The Un-Obesessed Assortment

It's no secret that I don't blog as much as I used to. I know it's bad when my family calls me up and tells me "I know you're busy, but what happened to the blog?" I had considered a hiatus, to take any or all of the mental nagging about how crappy I've gotten at it away. But truthfully, it used to be one of my favorite things to do. So even if it's not as often as it used to be, I'm gonna stick with it! I've decided to turn the corner in my brain and just relax about it and not worry if some pictures have red eyes or if posts are cohesive or even worth reading for that matter! So here it is folks, a random, un-obsessed-over assortment of what I've been up to!Maryn has been back to school for a few weeks. She is loving first grade and her teacher Mrs. Turner. Justin and I share at least one amazed look a day at how fast she is growing up. Just some of the things she does and says make us laugh. We're becoming fully aware that all of our little kids are on the road to becoming big kids and it's weird!

Award for awesome aunt and uncle go to Aaron and Megan for sure! Last Saturday they came and got all the girls and took them to Build-a-Bear and out to lunch! They had SO much fun! Lauryn was freaked out by the animals and didn't want one. But Maryn happily welcomed a horse named Angelina into her menagerie of stuffed animals. Brynna had a family reunion for Coco and brought home his cousin, a monkey named JoJo! Thank you SO much Aaron and Megan!!! You guys rule!

After my previous post, I tried my hand at one of these bad boys myself and thought it turned out very cute. I only spent $3.99 on it because I used fabric and embellishments I already had kicking around my house. My sister-in-law Kristen inspired me to channel my inner craftiness and I must admit, it was fun!

Brynna started Preschool on Wednesday and LOVES it! It makes me so happy to see her joyful and excited about her days. With me working all summer, it got a little boring around here for the kids. So I'm ecstatic to see them with places to go and people to see!

My big four-year old! It's wild to think we started going to Canton First United Methodist Preschool with Maryn when Brynna was a newborn and now it's already her last year. Weird!

She was so exhausted after such a good time one day she came home and curled up in a laundry basket and fell asleep. It was pretty funny! At least we know she's getting her energy out!

Last but not least, this little nugget. I just love this kid like crazy! She is growing up SO fast too and looking more like a big kid every day! I could just eat, eat , eat her UP!

Other non-picture related updates, Justin has been a busy, busy boy doing freelance gigs and revitalizing his business Georgia Hoops. I'm really proud of him. It's good seeing him with that spark back in his eye.

I'm still working at the Oral Surgeon's and things are going great there. Now that schools back in, the work schedule is working great. The kids are at school and Lauryn is taking her morning nap while I'm gone, so it doesn't feel like I'm missing out on so much. We all reconnect about the same time every day, so that's nice.

My friend Laura (who just had her baby three weeks ago, by the way) challenged me to do p90x with her and Justin said he's on board too. So I'm mentally gearing up to sweat baby! We start on Monday and I'm excited at the thought of working out again and stretching out my atrophied muscles. Anyhoot, kids are climbing up the walls! Gotta scoot and put my little animals to bed. Justin and I have a hot date with the couch and the season premiere of 'Project Runway' tonight! Yeah baby!

Cash Envelope... Done Cute!

My Mom and Dad sent me some fun money for my birthday. So I decided to go on the look out for something that I would really like, but probably wouldn't normally buy for myself since I'm well... cheap. Then tonight I found something that appeases both sides of me, the cheapskate and the girl that wants fun, cute things. I found this Etsy shop called 'My Little Budget Book'. For awhile I was doing the Dave Ramsey Cash Envelope system, but then got lazy and reverted to using my debit card more. It's easier to nickel and dime your way into cheating your budget when you use debit or credit cards, so I decided that I need to get back to using the cash envelopes. But let's face it, paper envelopes getting all wrinkled up in your purse aren't that cute. Plus nothing says sophistication like digging out said wrinkled, paper envelopes at the grocery store, digging through your different categories trying to find your 'Grocery' envelope. Enter into scene these dang cute cash envelope system organizers. I love them! The picture above is actually not the pattern I picked, but I still like it! Mine must be one of a kind, because after I purchased it I couldn't find it's big picture anymore! I only had this tiny, little picture on my order summary. It's really cute, it has oranges and greens and will look awesome popping out of my beloved leather, satchel bag my Mom got me as a birthday gift a few years ago. The best part is is that the cuteness won't clean out all the cash from your organizer. I picked up mine for just $14.95, which is actually $5.00 cheaper than the plain-jane ones on Dave Ramsey's website. So I feel spoiled and still have fun money left over! I can't wait for it to show up in my mailbox! Thanks Mom & Dad, I love you guys!

So Proud!!!

What is one essential childhood experience that every kid should do at least once? Think of what every person who wins something big yells first... "I'm goin' to Disney World!!!" Making that dream come true is something that Maryn and Brynna have both been asking for for a couple of years. As their parents, Justin and I certainly want to help that dream come to fruition for our sweet girls. But the reality is, is that a trip to Disney can be pretty expensive. So the girls and I came up with a plan back in February to have a 'Young Family Disney Fund' that we all work to contribute to. Our goal is to go in the Fall of 2010 and we have been saving our quarters, nickels, dimes and dollar bills and throwing them into a can that the girls and I covered and decorated together after we schemed up our bright idea.

