Long Time no Blog!

So, it's only been how many weeks?? since I've written anything here! As you can probably guess, there have been some major changes in my life. Though I'm not necessarily prepared to reveal them all at this very moment, I will say that my lack of posts has been very justified...

For instance, I have been training for the Evansville Half Marathon! I've been running between 4.5 and 6.5 miles at least twice a week, sometimes 3 times. I participated in the Evansville 5K about a month ago, and will be doing the 10K in just over a week. I'll also be doing Race for the Cure - these are all great to prepare for the half marathon.

My main goal is to simply finish the half marathon. 13 miles seems so daunting, but I'm still every excited about the challenge. My original goal was to finish within 2 and a half hours, but it may actually be closer to 2 hours & 45 min - or more! That's OK though; again, my goal is just to finish.

I have been running with Livia (pushing her in the stroller) but with going longer & longer distances, I've found that it's not so great on my knee - or her patience sometimes! She loves our afternoon runs, but the Saturday morning runs aren't her favorite. We tend to run longer in this practice, and little miss sleepy-head doesn't always care for those early mornings! But here's a link to a picture from one of our earlier practices: Me & Liv runnin.

I know I have SO much to catch up on in blog-world... I can't even imagine how many events, happenings, birthdays, and fun I've fallen behind on reading. But I promise that I will soon catch up. Until then, much love to you all and God Bless!

More Pics from the Splash Park

This is a continuation of the few pictures that I posted up yesterday of Liv and Sebastian's day at the Splash Park - there's a LOT of pictures, I know. But I can't help it - I'm obsessed! Actually, there were just so many good ones it was hard to weed them out.

Before I continue, I just want to know why Evansville doesn't have one of these! Seriously, they're amazing! Apparently, Boonville, Princeton, Petersburg, and Henderson all have Splash Parks - why not Evansville?

Oh, well. It's not that long of a drive to get to Boonville, and the kids definitely had a blast...! Oh! And they both had 50spf sunscreen on - as did I :o) No sunburns on this day, thank you very much.

Sebastian ran right in as soon as we got there

Livia was just a bit timid at first...

But it didn't take her long at all to warm up to the Splash Park!

I love this little look she gave me! I could tell exactly what she was thinking: Wow!! I Like!!

Sebastian was such a blast - a very photogenic & fun kid

And Liv was just a hoot!

I loved watching her discover all the new things in the Splash Park.

And then she saw something else...

A little boy right at her age!

OK, lil Miss Flirt - let's see what else there is here!
(Kidding - I think all she cared about was that this was somebody her size!)

We headed over to the Lake & see what else the park had in store for us.

Sebastian made sure Livie didn't get anywhere near the edge of the lake

And I told him I didn't know what I'd do there without him!

I still can't get over how similar those two looked! I suppose it's the blonde hair & blue eyes...

A shot similar to the one I had up yesterday, but it's just so good I couldn't resist again!

And Liv loved the flowers - I couldn't get any of her smelling them, but it was so cute!

And she found one on the ground... I hope it wasn't part of what the park had planted!

By this time, we were all getting quite toasty again, so we headed back for the water...

And it was back into the splash park to cool down!

And for more fun!

Wait... I wonder what she's looking at now?

"Another friend! I love people my size!"
At least that's what I hope she was thinking ;o)

"Wait... Where'd he go?"
This one was quite busy - almost even more so than you!

But don't worry - he came back...

With a kiss!

I didn't do a great job of capturing it in this photo, but they gave each other a kiss - and it was SO cute! I'm gonna have to lock her up at this rate though - Kidding!

After her little friend left, Liv had some fun playing in the mist.

And 'Bastian had some fun getting some goofy shots! (Although they actually turned out quite good)

Then he & Liv went off to the side for some fun of their own...

Livia thought Sebastian was hilarious!

She loved dancing with him as they both sang

(Yes, Livie already loves to sing & dance!)

After all the singing, dancing, splashing, and exploring, these two were getting pretty hungry. So we took a break & went to McDonalds.

Can you tell that Livia's not a huge fan of sitting still?

Sebastian chowed down on his ice cream cone (his special treat)

While Liv learned to drink out of a juice box!

She was so cute - and drank the whole thing!

I even ended up getting her another since she did such a good job with the first.

And Sebastian had lots of fun with his action figures

Oh! I almost forgot - when we got our meals, Livia discovered that she loves McDonald's chicken nuggets & fries - no surprise there, huh?

Then it was back to the Splash Park!

As soon as we got back to the splash park, Livia went right in!

She went straight for these little guys that squirted right at her size.

She just loves the water!

Liv also started to figure out how that water was coming out...

And tried to get it to stop...

With very little success! (Much to her delight!)

Within minutes of our arrival back, she was soakin' wet!

Then (miraculously) I decided to put away the camera for a bit, and just have fun with the kids. I figured that getting a little wet in the splash park wouldn't be that big'a deal, seeing as I was thoroughly soaked with sweat at this point anyway!

