Whoa…I’ve been on a vacation hiatus with 3 trips in the last 6 weeks and trying to get back into any sort of normal routine that doesn’t involve sunscreen, latching ski boots, or eating too much.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, because I’ve had an absolute blast!!  However, I’m feeling like I’m in a fog and already we are plunging into the last quarter of the school year!  I know I say this often, but seriously, time is literally flying by.

Before we left on Spring Break, we had a celebratory dinner with Angie Samuelson, and her wonderful family.  You may have seen Angie before in previous posts, she was our daycare provider for many years and we love her dearly!  Her sweet daughter, Kirsten, is recently engaged and moving to NYC!  I remember Kirsten when she was just in middle/high school and now she’s off to the big city!  We wish her all the best and truthfully we are jealous that she is having this journey.  When I graduated from college I moved home and started working at Hallmark Cards, Inc. three weeks later and worked there my entire corporate career.  No crazy adventures for me!  Times have changed, people take more risks, study abroad, and do all kinds of fun things before settling down.  I wish this for my kids even though I’m the most risk averse person on the planet and if any of them leave me and live in another city, I will absolutely FREAK OUT.  😉

This is our crew…Angie & Tony, Kirsten & Tanner, and the Glaves family who are also Samuelson daycare alumni.  We were only missing their son, Tyler, who is at K-State being a responsible student.

And we absolutely cannot end this post without some serious cuteness!  This is Addison Glaves and Jake at the Little Treasures Christmas Program in 2010!

And here they are today (still seriously cute)!

 

 

Thank you Samuelson’s for having us over for dinner!  And an extra thank you for not trying to put any of my children down for a nap on this day because they all said that was their least favorite part of daycare days!  And the truth is, they STILL don’t go to bed well. What is wrong with this crew!?

This week Reece is “Star of the Week” in her 1st grade class!  Along with many special things that happen this week, the best part happened today when big sister, Morgan, surprised her at school to read stories to her class!  These two besties could not be any cuter in my eyes.  Thank you Morgan for being an awesome big sister (even though you fight sometimes)!

I think Mrs. Lawrence’s 1st grade class was thrilled to have you there today and you did a super great job!

And a special treat to join her for lunch…Subway sandwiches of course!

A LOT has been going on with Reece this month so far!  A few weeks ago the first grade celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday and hosted a “Seuss Cafe” where the kids could order Dr. Seuss books off the menu and 5th graders would read them the books.  Luckily Jake was chosen to be a reader!!  He was so happy to be part of this special day for the kids and Reece felt pretty cool that her big brother read her group a story!  Reecie, this big brother is going to be your protector for life!  Sometimes it’s hard to be the ‘little sister’ and you want to smack them at times, but I promise, these guys will always be looking out for you!

I had to throw these pictures in of some first grade work Reece brought home.  REECE FOR PRESIDENT!!  You have our vote for sure!

And one last tid-bit on Reece for now!  Earlier this week, I was busy helping Drew with a science project so I let Jake and Reece make dinner.  This was a risky move for sure, but in the end, we may have some chefs on our hands!  We dined on popcorn chicken (baked in the oven) and fruit cups.  Reece was in charge of table setting and she drew the cutest pictures on our plates!!  Sorry they’re dirty…I missed my photo op before the food got on the plate.  Way to go guys!

 

It’s been 21 days already since Drew broke his wrist playing soccer at recess.  Today we said goodbye to his cute little blue cast that was loaded with signatures. He had so many well wishes, treats, and gifts from family and friends during this time…Drew, we all love you so much!

We are heading to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for Spring Break in a couple of days so we grabbed an earlier appointment in hopes of getting his cast off before we leave. They removed his cast and took more x-rays today and it looks like he is healing quickly! YAY!  He is in a brace for a week or two more (I’m sure we have about 15 of these braces in our storage closet by now…I think I could start a wrist brace store!).  In 6 months we will go back for more x-rays to ensure there is no damage in the growth plate.

Look at this little cutie!  He was super nervous but once she got started, he could not stop smiling and giggling…it tickled!

It was lunch time when we finished and this brave little boy wanted McDonald’s.  Can you believe this tiny guy can eat a double cheeseburger and large fries!?  And he’ll probably have every calorie burned off by the end of recess today!  He runs everywhere, I don’t think he knows the definition of walking.  Future track star!?

