Category: Family

Insta-DUMP!

Contrary to popular belief I don’t carry my big honking fancy camera everywhere I go.  I wish I could, but it’s heavy and large and all that stuff!  Someone invent an HD camera for our phones will ya???

I’m loving Instagram.  Let’s face it we live in a very “visual” world.  We like to see pretty pictures and share them with our friends 🙂  It’s a lot of fun!  And ahem…..Pinterest…..need I say more???

So here’s a little glimpse of the last month or so via my life Insta-style

Connor before schoolIMG_20130509_075321 Work clothes #ootd (out-of-the-door)IMG_20130508_123252

Connor and his #sipface

Instagram yourself with your Starbucks and tag with #sipface to see everyone’s faces!IMG_20130507_082700 Bling Bling bracelets from VeryJane or Groopdealz???IMG_20130506_153653

A couple of weekends ago we rented a canoe and rowed down the river.  Connor LOVED it!  He said he saw sharks and snakes and alligators!!! Ha Ha!!!  What an imagination….I love this age.  It was so much fun, minus the sore shoulder for a few days….I can’t wait to do it again!!!IMG_20130505_132742 IMG_20130505_132651 IMG_20130505_132524 IMG_20130505_132456 IMG_20130505_132313 IMG_20130505_123802 IMG_20130505_113520

My favorite color: GREEN!  I got the striped tank at another daily deal online and the green cardigan at Nordstrom at NorthEast mall 🙂  I have curvy bootie too….my favorite jeans if you have curves are definitely Joe’s Jeans!IMG_20130504_081030 I loooooove this skirt from Kiki La’Rue.  It’s so soft and breezy for summer.IMG_20130501_181809 IMG_20130501_085312 IMG_20130430_173854 Love Bug cookieIMG_20130430_124215 IMG_20130428_124632-picsay IMG_20130428_124248 IMG_20130426_172200 Michael Buble’s new album…good, but hardly any original songs???IMG_20130426_081255 IMG_20130423_091843 Another Kiki La’Rue find!IMG_20130422_182037 Awesome sauce coffee mugsIMG_20130422_122602 IMG_20130422_122555 J.T.’s new album A+++++IMG_20130422_082131 My child’s apparent hidden talent…stuffing cars between his toesIMG_20130407_111804 Hope ya’ll are having a good week!

Happy HUMP day!IMG_20130419_184716

Mother’s Day 2013

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Things have been pretty busy the past few weeks.   So it was nice to have a laid back weekend with my boys.  On Saturday our subdivision was hosting a neighborhood garage sale, so I went through some of our junk stuff and sat out for a few hours.  I made about $50 bucks…not too bad?  Saturday was also Terence’s birthday.  My hubby turned 32!  He’s the best hubs ever and I’m thankful for every day God has given us together.

The first birthday we shared together! May 11, 2000
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We celebrated birthdays/Mother’s Day at my in-law’s house Saturday night with dinner, cake, and ice cream 🙂

Today the boys and I had red velvet pancakes, they let me do a little shopping at Anthropologie, and we took Terence to the electronics store.

Then we came back and took naps & I caught up on a little recorded TV.  Oh my gosh The Following is CRAZY!  And Arrow on CW is one of my favorite new shows too!!!

Me & my lovey!

He’s getting SO big!

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My sweet boys

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Thank you Lord for my beautiful family!  All the mothers in my life, and mom role-models.  I pray for all those out there still waiting for motherhood.  God’s timing is perfect!  Don’t lose faith!

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We wish you many blessings this Mother’s Day!

xo Becky

Throwback Thursday: Mother’s Day Edition

I love my Mom.  I have to say that living further away from her has only made me MORE thankful for her.  I wish I was there this weekend to give her a big ole hug and kiss.  She sacrificed a lot for my sister and I.  Especially while living in Germany, where she knew no one and raising twins while my Dad was out on drills for the Army.  Those were the days when we wore cloth diapers and she had to boil water for laundry!  Can you imagine???

