Watermelon For Life

Yesterday's post was a little wordy. So today I have a bunch of yummy pictures of some cute kids eating watermelon. I always forget how much I love watermelon until I get one for the kids. Does anyone else eat theirs with salt on it? I eat my cantaloupe this way as well. My husband says I'm weird. I think it's the perfect mix of salty and sweet. And so do the kids because they all begged for salt on theirs too. But to be fair, they want salt on everything.

Our Redneck Adventure

I am not an adventurous person. In my mind, I want to be. But most things terrify me and in reality I do way less adventuring than I should. Part of it has to do with my semi-paralyzing fear of heights, but mostly it's that I am terrified of dying from ignorance in trying to do something "thrilling."

My husband is the complete opposite. He is into being outside, climbing mountains, skydiving, zip lining, jumping off of cliffs - if it gets his adrenaline pumping then he is down to party. I actually did go zip lining with him last year. It was terrifying and I was glad I did it with him, but I wouldn't say I'd rush to do it again.

Growing up, he spent a lot of time on a local mountain that had nothing but trees, rocks and some really muddy, washed out dirt roads. I mean, you're not getting more than two feet up any of these "roads" without four wheel drive. People are known to take up four-wheelers and old beat up trucks and SUVS that are fixed up especially for climbing this mountain.

Nice and clean and ready to go to the mountain.

Andy bought an old Isuzu Trooper last year off of Craigslist for about $500. It only needed a little work to get it running good enough to be his "mountain ride." So when he had free time he worked on it and this past weekend it was finally ready for a test run up the mountain. He really wanted me to go with him so that he could show me how he spent his youth. (I never did things like this and had never even been to this part of our town.) I was terrified of something crazy happening, like the car rolling over, which happens a lot on the mountain. I think that's supposed to be part of the fun.

In my mind, we were going to roll over trying to climb some rocks, I'd probably hit my head and die immediately because of course the truck would roll over on my side first. And we would be at a spot of the mountain that was close to the edge, so the truck would just roll right over and slide all the way down into a fiery ball of death. Luckily, my skull was already cracked open when the truck first started rolling, so I was unaware of my body burning. THIS IS HOW MY MIND WORKS DAILY. It's exhausting. And it's why I was happy to take a Xanax before agreeing to spend the day with my husband and his best friend doing what I was sure would end badly.

But I love him and he assured me it would be safe and fun and that I was overreacting, as usual. Plus it was super important to him that I go. So, I went. And it was a really fun day. There were some scary parts and definitely some times when I got out of the truck and walked while Andy and his friend climbed rocks and hills that went straight up in the air. Overall, I enjoyed myself and I enjoyed making my husband happy and seeing him do something he loves. Fears conquered.

Random boot in the woods.

Thursday Thoughts: A Wedding Throwback

So I know there's some kind of rule on time for throwback posts, but I'm a rebel so who cares. We are nearing our three month anniversary of being husband and wife - aaaawwww - and seriously, it has been pretty great. We went two whole months from our wedding day without a single fight. That is record shattering in our book. Of course we had a huge blowup last week. Probably a build up of all the little things we've been letting each other get away with in the name of newly wedded bliss.

I haven't shared most of the wedding pictures that we got. There's a post about our little reception after the ceremony and a post with my top five favorite pictures from the big day. I'm going to share some more now because 1. I love these photos and 2. to inspire some more of that newly wedded bliss in our daily lives.

(Hey, we have three kids and Andy works like ALL THE TIME. Our lives aren't exactly sprinkles and unicorns. Just last night, Emily and Blair woke up about three times each for milk or really for no reason at all. They somehow ended up switching beds before the night was over with, too.)

My dad walking me down the "aisle".

Andy's first look at me and my dress.

During the ceremony.

The whole wedding party during the ceremony.

My oldest daughter and my Maid of Honor.

Sand ceremony.

First kiss.

The whole crew.

The Walkoff & The Details

All photos by SBB Photography

Linking up here.

Mom Guilt: Are My Kids Eating Healthy Enough

This morning for breakfast my kids had frozen waffles, go-gurt, sausage links, cereal and some strawberries. That sounds like a lot. In reality, Emily and Blair split one waffle. Emily had the go-gurt and Blair had the strawberries. They both had one sausage link and they both only drank the milk from their cereal.

All of my kids love most fruits and vegetables and would happily live off of those alone. (Except for spaghetti squash... I can't get a single one of them to eat it!) However, I believe they all need a good source of protein and don't want them getting it from eggs or processed meats alone.

