{last} Weekend fun and daycare move

We had a fun and buys weekend (again!).  And I'm finally just posting about it...now that the next weekend is here.  Just go with it - it's been one of those weeks for sure.

And in other news - I FINALLY think I figured out a fast and easy way to get the pictures from my phone to my blog - wahoo!!!  Jimmy has been sad that I have slowed down blogging, so here ya go, babe!  Back at it.  And be prepared for Christmas recaps - ha :)  Oh and a 2.5 year old and 4.5 year old post that I owe to my oldest two babes.

Ok, back to last weekend.

Friday night was filled with neighbors, pizza, movies, playing and bundt cakes (thanks to Christine - totally ruining any chance of healthy eating that night! ha!).

Here's the thing - we are busy.  We all are.  We are tired.  Lots of times, Friday rolls around and we just want to sit there.  However, I told Jimmy that we need to continue to spend time with our friends, neighbors.  Charlie had been talking about Kate (his bff and neighbor) and we haven't seen them in a few months - so I texted their mom and BOOM.  A date was made.  Kids played, adults chatted and it was a fun and easy night with paper plates.  No frills and just how we liked it.  She and I both mentioned, it was good for our souls and while it's hard to take time to do these things, how important it is.  So glad we got together!!  Anyone else seem to struggle with actually setting up plans and getting together?!?

Watching a movie that Emma brought over - the only time they were sitting down!

The next morning was filled with CHAOS.  Workout, shower, pack up backs, pack healthy snacks and then we were OFF to gymnastics and then basketball.  In good news, Maddie is doing better at gymnastics and Charlie at basketball - an hour is a little long (he loses interest about 40 minutes in!), but we are getting there!

ROAD trip snacks!! 

When we got to Wichita, we headed straight to Lauren and David's house and because David knows just what Jimmy likes - he had the KU game DVRed.  Needless to say, the result was not in Jimmy's favor (lost to ISU), but David was super nice to DVR it AND delay himself watching the K-State game (which ended in a win!).  And I think it's safe to say that our kiddos are converted to KU fans.  They couldn't get enough!

We had some delicious tacos (made my Lauren - thank you for always being the most gracious hostess!) and then lots more time to play and watch basketball and just hang out.  Love nights like these.  When it was time for baths and bed time, our kiddos couldn't get enough of Landon.  For real.  They followed David into the bathroom and sat there while he got a bath and then Maddie spent like 5 minutes drying his hair.  HA.  So cute!

The night was well...interesting.  Ha.  Jimmy slept in one bed with Maddie and I slept with Charlie with Mikey on the floor in the dock a tot.  Poor Mikey didn't nap well, so come 12AM, he wanted to party.  And it's bad enough that he rarely does this, but worse when it's not at your house.  I sat in bed with him for like 45 min and then found Jimmy and handed him over.  They stayed up and watched TV for a bit until he woke up angry and wanted to eat!  Not the best sleep, but worth the trip.

Charlie was up at 6AM and we all got in our Sunday best to head to the doughnut shop downtown Wichita to have Ali take Mikey's 6 month pictures.  We had to reschedule because she couldn't make it to KC the day we originally scheduled because of weather, but after the shoot (while we had a few meltdowns - as expected), I'm SOOOO excited to see the pictures.  Sweet Mikey got a few by himself and then we had some adorable ones with everyone loving on him!

We grabbed some doughnuts for the Hart crew and headed back to hang out and pack up.  And then we had to snag this picture of this crew - they are so cute!

The drive back wasn't as easy as the drive there...the way there, the kids were zonked out almost the whole way because they had gymnastics and basketball before, so we only had to make one stop.  This time we were making a stop like 20 minutes into the drive.  Seriously, kids and their bladders!!!

But overall, it was uneventful and we made a quick stop at Aldi for groceries on our way back into town and then had my parents and sister/BIL over to eat for the Superbowl.  By the way - after all that's gone down...I'm a Lady Gaga fan.  

Monday came with some BIG milestones for all the kids too!

