Off to cooler weather...

It's that time of year again! Time for my family's trip up north.

My parents have a "treehouse" that we all go to to celebrate the 4th of July.

So, I wont be blogging for a bit... but I look forward to catching up with all of you after!

Have a wonderful holiday week!

Here are some pics from last year's trip!

Reagan all dressed up for the parade!

My parent's "Treehouse"
My parents and nephew and niece in the country club's parade.

Reagan and I at the pool.

Another Award!!

Aww thanks!

Emily at My Heart Shaped Life just passed along another award to me!

This award asks me to list 10 random things about myself and then pass along to 10 more bloggers.... so here I go! Thanks again Emily!

1. I have a secret show addition that is totally embarrassing... Dog the Bounty Hunter. I know, I know, so white trash! But for some reason I get sucked in watching. Between him giving inspirational-backseat pep talks to convicts, his son's crazy rat-tail, or Beth's too-tight outfits and intense acrylic nails.... I find myself glued to the TV.

2. I was president of my sorority and totally ate, drank, and slept Theta for my college days.

3. My favorite color is pink and always has been. I had an all pink bedroom until I went to college. Pink and white striped bedding, pink polka dot wallpaper, pink lamps, pink cork boards, pink throw pillows-- I loved it but it seriously looked like a pepto b room!

4. I still plug my nose when I go underwater.

5. I went to Europe with a group of friends when we were in high school. Looking back, it was such an amazing trip with my best friends. We went to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at the age of 15. Such memories!

6. I was prom queen in high school and I loved every minute of high school...but.... I'm NOT going back to my 10 year reunion this summer (how cliche').

7. I have still never been to Vegas. Is it weird that I'm kinda scared?

8. I never got migraines before I become a teacher... now I get them pretty regularly!

9. My house key is pink and says princess.. don't laugh!

10. Before I had Reagan, my dog Lily was a princess. She was always groomed, dressed up, and carried in perfect bags... Now, shes a little neglected!

Here is Lily at her 1st birthday party... yes, she had a party. There were dog friends, family, presents, decorations, and puppy ice cream.

I will now pass the awards on to (Trying to spread the love around.. don't think Ive given any awards to these lovely ladies yet and they are some of my fave reads!):

Kelsey @ The Seattle Smiths

Gretchen @ T&Plus3

Heather @ Step Inside

Lauren @ Simple Yet Classic

Mrs. Ruby @ Ruby Red Slippers

Julie @ Brown Eyed Belle

Brit @ Dave and Brit Plus One

Jessica @ In the Sky with Diamonds

Beth @ Just Me and My Life

Melanie @ C'est La Vie

What we've been up to....

Seems like awhile since I've posted.

But I have been on reading all of your wonderful blogs!

(Thanks for helping to keep me entertained!)

Let's see... not too much has been going on here.

It seems like it is hotter than you know what- so we've been trying to keep cool!
There has been a lot of this:

We just recently got Your Baby Can Read and I must say , Reagan loves it! We watch the video 1-2 times a day, read the book, and do flash cards... This week we've been really working on "mouth, nose, eyes, wave, and clap". He gets so proud of himself!

Some of this:

Music class at the library. He really was jamming out!
A lot of this:

This is really the first show Reagan has been into and really watches. This week he has really started enjoying it. He sits in his little pottery barn chair and rocks his head to the beat. This kid loves music/dancing!

Some of this:

Lunch dates with friends!

And not enough of this:

Napping! We've successfully transitioned from 2 naps to 1.... (in preparation for his "big boy class" once school starts)... but now napping has just become sporadic naps in the car or 20 minute naps in the crib before he wakes up screaming! grrr.. I was getting pretty accustomed to taking an afternoon nap while he did!

Tuesday Top-2

This week, Taylor at The Undomestic Momma, is having us blog about our

Top 2 Reality Shows that we would like to be on.

As most of you know I am a HUGE reality tv show freak.. My tivo is full of these shows... lets think of a few ( Design Star, Next Food Network Star, Toddlers and Tiaras, John and Kate ..., Bachelorette/Bachelor, All of the Real Housewives, the list goes on and on.) Another interesting bit of info you may not have known about me... When I was a sophomore in college I tried out for the Real World. I was interviewed and everything.. I was so naive and innocent then- thank goodness I didnt get casted. Could you imagine how my life would have changed? Yikes!

Okay, down to business...

I would first want to be a "Real Housewife".. I know Im not a housewife and we are not loaded rich, but I would love to go to events with girlfriends and be filmed doing fun stuff.

Okay Bravo- you know where to find me when you are filming

"Real Housewives of Scottsdale, AZ"!

Next I think it would be fun to be on Big Brother. Nick and I used to joke about how they should cast us and we would pretend we werent married... We would totally win :)

Okay, speaking of reality tv... how about The Bachelorette tonight? I seriously almost peed laughing..... I feel bad for Ali... she got some serious wackos casted for her. Like honestly, I dont think any of them are particularly hot.... and their creepiness far outweighs any positives. Kasey- really? Words can not describe what it is like watching this crazy person. And how about the guy who never makes an appearnce until tonight when he says he likes Mexican food. WTF?!

