Our Adventure called Life

I've never been so excited to see my own face! A few months ago as the Today Show was wrapping up the hour of Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb (Hoda Coffee if you're my 2 year old), they mentioned submitting a photo for a chance to be the "Fan of the Week."  The next day the kids and I took a few photos of us watching the show and submitted them. Fans!!!! Fast forward a couple months and I was driving down the road when a strange number called.  Typically I don't answer random numbers, but the phone call from NYC caught my eye.  When the voice on the other end said they were with the Today Show, I nearly hung up on them thinking it was a prank. The caller explained I was a finalist and I would need to be available to Skype with KLG & Hoda the following Monday.  I was given instructions on e-mailing additional information and a few additional photos.  I was so nervous and excited while speaking with her! Monday rolled around and we excitedly ans...

There's part of a Keith Urban song that says "And suddenly my little world just got a whole lot bigger, yes it did.  And people that I barely knew, they love me cause I'm part of you." I had no idea that having a child(ren) really and truly brought new people deep into your life. My first "mom" friend and our crew When looking for a crib for Lila on Craigslist, I came across a posting of the exact bed I wanted.  The location was near our home in a nice neighborhood.  Arrangements were made, we met the family, the crib was purchased and we headed home.  That night, I received a text from the mom asking "Would you want to get our kids together to play?"  She had 2 young daughters and I was absolutely flattered that in our text exchanges and brief meeting, she felt comfortable enough with me to get our kids together.  She was the first "mom friend"I made....a friendship that probably never would have occurred had I not had kids. ...

Apparently having 24,000+ photos on my MAC caused a bit of a issue and my iPhone was no longer able to download its photos.  No photos = no blogs.  After getting a new hard drive, weeding out all (or at least a couple thousand) of grainy photos, I am FINALLY back! Thank goodness! So the month of May....what happened to it?  Oh yes...something like this; My little baller T-ball was in full swing!! Paisley improved from his first practice when he thought playing 3rd base meant racing all the runners to home plate when they took off running.  He hit off the pitching machine a handful of times which was amazing since 1/2 the time I think he squeezed his eyes shut when the ball came towards him.  It was a great season and he's already referenced playing next year!  We are finally 100% diaper free!  She gave up night diapers for good and we've had only a couple wet nights since.  She's happy to sleep in her princess panties all night and I ...

We 've taken enough road trips with our kids to know how to keep them entertained and upbeat while hitting the open road.  Some of our good friends had move d to Pittsburgh over a year ago and it was time to reunite the kids and adults!   Blankets...captivation tiny travelers for hours We departed early Friday and drove straight thru with the exception of one stop to fuel-up and take a tour of the gas station restrooms.  I had visited the local dollar tree prior to departure day and stocked up on sticker books, stickers, and travel sized magna doodles.  I spaced out the "prizes" by a couple hours.  It kept the kids on their best behavior and they had something to look forward too!  We also utilized our baking sheets which the kids used to color and snack on.   Focused My husband sort of tricked me, un-intentionally.....so I am not a fan of driving.  I'd much rather be in the passenger seat for hours then spend any time behind the whe...

Just the 2 of us A few weekends ago Scott and I realized we hadn't taken any time for ourselves as parents since our adult ski trip to Montana in January.  There is nothing we enjoy more then taking our littles on adventures, but every once we need to relax and spend time together as Scott and Kara. Hello Cincinnati Some friends of ours live in Cincinnati and will soon be moving to Texas.  They had been asking us to come visit before they moved even further away.  We decided to take a mini road trip to visit them and enjoy life in the city.  The kids were excited to spend a night with the grandparents as Scott I got out of town for the day/night. Glacier National Park A few other couples met up with us in the city and we ventured to the Cincinnati Museum Center.  We are a pretty outdoorsy group, so we were excited to visit the Omnimax Theater for a screening of Our National Parks: Celebrating 100 Years of the National Park Service .  Watching...

She dyed most of her eggs pink The week of Easter we kicked off the holiday by dying Easter eggs.  I made the comment to Scott that most crafts and activities seem to be getting easier and easier each day with the kids.  My mom has been apart of the egg dying process since becoming a Nana, this year was no exception as she showed up on the farm with a carton of eggs in hand.    The lovely Lila Saturday morning we took the kids to their first public egg hunt, held at the community center of our little town.  I was a little anxious for them as I wasn't sure how they would do racing against other kids for eggs. Luckily, all I had to do was tell Lila there was candy in the eggs, and that prompted her to hurry along and grab as many of the brightly colored plastic eggs as possible.   He doesn't look like a fierce hunter, but watch out! We've discovered that Paisley has a competitive streak in him, so after explaining that he had to be quick to...

The sheet of paper slid out of his backpack with ease, as if this was all written in the stars and supposed to be happening.  I read over the words and looked back to his backpack, making sure he hadn't grabbed one of the older children's by mistake.  The moment caught me off guard and my eyes fell on my little boy.  Was he really old enough for t-ball sign-ups? Lil Slugger Growing up I played sports and loved watching baseball.  My husband also grew up in an athletic family that played sports, so naturally we knew the time would come for our offspring to play.  I just didn't expect it to happen so soon.  Scott took our boy to sign ups while I stayed home with baby sister.  A few weeks later we received a text from his coach (a guy Scott went to high school with), a practice and game schedule, and a list of his teammates.  Paisley was happy to see 2 names on his teammate list that he knew from school.   Being that Scott and I...