Mikey:

 Finally out of his dock a tot and I'm happy to report the transition went great!!  I was guessing he would do fine - which I'm glad I guessed right.  This wasn't really planned - but more out of necessity because I washed the dock a tot cover when we got home and it was still line drying, so just decided to do it!!  He is a tummy sleeper for sure, but still sleeping good!

Big kids:

Third daycare center move in three years.

yep, you read that right.  Are we the worst parents, or what?!?  But hear me out.  The first school that we moved from, it was because I had a very bad experience with the owner and the way she handled the situation did NOT sit well with me.  Nothing relating to the well being of our kiddos, but she was VERY sketchy financially and when I questioned something - immediately went on the defense.  Not a good sign if you ask me, especially when child care is the largest expense we have each month, I wanted to feel great about who was getting that money and how they were using it.  So we moved in August 2015.  The next school we were at (and just left) was FANTASTIC.  We loved it because it was very laid back and we loved the Montessori classrooms.  Charlie and Maddie both loved the structure of their days and the teachers and friends.  It was a little further from our house (but seriously, like 12 minutes away versus 6...so still not far), but the price was right and we felt good there.  We even referred several friends there and stick by that referral.

So why the move?  Well, Charlie will be 5 this summer and while we are not sending him to kindergarten yet (his bday is July 31), I have been thinking a lot about when he is there and how to manage this whole "kids in school" thing.  You know - summers, winter breaks, days off for conferences, holidays, in services, you name it.  I feel like at least once or twice a month, the girls that I work with are having to take off work or arrange child care for their school aged kids - let alone the stress of finding something for the summer.  I know, I know, most people are like "just get a nanny".  But that's not how it works because at most day care centers where we live, you can't just take 2 months off and they will hold your spot...so then you'd be paying double.  Anyways, after thinking about it and talking with a friend that has kids the same age and had moved to this other center last year (after being at the other two with us), I decided we needed to just go tour Primrose.  It has the before/after school care option if we want that, they have summer programs for kids 5-12 and are open on most days that the schools are closed (minus major holidays).  I had a feeling when we went to look, we'd love it.  So it came down to price - as you know, three kids in day care ain't cheap :)  But to my surprise, the price was VERY comparable and just a few dollar more than we were paying for month.  So we decided to do it.  It's crazy because looking back, there wasn't a whole lot of debate to it.  I was so so sad to tell our old school goodbye - as were our kiddos.  They were excited for lots of reasons for a new school and have done great this week!  But five days in, I think it's settling in that this is "forever".  You know like when you first start work out of college and the honeymoon period is over.  HA.  Drop offs have gone well and they are loving the activities and all the fun centers that they do during the day. I'm loving the pictures we get too because it makes the "how was school?" conversation at pick up a whole lot easier when I can ask them at least about stuff I saw them doing throughout the day.  Plus, Charlie is in the same class as his friend Addie and another Charlie, so it has been a good transition for him.

I'm also really glad these two have each other.  They are best beds and inseparable, so the thought of Charlie getting to come back here with him sister (and Mikey - we will probably move him from his awesome in home when he turns 2) once he's in school, makes me really really happy.

I love them and how adaptable they are.  And while yes, I feel back for moving them, but we talked about it a lot and prepared them as much as we could.  And I'd say they rocked it.  And looked damn good doing it :)

Now if they could just keep sleeping at night - but I guess with every transition, something has got to give!!

So there you have it - our fun last weekend road trip (can't wait to get our pics we took with Ali) AND all my deep thoughts and reasoning into why we moved our kids AGAIN!

First Friday in November - what?!?

All I can say is - how is it NOVEMBER?!!  Kansas (and what seems like everywhere!) is so unseasonably warm.  I love it because I HATE putting coats on and off of my kids period.  But I hate it because there are still bugs.  And I'm still like sweating randomly in November.  What?

And just so you know that it's just not the weather that is confused - my daughter is very confused why it's so warm - hence her ridiculous outfit last night.  Oh Maddie.