Father's Day Festivities

Saturday night we celebrated Father's Day with my family. We had an enormous dinner at ClaimJumper , then came back home to give my dad gifts and eat dessert. It was a fabulous night to celebrate my dad - seriously the kindest man you will ever meet! I love you daddy!!

Reagan eating ice cream cake... "yum" as he says!
My dad reading a book to Reagan... too cute!

My younger sister Meg and I with Dad.

All of us at dinner!

Sunday I surprised Nick with a picnic breakfast. We got some Dunkin Donuts to-go and went to Fountain Hills where we ate, played, and watched the huge fountain. It was a perfect morning with my two boys! We then came home and gave Nick his father's day presents. I always knew that Nick would be a great dad but he really is amazing. He is so hands-on and Reagan is lucky to have such a great role-model!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Have a great Father's Day weekend!

Happy Father's Day Weekend Everyone!

Thankful Thursday

So sweet...

Emily over at My Heart Shaped Life awarded me this sweet blog award. She is a great writer and has just recently started blogging... go check her out if you haven't already!

(Plus I know her in "real life"..haha.. we were Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sisters at ASU!)

Rules (so simple!):
1. Give award to 10 sweet bloggers that you love

2. Make a post about award, mentioning person who gave it to you

3. Put the award on your blog

And here is the part where I get to pass along the award to 10 of my favorites.

1. Megan at In this Wonderful Life Please pray for her sweet baby Cohen!

2. Megan at Just One of the Boys One of my best childhood friends and hopefully our boys will be too

3. MJ at Teaching In Heels Yay for teachers!

4. Jenny at The Olson Family Another good friend and new mom

5. Taylor at The Undomestic Momma Such a fun blog to read

6.Jamie at This Kind of Love One of my absolute faves

7. That One Girl at What Was I Saying Again? Welcome her new baby girl!

8. Belle at Tales of a Southern Belle Love her blog

9. Mrs. Stoneking at Meet the Stonekings Congrats on your news!

10. JGIWC at Jewish Girl in Wasp Clothes Love her.. and love Bethany too :)

Besides this sweet award, I am super thankful for a great day shopping at Fashion Square today. Mom and I were very productive and Reagan was the super-shopper! He was such a good baby! We made it from one end of the mall to the other and he was a trooper!

Adventures with the little man....

Yesterday Reagan and I drove to Tempe to meet a friend at the district office. We had some paperwork to take care and decided to grab some lunch at one of our favorite spots, Oreganos. It was quite an experience... Kate and I had lots of catching up to (she and her fam just got back from a Diseny World vacay and is preggo on top of that!) Her son, Jacob was feeling pretty shy and didn't want to take a picture. Reagan was class clown x100 . He was hollaring to everyone in the restraunt including every patron and server. I was dying. Such a charmer.

We took Reagan out of his high chair and next to Jacob at the booth. Jacob hid and Reagan looked like a dwarf... crazy pic!

We also ran to a teacher store and I got some apple stuff for the classroom... so I guess the apple-theme is a go! I spent the rest of the afternoon on a pool float at my parents house while Reagan napped inside.

Today Reagan, my mom, and I visited my Dad at his work. Reagan didn't know what to think about this work environment! He was so quiet and just watched as the secretaries fawned over him. We then kidnapped my Dad and he took us to their golf club for lunch. Again, Reagan was charming the table of old ladies. While we ate they played peekabo with their menus and napkins. It was fun for my Dad to show off the little man and for me to see my Dad so happy!

Sunday with the Fam

Today we had a great day with my in-laws. My FIL and MIL Bruce and Lisa had us over for bbq and swimming. It was great to get the babies together to play and always good to see them. It was an overcast day so the pool was pretty cold... only the boys were brave enough to get in the water!
We came home and had some dinner and then got a wonderful surprise! My parents stopped in on their way home from the airport. They have been gone to Canada for the last week. You should have seen Reagan. He was so happy. His mouth dropped to the floor and he ran around trying to find any toy he could to bring to show his Mimi and Paka. It was very cute. After he got changed into his new nightshirt from Canada , he crashed and burned. We watched the movie, " Shutter Island"- way confusing but good. I think I will need to watch it again to understand it better.

Here are some pool pics from today:

Nick with his son, his dad, and his brother Cooper

My little water baby

My baby brother in law

My two boys :)

Random Saturday

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Today started with a visit from the exterminator. He was a lovely man (weird to write, I know..but he was really kind. When I asked him if he will be our regular service-man, he said he hoped so because he would love to watch our family grow-- I could cry!) He sprayed and gave us tips on our discovery of a fruit rat in one of our orange trees.... holy grossness- but thats a whole other story!

During Reagan's nap, I went to my parents pool and "layed out" with my sister Meg. It was a very overcast day so there wasnt much sun going on... but it was sooo good to catch up on her trip, internship, etc. Nick was home doing yardwork. It was absolutely gorgeous out!! Its June and the high was like 80 today! How random!
Tonight we decided to go to dinner at a salad bar/buffet place called Sweet Tomatoes. It was quite an experience. The place was full of older people and Reagan was in rare form. He was such a clown. He discovered a table of kids behind us and he was screaming yibber yabber at them. After each screech they would roll over laughing, which just egged him on. People from all over were checking out our section, wondering what on earth was going on. It was slightly emberassing! Then each old couple felt the need to stop by our table on the way out and comment on his hair, his demenor, etc.. He just ate the attention up. I think we have a future class-clown on our hands!

