Memorial Day

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend full of family, beaches and BBQ's.

We started off on Saturday by going sailing with our neighbors. None of us Heckmans had ever been on this kind of a sailboat before, so we were all very excited about it. It did not disappoint, let me tell ya!

We drove to the causeway by our house and then sailed over to an island that is only accessible by boat. It was amazing! The water was so clear, the beach was soft white sand and the weather was perfect. God was really smiling down on us that day!

Here is a picture of the sailboat:

 Here are my two pumpkins in their matching swimsuits. I could just eat em up!

I had to include a picture of this solar oven that our neighbor's son made in school. They actually cooked hot dogs on the beach with it! Pretty amazing!

 It was so nice to just kick back and enjoy God's amazing creation.

 The island was perfect for shell hunting! Payton found an amazing conch that was fully in-tact (and "nothing was living in it!" he kept saying!) Plus lots of sand dollar pieces!

Great time had by all!

 Don't let him fool ya... Parker is not sleeping in this picture even though our neighbor's son was. He rolled around in that tent for an hour and never napped. What a stinker!

On Sunday we headed to Bradenton to visit Brian's family.

His two aunts, two cousins and their 3 kids were in town from IL & WI.

There was lots of time spent at the pool:

 How cute are Brian's cousin's kids?!? Precious!

 Even the adults enjoyed some poolside relaxation:

 Payton had so much fun being "thrown" by Uncle Todd (over and over and over):

 Brian's cousin's son is almost 6 and he and Payton hit it off instantly! They were "Best Cousins" as they kept saying.

 Can't you just hear Payton laughing???

 And fortunately for me, Brian's other cousin's daughter was more than willing to keep an eye on Parker, and he adored her too.

 All of us girl's at breakfast Monday morning:

Along with the rest of the family:

 It was so wonderful to spend such an important holiday with so many family members. Just reminds me that above all, it's family first! No matter what happens in life, your family will always be there for you. I feel so incredibly blessed to have married into such a warm, loving family.

After our whirlwind trip to Bradenton, we headed back Monday evening just in time to get the kids to bed and ready for school on Tuesday. All in all, fantastic weekend.

Hope you all had a nice Memorial Day too! Don't forget to thank a Veteran this week!

Quick Check-In

I have a TON of fun pictures to share from our eventful Memorial Day weekend, but tonight I'm just checking in real quick to share some photos from Payton's "Poetry & Pastries" class party.

All of the parents were invited to come to class on Friday morning and enjoy breakfast while our children read us some of their own poetry along with performing some classics (like Shel Silverstein). 

First, Payton shared his poetry book with us:

 It was an adorable book that included all different types of poetry. You could really see his creativity shine through in some of them.

He was so proud to have us there and share all of his hard work with us.

 After enjoying some yummy breakfast treats, the kids all went to the front of the classroom to perform 3 poems. The first was about Mother's, the second was about Father's and the third was Shel Silverstein's "Boa Constrictor." A total classic!

They were all so good! They had every line perfectly memorized.

 Then they presented us with a poem about how small they are and how they won't be this little forever (insert crying here) with their hand print on it.

(By the way, can you see Parker standing on the chair behind me acting all crazy? That kid is a ham, I tell ya! I'm so glad my friend Kristen was able to watch him for almost the whole program so we were really able to focus on Payton.)

It was a wonderful program and it made me realize once again how much we are going to miss Miss Adams next year. She is so wonderful! 

Okay, stay tuned for Memorial Day pics!

A Thank You Letter - Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day.

We will celebrate like so many other millions of Americans with family, food, and fun. 
We will hug our loved ones who have traveled hundreds of miles to be here, and we will wear red, white & blue to show our outward American pride.
We will probably watch bits and pieces of an old black & white war movie... and probably some good ol' American baseball.
Heck, we may even eat some apple pie.

But inside, I feel a little sad about Memorial Day. 
Sure, I'll have fun tomorrow watching all the cousins play together, and I will enjoy lots of laughs and good times. But I have a feeling, in the back of my mind, there will be a resounding sadness.