{ONE}

First things first - my amazing friend (and former co-worker turned real life forever friend) finally hit publish on her blog that she's been thinking about for a long time.  She came to visit Mikey and I and we talked about it and she asked me all these questions and even took notes.  She nailed it with the title of her blog - the Flawed Perfectionist!  I just love it and love her and you must check her out and follow her!

{TWO}

Halloween 2016 - that was Monday night, right???  Oh sheesh.  I literally only took like 4 pictures - and here is one of them!  We had a change of plans at the last minute and ended up having the Strathman crew over to trick or treat with us since they haven't moved into their new neighborhood yet.  These boys - I love them and their parents and our kids love them too.  it was so fun - and there was FAR too much candy!!!

Their favorite part might have been passing out candy together after we were done! It was so cute and quite the team effort!

{THREE}

Bad news on the dress I posted last Friday on here - 

I purchased.  It arrived.  I tried it on.  Failure.  It's not as nice as it looks (duh, it was like $26) but it also fit soooo weird.  I would totally not have been comfortable in it at all.  The good news is there are free returns (yeah!) but the bad news is that now I'm on the hunt for another dress.  I think that is going to be my lunch time activity for Friday!  

I am sticking with long, so thanks for your comments and feedback!

{FOUR}

Have I mentioned that I'm obsessed with Aldi?  Oh yeah, I am. 

Aldi seems to be a place that not everyone is willing to try out (because there are some weird things about it!), but after doing some serious and detailed comparisons of the prices and quality of the food....I just have such a hard time shopping anywhere else because I save SOOOO much money.  I of course have weighed in the lack of convenience there, as they don't offer pick up or delivery (like they do at HyVee), but I think it's so much easier to pop into an Aldi really quickly and get one or two things (because the store footprint is smaller) than a traditional store.

ANYWAYS....I'm blogging next Tuesday at KCMB about my love for Aldi and give you a true life comparison of a weekly Aldi trip versus HyVee.  Check it out (I'll post the link when it's live next week)!!

And - on my fitness blog, I have some healthy and clean recipes (lots are freezer meals - my love!) that the recipes go along with what is the weekly meat specials at Aldi - because meat tends to be the most expensive driver in your grocery bill - trying to help you save $$ and eat healthy!  Check it out!

Obviously, my love runs deep for this place.

{FIVE}

Did I mention that the day after Halloween was picture day at Charlie and Maddie's school.  Are you KIDDING ME??  On top of that, it was trash + recycling day and the day our cleaning lady was coming - so that meant trash out and house picked up.  But the worst of these 3?  Picture day because our kids despise and protest wearing normal people clothes.  You know?  Jeans, non-under armor type shirts.  Pants,  Underwear.  Shoes that match.  You name it.  So you better believe getting dressed for picture day i super fun.  throw in the Halloween hangover and yeah....

But somehow, I gathered up the energy to dress little brother in a coordinating outfit and bribing them with candy before school to get a picture of their adorableness.  Seriously.  They look so cute here.

And then five seconds later they were not sitting nicely like this.

But they melt my heart.  Let's hope they are all smiles tomorrow morning when we are attempting to get at least one decent picture this fall (my sister is taking them!).

Happy happy weekending.  I am looking foward to some QT time with my family and my kiddos as we plan for going out of town next weekend!!!

Linking up with:

Sept Farm | Oh hey Friday!

A. Liz Adventures | Five on Friday

Momfessionals | Friday Favorites

Noah's bandage project link up - September 28 - GET YOUR BANDAIDS!!!

YOU GUYS.  I am in shock.

So I sent an email a few weeks ago to some of my blogger friends that I had done other exchanges/link ups with.  It was pretty casual but just reaching out to say I had a small idea.  Our next door neighbor's lost their son, Noah, to pediatric cancer in June 2015.  His story is amazing and he was one amazing little boy (here is my KCMB article with a little more details and see the YouTube video below that is amazing).  Well, they have a sign in their yard since it's September and it's pediatric cancer awareness month and EVERY single time I drive up/leave our house...I see that sign.  And it makes me think of Noah and all the little kids and their family's out there affected by pediatric cancer.   I kept thinking - there HAS to be something I can do.  

