Weekend Recap

If I had to label this weekend with one word, I would use BUSY. 

It was an absolutely fun, full of friend time weekend... but BUSY. 

A weekend so busy, that I am not prepared today for Monday and hence

brought the kids to school in my pjs and wore a hat to cover up the fact that 

this girl didn't even comb her hair!  

The three kids that had to go out in public to go to school look okay. 

Lil Miss and I are not, but to me those days are okay.  

We will use this Monday to catch up.  

I can always use another day of rest from running at the gym anyways.  LOL

So instead of running upstairs to comb my hair, I am at the computer blogging in my pjs.  

Like I said its a "rest day". 

So our weekend went something like this. 

 Friday night, Bubba and his friends had their last basketball game of the season.
They played during the half time of the Bettendorf Boys Reserve game.
So proud of these boys, they are a great group of friends and have a ball on AND off the court.

On Saturday, we had a whole day of basketball ahead of us.  

Gigi had her last game of the season and then Rosie played 

in a basketball tournament.  

Rosie and her best friend Emily played their hearts out. 

All my kids are all so lucky to have good friends on their teams.   

We came home exhausted from a day of dribbling and free throws.  

To show my kid's dedication, they came home from a long day on the courts and wanted to shoot 

baskets in the driveway.  They LOVE basketball. 

Sunday was filled with the Blue and Gold Banquet.  

This is wear the scouts rank up, Bubba went from a Wolf to a Bear. 

Momma was on the Blue and Gold committee and was in charge of decorations.  

A decorating committee of one.  

With help from the Webelos in making the paracord bracelets for every scout, the 

centerpieces turned out beautifully. 

Sunday night, Gigi had two friends over to celebrate her birthday.

It wasn't anything big, Gigi wanted to cook so we made homemade pizzas and 

decorated cupcakes. 

 There was a lot of frosting licking.

And now today we are back into routine and school. 

Lil Miss was ready to "go to work" this morning. 

I hope you are all enjoying your Mondays. 

Babies, Valetines, and Hugs

This past weekend, I took the kiddos to Ohio for a 4 day weekend.  

Daddy wasn't able to get away, so we left him to a quiet relaxing weekend and 

made the 7 hour trip East. 

On Friday, I woke up to a precious little someone. 

My sister Beth, dropped off the boy's so we could watch them. 

 I hadn't snuggled with Baby Reed since Christmas, so I couldn't wait to get 

my hands on him.  I had to elbow my way past my sister, Kathy, and my mom

but I got in my Reed time.   

Of course, my kids were once again spoiled.  

Kathy and Grandma gave all the kids a valentine's surprise, and they were quickly hyped up 

on M and M's and candy hearts. 

 The kids had a lot of energy, by 10 am the adults were exhausted.  

They played dress up... 

had dance parties... 

wrestled... 

and played in the snow a dozen times.  

Grandma Judy has the BEST sledding hill.  

The kids had a worn sledding path down the hill that had them gliding into the field.  

Lots of hot chocolate was drank every time they came in to warm up. 

 

 

Someone tried to throw snowballs at the photographer. 

Lincoln was determined to ride the snowboard.  He went down a hundred times, each time getting a little further down the hill.  Future olympian. 

My kids couldn't get enough of their cousins.  

You would have thought they would have gotten sick of each other, but no.  

The boys didn't want to leave and convinced their parents to even stay the night. 

Gigi's birthday is this week, so we celebrated her birthday at 

both grandma's houses.  She had a blast blowing out her candles multiple times.  

It was a real treat.  

We made a lot of memories, and the fun carried us home on an extra long 

drive because of the weather.  

We drove home on Monday in a snow storm, lucky enough that the snow didn't start until we passed Chicago.  I pulled into the driveway so glad to be home.  My back ached and arms were relieved from the tension of holding onto the steering wheel with both hands as we traveled in the snow storm.  

Now the snow is melting and we are back into the routine of school and all that brings.  

Missing my nephews already but so happy to have long weekends to spend making memories.

They stole my heart

This week I took some cute pictures of the kids.  

Of course I get these ambitions about 2 in the afternoon and then run around creating a backdrop in my living room, and then pick out clothes for the kids out of the closets and pray that all the kids are in a good mood after school.  I was not disappointed.  We had very little homework, and the kids were all smiles and excited to be my models.  Yeah!! 

 

My makeshift backdrop, made of extra fabric I had down stairs and a ceiling fan dusting rod hanging over an armoire.  It did its job.

Here is a few of the pics... 

Can they get any cuter? 

 Lil Miss

 Gigi

 Bubba

 

Rosie

 

 

  

 Of course, Lil miss was her usual self.  

Lots of hilarious outtakes... 

  

 They are not perfect photos.... but they make me smile. 

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."
Thoreau

P is for Polar Vortex

This is not a rant against the snow or the cold. 

I haven't really minded it.  

It hasn't cramped our style. 

After I get over the initial shock of changing plans (I really like my routines) my brain goes into overdrive on what we are going to do. 

It's an opportunity to do some fun stuff with the kids. 

The kids start jumping up and down as soon as school is called off. 

They know their momma has something fun planned.  

That is a lot of pressure... but I usually pull something out over the top for Snow Days. 

It can be as easy as blowing up 2 dozen balloons to play in the living room or 

building a pirate ship out of cardboard. 

I LOVE using my imagination. 

Below is how we survived the Snow Days so far. 

We made "snow cream" when our snow day actually included snow. 

If you haven't seen the recipe all over Facebook and pinterest it goes something like this:

 4 cups ice cream

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla 

MIX... that's it.  

 We have dance parties in the living room. 

  

 We paint and and make crafts

We eat whatever we have in the fridge.

We have adventures.

I turned the girl's bunk beds into a pirate ship and made a treasure map for them to 

find "treasure".   

We have cozy movie time.

......And then mommy rests.

  
And if we venture outside, we bundle up.

Snow days are fun, but they create one exhausted momma.
It's good that they only happen once in awhile!

"This is the day that 
the Lord has made; let us 
rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24