I think about the husband who will do all of the "motherly duties" tonight of tucking the kids into bed and running that last load of laundry because Mommy is deployed on naval ship for the next year. And how he will tell those kids once again, "Mommy loves you so much, and she misses you."

I think about the little 7-year old boy who won't have his Daddy around tomorrow to throw a football with, because he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

I think about all the wives who will spend tomorrow at the grave sites of their husbands who were lost at war. Carefully, and lovingly placing flowers and notes on the headstones. Drying tears from their eyes as they long to be able to just have one more hug... one more kiss.

I think about a dear friend whose husband is gone for several months and missing yet another pregnancy of hers because he is serving our country in the military medical field.

I think about my own father-in-law who lives in constant pain and has had a myriad of medical treatments to help relieve some of the ailments that he still endures from serving his country decades ago.

We so quickly take for granted the fact that we live in a country where we have all of these freedoms. The freedom to vote (or not to vote), to worship whatever religion/God/or non-God you want. The freedom to voice our opinions openly and freely in every medium imaginable. The freedom to wear shorts and t-shirts and flip-flops instead of having to have everything on our bodies covered except our eyes.

We have all of these freedoms and yet... how often do we say "Thank You" to a Veteran? How often do we take a moment to shake the hand of the man behind us in the Walmart line who is wearing a "Vietnam Veteran" ball cap? How often do we just close our eyes and pray for the soldiers who are away from their families and the comforts of home to keep OUR country out of harm's way?

I want to take a moment to just say "Thank You." To all of the men and women who fight for our county. Who are deployed on medical missions, fighting on the front lines, and serving in secretive bunkers. You are self-less individuals who absolutely amaze me. Thank you for all that you have done; all that you are doing; and all that you will continue to do.

I can sleep soundly tonight knowing that our country is safe, and that is due to you. So, thank you.

I wish a happy and safe Memorial Day to you all!

What's Making Me Happy Right Now...

Thought I'd share some random things that are, collectively and individually, making me happy right now.

My house is appropriately decorated for one of the most important holidays of the year.

 Love the American flag. All that it stands for. All that it says about being proud to live in this country and enjoy the freedom that we have.

Parker loves those twirly yard ornament things. Several houses in our neighborhood have them and he always wants to stop to twirl them. So... I got him one. He loves it. Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.

I also changed out my Spring banner in the family room. As much as I loved it, it was time to say goodbye until next year and break out the red, white and blue.

 I downloaded this "Freedom" banner for free here. You just have to print it and assemble it yourself. I put mine on a long piece of red satin ribbon using hot glue. 

Voila! Instant Pennant Banner! (Insert happy dance for both free and easy banner!)

You can download the subway art that I have framed by going to Google Images and searching "Memorial Day Subway Art."

 I'll save my real homage to our Veterans for my Memorial Day post. I have a lot of thankfulness to write about. Stay tuned.

Another item that is making me very happy is...

 The Carter's Store.

Almost everything is on sale. I can usually find good clearance deals, and they have matching clothes in both 7T and 18 months. I can't wait to see my two little men sporting their new duds this Memorial Day weekend! I love matching outfits. Call me lame. I don't care. I think it's adorable. And until Payton protests, I'm gonna do it. So there. :)

Fresh baked cookies waiting for Payton when he comes home from school.

 I guess it's one of those weird Mom things, but I want him to have a memory of coming home from school every once in a while to the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. He gets so excited when he comes inside and sees them on the counter.

It makes me happy watching him stand over them debating which one is the biggest, has the most chocolate chips, and will taste best.

BOGO at Publix.

I love it when something that I really don't want to buy goes on sale BOGO because then at least I feel like I'm getting a deal on it.

Apparently these muffins are a hot-ticket item in the cafeteria this year. Payton has asked me to buy them for several weeks now, but I hate spending money on such highly processed, sugar-filled, junk food.

