Weekend Recap: Birthday Edition

It was such a FUN weekend as we continued to celebrate Hudson with our family! The older I get the more I appreciate our close family and how much it has grown as we (siblings) all have gotten married and had kiddos together. 

On Friday, I was busy making Hudson's cake and Andrew was busy putting together Hudson's big birthday present. We had gotten him a big Star Wars figurine set for his birthday Wednesday as something to open but his BIG present was a trampoline. We couldn't wait for him to see it.

A nod to Star Wars Episode III when Anakin and Obi-Wan are fighting. We added dry ice under the top character to make it "smoke" since the cake was supposed to be the burning planet. 

That afternoon after Hudson got home, Andrew's best friend from high school stopped by and hung out for awhile. I made dinner and went to drop off some items that I had sold from our closet clean out and donated the rest. 

I made this chilli. I was nervous about not having any beans but the flavor was yummy and all the veggies gave it the heartiness I love about chilli. 

After dinner and baths, the boys and I were settling in for the night to play and hang out. Andrew has been itching to be outside so he invited our good friends down for a fire. Mind you, it was super windy and cold on Friday but these guys are all hunters so they layered up and didn't even care. Our friend, Matt, and his wife just had a baby a month and a half ago. His wife, Kim, was out with a friend so I got to spend some snuggle time with sweet Caroline and my boys while the dads were outside. A little later, some other good neighbor friends stopped by. My friend, Jenny, and two of her kiddos came in to play while her hubby joined the other dads, And Kim showed up too. 

I seriously love that we have such great friends that live just down the street. After they all left, I got the boys settled down for bed and since Andrew and Matt were still outside, I totally relished the me time and took a nice, hot shower and read before bed. 

Saturday morning was pretty lazy. We had a family breakfast and hung out. The boys played. I did some laundry. We picked up the house after lunch while the boys jumped on the trampoline for awhile. They didn't last too long since it was another windy, chilly day. 

Hudson's face cracks me up. 

Three little ducklings all in a row. 

Hudson's party was at two and all our family got to come. It was super simple. Playing with his cousins, presents, cake and ice cream, more play. Their giggles and squeals are the very best. 

Hudson wanted to wear his Jedi costume for the party because, "it is all Star Wars, Mom."

Sweet cousins.

I love this sweet face! 

Saturday evening after everyone left we picked up, had dinner and relaxed a little bit before bed. Our kids were so tired with all the fun and no nap. Gabe fell asleep within 2 minutes after putting him to bed. #sosweet 

Andrew and I vegged out and watched Girl on the Train. I loved that book so much. I liked the movie enough but will always love books more than the movie version. {Except for the Notebook. That movie was magic!}

Sunday we slept in a bit. Andrew had to drive to Oklahoma Sunday since he had an early meeting today. I serve in First Kids at our church every other Sunday during late service. So we spent the morning together before leaving for the day. 

After church, the boys and I took my mom to lunch after church. Her birthday is today so we wanted to spend some time to celebrate her. My boys seriously adore their Gammy. 

After lunch we went to Target. The boys needed to pick out their Valentine's for school and Beau wanted to look for a toy. He even had brought his own money. We didn't find it so it looks like Beau will be learning about the magic of Amazon later today. Ha! 

When we got home it was way past nap time and the day was beautiful so we changed and went out to play. We jumped and jumped and jumped. The boys thought their mama was pretty cool showing them some jumps and teaching them "crack the egg". 

We also went for a bike ride/walk to stretch our legs and soak up the sun. 

When we got home Hudson's friend from school and his dad pulled into our driveway. They had seen us walking and were gassing up their Polaris and Jordan suggested asking Hud to go for a ride. Well, of course the little boys didn't want to be left out. So the three boys took off with Jordan and his dad for a quick ride. They were too cool for school! 

We had a low key night after dinner and an early bed time since they were wiped after a busy weekend. 

We are definitely ready for Daddy to get home this week. 

Weekend Recap {1-30-17}

The weekend just went way to fast! It was a pretty uneventful weekend but as I wrote out our February family calendar and looked ahead to March, I will take these quiet weekends as they come!

{F R I D A Y}
Friday afternoon Andrew and I took Beau and Gabe with us to get fingerprinted and our applications all turned in for our foster to adopt process. It was quick and painless as expected but so exciting as the fingerprinting and background check are what typically takes so long to get processed. Physicals are getting turned in this week and then we can move onto more meetings and our classes.

