Love!

In honor of Valentine's Day, which was this past week, I thought I'd do a post on things that I love. These are more superficial things. Everyone knows my real loves, like Jesus, my husband, the kids, etc etc. This is just a fun post. Lots of pics and stuff from our V-day weekend to come tomorrow! :)



Things I Love.....



~Laying in bed and listening to the rain hit the roof

~Sitting around a table with my friends, and laughing until my stomach hurts

~Finding that awesome bargain while out shopping. Almost too good to be true.

~The part of a book where it gets so good you just can't put it down.

~Changing my desktop background, mantel, and decor on the door for each holiday/occasion.

~Planning out the kids' birthday parties, down to the very tiny details.

~The first few days of Spring, where the weather is just perfect and you don't want to go inside.

~Watching the kids get really excited over something for the first (or 100th) time.

~Getting a compliment out of the blue from someone, and I know they really mean it.

~Finding out a friend just had a new baby and flipping through all their pictures on facebook.

~When the whole house is clean and I can sit back and relax (doesn't happen very often!)

~The smell of Vanilla Lime from Yankee Candle.. either in the van or in a candle.

~Picking out the kids' Easter outfits and coordinating them all by color.

~All the Duck Dynasty hoopla. Yes, I watch every episode. Yes I follow them on Facebook. Yes, I've read all their books. Yes I have about 4 DD tshirts and their Christmas ornaments. No, i'm not at all sorry!

~Going out to eat at Village Inn with friends on Mon nights.. and all the kids eat free!

~Watching Arnold play guitar, and seeing how happy it makes him. I am so proud of his talent.

Weekend Recap!

Friday morning Arnold and I dropped the kids off at school together, and then went to the gym for their Awards Ceremony. It was supposed to be last week, but it got postponed due to snow. Brooke and Caleb both got AR Reader awards, and Caleb got recognized for being the December Citizen of the Month for his class. It is always so fun as a parent to go to those things and watch your kids get so excited about standing up in front of their friends. You can tell they are proud. I even like watching their friends get awards too, and feel proud for them. Whenever they come into the gym we wave like crazy at them and when they stand up to get their award, Arnold was clapping extra loudly and giving the kids thumbs up. I think the kids are finally starting to get embarrassed by us being over-excited for them on things, but Brooke is definitely a better sport about it than Caleb is ;) Friday evening after dinner we took the kids to Sweet Frog to get some icecream. We say we were going to celebrate the kids getting 100's on their spelling tests, but the honest truth is that we really just like going there, I think ;) 

Saturday morning we woke up to a nice surprise-- our tax money in our bank account! We were expecting it on Monday, so it was so awesome that it showed up two days earlier! We got started right away on our mile-long to-do list that we had planned out for the money. We went on Amazon and ordered us a new vacuum (exciting, right?! but we really DO need a new one!) And paid a few bills. Then we went out to get some more things we had been planning to get. Our first trip was to Target to get some home items. We found some drapes for our bedroom, and we just so lucked out that they had "Avengers/Superhero" drapes on clearance in the kids' section, so we got them for Caleb's room! (Arnold recently re-painted his room and we are re-doing it to be a Superhero theme!) We also picked out the kids' Valentine's Day candies for their friends at school-- Nerds for Brooke, Fun Dip for Caleb, and heart fruit snacks for Rachel (I'm sure you all remember what a big deal picking out that stuff is! :) We also picked up several little boxes of candy.. and when we went to the checkout line the man asked us if we were going to the movies.. he said people always come in there to get snacks right before the movies! Well, if they weren't so dang expensive!!! ;) 

We were headed to the movies later but we still had time to kill, so Arnold decided he wanted to get a haircut. While he was in there getting that done, I took the kids into AC Moore, and we picked out some Valentine's Day crafts to do later that night. They picked out masks to color and design with markers. When Arnold got done we all went into TJ Maxx. They had some of those "gourmet" Oreos out with their Valentine's Day stuff, and I begged Arnold to get me some.. he thought it was ridiculous to pay $5.99 for them (and I do too!) but what is wrong with a splurge treat every once in awhile?! We also went to Old Navy and looked around.. there were several things I probably could have bought, but I was good and stuck to one new sweater for Caleb (he didn't really NEED any more clothes anyway!)

