Week/end Review

How is it Monday morning again?! I'm sipping on my matcha latté, trying to get my bearings. Just last Monday I was cleaning and preparing for Nikki & her daughter to come up for the week.  We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather and we all had so much fun! 

The girls had their lunch and dinners mainly here at the little picnic table. I'm all about keeping the crumbs outside!

We played with bikes, bubbles & bounce houses!

I introduced Nikki to Club W.  It's my life line!! haha

Wednesday we hit up the Museum of Play and even bought lunch there.  I took a bunch of photos/videos on Snap Chat, but I have so many pictures from there I didn't save much.

The kiddos were all well behaved and we enjoyed our french fries!  After our play time, Bradley & #babybigtruck fell asleep, so Brooke, Nikki & I grabbed some Starbucks and went for a little drive. I showed her our land and our adorable little town we'll be moving to!

Thursday was hot hot hot!!  We knew it would be the nicest day of the week, so we saved that for the Zoo.  It was really crowded, as it seemed everyone else had the same idea, but we had fun nonetheless!

Brookie was our tour guide with the map.

Mr was getting hangry so we knew it was time to head out and enjoy our lunch.

Even though the leaves weren't all on the trees, it wasn't too hot outside of the Zoo where there is a small play area.

We had a major #momwin with getting the kids to stay awake from the Zoo.  We were able to get all three of them down for a nap, thus allowing us some quiet time!!

For dinner we made the mango lime pizza---SO good!

I stole your photo Nikki!



A little salad....

And Joe grilled us some wings!

Friday morning was a bit of a whirlwind as they had to leave and I had to go get my hair done and then go to a memorial service.

That night I was beat and we decided Mexican would be for dinner.  Kids were a bit wound up from that outing!

Saturday morning I read some article about how one lady couldn't find any pictures of her mom with her growing up; the photos were all of her as a kid and not of the mom.  So I'm really making more efforts to be in the photos, whether or not my hair and makeup is done. I want my kids to see how present I was!

Sunday morning Daddy ventured out and brought home some donuts and we all snuggled on the couch, being that it was all of 45 degrees that morning!

We got to meet baby Avery and brought sushi over to our friends for dinner.  The kids napped well and I was able to devour my book The Nest  (so good!) I even started this book.

Now it's couponing, a diaper/wipes run, and I'm still trying to play catch up on laundry.  Operation no bottle is still working, but he won't take any "milk" (cashew) other than his formula, which is annoying.  But I'll try to find something else too---either way, he hasn't had a bottle since Wednesday so that's good!

As for me, I need to get back on track with eating clean and working out.  I'm going to do some 21 day fix workouts, piyo & tone it up girls this week. If it warms up, you bet I'll be walking the kids too!

Have a great week. 

Mommy Monday: Enjoying Fall

Happy Monday!! I hope everyone had a fun Fall weekend.  Finding balance on this blog has breathed such a breath of fresh air into me; I am super inspired and have so much that I want to share!  I am so encouraged and uplifted by so many wonderful women in my life and I am so very grateful for that.

I just wanted to share a little of how we've been enjoying this beautiful Autumn.  Brooke is at the PERFECT age to want to go out and do fun things and really soaks up every bit of our play/learning.

Last week I took them to a little nursery right near our house. It was perfect, as there was no one there! No crowds or tons of screaming kids, other than my own :)



She loved the "Straw Crawl" and kept saying, "take my picture mommy!"



She didn't really get the whole "teepee" concept, but she loved running around in it.



I gave her the task of picking out a pumpkin to paint, and she insisted we needed 4.  (One for each of us!)



I also purchased a little bail of straw, hoping that it would provide a super cute little photoshoot background.

#nailedit

Is it just me, or can you see my babies as teenagers in this picture?!  My little loves.

"Smile for Mommy!"

She insists she is a dog most of the time, and I believe she was howling in this photo.   I couldn't believe how good Bradley was just sitting there holding the pumpkins! 

I think the BEST tip I can give, is divide up all of your 'projects' or activities.  Getting the pumpkins was just enough, so I saved the actual painting for the next day.

He is still putting everything into his mouth, so I wasn't ready to deal with him and paint. If I do whip cream painting and he can eat it, I would be okay with that! But for now, I just put a little paint into a bag and let him squish it.  He tried it eat that too, so it was short lived.

He loves holding the little baby pumpkins though!

I also did a super quick google search on easy toddler Halloween crafts…so we now have a jackolantern, a bat and some ghosts!  My mom sent this little spooky Mickey she painted too.  I love hanging the kids' artwork up!

Brother got a hold of the bat…

She loves tracing hands, so we did a few ghosts.

What fun activities have you been doing or have you done with your littles?  There's still more of this spooky season to enjoy!  

This is played daily in our house.  Both kids love it and I love that it's teaching that spooky things can be fun and not too scary. 

Puppy Pancake Breakfast

First and foremost, it's my hubby's birthday!!  I took this picture on our last date night, which happened to be the day we closed on our land!  I am so grateful for all that he has taught me, given me, and that I am able to raise beautiful babies with this man.  He is such a dedicated, strong-willed, hard worker, and for that reason alone, I am able to stay at home with our precious ones.  The life we build is like no other; our story is sacred, different and completely and 100% ours.  This guy right here, is the epitome of strength; when shit gets tough, he stands tall, and fights for what he believes in.  I've never met a happier soul, and couldn't be more in love if I tried. I love you so much baby!! Happy 38!




In baby news:  Mr B is ringing in his 9th month at 22 pounds 10 oz and 30 inches long.  He did not like his shots, Brooke was a champ for hers, but both were extremely well behaved at the doctors.  (I may have treated them to one new toy each afterwards!  We now have a new teething toy and Brookie is a "Puppy Doctor"

Speaking of puppies, it's totally her new thing.  At first it was 101 Dalmations, a movie which she will watch over and over and over and over…you get my drift?  And then it was Paw Patrol, but now it's pretty much anything to do with a puppy or dog!! I know this little girl will lose her mind when we get a big dog again some day--in our new home, in a few years…after these two are successfully potty trained themselves..haha!

So, today we had our Puppy Pancake Breakfast.  For $2 (per pancake eating person) we got to meet and greet Clifford the Big Red Dog and Rocky the Dalmation.  She was SO excited!   The kids were to bring their favorite dog.  She brought her new puppy from yesterday, "Bella" or "Pluto" depends on when you ask her.

I loved that they had arts and crafts- Make a dog!

She was not shy about going right up to them.  In fact, we had to leave a little early because she just kept following them around! Other kids needed a photo op too!

A local vet hospital was there and gave her a free "leash" and she is in heaven now!

She enjoyed the pancakes and really enjoyed the butter hahah of all things. She stuck a whole blob right in her mouth; she didn't know what it was!! I tried to take as many photos as I could, but it's certainly tricky with two littles moving and grooving!

Snoopy's dog house.

Brother was loving all the kids and puppies too!

It was the best $2 I've spent in a very long time!! I highly recommend checking out your community centers, as you just never know what you may find!  This place is amazing for kids and seniors; I can't wait to do more activities with the kids as they grow.