Life Lately

Hey hey hey!

Gotta love it when you make it to Wednesday! We are trucking through our busy week.  Today I have plans to actually PLAY tennis-- I've been taking lessons for a while and really love it, and decided it's time to actually go out and play! Actually, that's kind of a lie... a friend who plays tennis saw that we were taking lessons and she started asking up immediately to play with her and another girl from her team (!!).  We finally agreed so today is the day...I am excited! And I hope I don't embarrass myself- actually, I am not really worried about that.  I am out there having fun and that's all that matters, right?!

I digress... here's a look at what's been happening lately! Also- realized I forgot to do this post last week, so this is a dual post, I guess.

Sweet Bruce loves it on our screened in porch- I took him for a long walk and he stood at the door crying to go out there and take his nap.  Sweet boy....

The boys also love the porch! I think I might have posted this already-- too lazy to check.  They wanted to cuddle up and watch some football out there after their showers.  Might need a bigger couch out there!

 I posted in my last Friday Favorites post about our pictures with Amber Byrd.  I might look like a house in them, but these two sure did look cute as can be! I chose not to battle with them over footwear.... I hope I don't regret that choice! The day before, we went to church and they both complained that their church shoes were hurting their feet- of course they aren't the right size, so..... and we didn't have time to go buy new shoes, so it is what it is... I think they look pretty cute though.  I can't wait to see what Amber captured!!!

Ahh, the sleeping bag.  You know, for a while there, once we moved into the new house, Andy was a great sleeper.  Then, all of a sudden BAM, back on our floor.  He loves the sleeping bag, he loves sleeping with Hank, and he loves the hard as a rock floor.  Seriously.  He sleeps great (usually) once he's there.  

Andy had a play date the other day after school and Cal wanted to help me walk the pups.  He looked so cute strolling along with Hank and his shades on.  

 Clearly the walk flat wore him out!

Andy was telling us something at dinner and Cal started cracking up and spotted the spinach in Andy's teeth.  We all were dying laughing-- he had no clue it was there.  

Got donned head to tow under armor gear the other day for school.  He said he should be sponsored by under armor- hahaha clearly he watches too much ESPN.  In other news, this pull over thing he is wearing is awesome- super soft, cozy warm, but not too hot.... he loves it and I think it looks nice! I would take one in my size!

Homework game has been upped in our house.  There is an online program the kids are required to do.  Both boys have to do it so we got a little creative--
Cal sat in the study at the kid work table on the lap top:

 And Andy sat at the big desk.  It made my heart happy to see them both hard at work, side by side.

 It also inspired me to totally redo the study.  If money were no object (ahhhh), I would love to do an L shaped desk in the corner for the boys to do their work and then get me a new desk that faced out (as opposed to the wall, where I face currently...), and I want some big book shelves behind me.  A girl can dream, right?? I started pinning some boards on pinterest-- but seriously....money IS an issue and this is not high on ANY priority list.... again, a girl can dream! I would love to make this room more functional.... dream on, Momma.

Okay, switching gears.... anyone else have a husband who seems to be allergic to shutting drawers??? I swear to you, I came home and saw this-- it was too funny not to take a picture of... not ONE drawer is pushed in-hahahaha

 Seriously, why? It doesn't take that much more effort to fully close it, does it?? He's lucky he's cute...

Speaking of cute, we got BOO'd this week! In our basket, there were some stick on mustaches....Andy was a big fan of those! He couldn't stop laughing....

Rudolf has been the preferred cuddle buddy this week.  Look at him in the crook of his arm, sound asleep!

Cal got to go on a field trip last week- sadly, it was on a day when I had to work, so I missed it! But I had some wonderful friends there who sent me pictures-- here's Cal's class! 

Look who is smart now!! Moving the sleeping bag ON TOP of the bed...  he only woke up once, but stayed in his bed, errr....ON his bed for the whole night! We counted it as a win.  It's the little victories, people.  

And I watched as much of the final debate as I could...and I spent most of that time playing with snap chat filters-- this one of DT made me laugh so hard.... he's basically duck facing with those shades on-- hahahahahahaha

 Okay, this is SUPER random! I have had multiple (okay, maybe 4) people ask me to do a post on how I curl my hair.  I am totally not great at the selfie world and this would be very much out of my comfort zone, but I am happy to figure out a way to show you-- is this something you would be interested in? If not at all, you can let me know that too.  It might be a huge flop, but if you are interested, let me know!

Alright, that's it! How random am I?!?! Hope you are having a great one!!!

 

When Pinterest strikes

It's no secret I love to decorate for holidays. I was on Pinterest the other day perusing ideas for Cal's class party when I saw some adorable door decorations. Next thing I knew, we are down one roll of toilet paper…hahaha

I did it while the kids were at school; they were beyond excited to see it when we got home!

Fun times! 

Weekend Update!

This weekend was WAY more low key than weekends in the past, and I kind of loved every minute of it! We went into the weekend with basically no plans, and it was great!

Friday morning started EARLY for me.  I had to be at the boys' school by 7 to set up a teacher appreciation room... I was happy to do it though- these teachers work hard and deserve some yummy treats! This was part of the spread when we were done setting up.  The parents brought SO much food! We are lucky to have such great parents at our school. 

I left straight from there and headed to a conference for all Durham and Orange County preschool teachers.   While it was a long, and at times, boring conference...I did enjoy spending some time with my fellow teachers.  I actually really like them and we had a lot of laughs.  This was one of the slides-- talking about self care so that we are able to give more of ourselves in a more efficient manner.  I got the breathing and exercise part down.  Someone make me stop eating so much and I would love some assistance in the sleep department!

