Tuesday, April 28, 2015

little traces

There are always little traces around my house that will show you kids live here....



Like how Brayden puts a rubber band around the bathroom vanity handles to "keep the bad guys out"




Or when I ask Ella to put her shoes by the front door, she literally puts them right at the door




Or how Brayden circles each day on the calendar in the morning, and then at night he draws a line through it.





Or when we get home from anywhere, Ella takes off her shoes and coat and leaves them smack dap right in the middle of the kitchen floor



While some of these drive me crazy at times, I've learned to love these little traces my kids leave around here. Besides I know very well there will be a day when they are gone and these traces will only be memories and I will wish my cabinet doors were closed together with a rubber band to keep the bad guys away:)

Monday, April 27, 2015

weekend recap - lots of bad {good} food edition

Happy Monday! (wait, is there even really such a thing?)

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.  We sure did.  Friday started out with some playdate fun at the local park district that has the carousel inside plus a jungle gym area.  The kids had a freaking blast... except towards the end when Brayden came up to me and told me his one friend no longer liked him anymore because he was playing with other classmates.  I reassured him they were still friends and by the end of the playdate all was well in preschool friend land, but jeez that broke this Mama's heart for a second! That is the first time he has ever said someone didn't like him and was super sad about it.  I can't believe this stuff starts this early, I am so not ready for all of this!



             


Later at night we went to dinner with my Mom at a local diner type place and we ate greasy cheeseburgers and fries and milkshakes. It was delish!

Brayden loves getting a brain freeze :)



Saturday it was pouring rain all day so we hung around inside and did a whole lot of nothing.  Later in the day I met up with my sister for drinks and girl chat, it was nice to get out for a little!


For dinner I made one of my all time favorite recipes - chicken and cheese taquitos by Baked Bree. If you have not seen her site, check it out now! There are so many delicious recipes

chicken and cheese taquito recipe



Sunday was family day - we spent the morning playing outside since it was gorgeous out!

Brayden insisted his sister push him on the swing :)




Then we headed to lunch at a train restaurant where it is physically located right by a train and also your food comes out to you on a little train.  The kids were so excited!



      

Again, I ate a greasy cheesburger, fries, and a chocolate milk shake (and I didn't feel bad about it one bit!)

Me and my girl!


The boys :)

Attempt at a girls shot, this was the best one out of 10 :)


They had this little pony you could ride so of course Ella was all about that and the hubs gave Brayden quarters to buy several bounce balls out of a machine.


The area where the restaurant was was so pretty so I wanted a group pic of me and the kids but yeah, that didn't go over so well.  It's ok, I still cherish these pictures even though no one is looking or smiling!



We then did a little shopping and walking around and later at night went over by my in laws for dinner which was a cheesy beef and fries. I only ate half of the beef because I had to use some self control this weekend :) 

Now it's back to working out and eating right (oh how fun) :) Hope it's a great start to the week for everyone!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Brayden the VIP

Monday was the start of my little guy being VIP at preschool.  The VIP is the person who gets to basically go first in everything they do.  We also had a workbook we had to complete prior to Monday.  It was an all about me book where you wrote things you like and don't like, 3 wishes and what you wanted to be when you got older.  These were Brayden's answers:

3 wishes:

1. I wish I was a superhero
2. I wish my Daddy could stay home everyday
3. I wish I could have a sucker everyday


Things he likes:

Building blocks
Riding his bike
Cookies
Going to the beach
Reading
Doggies
Carrots

Things he doesn't like:

Spiders
Blueberries
Cats (LOL)





Brayden was SO excited to be the VIP and he was even more excited I was there to share in his special day.  He must have told me 30 times how happy he was that I was there and he kept thanking me for coming.  My boy can be so so sweet!


The kids had to bring in handmade boats out of foil that had to float while holding at least 10 pennies. Brayden predicted his boat could hold 22 pennies before sinking...



It ended up holding 113 pennies! After about 40, he asked, "how much longer are we going to do this?" LOL




Next we sat down to draw and Brayden wrote me my love note of the day.  He writes me one every time he is at school.  Told you he was sweet!


Then he told me I needed to work on my T homework....so i did just that :)


Silly boys!


