Denim Daisies

 Hello! It is another gorgeous day here in New England and I’m so grateful to spend this wonderful time with family at the lake! It was the sweetest moment yesterday sitting on the edge of the dock and Jamie came up and sat down next to me and put his little arm around my shoulders. It was such a special moment with my boy that I started tearing up thinking about how he’s grown and the wonderful human he is.  Arnis and Grant were swimming around us and Jamie and I just had that moment for just the two of us. 🥰 That’s all for today. I’ll do a longer recap of our time at a later date because I don’t want to forget a second of this. 💛Jessie

 Hello, I woke up this morning in beautiful New England and I’m so grateful for so much. We are here with our wonderful family, in a beautiful place, and looking forward to some time bonding and resetting together. There are and always will be hard times and hard parts of life, but right now I’m just grateful for waking up to birds chirping, a beautiful view of the sun rising over the lake, and the soft sound of all my boys snoring in the background. 💛Jessie

 Hello, How are we almost through June?!?!? This summer is flying by and I’m so grateful for some many restful days mixed with fun activities with my guys! Thank you to Andrea from  Momfessionals  and Erika from  A Little Bit of Everything  for hosting this sweet link party! 💛 I love linking up for this online event and it’s a good motivator for me to keep up with my gratitude journey and documenting so many favorite things throughout the year! Here are some favorite memories from the past week: 1. Jamie loves Grandpa more than anyone in the world. Therefore spending time at the lake house with Grandpa is an absolute dream for him and we try to make it happen every year.  2. Arnis has really gotten into video games lately but only wants to play with us which is fun bonding time during the hottest part of the day or for a little bit after dinner. 🥰 3. I don’t know if it’s because the floor is cool in the kitchen or they’re growing on each other but Teddy a...

 Hello, This week has been extremely hot for temps here in the Midwest. It sounds like New England has it slight worse, but temps in the upper 90s will send anyone looking for ways to cool down. Arnis and I have spent a lot of time in our little backyard pool this week, but the real win was yesterday. We went to our favorite public sprayground in Oakley and it was the best! Cincinnati has a series of public pools that we will likely get a membership to next year, but they also have 9 sprayground that are completely free and so much fun! I highly recommend this as a summer activity for kids and the Oakley one is fully fenced in which makes it easier for me to relax knowing that no one will see a squirrel and start sprinting for the parking lot. 😉 Have a wonderful day!!! 💛Jessie

 Hello! Thank you to Shay from  Mix and Match Mama  and Sheaffer from  Sheaffer Told Me To  for hosting this link party celebrating real and authentic life.  Here is a little of what I’ve been up to this past month. I’ll cover food, clothes, books, TV, and some of our activities. 🙂 Food Pancakes on repeat! Seriously, nothing says summer more to me than slow mornings with a yummy hot breakfast.  We’ve also transitioned back to a flexitarian diet from vegetarian for health reasons that I’ll explain another day. 🙂 Clothes Athlesure is my friend these days. Running shorts with a thin athletic shirt or a tennis skirt with a tank top are on repeat with some fun fancy outfits thrown in every once in a while.  I’ve decluttered my closet A LOT over the past few months and am almost at the 333 challenge number though I think I’m happy where I’ve landed.  I also am happy that I’ve committed that I will wear a dress or skirt every Sunday to church as I...

 Hello, We met our dog Teddy nearly three years ago. He had been abandoned at a local mall with a very small dog and then picked up by animal rescue and placed in a foster home. Thanks to his wonderful foster mom we knew that he did well with cats and so we agreed to meet him to see how he did with the boys. He was absolutely perfect with the kids and very gentle and calm so we decided to bring him home as part of our family. What we didn’t know what that he was VERY protective of his new family and thus began our journey of understanding and learning how to work with a reactive dog.  He has always been very understanding of the boys and is their biggest supporter and friend, but woe to anyone who comes near them who is not in the circle of trust.  Context given, here are some tips we’ve learned on how to walk a large reactive dog in the city: 1. Odd hours - early in the morning or late at night is your friend. Fewer people and a lot cooler for our big fluffy guy. 2. No m...

