Sunday, March 30, 2014

Weekend Recap

I'm actually doing a weekend recap on a Sunday night instead of a Wednesday or Thursday like I've been doing. We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Friday it was rainy and nasty--the boys were supposed to have a soccer game but it was cancelled due to the rain. We made it to the store to get some groceries but other than that, we just played around the house all morning. And then took selfies on the couch. The boys were piled on me and they were being very adorable and one of my 32 Before 32 goals is to "be in the picture more" so I'm trying to do that.

After Greg got off, we took the boys to the mall to play a little bit. They had a blast and didn't want to leave, so one of our tricks at the mall is to tell them we'll go up and down the escalator one time on the way out. This avoids any meltdowns because they are so excited to ride the escalator that they could care less that we're leaving. And yes, it is embarrassing riding up the escalator and stepping over and going right back down--oh the things we do for our kids. The Easter Bunny was getting set up because pictures with him started that Saturday, so the boys were excited to see him, he waved at the boys and they just started giggled and laughing (one of the women got so tickled at Evan's reaction) So, when we were leaving, Evan said "By easter bunny, see you later, see you at Christmas" He doesn't get the whole easter bunny thing yet, but I'm sure he will this year.

Friday night after the boys went to bed, Greg and I finally watched American Hustle. We've been wanting to see it for awhile and it did not disappoint. It was really good.

Saturday morning was rainy, so we went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and let the boys play. We never go there for breakfast and when we do go to chick-fil-a, we usually just order something for the boys and Greg and I eat when we get home. But, I had a coupon, so we all had breakfast there. It was nice and the boys loved the hash browns, the chicken and then putting jam on their biscuits.

This is the smile he gave me when I said to smile for the camera.

After breakfast, we went home and got the boys dressed in their soccer uniforms to go get their team pictures taken. It was held at a really nice Methodist church and it went very smoothly. They took one of each of them individually and one of them together. I was just going to get a sheet of the two of them together and then one sheet of the team photo, but they saw Greg coming and we walked out of there having ordered 2 packages and an extra sheet. ;) I'm glad, I don't think we can ever have too many pictures and it is there first team sport picture. I wanted them to each have a team photo because we'll be living in this area for the rest of our lives and it'll be neat to see these kids they grow up with.

After the pictures, we noticed it wasn't raining, so we took advantage of the break in the rain and took the boys to the park. They had a blast, they could have stayed there all day. Some days they aren't really feeling it or they'll be really hyped up and a little aggressive, but I felt like they were just relaxed and played so good on Saturday. We just too off their jerseys, and changed them out of their knee socks and soccer cleats, so they're both wearing white undershirts and black shorts.

Evan trying to "get" me while I'm taking pictures.

Evan did a lot of climbing. You can see it's cloudy. It was SO humid, but it wasn't raining or too cold, so we were happy.

Carter found a stick and entertained himself with that most of the time we were there. He loved taking to the top of the slide and having it slide down the slide first and then he'd go get it. It doesn't take much to make a kid happy.

On our way home, we stopped by Walmart to get a few things. We were taking our time since it was raining and we weren't in any rush to get home, so we let the boys try out some bikes. We want to get them bigger bikes for their birthday, but we're not sure which size. So, we had them try the different sizes and really go all the way down to the aisle and back so we could see if it was too big or too small. I think we've picked on, but their birthday isn't until August, so we have a little bit of time.
Saturday night, Greg and I rented "Wolf of Wall Street" It was a really, really good movie, but it was 3 hours long. It's hard for us to sit through long movies like that since we have to get up with the boys in the mornings, but I'm glad we saw it because it was just really good!

Sunday morning, my sister and I took the boys to a new church that we wanted to try out. My sister has been wanting to find a church and I've decided to get back into "church shopping" so I invited her to come with us. Greg had some things he had to do, so I took the boys with me to check it out. We really liked it. There's a traditional service and a contemporary service and we went to the traditional service today. I'd like to check out the contemporary and see what I think of that. I also have 3-4 other churches that I'd really like to check out before deciding on a church.

Side note: when I told Evan that Greg wasn't going to be able to come to church with us this morning, evan said "Are you serious?!" haha, where did he learn such a phrase? So, then Carter repeats him and says "mom, are you serious?" and I just laughed and laughed, I got so tickled at them saying such a serious little phrase.

