Playing Catch Up...Again

Why is blogging becoming such a chore for me these days?! I mean, I want to blog. I love writing down memories that my kids will be able to go back and read one day. It's obviously important to me. Looking back on my blog, I usually blog a lot when I'm lonely, not gainfully employed, or frustrated about something. If you look at the years between 2012 and 2014 when I had just gotten out of the Marines and moved to Massachusetts, I blogged A LOT. I blogged non stop. I was frustrated, lonely, depressed, and cold (literally and figuratively). Since we've been in Texas, I have truly never been happier with my life. Being in my element with "my people" (my people meaning fellow Texans), I really don't have too much to complain about. On top of attending my dream school (Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2017!), I am surrounded by amazing people. I live in a great neighborhood with awesome neighbors. What more could a girl ask for? Plus, I share more of my life on Instagram nowadays than my blog, and most of my readers follow my Instagram. But still, I really need to get on this blog train, and keep y'all updated on my life (for those that care at least, right?)

So I guess we can start with Mother's Day. I hope all you wonderful mommies out there had a wonderful one! I sure did! Nick always makes the day special, and makes it a point to not let me lift a finger. lol. We went to church, lunch, and I spent the rest of the day on the couch binging on Netflix with a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc. If you care, I binged on 13 Reasons Why and finished the entire season. That is a WHOLE another blog post!

Nick's mom passed away several years ago, but we still make a point to keep her memory alive in our house.

Her favorite flowers were yellow roses, so we got a bouquet in honor of her!

Nick cooked an amazing meal for me!

I usually do most of the cooking in our house, and he mans the grill.

I'm always super impressed when he does whip up something for me in the kitchen though!

Dannika became a "Forest Ridge Falcon Flyer" by running a total of 124 laps during PE this year!

Nick and I were invited to an amazing Mexican feast (courtesy of the teachers at D's school) for the VIPS luncheon!

Dannika and her BFF were partners for their first ever science palooza! 

They did an experiment with acids and bases!

Our nanny, Rachel came to say goodbye for the summer as she heads off to her internship in Dallas this summer!

Finally got both of our kids' birth announcements framed!

Dannika's birth announcement was a tri-fold, so I had to cut it up and get creative!

This kid rides a bike with no training wheels!

Like, he's never had training wheels EVER (check out my instagram to see @domesticatedcombatboots)

Riding on two wheels can get exhausting. 

Good thing he hydrates!

Nick received an award from our community!

A non profit group here called "Keep Brazos Beautiful" awarded him with the "Good Neighbor Award".

This is what I wrote on Instagram about it:

"Nick was presented with Keep Brazos Beautiful's "good neighbor award" today at a banquet. He was recognized for his efforts taking charge of our neighborhood spring cleanup, coordinating our fishing tournament, as well as lowering and raising our neighborhood's flags. For those who know Nick, this is just "all in a day's work" for him. Not only does he tirelessly and selflessly serve our country and the Marines he is surrounded by, but he also finds ways to serve within our community. That's the true embodiment of what it means to be a Marine. We don't just fight and win wars, but we give back to our local communities. Why wouldn't we want to make our home a better place to live? Nick has spent 16 years of life defending it. Marines are "No better friend, no worse enemy". I promise you, you will have no better friend than Nicholas Mark Romer. Proud of you Nick! It makes me feel good knowing that I am not the only one that recognizes everything that you do!"

 And just because this photo is hilarious....

We are having some slight issues with Mattis sleeping in his bed....

He likes to jump in our bed with us right after his bath hoping we'll let him stay.....

I promise to TRY to do a better job of keeping up on this thing!

Hope everyone is hanging in there until the kids are out of school! 

OH, AND THIS GAL JUST FINISHED THIS SEMESTER WITH A 3.8 GPA!!!

Long Overdue

For an update!!!!

I haven't gotten on the ole blog as much as usual because of life. If you follow me on Instagram, I think that I do a pretty good job of keeping y'all up to date on Romer shenanigans. But for those of you who don't follow me...here is an update...via photos...

We have annual family tradition of dyeing Easter eggs...

Nick thinks it's ridiculous...but he admittedly ends up having fun!

I have been an Aggie my entire life. I went through a period of rebellion where I was "over it", but it wasn't until I left College Station to join the Marines when I really missed Texas A&M (for those who don't know...I grew up here). At 33 years old, I finally get to fulfill my dream of becoming an "official" Aggie! I ordered my Aggie ring this weekend! I couldn't have gotten to this point in my life without my family, and most importantly God. I hit a lot of rock bottoms to get to where I am today, and I am grateful for grace. This ring means more to me than I can even express!

Me and the love of my life!

Our sweet firstborn...

As "non traditional" students, Nick and I have really made an effort to open our home up to our fellow Aggies.

Many of them are far away from home, and eating out all the time.

I love cooking for them, and having them over to our home!

One of the midshipmen in the Corps of Cadets at A&M is from New York, and we've sorta adopted her!

We finally got to meet her parents this weekend who flew down to little old College Station from New York!

They were so sweet and so generous, and we were glad to have finally met them!

