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Is it Friday yet?!?!

 Laugh on, friends...laugh on! And if you see something funny on instagram or facebook, go right ahead and tag me! I love them!

 

Weekend Update: BURR and VDay

This was the epitome of a low key weekend.  We really had no major plans and I liked it like that! It was SUPER cold all weekend-- so cold, that flag football was canceled on Sunday due to low temps.  Jess, I know you have got to be rolling your eyes... but here, if it's below 32, we ain't doing much!

 Friday, when I picked up from school, flurries were coming down.  The kids were BEYOND excited to get to play on the playground with some snow coming down-- clearly they are all southern babes! It was so little snow that you can't even see it in the picture I took (below).  Also, sidenote: Andy decided to dress nicely for his class Valentine's Day party (getting him 1. out of shorts and 2. out of sweatpants is kind of a miracle). When he got all dresses, he looked at me and raised his eyebrows and said, "phew- Mary is going to LOVE this!" hahaha, he is a fan of the ladies...

We came home and I actually took a shower and did my hair.  I say this, because clearly, I don't do it often enough.  Andy kept asking me where I was going and if a babysitter was coming and why my hair wasn't in a ponytail.  Holla.

Saturday, we had basketball games.   Cal's was at 9:15 and then Andy's was at 1.  Gotta love the dead time there in the middle.

 Here's a video of one of his baskets... he was thrilled he scored 8 points!

After the game, I attempted to get a picture of the coaches with the boys... it was going to be great... but the boys tackled each other-- and the dads didn't know what to do with that...so they just stared. 

Take two:

We ran to Target in between games and to Chick Fil A for some game fuel....

Then it was Andy's turn! We were supposed to inter-squad scrimmage again-- but these kiddos were ready to play the other team.  We we talked it over with the other coaches and they all agreed.
I am not sure they were ready for all of this...........

Dear gracious.  Andy had a lot of fun playing-- not sure I got any videos that are post-worthy, but it was a fun game to watch still.  The other team had quite a few kids who weren't really *ready* to play-- lots of tears and laying on the floor and running in the opposite direction.  It was probably a good first game for our kiddos to get them warmed up!

We came home after that and someone was needing some snuggles:

Oh, that face.....

And Hank did too, I guess:

Eddie and I discussed going out Saturday night, but then just opted against it.  There were a variety of reasons for our staying in, and ultimately, I am glad we did! I did run out around 4 to meet Pippa for a drink (or several).  She has had sick kiddos at her house and was needing to get out and I was needing to join her! We went to the club and sat in front of the fire and had the best time chatting away.

Sunday was LOVE day! We made reservations at the club for brunch at 11.  We had a nice slow morning with some laundry and cleaning and then we all showered and had a wonderful brunch! Made me happy-- and full...!

 This picture is so odd to me- Andy is nowhere near this short... he looks SO little next to Cal in the picture, but it is an optical illusion, I guess- he isn't that little in real life!

They gave me some good snuggled for Valentine's Day!

And, Cal has a mega loose tooth... it is ready to come out and we think it will be any day now (but probably closer to a week.....).  Eddie is going out of town and is SO worried he won't be here for it.  Guess the tooth fairy better be on her game....

We came home after brunch and everyone was kind of in a food coma.  I had a bunch of things I needed to do... but what I really NEEDED to do was kick my feet up and watch some UNC basketball...

Eddie took the boys after the UNC game to go shoot hoops with some friends at a high school gym.  I had the whole house to myself (with the dogs...) for almost two whole hours.  I didn't know what to do with myself! I made lunches for Monday (hoping we have school!) and cleaned the kitchen.  I went up to the attic to assess the clean out that needs to take place and got so unbelievably overwhelmed that I had to just walk out.  Maybe another day.  But not Valentine's Day!

When the boys got home, they were all kinds of amped up and wanted to keep on playing ball in the driveway.  Keep in mind that it was like 25 degrees out at this point:

So the indoor trampoline was brought down for the boys to work on their dunking.  Yes.  That's right.  

And then I watch this (mind you I am sitting inside watching through the window-- because I am not about to sit out there and freeze-- y'all cray).  I fear for the future.  As my mother in law put it: he will either be king of the dunk contest....or king of the emergency room. sigh.

Over all, it was a lovely Valentine's Weekend spent with my little loves, and my sweet hubby! I got some flowers and great cards.  We don't care much about Valentine's Day-- it's more important to spend time together than to do the expensive cheesy stuff.