The boys played outside when we got home, they had a blast at church and want to go back. Then, the boys took naps and afterwards, we went to Sam's Club. When we got home, we let the boys play outside as much as possible, we fixed them some watermelon to eat out there. I filled up their water table. They were so excited to start playing with it.

I don't know if Evan did this for the camera or if he just felt like splashing, but he went crazy and had a blast. This is probably my favorite picture of the weekend.

He was just so happy and pleased with himself.

You can see how happy Evan is in these pictures, he loved that he was soaked. Carter, on the other hand, was not as happy. His expressions crack me up. He was so annoyed.


Carter is not happy. He didn't cry and got over in like, 2 seconds, but his face right here makes me laugh.

Of course, after splashing around and getting their clothes wet, they had to strip down to their underwear and run around for a few minutes before going in.

Nothing super exciting this weekend, but we do have a really busy week coming up with soccer practices, book club, trying out a church on Wednesday, preschool. and the boys first soccer game is on Friday, and if the weather permits, Greg and I are going to Atlanta for a Walking Dead Tour!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Friday Randoms

Our week has been pretty uneventful. Greg's parents left Monday morning and the boys started soccer on Tuesday, but other than that, it's been pretty low key.

Greg's brother and sister in law, the boys aunt Carrie and Uncle Eric sent some Easter goodies with Greg's parents when they came. One of the things they sent, were these cute Easter tongs that you can use to get the eggs out of the dye, but the boys have used them for EVERYTHING!! They would bring them in the car with us, use them to pick up everything, and have just had such a blast with them!

I've come up with games where they pick up balls and move them from one toy bin to another. I could keep them occupied all day with those Easter tongs.

Evan woke up with a fever in the middle of the night on Sunday. He had a rough time going back to sleep and Greg and I were up for a couple of hours with him. He woke up fine on Monday, just a little tired, so after Greg's parents left, we took it easy and watched a movie on the couch.

I pulled out the sofa sleeper and popped popcorn and the boys had a fun time watching Beauty and The Beast

We spent a little time outside this week. The boys love picking me "flowers" and I think it's very sweet. This is my collection from the other night.

The boys bringing me more flowers.


The boys caught me taking a picture, so they demanded for me to flip the camera so they could see me taking pictures as I was doing it. They love seeing themselves on the screen.

This is Carter's "Cheese" face. They don't get that they have to smile or look at the camera, a lot of times, they'll just say 'cheese"

Evan was happy with himself though. He loves seeing himself on the camera.

Greg's parents live near a Carter's Outlet, so they brought us some pajamas for the boys since we can never have enough. I took this picture the day they left of the boys in their brand new pajamas and then forgot to text it to his parents, so I figured I'd put it on here. I don't get enough pictures of storytime. I love story time with the boys.

I've been working on my 32 Before 32 list. On there is to read 12 books this year and I'm trying to read a book a month and would love to get ahead a little bit. I just finished my 3rd book this year, I'm very proud of myself, I started a couple others, but just couldn't get into them, so I didn't finish them. I also booked our beach vacation for May. We were going to go to Savannah, but long story short, we are now going with Hilton Head. We're going down on a Friday and coming back on a Sunday. On our way back, we're going to drive through Savannah and see the things we wanted to see there. So, that knocks off "go on some family trips" and "go to Savannah" so, I'm moving right along with my list of goals. Hoping to get to every one before my birthday.

Also, another big thing that happened this week was my friend Brandi being on the Today Show!! I dropped the boys off at school and came home and immediately started watching the live feed on the website. She did so amazing, she's such a natural with stuff like this. She was on a cooking segment which I think really fits her so well because she's such a great cook. So fun seeing big things happen for one of my best friends!
It's calling for rain this weekend and we tend to be super boring when it's raining. We had big plans to go to Stone Mountain in Atlanta, but it looks like that's not happening. So, hopefully we find some fun things to do with the boys this weekend. I'd hate for my weekend wrap up next Monday to just be about the movies we rented from Red Box ;)

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Soccer School

On Tuesday, they boys started soccer school through the YMCA, it's for kids 3-4. It was cloudy almost all day, so I was careful about telling them about it until right before we needed to leave. They were SO excited. I just think they look so cute in their soccer shoes and shin guards!