I had such an awesome time spending the day with my little guy.  I am so lucky I get to do stuff like this because for me, this means so much.  I love watching Brayden interact with his friends and also love watching him be a good listener to his teachers (mostly). Everytime I come to class to help, I always get teary eyed that my boy is getting so big! He is becoming such a well rounded young boy and to see that in the classroom really makes me proud!  

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

getting ready for Disney!

We are getting so close to our most magical vacation to date... Disneyworld here we come! We have been talking non stop everything Disney and doing some fun things to get ready.

We made chain link countdowns, one for Brayden and one for Ella (sorry Avery) Ella's is Minnie themed and Brayden's is Mickeys.

These two get SO excited every morning to rip off the next chain.  Brayden tells everyone he sees about his chain and how "when we pull off the last chain, that is the day we're going to DISNEYWORLD!!"



Our magic bands came the other day in the mail and the kids wear theirs everyday (only for a few minutes though, I don't want them to get lost)




I picked up these pajamas for the kids the other day while at the Disney store. I'm going to surprise them while we're there 


Snow White Nightshirt for Girls

Disney Princess Stretchie Sleeper for BabyMickey Mouse PJ PALS Short Set for Boys



We got our Minnie & Mickey ears in the mail the other day and the kids can't stop wearing them! (not gonna lie, I can't either) I decided to order from Etsy in advance to avoid paying $18+ at the park.  That being said, they are not the best quality if I'm being totally honest and the seller didn't do that good of a job attaching the ears, and one Mickey pair actually came completely crooked and way too close together.  I sent messages and finally was told a new pair should be on its way...we shall see... 






I did manage to find a pair of Mickey ears that Brayden wore at his 1st birthday party, so we have a backup just in case (those are the ones he's wearing in the pic below :) )




I finally finished making all of the shirts! One of the days we are having breakfast at Chef Mickeys and then heading to Magic Kingdom and we will all be in matching t-shirts (yes, even the hubby agreed!)  

I ordered the iron on appliques from an awesome shop on Etsy - if you need any Disney appliques, seriously check her shop out. Such adorable stuff at such a reasonable price! 



Then I made shirts for just the kids for the day we're at Animal Kingdom. The rest of their outfits are already picked out and consist of princess related shirts/skirts/dresses and Mickey/Monsters Inc/Toy Story t shirts.  (I am that crazy person that wants my kids in Disney related outfits every single day.)



We're also watching a Disney movie every night up until we leave.  I want the kids to have all of the price/princesses fresh in their minds when we get there :)


And lastly what we'll be doing to get ready for our trip is watching the Full House Disneyworld episodes! I told my Mom how I wanted the kids to see them before we left and how you can't watch them online unless you pay (which I planned to do) so what does she do? Searches for when the episodes will be on and now my DVR is set! Thanks Mom! They are on just in time before our trip and I'm sure we will watch on repeat every night at my the kids request :)

                    


We are getting so excited over here and pretty much all we talk about is Disney (and I love it) Now I just need to focus on the important stuff, like packing and making sure we have everything we need :)

Monday, April 20, 2015

weekend recap

Happy Monday friends! We had a good weekend full of family fun with some relaxing time in there

Friday started with taking this handsome little man to school



After picking Brayden up from school we had a playdate at the school park with some friends and the kids had a blast!


My little diva :)

Miss Avery was enjoying cheerios while soaking in the fresh air


The boys had so much fun running around and burning off endless amounts of energy :)




Saturday Brayden had a birthday party at the pool where he has swim lessons.  

These guys are such good little buddies :)



Saturday night the hubby went and helped move some furniture from my Grandmas house to my moms and the older kiddos and I laid in my bed and watched some Little Mermaid. I love snuggle time so so much!


Sunday we did some morning errands then had some down time to relax a little.  The kids were so happy when I let them eat cereal for lunch :)



Sunday night we had ice cream and watched Home Alone (Brayden's pic) and the kids were instantly hyper :)


The hubby shared a little of his with Miss A and she was screaming for more!


We managed to get the kids to bed on time then the hubby and I hung out and watched some DVR'd dateline episodes then fell asleep on the couch.

This week Brayden is the VIP at school and I get to go volunteer one day. I can't wait to go hang with my little man and see him get the special treatment :)  I hope everyone has a great Monday!



 
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