Life as Mrs. Emerson

I was pleasantly surprised last week when Evangeline decided to be my building helper.  We had such a great time building this raised bed.  She handed me screws and even helped me hold the boards.  I can't wait to harvest some fresh veggies! Happy Tuesday friends!  Here's hoping your week is off to a fantastic start.  This is an exciting week at our home because we are prepping for a road trip to Arkansas!  Woohoo!  Spring break is in the air!  I can't believe we haven't actually been to Arkansas since last July.  Our fall was packed with our Disney trip and then we ended up moving after Thanksgiving.  Thankfully we have seen a handful of our Arkansas family on numerous occasions but I haven't seen my three nieces in forever!  I can't wait to see Eli and Eva's face when they see their cousins again!  I'm sure that will be worth the 9 hour drive!  In the mean time here's what goals I will be focusing on this week! ...

Last month my family and I traveled to Washington D.C.  One of the main reason that we decided to drive included the opportunity to visit Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia.   The drive through Virginia was absolutely beautiful.  My favorite part was driving through the Shenandoah Valley.  The happy hubby indulged my whims to stop at many of the gorgeous overlooks pictured above.     Although the house is fascinating, the grounds at Monticello deserve just as much time as the house.  Eli was absolutely fascinated with the gardens and even spent time speaking with one of the gardeners.  When he found out that the gardener doesn't have trouble with rabbits eating their radishes he decided he wanted to move to Virginia!  Ha, ha!  (I never knew he was that concerned with rabbits eating our vegetables.) The gardens at Monticello are striking and include a wide variety of crops.  The varieties grown are the s...

Eli had a blast playing Twister at the Art Museum.   Our summer of fun is in full swing.  Can you believe it is already July?  Here are a few of the ways my family saved money last week.  Most of the things we did were also incredibly fun!   I cut green onions that I had growing in a pot on our front porch. I used a bunch of leftovers to make a delicious Ham, Spinach, and Mushroom Quiche. The kids and I had a blast at our local Splash Park.  At only $3 per person (ages 2-12) this makes for quite a fun, frugal outing.  I also appreciate the fact that there isn't a pool there so I don't have trouble wrangling two wet kids by myself.  We packed a fun picnic to enjoy while we were there.  I hope we can squeeze in a few more trips before school begins! Before heading to the Splash park we stopped by Aldi to load up on groceries.  Since I took my large cooler along we were able to visit the grocery before the Splash park which work...

A funny photo from our trip.   Two weeks ago I had the awesome privilege of tagging along with the happy hubby on a business trip to the SBC Convention.  It was wonderful.  We were in sessions most of the time but it was so much fun just hanging out as the two of us.  I thought I would enjoy attending the conference with Brandon but I was actually REALLY surprised by how much fun it was actually being at the convention.  I ran into a handful of friends that I attended school with back in the day before Brandon and I were married.  I did attend the convention six years ago when it was in Louisville, KY but I spent the majority of my time racing to the nearest restroom since I was expecting Eli.  This convention was so much better! This year the convention was held in Columbus, OH which is only a few hours from our home.  Hooray for a nice short trip!  This marks our fourth trip to Columbus together.  We have attended the amazing Oh...

If you have been reading this blog for a while or are a personal friend of ours you know that as a family we travel a few times a year to visit family.  What you might not know is the fact that I hate road trips.  I don't hate all road trips just the long ones.  Once you pass the five hour mark the trip takes on a more serious tone.  Don't get me wrong I really do enjoy the trip once I get there but it is just hard for me to have a great, cheery attitude the entire drive there. That isn't to say that I haven't tried.  Seven years ago my sweet hubby proposed marriage (after I had already taken two long road trips to Arkansas with him).  The first couple of trips we took to Arkansas were a lot of fun but they were also about four hours shorter.  We lived closer to Arkansas at the time and we didn't yet have children.  Since that time I have watched youtube videos and have read numerous blog articles about ways to have a fantastic road trip...

Evangeline loved the Playscape.  We decided to do something really fun for Elijah's 5th birthday and took the family to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  It was AMAZING and we all had so much fun!  Taking the family  to Indy has been on our bucket list for almost three years and I am glad we were finally able to make such a wonderful memory with the family.   Evangeline loves playing in the water!   We were able to go on Eli's actual birthday which made it even more special.  A whole day to play with mom, dad, and baby sister!  What could be more fun then spending the day with your family?  It also meant that the museum wasn't that crowded.  :) We arrived at the museum early in the day before lunch and left right  before they closed.  I had read before that it takes days to see everything in the museum but we were able to see all of the exhibits in one day.  Making our trip just a day trip made it a l...

Eli all ready to go as we enter the State Fair.  We are so thankful for our stroller!   This past week we were able to mark off something fun on our Emerson Family Bucket List for the summer.  We went to the Ohio State Fair.  Hooray!  It has to be one of the best state fairs around. This was the face Evangeline wore for almost the entire day.  She was so happy!   I am so thankful we were finally able to visit the Ohio State Fair.  It has been 6 years since we have been.  We weren't even married back then.  :)  We were engaged at the time and I think I floated all around the fair that year. We really enjoyed seeing the Budweiser Clydesdale horses and watching them in the parade.   All of the animal exhibits were superb but the horses were Elijah's favorite. Elijah got to drive a train!   Our day really was filled with giggles, laughter, and lots of smiles! I love my boys!  ...

Earlier this month I FINALLY got the happy hubby to agree to go camping.  Truth be told it was actually my mother's day present.  We had a blast!   Enjoying the playground Since this was our first camping trip we decided to head somewhere close.  We camped for two nights at Kincaid Lake State Park in Falmouth, KY.  It was so much fun!   We slept a lot!  It was lovely to sleep outside and go to sleep to the sound of nature.  We also enjoyed some wonderful naps.  Such a blessing to get away and enjoy some family time. Selfie!  Eli had a blast camping.    Elijah said his favorite thing was the fact that we slept in a camper (pop-up) instead of a house.  He also really enjoyed going on walks, playing at all 3 playgrounds, and building fires with Daddy. We borrowed our parent's pop-up.  My mom was kind enough to set it up for us since our skills at trailering are a bit lacking.   ...

Brandon standing in front of The Hermitage.   Two weeks ago we headed to Nashville to meet up with Brandon's parents.  Elijah spent 5 days staying with his Nina & Poppy Steve in Arkansas so he was not with us during our trip to The Hermitage.  Eva travels best in the morning so we planned on starting out early in the day.  We would end up arriving early to Franklin and knew that we would have a couple of hours to kill.  Brandon asked me what I would like to do and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I have wanted to stop at The Hermitage (the home of Andrew Jackson) for years.  I love history (I majored in biology & history in college) and Brandon minored in history while in college.  I am thankful that we can share our love of history and exploring together.    Evangeline & I had a lovely time walking around the grounds.  (I was a little disappointed about all of the construction.)  I am also related to A...