But finally, it was time to get going...

I changed Liv into a little dress I had packed as a spare, and we spent just a little time on the playground to dry out & for some last-minute fun for the kids.

Livia just LOVED swinging!

Really, though - what kid doesn't! With the wind in your hair, and the breeze between your toes... it just feels like you're flying! At least that's what I like to think :o)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Mother-Daughter Pics

Me & my Livie-Bug out in my parents' garden amidst the beautiful sunflowers. Mom, thanks SO much for taking these wonderful shots for me!

And thank you all very much for stopping by! I truly appreciate everyone who took a moment out of your busy day to visit. I hope that everyone has a absolutely wonderful Wednesday - May you all be blessed in many ways.

xoxo
Amanda ~ Photochick

For more Wordless Wednesdays, please visit the Wordless Wednesday headquarters and 5 Minutes for Mom

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Splash Park Fun!

Last Friday, I took my daughter and Sebastian (my friend's little boy) to a Splash Park in Boonville - the area also had several playgrounds, a lake, picnic areas, gazebos, and more! They both had so much fun there, and I just wanted to share a few of the awesome pics I took of them...

Liv running though the mist - and a rainbow!

Close-up of my pretty girl

Sebastian & Livia by the lake

(Don't they look like they could be brother & sister?!)

A good one of Sebastian

And 'Bastian being a goofball!

(Which yielded a very good shot!)

As I said - just a little preview, as I have about 25 more from this day that I've edited as well!

Happy Wordless Wednesday to you all - have a great day and God Bless!

A Quick Thanks...

Thank you! To all of you for your wonderful comments about the sunflower pics! I especially want to thank Elise & Hannah - they both mentioned something about the special memories those photos would hold for years to come, and it made me realize that I forgot to write about why I chose what I did for Liv...

I have below a couple of not-so-greats of Liv, but you can see her outfit & accessories pretty well...Not too happy... but you should see the pre-photoshopped version! Yes, you can actually slightly change peoples' expressions with some of the tools in photoshop. (Wanna see the original version? Click over to my Photo Edit Magic blog! I have the whole scoop over there.)

Anyway, Livia's little Sunflower dress actually came from Megan - my cousin. (One of the triplets - Click here for Tanya's blog) Meggie is now nearly 4, but when she was a little bitty thing, she did have that dress.

Unfortunately, Meg never got to wear it. It never actually fit her in the right season... Which made it even more special that Liv is able to wear it now! And here's the kicker on that sweet little dress: My Mom was the one who got it for Meg!

The sun is just too bright for Livia in this picture!

But you can see her sweet little bracelet & necklace, right? Well, it should come as no surprise that the bracelet was made by the super tallented Tanya. Laura Belle had her make it for Livie's 1st birthday - and got me one to match as well!

And the necklace? Well, that's a pretty special story as well...

My Uncle Von (Tanya's husband) gave the chain to me as a gift when I was just a baby. And every year for my birthday, he would add one pearl to it. I always loved that necklace as a little girl. I only wore it on very special occasions, and I knew that it was a wonderful keepsake even then. And now it's even more so.

Thank you so much again, for reminding me to jot down these wonderful memories! There are so many memories & stories I want Livia to know, but in case I ever forget, they'll forever be saved here.

Sunflowers & Silly Girls!

Yikes! It's been quite a few days since I've blogged about anything! I guess we've just kept so busy that I didn't have time. So here's my first of several catch-ups I'll be doing in the next day or two...

Last Thursday, I took Liv & my niece Maggie out to the middle of nowhere (not too far from our house) to get pictures of the girls in sunflower fields! Our plans didn't go exactly as I had hoped (as they rarely do, huh?) But I still managed to get some wonderful pictures & even more awesome memories from this day...

Maggie took some really great pictures - she was my little Hannah Montana model!

Just getting into the first few pictures...

But you can see that little grin beginning to emerge!

Yup, she was neat stuff out there with that huge sunflower field!

But even big girls get bored & hungry...So I broke out the puffs!

And that sun was just so bright... But Maggie was a trooper!

She even helped me out to get a few of her and Livia:

She held Liv steady on the stool...

And then gave Livie some puffs to help keep her entertained.

The girls loved their snackies!

And Maggie loved posing for the camera!

It was so sweet of Maggie to help take care of Livia

And she smiled the whole time! ...While Liv was a goof!

I think all Livia cared about was the puffs Maggie gave to her

She certainly didn't care about getting good pictures! This is the only picture I managed to get of Liv not upset or looking completely silly:

It's hardly anything to brag about, but what can you expect from a little toddler!

Maggie, on the other hand, gave me even more wonderful pictures...

I LOVED this shot...

Maggie looked like she was ready to fly!

Which totally inspired this final photo:

A Little Angel: Miss Maggie

Yes, the wings are Photoshopped on, but I just couldn't resist!

So that's the first of my fun adventures since my last post... More to come soon! Much love to you all and God Bless! Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!!