Weekend Recap- BRR Edition

Hey friends! I'm not quite sure why I'm recapping our weekend when most of you already can probably anticipate about how it went :) Can you say TWO trips to Target??

Anywho, Friday was spent in usual fashion- pizza, movies and treats

(sorry so blurry- bad lighting) 

When your 2 year old deems herself as your helper 

Saturday, although fr-eezing, we ventured out and ran to Michaels, Target, Office Depot and then trekked to Indianola so Will could help me put together a shelf for my office. I also took the opportunity to spruce it by decorating a little and adding some finishing touches. We ate lunch and the girls played while we worked.

She dressed herself.. not too shabby. 

Except. She forgot the whole underwear part. 

We went home and had a little quiet time. Girls had leftovers for supper and it was a quiet night in. 

Sunday was bitterly cold and so we spent the morning by working on laundry and cleaning. Sophia and I got ready and braved the cold and went to Target to pick out a gift for a friend whose birthday party was later that day. We brought lunch home and had some quiet time before taking Sophia to the party. While Sophia was at the party, the three remaining ran to Michaels and HyVee. 

Why do my kids think it's appropriate to growl at me when I ask them to smile?! 

See what I mean?! 

And HyVee is pretty much genius with this:

Feeling a little lost without Sophia. She was wandering aimlessly until Sophia got home. 

We got home in time to put groceries away and Will went to pick up Sophia. When they got back, the girls and I decided to do some baking- one of our favorites! After baking, the girls wanted to paint their nails, so we did that, cooked supper and got ready for the week.

To those worried about potential salmonella risk- NO EGGS WERE INVOLVED IN THIS PICTURE! =)

Will and I finished Making a Murderer- and all I can say is WOAH. I'm not just not sure what to think and Will thinks I'm edging on crazy while I'm researching the case on the internet. 

Anyway, I announced exciting news on Friday and wrote about it here, yesterday. I'm also super excited that my Mondays are complete again with The Bachelor. These ladies absolutely kill me.

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

We've had a great start to 2016 and I can't believe we are already halfway through January!

Happy Tuesday and Iowa friends- STAY WARM AND BUNDLE UP!! 

Weekend Recap- First Post of 2016

Hey Monday! 

These were my sentiments last night...

Anyway, we had a great LONG weekend but are actually excited and ready to get back into the swing of things! 

We spent NYE by having pizza, fondue and then watching movies. The girls counted down to midnight at 8PM and then headed to bed shortly after. Will and I stayed up and watched the NYE shows and then headed to bed ourselves shortly after midnight. I know, we're crazy!

NYE Countdown

I mean, this picture is everything. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

After we partied hard to welcome in 2016, we woke up on the first day of the year and headed to Flix Brewhouse to catch the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

And then later, during quiet time......

This may be one of the times when I ask WM what HIS child is doing....

Friday evening was spent watching the Hawkeyes game and then pretending to be really sad for WM that they lost. =) Hehe. No, really, they had an amazing season and it was too bad they lost so badly in the Rose Bowl. 

Saturday morning was spent running errands. We hit Target (that T word again), Trader Joes, and HyVee. 

My shopping helpers 

We got home and the girls camped out in the kitchen. Sophia had asked for a snack when we got home and I got busy putting away groceries and forgot. I looked over and found them like this:

What patient girls! =)

While Saidey settled in for quiet time, the big girls headed to Charming Charlie and Target (dang, that T word again!!) 

Saturday night was spent binging on Gilmore Girls and lounging.

Sunday was our productive day. We put away all the Christmas decorations and cleaned up and worked on laundry.

Who else feels that after all the decorations are put away, your home feels so bare?! Made me want to redecorate! =)

After we were finished cleaning up, we settled in for lunch and some quiet time. I had a few things to do in the afternoon and so I was able to get those done while they rested. 

Look at those girls! GAH! 

We had a crock pot soup recipe, which I found here

I follow her blog, Mix and Match Family as well as her food blog! 

It was yummy but I was the only one who thought so. Good thing I like leftovers! 

I didn't think to get a pic but here's one from the site

That's it for now! Happy Monday! 

Weekend Recap- Toy Overhaul Edition

It's a short week and I'm soooo ready for a long weekend full of turkey, stuffing and time spent with family. 

We had another great weekend. We had our first snow fall and it reminded me of just how much I love the first time it snows. By March, different story. 

Friday night spent on the couch while we were all snowed in was perfect. We ate pizza and watched Cinderella. Wait- is this much different than any other Friday night? #momlife 

What is this stuff?! 

Hmm.. not so bad! 

Let me help you shovel the grass, Mom!

Saturday morning came and we decided it would be the perfect time to go through all the toys and have the girls pick items they would like to donate. We filled a HUGE box of old books, stuffed animals and other toys that just don't get played with anymore. Of course, I had to do a little coaxing and reminding of why we were doing this when a certain five year old tried to talk me into keeping a toy that hasn't seen the light for the past 3 years. But we got through that and I felt lighter already.

