Sunday FUNDAY...

I am officially confessing that Sundays are probably one of the hardest days of the week for me.  Okay... there, I said it!!  

#1 church is at 2:30.... YES 2:30 in the afternoon!!  #2 For the past 4 1/2 years I have been doing Sundays by myself.  Blake is gone early for meetings and gets home late (some Sundays after 8pm).  I have had to sit by myself w/ the kiddies for a LONG time now... and these ages are rough, which is fine... but sitting still for one hour (with 1, 2 or 3 parents) is a joke!  #3 Church happens to coincide with nap time so you can only imagine how #2 plays out each week w/ NO nap.  Sometimes we just go sit in the car.  In the end, we make the best of it.  We love the Branch and wouldn't have things any other way

This past Sunday I had to give a talk (in Spanish of course) as well as my usual Sunday school class.  I really needed to review/practice/study and we had about 45 mins. until we needed to leave.  I pulled out my secret weapon (the movie robots) and let the boys watch it on my bed... a very special privilege.  When I came in the room, ready to pack everyone up to head to church this is what I found (I thought they were being awfully quiet)!!!  Can I tell you how bad I wanted to crawl in bed with them... sigh!!!

We did make it to church and I know this time in our life won't last forever.  This is why despite the craziness, I want to remember the details and smile back on our Sunday Fundays.

Tae Kwon Dooooooo

Braden is officially back in business with all things Tae Kwon Do!  In fact, Friday he tested for his purple belt... an extremely exciting occasion here at the Hart house!  There were so many funny pictures, it was hard to choose just a few.  I just love his expressions.  He was the youngest one (at 4 1/2 to test) and his focus is not razor sharp :)  But he gave it his all and I love that he has something he can be dedicated to.  

Gotta give a shout out to G-man who patiently sits through hours of classes each week!  During testing though, he was done... he walked himself to the waiting room, grabbed a bag of chips and a soda (Blake had left them in the waiting area) and sat happily enjoying his snack!

"Focus" says Master Russell

Love this the most... Gavin is attempting to break his own board!!

Kiddie Camp Wrap Up!!

We had a blast with Kiddie Camp in our home this past week!  It was the perfect sized crew and we enjoyed a jam-packed week full of activities and fun!  Here area  few pics... these first ones are from the mini photo shoot we did.  The rest range from painting & zingo to our last day of kiddie yoga and movement!  Thanks to all the kiddies who participated...  I may be doing one more the 1st week in August... I enjoyed it that much!

Kiddie Camp in Full Effect!

Today started our first day of Camp... at the Hart's House!!  After researching tons of different camp options and adding up the $$, driving, time etc... I decided I would combine everything I wanted my kiddos to experience and come up with my own AND then open it up to friends in the neighborhood!!  

So far so good... actually better than good.  We had a fantastic time today and I'm really looking forward to Wed. and Friday! 

Here's our itinerary:

Monday: {SAFARI DAY} Reading and Theatre Arts, Mini Photo Shoot

Wednesday: {Aloha, Island Fever} Creative Arts and Crafts, Language Activities (Spanish), Baking 

Friday: Movement and Music with Kiddie Yoga and More - Take Home Photo

I'll be blogging and sharing more at the end of the week!!

ALOHA!!!

GUESS WHAT!?!?!

Hart to Hart Digital is headed to Hawaii to shoot a wedding the weekend of August 14th!!! AHHHHHHHHH {scream with me now}  I am beyond thrilled and grateful for this incredible opportunity (I mean I cannot fill my sentences with enough superlatives at the moment).

Yes, it's my first time... No, Blake can't come with {tear drop... he has a few major commitments and other things going and it is just not going to work out this time} BUT, I will continue working my bootie off so someday we can go back together!

SO... if you've been to Hawaii and/or are a Hawaiian aficionado I'd LOVE to hear any of your favorite spots, activities "must do's" etc....

Alaho.... I can almost hear the waves crashing.....

Florida Trip - June 2010

Hello Hello!  It’s officially been a week since we’ve been home from yet another fantastic Florida adventure. (Starting to feel like a broken record… what can I say though, we have so much fun there!!).  Anyway, I had hoped to get this blog post done this past weekend (in my attempt to stay on top of things), but Friday night I got carried away in the blogosphere and DANG, some people have amazing lives – more on that later.  Suffice to say I am back to living my own life and happy to share a few pics from our trip.

Our main reason for heading down south was for my little bro’s high school graduation.  The first few days were filled with his party and graduation ceremony.  

That weekend Braden got to travel down to Tampa w/ Ahma, Tanner and his great friend Robert who was adding a stripe to his black belt via the annual testing this year held in Tampa, FL.  Apparently it is a VERY cutthroat endeavor and Braden was amazed by it all!  He absolutely LOVE tae kwon do… could it be b/c he loves all things weapons and fighting?

Anyway, moving in to the second week, we had a great time shopping (the outlets in FL are the BEST), playing w/ neighborhood friends, fishing off the dock, swimming in our neighbors beautiful pool and so forth.

Ahma pulled some oldies but goodies out of her FHE box!!

Peekaboooo!!

The second weekend of our trip, Ashlee and I took Braden down to Sanibel Island… GORGEOUS!!  We met Marliss and her 3 little cutie pies and stayed at a beautiful little hotel right on the beach.  

YUM!!  The best hamburger EVER.

I love the picture of her little boy Banner asleep on my shoulder in the pool.  He is delicious!!!

Friday Ash, Braden and I did something that has officially made it to my “Favorite Things” list (which doesn’t really exist, but if it did, this is so on it!).  We rented bikes… but not just any bike, B and I shared a tandem adult kiddie bike and it rocked.  We peddled all the way down to the end of the Island – down to the lighthouse.  It was about 5 miles roundtrip and my little guy peddled furiously the entire time.  Sun burnt and sweaty  he cried when we had to turn the bikes in, “MOOOOM, I don’t want to stooooop”.  It was SO much fun (and a great workout for me).  I WANT ONE! *side note, I just found out this week you can purchase the "child tandem add-on at Target"!!  Definitely getting that soon :)

Sat. night, we celebrated my Moms, ____ B-day with dinner and a show!!  We hit up the hilarious “Sak’s Improve Comedy Club”… it was seriously funny and high note to end the trip on.  The boys and I left Monday and the drive back was PERFECTION!!  It was our best yet.  They slept several of the 9 hours and were so well behaved!!

I feel so blessed to be able to visit/see my family as often as I do.  I’m always jealous of people who live SO CLOSE to family… but for now I will settle for our Florida trips here and there and just be thankful we are able to make them!!!

LASTLY… we are on pins and needles waiting for Tanner’s mission call!!  We thought it would come while we were out there…. IT HAS TO COME THIS WEEK!  Stay tuned.

SPICE UP YOUR WALLS!

For anyone looking to spice up your walls with photographs and/or art, I just did an inspirational post on my photography blog with a few fun ideas I am trying to gather for my own clients.

The things is, is there are so many MORE amazing ideas out there!!! It's exciting and overwhelming all in one. If you have any favorite sites (photography design and the likes) I'd love to add them to my collection!