(Photo taken by my super talented photographer friend, Jenn!)
First, I have to apologize… this is an extremely photo laden post. I haven’t neglected to take pictures over the past month, but I have neglected to upload them to Dine & Dish. Thank you to all of you who have emailed me, telling me how you’ve missed my pictures. It’s nice to know you care about these! A special thanks to my big brother, Mike, for calling and giving me the nudge to get them up here. So, this very long, very long, very long post is for you, Mike! Love you!
Remember to join me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for all the moments in between!
(I’m also so glad to have Totally Rad Lab photoshop editing plugin on my side. Editing these pics didn’t take nearly as long as it should have thanks to my fave editing tool!) OK… now on to the pictures!
May 13th: My mother’s day card from my kids, and a Lego creation from Jacob. It’s hard to beat being the best mom in the “Hestry of Moms”.
May 14th: A precious site to this book loving mama…my son, deeply engrossed in a book!
May 15th: Leah has always been very interested in what I’m doing in the kitchen. I love that at the age of 3 she can crack an egg like a pro!
May 16th: A cool site over the ball fields tonight. I love hot air balloon season!
May 17th: My friend Jennifer stopped by while Leah and I were outside. She snapped some pictures of the kids wishing our old neighbor, RJ, a happy birthday! Laurie & Rich – we miss you!!
May 18th: Kelly and a couple of her friends at Field Day!
May 19: My current favorite color combination… yellow and grey! (Purse, Charming Charlies, shoes…Target)
May 20th: I recently lost a lot of weight (almost 30 pounds!) and had the joy of getting rid of a bunch of clothes that no longer fit! It felt great (although I was a little disgusted by the sheer amount of clothes I have)!
May 21: Ella and her Kindergarten teacher on the last day of school!
May 22: Another year gone and now I have a preschooler, 1st grader, 3rd grader and 5th grader! Time needs to freeze.
May 23rd: Many a summer day will be spent with helmet head because of bike riding!
May 24th: We spent the afternoon at the park. Jacob and I reading, the girls playing. (This is the reflection of the tree above us on the iPad I was reading on.)
May 25th: We started off our summer with a trip to the Emergency Room after Houdini Leah climbed on top of the countertop, reached up high and got into the liquid Benadryl (and through the childproof lid). Luckily, she was fine… just very very tired. Still, scared me terribly!
May 26th: To start summer off with a bang, the older 2 girls and I went to get pedicures. Ella couldn’t stop laughing, she was so ticklish on her feet!
May 27th: Happy 6th birthday to Ella!
May 28th: A huge Memorial Day flag tribute! Thank you to all who serve and who have served. We appreciate your sacrifice.
May 29th: I love this coffee mug (and my Keurig!)
May 30th: Marked “paint water bottles” off our Summer Bucket List!
May 31st: The life of a food blogger isn’t always gourmet cooking and big meals. Tonight, in between ball games, we had yogurt for dinner!
June 1st: We celebrated National Doughnut Day at our favorite local doughnut shop!
June 2nd: We had an outdoor movie night party tonight (you’ll see all the details from that soon). My friend Jenn captured this pic of me Instagramming at the end of the evening and I love it.
June 3rd: My broken toes have finally healed and I was able to get back to running again, after a way too long of hiatus. It felt good to get back out there again, but man…it’s amazing how quickly you get out of shape!
June 4th: Ella’s friend birthday party was today. The kids had a lot of fun on the water slide we rented for the occasion!
June 5th: The farm we went blueberry picking (another bucket list mark off) at had a donkey and Shetland pony the kids loved!
June 6th: I taught Kelly how to make French Toast today, and she rocked it. This was some of the best French Toast I’ve ever had!
June 7th: Jacob has been in a bit of a batting slump this season, so I took him and a friend to the batting cages to practice. I loved this picture of his sisters cheering him on as he faced the machine.
June 8th: This issue of Fast Company Magazine was a great one (and I loved reading it poolside). I think the shine from CeeLo’s teeth and bling helped to give me a tan!
June 9th & 10th: Saturday morning at 11am we decided to head to Branson for the weekend (another summer bucket list item). We were packed and ready to go within 30 minutes. It was a fun, spontaneous weekend away! The kind summer memories are made of.
June 11th: This picture is from the cutest little mini golf place in all of Kansas City. Our #BlogKC group had our June meetup here, playing mini-golf and chatting about photography. If you are a blogger in the Kansas City area and want to join, let me know! We’d love to have you.
June 12th: Garage dance party on a rare day where all 4 kids were getting along!
June 13th: I love iced coffee. That is all.
June 14th: And Leah loves cherries!
June 15th: Rock star Kelly. Love this girl but wish she’d stop looking so grown up!
June 16th: I had to get some work done tonight. I’m glad to know my place of work has a pretty lenient beverage policy.
OK…whew. You all still there? I know that was a lot of pictures and I promise right now to not get that far behind again! Thanks for sharing in our life through pictures. I appreciate you being here.
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Great photos and oh my, didn’t realize Houdini made an appearance last month! And how awesome, 30lbs!! I could tell you were looking really thin but had no idea how much you had lost. Great job! Wish I had the urge to lose some weight, I’m so lazy! Hugs from Conroe, TX
Houdini made a very bad appearance! That girl, I swear…. 10 minutes of me being on the phone and she about kills herself. We were really lucky she wasn’t coordinated enough to drink a bunch of it without spilling.
