players then came up to the stands to sign autographs.  We didn't get an autograph, but one football player (#35) made a cute little comment about Eliza crawling around the stands.  It was a very cool moment.

Our little cheerleader...with Disney Princess bandaids, of course.

Lots of hugs in the gift shop.

Another pic of this little guy.  I mean, seriously...

There were more activities to do outside of the stadium.  The team continued to sign autographs, there were bounce houses, there was food, and I'm sure there was a lot more that we didn't even get a chance to see.  The kids were exhausted, however, so we headed to the car for a little R&R.  It was a great event and we're totally looking forward to going again next year! 

...Oh and one more thing...

GO BLUE!

XO,

Marie :)

The Monthly Meet Up - Summer Recap

It's the first Thursday of the month and that means it time for...

The Monthly Meet-Up Linky Par-Tay!

Sara from Great Days of Hayes and I will be hosting The Monthly Meet Up the first Thursday of every month.  Our party will last all month long, so feel free to keep linking up and be sure to stop by often to see what's new. 

Every month we'll have a different theme and the theme for this month will be a Summer Recap!  All things related to your summer are welcomed!

So.....do as Sara and I would do - grab some coffee (or some vino *wink*) and party along with us!

Here we go!

Just like anything fun, we've gotta have some rules.  Ours are short and sweet:

• Follow us and link back to us!  We'd love to connect with you, and you to connect with each other!
• We challenge you - visit, comment and follow at least four other partiers.  Are you up for the challenge?
• By posting, you give us permission to feature an image or post on our blog(s).  We'll always give you credit and post links back, don't you worry!

Easy enough, right!? So, grab our button, link up, and par-tay!!!

I thought I'd do a phone-photo-drop for this summer recap!  Boy-oh-boy, have we been busy this summer!  The best kind of busy.  Let's get to it! 

I'd say that summer officially starts for us when we go on our annual vacation to South Haven.  We absolutely love our state of Michigan and spending time near one of the Great Lakes is a perfect way to kick off the summer.  We rented this adorable house and stayed for a week.  Lots of memories were made and we can't wait for next year!

We arrived back home and quickly went to work on our fishing skills.

The weather has been beautiful this summer and we've enjoyed many picnics.

Although, we did have to move the party indoors on rainy days.  A perfect excuse to go to the movie theater! 

We took Eliza to her first movie.  She sat the entire time and she ate lots of popcorn!  We had so much fun.

Henry has spent his summer working on his engineering skills.

We took the kids to a Fly-In!  We met two retired commercial pilots and they were sooooo nice.  I asked them if they can see us when we wave from the ground.  One pilot mentioned that if he sees a person waving he'll move his plane from side to side. 

After talking for about fifteen minutes, they took off; we waved and the pilot tipped his wings from side to side.  We were all so excited!

#socool

 

Fourth of July was awesome!

I ran a race.  Ignore my face.  Haha!  Henry was cheering me on and it was adorable!

 

The kids were wonderful little cheerleaders!

Our neighbors hosted their annual 4th of July bash and some awesome friends of ours showed up with this inflatable.  To say we had fun is a major understatement!

Eliza went on her first jet ski ride!

Mommy continued her jogging.

In fact (and let me be annoying for a second), I had my best mile time EVER this summer!  If you see below it says 6:54!!!!

I. WAS. SO. PROUD. OF. MYSELF!!!



We headed over to the other side of the state to visit Grandpa George and Grandma Terri.  My SIL and BIL were there, too.  The kids loved playing with their cousins!

We also went to a family reunion for my side of the family.  This is my Aunt Vicki.  Yes, she's awesome.  No, that's not a garbage can (it's some sort of game).  She was trying to make the kids laugh!  This explains a lot about me and my family.  ;)  I love this lady!

We played in our backyard.

I took the kids to the zoo.

We visited the park.

 

Eliza officially stopped nursing.  I wish I had an actual picture of the last day.  She still asks for "baba" and it breaks my heart that I can no longer give it to her.  It makes me so, so, so sad...

*hold me*

But, as you can see, Eliza's a happy, growing girl...and she's a princess.  Well, that's what she tells me anyway. ;)

We took the kids antiquing!  Henry ended up getting a bubble gum machine, which he calls his "maker."  We haven't actually put bubble gum inside, we did, however, put in M&Ms!

Henry has been requesting to go and play in the "fountains" located in front of our city hall!  I don't know what took us so long to take him.  Lots of fun and lots of water in the face!

Last, but not least...we've enjoyed lots of lake time and swimming over here!

 It's been a great summer!  August seems to continue to be busy, so I'll be back with another summer recap. 

Thanks for stopping by!

How is your summer going?  Be sure to link up!!!  :)

Happy Summer!

XO,

Marie :) 

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