 I left the conference at 12:30 and returned to the teacher appreciation goodies to restock and replenish anything needing attention.  We were going to start cleaning it all up at 1:30, so I ended up staying and cleaning until school got out at 2:15!

Eddie told the boys he would take them to the fair for some monster truck racing/demolition derby/nasty food eating fun.  They left around 4 and I was alllllll alone.  I sat down to do some work on the computer and then realized, DUH, get out of here while you can! So I grabbed my book and went to get my toes done....!

It was lovely- sitting in there with a glass of wine, a new book just checked out from the library and someone rubbing on my feet.  Not hating it.

While I was there, Eddie texted me a few pics.... this cutie and his dad went with Eddie and the boys and they all had a great time!

 I believe Andy is eating a bacon wrapped corn dog in the above pic.  Cal is eating something similar to that.  Apparently the theme this year was a whooooole lotta bacon. 

After getting my toes done. I picked up dinner and then came home and curled up on the couch with a big mug of hot tea and the book- y'all: I never do this.  Like ever.  I didn't turn on the TV, I put my phone down, and I just enjoyed the quiet.  And it was sooooo nice.  I dozed on and off and realized how comfy our new couches really are!

I am not sad I missed this:

 I would have liked to have seen this:

 But I was pretty content to be relaxing in the quiet of my house!!!

Saturday morning was a BEAR! The boys were home by 10, so that wasn't too late, but getting up and moving in the morning wasn't easy for anyone.  Eddie left at 6 to go out of town.  We had baseball at 9 and I had to drop Cal off first.  This is what Cal thought about it all:

 By 9, Cal was dropped, everyone had eaten and Andy was smiling- ready to go play!

He had a ton of fun this game-- and really enjoyed sliding into home a few times.  They have two more games and then his season is over! He really likes to bat and is begging to do machine pitch in the spring.  

My happy little baseballer!

 We left Andy's game and headed straight to Cal's (which started at 10 at a different location).  I got a text on the way that Cal got a big hit and scored-- woot! We got there and he gave me a big ol smile.... sweet kid. 

 This was his team's last game, so we had to take a team picture afterward.  First of all- cute kids, right? Secondly-- check out the blue sky! I didn't edit this picture at all.  Love it.  I love fall in NC! It really felt like fall this weekend. 

 I made Cal take an individual picture after the game-- just because I am that kind of mom #whatever.  I will be glad to have it later!!!

 It's been really fun to watch him learn this new sport-- and grow over the season.  He had some amazing coaches, so I know that really helped!

After the game, Cal had a buddy come home with him-- his sister had a double header softball game and he did NOT want to sit through all of that, so he came home with us instead! They played football in the side yard....

 ...until we remembered we got the yard seeded and we are supposed to stay off of it... so they moved to the street....

 Little guy was feeling a little left out, so he came in and we did some Legos together.... the tongue out is pure concentration!

They all went to the park later on-- hard to see from the HUGE sun shining!

And then it was time for dinner (both boys ate TWO pb&js!!) a big, long shower-- they were so crazy dirty, and then bed time.  Andy fell asleep with his water bottle on his face.  Bless him.  

I took a bath and then got cozy on the couch with my book and some football games.  I woke up to snoring and looked over to see Bruce sound asleep on the couch....where he isn't allowed to be! HA!

 Soon after I went to bed, I was joined by a certain 5 year old....

Sunday morning was GORGEOUS! I had some chores to tackle around the house-- Hank found a sunny spot and curled up for a little snooze.  He loves the sun spots!

 I spent some time working on the computer while my roomba ran upstairs (!!!) and literally cleaned every room (ahhhhhhh!) and the washer and dryer were both going-- that sound just makes me happy! The boys played in the neighborhood with some buddies.  They have this little pack that plays SO well together.  Andy is a bit young for them, but they are, for the most part, nice to him.  This is about half of the group:

He got his feelings a little hurt at one point and lost his temper (shocking), so he came home and we did his new favorite thing: legos...! It's funny- Cal doesn't love legos-- he can't sit still long enough to do them correctly (he half places the blocks there they go, but doesn't press them in, etc...). Andy sits and concentrates and WORKS his tongue (see below) and is actually really good at following the directions!

 Tongue action in full effect!

 My effort on the space ship he built was minimal and boy was he proud of it! I was thrilled to see how proud he was of his work.  And he's learning that if it falls to the ground and shatters in a million pieces (!!!!), it's okay, because if we built it once, we can build it again! (this was repeated numerous times....)

At 3:30, Cal had a makeup soccer game.  It was a beautiful day for soccer! Cal was excited to see his team mates, especially after missing the Saturday game for baseball. 

We left soccer and ran quickly by the house before heading to church for choir practice! Look at the steeple of our church against the beautiful sky.... kinda gorgeous, right? 

Both kids were iffy about going to choir-- especially since Cal was missing a friend's birthday party at THE Chuck E Cheese to go (to clarify, he was going to be gone late, so he was only missing a small part of the party....), BUT, they had the best time! My friend was the sit in parent and she sent me this picture- hahaha.  The boys all came out laughing up a storm and happy as can be! We will see how they do when they have to sing in front of the church!

That was our lovely weekend! This week coming up is going to be a BIGGIN: Halloween parties in both boys' classes (I am in charge of Cal's party!), Halloween in the Mouse class, a big Halloween party Friday night- stay tuned for costumes....!, basketball tryouts for Cal, Cal and Eddie's first Y guides meeting, and CB coming to town! Throw in some soccer practice, baseball practice for Andy and two baseball games, and you've got yourself a beast of a week!

BRING IT!