Grammy and Gramps caught wind of our little goal and were so excited to contribute to the girls efforts. Since we've started, Grammy and Gramps have given the girls five dollar bills, pocket change and even a roll of quarters to throw in the can! Then before school got out Gramps decided to strike up a deal with Maryn, who is our little reader. He told Maryn that for every book she read over summer vacation he would give her a dollar for the Disney can. Knowing her love of books, I tried to tell him to drop his offer to a quarter a book. But he insisted one dollar for every book. But they had to be real books, not like 'See Spot Run'. She really would have to earn those dollars.

Tomorrow school starts back up again and Maryn will be heading off to the First Grade. So tonight when Grammy and Gramps came over for dinner I told Maryn she needed to give Gramps her Summer Reading List, since it is her last day of summer vacation. Gramps sat on the couch kind of stunned as he flipped through not one, not two, not three, but seven pages of titles that she had read. He quickly did the math... 113 books. Truthfully, being the busy Momma that I am, there were about three weeks there where I wasn't getting the titles written down. Even with that she still got over one hundred books read. I tried to tell him she loved to read! Gramps sheepishly laughed and said he thought maybe she'd read 15-20 books. But he said a deal is a deal and she earned it fair and square!

Needless to say Maryn was very excited as we counted out the money in our can tonight and saw our goal getting closer and closer. What is even more exciting is that Maryn learned an important lesson about working hard for the things we want in life. I am so proud of her and so grateful to Gramps for his generosity. I have no doubt that when we walk through the gates of the Magic Kingdom next year, it really will be something she will appreciate and remember for the rest of her life, because she did her part to make it happen!

If any of you are familiar with financial guru, Dave Ramsey, we found a new reason to love him! He authored a set of children's books, which teaches about financial responsibility in a fun way. They are definitely a new favorito in the Young household!

Let the Celebrations Begin!

The girls know that their birthdays are special days. It's the one day of the year where if they ask for something, they will probably get a 'yes'. Want doughnuts for breakfast?... Sure! Top it off with sugary chocolate milk?... Absolutely! Balloons?... Pick 'em out! Will you make me my favorite cake?... Anything you want! This year Maryn really wanted to add 'Can I get my ears pierced?' to her special day's list of questions. And like I said, if they want it their birthday is the time to ask! So we invited Grammy to join Maryn, Brynna, and I on a fun girl's day out to go get Maryn's ears pierced. Since Grammy also knows birthdays are all about fun, she decided we should make a stop at Chuck E. Cheese's to treat us to lunch before heading to the mall for the moment of truth. You of course heard no complaints about that from the girls. Grammy is so cool!Maryn is wild about horses. So imagine her excitement when she saw they had a game where you ride the horse, steer it with the reins and even can jump it! She took it very seriously!

I dug out this old picture of Justin and Maryn on the same jet-ski ride a few weeks after Brynna was born. Maryn had just turned two then and now look at them four years later! My two long-legged chickadees!

After our bellies were full of pizza, games had been played and tickets had been redeemed we headed over to Claire's, inside the mall. Maryn and I had watched videos of other little girls getting their ears pierced together on YouTube, so she would know what to expect. (No horrific ones of course!) So she was feeling pretty excited when we got there. She picked out a sparkly, little pair of ruby earrings because they're her birthstone and hopped up in the chair.

The moment of truth!
She was still looking a little concerned after it happened. She was happy they were in but was thinking that maybe her ears were hurting a little bit. But really nothing a trip to the cookie counter couldn't remedy! She did so great, it made a Momma proud!More birthday celebrations to continue!

I promise I'm not ignoring the ol' bloggerito. I actually have plenty to blog about. It's just that Justin is gone with my camera. Hence my sad, little neglected blog. Sniff.

Grandma & Grandpa McLean

One of the highlights of my trip was getting to see my grandparents again. An entire decade had past since I had seen them last. It also had been almost fourteen years since I had been able to be in their home in Tucson. It was so great, not a single thing had changed! We moved around when I was a kid, so I can't go back to the houses I that was small in. But at Grandma and Grandpa's everything was just as I remembered it. They took Justin and I out to lunch and we just visited and talked, enjoying one anothers' company. I sat there across the table from them wanting to remember every little thing. Loving being there with them, hoping it wouldn't be so long before I could see them again.

In their living room was a drawing of my Dad when he was a boy. I love my grandparents for so many reasons. But I think the reason I love them the most is because they gave me my Dad. They raised him, provided for him and nurtured him. They helped shape the man he is today and for that I am so grateful to them. I love my Dad so much and the older I get, that love only grows. I am so grateful for him and for all he has done for me throughout my entire life and for all he has taught me. Sitting across from my grandparents I was reminded of how grateful I am to be a McLean. And grateful that through my children, the heritage and love that has been given me can continue to live on.

Sedona

On our way to the Grand Canyon we decided to take the long way and drive through Sedona. We had heard how beautiful it was and were assured that we wouldn't want to miss it. Once you got off the main highway the dry, scrubby, brown landscape gave way to beautiful, red rock jutting out of the desert earth. The rocks contrast against the blue sky only added to it's beauty.







We stopped at a cool artist's market that made you feel like you were walking the streets of another country. We decided to buy my mom a thank you present for making our time together possible. We searched through all the shops until we found her a perfect pair of little, turquoise earrings. We were so grateful to our families for allowing us this time together.