Then I decided, hey... it's almost the last week of school... let the kid enjoy a little treat and feel like he's the King of the lunch table for once.

Stickers.

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Such a small thing. It only cost $1, but man, these stickers are going to make Parker so happy. He loves his Pooh Bear and I have grand plans for these babies. Makes me happy just thinking about it.

What's making you happy these days? Please share in the comment section. I'd love to hear from ya!

Library LEGO Update

Last week I did a post about a LEGO program that Payton attended at our local library. We went back a few days later, and Payton was quite disappointed that his LEGO figurines that he created weren't on display yet.
I went back again yesterday for Toddler Time, and I was very excited to see this behind the circulation desk:

Yes, he made some characters from the computer game, "Minecraft." The theme of the LEGO event was "Creatures" so he made some creatures from the game. He is very proud to have his structure displayed at the library. As you can see from the picture below, the entire top of the shelving unit behind the circulation desk is now filled with LEGO creations. How fun!

 And just in case you were curious... this is what the bottom basket of my stroller looks like every time I leave the library:

 Filled to the brim with books! And now that Payton is getting into chapter books, my load is getting bigger and heavier each week. Good thing I have a stroller to carry all of it, otherwise, I'd need a shopping cart. :)

Ramblings

We've had some cute moments lately where we've "caught" Payton and Parker playing together. It's absolutely the cutest thing I've ever seen and melts my heart every single time.

Parker is really getting into books now and loves to read the same ones over and over (and over and over). The other night, Payton put their two chairs together and made a little bed with his blanket and read Parker his favorite book. It was so precious!

 Of course Payton, being the avid reader that he is, wanted to read the book page, by page. Parker on the other hand wanted to hold the book and flip the pages back and forth at random. I guess that's just part of being 6 years apart. At least they had a few minutes of special reading time before the book was wrestled over and tossed onto the floor. :)

I caught another cute "older brother" moment the other day when we went to the library. Payton and his friend Avery took Parker by the hand and walked him all the way across the parking lot and into the library. Parker couldn't have been happier!

In other news, Payton just finished up his final project for 1st grade. His class is studying habitats and each child was assigned a specific habitat to research, write a report about it, and then create a diorama.

Payton's habitat was the rainforest. I think he really enjoyed learning about all of the jungle animals and strange little critters that live there. He wasn't so keen on writing the report, but I must say, he did most of it without any complaints. I was very proud of him!

Here is the finished project... complete with 10 rainforest animals and real tree branches!

(Can you spot the flying scarlet macaw suspended in the air by fishing line? Nice touch, eh?)

 

 

 Yeah for Payton completing his final project! Yeah for doing it with an excellent attitude! And YEAH for no more projects till next school year!

Recently

Life has slowed down significantly in the past week. Within about 10 days, we had our last baseball game (e.g. no more weeknight practices), our last Bible study (that we hosted in our house every Wednesday evening), and Payton completed his first year of Cub Scouts (which also means no more weeknight meetings).

Maybe this is a little taste of what life will be like in a couple weeks when school lets out. Only 16 more days left... not that Payton's counting or anything. :)

So, with a little more freetime on our hands, we've been...

Attending a LEGO workshop at our local library with Payton's budding, Max & Quinn:

 Playing "baseball" on the back porch:

 He's definitely been watching his brother!

 We just have to remind Payton that if he wants to hit off the tee, he has to go outside. That kid can whack a ball!

 Painting with sidewalk paint:

 Which of course includes painting yourself too!

Rollerblading while letting go of helicopter balloons:

(What? Like that's not normal?)

Going to the park and experiencing nature:

And getting big-boy haircuts:

 He looks so big to me now!

 Of course he wouldn't sit still for a good picture, so this is all I could get.

Totally shows his personality though. :)

And while our calendar has let up, don't think for one second that life in this household has slowed down one bit. In fact, I think with little man practically running now, life has sped up quite a bit!