Finally it was time for the movies. We went to see The Lego Movie-- the kids had been dying to see it ever since the first previews came out! We had dropped by earlier that day to buy our tickets, and also got their 30 minutes early to get our snacks, and I am SO glad we did, because it was packed! We took our popcorn bucket to get some popcorn, and we did end up buying some drinks so I could get the special Divergent movie cups ;) We went to the movie in the new BIG D theater that recently opened, and it was awesome! The place was huge.. the screen was huge.. and the chairs were so nice and comfy. Everyone else had the same idea though, and we shared the theater with tons of other movie-goers.. I think the movie was probably sold out by the looks of the filled seats! The movie was very good.. it had a lot of action so Caleb loved it, but it also had a lot of funny and sweet parts, so the girls and I loved it, too. And the end part is pretty awesome (I won't ruin it for anyone.. but I love how it tied in with the rest of the movie!) But be warned.. the "awesome" song will be stuck in your head for hours after that movie!!!! :)

Sunday morning we went to early service at church because I had baby class. We ended up having 5 little guys and girls in there this week, and we had a great time. We did the lesson with the kids, read stories, and played on the floor. Then later in the service a sweet little baby boy joined our class, so I got to spend the rest of the time holding him! I got drooled all over! My favorite kind of morning! ;) After church we went to lunch at El Paso.. one of our fave places in town. Then we went to Walmart to get even more stuff we have been planning to get. Some dress shoes for Caleb, some dumbbell weights for Arnold, some tealight candles for my tart burner.. a Duck Dynasty shirt for me.. you know.. all the important stuff ;) But for real, they have a lot of good clearance going on right now.. so I'd advise checking it out! 

That afternoon we went to Logan and Ben's birthday party. (my best friend's sons) They are turning 3 and 9. I can't believe our kids are getting so old! (that means we are old, too! eek!) Ben had a Thomas Train theme, and Logan had a Minecraft theme. I think the kids had a good time because we let them loose in the gym at their church, and they ran around with all their friends. I got to talk to some of my friends, and tried to take a lot of pictures for Joanne, too. We had some snacks and then we did cake. Joanne and her hubby make and decorate bday cakes, and they always do a great job. They are cute AND taste good. So I was just as excited as the kids to get a piece to eat ;) Then the boys opened their presents (I think the legos we got Logan were a hit!) and then things started winding down. The kids were all hyped up on sugar though, and were crazy on the way home (I think Joanne planned it that way, lol!)

Sunday evening we worked on some things around the house. Arnold hung our new curtains and we totally re-arranged our room. We moved the bed to a new place.. added a lamp in there.. and even moved around decorative things-- it is a whole new room! I love it! A few touches can really make the difference in updating a space. The kids played outside in their new power wheels jeep because the weather was actually pretty nice for once! And we ended the evening with Arnold helping Caleb do his "100 days of school" project. He chose to count out 100 mini marshmellows and glue them onto a poster board in the design of a snowflake. I think it turned out pretty good.. even if he did almost walk out of the house this morning without it!!!! Arnold passed out early (which never happens, so he must have had a hard day!) And I caught up on things on my ipad which I had FINALLY charged up.. it hadn't been turned on in 5 weeks because I lost my charger. But I found it! :)

Hope everyone else had a great weekend too! :)

Brooke at the awards ceremony.

Caleb getting his award from the principal

The books I ordered finally showed up on Saturday! I got them with the giftcard Arnold had gotten me back at our anniversary. Can't wait to read them all!

We donated $3 to a disabled children's charity at the movies, and they gave Caleb this Star Wars pin. He thought it was neat and wanted to wear it.

Waiting in line for the Lego Movie. No idea why Caleb's face looks like that. And Brooke's hair is a wreck and she looks like she is bumming it, but she is still cute ;)

I made Arnold take this picture of my Divergent cup. I took them home and washed them to use again! He said I was so ridiculous! Well you married me! ;)

Out to lunch after church. Wish Caleb hadn't opened his mouth while eating, and Brooke's hair looks like 80's crimped style because she had had a braid in it earlier :)

So these are our new drapes. They actually have purple in them so it matches the walls better in person. Along with the bedspread we have on now though.. the room is BRIGHT and LOUD.. but oh well. Arnold says "no one sees our room anyway." Did he forget about my blog?! ;)

Mamas at the bday party on Sunday. I am so blessed to call these ladies friends! :)

Rachel and her BFF Kenzie, having some snacks. They kept sneaking back to the table and eating some of the rock candy. I'll admit, I did too! It was yummy! ;)

Ben getting ready to blow out his candle!

