Thursday, April 30, 2020

Friday Golfing

A couple of weeks ago I booked us a tee time at our club to go play golf.  I was able to get a time after nap on a Friday.  This past Friday was the magic day and it was beautiful.  We all got to hit the ball a little and the three of us "played" 9 holes!  It was fun and something different to do!  

We grabbed dinner from the turn window and ate outside on the driveway when we got home!  Easy and a fun Friday.  


























Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Six Ideas to Entertain Kids

Hump day!  Here are some things that have been entertaining us this week...

1.  Molly Anne has been loving these worksheets and her number writing has gotten way better!  



2.  If you need to help your child with sight words, these flashcards are amazing.  Molly Anne has mastered Level 1 over the two weeks and now she is on Level 2.  They're individual decks that come with a ring to bind each one together.  Thank you Nannie for getting her these!




3.  In my last Wal-Mart pick up, I got the a zillion solo cups for them to play with.  They've both enjoyed stacking them.  Molly Anne has made castles and many other things!  I keep the ones she plays with stacked on the floor in the pantry and she goes in and grabs them whenever she wants to play.  Special thanks to Ally for recommending this!



4.  We've done painting and waterbeads this week so basically I win the fun mom award.  HA, just kidding.  I dislike both activities but did them because I thought they may like them.  Both activities have taken place outside.  The waterbeads made me a bad/mean mom so I had to throw them away on day 3.  They were getting them all over the garage and everywhere else.  Just keeping it real.  Goodbye waterbeads, they won't be back for awhile. 



Neither of them had a lot of interest in painting.  They wanted to ride bikes instead so fine by me!  They love just being outside playing.  That's what we spend most of our time doing - playing in the driveway, going on walks, scooting, biking or wagon rides. 



5.  Possibly the most exciting event so far this week is a neighbor posting on next door that he had excess dirt on the lot he's building on.  I think he meant for a big truck to come get a bunch of dirt but instead I asked him if I could bring a shovel and get a couple small bins of it for my two year old haha!  I even sent him a picture of them playing with it and he was thrilled he had made their day.  They played in the dirt for an hour and a half.  We will be doing it again this afternoon!  



And just so you know, dirt was all over the place and that was perfectly fine!  They had fun doing this. 



6.  My friend Nina told me about Art for Kids Hub on YouTube and Molly Anne has loved that this week.  You watch videos on how to draw things.  She did a pony, unicorn, elsa and I don't know what the other stuff is!  She will be doing this more often I bet.  



Would love any new ideas you may have! 

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Front Porch Pictures

How lucky are we that an amazing photographer, Karen Morneau, lives in our neighborhood and took pictures for any family that wanted to remember this time?  So special of her to give her time and talent to all of us!  Check out her work - Karen Morneau Photography - it's unreal!  And...she got Grady to smile for a picture - a true miracle!  We will treasure these pictures forever, thank you Karen!






We (meaning I) decided for our signs/fun picture to hold all of our favorite things that we've done during quarantine - Kevin's is his yeti ha, mine is a weight because I've gotten lots of working out in, Molly Anne has done a ton of artwork and Grady loves his trucks and cars, especially the cement mixer that Nannie and Poppa sent him a few weeks ago!







May this be a time that we all look back on and are thankful!

Monday, April 27, 2020

Our Weekend

Friday afternoon we got word that the kids school is closed until the new school year begins, whenever that may be. This kind of threw me for a big loop because I thought they’d open the daycare side of things at some point but now they’re not. So I’ve been scrambling trying to figure out what to do for the rest of the summer. The whole situation is ever-changing so it’s hard to know what to do but I have a few options and I think one will work out sooner rather than later.  Ahhhhhh deep breaths. 

——

This picture is from one day last week but we were talking to my SIL and she told Molly Anne to go find some magazines and cut out pictures and make a collage. So she did!  I’m not sure what to think about the wine bottle that made an appearance!




Friday we grabbed donuts for a friend and got a few munchkins for us because my kids can’t go to Dunkin without having a donut. I have raised them right haha. We played outside all morning. Actually we’ve basically lived outside since Friday morning. It’s been so so nice out. Thank goodness for this amazing weather!  Our playroom hasn’t been touch since mid last week. I only know because I cleaned it up to spotless condition and it’s still that way ha!  A true record. 


Molly Anne flying a kite while riding her bike!


I did curbside pickup from Union Market and it was fantastic. So happy to have some freshness in our house again!  They don’t shop for curbside orders out of what’s available for the walk up customers so it feels extra safe to me.  Plus it’s supporting one of our friend’s businesses and that is always good. 


Friday afternoon I took the kids golfing. I’ll post about that separately but it was fun!  

Friday night Kevin made a fire and we hung out back. 


Saturday morning I went to the chick fil a drive thru to get breakfast and no one came with me. A true miracle. I think that was the first time I’d been alone in 6 weeks. Seriously. 


My buddy loves to play with all of his cars, tractors and trains after breakfast downstairs each morning. He’s been a good independent player since being at school but he’s done a good job of it at home too. I think he figured it out rather quickly that he had no choice unless he wanted to do girly stuff all day. 


I took Grady on a walk Saturday morning while Kevin and Molly Anne hung and she watched Spirit on Netflix. Girlfriend is obsessed with it. Grady and I got to see some neighbors and chit chat which is always good these days!


