Weekend Recap

We had a pretty busy weekend. On Friday morning, we ran to Target with the boys, got Carter's hair cut, watched my friend's daughter while her and her husband went to lunch, and after the boys nap, we took them to the park.

Greg loves letting the boys walk wherever we go if we're together. The boys love the freedom and it gives them a chance to get out some energy. Here's the boys walking from
Target to Snip-It's.

Isn't she a doll!? Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?! She's about 5 months younger than the boys. She's so laid back and easy going. It was a piece of cake watching her.

The kids eating lunch.

We haven't been to Spring Hill park in a long time, so we decided to go there after the boys nap. We were planning on going to the gym, but we just had to take advantage of the nice weather. I'm glad we did because it's calling for rain this week.

The boys love to hang out of the swing like this. They'll just drape over and stay like that. I don't know how it's comfortable.

Another kid showed up and was playing, so the boys were checking her out.

The boys wanted to go on the big kid part and since there was nobody else there, we let them. Evan went down the tallest slide without any hesitation. He has no fear. This slide is so tall!

Saturday morning, I went to Ikea with my friend while Greg kept the kids (and her husband kept her kids) We're very lucky to have husbands that don't mind watching the kids while we go shopping for the day. Ikea is about 2 hours away, so we left about 8:00 and got there when they opened and got home about 3:00.

I was looking for something for our basement for our tv. Right now it's sitting on Greg's old computer desk. I want something with lots of storage for dvds, games, etc. I really like this set up.

I love Ikea. I wish I had taken more pictures, especially for inspiration later. I love this frame and how they put several pictures in it.

I got this shadow box in black. I have so many ideas for it (thanks to Pinterest) I'm going to have a hard time deciding what to do with it.

I got the boys a new play rug. The backing is coming off the used one I got on Craigslist and makes such a mess on the carpet. When I found this one at Ikea, I decided to get it to replace the old one.

I've been wanting a tray for next to the kitchen sink for my dish soap, bottle brush (I use it on the sippy cups) and drain stopper (I don't usually have a sponge out). I wanted more of a rectangle one, but all the ones I saw were too long. This one ended up working out fine and doesn't take up much room.

My friend, Brandi got me this print for Christmas off Etsy and I still hadn't framed it. I saw this red frame at Ikea, so now I finally have my Georgia print in a frame. I love that it's red. I have so much black furniture in our house, and lots of frames and decorative items come in black, but I like having other colors to stand out on the black furniture.

While I was taking pictures of things that I got at Ikea, the boys got up on the ottoman and got comfortable for an episode of Fresh Beat Band.

Aren't they so cute!

We decided to grill out for dinner and while Greg grilled, I played with the boys in the backyard.

They like playing with the water table even when there's no water in it. They would slide their pirates down the slide and play with the buckets, etc.

 I was clipping coupons the other day and right next to a Frank's Red Hot coupon was a recipe for a buffalo sauce to put on burgers. It's called Red, White and Blue Topper. It's so easy, just mix

¼ cup frank’s red hot, ¼ cup mayo, 4oz cream cheese, softened, and ¾ cup blue cheese. It can also be used as a dip or topping for chicken. Today, we ate some of the leftovers with celery sticks.

Today was errand/cleaning day. Greg got up with the boys and when I woke up, he immediately went out to mow the lawn. After he got done and showered, he fed the boys lunch while I cleaned all the bathroom. I showered and then while all 3 boys napped, I ran all our errands. I went to Target, Sam's Club, Kroger, and Harris Teeter. When I got home, we both unloaded the car and put the groceries up. Then, he took the boys to the gym while I prepped food for the week and got dinner ready for the boys. When he got home, I fed the boys dinner, vacuumed and dusted downstairs while he showered. After the boys got done eating, he played with them while I dusted and vacuumed upstairs. After the boys went to bed, I did the dishes while he did laundry and heated up leftovers. After we ate, he watched "Rome" on dvd and I swept the hardwood floors, mopped, took everything off the kitchen counters and wiped them down, wiped down all the stainless steel, and then printed some things for my household binder and organized that to get ready for the week. I am worn out. I feel like I hardly saw Greg at all today because we basically kept switching off with the boys in order to get things done. I feel so good to have a clean house, our menu planned out for the week and all our groceries bought, our laundry done, etc.

Here's the only picture I got today (that wasn't blurry) the boys watching Greg mow the lawn.

I hope everybody had a great weekend.

Hair Cuts and Yoder's

This morning I ran to Target with the boys. But, this time I came prepared, we left during snack time and I was able to keep them entertained with snacks. We just needed one thing at Target, which never happens by the way, so I decided to go to Snippit's and get Evan's hair cut. It's in the same shopping center as Target and I had a coupon that a friend gave me.