All I did was send an email to some bloggers.  I told them Noah's story and I said...wouldn't it be a great way to give back to such an amazing cause (Noah's bandage project) AND involve your kids in this?  Use it as a way for them to pick out bandaids and teach them more about the serving attitude that all of us need a little more of?  I said...just if anyone was interested, they could post on September 28 about NBP, the pictures of their kiddos buying bandaids and send me some bandaids that I could pass onto Deb and Scott, Noah's parents.

I knew these were some great ladies...but MAN.  Within a matter of hours, I was receiving emails from bloggers that I had never heard of.  Two, three and four forwards later to just a few of their blog friends, turned into who knows how many people that saw that original email that I sent about this idea.  I'm in shock and so moved.  Deb is so moved after I told her about my little email.  What an amazing community of bloggers out there - thank you thank you thank you!

Instead of just having everyone send to me (while I will be collecting), I have some more details if YOU want to help with this cause or you want to share more details with your readers on where they can send their bandaids.  AND I'll be hosting a link up on September 28 that you can link your post on Noah's Bandage Project so we can see just how many amazing family's are talking about and giving to this amazing cause.

Here is the image you can post for the link up - along with some hashtags if you want to post on your Instagram!  I know I have had some people say that they want to participate, but they don't have a blog - not a problem at all.  Just post this picture or a picture of you and your kids (if you have kids) getting bandaids - or whatever you want and hashtag this.  I'm literally beaming with excitement about this!!!  The love from this blogging community around this amazing project that sweet Noah started is unbelievable.

If you do have a blog and want to post about this and give your readers the chance to participate as well - here's some additional details:

• Bandaids cannot be sent directly to hospitals, as they are hospital supplies, so funneling them through NBP is the way to go!
• Monetary donations are also always welcome - the Wilson's are working to increase the lack of funding there is nationwide for pediatric research (only 4% currently!!!).  So far, they have raised $100K and that number continues to grow (donations can be made on their website: www.noahsbandageproject.com)
• If you'd like to send bandaids to them, here is the PO address where they collect them:
• Noah's Bandage Project
  119 N Parker Street Suite 110
  Olathe, KS 66061
• Link up at www.justanotherdayinparadise1.blogspot.com on September 28 to promote NBP and pediatric cancer...OR use one of the hashtags on the image above on Instagram or Facebook to show your support

THANK YOU again for all your amazing support with this.  It's just such an amazing organization to give back to and we all know how much our kids love bandaids, so think of how much a child that is undergoing cancer treatments will love them when they get a Batman or Elsa bandaid instead of the boring tan one during their normal treatment.

Hope to see you back here on September 28 - if you have any questions, you can email me at brittanycarter410@gmail.com.

July fourth weekend fun

So I just posted about our sweet little Fourth of July baby turning two (we celebrated the weekend before)...but when your birthday falls on Fourth of July, you get the whole weekend to celebrate too!

We kicked off our holiday weekend by heading over to spend some time with our small group friends from church - there are seven (soon to be eight) kiddos between the four family's and they have come to really like each other after about a year of us being in a small group together - as we have with their parents.  Carli and Scott hosted a great BBQ and then of course we had to celebrate with some fun poppers that she got for the kids.  Oh and there was no shortage of the "big" kids playing (aka see the picture on the top right of Jimmy - our kids were slightly confused...and then Scott showed us all his amazing adult scooter birthday present!).  We stayed out SO late (for us because we usually leave around 7:30/45) that it was dark enough for the big boys to catch lightning bugs - Charlie LOVED it!

Maddie and her poppers - haha.  She didn't quite understand and liked to throw them on the ground and step on them.  Love her.

