Midweek randoms

This week is flying by, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!! We’ve had a good week so far, and have been busy!

Sunday afternoon while Zach was at his rehearsal, I took the kids out to play for a bit. Reed was so happy to take his lawn mower outside.

Monday night Ava was sitting down after her bath and was watching something on the iPad. I asked her if she wanted me to read her a book. She looked at me and said “no thanks!” haha! Reed heard me ask her that and he took me up on the offer so we read three Mickey Mouse books :)

Tuesday I got to school to pick the kids up and when I walked in, the kids remaining in Reed’s class were all sitting on the carpet and each child had a musical instrument and they were going to have a “band”. Reed saw me and got mad! I guess he didn’t want to leave so he could play his instrument. So he dropped his violin, and he crawled under this chair. 

Then he got out and decided to try and play his instrument before we had to leave. It makes me laugh that most mornings he screams and cries when I leave, and lately, he does the same when I pick him up. He doesn’t want to stay and then he doesn’t want to go. :)

I got a new storage cabinet for our living room and Zach put it together Tuesday evening. The kids were intrigued and both wanted to try to use the “bam bam” hammer (as Reed calls it) to help. Reed hit hard and he missed and hit Zach’s fingers! It was too funny because he said “I missed!”    

I had a meeting at school last night and had a short period between work and the meeting, so we had a quick dinner before my meeting so I could see the kids for a bit. We had everyone’s favorite (Mexican)! Reed is a cheese dip lover!

This week has gone by quickly and I’m ready that we’re closing in on the weekend!!!

The last few days

We had a pretty quiet week, though it was a little busy. My car is fixed and back in my hands, thankfully. I did enjoy driving a little bit bigger vehicle. Ava loved it too!

Friday morning, the kids woke up extra early. While I was getting ready for work, Reed came in with Ava’s shoes on and then decided he wanted to wear some of Zach’s socks too. This photo cracks me up!

Since we were all up and ready earlier than normal, I decided we should celebrate Friday morning with donuts!

All was good and well until Reed got upset. I got Ava her favorite pink sparkle donut and Reed donut holes. Ava asked to have one of the donut holes and I gave her one. Reed thought that since Ava got the other one, she shouldn’t have any of the holes and that they were ALL his. Therefore, a meltdown ensued.

Friday evening I had to sort through a Pampered Chef party order. I was SUPER excited because I’ve been wanting more of the cookware for a LONG time and I finally got it!!!!!  

We had a fairly quiet Saturday. While Zach was grocery shopping, I let Reed and Ava “cook” with my old pans I had pulled out of the cabinet.

That afternoon I took Ava to a birthday party for a friend of hers from school. She was excited and had a great time.

Saturday evening was date night! My sister gave us an evening of baby-sitting for our Christmas gift and we cashed it in that night. We met another couple for dinner and enjoyed some awesome Mexican food and celebrated National Margarita Day! 

It was so nice to get out on our own and just enjoy some down time. We had a really great time and were so appreciative of the gift. When we got home we told her that was a great gift for future Christmases, too! ;)

Sunday morning we went to church and afterwards came home and just did a few things around the house. Zach had an afternoon rehearsal at school for several hours and I just stayed home with the kids while they napped. It was another FAST weekend, like they all are.

So here we are at the beginning of another week. Is anyone else as happy as I am that the Olympics are over and all the primetime tv shows are coming back on this week?!?!

Growing up too fast

I’m reminded all too often how quickly time is passing right before my eyes. Yesterday morning as we were getting ready for school and work, Ava told me her mouth hurt. This was the second time in a week or so she had sad this. I grabbed a flashlight and told her to open up. I noticed that she had one six year molar completely in and the white caps of the other three were showing through. I can’t believe she’s already getting six year molars. She was sooooo proud to have new teeth. She wanted to tell everyone and asked Zach to tell his kids. ha! The things that make kids happy!

 

In other news, I’m finally getting my car fixed after it was hit last November. They got me set up with a rental. I drive an SUV and when the rental place called me to tell me they’d heard from the insurance company, that I’d be given a small car. He asked what I drove and I told him and he asked if that would work with me. I told him probably not after he told me the car they planned to give me. He called me back later and said he’d gotten them to give me an SUV. When we got there to pick it up, he told me I’d be driving a brand new dodge caravan. I didn’t really care what it was as long as it wasn’t a tiny car.

The kids wanted to ride with me but as I started pulling out of the parking lot, Reed started SCREAMING. I think he was very confused. He kept crying, “GET ME OUT. I WANT OUT.” all. the. way. home. It was hilarious! I have this lovely ride for the next week. Here’s hoping they get my car fixed asap! And that’s how we started our week!

