It's finally cooled down in FL!!

I've been wanting to post these photos since I took them! Oh, I am obsessed with these kids! I can't help it; they are so cute! It has finally cooled down in Florida. THANK GOODNESS!

To celebrate, we took a family bike ride. The kids loved it and the perimeter of the complex was just large enough to tucker the kids out.
My sweet baby Jane is having a hard time adjusting to school. She has been a little sassier and crabbier than normal lately...but it usually passes pretty quickly.
These two are best buds.
Mommy and Jane. Another sad-girl face. What can a mother do? I kiss her and squeeze her and hug her and love her and take her on dates and hold her hand...I'm all out of ideas!

I've been crafting

I can't believe how long it has been since I updated my blog! OY! Anyways, in an effort to not eat food after dinner I've been crafting to keep my hands busy. It works! My after dinner snacking has reduced drastically (and I get some cute seasonal things to display around the house)!

Forever 21?

I had an interesting experience today...

I dropped Jane off at preschool today and headed to the mall with a friend. We walked around with our little kids in umbrella strollers, wearing our staple "mom" outfit of a T-shirt and jeans. The first store we walked into was "Forever 21".

It's such a cute store and every time I walk by I want to go in and browse and buy stuff. Today, though, as I browsed through the purposefully torn leggings and the tops that could potentially be a shirt or a dress I realized that I've outgrown "Forever 21".

It was a very bizarre moment. For a really long time I felt like I was too young to wear the clothes in that store and then--BAM!--before my eyes, I'm too OLD to wear their clothes.

So, I'm officially moving on to Ann Taylor Loft or Gap or (my fave) TJ Maxx. If you see me in "Forever 21" in the future, you can be sure that I'm shopping for accessories--for Jane.

Navigating Jacksonville

Look at those happy smiles on our faces. There is a good reason for all of these grins...
We walked at least six miles looking for this Tropical Smoothie!

Jake and I are both trying to stay fit and healthy so we wanted to get some smoothies with a protein added in for breakfast instead of eating a really greasy and fatty breakfast at a restaurant.

Well......

The concierge at the hotel told us it would be three blocks away in one direction. About a mile and a half later we stopped at another hotel and the guy told us it would be about half a mile in another direction and THEN about a mile and a half later some ladies on the sidewalk told us it was "a ways" up the road in a different direction.

We were so happy when we finally found this store! The smoothies were super yummy and they really helped cool us down on the Loooooooooooong walk back to our hotel.

One bright and shiny side of the story is that we didn't have to buy lunch on Saturday! It was nearly lunch time when we got to the restaurant and the protein additive helped hold us over until our early dinner reservation!

Parents Weekend Out

Jake and I were so amazingly lucky to be able to get out of town for the weekend a couple of days ago. We stayed at the Crown Plaza Riverfront Hotel in Jacksonville, Fl and it was an adventure, to say the least!

The picture above is the view that we had from our room. I was pretty nervous about leaving the kids for TWO nights in a row (because I've only ever been away from them for one night) but they didn't even notice that we were gone. Jake's parents generously spent their weekend at our house so we could creep out of town. Thank you Manga and Pop Pop! We sure do love you!

Jake and I had been planning on taking this trip since February so when I discovered the Groupon website I started checking it every day looking for good deals for our trip. I ended up finding some awesome restaurant Groupon's for our trip so you know we ate well! We did have to drive all over town but it was worth it. Jacksonville is a beautiful city with some AMAZING shopping.

Our first night in Jacksonville we checked into our hotel at about 9:00pm and decided at 10:00 to walk across that beautiful blue bridge over to Jacksonville Landing. Jacksonville Landing has restaurants, shopping, some delightful lights in the trees and live music! The air was balmy and cool. The breeze was light and refreshing. The river was so peaceful and even though we were surrounded by other people it really felt like we were the only two people in Jacksonville that night.

Ode to Sawyer!

Sawyer IS still running around here! I feel terrible that most of my posts have been about Jane and nary a mention of our sweet, crazy little boy!

What can I say!?! I love that little boy SO MUCH!

Lately, he has been learning a lot of new words. His favorite and the one that he pronounces most clearly is "STOP"! He gets a lot of practice telling Jane to stop doing whatever it is that she is doing. It is so funny how he says it because he puts a HUGE emphasis on the "P" in "Stop!".