After dinner we ran to Target to get a few items and then decided to get the dogs and stroller from home and enjoy the beautiful weather on a walk. Just a beautiful night!

Lastly, I feel like Ive been reading all the new releases, or on hold for many of them at the library... so I decided to revist many of my favorite books from the past. One of my alltime fave books is "Before Women Had Wings"... I honestly couldn't remember why I loved it but knew that I always referred to it as one of my faves... I picked it up from the library and havent been able to put it down. Tonight at Target I picked up "The Happiest Toddler on the Block". Hopefully it will give me some insight and advice how to help with Reagan's tantrums and short fuse!

Has anyone read this? Thoughts?

Playdate Thursday

Today Reagan and I went to my friend Megan's house for a playdate. She has two adorable little boys (Noah-2years and Owen-4 months). It is so crazy to think that we have been friends since we were in sixth grade. I have so many amazing memories with this girl and it is so fun to see our boys becoming friends! I hope they grow up to have a fabulous friendship like we do!

Our friend Jenny and her precious son Peyton also came to play. Jenny and I met during college as we took the same Early Childhood classes together. It was a small world that she was friends with Megan too! The three of us have on going Olive Garden dates every once in awhile.... but now they have to be more focused on the kids! I'm excited for many more of these "playdates/chat date" in the future!

Us with all the boys!
Megan and her boys.
Jenny and Peyton
Reagan and I

A face ....

only a mother could love !

We sure love when it is chocolate chip pancake mornings!

Holy Hot-ness!

Wow, wow, wow!! It is soo freaking hot! The high today was 107 and boy I could tell!

This morning Reagan and I went to the library to get tickets for the 11am toddler music class. We arrived 30 minutes early and were turned away... she said they filled capacity over an hour before class started.. Geesh! I guess every other Scottsdale mom had the same idea on this hot morning= cool, free, library class.. boo. We will try again tomorrow. So we left and ran over to Office Max (returning some stuff) and Buy Buy Baby. It was pretty funny wandering around the isles with Reagan... he was pointing and cooing at toy after toy that he already has... spoiled little man! We did manage to find something that he didn't have... a phone! He was in love the moment he saw it... each button says hello, goodbye, I love you, See ya, etc. in English, Spanish, and French... too funny! (Reagan is obsessed with our phones and walks around the house with it tucked between his ear and shoulder... don't know where he learned that from! ;) )

We came home and ate some lunch then picked up Mimi to run to the teacher store.

I decided that I am in the mood to change my classroom theme this year (a very difficult decision for me to do!) My first year of teaching I decorated my room with the "bee" theme. Then the last four years I did garden theme and loved,loved, loved it. I kind of feel like a change though... so we went to scope it out. We started toying around with the "apple" theme which will definately take we away from the light blue/white gingham I currently have.... I know it may seem nutzy to those non-teachers out there-- but to me this a big decision!

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice?

Here are some pics of my classroom from this past year.... just for reference.

Five Question Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!

Today Reagan and I went to meet my friend Holly for lunch at Red Robin. After lots of good convo and laughs, Reagan and I went to do some shopping and then home for a big nap!

He was so sacked out after our outing today... but he held onto the new ball that Holly brought him!

Tonight Nick and I rented Alice In Wonderland! We'll see... It looks kind of scary to me! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Here are the questions...
1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose?

When I was in college I graduated with an Early Childhood Education degree and then got my Masters in Elem. Education. I couldnt imagine doing anything other than teaching... but if I did change it I would maybe do broadcast journalism... ASU has a great program and many of my sorority sisters are now news anchors or tv reporters.. That seems really exciting to me!!

(It would be so awesome to have this job!)
2. What do you love most about your home?Hmm lots to love about our home. I love the pretty tile and wood floors and I love, love, love the openess of the house. Its perfect for our little family!

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)?Do I like to read? Pleeeaaasssee!! I love it! My favorite kinds of books are chic-lit books but I also love historical fiction. Check out my bookshelf on the right to see what I have been reading lately!!

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?I am not very adventurous when it comes to food!! So probably the grosses thing I've eaten is calamari... My mom loves it and always orders it. It is seriously so gross to me!

5. If you HAD to be a character on a TV show, whom would you be?

I would definately want to be Charlotte York from Sex and the City. She is/was such a fun character and I love, love, love her style!!

What we've been up to....

Summer is in full swing! Reagan and I have already been pretty busy.

We attended a music class at the library,

went to a story time at Barnes and Noble,

played in the splash pad at an outdoor mall,

(how hilarious is this picture? he didn't exactly love the splash pad)

and had lots of quality time with Mimi!

I am quite excited.......

I got a new planner today. I know it's nerdy but I CANT WAIT to start filling it out!

I also made a Target run today... Lots of events in June= lots of cards to send!

Happy Wednesday!!