Around Here Lately...

Life has been contently quiet around the Heckman Household lately.

It's not always like that, so I am really trying to enjoy it and live in the moment.

After the holidays, it was nice to get back into our routine and settle down a bit.

We've also been enjoying some amazing weather the past month or so. It's still cold enough for weekend fire pits, s'mores, snuggly blankets, and boots, but mixed in with enough sunshine to be able to enjoy picnics in the park, playing in the driveway, and long bike rides. This is time of year it really pays to live in Florida.

I'm currently in the midst of some fun birthday planning for the boys. It's getting a tad more difficult to have "joint" birthday celebrations for them as they get older. Fortunately this year, they both agreed to forego a party and attend Monster Jam Truck Rally instead. But I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that they don't know about yet...

Other than that, here's a brief (and very eclectic) summary of what we've been up to around here lately...

Our community recently started hosting a weekly Farmer's Market on Sundays. I would love to see a lot more variety added to it (including a local florist...please!!!) but in the meantime, there's a great local farmer that brings organic produce and his prices are excellent.

I roasted up a bag of his organic tri-colored carrots along with a bundle of his enormous asparagus and some red potatoes and they came out delicious! Such an fresh, easy and satisfying side dish.

And while we're on the topic of veggies, my kids have been going bonkers for roasted broccoli lately!

I'm starting to make double batches of it now because they eat so much of it (who are these kids???).

We have a tradition that you get to choose the meals when it is your birthday, and Payton said he's going to choose "Ritzy Chicken with a side of roasted broccoli." This is the first year a vegetable has been requested for one of my boys' birthday meals!

I made this dish the other night:

A little twist on the "Healthy 3-Ingredient Pasta" recipe. Instead of ground turkey, I used some leftover grilled chicken breasts and corkscrew pasta instead of bowtie. But that roasted broccoli and parm still made it in there. The kids devoured it!

I did a super easy update to a Goodwill mirror that I scored for a mere $6.00! I liked the details and size of the mirror, but wasn't digging the gold.

A couple coats of white spray paint later and... it's gorgeous!

We renewed our Busch Gardens passes recently (thank you Mom & Dad Heckman for that awesome Christmas gift!!). The boys are at such a great age for theme parks. Payton is finally riding all of the roller coasters, and Parker loves everything he is tall enough to ride too. 

We went to the park with our neighbors when the kids had a day off school and we all had a great time. The weather was perfect, there were barely any lines, and the big kids rode just about every roller coaster in the park multiple times!

Riding the sky ride with our neighbors

It's hard to see, but Payton & the other two older kids rode the skyride by themselves. Such big kids!

I'm always amazed at the beauty of these majestic animals.

And the silliness of these gorillas. They crack me up! I think this one was doing yoga.

The kids got to pet kangaroos. They're surprisingly soft.

Beware of riding the bumper cars with a crazy 3-year old. Can you say "whip lash??"

Sesame Street area is so perfect for him!

The big kids were all smiles before heading up the new ride called "Falcon's Fury."

335 feet in the air with a 90-degree face-down drop... they looked a little different coming down...

Avery was the only one who wanted to ride it again. :)

As I mentioned, the weather has been so beautiful lately. We've had a lot of alfresco dinners and parties. I love a good plate full of appetizers. Yum!

And this little dude has started walking his stuffed ball pet in his stroller around the neighborhood. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen. We've been taking a LOT of walks lately.

Last but not least, I wanted to share that I have been consistently getting up every weekday at 6 a.m. for some quiet time. It's been so good for me. I love being awake and focused by the time the boys get up. Please feel free to pray for me that I can continue this good habit!

That's about it from my corner of the world. Come back soon for a roundup of my favorite Valentines crafts, free printables and more!

Veterans Day & More

Payton's school had a Veteran's Day ceremony last Friday. I thought it was really nice for the school to do a big assembly and recognize all of the family members in attendance who were Veterans. I don't think Payton fully grasps  Payton doesn't have a clue about the sacrifice that comes along with having a family member in active service.

We have new neighbors that have 2 little boys around Payton's age and the father is serving in Afghanistan. The mom is hoping he can come home around Christmas, but he hasn't seen the boys in over 6 months. Payton could not understand why their father was never around. He just can't wrap his brain around the concept of someone from our country going far, far away to defend us and help others.

But I am trying to do my part to explain this to him and help him gain an understanding - and more importantly - a respect, for our Veterans and active-duty service men & women. I am always in awe of my girlfriends whose husbands get deployed for months - even years - at a time and they are left raising their children as a single parent.
It blows my mind.
And makes me feel so grateful.
Thank you.
To all of our Veterans and active duty military...
Thank you for all that you & your family do for us.

So, this is what Payton wore to the assembly on Friday at school. His Cub Scout leader told him that it was a sign of respect to wear their uniforms. So he did. And he got to participate in the flag ceremony.

I think he's starting to get an idea of what it means to have pride in our country.

The rest of our weekend was pretty low-key. Friday afternoon the boys just played at home.

(Parker trying to be one of the "big kids")

On Saturday morning, we had our pictures taken for our Christmas card, and then went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Since it was chilly out, they had the fireplace going. I asked if we could sit nearby and they placed us at the table right in front of it.

Parker spent the ENTIRE meal saying, "Oooo! Hot!" And trying to blow on the fire like it was a candle that he could blow out. He was so worried about the fireplace, that he wouldn't even eat his breakfast! Note to self: Next time, wave "hello" to the fireplace on your way to table far off in another corner of the restaurant.

Of course a candy stick and rocking chairs afterward made everything right with the world again!

Saturday afternoon was Payton's last baseball practice of the season. After a little bit of practicing, the coach surprised the kids with a full-family participation kickball game. The kids had a BALL (although I think the Dads had the most fun!).

 Then, on the way home from practice, Parker was getting fussy, so I asked Payton to read to him. Parker was silent the entire rest of the ride home. He loves it when Payton reads to him!

Yesterday, Payton had the day off school, so we headed to Busch Gardens with our neighbors and their cousins. The weather was perfect, the lines were short, and the boys had a great time. Parker is at such a great age right now for Busch Gardens. Even though he can't ride a lot of the rides, he is so enamored with the animals. 

We rode the train around the park and saw all of the safari animals.

 We would sit and have snacks or "people watch" while the big kids rode rides.

Then we hit the Sesame Street area, which is like a huge playground for someone Parker's age!

We watched the Sesame Musical show:

And the characters would walk up and down the aisles. 

You can see Elmo behind him here. He really wanted to hug Elmo!

Then Elmo came back and made his wish come true!

He was SO happy!!!

Then we went to the water area and hung out there for a long time.

Payton ran into a friend from school while we were there so they rode the "Air Grover" rollercoaster together a couple times and then we headed out.

Parker looked like this about 5 minutes after getting in the car...

That's the sign of a good trip to Busch Gardens!

Tonight is our end-of-the season baseball party. More on that tomorrow...