Saturday night I was craving sushi so we ordered from a semi new place called Red Sake. So good. We will be ordering from there again. They brought it right out to my car, I didn’t even have to call when I got there. This one pretended to sleep on the way home. I had Grady too. They both cried when I tried to leave by myself. We are at that point. 


The goal for Sunday was to finish organizing the garage and Molly Anne really wanted to put the canopy on the wagon, so we did!  She figured it all out by herself how it went on. I was proud of her. Yes, a long wagon ride happened!  We were outside all morning again. 


Nap time. They both slept. I took a nap on the porch sofa (nothing better!). Kevin watched some show he’s been into. This is what Molly Anne called her golden retriever bed!  She tucked them both right in!


Mills is always outside with us on an extra long leash that Santa brought him. He loves being out there watching the kids and all of the people and dogs walk by!  


Kevin made us some tomato mozzarella basil burgers for dinner that were delish. Kids had plain cheeseburgers. We also grilled some onion, mushroom, green pepper and garlic mixture as a side. The kids and I had a chick pea salad I made with red onion, orange pepper, parsley, tomatoes and cucumber. It was good. Molly Anne barely ate it but Grady ate the chickpeas. They both love hummus so whatever! 

After dinner sweet treat for a ride!  And let it be known that my child had gone up before dinner and taken a bath herself and put on her nightgown. That was major deal. I hope it continues!!!  It was a huge help. 



Happy Monday. Week 7. I have three conference calls back to back today. It’s gonna be awesome. ;)

Friday, April 24, 2020

Five on Friday

ONE:
When she put her hand on his leg on our golf cart ride, I was like ahhhhh on the inside but didn't say a word.  It was precious!



TWO:
Site visit at the airport to see my project.  Airplanes, bulldozers, trucks and cranes.  WHOA!  Both kids were obsessed and Molly Anne has asked me to go back every day.  I think we'll stick with once a week! ;)




THREE:
You have to be crazy to do a 45 minute tabata on Peloton but I was crazy on Tuesday. They're mentally hard but always glad I do it afterwards. 



FOUR:
This boy carries his matchbox cars and hot wheels around all day long! 





FIVE:
Some cute tees - getting a package on our front step is a big favorite these days!  

a.  Puffed Sleeve in three colors - $12
j.crew: puffed-sleeve woven lace top for women, right side, view zoomed


b. Eyelet Flutter 
j.crew: embroidered eyelet flutter-sleeve t-shirt for women, right side, view zoomed


c.  Eyelet Pom Pom Shirt - this is the one I wore for Easter.  It comes in two other colors and I may have to get it in white too!
j.crew: eyelet flutter-sleeve top with pom-pom trim for women, right side, view zoomed

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Hello Thursday

Hello friends.  It's Thursday.  Yesterday was a rougher day in my world so I called Mom during nap time for a complaining session.  I really try not to do that often because let's be honest, things aren't THAT tough.  We're all mostly healthy minus some sinus stuff, we live in a beautiful home and neighborhood, we have food etc. etc. but sometimes it's okay to complain.  

It was one of those days when I was overwhelmed with work, keeping two youngins at the same time, cooking and cleaning up meals, and doing ALL of the things here.  I feel the constant pressure to workout because I know it keeps me sane.  I feel the constant pressure to cook all of the meals so we don't have to do takeout.  

But today, I'm taking Mom's advice and raising the red flag.  I'm going to go get my kids chick fil a for lunch, get a salad for myself and one for Kevin for his dinner and I'll throw something easy together for dinner for the kids.

It's raining today in Charlotte so we aren't going outside so I'm going to make it my goal to get the stove cleaned up at some point today...probably after bedtimes tonight.  I would also like to get a few bedrooms vacuumed.  Our house is taking a beating since we are home all of the time now.  I'm trying to keep up with it by tackling one thing per day.  Our floors are a mess and I have to do them once a week.  Last week I did bathrooms.  Yesterday I did all of our sheets.  

Anyway, hope all is going well in your world!  As well as it can go at least!

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Week Six Positives

Here are some things I’m thankful for this week:

1.  FaceTime calls with dear friends. One of my oldest friends reached out this week to set up a call and it was definitely a highlight and I’m so glad she did!

2.  Molly Anne spotting a rabbit and naming her Sparkles!  We checked on her the next day but she wasn’t there! ;) She does live in the bushes next to our house but we saw her in a field behind our house!  Molly Anne wants to leave her carrot chips so we will do that!


3.  Got two new tires for the golf cart and my neighbor got a buddy there to put them on within an hour of it arriving via UPS. Major win that the golf cart is back in action. I fully realize how ridiculous this sounds but Grady is one happy boy! 

4.  Jumping in puddles after a rainy morning! 




5.  Watching the three crazies play out back. Grady can walk down the three stairs by himself now and it’s amazingggggggg that they can play out back now and I don’t have to be right there on top of them.  Molly Anne always coerces him into playing tag or hide and seek!  It’s sweet! 



6.  This love. And that this happens often without me prompting it and I’m so obsessed. 



7.  Front porch pictures by a neighbor photographer that I’ll post about when I receive!  These were a few from when we were out front! 











Have a great Wednesday!