After a week of travel and busyness, I was so excited to have a date night. Both Andrew and I's moms helped us this week while I went to do some work and Andrew was out of town so for Friday we hired the boys' favorite sitter. She is a senior in our community and just a sweetheart. We appreciate her so much. Finding a sitter who loves your kiddos and your kiddos love is one of life's little gifts, am I right?

Scarf Similar Leather Jacket

Andrew and I got to go to dinner and enjoy conversation completely un-rushed and uninterrupted. Then we went to see Hidden Figures. Y'all, it was SO SO good!! I highly recommend going to see it. And honestly, we will most likely rent it and let our boys watch it, it was such a clean, appropriate movie. And Hudson is also all kinds of interested in space.

{S A T U R D A Y}

Andrew spoiled me completely and let me sleep in until almost 8 o' clock! It was heaven. I got up and went downstairs and the boys were all drawing and coloring (apparently, they drew pictures all night with our sitter..we had tons of sweet "presents" from them when we got home). Andrew picked up donuts for the boys and then they just continued playing ALL morning. Not a fight or squabble. I changed sheets, picked the house up and just was lazy. I did not get out of my pjs until I realized it was time for me to go to my hair appointment, aka the best day of the month!!! 

I ran to the store to pick up a few things and then came home and played with the boys while Andrew went fishing. I sent Hudson to take a shower (who was still in his pjs!) while I fixed dinner because Hudson and I had a date at our community club's Mother/Son Event. It was Luau themed and so so cute. Lots of games and snacks and sweet time with my biggest boy. I just love him to bits! Five has been my favorite year of is! 

Everyone still in their jammies at three in the afternoon. 

Lots of the games had you competing against your kiddo. Seriously so cute and fun! 

Building a "sand" castle

One of the games/events was hula hoops. This kid was a STUD. Seriously!!! I was so impressed! 

{S U N D A Y}

We went to church, had lunch with my mom and chilled all day in between loads of laundry. It's not even impressive enough to blog about. Just another day together. 

This week we have a special boy's birthday so I am sure that will be the highlight of our week! 

Weekend Recap

Another weekend has come and gone! We had a really uneventful weekend for the most part. Nothing on the agenda which was nice because the weather was BEAUTIFUL so we got to enjoy it!

Saturday morning I totally slept in. I didn't here our boys get up. Typically Gabe will come into our room and wake us up or get in bed with us a few minutes before we start our day. He must have gone to Andrew's side and they got up together. When I got up, the crew was eating chocolate chips pancakes Andrew had made and it was 8 o'clock!!! I made myself some breakfast and then we packed up the car to head to a local conservation area to enjoy the day.

Hudson rode his bike and Beau and Gabe switched between riding in the stroller and running. We walked around 4 miles. We saw so many people out and about and it could be my imagination because I was in such a good mood, but people were just the friendliest!!

We got home and had lunch and the boys were worn out! They all went down for a nap and while they slept I got a little work done, Andrew ran a quick errand and then I made a quick trip to the nail salon. When I got home, Hud and Beau were awake and out playing. They were riding bikes and roller skating in our cul-de-sac. As Andrew and I were out watching them, some other boys from the neighborhood (a few streets over) came by and Hudson recognized them from the bus. They all went to the back and played on our swing set. I got a little emotional because I realized that simple act is just another reminder that Hudson is getting bigger, learning new things and getting so independent.

Later, our sweet neighbors and their littles came out later too. They have two kids right around the same age as ours so I can not wait for warm weather and slower schedules of no school!

Saturday night I went to a friend's house. She lives two streets over in our neighborhood.

{Random side story-- When I taught first grade, I taught with three other teachers. Three of the four of us all live within the same subdivision now. Another of my best friends from teacher lives just across the main street (walking distance). And Lacy's, whose house I went to Saturday, husband I grew up together. I prayed for adult meaningful friendships our first year of marriage and talk about God blessing us abundantly!!!}

She was having a sign party. Our friend Emily creates these awesome wood signs and in the last year started hosting private classes for you to create your own. I have done two others and they are so much fun and just a great girl's night! Plus you leave with some new decor for your house!

This was a custom piece I had her do for me last fall. You can check out more of her work here. <3 Parenthood!

Sunday was a busy morning of double church. Both Andrew and I had to serve in the kid's area so we all went to big church and then the boys went to their classes while Andrew and I served. They were so good being at church all morning so we rewarded them with Mexican for lunch. (Ok---maybe that was a little bit for us, too!)

Then it was football watching, nerf gun wars, some reading and getting ready for another busy week.

