Category: Harrison

7 Quick Harrison Takes (v. XII)

Posted on by Lauren Lane

If you’re new here, you’re probably wondering what “quick takes” are exactly. I like to jot down things that are making me laugh or smile about each boy every once in awhile and commemorate them in a blog post. They are little reminder and windows in time of their personalities, the things that they are interested in, and the absolutely adorable things they say at these ages.

It’s almost Harrison’s half birthday, and that always seems like a good time to commemorate the little things I’ve jotted down about him.

-1- The things he’s dreaming about being lately include a soccer player, but only for Chelsea FC, a tree cutter, and a mommy and daddy.

-2- We signed an incident report that he forcibly removed a “friend” from the teacher’s chair because the rule is you don’t sit in the teacher’s chair. After reminding his “friend” of the rule, and them not complying, he took matters into his own hands.

-3- If anything is any object is on the floor, it gets kicked by our soccer player. All toys are treated as soccer balls, dropped items in the kitchen, shoes sitting on the floor…all kicked.

-4- When I pick up Harrison from school, I ask him what was one nice thing that he did for a friend that day. And he without fail replies, “Uhhhh. I forgot to do anything nice.” And then after a couple more seconds, he asks me to offer suggestions of ways he may have been nice that day and not realized it, so that he can get appropriate credit for his kindness.

-5- I do not know what is happening inside his classroom, but every one of his friends calls him “Harrison Thomas.” I can only imagine that he is declaring himself Harrison Thomas over and over again to his friends.

-6- He refers to the cartoon dog Bluey as Gluey.

-7- Before he goes to sleep at night, I tell him, “I love you so much. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.” And right now, he replies, “Mommy. I love you so so so so much. You’re the goodest Mommy.”

I can’t believe that I’ve been doing this motherhood thing for four and a half years already. What an absolute blessing this boy has been to me.

What’s Up Wednesday {09.28.22}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

The end of another month means another What’s Up Wednesday!

How often do I say that this may be my favorite post of the whole month?! I love the little peak into people’s lives.

As always, I’m linking up with Shay and Sheaffer to share with you what’s going on in our life!

1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK: We got back from the Lake of the Ozarks Sunday afternoon. I was thankful that I had done my meal planning the week before we left, so I knew what we needed for groceries for the week! I really try to have meals planned out before we go out of town, so I’m not scrambling when we return. It doesn’t always happen, but I’m always thankful if I do have it already done!

We grilled chicken on Sunday and made a tossed salad and corn on the cob.

Then we’re also planning on chicken taquitos this week, which is a household favorite, and very easy pasta with sausage and my favorite seasonal sauce from Trader Joe’s.

2: WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT:

At the end of September, I feel like with October next week it is truly fall here in the Midwest. And it has me thinking about how fast this summer seemed to fly by. The one summer that the boys were 4 and 2. They were busy. They loved digging in the dirt, playing soccer. Mowing every Saturday was the most exciting thing of the weekend.

I watched their little brotherly relationship really grow this summer. Listened to them tickle fight and eagerly wake each other up in the morning. It was a summer with a lot of good memories for our family. I’m so thankful for that!

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Friday Favorites {09.09.22}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

It always feels so strange to be gone for a week from this space! But so good, because I miss it and you all! I’m still working on my blog posts about the beach, so I’m sharing a bunch of random favorites from this week with you all!

In previous years, I’ve always pulled my annuals around Labor Day because we were headed up to South Dakota, and I was just ready to be done watering. That was all when I did the watering by hand every single day. This year, though, I’m still loving the garden and part of it still look really beautiful. It’s definitely starting to fade as we get to the end of the season, and I’m contemplating ways to swap some plants for more cool loving plants for fall.

This zinnia fade still has me in awe…

I love a coral flower, and this one continues to deliver so much beauty.

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First Day of School 2022

Posted on by Lauren Lane

I’m so happy to be back on this little space of internet! We had a great beach trip. Definitely feeling like I need a vacation from the vacation, you know. But we are back to normal life this week, and I wanted to share our first day of school with you!

Yeah, the boys go to daycare, but our daycare has a private Kindergarten, so they celebrate the first day of school with lots of fanfare! The boys move up a classroom, there’s a special snack and new backpacks. And so, we make a big deal out of it, too! Life is too short to not celebrate things! Didn’t COVID teach us all that?!

We started the morning with good luck green waffles!

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Friday Favorites {08.26.22}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Happy Friday, everyone! It’s a big day and weekend for us! We’re officially setting off on our first flying family vacation with just the four of us. I’ve got so many bags to pack, and lists to check off before we head out the door. But I gathered up a few of my favorites from this week for you!

