Teagan: End of Summer Update

What a great summer for Teagan! Soon to be two year olds really do a lot of learning and growing in just a few months. At the beginning of the summer, Teagan was using short sentences. Now, it seems like she completes paragraphs (well, maybe they aren't that long). She's also discovered some new things along the way. For example, POPCORN! Teagan absolutely loves in and can be found eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...not the same day of course.

When I decided to take the littles to SMBC with me, I thought it would be hard. It turned out to be not so bad. First, I had a lot of really good help from a good friend, my brother, and my dad. They were really well behaved at chapel. They only missed one service (lunch time chapel on the last full day...they slept through it!). They actually slept pretty good as well, although Teagan napped very little. The biggest issue was just the whole concept of going places. Hills, especially steep ones, aren't made for 2 year olds. We did make it to the pool just about every day, even though Teagan just wanted to play in the puddle on the cement. She did however, LOVE the creek.

Our other big adventure this summer was camping at Kerr Lake. We had a lot of fun playing and swimming. Teagan even took Deuce for a walk one morning. We celebrated Teagan's birthday on Tuesday of the lake trip with homemade ice cream and chocolate cake. She blew out the candles on the first try!


I'll be honest. I don't have as many pictures from the summer that I thought I'd have, especially since I spent the whole summer with the littles. But I feel like I spent a lot of quality time with them, not just playing paparazzi. Two kids under two is a challenge. Most days we do well just to be fed, changed, and rested, anything else is a bonus. But I will always remember this summer, and the special time we spent together. I can't imagine life any other way.

Raiden: End of Summer Update

Raiden's summer has been just as busy as Roman's, although his has been busier here at the end of summer, where Roman's was busy at the beginning. Raiden went to Cub Scout Day Camp at NC Wesleyan this year while Roman was off at YMCA camp. He really enjoyed the camp there. He has been to the twilight camp in Pitt County and the Wilson District's day camp at Camp Charles, but he really liked this one the best. This year's theme was space so he enjoyed making a bottle rocket and a spaceship, but as always, his favorite things were the shooting and archery range as well as playing football with his den.

Raiden had a great week at SMBC. He really enjoyed the pool as always. A few weeks after camp, Raiden said, "Mom, how old do you have to be to work at South Mountain?" I told him at least 16, and he said, "That's what I want to do when I turn 16." It melted my heart to hear the love and passion he has for a place that is so near and dear to my heart. I don't know if that will ever become a reality, but it made me feel good to know that he values camp as much as I do.

Raiden and Mom selfie

I'm not sure if you know that Raiden is our first family comedian. Until Teagan came along, he was the only comedian, so he has been making us laugh by himself for years. I can only imagine what it will be like when Teagan gets a little older and they can double team us. Anyway, these are a few photos from when Raiden and I went to visit the boys at Scout Camp. 

Raiden was excited about his dew rag

Of course, I have zero pictures of Raiden at the lake. I promise he was there, and we were all there together. It's just much more difficult to take pictures with two littles running/crawling around.
Raiden spent more time this year riding his bike around the campground instead of swimming like he did last year, but he still had fun.

Raiden in his practice uniform

The biggest event of the summer that Raiden counted down to was football camp, followed by tryouts. He was so excited about starting football. We weren't sure if he would like it because of the hard hitting, but so far, so good. The first day he got his pads he wore them ALL day the next day.

So long summer...

Roman: End of Summer Update

It was a summer of firsts for Roman. He went to summer camp in Greensboro all by himself. I think it was mom and dad who worried the most. It was the first time they went several days without talking to him. But Roman had a TON of fun. He rode a horse for the first time. When he left for camp, he wasn't even worried about packing long pants for the horseback riding. When we picked him up, he said it was the thing he liked most.

Roman at Camp Weaver YMCA 

Roman spent a few other weeks at camp as well. Camp Weaver was followed by a week at South Mountain Baptist Camp. Although this wasn't Roman's first trip to SMBC, his 4th in fact, this was his first time with Mom in tow. I got to share a very special place with him. A place that I have loved for so many years. It's so fun to see how much Roman loves South Mountain and how his experience, although different, is very special to him.

Roman and Ryker in Chapel at SMBC

For his final week of camp, Roman got to spend the week at Camp Boddie Boy Scout Camp with his dad who is taking over as the new Scoutmaster for Troop 16. I'm not sure which one was more excited when they left, but they had a whole lot of fun. Roman enjoyed the first year Scout program and earned a few merit badges along the way. 