We may not have done much this weekend but it was a pretty great one. It's back to cold weather today but I am now more than ready for spring and summer!!!

Long Weekends Are My Favorite

I was one of those moms absolutely not ready to send the boys back to school when the end of Christmas break happened. I loved our break. I love having them all home all day. I love the relaxed days, no real set schedule and just being able to hug on them anytime I want.

Which is why I made sure I was well aware of all the long weekends that were coming up that we could all look forward to until Summer break. We were all pretty happy to see that school would only be in session for one full week before having our first three day weekend of 2017.

Friday after Hudson got home from school we loaded up for haircuts. Andrew had been meaning to take the big boys for awhile and something always came up. I was going to just take them but he insisted. Well, by Friday, it HAD to happen. And after a busy week we all loaded up for the outing. While Beau was getting his haircut, Andrew and Hudson decided that leftover chicken taco soup wasn't going to cut it for dinner and suggested picking up a movie and eating out. I was going to protest but since their plan still left me out of cooking up something on Friday night, I gladly went along.

We took the boys to barbeque and picked up Storks to watch together. While the kiddos took a bath before movies, I whipped up some Rice Krispie Treats and Oreo balls per the kiddos request earlier this week. (We were SUPPOSED to get a terrible ice storm all weekend and so I had asked for some snacks/treats they'd like to have if we were going to be stuck all weekend. The storm never happened here, thankfully!)

There is nothing better than being all snuggled up watching a movie together with your freshly bathed littles. And the movie was pretty cute too!

Saturday morning the boys requested pancakes before running errands. Andrew had some returns to make from our entryway project and I needed to exchange a Christmas gift for Gabe.

After our errands we headed to Grandma Jo's.

Andrew and I are both pretty blessed to have our grandparents still healthy and close by. On mornings when I need to volunteer at the boys' schools or have something come up, they are my go-to sitters and my boys LOVE it! Andrew and I both have some amazing memories with our great grandparents and love that our boys are creating memories with theirs.

Grandma Jo is Andrew's grandma and she is simply a gem. She and Andrew's grandpa are just the sweetest and going over there is always so nice. She is a hostess through and through and she loves through acts of service--mainly cooking and sewing. She has sewed up lovies for my boys and nieces more times than I can count. Her desserts are divine. And I feel like she has a wealth of knowledge that I just try to chip away at because, I am not even close to her domestication level!!

Andrew had some fish he wanted fried up and Grandma Jo is always happy to do that for us. Andrew's parents joined in and we spent a big chunk of our day around Don and Jo's kitchen table, our boys being doted on and spoiled and our bellies being filled! Definitely a reminder to slow down and enjoy the simple times.

We went to church Saturday evening since we could and after putting the boys to bed Andrew and I had our first date night of 2017. One of our goals this year was to be more intentional with our time together. When we first started talking about adopting, one of the reservations Andrew had was that having four littles would make making time for our marriage more difficult. One thing I believe strongly in is that my marriage comes first, before our children. That can never suffer just because we are in the throes of child-rearing. That being said, getting OUT of the house often can be hard to juggle and can get expensive. (We love our sitters and want them to keep coming back so we pay them WELL! At least, I hope they think we do! Ha!!)

We decided to have two official date nights a month. One date IN and one date OUT of the house. We took time to plan them, what we do, and even set the dates on the calendar for the first three months. (I'll be sharing more of our date ideas soon!)

Saturday our planned date was homemade margaritas and doing a puzzle. It may seem lame but it was seriously one of the best nights we've had in awhile. Our margs were SUPERB and the quiet activity of the puzzle let us relax and talk and just "be" together.

I seriously recommend this date night AND this recipe for margaritas. (The original version can be found on the Pioneer Woman blog. I tweaked this version for our needs...halved and a little less tequila)

Homemade Margaritas
6-7 fresh limes squeezed (should make about 7 ounces of juice)
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of silver 100% Agave tequila
6 ounces of Cointreau
Simple Syrup
Lime Wedges
Rim Salt
Ice

Juice your limes. Mix your juice, water, tequila and cointreau into a pitcher.
Using a lime wedge, "wet" the rim of your glass and dip it into the rim salt. This step makes it. Pour your mixture into your glass over ice. Add a little simple syrup to sweeten it up a bit (not much is needed) and give it a stir. And for an extra little kick, go ahead and squeeze a lime wedge into the glass.