Another week gone by

Truthfully, we didn’t do a whole lot last week. Zach had A LOT of homework so he worked on that most evenings and I worked on keeping the house up and keeping the kids quiet! Ha!

Monday afternoon my mom picked the kids up from school and they went to my grandma’s house. I found Reed in one of the rooms playing at this little table and chair! So cute!

That night, Reed shed his pj pants and Ava picked them up and put them on. They fit her as capris. Crazy!

Sometimes Ava asks me to lay down with her and sometimes I don’t say no because these moments won’t last forever.

Tuesday night Reed sat down to watch a Mickey Mouse before bed time and all of a sudden we found him like this. Poor guy was so tired! 

My favorite time of day is when I get to go pick up the kids. They are always happy then, too!!

Before Valentine’s Day, Ava told me she wanted heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. I surprised them that morning with red Valentine shaped pancakes!!   

Reed had the cutest Valentine’s shirt from last year and it was a smidge small but I squeezed him into it one more time!

Friday evening we had to go through all the kids’ goodies from their Valentine’s parties. We found a Donald Duck and Goofy valentine with a Mickey Mouse shaped sucker and this is what Reed did when we showed him!!

For Valentine’s day, I had some Chicago style pizza shipped to Zach as part of his gift. He was really surprised and we enjoyed it!!! 

Saturday morning while Zach and Ava went to the store, Reed spent some time just lounging in his pjs watching the iPad. This boy LOVES days where we get to stay home. He calls the weekend a home day!

We didn’t really do much on Saturday – just picked up around the house, signed and got our taxes files and just relaxed. Ava and I played a board game Saturday night and were being goofy while doing so.

Sunday afternoon, Zach played golf and I did some bills, paperwork, etc. After the kids napped, we headed over to my grandma’s house because my brother and niece were there visiting!!

On Sunday Ava wore this new sweet dress my sister got her. She picked out her own clothes and this is what she picked.

We also got to spend some time with sweet little baby Caroline. She is beyond precious and Ava loves her so much!
 

And now here we are, at the start of another week again. I don’t know how time moves so quickly, but I feel like the days pass in a blur! Here’s to another good week!!

The days of our lives

We had such a fun weekend! Leading up to it, we had some memorable moments last week.

Both kids have had a cold and didn’t feel so great last week. One evening, Ava laid down next to me and fell asleep on the couch. She is so sweet when she is sleeping.

The next morning, instead of watching Mickey Mouse before heading to school, Reed wanted to hang out with me. I had fun chatting with him while I was getting ready for work. 

Thursday was picture day at school. That morning, they smiled, but both kids were in pretty rotten moods and didn’t feel the greatest. Their smiles are deceiving!

We had ANOTHER round of snow come through on Friday evening. We made homemade pizzas. On our way home that evening, I asked Reed what kind he wanted and he answered, “a big one!”  That boy loves his pizza!

Saturday we had plans to go to NWA to have lunch with Zach’s parents and grandma to celebrate his mom’s birthday. I needed to pick up some cookies from my mom (who was up there visiting my brother and his family), so we stopped by there for a couple minutes before. Stephen and Leslie had asked if Ava would do her Frozen performance live for them and when I told her that, she decided she needed to pack her dance clothes!

Ava took a few steps into the snow before we left.

Ava and Reed had a couple Valentine’s gifts waiting for them at Uncle Stephen’s and Aunt Leslie’s. They spoil these two.

I got to love on sweet baby Caroline for a few minutes. She was sleeping when we got there and I went in to see her before we left and she woke up so i got a few minutes of snuggling. She is so precious! I love that sweet baby girl so much!

We had a delicious lunch with Zach’s family. They are always so thoughtful to bring little gifts for the kids that they love. Ava had fun playing with her new my little pony. And Reed. Well, Reed is two and with that comes with an ornery spirit. We were eating lunch and he was just wild. After we’d eaten, I had packed up Reed’s leftovers (he barely ate), and as we were about to leave, he decided he wanted to eat. I told him the waitress had taken away his plate and he took off toward the kitchen. I had to chase him down and he almost made it in there. Kids. They never cease to embarrass you. :) He was out cold shortly after we left to drive home.

Sunday morning we headed to church. Actually Zach and I did. My parents were in town for the first time in a couple months and they had gone to a different service and I knew they wanted to see the kids Sunday, so I asked them if they’d come over and watch them while we went to church. it was nice not having a wrestling match with Reed for a weekend. :)

After lunch, I let the kids have part of their heart cookies my mom had gotten for them.  