Our church holds an annual Easter Egg hunt for our community every year called "Egg the city".

 They had over 120,000 Easter eggs and over 10,000 people showed up!

One of the beautiful moms from Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach's teen mom outreach!

She's absolutely amazing, and starting college in the Fall!

A random pic of a sweet potato from our very own garden!

My parents came up from Houston this weekend with a cooler full of delicious Korean BBQ!

My kiddos LOVE when Papa and Gigi come to visit...especially cause they always bring gifts and money...lol.

Can y'all believe my beautiful mama is 57?! 

Me either!!!

As mentioned in yesterday's blog, our family participates in many secular Easter traditions....one of which is the Easter bunny!

My kids love leaving a trail of baby carrots outside leading to our front door so that the Easter Bunny comes to our house!

Dannika wanted to make sure exactly where the bunny needs to go!

We don't do candy for our kids, because they get enough of it at school and from friends for Easter.

I usually buy them a gift, and stuff their basket with healthy snacks and treats.

Mattis is starting preschool in the Fall, so I got him a back pack and lunch box from Pottery Barn just like his big sis. He was over the moon!

Dannika has been bugging me for a pair of Hunter rainboots for as long as I can remember. 

I have pair that I wear ALL the time, and Mattis just recently got a pair (we use them as play boots for him).

Dannika's size boots are pricey, and I told her I wasn't going to spend that much on boots for her.

She asked the Easter bunny for a pair, and the "Easter bunny" got them for her a size bigger than what she wears so she can wear them for a year.

She wore them all morning....win!

Our nannies get Easter baskets too!

Sparkling wine, chocolate, and a scented candle....what every college girl needs!

We can never get a good family photo...

Thanks to Mattis....

Future J. Crew model

 For my birthday, my neighbor Kayla took me out to this new little wine and coffee bar by our house called the Tipsy Bean!

Our sweet nanny, Rachel got her AGGIE RING last week too!!

Of course we had to be there!!

Our neighbor commissioned into the Navy as a chaplain and asked Nick to be his first salute!

It was such an honor!

We went to an Aggie baseball game...

 Nick hosted a 5K with A&M Semper Fi Society, and Clayton Gardner came to perform!

Dannika ran her first 5k, and came in at around 42 minutes!!!

So there's my life in a nutshell these days!

I hope to get to blog a little more, but who knows!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Resurrection Sunday

For our family (along with many other Christians around the world), Easter is a time to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's an amazing story of grace, love, and forgiveness. No other religion in the world has a Savior that died on a cross so that we may all be forgiven for our sins (with NO strings attached!). Believers of Jesus are the only people in the world who do not have to do "good works" to go to heaven. I think that is powerful. The fact that we are saved by pure grace. Honestly, if I had to do "good things" to balance out my life for all the "bad things" I have done, I'd never get into heaven. Praise Jesus that I don't have to! My track record is about a hundred miles long....
Our family also celebrates Easter with fun secular traditions as well. The Easter bunny is alive and well in our home, and will remain that way until my kids no longer believe in the Easter bunny (and even then, I may continue with the Easter bunny traditions). I get my kids Easter baskets and fill them with healthy goodies, and I excitedly wait until the next morning to hear their squeals of joy. We do Easter egg hunts, dye Easter eggs, and do all things Easter in our home. It makes my heart happy. We always make sure to incorporate the real meaning of Easter with our children though, and throughout the week explain the story to our kids. It's hard to explain to a seven year old and a three year old the magnitude of what Jesus did for us. I can only hope and pray that I have done the story justice to my kids.
Anyway, I hope y'all are having a great Easter Sunday, and enjoying it with your loved ones. I leave you with a powerful message that we heard at church today...

"Man to God spells DO. God to man spells DONE."

I'll let you dwell on that one for a while.

Because I'm a Texan, That's Why

Did you know the official state flower of Texas is the bluebonnet?! Well, now you know!

The bluebonnet is a seasonal wildflower that blooms in Texas for just a few weeks each Spring. Every Spring, you'll see people pulled over on the side of the highway (very dangerous) taking photos of their kids nestled in the beautiful bluebonnet patches that grow wild everywhere! I also should mention, people have literally been killed on the side of highways taking bluebonnet photos....seriously y'all...don't take bluebonnet photos next to 70MPG traffic....it's not a good idea! ANYWAY...bluebonnet photos are basically a Texas tradition. If you're a native Texan, and do not have photos of you as a child in a bluebonnet field, then you're Texan card is revoked!

In our little family, I am the ONLY true born and bred Texan. Nick is a southern boy from Alabama, but he is a Texan convert (thanks to yours truly). Dannika is my SoCal princess (born in Orange County, CA) and Mattis is my New England "masshole" (born in Newton, MA). But as a Texan, I demanded my kids take bluebonnet photos, and I am not ashamed to admit that I used Starbursts as bribery to get them to participate in this age old Texas tradition. I dusted off my ol' DSLR, and headed out to the George Bush Library to get some bluebonnet photos last week! Here is what I came up with...

Because no photo sesh is complete without an "Gig 'em" photo...

For an amateur photographer (me), I'd say they turned out ok!