TGIF - Five things

HAPPY FRIDAY.  

I'm back with some random stuff and happenings from the past week!  I'm going to try to get back to regularly scheduled blogging because I MISS it!!  But here's some stuff for now that's just for fun!

{ONE}

If you are going to Wendy's and looking for a more healthy (meaning WAY more healthy than the double stack + fries that I actually wanted to get), you should try their Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad.  I did and was pleasantly surprised.  While I did sneak a couple of french fries from my kids, I'm for sure getting this again if we make a fast food stop.  I loved it!!!

{TWO}

Last weekend was BUSY.  Like we were here to there and then another there constantly.  This weekend is not much different (unfortunately), but the weekends are always fun when we are celebrating with family and friends (it just takes the weekdays to catch up which is easier said than done). 

But last Saturday afternoon, we celebrated my grandmother and granddaddy's 84 and 85 (respectively) birthday's!  They have the same birthday DATE, just a different year, which I think is so cute.  These two love birds have had quite the life journey and what a special thing it was to have all FOUR of their kids in town for this celebration - not to mention a lot of their grandkids that are in KC and even great grandkids. 

The whole family

The great grandkids in attendance!

My sister had just with Maddie and the party favors!

Oh and we busted out the mouth game - which didn't quite fit on Charlie's mouth, but kind of.  HA

{THREE}

Right after the birthday party, Jimmy and I left our kids with my parents (who then shuttled them back to our house where my MIL and Jimmy's grandma babysat them!), to head to his work holiday party.  Seems weird that it's in January, right?  But it's actually pretty awesome because December weekends are always so packed, that it's nice that it's pushed to mid-January every year.

This year they did a murder mystery dinner - which I was SO excited about.  We have never done one of these (and always talked about it) and it was even better when Jimmy was assigned the role of the butler.  Needless to say, Jimmy was disappointed in our table's overall participation (not enough sleuthing going on in his opinion), but he did win the best actor of the night award. Which is NO surprise at all.  He took it very seriously.

And if that wasn't enough entertainment - they busted out karaoke.  Which, as you know, can be a complete flop if no one wants to do it.  Well, his work is full of super fun/brave/drunk people and when the CEO was the second one to go, it kicked off the night just fine.  Jimmy literally sang like 15 songs - some buy himself and some with a group.  And some he wasn't invited to sing but butted in, because he couldn't handle that people were "butchering it".  Haha.  Here he was stealing the microphone when these two guys were singing Frozen's love is an open door. It's his favorite (seriously), so these actions are not surprising at all to me.

Let's just say he might have had a little bit too much fun - as in, he doesn't remember the end of the night at all and almost threw up on the way home.  But I'm an awesome wife and provided him no sympathy and dragged him to 9:30 church.  #adultingsucks

{FOUR}

The Instant Pot.  My new love.  We have been trying so many yummy recipes with this baby.  Including this awesome Chicken Fajita Soup one.  Not kidding - so good.

However, on Monday night this week, we had scheduled to have our neighbors over for dinner, that was long overdue.  I planned to make the easy and delicious crockpot Pork Carnitas (I shared it as one of my family's top 10 freezer meals here).  Easy enough right.  I got everything ready and put it in the crock pot and went to work.  Minor detail - it doesn't actually cook unless you turn it on.

BLAH!  Worst thing ever.  And so embarrassing.  Our neighbors were so sweet about it, but still. AHHHH I hate that.

So yeah, I had a frozen pork butt in the freezer to use, but only had an hour to cook it.  So I attempted the same recipe in the Instant Pot in hopes that it would truly work magic and cook a 3.5lb frozen pork butt in an hour.  Well, it kind of did.  We finally got it (after 2 hours and hungry stomach's) to be safe to eat per the temperature, but it for sure wasn't fall apart pork goodness like it is after spending the day in the crock pot.  Another reason why I really think that the Instant Pot will NEVER replace my multiple crock pots.  Both awesome but different uses!!!

{FIVE}

This is so random - but SERIOUSLY.  Can we have this couch??  Please.  Does this not look so comfy and it's huge and looks like it's like down in the floor.  I love Erin Condren planners, but this takes the cake!!

And can I add a sixth one??  My kids.  I love them and I love even more how much they love each other.  Nothing makes a momma's heart explode than seeing your kids love each other.