Tim and Roman at Camp Boddie

We did spend a few weeks at home before heading to Kerr Lake for the week which has become an annual tradition. Another first for Roman, he learned to ride his bike for the first time this summer and has been riding around the neighborhood. On a first full day at the lake, Roman was riding around the campground when he had his first bike wreck. He scraped both arms/hands, chin, and his left knee pretty good. It didn't keep him down for long. He still enjoyed his trip to the lake and was back riding his bike by the end of the week.

Tim bandaging Roman up after his wreck

As summer comes to a close, we can remember all the fun times we had. It was a really great summer with friends and family. Roman is looking forward to heading to middle school this fall. It seems so hard to believe he will be in 6th grade.

Roman jumping in the pool at the Zipko's

Smoothies...Pineapples...Porkchops...Oh MY!

I have learned a lot just in the 5 days I have been on this new Paleo diet. For one, I've learned that cucumbers and zucchini look ALOT alike. I'm such an idiot. If you look back at my post from Day One, you will see that I clearly used cucumbers instead of zucchini. What a dummy!

Anyway, if you can't laugh at yourself who can, right? Normally, this time of the year I make lots of milkshakes. I'm not sure what inspires me to do that, but I always start making milkshakes during school breaks and as summer breaks grinds to an end, it's just what I do. Well, milk is a Paleo no-no, so I have been on a smoothie kick. I honestly have never been good a smoothie making until I realized last night what I had been missing all along. HONEY!! It is the ultimate sweetener. So, now I just throw some frozen fruit in the blender with some fresh fruit maybe a little apple sauce and a tad of honey. YUMMY!

I have to confess...I've never cut a pineapple...until today. I admit it. I watched a guy on Youtube show me how to do it. It worked. I still don't like pineapple, but I threw some in my smoothie and I used them on our VERY VERY awesome porkchops. They were so yummy...I should have taken a picture. We sprinkled them with ginger and paprika and glazed them with minced garlic. Then, we put pineapple on top about halfway through and they were AWESOME! Definitely going to make those again. 

...and on a side note, the scales went down 2 more pounds. I know, water weight, but that's 7 pounds down in 5 days, and that makes for an excited Renata! And I've never eaten so much and stayed so full in my entire life!

Everything is ok...until dinner burns!

Paleo truly makes you plan ahead. It makes you realize how convenient life has become, and with that convenience, lots of carbs and sugar. Tonight, we had planned on having chicken wrapped in bacon, one of my favorites, but the grill had other plans. It burned it all. So there we were, 30 minutes before we were to leave for football practice and a meeting with nothing to eat. At first, we thought, "Ok, we'll grab something." Of course, quickly we realized there was nothing to grab. There was nothing to eat at a fast food place that will work with Paleo. So we fed the kids, and we agreed to fix dinner after practice. I grabbed a half of a banana and a glass of water.

I have to admit though. Dinner turned out great, even though it was a little late. Hamburger steak with onions, gravy, and bacon over spinach. YUMMY! (I never thought I'd use the word yummy to describe spinach.)

Day 3...It's so tempting!

Today we went to the movies. Let me first just say, we only go to the movies, maybe 3 times a year. It is a really big treat to go to the movies for us. We were going to go into the dollar tree next door for snacks and drinks, but the store had closed. So we were stuck with buying snacks at the movies. I admit it...I ate popcorn. A LOT of popcorn and I drank some Sprite. A LOT of Sprite. It is what it is. I got back on the bandwagon with tacos on lettuce boats for dinner. Tonight as I was showering, it was just too tempting not to step on the scales. Low and behold, I am down 5 pounds! Oh my! That's just crazy! I know it's probably water weight and it will probably fluctuate back and forth, but it was very exciting to see it drop. Woot Woot!

Day One...Always the easiest

The first day of a diet is always the easiest right? I think that's pretty true and runs across the board. I felt good today. For breakfast, I had...

Spinach and egg omelet with bananas and strawberries. It was AWESOME! It was a great way to start the day. I had lots of energy. At lunch, we had a salad with spinach and salad greens, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and ham. I used balsamic vinegar for my dressing. Again, so very delicious.
For dinner, we had...

Flank steak with onions and a sweet potato. Again, so very yummy. I was so very full when we finished. Tomorrow brings a different challenge. We will head over to my mom and dad's house for lunch. The kids love mac and cheese and mashed potatoes so those will be on the menu. I offered to make some veggies and came up with this...

Squash and Zucchini salad and I made some dressing to go with it made of lemon juice and vinegar. Can't wait to see how it tastes tomorrow.