Hm.... he has also gotten to be quite a goofy little boy! When I tell him to kiss my cheek he blows a raspberry on my cheek instead of giving me a kiss. He also loves to walk around pushing his little monster truck all over the house. He's got the cutest little belly with the longest arms and legs. Seriously, he looks like one of Jane's stick figures!

I really don't know how to sum up every thing that I love about this sweet boy in one little blog post. Anyone who has met Sawyer knows how cute and wonderful he is. He has a light in his eyes that is so beautiful. I feel like I can actually see his excitement for life through his eyes. He's always learning, always growing and always surprising me.

What can I say?

I'm one lucky mom!

Sweet Baby Jane's Birthday Pictures!

These huge Poppy's grow in the garden that separates my grandparent's house from their neighbors.
Classic Jane-looking-up-at-the-camera shot.
Acting Casual
Cheese!

Workin' It!

This is me.

This is me after running a couple of miles WAY faster than I am used to running them.

Why would I do such a crazy thing you ask?

Well, my friend, I'll tell you.

I'm training for a marathon...

(Stop laughing, I couldn't believe it at first either)

But, it is true. Updates will follow, I'm sure, quite frequently.

Jane had a birthday!

Alright, I know, I am completely behind on this blog. I'm having a hard time keeping up with it. I'm a busy lady, you know?! (haha...ha....ha...)

Anyways, July 21st was Jane Jane's FOURTH birthday! We love that girl so much! Here are some pictures from her big day.





Jane was a rock star at opening presents! She has the most grateful face ever! Who can resist that huge, beautiful smile?












I can't bear it! 4 years old! She's got to stop this growing thing NOW!

We went to Cali, Baby!

We went to California and it was the trip of trips! We had a wonderful time.
I was so nervous about the flight but the kids were troopers. They did an amazing job. Jane was so sweet and sat with her arm around Sawyer while they watched a movie on their new DVD player.



My grandparents have a really cool player piano. You load the music and then press some pumps on the bottom of the piano and it plays for you. While Grandma Fites was playing the kids decided to get in on the action.


Jane with her favorite Auntie Jo. Jane was a lucky girl and got to go on a pony ride. Grandma Susan, Auntie Jo and I went with her.


My sweet little family on the Fourth of July. Jane was trying to take a picture of me and Jake when a nice gentleman stepped in and offered to take our picture.


Grandpa and Grandma Fites! The wonderful hosts of the vacation. We love these guys.


I can't even begin to post all of the pictures that I took. My grandparents live in the same town that they have always lived in (as long as I've been alive). In fact, I think I have more family history in this one teeny tiny town than any other town in the country. My Great-Great-Grandmother found the town in the 40's and bought four plots of land. She built on all of them and eventually handed them down to other members of the family. My grandparents and one of my Mom's cousins still live there.

When I was a child I used to swing on this old wooden tree swing. The best part of the vacation was being able to take my kids to that swing, and the mill pond and the Graeagle general store and to Mimi's cabin (and many more places). It was so surreal to see my kids playing in these same places that I played as a child. I didn't want to leave.

It won't be another 10 years before I go back.

Anyways, the trip was amazing. If you want to see more pictures you'll just have to come over! I'm having them all printed into a photo book.

La Chua Trail

We went to the La Chua trail again with our new friends the Luff's. It was a fun morning. Here are a few pictures from our adventure.


This tunnel has some mock tribal drawings on the inside of it. We went pretty early in the morning so the light was just beautiful.


It was HOT! We were all sweating and chugging our water half a mile into the walk.


The boardwalk borders the Alachua Sink and then heads out to the lake where all of the alligators like to hang out.


It's butterfly migration season again in Florida. One of my favorite times of year! Jane wanted to hold this butterfly so badly but she wasn't patient enough to let the butterfly walk onto her hand. Every time the butterfly would start moving in Jane's direction she would grab at the poor thing and scare it away.


We all got really hot about half a mile away from the tower that lets you get a panoramic view of Payne's Prairie. Jane was so sad when we decided to turn around!

Summer Time = Pool Time

It is summer time in Florida and, man, it is HOT this year. I think the last two weeks have had temperatures of 95 or higher. And that is not including the heat index. I'm hoping and wishing for some hurricanes or tropical storms to cool the place off! In the mean time, we spend nearly every afternoon at the pool.



Sawyer is a lover. He gives his Mom good kisses to show his appreciation and I love every second of it.


I love this girl so much! Can you tell?


The best job I've ever had.