Speaking of - one LAST thing.  I'm sharing today on the KCMB all about being outnumbered.  No like life changing secrets, just some funny perspectives!

Cheers to the WEEKEND!

Linking up with:

Sept Farm | Oh hey Friday!

Smidge of This | Five on Friday

Momfessionals | Friday Favorite

Why me?

Have you ever said "why me"? When something doesn't go your way?  Your day doesn't turn out like you think it should?  If you believe in God, maybe you've even demanded from him - "WHY ME?!".

I have done it and I'm sure you have too.

But ever since I saw this sweet momma post about her baby boy yesterday in need of extra prayers - the concept of "why me" has been weighing on my heart.  And she has.  And this sweet boy.  The whole situation.  Now I don't know Annie personally, but she was at K-State the same time that I was and we have lots of mutual friends.  I have been following her journey for awhile now with her sweet son Jonah.  Stories like this in general tug at my heart, but the fact that Jonah is a five year old boy...and I have an almost five-year-old boy...and Annie is my age and went to college with me, when I see her posts about him, I read them all.  I read them hard.  Every word she posts, I read with thought and compassion.  It sounds kind of weird and maybe even more weird that I'm posting this because I don't know them personally - but their family is one that I cannot get out of my mind lately with the recent turn of events.  She had been able to finally post better news lately.  That his treatment was seeming to work and was getting better.  I was so thankful.  For her, for him, for his whole family.  I prayed to God and thanked him many times because as a fellow mom, my heart aches for her. 

And then I saw this post yesterday.

The full message from Jonah's mom, Annie:

You are not going to believe our night. Well, you will because it's us and I'm only telling you because Jonah is better now. Jonah got a biopsy of his neck yesterday and he did not recover well. I'm not sure what happened but the disturbance of the cancer cells somehow ignited an infection(?)/ I don't get it/ some how caused his blood pressure to go too low, and create a significant need for oxygen, and make him breathe harder and run a fever and need a blood transfusion. The team of docs and nurses that rushed to our room did as much for him as they could on the oncology floor before the PICU docs came up and decided he was better off THERE. Once there, literally once we got in the PICU room, Jonah woke up and started talking and being Jonah to the relief of everyone. Blood pressure normal, holding oxygen. He continued to stay up all night watching the Disney Channel.

In addition, the second scan he had yesterday showed more cancer than we knew about. Jonah lit up in several small places all over is body(even his legs) and his bone marrow too.

So, last night we were prepared to accept that this was Jonah's time. Aaron called for the priest and told the family they better get down here to FW. But God didn't take Jonah and he could have easily; the cancer has spread and is in his bone marrow and he's facing more treatment ahead. All God had to do was stop Jonah's overworking heart. But, he didn't.

I've been very angry at God for not saving us from this relentless nightmare. But I wonder today if I've been wrong about him, that he is helping. Did God urge me to look at Jonah's neck? If not, we wouldn't have known for weeks the cancer had spread and wouldn't be starting treatment so soon. And, did God save Jonah last night? He had to of, right?

The priest came today to pray with us, pray for the next treatment, and give Jonah his last rites (just incase.) I told him what I told you and he said, "God's got a plan for him. God's time isn't like our time."

Will you please add Jonah to your church prayer lists? And petition Saint Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer patients?

I don't know if we have 7 days or 70 years. But I accept either outcome.

I tear up every time I read this.  What amazing strength she has.  I have read it each time someone I now shared it on facebook.  Over and over again wondering if I was in that situation - could I do it?  But don't we all wonder that?  When we see stories on the news or social media about family's that are suffering - I often think "WHY THEM"?  One of my dear friends has a brother in law in his mid-20s that just got diagnosed with testicular cancer and is currently going through chemo - WHY THEM?  Someone's family member died too early - either from a tragic accident or a horrific disease.  WHY THEM?  A close friend lost her baby to a super rare disease- WHY THEM?

I even go the crazy mom route (I'm guessing this is normal - but just not talked about..if it's not, then just ignore I said this ;)) - but I lay in bed at night with my kids holding them or rocking them...over and over thanking God that they are healthy.  That they are at home.  And I even wonder WHY ME?  Why did I get so lucky to have these kids?  So many others either struggle to have kids or the kids that they have get stupid cancer.  So WHY ME?