The whole weekend forecast in KC called for rain.  And lots of it.  We woke up on Saturday morning, mama wanted a bagel from Einstein Brothers (which there is not one anywhere near our house).  So we loaded everyone in the car and headed across town in the rain.  Getting everyone in and out of the van is SO much more fun (insert sarcasm) when it's pouring down rain.  haha.

Oh and guess what?  Maddie picked up a purple glue stick (our house was still in shambles and everything was in the dining room....) and while we were driving and not watching her, she decided it was fun to put it all over her face and hair.  I swear this girl.

At the bagel place, we left some guy and his son go in front of us - and he took the last of the bagels that I was craving (major bummer), so I was in a great mood.  Haha.  But the kids loved the bagels and after we headed to Lowe's to look for stuff for the baby's room and some last minute things to finish up some of the kitchen stuff.

It finally did stop raining a bit - and apparently our children liked to find their own snacks - as I caught them both eating FROZEN waffles.  Seriously #weirdos

Mid-day, while Jimmy and I were busy putting our first floor back together (as everything was finally done with painting!!), I was totally freaked out because I wasn't feeling the baby.  I had never had this happen to me with the past two pregnancies - so I called the doctor on call and she said to be safe just head in to the hospital.  It was enough of a scare that my blood pressure was high, but luckily everything was ok!!  Whew!  Then we headed over after naps to Prairie Village (where we used to live across town!) because our sweet nephew, Jay, was getting baptized.  We had quite the day already so decided to skip mass because we were barely going to make it there and just grab some dinner out before heading over to Jay's party after the baptism. 

We got there before everyone and went into their house and took pictures (and videos) of our kids to pass the time.  They didn't seem to mind!

We had a blast celebrating Baby Jay and playing with Hillary's sister's kiddos too - I cannot WAIT to have this baby and give Jay a cousin that is just three months younger.  What a blessing.  He is just the sweetest little thing and we have loved watching Bobby and Hillary become parents!!!

Sunday, we just went to church and spent time with our little family celebrating Maddie.  Of course, we got her favorite - PIZZA and ended up getting the Triple Treat box from Pizza Hut (after seeing intense advertising!!) and it was a success.  This girl loves her pizza AND her dad so much!!  

Then it was time for the actually Fourth of July holiday on Monday AND Maddie's birthday.  While some might call us crazy, we decided to invite all our neighbors and kids over for breakfast on July 4th before our neighborhood parade.  I think we decided on this Friday and I was so thrilled when most everyone said they were going to be in town and would love to come over!  We had a FULL house with so many kids and parents and drinks and food. Birthday girl, got in her birthday suit (of course) before we headed out to the parade that is by our pool/playground.

Leslie did an awesome job of organizing the parade with a photo booth, parade and of course, popsicles!

We got a family picture and it was SOOOOO humid if you cannot tell.  The temperatures weren't too horrible, but this pregnant mama was HOT.

PS - this is my go-to Fourth of July dress.  It's not maternity, but I wore it when I was pregnant with Charlie in July 2012 too!!

Even Toby was decked out for the holiday!!  (he got his haircut in the morning and PetCo gave him a fun bandanna)

After naps (for everyone!!!), we walked down to our neighbors house for a BBQ and more kid fun.  We have loved getting to know all our new neighbors - as most of them have moved in at the end of last year, it's been a fun first spring/summer with everyone and their kiddos.  While MacKenzie had some awesome fireworks for the kiddos, our kids were BEAT and so tired (as was I!), so we headed out early and promised Charlie he could stay up and we could watch the fireworks from our house.  We were hoping that we could see our city fireworks from our house (they just moved to a new and close location this year)...but none of our windows were at a good angle - but guess what?  The cul-de-sac behind us put on quite the show that we could see from our bedroom window and Charlie loved it.  He has a love/hate relationship with fireworks, so it was a hit or miss.  Sweet Maddie slept right through all the commotion - turning two is tiring!! 

