Thursday, May 28, 2015

Brayden's 4yr Preschool Graduation

Can someone please tell me where the past 5 years went? Please?? My first born, my baby, graduated his 2nd year of preschool last week and the feeling is bittersweet.  I can tell he is changing, growing into a young boy and part of me is SO happy about that and the other part is SO sad he is no longer my little toddler boy who wants to hug and kiss me 100 times a day.



I plan on soaking every moment I have with him this summer before he's off to the big leagues... 

But back to his graduation.  For those who don't know, my Brayden has always been super sensitive, shy, and quiet when it comes to big doings, like all of the preschool ceremonies we've had to date. You can see the changes over time in his confidence starting with his very first Christmas concert back in 2013 here, here  and here.  The changes from the beginning to now are huge and I honestly could not be more proud of my boy!

Leading up to the graduation ceremony, Brayden kept telling me he was going to sing the songs with his class. I just said OK I can't wait! everytime he mentioned it knowing that there was a really good chance he would just lip sync like he did at the Christmas concert, but wouldn't you know, my boy totally surprised us!

There are actual words coming out of that mouth!!!




In between singing he would stop and blow me kisses, be still my heart!



I was definitely teary eyed the entire time but seeing him get his "cap" and diploma made me even more sappy - I can't say it enough, I am SO proud of my boy!




Hugs for sister!


Mrs. Konkos

Mrs. Andeen




Typical boy picture :)


Buddies!!


It was so cute, in the parking lot one of Brayden's friends ran up and said "group hug!!"



My BIG boy!



Cheers to another great year! Brayden learned so much this year and I'm excited for things to come

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

weekend recap - lots of family time edition

Happy Tuesday! That definitely sounds so much better than Happy Monday :)

We had such a great weekend filled with so much family time!

Friday started out with my sister and nephew coming over after Brayden's preschool graduation (tear) and we all headed to a new park I wanted to check out.  We packed a picnic and the weather was perfection.

The kids had an absolute blast and it was so fun to hang with my Mom and sis.







Later in the day, the hubs came home from work early to head out for a weekend of shenanigans for my future brother in law's bachelor party.  The kids and I sent him off and it was just the 4 of us for part of the weekend.

At night we went to my in laws to help assemble wedding invitations for my sister in laws wedding. While we worked on that, the kiddos all drove Grandpa crazy :)


Saturday morning, my MIL and sister in laws (and the kiddos) all headed up to Northwind Perennial Farm in WI.  It was fun to get out of the house and it was nice that we all hung out while our husbands were all together (although doing completely different things than looking at plants like us)





When we got home, my Mom came over and again, the weather was gorgeous so we spent the afternoon outside playing.  





I just love these 3 to pieces!!!





Sunday the hubs came home! Thank goodness because we sure did miss him! We headed to my aunts house for a BBQ and we got to enjoy half of it outside then the rain finally came and we moved the party inside. 


My sweet, sweet girl

The hubby was so tired coming off his weekend binge so we headed home so he could lay down and we all just relaxed.


Monday we had planned to just hang at home and try and get some things done.  The weather didn't know what it wanted to do, it would rain one minute, be nice the next, and this happened pretty much all day.  I took this handsome boy to the movies but first we had to stop and get some candy :)


We picked up some food to grill for dinner and Brayden asked to get smoke bombs - sure, why not? After dinner we went outside and did them. They laughed so hard every time the smoke would come out.



                             



The night ended with the Bachelorette and me falling asleep on the couch halfway through :) 

Friday, May 22, 2015

Friday Faves




Happy Friday! 

While some of you might have real plans, this about sums up my Friday night



Although I will be getting out of the house for a little tonight, I'm helping assemble wedding invitations for my SIL, but after that, it's all about the sweatpants and DVR

Time to jump into my Friday Favorites

{ONE} 
My favorite little boy, Brayden



He is graduating 4yr old preschool this morning and I couldn't be more proud! He has come such a LONG way this year and when I think back to the beginning of the year to now, I just can't help but be SO proud of him! He is so much more comfortable in social settings than every before, and his confidence has improved greatly.  I can't wait to see him to thrive even more in the future.


{TWO}
Disneyworld Recaps



In case you missed it, I recapped one my all time favorite vacations to Disney! You can read about it here, here and here


{THREE}
Little girl bathing suits

Shopping for my little girls has to be hands down one of my favorite things to do. Yes boy clothes can be fun too, but they just don't compare the little girls. I love little girl bathing suits. Last year Ella had 3 bathing suits which was 2 more than I had and completely unnecessary. But it's addicting I tell ya!