It just struck me - while Annie might be wondering WHY ME all the time, she finds strength in Him through this journey she is on.  When you read her words, I can just feel when she typed them that she is confident that God had a plan for her sweet boy.  And that plan did not include leaving this place yesterday.  She doesn't know when, but He does.  And all she can do is trust and pray and hope and love.

I posted this so you will pray for Jonah.  That you will pray for Annie.  Pray for their family (she is pregnant also - so lots of prayers for that as well!).  I truly believe that every single prayer is heard, no matter if it's 10 seconds or 10 minutes.  Pray for Jonah's healing.  Pray for his comfort.  Pray for his strength.  They can use them all.

I also posted this because while I don't know this brave mama personally, I can't stop thinking how in following her journey how much I have learned from her.  A person I follow on the internet - this world is a crazy place.  What I learned from her is something I need to remember as a mom, friend, daughter, sister, wife, etc. - all I can do is trust and pray and hope and love.  Every day.  Not to wonder about the negative things and be thankful for the positive ones.  And that's exactly what I'm going to continue to do.  And even though I will allow myself a "WHY ME" every once and a while, I will push through that and focus on what I can control and leave God in control of what He controls.

Follow along Jonah's journey with the hashtag #makejonahglow

New year - 8 things!

Happy happy 2017 - hope everyone had a great time celebrating last night.  We went to an old friend's wedding and it was literally the most beautiful wedding and by far one of the most meaningful ceremony's that I have EVER been to.  It was a such a great night catching up with old friends and celebrating those two and their new family.

With a new year, there is lots of reflection too!  I found this article on pop sugar and loved it.  This morning, Jimmy and I went out to breakfast sans kids after a NYE wedding and night in a hotel downtown (so fun!) and were talking about goals.  Goals for 2017.  He said he's not a big goal guy - but I challenged him to think about where he wanted to be this time next year - welcoming in 2018.  Where did he want our family to be?  What did things could we feel better about in 2017 than we did in 2016?

I LOVE conversations like that.  I'm a weirdo - I know.   But I feel like sometimes you can just get SO wrapped up in the day to day and then that turns into the week that went by and then the month.  For me, having that conversation with someone means so much.  And I'm so thankful we got to start the new year off like that!!  Talking about our individual and family goals.  Personal and professional.  Sharing our prayers and fears for 2017 as well.

In addition to personal stuff, I'm always looking for ways to simplify my personal and our family routine...so I'm sharing 8 ways that this article mentions (you can read it there) and add a few of my own comments.