We got there 5 minutes after they opened, so we were the only ones in there. I was able to bring in the stroller and just left Carter in there to watch Evan get his hair cut. Carter needs one too, but I didn't want to push my luck. I figured I'd come back with Carter sometime this weekend.

Evan is SO good when he gets his hair cut. It doesn't make any sense, he's always so wild and constantly on the go, but he's good every single time we get his hair cut. He sits so still. He looks like such a big boy getting his hair cut.

 Look how much hair is on his cape! I had her take off a lot. It grows so fast and if we just get it cut perfect, it'll be too long in a couple of weeks. I'd rather go shorter and go longer between haircuts (they get pretty expensive) Plus, it's summertime and I'm putting sunscreen on them and the shorter the hair the easier it is to manage.

After the boys naps, we went to Yoder's. We hadn't been there since Brandi came to visit, so I was excited to get back there. The boys knew exactly where we were when we pulled into the parking lot.

They seems so interested in the birds this time. They pretty much stayed together for most of the time we were there. They would walk together and look at each animal and then move on as a team. It was so cute.

Here's Evan looking at the turkeys. One of them came right up to the fence and clucked (or whatever sound they make) and Evan must have jumped two feet in the air! It was so funny. He turned and ran to me, saying "no, no" But, he didn't cry or anything, he just wanted to get away from the turkey.

The boys found an empty cup on the ground that they insisted on having filled with feed and used that to feed the goats. It actually worked out much better and kept their hands a little cleaner.

When Carter walked by the duck, he stopped and said duck and then went over and pointed to the duck food and was saying something to the duck. I swear he was showing the duck where his food was since Carter didn't have any more to feed him.

The boys love this slide.

The last time we came, I really had to watch them on the ladder because they would lose their footing, but not this time. I usually hold their hand going down the slide since it goes so fast, but neither one would let me. Evan landed on his butt several times, but he just got back up and did it again.

You can see how dirty Evan's shorts are from landing on his butt after going down the slide.

yeah, evan's hair is really short. But, I like it and it grows so fast!

This weekend is a 3 day weekend for Greg. We have a few things planned. He'll be watching the boys while I make a trip with a friend to IKEA. That's definitely the highlight of the weekend, but we're hoping to get a few more things done as well as some fun, outdoor play with the boys. I'm going to try and get out my new camera lense and practice a little bit. I want to be able to take some pretty good pictures when we go to the beach in July, so I need to get started practicing asap.

No More Grocery Shopping and a Watertable Playdate

Yesterday, Greg got up with the boys while I slept in late. After I got up and fed the boys their snack, I realized how much food we were out of. I thought about making a quick trip to Target, but we were completely out of bananas. So, I decided to go to Kroger with the boys. Normally, we run their errands during their snack time and I put them in the stroller and they munch on their snack while I do some quick shopping. But, I decided that I'd put them in one of the fun carts with the car on the front and just try and go really fast. When we got there, I got the boys out of the car and started loading them into the cart and noticed that neither seatbelt worked, but it was too late to turn back since they were excited about getting in the "fun cart", so I placed the belts around their waists so they'd think they were strapped in. All was going well until we were almost done and the boys realized that they weren't actually strapped in. They started standing up and trying to get out, I sat them back down and went to get the last item on my list in the freezer sections. That's when both boys jumped out of the cart and ran in opposite directions. It was my worst nightmare! Evan actually stopped to push a cart that somebody had left to go get something, so they come back and he's pushing it down the aisle and while I go to get him, Carter is trying to push our cart but it's crashing into the freezer doors. It was so embarrasing. I finally get Carter into the front part of the cart, but find that both straps are broken there too! I turn around to grab Evan and when I get him to put him in the cart, Carter has decided to stand up in the seat and try and step out. So, I'm holding Evan, trying to keep Carter from jumping and wrestling with him to get him seated. I finally get them both seated and I'm basically holding their feet and pushing the cart and they're both screaming, crying and trying to get out. Basically, I was that mom I used to judge before I had kids, thinking "My kids will never act like that!" When I get to the checkout line, the sweet cashier recognizes us because it's where we do all our grocery shopping (except the boys are normally not little terrors like that) and she immediately got out stickers for the boys which calmed them down enough so I could unload teh groceries, pay, and make it to the car. She was so nice and commented on how much they've grown and how she can't believe how fast it's gone by, it seems like just yesterday they were little, bitty babies. I love that we live in a small town and have our places that we go on a regular basis and people recognize us, even if the boys are throwing fits. I did decide yesterday that I will not be grocery shopping with the boys anymore. If I can't go during their snack time and get only what I can fit on the stroller, then I will be going after they go to bed at night or during their naps on weekends. I do try and find the good in situations like these, though, and I'm sure some of this is happening because I was so judgemental of other moms before I had kids. Right after I had the boys, I realized just how harsh and unfair I'd been in some of my judgements and have been making a point to always try and be open minded and supportive of all moms, even if they do things differently than me. This was just a reminder of how important that is. Also, it made me really appreciate how nice some people can be, that cashier did not have to talk to the boys and offer them stickers and it was so helpful that she did. I wanted to blog about this little trip in detail so I won't forget any of this. Especially if I think it's a good idea to go grocery shopping with the boys again by myself. ;)

