The Week and Mills

Hi friends!  I'm so glad it's Friday.  Aren't you?!

Mills had surgery on Tuesday to remove two of the fatty benign cysts that he had.  One on his toosh had ruptured about 10 days ago and the one on his back was huge and really needed to be removed too.  When they were doing his pre-surgery bloodwork, they found he had a low white blood count too so he's going to be retested on that next week.  Fingers crossed.  I'm trying not to freak!

It's been pretty rough at nights so hoping he gets some much needed rest this weekend.  

Molly Anne got some legos done this week!  She had kind of taken a lego hiatus of doing an actual kit and just playing with them instead (which was fine!) but she loved getting back into it!  This was the Turtles Rescue Mission!  

Double rainbows from Molly Anne's window!  Unreal right?!  The colors were so clear and bright too!

Ready to go on our loop as we call it! It's been so humid here lately that we are super hot and gross when we get back!  It takes us about 20 minutes and it's always good to get outside. 

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!  

Little Catch Up Post

I had very little childcare last week so I was busy being busy.  Mills also had a little issue with a benign cyst that he is having surgery for today.  Never a good time but last Monday was not a good time for all of that.  This week I'll be playing nurse for the buddy boy.  He'll be okay but I never like when he has to be put under anesthesia.  

Big boxes = fun.  PS - Molly Anne's hair has gotten so long, she looks so grown up without a bow too gasp!  

Her dress and her hat (lots of colors, I got Grady a navy one.  She is almost 5 and easily wears the size 2y-5y)!  

We've done a lot of bike riding.  She rides 3 miles in our hilly neighborhood and mostly doesn't complain ha!  She loves riding but some of the hills really are brutal!

Playing with Emme in a culdesac!

My friend alerted me that they were giving away Spirit toys in the McDonald's happy meals so we of course visited twice last week.  Winning in the mom department let me tell ya!  She was SO excited about them though.  The anticipation of going to McDonald's created some really good behavior, I'm serious!!

Grady built this tower and that was fun to watch him do that!  I like watching his little mind go wild in our playroom!

We went on a golf cart worm hunt one day last week.  Yes, I know, I know.  But it was SOMETHING to do!! 

Hello sweet little friends. 

A look into the future?!  He's been a growing boy this past week.  After dinner he will go over to the fridge and pull on it and then down another applesauce pouch or string cheese!

On Thursday I hosted my friends from Molly Anne's class a couple of years ago in the driveway for a girl's night! It was SO nice to be together.  We had missed each other. 

Side note - add jalapeno to your casamigos blanco tequila and lime bubly and you have quite the tasty skinny margarita!







Chat soon!

Pool Weekend

We were at the pool ALL weekend!  Friday night our neighbors invited us over to celebrate Kindergarten graduation!  They had pizza and ice cream sundaes and Molly Anne stayed up until 10:45pm!  They had so much fun playing!

Mills even got in the pool yikes!

All of the mamas did the early shift in the pool and the daddy’s did the later shift ha!

Saturday morning with the king!  I even took a nap laying on him in Kevin’s closet during nap time haha!  The best.  I remember doing that with my golden retriever Charlie when I was growing up!

We went to the pool right when it opened at 10am and packed lunches to eat there. Kevin took Grady home for his nap and I stayed an extra couple of hours with Molly Anne!  

We went to dinner for the first time since all of this corona started and it was sooo nice!  We met Kevin’s parents at our club and had a nice dinner together. What a breath of fresh air!! 

Can y’all tell that Grady will finally pose for a picture!  I’ve finally had better luck getting a picture of the two of them!

Sunday morning I look over and Molly Anne is reading Go Dog Go to Grady!  I got a 4.5 mile run snuck in with my friend Jen early before it got too hot! 

Pool snacks!  

I made this veggie dip for something different!

Kevin took Molly Anne to the pool on Sunday then after Grady's nap we met them there.  Suprisingly it wasn't very crowded!  We had fun!  

We stayed until 5pm, then came home and threw brats and hot dogs on the grill for dinner.  These kiddos went to bed at 6:30, they were SO tired!  I don't know if Molly Anne has ever told me she's tired until this weekend!

Happy Monday!

Amazon Purchases This Week

I never really do Amazon posts but these are some good things that I thought may be useful for your fam too!

1.  These lunch containers.  This year we will be going to the pool during lunch pretty often so these were essential.  We used some YumBox ones the other day and I wasn't very impressed.  Maybe because we weren't worried about spilling like a take to school lunch may be?  But anyway, these sure will be handy and we won't use a zillion baggies in a week. 




2.  Yeti water bottles for the kids.  Yes I am fully aware that these are excessive but we are outside CONSTANTLY and their contigo bottles do not keep their water cold.  And the word from friends is that they do not leak and are wonderful.  




3.  Counters - my friend Hilary told me that Molly Anne needed these because they use them in Kindergarten and are really cool.  I got them and Molly Anne says oh I used those in my class last year.  They've both enjoyed playing with them a lot!



4.  Bunch O Balloons - they LOVE these.  Instant water balloons! I don't love picking up the remnants but it's worth it after seeing them have the best time. 



5.  Math Workbook for Molly Anne - gotta get that math going!




I also bought a pair of running socks (mine have holes in them, literally probably haven't gotten any since college), a new baby girl gift - this book and this bunny, and Spirit tableware for Molly Anne's birthday coming up!  Sorry, nothing exciting for our age but lots of kiddo stuff instead! Story of the Mama life right?!!

