Before & After

Someone in the Snyder household looks a little different. This someone has regained his ability to see, looks like he lost 40lbs. and is a new man! Can you notice from the pictures who this someone might be??

BEFORE

AFTER

I have 2 things to say about this:

1. I wish I could get a haircut that caused me to look 40 lbs. lighter!!!

2. Both of my boys have hair that is in constant need of a cut- I really need to learn to use the clippers. I could be saving LOTS of money.

Happy Thursday!!

Athens Adventure

This weekend I took a photography class in Ashland (where my parents live) and I learned sooooo much about my camera and how to use many functions I did not know how to before. It was very informative and I enjoyed both days of it. I will be trying all the new tricks I learned and working on using the manual settings on my camera rather than the automatic ones. It will take some practice, but it allows for a little more creativity. While at the class I won a $15.00 gift certificate to Mpix.com, so I came home and FINALLY ordered C's 2 year pictures. I ordered about 50 prints in different sizes and papers and with my gift certificate, and free shipping card I only paid $38.00 for my order. I can't wait to see them and the quality. Julie, the photographer teaching the class highly recommended it so we will see. (They shipped same day, so they will be here soon!)

While we were in town we decided to take a day trip to Athens, OH to see my grandma and my mom's sisters. I do not see these lovely ladies as often as I would like so we loaded up the car and headed that way. My mom, my sister Jessica, my nephew, and Clark were all along for the ride. My grandma has recently sold her farm and moved in town to a condo. So it was a little strange not to go to the farm for the visit, but her condo is very nice and it includes a pool and playground. We did not hit up the pool, but attempted the playground. However, it was about 95 degrees with no shade, so we did not last long. We got to see my Aunt Jodie and Jennie. They both LOVE Clark so it was fun to see them interact with him. Being the good grandma that she is, Grandma had lots of fun toys for C to play with. He was very entertained and pretty well behaved.

We visited for a while, played on the playground and then headed to a little establishment called Larry's Dawg House for dinner. Clark enjoyed a healthy dinner of fries and ice cream. He enjoyed every bite. I might have had a butterscotch milkshake that was yummo!! But the most exciting part of the meal was this older man sitting behind us. He had a long white/grey beard and Clark thought he looked like a famous man we all know. The poor guy is sitting alone, casually enjoying a foot long when Clark announces "It's HO HO!!", He told everyone at the table, "Jennie, it's Ho Ho", Jessica, it's Ho, Ho", and so on. He told us ALL. It was HILARIOUS, I have no idea if the poor guy heard him, but I don't see how he didn't. Oh the joys of living with a 2 year old!!

After the meal, we went over to see my Aunt Jodie's new home and then headed back to Ashland in the rain. There was a terrible wreck that lead to a very interesting detour but finally got us home. It was a good weekend full of family time and I am so glad we went.

This week is full of working on my classroom, wagon rides, jammie wearing and soaking up the last few days of summer vacation. Speaking of, I have got some Elmo to watch with this cute little guy who is swinging a baseball bat at a tennis ball through my living room screaming "I pay golf!!", I had better go!! Enjoy the pictures from our family filled weekend.

Aunt Jennie & C. She LOVES this guy.

Kaden and Clark at Grandma's condo.


Clark on the super hot and steamy playground.

The girls of my mom's side of the family (minus Hannah & Jeannie)
Me, Grandma, Jodie, Jennie, Mom, & Jessica

We tried.

Last Wednesday was another first for Clark. He has been really into his TV shows lately, and when I say that I mean it. He wakes up saying " I watch Mickey". Along with the old favorites Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Sesame Street, he has a new obsession with a show called Special Agent Oso and will sit through entire episode of each. I always said my child would not watch TV, and I would not give up my shows for cartoons, however it is sooooo cute to watch him interact with the shows, sing the theme songs and get so excited when they come on. Don't worry we have DVR so I am not missing my shows (I know you were worried!), and we are able to DVR episodes of his favs to have on demand if needed.

So, because of his ability to sit through a TV show, I thought it might be time to try the movies. I really want to see Toy Story 3 and would love to take him, but was not sure how he would do. So some friends and I decided to try taking our boys to the FREE movie to see how they would do. They are all about the same age and we thought we would give it a shot. So we hit the local theater for the early morning FREE show of Horton Hears A Who.

We entered the theater confidently bearing booster seats, popcorn and fruit snacks. We settled into our seats to watch the show. Clark was pretty excited at first. He says as soon as we sit down, "oooohh I watch TV and eat copcorn!", he was very entertained. He sat wonderfully as we waited for the movie to start and ate his "copcorn". Once the movie began he was excited to see the elephant and the animals. Is was all fine until the movie got boring and the popcorn ran out. As soon as it was gone Clark announces "I GO BYE BYE!", so bye bye we went. I feverishly tried gather up all of our things and we were OUT. We lasted about 40 minutes into the movie. So if you add the 15 or so minutes we waited for it to start we lasted close to an hour. (In case you were wondering his buddy Layton lasted about 15 minutes, and Drew wanted to leave after we did because his buddies were gone!) I would not consider it a total wash. I think that if it was a Mickey movie, included anything trains or special agent bears he would have been fine. So, we may take a break from the movies for a while, but it was a fun little first and I enjoyed it and I am pretty sure he did too- the "copcorn" part anyway.

My little "copcorn" fan.

C and mommy ready for the show.