After a long weekend, we all had a hard time getting back to school/work on Tuesday.  But when I picked the kiddos up from school on Tuesday I was so surprised and proud to find what Charlie's art was for the day.  The teacher told me to pick it up and take it home and I was so confused at his response.  I looked around to see everyone else's because we don't go to a Christian or religious preschool...other kiddos said they were thankful for their toys, family, playing - and our sweet boy.  Seriously - he's thankful that he has the freedom to believe in God.  When I asked him about it in the car and if he told Ms Emily to write that.  He said yes...but mom, I'm thankful for Jesus too.  Seriously melt this mama's heart.  So proud of this little man and hope he continues this love for Christ well into his childhood!!

I know this is late - but have loved reading everyone's Fourth of July updates....and just had this as a draft and wanted to post!!!  Love holidays!

Oh the weekend - and some Jimmy birthday fun

Whew - April is BUSY for us!!  With my sister's shower that kicked off the month of April, then the bachelorette bash to Nashville and our 6th wedding anniversary - and this weekend was just as busy...as we spent time celebrating Jimmy's birthday!

Next weekend?  We are taking it easy and all looking forward to it.  But for now, I talk about all the fun we had this past weekend!

We kicked off Friday (after a BIG day at my work!) at the Legends T-Rex restaurant.  We made our first visit there last year for Jimmy's birthday mainly because we got $25 from the Landry's club we joined like forever ago when we were cool and kidless and went out to fancy dinner's.  Charlie literally has a CRAZY memory and at the beginning of April when I said it was dad's birthday ths month...he immediately asked if we were going to the dinosaur restaurant?  Haha - well we couldn't let him down.  

We had a good time and enjoyed the nice weather walking around, staring at the dinosaurs all around our table (and the huge fish tank we sat right by).  The best part in the kid's opinion?  The staff singing "Happy Birthday" to dad and of course - the cupcake!

And when I say the cupcake was enjoyed - seriously...Maddie.  This girl couldn't get enough and refused to use her hands.  Girlfriend cracks me up.

The next morning everyone was up bright and early - ready to go for the day.  And Maddie dressed herself (which I then had to change her), but she was ready to go for the day of fun!

I FINALLY made it to watch Charlie at soccer!  It was week 3, but Charlie didn't go last week because Jimmy was flying solo and it was SOOO cold so Jimmy didn't want to take Maddie out there too.  But he did great!  Slightly distracted (of course), but did awesome shooting and following directions.  Believe it or not, little sister was anxious to get out on the field and she's a pretty stellar dribbler for not even being 2!  

After soccer - papa surprised Maddie and Charlie with a doughnut picnic in the trunk of his car.  Oh man, these kids are spoiled by their grandparents for sure.  I guess that's a perk of all 4 of them living so close!!  But they LOVED the doughnut surprise (if you cannot tell) and we headed home all sticky and on a sugar high!

After soccer, we had some friends stop by for a playdate!  My good friend that I used to work with at Hallmark, Lindsay, brought her sweet little girl, Stella over. Stella just turned 2 in December and not kidding - she and Maddie are like TWINS!!  Except Stella has a much more robust vocabulary than Maddie ;)  But their curly hair has no denying that they look alike.  It was SO great to spend time with Stella and her mom - miss this friend so much and wish we still worked together so we got to catch up more often - once every quarter is not enough time at all!

After lunch and naps, we headed over to Jimmy's parents house to drop our kiddos off for a sleepover. It was fun getting to watch the kids ride their bikes around while my mother in law and I caught up.  Maddie - oh Maddie - Charlie let her inside the house while the rest of us were outside for about 2 minutes - and that girl found the markers and drew ALL over her legs.  I swear.

What to do with no kids?!?!  Birthday celebration of course!  Jimmy and I enjoyed getting ready for a night out without the little ones hanging off our limbs and then we went to Gaslight Grill in OP to eat some delicious dinner and listen to some jazz.  Very "32" of you, Jimmy.  Dave (one of Jimmy's best friends) almost has the same birthday as Jimmy (and same year), so it's fun to always have someone else to celebrate your birthday with (just glad Dave didn't have as much fun Saturday night as he did at their joint 30th birthday party when he had to get carried out! haha!)