Logan blowing out his candles! And I ate a piece of his cake.. it was good!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

 

 



 

 

 

 

~The books I ordered from Barnes and Noble with the giftcard Arnold gave me, should be here today or tomorrow! I ended up ordering "The First Phonecall from Heaven" which was on my list to read, and two books that were on sale that sounded good, and a book on Dave Matthews (Love DMB! Thought it would be interesting.)

 

~Caleb got 102 on his latest spelling test! He is doing really good in school. His reading test results recently came back also, and he is in the "advanced" category for his age :)

 

~We are finally getting to take a "real" family vacation!!! Arnold and I had talked about using money this year from his bonus check, and go to the beach. Rachel has never even seen a beach before, and we have been wanting to take the kids for awhile now, but it hasn't worked out. Then my parents surprised us and offered us one of their timeshare weeks, since they have a bunch saved up that they won't be able to use.. so now we get to stay somewhere really nice! We have decided on Surfside Beach in SC, at the end of July. And the resort looks AWESOME. They have an outdoor pool and waterpark right outside the doors, that I know the kids will love. They were out of places with double rooms, so we will have to spend a week of extreme togetherness, but it is worth it! I can't wait to take some nice pics of the kids on the beach, too :) July-- hurry up and get here please!!!! :)

 

~We plan on taking the kids to see The Lego Movie this Saturday. I think Arnold and I are just as excited as they are ;) I love that they are at the age now where they can actually sit through a movie and we can all enjoy it. We have seen several previews, and it looks really funny.

 

~The tax money should be hitting our bank account soon! I am very impatient, because I have several things I need/want to do with that money! Our latest plan is to join the gym, which I think I already mentioned. I am going to go ahead and pay for a whole year's membership since we will have the extra money, and it will motivate me more to go!

 

~We had been talking about MAYBE using some of our tax money to get a flatscreen tv (we still have a small, old-fashioned tv, haha) And it was crazy timing, but our next door neighbors told Arnold the other day that they are getting a new tv and offered us their old one! It is HUGE! The type that will take up a bunch of space and sit on the floor, but we will make it work! I am so excited because now we will have a bigger tv (big screen is always nicer when watching stuff or playing video games) and we are now saving that money and can do something else we had planned with it. How awesome is that?? Those guys were really nice to us! :)

 



 

 

~I love this little fella, he is just the best. Arnold calls him my sidekick, and it is true. Every night when I go into the bedroom and get into bed, he follows me and expects to be put in the bed with me :) I do love it, though. He keeps me company and is a great listener ;)

~Picked these up at the store the other day and baked some Valentine's Day cookies with the kids last night after dinner. My grandma used to make me all the "holiday" cookies every year and I love doing the same thing with my kids :)

~What is that you ask? A man in the kitchen actually doing work?! Yes.. Arnold was sweet enough to do the dishes last night. He actually had a lot of energy yesterday! Hey, I say take full advantage of it! ;) 

~Brooke and her friend, Emma, signed up the other night for The American Heritage Girls! (Their friend Zoey did also, but she didn't want to be in the pic ;) The group is similar to scouting, but Christian-based. The age group the girls are in is called "The Tenderhearts." Reminds me of the Carebears ;) Anyway, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun for them. They will do service projects, earn badges, go on fun trips, and all sorts of things. All while keeping the focus on God and building good character qualities, which is very important to Arnold and I. Brooke is SO excited that two of her best friends are joining with her, I know they will have a lot of fun. Their first meeting is two Mondays from now, and they will be having meetings every other week. 

Sitting around watiting on me to finish the paperwork

Little sissy hung out for awhile too, before Daddy took her and Caleb out for awhile

They gave the girls goody bags when they left.. I thought that was really sweet :)

Weekend Recap

 

 

 

Friday the kids finally went back to school after a few snow days. They were getting pretty bored around here! We had a 2-hr delay, but it was better than nothing. That evening we made some homeade pizzas and then some cookies for dessert, it was a lot of fun. That night Arnold and I watched "Bad Grandpa." Wow.. stupid, stupid movie. I know, what do you expect with Johnny Knoxville, right? (but he is totally cute when not all made up to look like an old man ;) Arnold says he can't believe we spent time watching that movie, and I have to agree! Anyone have a suggestion for the next movie we rent so we won't regret it?? Ha!