It was FREEZING at practice. The wind was blowing so hard. The boys have practices on Tuesdays for an hour and then their games are on Fridays. The coach handed out the shirts when we got there, so we put the boys in theirs and took a quick picture before putting them back in their fleece coats.

The boys were so cute and excited, some kids were a little more shy and that's always how I assumed my boys would be, but they just ran out there like it was nothing. Carter fell and hurt his hand and wanted us to ask him if he was better, but other than that, Evan and Carter loved being right in the thick of it all. They started off by running laps around the field.

There was a sweet older girl there, I think she's the coach's daughter, and she was so helpful with the kids and really took the time to show them the things they needed to learn.

Our little team didn't have a coach for a  long time. They started calling everybody that had registered their kid asking if they'd like to coach. I was so afraid that the season would get cancelled but their sweet coach stepped up and we are so thankful for her. I think this is an interesting age to coach because they're so young, it's fun because the kids are so excited and it's new, but they're also 3 and full of energy and no attention spans. I think it takes a special type of person to give up their evenings to coach 3 year old kids.

The boys worked on several different drills, like running around while kicking the ball. Kicking the ball into the goal, throwing the ball in from the sideline, etc.


Evan and Carter thought they were something when they kicked those balls into the goal! They were just so happy and proud of themselves.


I really enjoyed watching them practice. I knew I would, it's just so cute. The kids are so sweet and they're trying so hard to do the things they were being taught.

I'm hoping that the first practice was the coldest because it was miserable, the wind was enough to knock you over, it was insane.


The boys are supposed to have a game on Friday night, but it's calling for a really good chance of rain, so I have a bad feeling the game will be cancelled. They can't wait to go back. I'm so glad the boys love it, I was hoping they would. They've been talking about it ever since, so we're going to get them a kids soccer ball so they can have it in the back yard if they want to practice anything they learned at soccer practice. I can't believe they are old enough to be going to soccer twice a week! This was one of those fun things I looked forward to when I was pregnant with them.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Grandma and Grandpa Visit: Last Day

Sunday it was calling for rain, but we got lucky and it ended up being clear in the morning, so we went up to the Savannah Rapids Pavillion.

We got there and walked down to the river to check it out with Evan taking full advantage of having Grandma and Grandpa there.

I think this is another fun place to go, it's so pretty and it's free. It's probably boring to a lot of people, but Greg and I love doing stuff like this. (probably more me than Greg) but it's somewhere the boys can kind of run around and it's different than just going to the same park all the time.

It was a little gloomy, but not cold.


The boys love the little "waterfall".

I just love the walking trail around here. If the boys were little babies, I think it'd be so nice to come here during the day and put them in a stroller and go walking.

The boys worked up an appetite with all that walking, so we sat at the picnic tables and they had snacks and then played at the park. We didn't stay long because the knats were out like crazy and a ton of them were just flying in our faces.

His serious snacking face.

The park and picnic tables. We were all spread out, Carter wanted this table and Evan wanted that table down there.

We went to Firehouse for lunch and then to the pool at Grandma and Grandpa's hotel. It was fixed but a little cold. I didn't get a single picture of lunch or the pool. :( The boys had a blast though and then we came home and took naps. After naps, Greg's parents came over and we hung out for a little bit before going out to dinner. The boys wanted Grandma to read to them and picked one of the longest stories they have. They have a little bookshelf in Carter's closet where I put all their books and there's several on there that I think are probably too long for their attention span and that they'll grow into. They got this one and they actually conned my mom into reading it awhile back and they're obsessed with it, so as soon as Grandma arrived, they took full advantage of it and grabbed that book for her to read.

I can't believe that sat and listened to the whole thing, it's really long, but they loved it.

We went out to Carolina Ale House for their last dinner here. I came prepared with crayons and coloring sheets for the boys.



After dinner, we went by Walmart and got cake and ice cream to celebrate Grandma's birthday. The boys were very excited that it was her birthday, they love singing happy birthday and I think they know that cake and ice cream are involved anytime anybody has a birthday. We got one last picture before the boys went to bed and Greg took his parents back to the hotel.

Greg brought his parents over the next morning to say goodbye and then he took them to the airport. The boys were sad to see them go, they've been asking about them and when they're coming back. The boys just loved spending the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Westover.