She a great teacher.  She is a reading and literacy advocate and counselor.  My Mom has touched so many lives of young children over the years.  So blessed to call her my Mom and thankful for everything she’s ever done for me.  I could go on and on and probably write a book about it….but in the end…..all that matters is……

I love you Mama!mombeckbon fam

And my sweet Nannie Sue too…she’s everything to us!photo

Love you both bunches and thank you for being the ultimate role model in my life.  You both are smart, loving, and most importantly, Godly women that I aspire to be like some day.  None can compare to either of you.  xo Becky

If you’d like to share a “Throwback Thursday” of you and your Mom link up below:

Love 4 Life: Marriage Conference

IMG_20130504_100117My honey and I

Ter-Bear and I attended a marriage conference last weekend at our church.  I’m go thankful we finally found a church we both like and that Connor likes too.  I can tell you that after almost 12 years of marriage it’s good to have a refresher every now and then on what marriage means and is truly about.  Marriage is such a blessing, it’s not always a smooth road, but it’s definitely a road that I want to travel down forever with Terence.

I took some notes at some of the breakout sessions and wanted to share some points I took away from the conference with you.

COMMUNICATION

*Men relate & communicate better side by side.  I thought this was interesting…maybe that is why T and I have good conversations laying side by side in bed?  Do you find yourself laying in bed and in the quietness of the night, at the end of a long day find it easier to talk?  No distractions, just dark and the two of you talking…

*Converse in a restaurant.  Go somewhere besides your home.  You may find it easier to communicate out in the open.

*Implement touch in conversation.  Sometimes just the gentle touch of your spouse can have a great effect.

*Communicating is about partnering, not punishing each other.  Example: “Let me show you why I’m so right and you’re so wrong!”  

 

I loved this.  A fellow sitting next to us said “I wear the pants in the house….the pants SHE puts out for me every day!”  Ha ha….good man!

 

NAVIGATING CONFLICT:

*Passion always brings emotions to the surface.  It’s good to be passionate about something so you can express your emotions.

* “Stuffers” : People who stuff things in until they explode or run.  That is something Terence and I try not to do.  Early on in our marriage we promised never to run away from each other even while fighting.

* “Slice & Dicers” : People who use words to bring others down.  I try to think before I say something if it’s going to tear someone down.  At times I catch myself, other times I’m guilty without even knowing it.  Watch your tongue….it’s a powerful tool.

* “Martyr in the relationship” : Someone who uses the guilt trip approach.  Example: “Well, you got to do that last weekend and I didn’t get to do anything.  So why can’t I do this?”

* “Diffusion” : Bringing up other unrelated conflicts to defuse the current situation.  I can SO relate to this.  I feel like Terence uses this approach all the time!  Stuff I don’t even recall?  I tell him he must have an awesome memory because of the stuff he remembers….it just lingers.  LET IT GO.

OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED:

* Discover your love language.  Your partner’s love language.

* Let the little thing go.  Ask yourself “Does this really matter?”

* Confront in Love: Try not to use the words “NEVER” or “ALWAYS” Example: You always do this.  You  never do that.

* Get to the need: Misunderstanding what was intended?  Fear, anger, hurt, guilt, or shame?

Well, that’s not everything….but I think we both really enjoyed spending part of our weekend focusing on our marriage.  It’s something you tend to put on the back burner, especially after children.  That should never be the case and I hope Terence knows that no matter what happens, or how tired I am at the end of each day, & how stressed I am…..that he always comes first.  God, my husband, and Connor.  MY LOVES.

The couple on stage in the below picture have been married 51 years.  They are so adorable!  I just love seeing couples that have been married that long and still have a sparkle in their eyes for each other.  The husband was asked what his secret was for the longevity of their marriage and why they would even consider coming to a marriage conference. They probably already knew everything there was to know about being married right?

This was his answer:  “Well, by the time you’re my age and have been married this long you forgot everything you learned in the first place so it’s new all over again!” 

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Cruising with Kids: Norwegian Cruises Giveaway!


Terence and I love to travel.  In fact you can check out all our travels on the navigation tab above under Categories: Travel.  Among the ways we love to travel is cruising.  Traveling on a cruise ship is great because it’s an easy way to plan a vacation.  Terence and I have cruised before, but it’s been about 10 years and I think we are about due for another one.  We definitely had a great time and our entire cruising experience was something we still talk about years later.  This time we have our son, Connor. Let me tell you vacationing with a 3 year old is a lot different than vacationing just the two of us.  It’s still a lot of fun we just have to plan activities around him as well!  We wouldn’t have it any other way.  We want him to feel included and have fun too.

 

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Our first cruise 2002

(love that you get to dress up on cruises!)

That’s why I think Norwegian Cruise Line’s youth program is a great option for our next vacation. Norwegian is now offering Nickelodeon experiences on some ships. In order to continue to offer the best experience for families, Norwegian has revamped its youth program. Kids will never be bored with all of the below new enhancements.