 

Saturday morning I got up early (I know, crazy right?!) and met Joanne for some girl time. Arnold was sweet enough to watch the kids while I went. We were able to get some yummy caffeine, and then headed over to the nail salon to get our eyebrows and upper lip waxed (just started the lip thing because the guy said "I needed it.." Talk about embarassing ;) Joanne had never gotten it done before so I let her watch me go beforehand. I warned her it would hurt, but she still seem surprised and about jumped out of the chair! Ha! I always love how my eyebrows look right after I get them waxed.. I wish I could re-create the look at home, but I just can't seem to. And of course they pestered us to get our nails done too while we were in there, but we didn't have that planned so we just went on our way. We went up to Goodwill, because I like to treasure hunt every week.. I always find some great stuff. This week I found no books for myself, but found a few really good ones for the kids. I love when you find nice, hardback books for kids and can get them for only 50 cents there. Then we headed over to Kohl's to look around. I found Rachel a cute outfit that said "Sweet Like Mommy." Well it's TRUE, isn't it?! ;)

 

Around lunchtime Joanne had to go back home (boo) so I told Arnold and the kids to just go ahead and meet me in Hickory and we could have lunch together. We went back to PDQ again, which I still don't think is worth the money, but its ok. I tried a chicken sandwich this time around. It was good.. but it's no Chick Fila! ;) Then we headed over to the mall. We dropped our van off at the Sears Auto Center because it was waaaay overdue for an oil change. And we walked around the mall while we were waiting on it. I went to Gymboree to use my Gymbucks. I bought Brooke a GORGEOUS outfit that I plan to use somehow in future pictures, and Rachel's swimsuit for this summer (we don't go swimming often so she usually doesn't need several but she will probably get a few more anyway) And a few other outfits.. I was pretty happy with what I found. I also looked around Kirklands.. and surprised myself by resisting soo many things.. they have the CUTEST owl things right now, and everyone knows how I am with my owls ;) Finally the van was done, and thank goodness, because Rachel was starting to do some serious whining about too much walking. We had a bunch of points built up on our Sears/Kmart rewards card, and we were going to use it to pay for our oil change, but something was screwed up and we couldn't use it! Well dangit.. oh well, I'm sure there will still be something I can find to buy in the future.

 

On the way home we went by Mcdonalds to get some icecream. Dipped cones, to be exact. I know the workers there hated us, because we asked for 4 of them.. and it is very difficult to make those things.. I have watched them do it and they nearly cuss every time, haha. But they are sooo yummy. And they don't make them at the Mcdonalds near our house (why?!) so I like to get them sometimes when we are out doing something else. That evening after the kids went to bed that night, I did some reading. I have gotten hooked on Karen Kingsbury, and am currently reading her "Bailey Flannigan" series. I actually have just finished my 9th book so far this year, I am on a roll! I wonder if I can keep up with it this year and beat my record? We will see...

 

 

Sunday morning we went to church early because It was my week to work in the baby class. We waited.. and waited.. and none of my babies came! That really shocked me because we usually have at least one, but usually several little ones! I was a little bummed out, because I look foward to my time with those cuties. Since no one showed up, I went to service with Arnold. They are doing a series called "Trading Spaces," and I think it is awesome, because the messages are on getting people to see things from another perspective. This week it was about being a big spender.. and last week it had been about being a saver. Our pastor talked about how being extreme either way isn't healthy. And spending money isn't a sin, but knowing what you are supposed to do financially and NOT doing it, is a sin. That part really stuck with me. I realize that we aren't always the best about doing what we know we should, but we need to trust God with our finances, because he will always provide, and always show a way, even when things are rough. He has proven that so many times to us before, and I am always amazed at how things work out. We have been blessed.