Sawyer's cute swimsuit with an inner tube inside of it. I love this thing. He is completely independent in the pool. He can get in and out all by himself and swim safely any where he wants. It is the best. And it makes life a lot easier when I am trying to watch two kids at the pool by myself.


Jane loves the water. She is getting better every day at jumping in without holding my hands. She is also trying to get her head to go under the water these days. It is a huge improvement over last years fear of getting her face wet. Every time we go to the pool we spend the last twenty minutes or so letting her swim back and forth between me and the stairs. She loves it and is so proud of herself but she still could use some swim lessons to teach her how to keep her booty up so she can do more than just tread water.

Jane is one happy girl!

Our Sweet Baby Jane is one happy girl. Can you tell why?




She got her ears pierced!


Jake and I took her one week ago tomorrow and I must say that I was so proud of her! She didn't cry when they pierced her ear! She just said "OW" really loudly.

She hasn't LOVED Having her earlobes cleaned and prodded three times a day since the piercing but that only lasts for five more weeks so she can handle it.

Next time you see Jane give her a high five for being such a big girl! If you don't see me around, it's probably because I'm crying in my room about how fast my sweet little girl is growing up.

I don't want to forget!

Jane has been saying some crazy lady things lately and I just don't want to forget them:

1. (at snack time Jane says) "Mom, can I have a bag of meat?"

2. (at bedtime Jane says) "Mom, will you do me a really big favor? Will you clean the front of the house?"

That girl is so smart to know that it's a big deal to spend my free time cleaning!

3. (changing her undies after a close call Jane says) "Mom, you put your hands on your pee-pee and ruuuuuuun to the bathroom when you have to go potty"

Oh, really Jane? Bahahahahahahahahaha! I love that girl

Sawyer Smith has been doing some pretty grown up things lately.

1. He likes to walk around the house while doing the splits half-way. I'm getting a picture of this because it is so cute.

2. He has been copying my and Jake's hard core P90x moves by doing "Downward Dog" all over the house

I don't know what it is with my kids and downward dog. Jane was obsessed with this when she was Sawyer's age also.

3. When Sawyer sees a friend that he likes he walks up to said friend and belly bumps him! I'm not sure where he learned this at all but he did it to his friend when the little boy came over a week or so ago and then I've noticed that he and Jane do it to one another all the time!

My kids are wierd... and totally wonderful!

4. He got a bike and he loves to scoot around on it. In fact, if we put it outside of the front door he'll run out the front door and start riding, straight for the stairs! Good thing Jake and I are fast. SCARY!

Alright, I've got a lot of pictures to post in the next few days. Keep your eyes peeled!

Have you noticed?

Lately I've been noticing a disturbing trend.

Have you noticed?

No, I'm not talking about the reemergence of all things 1980's as a fashion trend. That is disturbing but not quite as disturbing as this...




Yes ma'am, it's the revival of the Rat Tail Haircut. Classy, huh?

I saw a few of these while I was visiting my Dad in the hospital, in an Atlanta suburb, over the weekend. I thought to myself "surely this is just a Georgia thing." But no. Oh, no. Florida had to one up Georgia. On my way to the Dentists office I saw a woman with the rat tail haircut. Crazy!

What do you think, Ladies? Is this the cut you'll request next time you go to the salon?

Strawberry Jam, sort of...

It's Strawberry season in Florida and I am in LUUUUUV! We went to a pick-your-own farm one Saturday morning and really went to town. When we got home we had two huge box tops full of strawberries. I think the lady said we had 14 POUNDS (!). So we decided to make some jam.



The Goods



Jake, mashing "The Goods"


My own home made version of a boiler for canning. I read about different ways to do this online to make sure that I did it safely. Don't worry, folks. There will be no botulism in my house!


The finished product! The only problem is that I tried to do the sugar-free recipe. I realized half way through that I had mashed twice as many strawberries than I needed. Well, I doubled everything except for the sure-gel box and didn't think twice. I realized about two days later when neither of the two jars that I had opened set correctly what happened. It's okay though. We roll with the punches in this house. We are using it as chunky strawberry syrup and it is real good on top of vanilla ice cream.


Sawyer likes it so it must be good!

Writin' it up!

Jane is learning how to write her letters.



I wrote the first letter on the paper above and Jane did her best to write the same letter right next to it. I think she did a pretty darn good job!



Jane really likes to "connect the dots" but she also really likes to color. SO, sometimes dots that should connect to spell "Jane Smith" just make fun shapes.

She's only three though...so I figure she's got time.