Please ignore my greasy hair that needed to be washed in all of these pictures….but I just couldn’t wait to share with you the Nani swimsuits I bought to try out for our beach trip! I personally discovered this brand a year ago, and bought one suit from them. It’s my absolute favorite suit. And this is the only picture I have of it…my sister is really going to appreciate being in the background of this picture yawning…

The one above is on major sale right now. Like half the cost of when I bought it. Top is linked here, and bottom here. I wear an XS in both top and bottom.

So I bought a bunch of colors and a few tops, and tried them out.

Saw my sister wearing this top originally, and after seeing it all summer, I had to have it. And these bottoms in color Zuri are both cute and comfortable.

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What’s Up Wednesday (early!) {08.24.22}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

This is my favorite post every month. I love sharing and reading about just the everyday things that people are into currently! We’re going to be gone next week on vacation, so I’m sharing my WUW with you early! I just couldn’t miss it.

1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK: This week we’re doing homemade pizzas, cheesy sausage pasta florentine, and lemon butter chicken piccata!

2: WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT:

Reminiscing and enjoying the pictures and videos from Jonathan and Holden’s second birthday party! We all had so much fun celebrating our little COVID babies!

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Friday Favorites {08.12.22}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Happy Friday, friends! It was the boys’ last official week in their current classrooms, and they are off from daycare today for a teacher in-service day! We have lots of errands to run to get ready for Jonathan’s birthday party this weekend, so I’m hoping they’ve put on their ”helper” pants and are eager to be good listeners today. Hahaha. Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

I took Harrison for a special birthday treat/breakfast in April, and I loved the short little one-on-one time with him. Jonathan had his first dentist appointment last week, so I took the opportunity to sneak him away for a little special birthday breakfast date, too. He apparently missed the memo that it was breakfast and opted for an iced sugar cookie. Emphasis on just eating the icing, though.

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What’s Up Wednesday {07.27.22}

Posted on by Lauren Lane

This is always my favorite post of the month. They’re the most fun to go back and read, it’s a little bit of food, a little bit of my Timehop addiction, reading, watching, all wrapped up in one post.

As always, I’m linking up with Shay and Sheaffer to share with you what’s going on in our life!

1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK: I’m trying a new Half Baked Harvest recipe for my resident shrimp lover in the house (Mr. Harrison): Garden Herb Shrimp Scampi. We’re going to attempt to brave the heat this week and grill some burgers and hot dogs, and taco stuffed sweet potatoes, which I’ve never done before either! We’re rounding out the week with a couple of fun sweet treats for the boys to help me make: watermelon popsicles and blueberry cobbler, so I can use up some of the blueberries we picked and froze last month!

2: WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT: It snuck up on me, but my littlest boy is turning 2 this weekend! This past year seemed to fly by, and it’s amazing going back and watching videos of our Jonathan at this time last year. I think we always think about so much changing the first year of life, but my goodness! They change so much in year 1 to 2! Walking, talking, becoming so strong-willed and independent. Love my little guy so stinking much, and watching the boy that he is becoming now!

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The Black Hills 2022: Part 2

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Over the week of the Fourth of July, my family and I packed up the car and headed to South Dakota to spend a week in the Black Hills visiting my parents. They have a cabin just outside of Deadwood. I look forward to going up there for a week every year. It’s cool, crisp, and the mountain air is perfection.

If you missed Part 1 of our trip, I blogged about it yesterday HERE!

Part 2 starts with a hike on the Mickelson Trail. Baby J absolutely LOVED this hike. In fact, even though we took the stroller, Harrison rode in the stroller most of the time and Jonathan walked!

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The Black Hills 2022: Part 1

Posted on by Lauren Lane

We got back last week from a trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota to visit my parents. For those that are new here, a bit of history on the Black Hills for my family, because this isn’t going to be a typical travel post about what we did and where we ate!

My parents grew up at the foot of the Black Hills in Rapid City, SD. My maternal grandparents bought some land in the Black Hills before my living memory, and lived in the Hills pretty my entire childhood. As kids, we’d always spend a week in the Hills visiting my grandparents. My sister and I have wonderful memories in the Hills growing up. We’d catch and release chipmunks, go camping, feed the deer, hike (I hated hiking growing up, though), and just generally lived outside in nature for a week.

Years ago, my parents bought land in the Hills as well, and in 2014 built a cabin on that land. They spend their summers living at the cabin, and the rest of the year they live in Kansas City. Thus began our own family annual pilgrimage to the Hills once a year.

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