Five on Friday: Catch Up

Rather that apologize for the short hiatus, I figured I'd use Five on Friday as a means of catching everyone up on to life as of late.

However, before I do that, I can't help but comment on the events that happened in Dallas last night. 


My heart goes out to everyone involved: the police, those wrongfully accused, the city, and the country.  The amount of hate that there is in society is downright scary.  Not only that something like this can and did occur but that its only getting worse and makes me wonder what kind of world will our children inherit one day. 




Having small kids and having to try to explain the events to them breaks my heart.  They are so innocent and so kind, and all kinds start out this way -- yet somewhere along the way, something apprantly changes.  How do we ensure that the smiles, the love, and the joy captured in the pictures below are there in twenty/thirty years?




And there is no easy answer, but it starts with us.  Each and everyone of us.  Love.  Don't hate.  And pray.  Pray for those injured, pray for those hurt, pray for our city and pray for our country.

And with that, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

1. Splash Pad Fun

A few weekends ago we had plans to meet up with friends downtown for a day at Klyde Warren Park -- playing in the splash pads and eating at the food trucks.  However Little Miss's friend woke up sick and this momma was in no mood to try and corral her two tornados downtown by herself.




Not wanting to disappoint the girls however, I did remember that there was a splash pad, playground and farmers market right near the girls gymnastics.  Thus, I pulled an audible and based on the pics below I would say it was fairly successful!

2. Park fun and a new skill

Later that same weekend, I decided to fulfill their repeated requests to go to the neighborhood park.  Not only did it make them happy, but it forced this momma to get up and walk as I am fairly certain I'd been pretty lazy that weekend.  And even better, with the husband not wanting to be left home alone, it tricked him into walking as well.




The park was fun.  But hot.  So hot that we lasted a matter of minutes before we were red faced and sweaty and packed it in and headed to the pool.  But during our short time we were there, Little Miss was able to master a new skill...the monkey bars!

3. Saturday Night Handpies

Doesn't everyone bake handpies on Saturday nights?  Ha ha, probably no, but with Little Miss's recent requests to bake a pie and an abundance of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries that's exactly what this family did one Saturday night.




And let me tell you...they were so good.  As in gone by breakfast Sunday morning.  Although I am not sure if the girls enjoyed the pies or the filling more.  Judge for yourself.




And if you are wanting to try, here's the recipe (another pinterest find).  Although we did cheat and used store bought dough...I know, I know...and because the girls were eating them, I omitted the rosemary (and added blueberries!)

4. Fantastic Gymnastics (Cue Dora Song)

Gymnastics continues to be a big part of our lives.   We are at the gym twice a week (no longer three!) and both girls really love it.  Little Miss recently moved up to Pawsomes 2 (with girls as old as 7) and Littlest Miss moved up to Flipadillos (aka the 2 year old class).  It amazes me how quickly both girls are picking up on things, learning new skills and getting stronger.  Plus, the smiles that both have both before and during melts my heart.




Oh and this "practice" time doesn't include the hours that they spend doing handstands, cartwheels and rolls at homes.  Hours.  As in every night until we tell them enough is enough and its time for bed.  So many hours that I've contemplated turning the new media room (update on this next week, I promise) into a gymnastics gym full of mats, wedges, balance beams and bars...pretty sure the husband would veto this, but the Stewart girls can dream right?!?!?

5. You Can Do It!

And with that, I am pretty caught up on our life.  We've really been trying to be a bit more low key and get in some quality family time.  Which often means I don't take pictures (that's good right!!) and don't have anything super exciting to blog about...so since I need one more thing for Five on Friday, I'll end with this...

...Go Ragan!!

Ragan is a little girl who trains at the girl's gym and is competing in the US Olympic Trials this weekend in San Jose.  We are all so excited to watch her (and the other girls) on TV this weekend and cheer them on!  So much so that Little Miss may have requested to watch some of her routines last night on my phone while in bed (she knows all about YouTube.  moreso than I'll probably ever know!)

So that's all folks...have a great weekend, because as you know today is Fri-YAY!