Mr. Drew waiting patiently.

Mindy, Drew, Layton & Ashley -our movie buddies.

Good Company

Tonight was one of those rare meals. A much needed, relaxing meal with no high chairs, no kids meals were ordered, I did not pick up the same sippy cup off the floor numerous times. I did not rush through my meal to leave the restaurant before my toddler announces to the place "I GO BYE BYE", there were no awkward moments as I leave and discover the lovely mess of goldfish, crayons and french fries spread all over the floor.

Instead, it was a meal that began at 6:00 and ended at 9:30. It was quite the gathering of lovely ladies who had plenty to talk about. We chatted, shared BIG news, small news, sad news and new news. We swapped late wedding, baby and birthday gifts, shared vacation pictures, and all explained why we were running late! We talked and laughed about our jobs, husbands and babies. We ordered food, ate and continued to chat. The conversations were all over the place from detailed birth stories, coupon savings, newlywed adventures, reality TV, upcoming 10 year high school reunions, toddler tales, to the cleanliness of public bathrooms!ha! It was kind of a last minute gathering (where many were missed and not left out intentionally) that once we arrived we all realized was much needed and needs to happen much more often. All of us have so many things going on in our lives, but it was nice to stop, take a break and enjoy a good meal and great conversation. So, thanks ladies for a lovely evening- you are truly delightful!!

Erin, Amy & Rebecca
(Goodness, I love these ladies!)

Just look at these treasures.

You never know what you will find in Erin's purse!

Alison, Chandra & Ashley

(Did I mention we had great conversations??!)

A quick picture after much food, many laughs and a good time!

So Spolied!

I have been doing a lot of posting lately on all the wonderful summery activities that we have been up to and I have come to the realization that I have become so spoiled!! I have absolutely LOVED spending every minute with my little man. To avoid being over sugar coated-Yes, I think I have seen EVERY episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Special Agent Oso, done the same puzzles hundreds of times, read the same dinosaur books countless times, made frozen waffles a gourmet breakfast for many days, picked up the same trains so many times I cannot count, and been very ready for Stuart to be home lots of nights for a little adult conversation and a break- But, honestly when I hear that laugh, see that smile where I can see all his teeth, or hear him put words together to make phrases my heart just melts and I thank God for the simple joys in my life that make me so happy.

I have enjoyed sleeping in until 8:30 ish, I have loved our visits to the library, trips to the pool, catching up on my DVR during nap time, cleaned my house, clipped coupons, shopped sales, tried new recipes, spent time with friends, spent WAY too much time on the computer, stayed up late, been to the zoo, rented movies with Stuart, taken spontaneous trips as a family, had ice cream for dinner, been to Great Wolf Lodge, read great books and watched as my baby boy has grown and learned so many new things. It has been a super short summer and school starts very soon. (August 10th to be exact!) I know it is not over yet, but my days are numbered! ha! I went to school on Monday and worked all day in my classroom. I am getting excited to go back and working in my classroom to get ready for back to school is one of my favorite things to do. So, as this summer vacation is winding down I just wanted to share some of my favorite things about the last month half.

This is the face I am talking about!

My new guilty pleasure! I LOVE Tuesdays.

I have fallen in love with this too!

One of my recipe testers.

Have you read this?? SO GOOD!

See what I am talking about?

Take C Out to the Ballgame

Last night we made a last minute decision to go to Lexington to see the Legend's play. The Lexington Legend's are a local, single A baseball team and we had free tickets and nothing on the agenda so we decided to go! The weather was wonderful. It was warm and breezy. We had a traditional ballpark meal followed by cotton candy, or "big candy" as Clark called it. Clark did not last the whole game since it did not start until 7:00 and bedtime around here is usually 8:00, but the tickets were free and we stayed around long enough to enjoy the summer evening, see the sights and watch a little baseball. We only had to correct Clark about 25 times as he kept calling it "golf ball", but it was very cute. He even wore his little glove and tried to catch a few "golf balls".

I have totally enjoyed this summer. We have been doing so many "summery" things and I have yet to darken the doors of my classroom. I so wish I could just snap my fingers and my classroom would be ready to go, but I cannot find the classroom fairy so I guess I will make a few trips over there this weekend to get started. I love my job, but I have loved spending so much time with my little guy this summer. So until the first day on August 10th, I will continue to watch Mickey Mouse, play trains, make trips to the library, eat fruit snacks, play in the sand, enjoy the baby pool, have picnic lunches, take naps and play with playdough.

Because I cannot post without pictures (I mean how fun would that be???) Here are some pictures from our baseball outing last night. I am pretty sure C was the best dressed kid there! Do you not LOVE his little outfit??

Showing me the "golf balls" ha!

Just enjoying some fruit snacks at the ballpark.

"Hey, throw me a golf ball!"



My cute boy watching the warm-ups!


Not such a hot picture of me,
but I love that he is watching and wearing his little glove!



Of course we found a slide at the ballpark!

Ahhhh summer!

My guys after an evening of baseball.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

This weekend we took a very excited 2 year old to Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio. My dad planned the whole event (he might have paid too!). It was so much fun,Clark played the entire time. He loved every minute of it. Stuart and I rode all the sildes numerous times, my sister and her boys loved it too and it was great to spend time with them. I would call it a GREAT family overnight (minus brother Lance-I guess it was too far to drive from Martha's Vineyard)! I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Thanks Mom & Dad, We LOVED it!!