On Sunday we got to have an awesome lazy day since we did Saturday night church. We slept in, had a yummy breakfast, Andrew and I both got a run in and some errands done plus our food prep for the week! And the boys got to stay in the jammies and play all day. It was glorious!!

After the boys woke up from nap, we changed them into real clothes and loaded them up for some family fun. Just a short drive away is a pizza place and bowling alley that our kids love. It was so much fun watching them play the game and just having a ball.

On Monday we didn't get to sleep in too much. Gabe has speech therapy on Monday's in the morning. His SLP is wonderful and we just love her to bits! After his session we loaded up and headed to my parent's house to meet my nephews. On Andrew's side, we have two nieces and a nephew. On my side, we have 4 nephews (and another niece or nephew on the way). Needless to say, there is always a lot of activity when we get together. The boys (all under the age of 5) definitely wore each other out playing! We headed home for late naps before I had a meeting with a client.

Today was back to business as usual. Until the next long weekend!

Our Weekend Through Monday

Well-- yesterday was a bit of a doozey as far as Monday's go and I just did NOT get around to catching up about our weekend {which was pretty fabulous as far as weekends go}. So here is a little rewind of our weekend plus a day!

{F R I D A Y}
Friday when Hudson got off the bus it just felt like the weekend was finally here! It has been so awesome to watch Hudson adapt to kindergarten, hear about his day and just watch him grow even more into who he is.

The weather was beautiful so we tossed his school things inside and played in the backyard for a bit. I also took some time in between playing to work on the boys' activity binders for the plane. I made one for Hudson and one for Beau. In them I put some busy bag activities, some color sheets, blank construction paper, stickers, mini post its and some worksheets from workbooks (my boys LOVE workbook pages...no idea why but I won't fight it!)

I thought we could do patterns with the stickers on the mini construction paper. They could draw with their crayons, write words, etc on the other blank paper. The mini post its are different colors to play a game of tic-tac-toe on the drop down trays. Just simple things to keep them busy. Gabe can also draw and use the stickers. He has packed some books, miniature animals and Disney characters to play with too!

My in-laws also gifted each boy with an mini activity book that works with a water pen. Hopefully they will have enough to keep them busy! If not, there is always the last resort of the iPad but I'm hoping that we don't have to use that until maybe the plane ride home! ;)

We grabbed some dinner after playing outside at a Mexican restaurant (our boys LOVE Mexican). We had some family snuggle time before bed and wrapped up our night. 

{S A T U R D A Y}

Saturday was Hudson's last soccer game of the outdoor season. Neither Andrew or I played soccer before so we really had no idea what we were getting into but we have grown to LOVE watching our boys play soccer. This has been Hudson's third season. He has played with the same friends each season and it is the most fun! They have gotten better each year and are learning so many skills, the importance of sportsmanship and teamwork. 

He ended the season on a high note scoring two goals! So proud of his hustle!!

We came home after the game and started working together to get a few things done around the house. Then I began the task of packing five people for Disney! Honestly, packing hasn't ever been too overwhelming for me. I can pull everything out but my problem is trying not to overpack. If it's just me, not a problem. But it's so long and I don't want anyone to need anything! 

We are checking one bag and have two carry on suitcases. The boys have a backpack with their snacks and activities and we have a diaper bag/backpack that we'll use in the parks as well. 

The boys took a nap while I finished laundry up and then the we loaded up to head to my grandma's for a cookout. 

We played soccer with the boys and my nephews, cooked hot dogs and s'mores. It was such a beautiful, cool evening. I love being close to family. 

{S U N D A Y}

I woke up early on Sunday to have some time to myself. I made monkey bread for the family and my own sweet breakfast for me. 

Our sermon was a new series on peace and oh man was it so good!! I am really excited to hear more. The biggest takeaway: "Peace redefined is not a temporary mental state, but a permanent state of reality." 

I stayed during our second service in one of our kids' rooms. I just love seeing them engage in the lessons, worship time and hearing about their weeks. 

After church I met Andrew and the boys who were at my in-laws. We stayed for lunch and played. My boys are seriously blessed with all the people who love them being so close. I went to the store to get a few things for the trip and Andrew took the boys home. When I got home, Hudson and Beau were playing and Gabe was asleep. Andrew said he walked into the house, grabbed his fox (his lovie) and went to his room and got in bed! Ha! 

Little man was TIRED!!

Sunday night is always our night to get ready for the week. So we played with the boys some and had dinner, read and put them to bed. They were pretty worn out from the weekend and we definitely need them rested before our big trip. 

Andrew and I caught up on some work, did a little more prep for the trip and went to bed. 