The youth program from Norwegian will keep kids of all ages active and entertained throughout the entire cruise.  You know what that means?  Mom and Dad can get a little R&R in too while still enjoying fun activities as a family!

Parents can join in on the fun during some brand new family events, of course all activities are optional.  The youth counselors are highly energized, engaging and a key benefit of the youth program – the kids will love them! They are cool, hip, active and fun.

Exclusively aboard Norwegian Cruise Line, Hilario Productions presents Cirque Du Jour. Cirque Du Jour will offer circus school consisting of a series of family workshops throughout the cruise including a circus show starring your kids and surprise pop-ups throughout the week by stilt walking clowns, balloon animal makers and much, much more! Oh gosh this sounds like something we would all enjoy!  Non-stop interactive workshops will encourage learning, allowing kids to develop new skills while having fun and giving them something memorable to take home with them.

Some of the fun activities on a Norwegian Nickelodeon cruise:

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Our future globe trotter- He loves Nick Jr. so I know he would love this! 

Specific Details of the youth program

All Ages – new and exclusive to Norwegian

Cirque Du Jour

“Hilario Productions presents Cirque Du Jour”

Series of family workshops throughout the cruise

Look out for surprise “Surprise Pop-ups from the famed Cirque Du Jour”

Appearances by mobile clowns

Stilt walking clowns

i.e. White Hot Night clowns with wings with white face on stilts

Someone making balloon animals

Interactive family experience

Circus show – featuring kids

Sporting Activities

Norwegian collaborated with Kings Camps and Foundation, the UK’s number one camp experts, to develop sporting activities for new youth program onboard

Norwegian has leveraged Kings Camps expertise to develop a sports program that includes interactive play that encourages bonding, teamwork and confidence building

Specifically, activities focus international sports so not your traditional, everyday sports – learn something new!

Sporting activities now brings youth program outdoor and utilize all the great areas of our ships – i.e. sports court, rock walls, etc.

Sporting activities will take place each day throughout the cruise

Shipboard Family Fun Challenge – all age groups

Will be included every week on ships with new youth program

Includes games like balloon toss and other silly, not serious, fun games

Culminates with Family Challenge Award Ceremony

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Splash Academy – Youth Program

Guppies: Ages 6 months – 2 years

Overall, under 2 programming will consist of sensory and creative play for under 2’s and their parents

Approximately two ½ hour sessions per day for sensory and creative play for babies and parents

Turtles: Ages 3 – 5 years

Seals: Ages 6 – 9 years

Dolphins: Ages 10 – 12 years

Overall, programming will be age appropriate

Lots of options consisting of indoor activities programmed alongside outdoor activities

Teen programs too!

Group Sitting Services

Port Play – Want some alone time while in port? Then drop off your kids at Port Play for free. (For a small fee during lunch and dinner hours.)

Late Night Fun Zone – Late Night Fun Zone is open every night (for a small fee.)

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In addition to the youth programs, Norwegian is an ideal option for a family vacation because now Norwegian gives families their best vacation ever with Freestyle Cruising® and exclusive Nickelodeon™ entertainment.  With so many activities and dining experiences you are bound to have a great time together.  The ships also feature slides, pools, and lots of family entertainment.  So what are you waiting for?  If you’ve been looking for something fun to do with your family this summer, but don’t have the time or energy to plan out every single day and activity (like me) then Norwegian takes care of all of that for you!  No fuss and all fun!  Make memories that will last a lifetime for you and your child.

For more information about Norwegian’s family vacation experience, click here.

And now for a sweepstakes with a cruise voucher for a family of four for the grand prize! 

This is one prize for all the blogs in the program—not a cruise for each blog.  Enter to win by answering this question:

 

 “What is your dream vacation for your family?” 

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

  1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
  3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
  4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/7/2013-6/2/2013.

Be sure to visit Norwegian Cruise Line’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

 

Box it Up!

Yesterday we received our monthly box from Citrus Lane.  Citrus Lane is a box to door service where they care package for your child.  You just go online and fill out a profile and each month you’ll get a box full of goodies!

I think we’ve been getting them for almost a year now and have really enjoyed it!  Some of the products are so new they aren’t even on the market yet.  It’s fun to try new things out I normally wouldn’t notice myself, and sometimes those things are what I end up liking the most!

This paint book was really cool!  Each page has its own paint palette for that picture…..so no mess and just the right amount of pain 🙂

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Genius!  Why didn’t I think of that?