The kids already got new suits right before we went to Disney but I have my eye on some more...shhh don't tell the hubs

I'm liking these for Ella 

                                                  source                                                    source
                                   



And these for Miss A





{FOUR}
Carnival 5th Birthday

Now that my focus is away from Disney (insert sad face here) I can dive full speed into planning my little man's 5th birthday party! It's going to be carnival theme and oh so fun! You can check out my Carnival Party board on Pinterest here

But first I need help with deciding on the invites! I still love the personal touch of a paper invite sent by mail and I don't think that will ever change.  Which one of these do you like better??

Carnival Birthday Invitation
source

or

Carnival Invitation Circus Fair Elephant Monkey Games Big Top Modern Vintage Digital Printable DIY
source

I'm leaning towards the first one but still can't decide!


I'm ending this party early since I have to go and actually put real clothes and do my hair/makeup for preschool graduation.  Happy weekend friends!!


Linking up with:

Momfessionals

September Farm


Thursday, May 21, 2015

Disneyworld Recap - Days 5 & 6

Ahhh my Disney recap is coming to an end today, but don't worry, I'll be back with all of my tips and advice that I learned soon!

Day 5 was our Hollywood Studios day! I'll admit, when planning this day I thought it wouldn't be as much as fun as the other parks because there really is only 1 ride that our kids could go and the rest of the stuff you do here is all shows. But man was I wrong! These shows they put on were seriously incredible.  Everything is done top notch and not cheesy in any way. 

We started our day at HS by running walking briskly to meet Buzz & Woody.  I read that they are the one of the longest meet & greets and I knew we had to meet them in time before our 9:30am Little Mermaid show.  We got to Buzz & Woody within minutes and were the 4th in line, not bad :)

For some reason, Brayden was actually nervous to meet them! He had been really chill about meeting all of the other "boy" characters (only getting really nervous with the princesses) but with these guys he was hesitant.  I don't think he could believe he was actually meeting them, like he was star struck a little.  These guys are his favorite. I walked up with him at first.





Ella was terrified of them and I think Avery managed to hold it together this time :)



We then saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show and it was so good.  I literally got chills during it because it was just awesome to be in Disney, watching this amazing show they put on and seeing it all through the kids' eyes as I mentioned, it was just priceless.

We went off my original plan this day and headed to see Muppets 4D at the hubs request and I'm so glad we did! Originally I hadn't planned for us to see that show but it was really fun.




There weren't as many photo opps here as the other parks but we still took advantage when we saw them

   

We went as saw the Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage show and Ella was having another one of her epic meltdowns, poor girl was overtired I'm sure, and overstimulated




Again, another show that did not disappoint.  Brayden was absolutely immersed in this show and Ella was all about it until half way through when she decided she'd rather take a little nap




Meeting Phineas and Ferb was pretty cool for this guy


Same with Mike & Sully!







We had lunch at a really nice Italian restaurant but I started not feeling well at all during it. Like I was having constant motion sickness and was so dizzy.  I started noticing any time I would sit still it would happen but if I was out and about I didn't notice.  I later realized it was vertigo and it continued to haunt me for a week after we got home.  No fun at all.

After lunch we headed back to our resort for pool time! The kids so needed this break to recharge and have fun in the water.  It really worked out perfectly where I fed Avery then we walked down to the pool and she fell asleep so parked her where we could see her and she slept the entire time we swam. It was nice to give Brayden & Ella undivided attention without worrying about Avery.  There was a huge 50ft water slide at the hotel and Brayden went down it multiple times, each time I was still impressed with him.

There was also a mini slide and the kids loved going down that one as well


This girl was so cute, everytime we walked past a window she would stop and say in the cutest voice "I see animals!!"







After much needed pool time we got ready and went back to HS. We had a FP+ for the Frozen sing along and were planning to stay for the Fantasmic show.

The Frozen sing along was hilarious.  There really wasn't much of Elsa & Anna but it had 2 narrators that were so dang funny

Ella was all smiles during the show

We met Mater & Lighting McQueen after the Frozen show, the kids loved them

 



 We headed to the seats for the Fantasmic show but quickly realized the kids were not going to make it through it. Everyone was getting cranky so we called it a night.  I was bummed because I really wanted to see this show, probably the most out of all of the nighttime fireworks but oh well, we have something to look forward to next time!

The next day was the day we were leaving, but we had an afternoon flight so we slept in (well kind of, can you really ever sleep in with a baby or small children?) and then made a yummy breakfast in our room.  We got all packed and hung around the hotel until it was time for the Magical Express to pick us up

His face pretty much summed up how we all felt about leaving :(




And that's a wrap! We had the absolutle BEST time in Disney and I'm already thinking about our next trip (which probably won't be for 2 years, but still) 


 
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