Thanks for the congrats on the weight loss. The hardest part is keeping it off…. I’m crossing my fingers that I can keep it away!
Thanks for stopping by, friend!
Kristen, love your pictures! Nothing gets me to stop and read what people write more than pictures like yours. I skip all those posts with copied pictures from somewhere else, especially if they have some kind of inspirational message inside. My time surfing the web is very limited and I look for the inspirational messages when I need the inspiration, other than that, I just skip them altogether. But I simply can’t resist “homemade” pictures like yours, it’s definitely what brings me to stop and read what other people posted.
Also… I thought you’d like to know that I am using my iPad, I clicked on the link to your blog from FB, but can’t see any pictures before May 18th, it shows boxes with an question mark inside it 🙁
Keep up the excellent work.
Besos!
Ana Paula
You are so sweet, Ana. Thank you! That really means a lot to me.
By the way, congrats to you!!! I am so happy for you and have really thought about what you said about visiting one of those ceremonies if you need a does of citizenship inspiration. I bet that would be very cool to see! We’re glad to have you in the USA! You make it a better place 🙂
Thanks for the notification. That’s not good… off to see what might be going on.
Girlfriend – congrats on the 30 lbs!! I am heavier right now than I have ever been (outside of being pregnant) and have (if I had my way) 25 to lose … clinking my wine glass up to your Corona and saying “here’s to DOING it!”
Also? The tree in the iPad was awesome …. AND the Keurig? YES …. AND .. you in that dress (movie night)? Hot!
I loved your photos AND the comments that went along with them. The Benadryl incident would have been scary but the rest of them look like a lot of fun.
Must reconsider my decision not to include painting water bottles on my bucket list.
That picture of you in the long dress, at the end of your movie night – how casually glamorous are you? Seriously, you look fantastic.
I always look forward to your photos. Great post!
I love these posts Kristen…….. you have such a beautiful family!
You’ve more than made up for it with these lovely photos, Kristen! It’s so nice to have a permanent record of your family online.
Cute little shoes with the flowers on the toe…
And congrats on your weight! Best thing to do is get rid of the “fat” clothes. Then, you won’t regress!
I love all your pictures. You really turn instagramming into an art form.
Your kids are the cutest! And I love, love that they think you are the best mom in “hestry”! 🙂
GREAT pictures and the valuable day-to-day moments captured.
I love all your photos. You really have an awesome kids.
So many great photos! Thanks for sharing!
looks like a pretty fantastic summer so far.
LOVE that maxi dress AND the target shoes. i’m sure target owns 1/3 of me at any given time.
I love these post from you. btw-Im a huge fan of Totally Rad! There actions are awesome.
Loving all these all these pics as usual. So fun to peek into your life. Your kids are so adorable.
I’m glad Mike got you on the ball….maybe now someone should remind him that he has the capability of posting pictures, too. My first task in the morning is to get on twitter and see what my family is doing. Then to FB to check it out. I guess I have become a social media junkie. LOVED this post! Thank you.
I’m so glad to see the photos are back! First of all, congratulations on your weight loss–that’s a fantastic accomplishment. 🙂 And second of all, wow, you look so gorgeous in that photo from the outdoor movie night! Props to your friend for catching you on film. 🙂
Adore the pictures!! Your kids are adorable, and you are beautiful 🙂
Absolutely love how these pictures give yet another glance into your life. But more so, the beauty and hope that life should bring! Thanks!!
We miss you guys too!! So glad that Leah is OK, and you look fabulous!! Keep up the great work, and continue to enjoy your summer!!
Big Smiles from me! Loving all the sweet little faces!
Your kiddos are growing up so fast!! Love the picture of your Keurig. 🙂 And, the Yoplait shot could be an official ad.
Thank you so much for catching up. I always love looking at your photos. You have such a beautiful family. 🙂 Looks like you guys are off to a wonderful start enjoying your summer. Keep it up!!
Congrats on the weight loss! I’m sure it required a lot of effort. I love the June 2nd photo. I was really intrigued as I scrolled down the light totally looked like it got darker in the photo as the top scrolled out of view (I hope that makes sense, but I really loved the effect.)
Those are some great photos!
I haven’t told you lately how much I love your blog, your style and everything you share with us. I love this post! I am so excited for you on those 30 pounds lost! I know that it’s not easy as a food blogger and photographer to lose when surrounded by all the delicious food you dream up. And I also know how hard you’ve worked… you’re an inspiration in so many ways!
So glad the little bitty is ok after her scare with the medicine. I’ve been there and done that one myself and I know how scared you had to be.
Hugs! Thank you again for all you share with us…
Kristen, WOW, WOW what a summer of fun. You do look great. Congrats to you. I too have lost around 30 pounds–just not all at once and not able to keep it off. Totally over the years though it has had to equal at least 30. Wonderful family Phots. May not have a suitcase full yet but that will happen soon enough. Love to all of you.
PS in response to Mom’s comment about pictures–that’s Ginger’s job.
Oh, how I have missed your weekly pictures. You look like a busy momma enjoying your slow, relaxing, fun summer….just as it should be. And, you look amazing, absolutely amazing, my friend.
Hi, Kristine! You really have a spectacular photos. You really have a good editing tool. I want to see more photos from you so I would definitely follow you in facebook, twitter and instagram.