Love you Drew Boo

I don’t think there is anything in the world more sweet than a daddy daughter dance! Reece has been asking about every 15 minutes for the last 2 weeks if it was time for the dance.  Ever since she spotted this bright coral fluffy skirt and gold sparkly shoes, there was no turning back!

A little bit of an ‘edgy’ look for daddy daughter dance, but I’m always up for a cool fashion trend!  Morgan also approved (or maybe she just said that because we had been on a Target marathon for almost 3 hours).  Reece, you look absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  I love your outfit choice and how handsome your date looks in his new suit!

Look at my baby girl leaving home to go on a date….imagine the foreshadowing here…tears are welling up in my eyes!  I will never make it through the teenage years!

She got to go to a fun dinner out with friends…

 

and many activities at the school including a scavenger hunt, limbo, ring toss, snacks, crafts, photo props, and dancing with 200+ other girls and dads from Manchester Park.  She seems to get a little shy at these events but I’m here to tell you that this girl has some serious dance moves!

Since Morgan had previous plans and we only had one soccer practice to deal with, I proposed taking my boys out on a date!  We decided that we would do a short shopping trip to get cleats and grab dinner out.  Well, our night went a little sideways, as most things do with us, and we ended up at 3 different stores and my boys are scared to ever go to a bar and grill ever again.  Let me explain…

I discovered that Jake’s complaints of his feet hurting were legit!!  His feet were crammed in last season’s soccer cleats.  Panic set in…oh my gosh Jake has his first spring outdoor game tomorrow night, and I’ve probably caused my child to get bunions on his feet! NOOOO…I will not let that happen!  My Grammy had bunions and it was horrifying.  I still remember her telling me to never wear my shoes too small.  So I made an executive decision that our date night was going to include a trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods right away!

Three stores and 2 hours later, we have $100 pair of cleats and a new ball, it’s 8:30PM on a school night and we are starving.  Hmmm…not exactly a fun date for mom or my wallet so far!  These boys are REALLY picky about their cleats.

I tried to persuade them into grabbing Freddy’s and bringing it home to eat, but to no avail.  They had their hearts set on soft pretzels and cheese dip from Saints.  I’m totally regretting not sticking to my first instinct!  As we walk into Saints Pub + Patio (with an emphasis on PUB) at 8:45ish on a school night, we grab a booth and barely look at the menu because these guys already know what they want.  This is their favorite place to go near our house.  Within 5 minutes it became painfully clear that we are in the PUB hours of the night.  A big group of guys near us have apparently started their happy hour long ago and are saying every profane word ever invented at the top of their lungs and sticking up their middle fingers.  If my boys didn’t know naughty words before, they most certainly do now!!  UGH I’m so embarrassed to be subjecting my boys to this craziness but they really wanted those pretzels!!  Jake looked at me like…is this really what working professionals do after work!?   The answer to that is…NO, Jake, NO!  Ok so we’ve learned our lesson boys, right!?  Never act like those morons and I’m sorry for putting you in that environment.  I promise to take you on a better date soon!  I love you boys more than anything!

 

My dad for some reason doesn’t want to see his family!  Seriously, are we that unpleasant to be around!?  He’s always trying to get us to “bundle” or “batch” our family birthday celebrations.  I’ve “bundled” my birthday my whole life…I’m a twin!   His preference is to get together quarterly and celebrate any birthdays that fall into that time frame…better yet…semi-annually.  I don’t understand why we should cut down on celebrations….who doesn’t love an excuse to party!?  Ok so maybe realistically, it’s just hard to find a space on the calendar…I totally get it.  Quite honestly, it’s our calendar that causes 99% of the scheduling problems.  For that reason, I’m pretty sure we’re about to be banished from all future celebrations!

Happy Birthday Dad & Brandy!!  They’re birthdays truly are just 3 days apart 😉

Greg and Brandy have done a lot of house remodeling and graciously hosted our fun little “bundled” celebration.  And a family event is not complete without a round or two of Catch Phrase.  Check out this hilarious youtube video of Reece….

 

watch out for this girl…she will smack you repeatedly if you get in her path!