What's Up Wednesday!?!

Hi!! Hay Wednesday! I am excited to be joining Shay, Mel and Sheaffer for their super fun 'What' Has Up Wednesday' link-up party!!

What we're eating this week: We are grilling out a lot this week and keeping it super simple!  I post my weekly menu plan almost every Monday...here is what is on the menu at our house for this week!

What I am reminiscing about: this time last year I was only a couple weeks away from having our 4th baby! Can't believe our precious baby boy is almost ONE YEAR OLD!!

This picture was taken almost exactly a year ago!  We had just moved to the Indianapolis area, Aaron had just started his residency (and his first on-call shift on his first day- talk about sinking or swimming- HA!) and we were about 10 days away from meeting our new baby!!

And here is the last picture we took as a family of 5, on 4th of July last year!

It seriously does not feel like one whole year has gone by since we took this picture!! 

What I am loving: I am a peanut butter addict. I LOVE it. I just recently found out about PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter and I am HOOKED!  

You can use it in the powdered form in smoothies or add water to it to make actual peanut butter!  It is VERY low in calories, fat, and sugar- and seriously tastes SO good!  My favorite way to use it is in my morning smoothie.  I use 4-5 ice cubes, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 heaping tablespoon of PB2 powder, handful of spinach, 1 stevia natural sweetener packet and 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  OMG.  It is SO good!! 

What we have been up to: We have a pretty sweet little summer routine going: kids are up around 6:00 am and snuggle on the couch watching PBS Kids, then we eat breakfast around 7:00 am, get to the gym by 8:00 am, and are home by 9:30 am so James can take a morning nap. Then when he wakes up- we either head out to the pool, splash pad or library.  We are home for lunch and afternoon naps around 12:30-1:00 pm... and then out again for another adventure around 4:00 pm!  We are home by 6:00 pm for dinner and all the kids are in bed, totally passed out by 8:30 pm.  We aren't really doing anything exciting but I can't tell you much I am LOVING these simple, summer days with my precious kiddos!!

What I am dreading: putting away this huge pile of laundry!! UGH! With all the summer fun we have been having...keeping up with all our laundry has fallen to waaayyyy low on the priority list- HA!

What I am working on: I am embarrassed to admit this because the last time I linked up and did a 'What's Up Wednesday' post- I was working on the SAME thing.  I am still, slowly but surely, getting my daughters' yearly picture books done.  I have my daughter Cora's book totally done- just need to order it.  I need to add text to each page in my daughter Charlotte's book and then her book will be ready to order.  I have almost all of the pictures uploaded for my daughter Celine's book- need to get that one started ASAP.  And then I will need to get James' book started since he is turning one in a couple of weeks! Then I am going to take a break for few months before I have to get started on another one- HA!  You would think I would learn my lesson and stay on top of these photo books!!

What I am excited about: An upcoming beach vacation!! My mom is one of 8 girls and every other year all of her sisters and their families and my almost 92 year old grandpa, get together for a week long vacation!  It is an absolute BLAST and we can't wait to spend a week at the beach with all of our wonderful family!!

What I am reading: A couple of months ago my mom gave me a daily devotional called, Focus Your Day, by Kenneth E. Grabner, C.S.C.  I LOVE it!  It is simple and each devotional  is SO applicable to real life.  I am truly enjoying starting my morning off by reading this book every day!!

What I am listening to: I am currently obsessed with "Homegrown" by The Zac Brown Band- LOVE this song!! My newest favorite workout song is "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne.  It is SUCH A JAM!! :)

What I am wearing: If I am not wearing my swim suit or work out clothes, I am rocking my momiform for the summer!  I talked about a few of my favorite summer clothes last week- you can check it out here! 

 My momiform consists of a colorful pair of shorts and a simple tank top!

My 6 year old daughter took this picture of me so I could avoid the ultra awkward/embarrassing selfie in front of the mirror in the locker room at the gym- HA!

What I am doing this weekend: We have some fun plans this weekend! On Saturday- we are going to a festival our town has every year.  There is a whole tent dedicated to kids activities!  We went last year and the girls had a blast- we are so excited to go again!  On Sunday, my husband and I are doing a race called the Patriot Challenge Race!  I registered us for the race as one of his birthday gifts (back in January).  I am not sure what to expect...hoping it isn't super hard core...because I am not good at that- HA!  Either way...we are going to have a blast spending the morning together!

What I am looking forward to next month: We have several fun, little trips planned for next month! We are going camping for a couple of days to celebrate James' first birthday and then just a few days after that, we are going to visit one of our best friends at her family's lake house.  Then after that, the kids and I will be going to visit my parents for several days!  The following week is Vacation Bible School- and all 3 of my girls will be attending while I volunteer in the nursery (and James will be tagging along with me).

We have a busy, FUN month ahead of us!! 

What else is new: not much!! :) Just soaking up every minute of summer!! 

Bonus question: What are our plans for 4th of July: We don't have any huge plans for the 4th of July.  Most likely, if the weather is nice, we will go swimming at our pool and we will definitely have a cookout! My girls want to roast marshmallows and make s'mores while we are waiting for it to get dark to watch fireworks.  We are able to see TWO amazing firework shows from our backyard, so that is going to be the best part of our day for sure!

That was fun!!

Hope you are having a great week so far!

Make today awesome- no matter what! :)