Blair loves hotdogs. It is literally the only meat she will eat with the exception of the occasional piece of sausage or bacon. Steak? No. Ground beef? No. Chicken? No. Not in any shape or form or flavor. She usually won't even eat chicken nuggets. But I can't offer her hotdogs for every meal because, gross.

I've started serious meal planning with the intentions of 1. saving myself money and 2. trying to introduce new foods. We have tried several things lately and most have been really great. I'll link up some of our recent favorites below. But the kids have not been big fans. Most nights they barely take three bites and then they are done. Of course an hour later they are "ungry", as Emily says. I try to get them to try the dinner I already fixed again, but usually end up offering them something I know they will eat because I feel bad that they are not getting enough to eat.

As their doctor has said, they will eat when they are hungry and they will not let themselves "starve to death". In the back of my head I know this. I know I should not worry because they are all healthy and they all let me know when they are hungry and when they are not. That "mom guilt" still creeps up on me all the time though. Was that meal healthy enough? Am I feeding them too many processed and unhealthy foods? Are they going to live off of those three bites of broccoli? Am I overreacting? Should I offer them something I know they will eat even though I spent time and money making another dinner that they wouldn't touch?

Where does it end? Does anyone else out there have these same problems? What do you do to keep a healthy balance in your child's diet?

SEND HELP. I'm freaking myself out.

Broccoli & Cheese Spaghetti Squash

I added turkey sausage but the seasonings were too spicy for the kids.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Making this tonight.

Chicken Spinach Wraps

These are SO GOOD. I'm loving poppyseed dressing right now.

Orange Chicken

I enjoyed this but my husband said the flavor was a bit too strong for him.

Photo Dump

I'm sitting here with my bowl of salad, my iced coffee and my headache. The big kids are hitting that mid summer boredom. They've done all the sleepovers and the swimming and the playing outside. But now they're ready for something different. I can hear Blair as I type this; she's in her room crying because she's too tired to take a nap. Phew. I'm starting to wish this iced coffee was wine. This mommy needs to take a breath and regroup to get through the rest of this summer. In the mean time, here are a few photos from our summer so far.

Favorite Father's Day Gifts

Hooray for Friday! It's been a really long week over here at our house and I'm so happy it's the weekend. Although I'm not totally sure why because these days the weekends are not much different from the weekdays. As in, I need a vacation.

Father's Day is barely a week away. I have a traditional Father's Day "gift basket" that I've done the past two years and will continue to do this year. I got the idea from this blog post a few years ago and it's been fun sticking to the tradition. But for those who are into the more traditional gift buying, here are a few awesome gifts for dad that I've come across recently.

BottleKeeper - You screw off the bottom panel, insert your beer and bam. It keeps your beer colder, it keeps it from breaking should you drop it and it does a pretty good job of hiding what you're drinking as well. Any beer fanatic would love this. Use code COLD3R to get 10% off your order.

Jord Wood Watches - I don't know how long wooden watches have been a thing, but these are just amazing and so unique. They range from $129 (like the one pictured) up to $395 and the site offers free shipping for all US orders.

Man Crates - Genius. A wooden crate that Dad gets to pry open with a crow bar (included). They have every theme imaginable, from the "Retro Gamer Crate" (pictured) to an exotic meats crate to a zombie survival crate.

Linking up here.

Thursday Thoughts

1. I'm just going to jump right in with something that's been driving me crazy for weeks... hardwood floors. I really kind of hate them. We have real hardwood in every room except the kitchen and bathrooms. For some reason it really just grosses me out. It seems like it's NEVER CLEAN. And I miss carpet in the bedrooms. Hardwood in our bedrooms seems so cold and uncomfortable. I know, I'm probably the only weirdo who feels this way. (Except Andy, he totally agrees about the bedroom part.)

2. Why do my kids have to stop taking naps once they reach about 3 years old? Don't they know how fabulous naps are and how much they will miss them some day? Emily is currently jumping on the bed and watching tv instead of laying down. I have literally said "lay down and take a nap" like seven times. And she's been up since about 6  this morning.

3. I have spent most of this week sick and trying to relax in the bed and feel better. But with my three kids plus my sisters two kids here while she works, it's been basically impossible to just do nothing and try to feel better. These kids always need something; it's like they can't even take care of themselves. (That's a joke; obviously they can't. The oldest one is only 10.)

4. I've been searching the interwebs for the perfect chicken and waffles recipe. A while back, Andy and I had some at a local pub and it was amazing. The waffles were thin and had bacon cooked in them. The chicken had the perfect fried flavor and the syrup was a maple/buffalo mixture. YUM. I've been wanting to make some at home ever since but haven't quite found the right recipe. Any suggestions?

Linking up here.