Here's Evan eating lunch afterwards, looking at his sweet face it's hard to believe that just an hour before he was charging down the aisles at Kroger like a wild animal.

I wanted to post a couple of pics of his hair since we went and got it cut this morning. I'll post those pics tomorrow.

Another good thing from our Kroger adventure, I got these delicious crackers. I love all things buffalo, and these did not disappoint! They are so yummy!!!

After our little adventure to Kroger, we came home, ate lunch and the boys napped. The weather was so nice that after the boys woke up, we went outside and filled up their water table for them to play. My friend and her two girls came over to play with the boys. I think the kids had a lot of fun and I can't wait until the weather warms up a little more and we can get out the pool. I let the boys play with the hose and get completely soaked before we came in and they had a blast, but when we got in the house, they were freezing. I quickly dried them off and changed them and they snuggled on the couch under blankets and watched cartoons while I fixed dinner.

 The kids had such a good time playing in the water.

 We're so lucky to have friends that live in our neighborhood for these impromptu playdates.

The boys with their wild, sunscreen hair, cuddling on the couch.

Look at those bruised legs. Evan is definitely the definition of "All boy"!

Carter loves his little stroller, he pushes around "melmo" (Elmo) every day. It's so sweet to see him giving Elmo "sips" from his sippy cup, hugging him, and pushing him around in the stroller.

You might not be able to tell, but his shirt was pushed up and his little stomach was poking out and I thought he looked so cute.

So, I may have gone a little Instagram crazy on these pics, but I finished up The Hunger Games trilogy and wasn't going to start another book for a few days so I spent some time on Instagram yesterday. Well, after playing some Words with Friends, playing on Instagram, going on Facebook and Pinterest and catching up on all my blogs, I still wasn't tired, so I broke down and started my next book. "Fifty Shades of Grey". I only read one chapter before going to bed, so I'm not sure what I think about it yet. But, it's 200 pages longer than any of the Hunger Games books, so it better be really good to be that long.

Playdates and Happy Meals

Monday, the boys and I hosted the Moms of Multiples playgroup at our house. It was rainy and nasty and the perfect day for an indoor playdate. I didn't get any pictures of the actual playdate, but here's some of my house afterwards. I definitely think that you can judge how a playdate went by how your house looks afterwards.

The messier the house, the more fun the kids had playing with everything.

After Greg got off work, we went to Home Depot to look at a few things. I've decided I want drawers in our vanity in the master bath. So, we looked at our options and some curtain rods for Evan's room. He has two corner windows, so we're looking for something specific to go there. The boys love the car cart there and do ok as long as we don't take too long looking.

Carter decided to kick back and relax. Must be nice.

Tuesday morning, we went to an All Club meeting/playdate thing at a local church. They have free Panera goodies to eat and tons of toys to play with. The boys always have a great time. Here they are enjoying their blueberry bread.

Yum!

The boys played so good. It's nice going to new places with new toys for them to play with.

After their nap, I took the boys to the gym with me. By the time I worked out and showered, it was dinnertime, so we took advantage of McDonald's Tuesday deal of getting a happy meal for $1.99. The little fries are so cute!! Greg and I had lasagna after the boys went to bed, but it was nice to do something quick and easy for the boys.

The boys love the happy meals, they like the chicken nuggets, fries and the apple slices it comes with. I usually try and feed them somewhat healthy, but sometimes you gotta go with fast and easy.

Greg is working late Tuesday-Thursday this week, he's off Friday and then works late next Monday and Tuesday. I hate days where he works late. I love having our afternoons as a family to run errands, go to the gym together, go to the parks, etc. But, one good thing about him going in late and getting off late is that he's the one that gets up with the boys in the morning so he can spend a little time with them since they go to bed almost as soon as he gets home. I got to sleep in until 8:30 yesterday and today and it was so nice!! I stayed up last night and finally finished The Hunger Games trilogy. I do love staying up late and sleeping late, something I've missed since having the boys. Might as well take advantage of this schedule for the few days he has to work it. ;)