 Hello! It was quite the weekend as my dad came into town to pick up my eldest and fly him to the lake. Their couple hour flight turned into a 15+ hour day due to severe storms at their connecting airport and Jamie was the perfect little traveler. (It helped that dad is a BIG believer in eating well while traveling.) All that said my simple pleasure is the focus Jamie had in this picture my dad sent over after they’d been delayed five times, cancelled, and rebooked on an evening flight. Even with all that Jamie was living his best life with grandpa. 😂 Needless to say, Jamie finished that meal with pure joy. 🙂 Have a wonderful day! 💛Jessie

 Hello! It has been a really fun week for our family with a lot of outdoor time and summer fun! Jamie had his last week of zoo camp and LOVED it and Arnis and I got a lot of bonding time which of course involved a lot of popcorn and Nutella related snacks! 😂 Thank you to Andrea from  Momfessionals  and Erika from  A Little Bit of Everything  for hosting this sweet link party! 💛 I love linking up for this online event and it’s a good motivator for me to keep up with my gratitude journey and documenting so many favorite things throughout the year! 1. Blueberry Picking. I did a post about this earlier this week. It was so much fun and Arnis was the best helper! Blooms and Berries Farm is the best! 🥰 2. Blueberry pancakes. Seriously how much more summery could it get for breakfast! 😋 3. Rhino Hornbill Arnis’ new favorite animal. This one seems to like him in particular as it perks up and starts hopping over and playing as soon as Arnis shows up and talks to it!...

 Hello, Arnis and I spent the morning at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens and it was such a sweet and fun time.  We all slept in a bit this morning, hence the later morning post, and so it’s was a little bit faster of a routine this morning to get everyone ready and out the door. Our first stop was the carrusel and kangaroos but I was a little more hands on for that part so sadly no photos but a lot of fun times. Next up was the lemurs… Then our favorite Komodo Dragons! Next we needed a little snack! 😉 Then out to the new Siaming Point where we got to play like chimpanzees… And see our favorite rhino hornbills! A beautiful view at the top of Elephant Trek! And one last snack! 😉 Now it’s lunch and some quiet time and pool time! Have a wonderful day!!!  💛Jessie

 Hello! Arnis and I had a wonderful morning together yesterday. After we dropped off Jamie we headed over to Blooms and Berries farm and it was the best!!! We’ve gone to Blooms and Berries for years now and they have several interactive options at the farm. Typically their big spring/early summer event is Strawberry Days, however there was an issue with strawberry crops nation wide this year and so they’ve had to pivot and they have with finesse and grace!  We signed up for their text alerts when there are open field passes for “pick-your-own” for blueberries, blackberries, and potatoes this year. Sunday evening I got an alert for blueberries and immediately signed up for field passes for Arnis and myself for the following morning.  We showed up… Got our buckets… And headed out… To pick the plumpest, juiciest, blueberries.  We also had an option for snap peas, but we ran out of time and so we stuck with a couple of pounds of blueberries and Arnis had a BLAST!!! He wa...

 Hello, This weekend was all about recovery for us. Jamie had his procedure on Friday and it went AMAZING! His anesthesiologist said this was his best one yet and he keeps asking if he can do it again. 😅 Because this involved cutting out some of his teeth that had come in through his palate as an unfortunate byproduct of having a cleft, he got an early gift from the tooth fairy and so the few hours prior to his procedure he got to go to the store to pick out a toy and distract him since he wasn’t allowed to eat or drink.  We also went walking in the park as part two of distract Jamie and then headed over to the office. He really did so well and was just tired coming home and in snuggle mode. He and I spent a few hours just sitting on the couch with popsicles and Bluey. Then… He was ready to go. We still kept pretty quiet, but he was back and for the first time in weeks he didn’t say that his mouth hurt!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 We are so grateful for the anesthesia team and for our won...

 Hello! It’s been a wonderful week! Both boys have enjoyed their time at Cincinnati Zoo Camp and I’ve had the opportunity to do some of my volunteer work with the animal excellence team in person while they were at camp. Grant has also had a lot of positive events at work and we’re so grateful for his team! Thank you to Andrea from  Momfessionals  and Erika from  A Little Bit of Everything  for hosting this sweet link party! 💛 I love linking up for this online event and it’s a good motivator for me to keep up with my gratitude journey and documenting so many favorite things throughout the year! 1. Adding in a few from last week. Both boys are still at the age where they want to help with anything I’m doing… so vacuuming and cleaning baseboards became a game for three of us. 😂 2. We walked down to play tennis at a local public court and then stopped in for an iced latte and chocolate “bugs” as a treat before the uphill hike home. 3. This small backyard pool has...