I did a horrible job at documenting the night in pictures, but it was because I was having so much fun chatting with Abby and Hillary (my SIL that is due with her first little babe in less than 2 weeks!) during dinner and then one of Jimmy's other brothers, Pat, and his wife, Trish, met us after their dinner for some {free} dessert...complete with a candle even.

I also had to get a pic (which the lighting was HORRIBLE) of Hillary and I with our bumps and our mocktails that the bartender made for us without even asking.  Just lots of fruit juice, but it was fun to carry a fancy glass with her.  Seriously so excited for these cousins!!!

My only requirement??!   I told Jimmy we needed to be home by 11 and he told me no problem...he didn't break his word on that.  It was amazing to get a good night of sleep and not get woken up one morning by our kids. Except of course we missed them so much!

When we woke up I had an alert from facebook of this picture from 10 years ago on the morning of Jimmy's birthday.  I found it hilarious that we were laying in bed that morning and I was wearing a Royals shirt and (of course) Jimmy was shirtless - just like the picture...so I made him take a selfie.  I told him I wouldn't post it, but it was just too fun.  Love that I got to celebrate 10 birthdays with this guy.  Life only gets better with him - but it's amazing to think all the fun and change we have been through in the last 10 years for sure!

We went to breakfast at our favorite spot, Eggtc. and then got our kiddos.  Supposedly they had a GREAT night (which is awesome!) and seriously, spoiled, Pops came back from church with more doughnuts.  Their grandparents love them so much!  We are thankful that they have a fun place to go for a sleepover too!!!!  Thanks Grana and Pops!

After some fun in the backyard with serious belly going on....

we put the kids down for a nap, I ran some errands and then my parents came over as we headed downtown KC to meet up with some friends to celebrate Chris' birthday.  How funny is it that Vanessa, Emily and I's husbands all have birthdays within a week of each other....all one year apart!  

Vanessa organized a surprise get together at the awesome Breakout KC.  We had a blast (I was super nervous!) with our team.  We didn't end up breaking out but ALMOST got there.  Apparently we had the hardest room there, quoting only a 19% success rate, but it was fun to work together with the people and seriously get so close to breaking out.  The other group did break out!!  It was a fun time and hopefully Chris was surprised!

While eveyone else stayed for some pizza and beer, Jimmy and I headed home for his birthday dinner with our kiddos (and my parents).  His mom gave him an awesome birthday present - her homemade enchilada's, so he requested we eat those and they didn't disappoint!  I had gone earlier and picked up Jimmy's only cake love - the bundlets from Nothing Bundt Cake.  I got three yummy flavors - lemon, red velvet and the flavor of the month, peanut butter chocolate chip.  If you cannot tell from these pictures, our kids were SOOOOOOOOO excited.  I mean my mom took all these pictures and I was dying at how our kids look different in every single one of them even though they are seconds apart.

After dinner?  The kiddos built a tent with Jimmy and then Maddie sat on his head and Charlie tooted near his face - because you know, that's just how you tell your dad you love him more than anything, right?  I swear these kids!

Needless to say we had a blast and Jimmy and I literally went to bed at 8PM on Sunday night after another amazing fun weekend with perfect weather.  Cannot believe that next year we will have an 8 month old when we are celebrating Jimmy's 33rd birthday!  AH!!!

Love you Jimbo and hope you had a great birthday weekend!

Weekend fun: Wichita, Presidents Day fun

After gymnastics, we headed straight to Wichita for a quick weekend trip to visit Lauren and David and see baby Landon again - and we were planning on meeting Katie, Barry and their kiddos there too (they drove up from Oklahoma).

It was an easy drive for the most part and the kids were good - it's always a hit or miss when you try to drive during nap time - crossing your fingers that they will nap.  Luckily, both kids were pooped from gymnastics and did nap!!