It’s a shame Reed has no personality.

I had asked my mom to stop and pick up the sugar cookies we love to give some to my MIL who I know loves them as much as I do! What I didn’t expect was for mom to get us a package. She also had a bag of homemade donuts for us. Zach and I thought we’d try to hide the donuts from the kids, but they remembered them.

While Reed took a nap, Ava rested and then was ready to paint in her new book. 

When Reed woke up from his nap, we had to laugh at him because he had some crazy hair.

We have more winter weather coming in. This has been the harshest winter I remember having in terms of the number of significant snow storms. Hopefully this will be the last one for a while. Have a happy week, friends!

Confessional Friday – More Getting to know me

In place of today’s normal Friday Confessional, Leslie posted some questions for us to answer. Enjoy!

 

1. What's your middle name? Elizabeth. Random fact. Before I got married my initials were SES and my monogram was sSe. After getting married, my initials are SEE and my monogram is sEe.

2. If you could live anywhere else in the world where would you live? I think it’d be fun to live in New York City, just for a period of time. Of course, this would’ve been most fun when I was just out of college and single with no kids! :)

3. Tell us about your guilty pleasures. Ice cream. Mindless tv. Romantic comedies. TV shows from the 90s. Cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies. Sappy love story novels. Zach says one of these is online shopping and not telling him until the package arrives. He also said cheese dip. He’d be right on both accounts.

4. What do you like best about your job? If you weren't doing that, what career would you have pursued? I like most about my job that I have to use my mind. There are hard problems to be solved and I feel so accomplished when I solve a really tough problem. I think if I could do anything and not have to worry about money or anything, I’d love to have a bakery or a little cafe. I love cooking and making things that people enjoy!

5. Five items you'd grab during a fire. (People and pets don't count. Those are a given.) Pictures, our wedding coffee table book, Ava’s keepsake box, Reed’s keepsake box and my wedding/engagement ring

 
6. Marathon running...something you'd like to pursue or just plain crazy? hahahahahahahahaha

7. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? Fajita nachos

8. Last person you spoke to...annnnnd....go! Zach. Of course.

9. Favorite childhood toy – I loved my Barbies growing up. My mom still has them and Ava loves to play with them when we go and visit them. I like to play them with her when she asks. :)

10. Breakfast cereal of choice – I really like Golden Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I rarely eat those though. If I eat cereal, it’s usually Special K Red Berries.

Happy Friday, friends!!!

Ava performs Frozen

Since the night Ava and I went to see Frozen, she has been OBSSESSED with the soundtrack, specifically Let it Go. She has given many, many performances and I knew this was something I needed to get on video for all of time.

Watch out, Idina Menzel. Ava Edwards may beat you out for your next role! ;)

Snow days

Zach and the kids were out of school on Monday and Tuesday. I think they were starting to get a little stir crazy. I had to work, so didn’t get to have snow day fun, but I did get to see them in the middle of the day at lunch.

Reed was a big goofball and kept putting on the Mr. Potato Head glasses.

They didn’t want me to go back to work so they stood in front of the door and “barricaded” me in! Ava doesn’t seem to know what season she is in and Reed doesn’t believe in wearing pants.

Monday evening when I sat down on the couch, Ava sat down next to me and laid her head on my shoulder. She hadn’t taken a nap and was all of a sudden very still and quiet and I realized she’d fallen asleep. So sweet.

I finally got my photos ordered and received the prints in the mail on Monday. They are such great quality and I was so excited to have them. I was changing out pictures in the frames, and in Reed’s frame, I looked through his past photos and then my heart about broke. Where in the world did time and my little baby go?!?!?! 

We woke up Tuesday morning and at the time we woke up, school was still in. I got in the shower and was drying my hair while Zach was in the shower and noticed our schools had closed. So, they got another day at home. The roads weren’t as bad as they were saying they were, mostly just wet, and I was thankful for that.

Ava was excited to go to gymnastics Tuesday night to get out of the house for a little bit. She also chose to decorate her leotard with stickers.

Meanwhile I got to hang out with the wild man. He thought crawling on the table was a better alternative to eating his dinner. Such a boy.

I later laid down on the couch and he came and climbed on to me and thought that was fun. He is such a stinker!

We chances for more wintry weather later this week. I won’t be sad to see it go. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad it’s hump day! We’re to the halfway point of the week and that means the weekend is just around the corner!!!