Find Your Happiness

Here are the photos that didn't make the cut to my Top 5 of April to June post. Also, I won a 24x32 canvas sponsored by Hello Canvas from the link up! How awesome is that, right? I haven't decided yet if I want to use a family photo, a photo I took (Nathaniel, place, flowers, things, etc.) or one of our wedding photos. "Strawberry Picking" We were able to pick a gallon-worth of strawberries in less than 15 minutes! However, Nathaniel was more interested in checking out the bugs than actually berry picking. After this, he also insisted to wear his "shark boots" for two days in a row. It was sunny. " TWO Men in a Tub "  I often struggle keeping/sharing photos that are not up to par technically such as this picture: grainy, my son is not in focus, random bottle in the background. I am definitely my own worst critic but I'm trying to cut myself a little bit of slack. Because when I am always tough on myself, moments like in this pi...

I really had a difficult time picking my top 5 favorites photos for this quarter. There seems to be a recurring theme (water) with the initial photos I picked so I thought I'd mix it up. I ended up choosing the photos that depicts Nathaniel at this moment : what he likes and how he acts .  So after you look at these photos, head over here to look at the photos that almost made the cut (will edit later!) Here are my top favorite photos of Nathaniel in no particular order: " Chaaaarge! " Nathaniel was actually yelling, "Lola!" (Tagalog for Grandma) while chasing my Mom. This is one of my favorite photos from our vacation because it says so much about Nathaniel right now. His love for his Lola, Spiderman, running, being outdoors, water and his "cool" (sunglasses). It was taken on our first day at the beach in St. Simon's Island , GA. It is also my first recognition from I Heart Faces , which won me the 10th place on their "All Boy...

Last Friday was Family Day at my husband's work. It was held at Pointes West Army Resort and thankfully the shelter we used was very shaded. The weather was in the 90s so it was hot, hot, hooooot. After the event, we walked down the lake and the boys threw rocks. I wish I could say I messed with saturation of the photos but the lake was really that blue. Even I was really amazed at how beautiful the lake was. They have several cabins on the lake and I hope that we can spend a weekend there in the future.

For Father's Day this year, we had lunch with our Filipino friends, which was then followed by playing bowling on post. Bowling is one of Hubby's favorite sports to play so he was definitely happy to be spending his day like this. It was also Nathaniel's first time bowling. He loved throwing the ball, hitting the pins and he even saying, "I missed!" whenever there are pins left standing. This year may very well be Hubby's last Father's Day as a daddy to one child so I'm very happy they got to bond this way.

June 15th (a week ago yesterday) was Nathaniel's half birthday. He is 2.5 years old! As a December baby, I make it a point to celebrate his half birthday. His birthday is only 10 days before Christmas and I don't ever want him to feel that his special day has to be shared with (or overlooked by) a holiday. We keep the celebration small (cake and small present) and spend it with just the family. This year, Nathaniel is old enough to pick his birthday cake and he chose chocolate cake. So I made sure to bake my chocolatest cake ever and topped it with chocolate ganache for good measure. And then we went to the movies the next day for his half birthday present and watched Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted , which he truly enjoyed.

Faith at Sweet Violet Photography posted their family menu for the week and I realized it has been a while since I participated in one of these. Our menu is already written on the dry erase board on our fridge so all I really have to do is type it here. Maybe our menu will give you a new recipe/idea. As always, our breakfast and lunch highly depends on what the toddler wants to eat that day :) so it's usually one (or combination) of these: Breakfast: eggs, cold or hot cereal, pancakes, waffles, yogurt, hotdog with rice, (always) fruit, smoothie Lunch: leftovers from dinner, salad with some type of protein (grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, etc.), "cheesy bread" (quesadilla), mac and cheese, hotdog, PB&Nutella sandwich, more fruit Tuesday: Stuffed Cabbage Casserole with side salad Wednesday: Leftovers (we still have Turkey Stuffed Zucchini from Sunday night) Thursday: Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup (with some type of bread) Friday: Salisbury...

Remember this photo from our vacation last month to St. Simon's Island? Well, I submitted it to I Heart Faces ' "All Boy" photo challenge. I Heart Faces is an award winning photography website that host weekly photo challenges where they get 500-1000 (sometimes more!) submission every week. They also post photography tutorials and tips and is an overall great photography resource. Anyway, I am very honored and excited that it was picked 10th place out of the group of 466 amazing photos. Yay!

The way that He Loves is as fair as the day That blesses my way with light; The way that He loves is as soft as the breeze, Caressing the trees at night. So tender and precious is He, Contented with Jesus I'll be; The way that He Loves is so thrilling because His love reaches even me. The way that He loves is as deep as the sea, His Spirit shall be my stay; The way that He loves is as pure as a rose, Much sweeter He grows each day. His peace hovers near like a dove, I know there's a heaven above; To Jesus I cling--life's a wonderful thing Because of the way He loves. Happy half birthday, Nathaniel.