We got there right at the same time as Katie and her family and the kids started playing and we started loving on Landon.  Katie's boys are just 6 months younger than our kiddos- and they had a good time, even though I felt like Charlie and Maddie bullied James and William the whole time (sorry Katie!).

Time flew by and the boys watched the KU vs. Oklahoma game in their awesome theater room (luckily KU won for Jimmy's mood) and the kids just ran around after each other and showed Lauren all the places she is going to need to baby proof in a few months when Landon starts to crawl and get into everything - ha!  Isn't that the truth!?

We ordered some pizza, ate that and in the mean time, the Ruddick family headed back to Oklahoma and we started to settle in for the night.  Maddie is literally obsessed with Landon.  We couldn't get her away from him and from the looks of it, he was pretty interested in her....

...except when she started getting all up on him.

But seriously - I'm SOOOOOO disappointed at myself for not demanding that we take a picture of the three girls and all our babies.  Like I'm the picture crazy person and I should have just made everyone sit down and do it because I'm so mad we didn't get a picture of all the kids!! GRRR!  The crew is multiplying over again and it needs to be documented!

After we put the kids to bed, we all went downstairs to have some wine and watch some TV.  And then we got too old and tired and it was time to go to sleep.  I slept with Charlie - which was "interesting" but after a while after I got in there, he settled down we had a good snuggle sesh.  

The next morning, Charlie was up early (as usual) and we all got dressed and met Ali and her gang at the Donut Whole - which was DELICIOUS. Oh my goodness.  All kinds of delicious cake doughnuts.  We got fruity pebbles, red velvet (in honor of Valentine's Day!!!) and even one with gummy worms on top - talk about delicious.  So we got to meet Baby June and then Nelle, Maddie, Henry and Charlie got to run around and act like crazy kids together.  Being with Ali and her family always makes me feel so NORMAL, which I love so much.  Like yep, it's ok that my kids are a little crazy and maybe don't listen to me all the time.  Because hers don't either and I love them and her for that.  She's a great great gal with an amazing family.

We headed back to Lauren's to chat with them for a little bit before we headed out. Luckily for Charlie (and all our sanity), we only got about 40 miles out of town when Lauren called to say David found Charlie's backpack that we left and all his cars and guys - pretty much the ONLY toys he's obsessed with and plays with.  Oh jeez.  So we turned around and she met us half way (thank God for great friends!) and the toys were saved.  We are horrible at leaving toys places for sure.

After a quick bite to eat, all the little people passed back out about until we got to Kansas City.  

Thank goodness!  But seriously, are kids just not the sweetest when you stare at them while sleeping?

I also came home to some fun Young Living Essential Oils that I'm excited to try!!!

While it was Valentine's Day...my sister had offered to cook dinner for my whole family, so we headed over to her house and enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner with salad and some dessert - thanks Aunt Lulu!

Of course we capped off our V-Day with the most romantic thing ever - watching the Tanner and Jade bachelor wedding - yes we did.

As for Monday?  The stock markets are closed, so I have the day off and my kids school was closed too - so we got to spend the day together.  I did want to run to Hobby Lobby and my dad offered to come over and hang with them - which was so nice and made my shopping trip more fun, but also more expensive!  I might have spent too much money at Hobby Lobby and IKEA already on Friday for our entryway details, but then bought some more for the buffet in the dining room.  I'm a fan (just need to remove the price tags!)

I came home to these three watching a movie and couldn't help but laugh at this scene.  Hahahaha.  And where are my kids clothes??  I'm glad that my dad decided to stay clothed!

After lunch and a nap, we were excited to have some girl time to just hang out while waiting for Charlie to wake up!

It was so nice that we headed to the park....for about 15 minutes.  Haha my kids.

But then we stopped at Sonic happy hour and everyone was happy.

I love that Maddie got up on this chair by herself to enjoy her slushie and look "outside"

Such a big girl now - and such a great weekend.

We loved spending time with friends so much and glad that our kids travel well too!  And the day off was an extra bonus - even if I did spend too much money - at least I got some cute decorations on sale :)