Hope y'all had a great weekend!!! It's going to be a crazy week ahead-- here we go!

Friday Favorites: LOVE

A few favorites today, this time for Valentine's Day...

It has been a HELL of a day around here.  Holy bad. I am thankful tomorrow is a new day and that we get a fresh start... PHEW.  Did I mention PHEW?!?! ahhaha

/ONE/

I went back and forth about teacher Valentine's gifts-- do I go all pinterest-y for them? Have the boys make a card? What to do, what to do?... But then I realized that I don't have the time nor the energy for that ish.  But I do love these teachers...So I went to Dunkin Donuts (a favorite of mine!) and got each teacher a gift card, and I also grabbed empty coffee cups.

I grabbed some red and white paper and used the cardboard sleeve holder as a template. 

I wrapped the cups, used a little hot glue, and filled the cups with some kisses and topped it with a gift card. 

Beyond easy.  Hope they like them!

/TWO/

Speaking of Valentine's, I always send members of the family a Valentine's Card with a picture of the boys-- usually I order off of Shutterfly or somewhere similar.  I don't send many, but I think they like getting the snail mail with a pic of the boys. 

I discovered the app RED STAMP recently and I am obsessed.  You can write whatever kind of card you want (thank you, you rock, I miss you, I love you, make it a great day...), and then you can decide to "make it a digital day," where they send you the card via your picture album and you can text or email it to anyone, or you can select them to mail it for you-- where they will print it, address the envelope and mail it-- all for like $3.  I don't know if you have looked at cards lately at Target, but it is hard to find a card for under $3... then I have to go find/buy stamps, and it becomes a process.  This was SO easy!

This is the home screen:

And then these are just some of the Valentine's Day cards:

I selected a card and added a picture (it really couldn't be easier) and then chose to have the cards mailed to my people-- and the app has access to your contacts so they just import right in.  

It is probably too late to mail a card in time for Valentine's Day, but maybe you could do a digital card to someone on the actual day-- cards make me so happy... this would be a simple way to make someone's day!

/THREE/

Oh this is a fun one... I have had to wait to post about it because Eddie's sister, CB, was getting one for her birthday!

I have seen Sheafer's BaubleBar signature necklace before, and I always thought it was cute. They are made to take your signature and turn it into a necklace.  But then someone posted (it might have been Sheafer- I am not very smart...) about having a kid's handwriting for the necklace and I got an idea...

My mother in law is called Mimi by the boys.... so I had Cal write the first Mi and Andy write the second Mi:

 I was able to choose any color I wanted for the "name" so I picked clear-- I wasn't sure how big it would be and I didn't want my MIL looking like Flavor Flave with some mega bling.  Well, she opened it and LOVED it-- and has yet to take it off! The clear is kind of hard to see in the below picture...

Eddie's sister, Carrie, saw the necklace and decided that was what she wanted for her birthday! We got to work and created this template:

(the letters have to overlap somewhere so that the necklace stays together-- try explaining that to a 4 and 6 year old...!). Andy did the C and Andy did the B. 

She opened it and immediately sent us a picture:

She wanted a grey color and I really like it! It looks great with her dark hair.  The next day she posted this on face book... I think she liked it!

That's about all I've got for this week.... We've got a busy (and COLD!) weekend ahead with basketball and football and Valentine's Day brunch. 

Did I mention tomorrow is another day?! Can I get an AMEN to that?!?!?!?!

 PS- I gave up chocolate for lent.  WTF was I thinking? I got a ton of chocolate goodies from my sweet Mouse class.... whhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy???


 

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Life Lately

Life lately 'round these parts is good! We are just trucking along! Here's a shortened version (yeah right) of life lately!

What we are reading:

I finished The Choice by Nicholas Sparks and I liked it! It wasn't my most favorite book ever, but it was an easy read. When I finished it, I thought "wow, I really liked that!" and then the more I think about it, the more I am kind of "eh" about it.  I do want to see the movie to see how they change it up...but I will probably rent it!

I haven't started another book yet...! Any suggestions? I am thinking All the Light We Cannot See.... or maybe Nightingale. 

Cal is blowing me away this week with his reading.  He has blown through every book I bought home this week-- it looks like he's ready to move up a level in books and that is SUPER exciting! And we are also learning our days of spelling things to each other are coming to an end... he sounds them out quicker than Eddie most the time.... just saying...