{M O N D A Y}

Monday was like most Mondays. Our mornings are pretty full. I made the boys breakfast, got them ready and Hudson on the bus. As he gets on the bus, Gabe's SP arrives. We love her dearly and she works with Gabe for about an hour. As she leaves, I get Beau and Gabe loaded up so we can take Beau to preschool. 

This week is Beau's week at preschool to share All About Me. I was carrying Gabe (who was being crabby) and Beau's poster into school and Beau was happy go-lucky as typical just chatting away. We both tried to walk through the door at the same time and I bumped him with my wide arm load. His head hit the door frame. Bless his heart! 

Whenever my kiddos hit their heads I hold them close and just rub the spot that got hit, except this time, I pulled my hand away to look at him and see you're ok and there was blood. Like a LOT. 

Fortunately, lots of other mamas were dropping off and helped me get me what I needed to clean Beau up (who was so calm and sweet) and see what the situation was. Thankfully it was just a small little nick. No need for stitches or anything other than a little TLC. He didn't want to stay the day. He had a good sized bump and seemed a little shaken up (we've never had blood like that before in our house) so he went home to rest up. 

See--crazy Monday!! 

Thankfully today was a calmer and we are all set for our trip!! 

Weekend Recap

It was one of those rare weekends around here where we didn't actually have any set plans.  And, as I started looking over the next few weeks and into April, we really don't have a free weekend for awhile. 

{F R I D A Y}

On Friday, it was a little chilly and windy so, to beat the weather, we had my friend and her daughter come over to play after lunch. My boys. Oh, my sweet boys. I know they are young and maybe it was because there was only one friend and maybe it is the difference between boys and girls but goodness, my kids need a lesson on play dates! Not really, but that afternoon Hudson and Beau sure were tired and seemed a little over-emotional. Definitely had a good little talk about how we host our friends and let them choose what to play. Ha!

Friday night we ate in. I made some delicious lasagna.  Confession: I have NEVER made homemade lasagna. I know! Crazy! I made lasagna roll-ups (once) and it was SUCH. A. PROCESS!! But this recipe was so simple. Like 20 minutes to prep and then throw it all in the oven. I added egg, Italian seasoning, salt, and some parmesan cheese to the ricotta cheese mix. And to the pasta meat sauce, I added minced garlic and chopped onions and peppers. And, we served it with some garlic bread from the best little pasta place in town. My whole family ate it up!!

via

We played with the boys and introduced them to some Planet Earth which they DUG! Then after we put the boys to bed, Andrew and I indulged in a little Parenthood. I'm a bit obsessed and only slightly want to change my last name to Braverman. ;) 

{S A T U R D A Y}

Saturday we ALL slept in. It was so so nice!! I made the boys cinnamon rolls and myself a little shake before getting in a quick workout while Andrew went on a run. 

Did a total body circuit and Insanity Max 10 Minute Abs.

Since it was chilly again, I didn't want to spend all day at the house with not much to do. We decided to take a little day trip to Springfield to do a little shopping and grab lunch. I needed to run to Kohls. We went to some stores and looked at flooring. (I am so ready to start the remodel process!!) Then we grabbed lunch. 

This cutie cat napped on the way. Those hands behind his head?!!! Swoon!

With the boys being over-emotional Friday, I have to brag about how great they were at lunch. At lunch, we were seated and placed our order quickly. Forty minutes later, our waitress came to tell us the kitchen had lost our ticket so they were making our food. The boys waited a little over an hour and sat so good, never really complaining. 

After lunch we made one last stop. Hudson is all signed up for t-ball so we needed to get him a bag and glove. And of course, we needed to check all the hunting, fishing, camping, outdoorsy stuff before leaving! ;) 

The boys were wiped from the day. We had a late dinner and after baths, the boys went to bed. 

{S U N D A Y}

We woke up to SNOW this morning! I could not believe it! Only in the Midwest can it be snowing on the first day of spring! By the time we left for church, the sun was shining and it was already starting to melt. PTL!!! Bring on spring! 

The littles at church today got to come in and lead us all in a song for Palm Sunday. I started working in the preschool area recently and have loved seeing how the truths of God's word and his love are being taught each week to our kids. 

I stayed to help during second service while Andrew and the boys went to his parents to play. After lunch and playing the boys went down for a late nap. 

This weekend was simple, fun and flew by! This week will be packed full as we head into the Easter weekend: play dates, Easter toes, preschool party and a date night. 

Hope you all had a great weekend!