1. Keeping a well stock pantry (I'm also going to add FREEZER to this one because you know my love of freezer meals).  But I totally agree with this one and what a better time to keep this up with our new pantry that we (meaning my dad!!) made in 2016.  While I feel like you need to be aware of your pantry and freezer inventory - meaning you're not stocking up on the same thing over and over again at the store - it's so nice when I meal plan that most of the meals I already either have the stuff in my pantry or it's a full meal already prepped and ready to go in our freezer.  (Check out some freezer meals ideas here and here that are healthy on my heath and fitness blog!)  Helps relieve so much of the stress on a weekly and daily basis and we never have to ask the question "what's for dinner?"
2. Commit to a Regularly scheduled toy purge.  Oh BOY.  We need to do this ASAP from all the Christmas toys - but this is a MUST on our quarterly to do list for 2017.  Plus when we involve the kiddos and give back to kids that don't have toys - we teach our kiddos about giving and I love that.
3. Do a better job of budgeting.  YES.  YES.  YES.  This was on top of my list of things that I feel like Jimmy and I didn't do a good job of this year.  Do we manage our money?  Yes.  Put money into savings?  Yes.  Did we just pay off our minivan and are finally car payment FREE?  YES (seriously I'm so excited about this!).  But what I don't like is not having the visibility and feeling of knowing at any time throughout the month where our money has gone, planning to go and how we are doing towards our plan.  I have a plan in action that I talked through with Jimmy and we are SET on this one.  I just hope we can keep it up!
4. Take the easy way out (sometimes).  Totally love this one.  We have a lot going on in our family.  I have a lot going on personally.  I don't like taking the "easy" way out, but sometimes it's just necessary.  Make my kids halloween costumes?  Not my thing - so just buy!  School parties?  Don't feel guilty about signing up to bring plates.  This means continuing to be conscious that there is not all the time in the world and sometimes it's needed to say no, keep your PJs on and just be with my family.
5. Only make time for the people who matter.  This one is hard for me and always will be.  I have friends from forever and all stages of my life - I love them all so much.  What I learned in 2016 was something that wasn't easy. Friendships change and evolve.  People that you thought were going to be your best friend forever - might not be.  And that's OK.  It was hurting me too much to keep holding on and it took lots of reflection and conversations with people smarter than me that had been through it before to realize that is really is OK.  I'm not a bad person and those people aren't bad people - but we just aren't the same as we were and the relationship isn't benefiting either of us.  Not a fun lesson to learn - one that was filled with sadness, anxiety, tears, etc.  But I'm thankful that I went through it in 2017 and know that with the limited amount of time, it's important to focus on those that you value the relationship with AND (the key) that they value the relationship with you as well.  Easier said than done, but I know I will continue to reflect on this in the upcoming year.  On the super positive side?  As folks funnel out of your life, some amazing people come into it.  I'm so thankful for all the friendships that have grown in 2016 - those with old friends and those with people that I just met this year.  It's quite an interesting circle (friendship is), but I'm thankful for my old, dear friends and all the new ones as well.
6. Make sure you can manage your extracurricular commitments.  Three kids.  Two old enough for activities.  Here's what I'm NOT doing in 2017.  Over scheduling.  Making our kids do things that they don't want to do.  I learned that in 2016 the hard way when I tried to be all strategic with doing indoor soccer for Charlie and Maddie in the fall.  Our Saturday mornings turned out to be WAY too stressful and just made for a horrible start to the weekend.  I'm nervous because I do have them signed up for gymnastics at 9AM (Maddie) and then basketball at 10AM (Charlie) on Saturday's - so I might already be off to a bad start on this one, but I learned that if it's too much - we can adjust and change and even quit as needed.  In addition to the activities for kids - being conscious of my involvement in things.  I manage a HyVee freezer meal group.  I like have regular girl's night.  I want to be a bible study.  I love my personal blog.  I am a health & fitness coach.  We are involved with a small group at church.  That's quite a lot.  Yes, I like busy.  I thrive on busy. But I also need time with my family to do nothing.  And be with Jimmy.  And my extended family.  I know this will just continue to get harder, but keeping this on the top of my mind is important to me!
7. Get your schedules in sync.  I'm hoping Google Home will help with this one :)  Ha.  But in all reality, we are pretty good with this one between Jimmy and I.  We use google calendars and then I also have a planner that I write stuff in - because I like that aspect of it.    
8. Consolidate your errands.  If only I could JUST go to Aldi, I would be one happy lady.  Haha.  I have professed my love of Aldi for grocery shopping and now that they have baby food, it is pretty much the guaranteed place you can find me on a weekly basis.  Most everything else we do subscribe and save via Amazon.  But the things I feel overwhelmed with are when I forget something for the kid's school, a birthday present, body wash (other personal items) - and I'm not able to get it off of Amazon prime.  #firstworldproblems right?  But seriously, I am trying to be mindful of sitting down each Sunday to plan this out and order from Amazon as needed and then stick to my weekly Aldi trips - because Aldi is the BOMB.

Other things I'd like to focus on in 2017:

1. Sticking with my morning workouts - I loved getting into this routine in 2016 and plan on keeping up with that in 2017.  While the 4:45 alarm is early - the energy and endorphins I get when I kick off my day with a quick sweat session is amazing and it's my time to myself that I'm investing back in me
2. Spiritual/reflection time - this is something I always TRY to keep up with and is one of the most important things, but I am going to be honest here - I seem to always have a reason why I can't take like 10 minutes in reflection everyday to pray, be thankful and just be with God.  It's only TEN minutes right?  I'd like to start there - maybe push my alarm 10 minutes early and reflect then?  I just need to find a time (and spot in my house - I think I have a good journal and this 3 minute devotion) and commit.
3. My marriage - this man that I married almost 7 years ago (in April).  He is the best.  Seriously.  Even when I want to hate him, I can't.  He was gushing to me last night how much he loves me and I almost started crying.  I'm so lucky to have him and I don't want him to forget how much I love him!  
   

