Thursday, June 30, 2016

Brayden's Big Week

Brayden has been hitting some big milestones/personal goals this past week and I couldn't let it go by without documenting it!



First, he was MVP of his baseball game again the other week!! Seriously guys, I am one of those crazy baseball Moms and I am for sure his biggest cheerleader so this just makes me so so proud! And even better was how proud he was of himself! I love seeing that in my kids! It shows that hard work really does pay off, and boy has he been putting in the work and practicing to get better. For a boy who hasn't had drive or determination for anything yet, this is so good to see!



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Another big moment was when he moved up to the next level in swim class! He goes to a semi private swim school and that's because we really want him to learn how to swim.  He has always had fear of water, or more so water just touching his face, therefore he would NEVER go underwater, which led to months and months, and years of failed swim lessons.  When we started back at this school earlier this year, I could tell this would be his time.  He was doing exactly what the instructor asked him to do and he was progressing more than I had ever seen.  He has moved up now 2 classes in less than 3 months and that is a HUGE improvement for him.

the swim school gives you a ribbon for completing each level



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Brayden has finally mastered the monkey bars!! If you know my son, you know he does things at his own (kind of slow) pace and only when he is ready.  You cannot push him to do things.  We have been trying to get him to master the monkey bars for a couple of years now and up until now he has only been able to do 3-4 bars.  But now, he has it down! We are SO proud of him for not giving up!





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To top off Brayden's great week, he lost his very first tooth last Friday night!! It had been loose for a couple of weeks but not really loose.  He kept playing with it and finally last Wednesday he said it was really loose, and it was! You could tell he wanted it out so he kept trying himself and he even let Rick try and grab it out (which I was shocked he was letting him do that!) Well come Friday, it still hadn't fallen out even with all the pinching and even biting into an apple so when my in laws were over for dinner, my MIL just said let me see it and reached her hand in and grabbed it right out! He was totally OK with it too! He was so happy when it was finally out!



He kept talking about the tooth fairy and then him and Ella started asking all kinds of questions, how big is she? how does she get in? what will she bring? do they have to be asleep for her to come? It was so cute but I should have been a little more prepared LOL


I was prepared however, for what to do with his tooth! I purchased a super cute tooth pillow and tiny envelopes from Etsy.  Before he went to bed, we placed his tooth pillow on his bed and once he was asleep the tooth fairy wrote a little letter along with a 5 dollar bill and a 1 dollar gold coin.  The next morning he was up bright and early and came in our room to wake me up to show me. He had the biggest smile ever on! The thing he loved the most was the tiny letter (I knew he would)  It's the little things people :)




My little boy continues to amaze me - I am SO lucky to be his Mama.  I couldn't love him more if I tried.



*linking up with Annie for Thoughts for Thursday

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

What's Up Wednesday {6.29.16}

Happy Hump Day, Friends! Today, I'm linking up with Shay & Mel  for What's Up Wednesday!





What we're eating this week...

Aside from our normal routine meals, this week I made these cheeseburger wraps, although I didn't grill them, they were still super yummy!!


You searched for grilled cheeseburger wraps - Life In The Lofthouse:
via



What I'm reminiscing about...


Well, with my first born having his 6th birthday (I swear we just celebrated his 5th!!)  in just a couple of weeks, I'm thinking alot about when I first became a Mom. 

love at first sight....even if I was drugged out of my mind, LOL
soooo happy! I remember this feeling like it was yesterday


What I'm loving....


These shoes from Target.  Seriously, I wear them all of the time! I thought I wasn't going to love them, but I do! They are really comfy too.

via



What we've been up to....

Lots of being outside!! Swimming, splash padding, and parking mixed with lots of baseball :)









Also found time to make a fun craft.




What I'm dreading....

Nothing really, that's a good thing, right?!


What I'm working on.....

Getting ready for Brayden's 6th birthday parties...it's a superhero theme at our house with a kids party from 1-3 and family party starting at 4...it's going to be a fun filled day!


What I'm excited about....

4th of July, my boys birthday, the hubby's birthday...July is going to be a great month!


