May/June Monthly Archives (2021)
Hello! I’ve been meaning to do more documenting our days around this space so I decided one great way to do it is for me to start a Monthly Archives series. Towards the end of each month, I plan to post a collection of photos and memories of things I want to remember from that month! Since this is my first post, I’m catching up with May and June of 2021. If this is your first visit here, thanks for joining me!
“Summertime is always the best of what might be.”
― Charles Bowden
May
This year in May, we took our first trip to the beach for the year with some family friends. It was Mother’s Day weekend and I couldn’t have wished for a better way to celebrate with my crew. The boys cracked us up with their antics. We have a tradition of heading straight out to the beach as soon as we arrive. This time both of them stripped completely naked (it was NOT warm!) and got into the water while laughing hysterically and freezing their little bums off! It was all pretty funny!
The most exciting thing that happened in May is that I launched my very first online course: Yours Truly, The Lost Art of Connection Through Letter Writing! It was a 6-week online creative writing experience geared toward anyone looking to delve deeper into connection and creativity. I had been wanting to create something like this for so long and it finally came together this year and I honestly could not have imagined how incredible it would be! I had 25 participants and the energy, connection, vulnerability, and story-sharing was magical. It was so awesome! The next session will launch in fall of 2021 (join the waitlist here if you’re interested!).
On May 27th, I celebrated another birthday!
I still can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I launched this blog (read my very first post here – it’s come a long way)! So much goodness has come from the decision to put that on my 40th birthday bucket list! This year we had a little family celebration at home and it was perfect. My Mama surprised me by driving down to join us, Paul cooked some incredible “reverse-seared” filet mignon steaks and we ate carrot cake for dessert (my fav!), the boys entertained us, and we finished off the evening by chasing fireflies in the backyard.
Two days after my birthday we headed back to the beach with more family friends for a whole week of fun!
One of my high school besties and his wife (who just-so-happen-to-be the first couple I ever tried my hand at match-making!) came from Missouri to spend time with us with their two daughters. The kids all loved the beach and it was so wonderful to reconnect with their family. Noah decided he really likes being IN the water on this trip. He spent hours running into the crashing waves, getting knocked over, and jumping right back up to do it again! Niko even got in on some of the action, though he was more inclined to chase the waves from the safety of the beach! Rain was forecasted for the whole week but we only had one day of it! We spent it watching movies, playing Guess Who and Jenga, and catching up on life together.
June
The first memorable event of June was Noah’s 4-year wellness check up with his pediatrician (only 4 months late!).
He was just recovering from an ear infection, which was the first time anyone in our house had been legitimately “sick” since early 2020! He was very brave at his appointment, surprising the nurses and his doctor with how much he knew about blood pressure and stethoscopes. And he was thrilled to learn that he didn’t need any shots until next year! Afterward we went on a Mama-son date to eat outdoors at an Italian restaurant for the first time since early 2020. It was so strange to be at a restaurant again but both of us really enjoyed it. Meanwhile Paul took Niko on a Papa-son date to eat outside at a different restaurant. Later that same day the newest member of our family was born! My sister Kati gave birth to her second son, my new little nephew Tate William! He is absolutely adorable (of course!).
Three days later, Paul and I boarded a plane to fly back to Arkansas and meet him.
It was the first time we both had left our boys for more than a night ever. And it was our first time on a plane together since before the pandemic. I was pretty nervous about traveling. Overall we had a really good experience with Delta Airlines and the flights were smooth and painless. My Mama lovingly agreed to stay with our boys while we spent 4 days soaking up baby snuggles. I loved spending quality time with my nephews, my sister, and her husband. But it was hard being away from my boys for the first time. Especially after barely being separated from them this past year and a half at all.
The weekend after we returned from our trip, we celebrated Niko’s 3rd birthday with a backyard fun-in-the-sun party with a few friends and neighbors!
We had inflatable pools, water toys, an epic water balloon fight, a super cute rainbow cake (per request), and some incredible Rescue Bot birthday cookies made especially for Niko by my friend Becca (check out her stuff here – she’s made cookies for every single birthday for both of my boys and she’s amazing!). I also had this really cool Rescue Bot piñata that I completely forgot to bring out during the party – doh! #momfail haha guess we’ll save that for the next birthday! Overall it was a blast. Niko grinned from ear to ear the whole time. Summer birthday parties are SO much easier to plan than winter ones (sorry Noah!).
Other highlights from May and June:
- Our backyard surprised us when the most beautiful hydrangeas blossomed in all different colors
- The boys started Soccer Shots (a soccer program for 3 & 4 yr olds)
- We spent a lot of time playing outside – Paul worked magic on the yard and the grass looks incredible!
- I released a free 10-page printable summer PDF packed with all kinds of goodies – check it out!
- We joined a community pool for the summer and boys learned how to dive underwater in the pool
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May and June were both packed with adventures and good times.
I’ll be back next month with more photos and memories to share from July!
How is your summer going?
I’d love to know what you’ve been up to this month.
Drop a comment below!
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