 

Sunday evening we went over to Mom and Dad's to watch the Superbowl. My dad is a huge sports fan, and I grew up having to watch it with him, and now just hearing a ball game in the background makes me calm down and feel warm and fuzzy about being a kid again, haha ;) I am not huge on sports, but I enjoy it somewhat, especially big games like this. So I decided to go for the Broncos (mostly because that is the team most people I knew were going for ;) And sooo I know now that was a bad choice! I was amazed at how the game went... not very well at all for our Broncos! But we had a great time anyway, hanging out with family. Mom made lots of yummy snacks and treats for us to munch on. I was really excited for the commercials, but they didn't seem as good to me this year as in the past. Was anyone else disappointed? I kept waiting around just to see John Stamos and the other Full House guys in their yogurt commercial ;) We ended up staying late and when I told the kids it was time to go home, Rachel actually got mad at me. In her words "But I WASN'T done watching the movie with Grandma!" (They had moved to another room to cuddle and watch Disney!) Well excuse me! And just like expected, they were super tired the next morning and dragging while getting ready for school. But every once in awhile its ok to let them stay up late ;)

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend as well! :)

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caleb eating some snacks at Mom and Dad's.

Bacon and Beer.. makes a man happy ;)

Ready to cheer for the Broncos. Even wore orange and blue!

Joanne and I after we got our eyebrows done :)

The bathing suit I got Rachel at Gymboree. Isn't it ADORABLE?! I fell in love with it and knew she just had to have it! ;)

In The 90s...

Last night Brooke asked me what the 90's were like, and if they would ever come back (haha). Arnold and I had been talking about the past, especially music from the 90's. She actually inspired me to write a blog because I was feeling nostalgic. As I went back over the memories in my head, I realized that times have changed so much. We rely so much more on technology these days, and don't spend as much time with our families. And we are terrified of everything, from shooters at schools, to kids getting kidnapped, to what is in our food. I remember being a kid and being so carefree and active.. those were the days.

Anyway, here is my list of memories... at least some of them...




In the 90s...


I played outside all day during the summer, and didn't come home until it was close to dark.

~I wore slap bracelets and bike shorts under my dresses. And I thought I looked cool :)

~I had a Tamagotchi and took care of it like it was my baby. I got in trouble for sneaking it to school with me when it was against the rules.

~I watched Nickelodeon every saturday night. Especially "Doug" and "Rugrats."

~I stayed up late at night with my parents while they drilled me on the multiplication tables. I still remember I had the hardest time with 8x7.

~We ate dinner around the table as a family, just about every night. Mom cooked home-cooked meals that I would give anything to still be eating!

~I wasn't allowed to call boys. Girls who called boys were "too forward" and that was wrong.

~I was excited every trip we made to the Sanrio store. That is where I bought all my gifts for my friends. My favorite was Keroppi, even though Hello Kitty was the most popular.

~I didn't have a cellphone. I did play on my Nintento Game Gear and Secret Diary, though.

~I got my ears pierced and wore cute, dangly earrings from Claire's.

~I watched movies like "Parent Trap". "The Sand Lot" and "Home Alone" over and over again until I could recite the words myself.

~While in the grocery store checkout line, I would beg my mom for a pack of Chicklets, a Wonder Ball, or Warheads. I'd sometimes get a Teen Beat magazine also.

~I collected Trolls, My Little Ponies, and Polly Pockets.

~I read any "Goosebumps" or "Babysitters Club" book I could get my hands on. Even in the cafeteria at school after I had eaten my lunch.

~I listened to Hanson and the Spice Girls in my Walkman. Made long car trips easier.

~I went to the skating rink to hang out with my friends.

~I kept all my hair and beauty stuff in my Caboodle case.

~At school we would get Scratch & Sniff stickers on our papers when we did a good job.

~My mom made me hairbows herself, often out of colorful shoelaces.

~Every day after school I would watch "Full House" and "Step by Step" and sing the theme song.








Wow, memories. I know you fellow 80s/90s kids can relate with me on several of these. Too bad our kids will never know these joys. Well a few of the things are making a comeback, but it just isn't the same! What are some of your memories of the past?????

