Chelsea Salomone

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Summahtime Girls Got It Goin' On

We had a great rest of the holiday weekend! Nick had Thursday and Friday off (and basically Wednesday too), so we've had a nice long weekend. Nick played golf one day, and we went out on a friend's boat another day.

It was Logan's first time on a boat (and he was the only kid). He did great! I even got to ski which made me happy happy happy!

Boy + Mom + Lake= Bliss

We spent Saturday with Andrea & Chris and went to Del Frisco's that night with Nick's fam for his birthday! Bailey down the street kept Logan, and for the first time *ever* he didn't cry when we left him with Bailey. He got all excited at the idea of going outside to play chalk, and he barely batted an eye when we left. It made my night about a million times better! The six of us hadn't gone to do something in a long time, and we had a lot of fun! You just can't get a meal much better than Del Frisco's.

Today Nick and I braved teaching the three year old Sunday School Class at church. They needed some teachers to fill in for the summer, so I signed Nick and I up to do a couple of Sundays. I pulled out my magical kindergarten teacher tricks and Nick was my magician's assistant, and everything went so well! Our lesson was on angels, but I can promise you angels was about the last thing on their minds.

My favorite part of the morning was when we took the kids down the hall to get a drink holding that rope they carry and I looked back to see Nick holding on to a ring at the back of the line spurring the kids on. He was so cute with those three year olds! There is nothing sweeter than a man who's great with kids!

I kept thinking today would make me miss teaching. Not so much. I really, really enjoyed this morning and the kids were so good, but my emotions started and ended right there. I'm always doing these little litmus tests on myself just to make sure. I loved- I mean loved- teaching and it's weird to me that I never miss it, but I don't. I thought I would, but I guess it means I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Playing in the new indoor playground after church

The other great thing that happened today was that for the first time *ever* Logan didn't shed a single tear going to his Sunday School. He walked in on his own accord and starting playing with the toys. Talk about shocked!! I don't know what's gotten into him, but I am so relieved and proud!

We had lunch at Panera and this was Logan's preferred method of sitting. He stayed in his booster seat the entire time and ate all of his lunch, but we thought it was so funny how he sat! (We had taken off his shoes because we realized after church they were way too small- oops!)

At lunch I was eating an apple and he kept wanting to take bites off the apple. Meanwhile, I was trying to cut it into small pieces for him, and he picked the apple up, held it up to his chest and said, clear as day, "NO MOMMY! MINE!" Yowza! I think it's safe to say we have a toddler on our hands.

Tonight we swam and grilled BBQ chicken and corn and enjoyed fresh watermelon. Summer time eating at its finest! After dinner we stripped Logi down and he spent some time with one of his activities of choice:

Playing with "wax" aka Scentsy. He will sit there and open and close, stack and smell those things and load them in his dump truck for the longest time. Hey, whatever works, right???

Apparently we have a bit of a Johnny Drama on our hands...

Thursday, July 4, 2013

inDep inDance

Happy Fourth of July!! We started our day with a birthday breakfast and presents for Nick.

Logan and I snuck out of the house early to go get birthday balloons and that thrilled Logan to no end. After breakfast we spent some time hanging out as a family, and I took these hilarious action shots of Logan and Nick up in the playroom.

Cat like speed and reflexes

Logan was just squealing with laughter at Nick! It's always so funny to me how differently we play with him.

We spent the afternoon over at Al & Teri's for a cookout and pool party with the Heldoorns. It was a great Fourth of July! We had so much fun!

Dishes and Vodka-- still keeping with the patriotic theme

We got home from Al & Teri's just in time for fireworks. We put Logan to bed and Nick and I set up shop in the backyard. We live right by the lake so we were hoping to see them from our house. Unfortunately we could only see the tip tops of the fireworks over the trees and we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, so we abandoned our mission. Hopefully next year Logan will be old enough to go watch them somewhere.

Happy Fourth to you and yours!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

When Smart Girls Do Dumb Things

Do you ever get the feeling God is laughing at you? If my life were a movie this week would have had everyone laughing [at, not with] that's for sure! It's been a comedy of errors over here!

First, there was the water hose incident. I was rolling up the hose the other night after watering the plants. Somehow the nozzle got caught just right on the water hose caddy and as I rolled it up it pulled it tight, causing the hose to spray full force right in my face. Seriously?? Who does that happen to? That was one of those moments in life where you look around and go, "Whew! Glad nobody saw that!"

Then there was the thing with the keys. I got in my car to drive to Stroller Strides and couldn't find my car keys for the life of me. I finally went and got the spare set and decided to look for them later. I was pulling the stroller out of the back of my car in the parking lot when a guy came up to me and said, "Um... I'm not sure exactly how you made it here just now, but did you know your car keys are on the roof of your car?"

Now to be fair, that one's on Nick because he had driven my car last, but still! How does that happen? All I can say is we must be living right for the keys not to have fallen off the entire way to the park!

