Category: Family

Halloween 2022

Posted on by Lauren Lane

I love Halloween with little kids. When Nathan and I first moved into our neighborhood, we were the youngest people in the neighborhood by at least ten, but probably close to 15 years. Our very first Halloween, I was so excited to have trick-or-treaters in a real neighborhood! And we had about 5 total trick-or-treaters. But slowly, our neighborhood has turned over in the past five years. Younger families have moved in that have kids around our age or are in elementary school, and it’s so fun seeing the neighborhood alive with kids on Halloween night running from house to house!

We started our Halloween at the boys’ daycare trunk-or-treat. They were so excited to wear their costumes for the first time and see their friends from school!

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Potty Training

Posted on by Lauren Lane

We’re almost three weeks into Jonathan’s potty training. And that seems high time to talk about all things potty training and the transition to daycare.

It’s certainly an interesting time when your life seems to be going so well and you’re in a good little rhythm of no longer having to worry much about blow-outs, you head out the door with a diaper and some wipes and don’t think much of it, to now revolving yourself on having a potty on hand or being very near a potty!

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Our Wedding: Part II

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Today is our eighth wedding anniversary. Last week, I shared some pictures and stories from our actual wedding day. It was such a special day for us. We got married in Kansas City, and it’s been so fun to go back and actually look through our wedding photos. My mom always tells us that there are few times in life where you can pinpoint a single day that your life changes forever. One is your wedding. Another is the birth of a child.

If you missed Part I, you can check it out HERE. Today, I’m sharing pictures from our reception and more!

Newly married!

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Let’s Look At…How We Choose Halloween Costumes

Posted on by Lauren Lane

It’s Let’s Look day with Shay @ Mix and Match Mama and Erika @ A Little Bit of Everything! If you’re new here, it’s one day a month that we share a little peak into some aspect of our lives. So far this year, I’ve shared:

There are two types of people in this world. Those that LOVE dressing up in costumes, brainstorming ideas of things they/their kids can be, and putting it all together. Then there are those that can feel the creative muscle needing to be flexed, kind of grimace at the prospect of trying to pick the *perfect* costume, and then wonder why Halloween costumes are so stinking expensive. But in the end, look at the finished result and are like, “Wow. That was so much fun.” I am the second type.

Coming up with Halloween costumes for children is as much as I can take in using my creativity. We are not a dress-up family. The kids will look adorable, get all of the treats, and I will soundly scrounge through their takings when they go to bed at night and pick myself out a Reese’s or Butterfinger to enjoy.

We have only done Halloween a few times, so we’re going to do a Halloween parade of costumes over the years. 🙂

Harrison’s very first Halloween, I wanted a costume that was “homemade” but also easy….because we all know, creativity and crafts are not my strong suit. Thus, Waldo from Where’s Waldo was born. And I thought he was a particularly cute Waldo.

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Our Wedding: Part I

Posted on by Lauren Lane

Our wedding anniversary is October 18th. This year will be our eighth anniversary. Since I started this blog far after we got married and after we had kids, I realized that I had never really shared any details or pictures from our wedding. It was fun to pull up all of the old pictures and look back at this day as a prepared these blog posts. It reminded me of how young and naive we were that day. But also about how much fun it was, as well. It was a reminder of how much we’ve grown, and in particular, how much greater my love for Nathan has deepened since that day eight years ago.

October 18th was a perfect fall day in Kansas City. It was crisp and cool in the morning, and warmed up to about 65* in the afternoon. It was sunny and beautiful, the leaves in KC were just starting to change.

Both Nathan and I got ready our respective parents’ houses. Being both from Kansas City, we were lucky to be able to get ready in each of our childhood homes.

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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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