This box was later filled with books and toys to be donated!

After the big toy clean out- we headed out and played in the snow. The girls had an absolute blast and once we all couldn't feel our toes or noses, we headed inside for some hot chocolate. 

We ate a quick lunch and settled in for quiet time. After quiet time, we got up, got out of our jammies and headed to the mall. 

My loves : )

Always. in. motion. 

We weren't going to visit Santa, just check him out when we saw there wasn't a line. So, we decided to visit Santa. Sophia asked for a Barbie house and Saidey had a good view of my shirt as she all but strained her neck trying not to look at Santa. Sophia gave him a high five and plopped on his chair right next to him. She also tried telling him at least twice that "mommy has a lady bug on her neck." Oh lord, that child! After I stealthily redirected those statements, we said our goodbyes. 

We ran into a few stores that were having sales and I picked out some cute sweaters from BabyGap (40% off and 50% off for cardmembers). Isn't this one darling?! I've also been on a hunt for coordinating stockings for the entire family. Pottery Barn was having a 20% off sale so I got us all new stockings. 

We grabbed dinner at the mall and then headed to my mom and Robert's place. We visited for a little bit and then headed home. The girls hung out a little bit more before heading to bed.

Sunday was a cold, cold day so we decided to keep it pretty low key. While I cleaned a little and worked on laundry, Will took the girls to the basement to play. We had leftover pizza for lunch and then we all took naps. 

Right after she told me, "No sleep mama- Ipad."

Once we got up, we headed to Target to get a few groceries and other odds and ends. We usually get our groceries at Hy Vee and are done with grocery shopping in 30-45 minutes- we spent an hour and half in Target! GAH! Where did the time go? Note to self- stick to HyVee for grocery shopping! 

We jetted home to cook dinner (check out this post for my favorite soups) and warmed our bellies with hamburger soup. It is so easy, fast and yummy! A perfect soup for the cold winter months! 

We ate, did baths and got the girls into bed. Will and I settled on the couch- he worked on homework and I binged on a few episodes of Gilmore Girls before heading to bed ourselves. 

We look forward to a very short week and are excited for some family time. I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and you get to spend it with the people you love the most. I will not be back until next Monday as I want to take some time away from social media and the blog. 

Happy Thanksgiving (early!)

Source 

Weekend Recap- Pajama Edition

It's another Monday! And a rainy and cold one at that! 

This weekend was low key, relaxing and as always flew by! Friday night was quiet as Will picked up pizza on the way home. We watched a Red Box movie while eating pizza and then, of course topped it off with popcorn. 

We hit the ground running on Saturday morning and headed to Tama for the Smith's side Thankmas (Thanksgiving and Christmas) The girls had fun playing with the other kids and we enjoyed time with family. After we all filled our bellies up with yummy food, my mom, Robert, sister and our crew headed to visit my Grandma Joan's grave site. On the way there, we told Sophia we were going to see Grandma Joan at the cemetery. While we were there, Sophia said, "Mommy, I don't want you to die." My heart. We have always been so honest with Sophia so she knows about death and dying but since she has been getting older, sometimes she asks hard questions that are hard to explain in the most age appropriate way. 

And then this happened....

And then this... 

Yea, probably NOT going to be using these as our holiday card photo.

My dear sister who is a SENIOR in COLLEGE- when did this happen?! 

The girls playing

We made it home and Sophia really wanted to go to the toy store to spend her money she got that day. And yea, we could encourage her to put it in her piggy bank to save but we let her choose what she wanted to do with it. So we all trekked in, the girls chose a toy and paid for it with their money. 

We had a quiet night in and Will and I watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls before heading to bed ourselves. 

Sunday was glorious. We slept in a little, ran to get coffee, bagels and doughnuts and came home for the rest of the day. I worked on laundry and spot cleaned quickly, the girls played, we did pedicures and then we all settled on the couch and watched a movie. And I may or may not have fallen asleep. We grabbed a quick lunch of leftover pizza and then settled in for quiet time. We woke up and played some more. Not one of us put actual clothes on the entire day except for Will when I kicked him out to do the grocery shopping. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have a husband that will do the grocery shopping? If not, I am so lucky to have landed a guy who will do the one chore that I absolutely hate doing.

 I mean, those little toes.. I just can't with those toes. 

The rest of Sunday was spent playing with Barbies, then Legos, then Barbies again and then puzzles, chasing the dog and finishing laundry. Also, you know your kid just had a lesson on How to Fill Someone's Bucket- when everything you say/do is met with "You're a bucket dipper, mom." Or, "Mom, he/she is being a bucket dipper." It was funny the first time she said it. And then by Sunday night.... I told her she was being a bucket DUMPER when she says I'm being a bucket dipper. Ha- that really told her! 

The climber and quite innovative, too 

We finally lost the PJ's- does this count? 

I got a head start on Christmas shopping and already have a few items crossed off my list. I'm putting together a list of gift ideas for kiddos to go live on the blog sometime this week, so keep an eye out for that! 

Have a great week, all!