What I'm Loving Wednesday

 

 



 

 

 

~The kids finally got a snow day today. Being in the South, we don't see a lot of snow around here. When the weather guys say we will be getting some, we don't really believe them until we see it. But we did this time.. about 2 inches of it. You can tell we don't get it often when Brooke is so excited that she is jumping up and down and begging to build a snowman about 5 minutes after the snow started falling ;) I am the weirdo that really does not like snow.. I know, I know. It is pretty while it is falling, but then it is just a huge mess. Harder to do everything-- drive, get the dogs to go outside to use the bathroom, etc etc. And we get huge cabin fever. So here is hoping the snow melts soon! ;) But don't tell my kids I said that!!!! ;)

 

 

~Caleb got the Citizen of the Month Award at school! He came home the other day and showed it to me and was so excited. I am very proud of him.. and we usually make a big deal over things like that, so I gave him a present. I keep a store of things down in the basement that I get at good deals throughout the year, so I had a lego set that was perfect for him. Along with his certificate he also got a free kids meal to Fatz, so ever since he has been bugging Arnold and I to take him. We probably will end up going this weekend.. because we love it too ;)

 

~Speaking of school, Brooke got her report card this week, and she is doing much better! Her numbers improved, she met all her reading goals, and the teacher said her handwriting has really improved. They are learning cursive right now, and I will admit, her's is really beautiful! I have horrible handwriting, so I hope she doesn't follow in my footsteps! Anyway, her and Caleb both hit their AR reading goals this time around, so we get to go to the school awards ceremony on Friday to see them :)

 

~Arnold finished up our taxes and now we are just waiting for them to get processed later this week and hopefully have our money back in a few weeks. We got a pretty decent amount. Turns out the little I did make at Target brought our total down some (booo!) But we are excited because we are going to be able to do some things we have wanted to do for a long time now! Get an electronic fence in the backyard for our two big dogs, get gutters on the house (we got a new roof this past year) and get a new vaccuum. Doesn't really sound all that exciting, but that is the life of an adult for you! I hear Dyson is the best way to go for the vaccuum.. anyone have any advice for me???

 

 

~I have finally decided to get a gym membership. I am NOT a gym girl. As a matter of fact, I probably don't even know what all the names of the pieces of equipment are, or how to use them. For the longest time I have been embarassed and scared to go. But after realizing how out of shape I have become after kids, I decided to give it a try. Arnold has a lifetime membership already at a local gym, so I am going to go there. We plan to go together at night and they have a childcare for the kids. It will be awesome to get some time to ourselves while we work on getting healthy. Arnold has promised to show me the ins and outs of the place too ;)

 

~I am so very excited that they put Harry Connic Jr on American Idol! I don't even really watch that show, but I may be more likely to watch it now ;) I have always loved him.. he has always been in my "Top 5" of cute celebs ;) So now with him and Keith Urban, there is a lot of eye candy to look at on that show! ;) I am also happy they added "19 Kids and Counting" on Netflix. It's about time! I am watching episodes I never saw, and going back and making the kids and hubby watch the show too. They are pretty much well-aquainted with the family now and Caleb even looks forward to the show when I watch it now ;)

 

~Sheldon is doing GREAT after his surgery! He has bounced back really well and is running around wild and crazy like normal. I found a little container to put his toys in, and he has better access to them now. I swear that dog is as spoiled as the kids are. He was such a great addition to our family.. I can't imagine it without him around here! :)

 

~I think I have decided to go blonde! I went to a friend awhile back and got some red in my hair since I have always wanted to try it. It was pretty, but just wasn't me. I was actually born blonde and my hair has gotten a lot darker over the years. But my friend thinks I can pull it off, so I hope to go see her next month and get it done! I already have a picture of the shade and style, etc I want.. so I am getting excited! I hope it looks ok and I don't regret it! Eeek!

 

~Arnold and I rented "Last Vegas" and watched it last night after the kids went to bed. It was really good. The old guys cracked me up.. and Arnold says he hopes he is a "cool old guy" one day, haha. The movie is funny and silly, but it actually is pretty heartwarming and emotional at times, and promotes the importance of friendship. Watching it made me even more thankful for my good friends that I am blessed with. And I hope one day I will still have those few special girls by my side! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Caleb with his Citizen of the Month Award

And here he is with his new lego set. He sat right down for about an hour and put it all together by himself. He was so proud and asked me to take lots of pictures ;) He used to have Arnold help him, but now he is good enough to follow the directions and do it himself. He is just like his Daddy.. good with his hands and putting stuff together.