What I'm watching/reading.....

Reading The Castaways but haven't had time to pick it up in a while

via


Watching the Bachelorette and Mistresses mostly....I need some summer shows!!


What I'm listening to....

Sofia the First in the background....gotta give the kids something to watch to leave me alone for 20 minutes to write this post #momoftheyear



What I'm wearing....

Since it's been so nice, I've been living in this bathing suit and my swim romper cover up.  My same romper is sold out but here are some other good choices!




via



What I'm doing this weekend....

It's 4th of July weekend so we are relaxing and having fun!! We are going to a pool party at my SIL & BIL's house Saturday, Sunday a party at my in laws, and Monday hanging with friends.  



What I'm looking forward to next month....

Brayden's 6th birthday and the hubby's 34th birthday! It's going to be a month of celebrating!


Image result for birthdays


What else is new....

Hmmm not much really - we are still getting quotes and trying to figure out if finishing our basement is going to happen (I really hope it does) so we need to finish that process.  The kids are full on enjoying summer and so am I.  I am so so lucky to be home with them!


Bonus - What is your favorite 4th of July recipe....

We made these one year and they were super good and super easy! Might have to make them again!

M&M Flag Sugar Cookies:
via

Have a great day! 

Weekly Recap {6.28.16}

Happy Tuesday, friends! What a week it's been - summer is in full swing over here and it feels like we are going non stop and I love it!

Here's a recap of our week

Our weather has been so nice with only a couple of crappy days, so most of our time is spent outside.



Avery trying to get big sister to move


Hanging out in our backyard pool :) The kids have so much fun in it.  Hopefully one day we will get  real pool :)




My veggie garden is coming along nicely and I've been eating a salad every week using the lettuce we're growing.


My flower/plant gardens are doing well too! I cut off a couple of hydrangeas and put them our table. This is about the only time we have fresh flowers in our house, ha ha



Brayden had his S.T.E.M. camp all last week and it was our ritual to show up early and play at the park. It was also our ritual to go back after dropping him off and the girls would play, oh and we would go back after Brayden was done with camp.  I was so over going to this park by Friday!!




Play time! Making Mama some eggs :)




Last Thursday my Mom came to lunch with the kids and I and since we were close to the hubs work, he met us too! My Mom got us Jimmy John's while the kids (and the hubs) had McDonalds. 

I think Avery was happy Daddy was there!



Brayden and I played around with Snapchat - we were enjoying the new features since I got a new phone. My old phone had no room left to even update apps so this was a fun surprise!

   

 More baseball games, which meant trying to entertain the girls while also watching Brayden play.




Last day of S.T.E.M. camp! We snuck back into the classroom after it was over to snap a pic of the car Brayden's group made.  He's all smiles and then he got super worried we would be in trouble.

     
After camp, we headed to a different splash pad/park and met up with Brayden's buddy from school.

 

Ella has such determination, I love seeing that in her! She wanted to do these little monkey bars but couldn't get it.  She must have tried no less than 50 times and finally made it 4 bars.  She (and I) was so proud!!


More baseball :)








After Saturdays game, we headed to a professional game in the city - the White Sox.  Our family are Cubs fans but Rick's work has season tickets to the White Sox so we figured for the big kids first experience, we would try the free route :) I'm glad we did because they were over it faster than I expected.  To their defense, it was 90 degrees and sunny so we were all melting.

Ella was all smiles though because she had her favorite snack.  All was going well until she stood up and said "I'm peeing right now!!" and she was, peeing all over herself.  For some random reason I had an extra pair of kid sweatpants in my bag so we went to the bathroom to get cleaned up and changed.  It would have sucked if I didn't have those pants.


typical Brayden face




 If you follow me on IG, you saw Saturday night we hung in and watched Ducktales; Treasure of the Lost Lamp - if you are a child from the 80's/90's you surely have seen this movie. The kids LOVED it!

Sunday we did some stuff around the house and played out in the backyard all afternoon.





We had such a fun/busy week and I'm kind of excited this week is pretty low key. 



*linking up with Our Pretty Little Girls for Tuesday Talk

 
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