Then there was the debacle today. I went to get my hair hilighted in Arlington. I was really on top of my game, leaving the house before 10 a.m. remembering not only the kid, but the checkbook to pay the hairdresser as well. Fast forward to my hair appointment, I realize I've left said checkbook in the diaper bag with my mom. Foiled again! (No pun intended.)

I looked on my phone and realized the nearest bank was only seven miles away. No problem, I decided to run to the bank while my color was processing and get cash. Seven miles turned into seventy billion miles as I took a tour of Arlington trying to find this one Wells Fargo, or any Wells Fargo for that matter, only to discover a) the one I'm searching for is closed and b) my phone is now dead c)I'm driving all over town like a crazy woman with foils in my hair annnnnnnd d) there was a brand new Wells ATM less than a mile- LESS THAN A MILE- down the street in the opposite direction.

For the record let me add that I'm 92-94% certain I saw a drug deal take place and also, it's a wonder my hair didn't come out blue. Although that would have been some kind of patriotic statement to make I suppose.

Also this week, I preheated the top oven and stuck a sweet potato in the bottom oven. Life: 47 Chelsea:-13

Rant over. On to happier things from the week.

This is how we've spent the past several days-- Logi and I, hanging out together by the pool. Perfection!

One afternoon after his nap we checked out the new splash pad that opened near our house. We ran into some neighbor friends which was fun!

Nothing was as fun as pushing the button to turn on the water though.

If you live in our area the new Dove Water Park in Grapevine is worth checking out! One side is a small water park/pool area and the other side is a splash pad. The splash pad side is free too! My Magic 8 Ball predicts we will be spending many a summer afternoon there!

Seriously-- if I could have a dozen more exactly like him I would.

As Erin said, he may as well be heading off to college in this picture.

Spontaneously falling asleep while playing cars

Today my mom and I had lunch and did a little shopping before my hair appointment. We even ate outside on a patio for lunch, which is just unheard of in July in Texas. I wish this weather would never leave!!!

Now Nick *HATES* this next thing, but it's so funny I just have to write it down. While we were shopping my mom and I were pulling different shirts of the racks and holding them up going, "CUTE!" "Ohhh!! That's cute!!!" So next thing we know Logan starts walking around behind us pulling on different shirts going, "CUUUUUUTE!" real dramatically. All the ladies in the store were just dying laughing which caused him to do it more and more. He was being hilarious and just eating up the attention!!

Then he found some bracelets and slid those on this arms. He was walking around the store showing everyone his bracelets proudly and saying "CUUUUUUTE!"

Tonight we had planned to go watch Southlake's firework show with some friends, but when we discovered the fireworks didn't even start until 9:30, we opted for dinner on the patio at Mi Dia and chalk/remote control cars on the driveway instead.

Here are two videos from this week. The first one is Logan singing along to the music, totally unprompted. The chorus says, "Step off. Step off." I was loading the car and realized he was singing right along with it.

(PS I did buckle Logan in completely once I finished loading the car before we actually drove off. Just in case anyone saw that and worried.)

Talking about the cars we saw in the parking lot of Mi Dia tonight.

Happy early Fourth of July, everyone!! I hope you have a fun day celebrating tomorrow! Happy Birthday America and Nick Salomone!!!!!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Lunch Bunch

I have really been looking forward to today! Natalie and Liz (aka: The IKPi D/FW chapter) and their kids came over for lunch and swimming! Natalie works from home on Mondays, so she was able to sneak out of the office for a few hours to hang out. As an added bonus, we are having this crazy beautiful weather this week. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the 70s??? I never, ever remember July in Texas feeling this wonderful.

I enjoyed setting the table and planning a lunch menu for us. Natalie and Liz both eat super healthy, so I remade our dinner from the other night of quinoa masala burgers and a big salad. For dessert we had berries with vanilla agave yogurt. That might sound a little bit impressive, but don't be fooled-- the other reason I chose that meal is because it's simple and fast...two things that are key when trying to entertain with a toddler.

I think this picture of Liz and Mark is so pretty! They have matching eyes.

Zach aka Darth Vader

Logan looks so funny with his hair wet! He had just been practicing his jumps from swim lessons. Today was the first day he went down the slide on our pool and jumped in repeatedly. I was excited!

A little after swimming snack-- so fun to think that these three will be in the same grade in school one day!

"So that's the spot where you bumped your head? Right there? Let me check it out!"

After lunch we hung out a visited while the kids played. And by played I mean...

Such a fun afternoon! Logi was exhausted after the "tids" left. He napped for over three hours and then enjoyed a popsicle leisurely on the drive way and played with sidewalk chalk. Every day after nap time his hair looks exactly like this. I don't know what he does in that crib of his...

I plan to take full advantage of the amazing weather this week and spend as much time outside as we possibly can!