What we are eating:
Monday night I made sloppy joes-- and they were a hit! I served them with some sweet potato french fries and called it a night!
Tuesday night is also Taco Tuesday around here- some form of Mexican food.  This time we did pulled chicken tacos (chicken breasts in crock pot, add taco seasoning and a jar of salsa.  Shred the chicken and serve it up in a tortilla or taco shell.  Easy peasy)
Wednesday night: I have a meeting at the club so we are going to do family night up there
Thursday: I *think* I am making my mother in law's homemade lasagne-- but that is only if I have the energy to do that after a long day... here's hoping!
Friday: I am hoping for some takeout....!
Saturday: no plans
Sunday: VALENTINE'S DAY! We are having a family brunch at the club and spending the day together as a family! I do not love Valentine's Day-- funny enough, I like it more now that I have kids-- and I really don't love going out to eat to a pre-fixed menu and all the cheesiness that follows.  So a nice little brunch sounds lovely to me!

Also, I have started making myself drink 3 s'well water bottles full of water a day... I have the larger size bottle, which is 27 ounces.  This is hard for me because I am not a big water drinker.  I like the challenge and while I do not enjoy going to pee every 30 minutes, I do enjoy the way more water is making me feel. 

What we are watching:

Obviously we watched the Super Bowl! We still love the Panthers- don't worry!
Besides that, I am still watching the Bachelor.  This week was gooooooood.  I couldn't believe Leah and her lies! The women are going to RIP her apart at the women tell all.  And you know what? She deserves it.  Don't take someone down with you just because you are going down.  And, I hate green beans has a hilarious recap up.  She's funny. 

So, I have been OVER technology in this house.  The boys are OBSESSED with their xbox and ipads.  When we bought the ipads, we downloaded all kinds of educational games, thinking they would play those and they would be great... well those have LONG been deleted and the most mind numbing games have been installed.  They play xbox and get themselves all kinds of worked up that next thing I know they are fighting and hitting and screaming.  Then they get their ipads and they fight and scream and fits follow. 

Eddie doesn't see any of this so he doesn't mind the technology use.  But momma does.  So momma laid the law down and we no longer use the xbox or ipads during the week.  And it has been AWESOME. 

That sounds crazy, I know, but it is the greatest thing I ever could have done.  Last week, Andy brought all these monster trucks into the kitchen while I was cooking dinner (which many think it a nightmare, I know-- but this is better than him coming in screaming about something on his ipad....) and he set up a race track and then got a microphone and became the "announcer" of the race.  It made me so happy to sit and listen to him play so contently.

We will turn on the TV, especially when I know downtime is needed-- and I am soooo fine with this.  They usually won't sit there for more than 10 minutes anyway. 

Cal will go play, but he really wants me to play WITH him, as opposed to him playing solo.  I don't really mind this, but I am hoping he will get better at playing on his own, without beating his brother up. 

We haven't eliminated all screen time-- I will let them use the website abcya.com.  And it is amazing! omg! The stuff they can do on there is incredible.  And it is all educational! Andy spent an hour on there Tuesday afternoon before we picked up Cal matching upper case letters to lower case letters and then doing some simple math.  He was so quiet and so focused. 

What's Making Me Happy:

Lets see...this week, I am dreaming about warm weather and our upcoming trip to Mexico-- it isn't for another month, but I am getting excited! I have started perusing some swimsuit options and I think I might order a few just to see...

The sleeping over here is NOT going well, and that does not make me happy.  At all.  Andy never made it past 5 nights in his bed and is back on our floor.  As if that's not enough, he wakes up several times on our floor.  Tuesday night, he was up 3 times (once to get on the floor, once to get his blankets fixed and once to pee), and Cal woke up four times-- huh?!?!?! Seriously.  When my alarm went off in the morning, I was a tired somebody.

 This cutie had his 100th day of school and they did all kinds of fun 100 things-- I love his school and his sweet teacher more and more every day! The stuff he is learning this year amazes me.  He got his report card Friday and it was excellent!

Hard to believe he is well over half way done with kindergarten...and that Andy will be there next year!

That is about it for life lately! Oh, one more picture...

this nut found some hair gel and took it upon himself to gel himself waaaaaay up before school on Monday... and then right as we were walking out the door, laid on the floor screaming and crying because he didn't want the gel in there any more.  Problem was, he put so much in, there was ZERO way to get it out...and we had to leave right then so I could get to work.  Eddie did some "magical combing" and fixed it a little bit.  Phew, this one.