Yall have a nice weekend!!

Questions Answered

I've had a few comments and emails that I wanted to answer!

1.  Our patio furniture is from Serena and Lily!  I plan to do a post with lots of pictures soon!  But these are the items we got:  Sofa, Lounge Chair, Coffee Table, Side Table, Dining Table, Dining Chairs (they hadn't arrived when I took this picture!).  We still need to add a couple more chairs but are trying to figure out what makes the most sense for those.  But so far, we are in love with everything!  It's SO pretty.  Big purchase but thrilled about it after a long time without dining furniture at all and not practical lounge furniture.  We spend a lot of time out there.  

  


2.  Orange vodka for the Orange Crushes - this is what I got from our local liquor store.  They didn't have a huge selection to be honest so I got what looked okay and this turned out wonderfully!



3. I workout in very small pieces of time when I can fit it in!  This is how it goes down for me - sometimes I get up super early (prior to 6am) and fit a 30 minute peloton ride in.  Now that the sun rises so early, I'll sometimes go run in the morning.  Another time of day I try to do Peloton is the second I put Grady down for his nap (12pm) and everyone at my office is at lunch.  That is my best bet but not always practical with work and conference calls.  If that doesn't happen, which it only does a day or two a week, I'll go out at night after the kids are in bed and walk or run with my friend Jen.  And sometimes when none of this happens, I lift weights in my driveway while my kids play in the afternoon.  On the weekends, I'll take Grady for a long walk.  And sometimes when I put him down for nap on the weekends, I'll hop on my Peloton.  The key is, don't overthink it.  Just do it.  Mental and physical health for SURE!

4. What am I doing for childcare right now?  WINGING IT.  I have a neighborhood gal that has been coming a few random days a week for part of the day.  And I have another babysitter that is coming here and there. So I typically have some part of the day childcare for a few days a week.  That's the goal at least.  On days I'm not going to my office, I like her to be here from 9-1.  That gets me through my conference calls, she puts Grady to bed at 12pm then does school work with Molly Anne from 12-1.  Molly Anne does school work way better for someone other than me.  She's doing a Kindergarten workbook, some math sheets and sight word flashcards.  That's about it.  Otherwise, it's a puzzle or connect the dots or something like that.  No big school worksheets anymore now that summer is here.  But this childcare set up is the way it is until Kindergarten starts or their daycare opens back up, whichever comes first.  I'm learning to be flexible and have a lot of patience!

5.  Tomorrow I hope to have a post up about what I've bought from Amazon this week because it's some good stuff and I think you should know about some items for this summer!

Meals This Week

I started My Fitness Pal this week to compete with my Dad so I was on the train of meal planning for once!

Here are our dinners and maybe it gives you some ideas?  Please share your favorite dinner you're making this week!

1. Meatballs with Rao's Marinara and roasted broccoli with everything but bagel seasoning and shredded cheddar.

2.  Chicken tenderloins on the grill marinated in my crab chicken recipe.  We had some peas and fruit on the side.  My kids ate that chicken right up!

3.  Breakfast for dinner - eggs, scrapple, bacon, fruit

4.  Charcuterie night - this is typically toward the end of the week so we can use our leftover veggies etc.  I usually do some fruit for the kids, meats, cheeses, crackers etc.  EASY.

5.  Philly Cheesesteak Skillet

6.  Big Mac Salad - Molly Anne had fun helping me make the dressing for this!

7.  Buffalo shrimp (just marinating these in buffalo sauce then saute in pan) over a wedge salad

Weekend

We had way too much fun this weekend! Friday we played outside most of the afternoon. I snuck in a 20 minute weight class in the driveway while they played. 

We decided to break in the porch with our neighbors. We are still on the hunt for a couple more chairs for our seating area. And our other dining chair comes this week. It was backordered for some reason. 

Saturday morning Grady and I went for an hour walk. He lovesssss being in the stroller and doing that!  It was super hot out but we saw a ton of neighbors and that was fun. 

When Grady took his nap, Molly Anne and I put our bikes in the back of the car and went over to the elementary school and rode around. There are some flatter trails there which is nice change. Our neighborhood is super hilly. Anyway, we rode about 2.5 miles and came home!  Then we were invited next door to swim so we did!  

They have their pool heated right now and it was sooo nice. Such a treat for sure to get to swim! 

Grady loved his first real popsicle from Ms. Hilary!  The girls swam forever and Grady got used to the water and his puddle jumpers. They threw some hot dogs on the grill and we both got some sides together. Nothing better than poolside summer dinner!

And then all of that turned into a late night on our porch with a few couples. It was one of those super fun nights you weren’t expecting!



Sunday morning cuddling on the porch watching Spirit!  My dad gave Kevin a Roku so we put it on our porch TV and that’s been so nice to have outside.


We got a few mile bike ride in and I pushed Grady! 

We had found out Saturday that our pool was opening Sunday so you know that’s right where we went when it opened!  Grady took his nap and then I came back to pick him up and bring him to swim!

We swam all afternoon with friends and neighbors. It was unreal the number of people there and we had the best time. Everyone was so thrilled with the normalcy!

We threw some chicken on the grill for dinner and called it an early night!  In case you couldn’t tell, bedtimes were quite easy last night haha!!  Have a great Monday!