Weekend Recap

 

This weekend it was FREEZING outside and we didn't do as much as we usually do, but that is ok. We got some rest at least (that is how Arnold likes it, anyway!) It was so cold Fri morning that the kids had a 2-hr delay for school (that is how it goes here in the South!) So it was a late start to everything. Mom came over for a little bit to bring me some stuff, and we talked for awhile. Sheldon went crazy and jumped all over her.. you wouldn't believe he had his surgery last week.. he is acting as spunky as ever! That evening we went simple and ordered some Papa John's pizza (YUM- the best pizza out there in my opinion!) and watched some "19 Kids and Counting" on tv. They FINALLY added it to Netflix, it's about time! The kids even watch it now too.. they are amazed there are so many kids in the family and keep asking me if we are going to have any more kids, haha. I finally got around to watching the episode where Michelle loses baby Jubilee and I cried through the whole thing.. how sad! But at least we know she is in Heaven now, happy as ever! :) After the kids went down for the night, Arnold and I watched "The Internship." I LOVE me some Vince Vaughn! And I don't know what so many people gave the movie bad reviews.. I thought it was great! Funny.. and surprisingly heartwarming in parts, too!

 

 

Saturday morning we slept in waaaay later than we probably should have! We started out the day on a bad note with Brooke sneaking some laughy taffy out of the cabinet and eating it, and trying to hide it from me. At lunchtime we went over to Granny's Kitchen, which is a yummy restaurant right down the road from us. They recently remodeled and had just opened back up. I always like to get breakfast when we go there.. no matter the time of day. Their pancakes are HUGE! After lunch we took the kids to a birthday party. A little girl who's on the cheerleading squad with Brooke was turning 6. She had a Candy Shoppe party, so the kids were in heaven. They played some games and then ate cake and were able to sample tons of different candies they had put out on the table. All well and good until one of Brooke's silver caps popped out! She was sitting there holding it and freaking out.. and of course we were too because we were thinking about how much $$$ it is going to cost to fix! I put it in my purse for safe-keeping and we are going to call the dentist this week. Anyway, we happened to be in the area near where my Grandpa lives, so we decided to stop by. He is over 80 years old and still kicking.. and he loves getting to see his great grandkids! So we hung out at his house and talked for awhile, and the kids ran around to run off their sugar high. Later that evening we ate homeade vegetable soup that my mom had made us. She is the best cook ever and sent us home with some soup and chili. Perfect dinners for these cold nights we have been having!

 

 

Sunday we were pretty lazy. We slept in late, made the chili for lunch, and caught up on some "Last Man Standing" on Hulu. Then we worked on getting the house cleaned up.. with lots of whining from the girls. They hate to clean up their room. That afternoon I went to do some grocery shopping because we were almost out of food around here! Last night we made some fish, rice, broccoli with cheese, and biscuits for dinner. We ate off our new dishes from Ikea and sat around the dinner table together and talked.. a nice Sunday evening :) After dinner we made some chocolate chip cookies. Nothing like warm chocolate chip cookies right out of the over! I did however accidentally drop one of our NEW salad plates on the floor and it broke into a million pieces :( At least we had 6 of them.. so we still have enough for our family as long as I am careful from now on! ;) That evening before bed we had a dance party in our living room. We like to bring up You Tube on the tv and turn on songs or stories for the kids. We danced through some songs from the Frozen Soundtrack, What Does a Fox Say, and then some Van Halen (daddy's choice!) It was a great time, and I know we will look back on these nights fondly. One day I know the kids will be so embarassed to be around us at all, not to mention us dancing! ;) After the kids went to bed we watched "Don Jon." Wow, that movie was a lot more raunchy than I had expected. It did redeem itself a little bit towards the end when things started coming around for him, but overall it sucked. Especially Joseph Gordan-Levitt and Scarlett Johanson's HORRIBLE Jersey accents! I was about to rip my ears off! I am so glad I live in the South ;)

 

 

 

Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend as well! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch at Granny's kitchen. Brooke had to bring her doll along with us. Her doll has a seat that attaches on to any table so she can sit right there. Brooke pretended to feed her and thought it was fabulous. Reminds me so much of myself when I was little!

These boys look so much alike! They even both tilted their heads to the side! 

With my girls! Loving Rachel's new top we got her on our anniversary shopping extravaganza weekend, haha ;)

The kids at their friend's bday party on Saturday.

Caleb won the "Guess the # of candy" game and took home a bunch of dum dum pops!

Enjoying some cake and candy at the party.