OK - whew for lots of reflection.  What are things you are looking to do in 2017?  I'm ready to crush these goals and have an amazing year!!

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!

Be Brave

At my work, our communications department sends out an email every morning letting everyone know of articles and industry happenings that happened the previous day.  The girl that sends them out most mornings is in charge of communications in our London office and is amazing and has the best sense of humor.  In addition to sending our all the news about the stock market, she also will randomly include hilarious links to videos, pictures and articles non-related to work.  Last week or so, she sent out this article about the importance of teaching the girls and young women of this world to be BRAVE.  And how in today's society we are constantly teaching and encouraging our young men and men to be brave, speak up, pursue the challenging option - but yet many of the young girls and even women in society today we (subconsciously or not) are encouraging them to "play it safe" and take the route in which they know success will come and failure will not.

I love this article.  I love it as a woman and as a mom to a little girl.  No one likes to fail, but isn't it in the failures in life that you learn the most?  The times when it didn't quite go the way that I wanted it to or the path I thought was best or I failed miserably - looking back, those are the times I learned about myself the most.  When I took the risks that didn't feel comfortable.  I need to continue to remind myself of that even in my current stage of life, when it feels easier to do what's easy and comfortable and in my routine - that you don't always have to succeed but in being brave and standing up for yourself and asking for those things that might not seem attainable - that is when true life is lived.

Enjoy this quick article (taken as an excerpt from a TED talk by Reshma Saujani) and read on a Tuesday!  

(PS this is perfect timing as one of my good friends is one of the hosts of Omaha start up week at The Exchange.  She has poured her heart and soul into this as co-founder and I couldn't be more proud!  Way to go Erica!)

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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 :)

Seven years of blogging- things change baby

We always say "time flies" as adults, as moms, etc.  I think many can attest the older you get the faster the time seems to go.  There are some LOOOONNNNGGG DAYS (yes yes yes) but then all of a sudden I feel like throw in a couple of those and next thing you know another month...or two has passed.

That my friends is the only way I can even begin to fathom in my head how SEVEN years has passed since I posted my first blog post to this little sight.  Seven freaking years.  I was 23!!! Ahhh!!

My first post was just an intro as to why I was about ready to start this blog of mine - mainly because weird/funny/random stuff happened that I wanted to share with friends near and far.  What's amazing to me is how much blogging has changed since then and it's crazy how for so many now it's a full time job where they make lots of money - how amazing is that this day and age!??

Things that have changed from my first post:

• I no longer have a boyfriend - I have a husband of almost 6 years...(it's so weird to go back to my second post and see the phrase "when my boyfriend, Jimmy...".  Lucky for me I've got to call him husband for a while now
• We've bought two houses - and I sold my condo downtown, bought a house in cute Prairie Village, sold that awesome house and moved to our current house in western Olathe
• Jimmy and I both have new (and in our opinion better) jobs!
• We gained two family members (Charlie and Maddie - our human kids) and lost two family members (Milly and Willy - two of our three dog kids)
• My sister went from being a "kid" in college, to an adult with a real job, real house who is getting MARRIED!
• We lost my sweet grandpa
• My dad got diagnosed with prostrate cancer and beat it

Things that have stayed the same since my first post:

• Still in love with Jimmy
• Brown hair is still there (dyed or not- might have a few stray grays...thanks kids!)
• Working in finance- and still loving it
• Living in Kansas City- note above we have bought TWO houses in seven years but haven't left the suburbs of KC
• Still have some crazy best friends from college and high school and so thankful for them!!!
• I'm still about as random as they come - just have learned how to function on little to no sleep

Life is a crazy thing and while I'm not the same person that I was 7 years ago with that first post, I'm glad to report even with all the big changes that have come our way through these years, I am so so happy and blessed with the way life has took it's turns.  During good times and bad, I'm so thankful to have my family, friends and number 1 guy by my side - which makes the road so much easier.

And while this blog is nothing big, it's served as such a wonderful space in my life for 7 years and I love looking back to see all the changes and what I was feeling at the time and reflecting on the person I was, thoughts I was having then and the person I am now.  Sometimes I feel the pressure to attempt to make this whole thing "bigger and better", but then I realize, regardless if no one ever read a post, I love this space I have in the world wide web and hope I can keep it up for 7 more years to come!!

Thanks for readers old and new and cheers to many more years of fun!

And just for fun - here is one of the first pictures I ever posted:

(babies getting engaged!!)

Five things on a Friday

Five things for this week that are random for you.

I'm trying to get back into blogging regularly now that my big deadline at work as been met and I'm excited about it!!!

{ONE}

Starting off this post with my favorite little girl on a Friday night rocking the bathtub all alone.  Her big brother was having a super fun sleepover at Aunt Lulu and Casey's house, so she was soaking up her time as an only child.

She's grown up so much in the last month (was 19 months yesterday!!).  Her personality continues to shine through in good and hard ways.  She's sooooooo stubborn but so funny.  Jimmy and I will get so frustrated with her and then one minute later we are laughing at her!

Maddie is a such a joy and seriously she's hilarious!  It's nice to get a little one on one kind with her.

{TWO}

Oh Norwex.

I went to a party this summer in my neighborhood and I fell in love the products.  I, of course, signed up to host a party later that fall.  Well then it turned out that Charlie was sick the week of the party, so the consultant was nice enough to push it back to after the holidays and first of the year.

So I finally had my party a few weeks ago and while only a few friends and neighbors could come, we had a great time watching the raw chicken presentation, the butter on my glass and learning more about all the products!  Everyone at the party loved it too - so I was glad that I ended up having it.

1 | 2 | 3

4 | 5 | 6 | 7

we got all the products last week and above are just a few things I ended up getting and I'm obsessed all over again!!!  Haha.  I'm a cleaning machine and it's amazing.  I love how easy they are.  Point in case - I was putting away groceries last weekend and noticed how gross my fruit and veggie drawers were and BAM - 20 minutes later, I used the microfiber cloth and water and cleaned my whole fridge!!!   I can't wait to use the mop this weekend to prep for our Superbowl party too.

Even Jimmy was getting into it!!




Yes, we have a cleaning lady, but in my mind these are PERFECT fast and easy products to keep our house clean and safe (chemical free) during week!  Have you tried Norwex?  I'm addicted!!!!

{THREE}

Last weekend it was in the 50s and 60s - AMAZING for the end of January.   We had so much fun going to the park, playing outside in the backyard, and FINALLY getting to take the car these two got for Christmas outside on a little sunset drive!

Look at these two.

Pretty much - Maddie needs a seatbelt.  Charlie is learning to be a better driver, but was a little disappointed when the car ran out of "gas" halfway around the curve.  Haha.  Can't wait for springtime to get this baby out more!!

{FOUR}

Next week is Valentine's Day fun!!!

With both kiddos having parties at school and a LONG week this week at work - I decided to take next Friday off and do some mama shopping time at Ikea and then hit up their parties.  Here is my idea that I loved on Pinterest for Charlie's Valentine's treats for his friends.  We will see what he thinks (it's so much harder when your kid actually has a strong opinion on these things!), but he loves laffy taffy, so I think he'll be a fan!

I also have a fun surprise for Jimmy for Valentine's Day and am excited to finish that up and give it to him.  We will be celebrating with some friends in Wichita with our babes!!

{FIVE}

Oh the dreaming of house fun.  Pinterest is just so good for that isn't it?

I just love this set up that I found here for a fun little bar area in our dining room.  I love in our neighbor's houses (all much newer) how they have a little wet bar area with a fridge that they can keep all their drinks for when they have guests over cold and just let the guests choose.  We have a whole extra fridge in our garage that we use for pop and a separate beer fridge, but whenever we have a party or even a few people over I totally struggle with where to put the drinks out and keep them cold!

Enter this amazing idea that I'm thinking we can put in our dining room.  we have an amazing stencil that Jimmy painted on that wall instead of a chalkboard wall (as cool as that is!!!), but from this Home Depot tutorial - I think my handy men (aka my dad and Jimmy) could easily make this happen, don't you!?!?

So there you have it friends - five things! It have been a LONG few weeks at work, so I'm happy to be at home catching up on TV this week with a sleeping baby (not-so-much-a-baby) girl down the hall and a sweet little boy just down the street sleeping at my sister's house - something he has been looking forward to all week long!

Cheers to a fantastic weekend and nice weather (again!)!

Linking up with:

Sept Farm | Oh hey Friday!

Carolina Charm | Five on Friday

Momfessionals | Friday Favorites