Friday, February 24, 2012

Weekly Round Up

Hubby's been working 12-14 hour days + a 2 hour drive each day which means Grace has not seen daddy since Wednesday and I have only seen him at night for about one hour before we head off to bed. He's on his way home and we have a family weekend ahead so I'm going to do a quick "Weekly Round Up" by way of photos.  


Loren's birthday was February 5th.
He wanted a home made ice cream maker.
They were selling them at Lowes for $5.
Score and a big happy birthday to ya!  
This was our first attempt at making ice cream.
Vanilla with some sprinkles.  




Consensus:  We will probably not be buying store bought ice cream again.
So much healthier, smaller portions (no left overs) and a fun family "event."  And, it was really yummy.



Last weekend we took a trip to Wenachee (our 2nd weekend in a row).  Loren was sent there for work.  They were paying for his hotel and gas and food so we tagged along with. Staycations are a blast.  Especially free ones!

On our way we stopped at a super scrumptious French Bakery.
Best cinnamon rolls I've ever had.

Represent. 
Dude, we are so dorky.

Our 1st stop in Wenachee was a bead shop.  The previous weekend Grace freaked out (in a happy, oh my gosh, I have to come back here kind of way) and wanted to make a necklace.  We didn't want to just give it to her so we told her that if she did some extra chores (above and beyond keeping her room and play room tidy) and was well behaved all week she could get one.  She did it so she got it and designed it all herself.


Not sure why it's sideways.  Sorry.


Our 2nd stop in Wenachee was to meet up with sweet friends who treated us to lunch.
We are grateful we got to visit with them for a few hours.  They use to live in Ellensburg but moved to Wenachee a few months back and we had not seen them since.  They have been a blessing in our lives over the last year and a half.  Thank you Karon and Jerry, for everything!!!
Wish I had brought my camera into the restaurant.


Grace fell in love with the Owl Soda Shop the previous weekend so we made a second visit so she could get a gumball.  And, I love a good soda fountain.



And, I treated to her a small bowl of vanilla ice cream.  


After this it was time to check in.
We stayed at the SpringHill Suites.
A really nice, newly built hotel.





Gracie's favorite feature: The indoor swimming pool!



After swimming it was dinner time.
We decided to stay in.
We ordered pizza and chicken from Papa Johns, played Uno and then went to bed.




The weekend was wonderful but it was good to come home.
A busy week would soon follow.
3 play dates (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)
and two 9 hour days watching L-man (Tuesday and Thursday).
Happily all the events mentioned above went smashingly well and adding abundant joy to our week (minus Loren getting the stomach flu and Grace having belly grumbles for a few days.  Thankfully they are both well now).




Play Date Monday!


Making brownies

Pillow Fight

Pretending to be pregnant


Princess dress up


Play date Wednesday 

Coffee/Treats and game time with friends


Play date Friday


Lunch

Play-doh



And, lastly we ventured to the park before dropping her friend off at home. So much girly girl fun.

Sorry the photos are so small.  
They are from my phone.  


pushing their babies on the swings


This was our third time this week going to the playground.
We love that spring is sneaking up on us.


Even L-man came with us once



And, a CANNON BALL just to bring a smile to your face.




And, to round up the round up a
DIY (do it yourself) project for Gracie's Party:

$2 Goodwill frame

turned into a candy shop sigh


And, hubby just walked in the door.
Good night and happy weekend!!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Adventuring.....

I love how a seemingly typical Wednesday for us can feel like an adventure.
Nothing magical happened but it felt good and wonderful and I smile knowing that Grace thinks today rocked.

Loren and I both had off today.
Something that's very unusual for us on a week day.
While Grace went to school Loren worked on his scooter and I tidied up the house and worked on plans for Gracie's birthday party (only 38 days away!).

When she came home we ate lunch together (hooray!  We never get to eat any meals with Loren during the week typically so breakfast + lunch = happiness).

This, however, is when the fun began....

After lunch we met up with our friends at Starbucks to enjoy some game time.
We had fun playing Curious George, Hi Ho Cherry-O and Yahtzee.
Then the girls colored while us mama's chatted.
I know it sounds simple but it was needed.  It brought us gobs of joy. We laughed and watched the girls eat goodies.  The girls laughed so loud multiple times that we had to constantly remind them to laugh quieter--a good thing to have to tell a kid.  This was one of my favorite moments of the day!

E& G
The only photo I got from today!  


When we got home, as a family, we went out back and got some good old deck cleaning and poop pick up done.  I know it might seem odd that I enjoyed that but it felt great to be out side, in the sun (even though it was windy and cold) doing some "spring cleaning." It made me excited for what's to come. Warm weather can't come soon enough.  We will flip our routine and spend most of our day outside and very little indoors.

After our outdoor chores were done, we took a family walk with Bailey.  Everyone came home refreshed (& a bit frozen).  Grace collected random things here and there along the way.  Bailey frolicked when we made it to the park.  Poor girl kept looking for her pale Perry but he was no where to be found.  Trying to set up a doggy play date for them for tomorrow as it's looking like it's going to be a super awesome winter weather day: High 40's and sunny!

When we got home, we washed up and ran back out.  Fred Meyer was having a massive 70% off sale prices CLEARANCE.  We found a $150 winter coat for Grace (that will surely fit her for two winters, just like her current one did) for $37!  And, we got her two pairs of shorts and a Oshkosh zip up sweater and two pairs of tights for pennies.  By the end of our shopping trip we ran to our favorite place to eat in town: The Pita Pit. Healthy and yummy.
There's something so nice about eating out when you don't get to do it often.

When we got home Grace was exhausted so we did bedtime immediately and she was in bed by 6:45.  She asked if she could read quietly in her room.  She ended up reading for an hour, then lights out and peace and quiet.  That except for sounds of a trimmer as it was Loren hair cut night and I'm the barber.
It's now 8:23pm and we are done for the day, minus a few things to tidy up before bed.

I really loved today.  Grace said "yes mom" a lot!  Didn't argue with me that much. Grumbled a bit but some is to be expected during the day.  She was kind and loving.  It was pure joy to be around her today. I needed today!  Thank you God for answered prayers.

Honestly we've been struggling lately with Gracie's obedience and respect towards us. The last week was especially hard.  And, it didn't help that for some reason her body was fighting sleep at night.  My poor kiddo who's normally asleep by 7:30/8 was up until 9:30/10:30 each night tossing and turning (I'm guessing her body is going through some grand and beautiful change) & she had an icky belly for a few days in a row.  All that combined with some stressful days at school (Mean Girls.  Who knew in Kindergarten my sensitive five year old would have to emotionally deal with that.  It's awful & heart breaking.  I cried hard Tuesday after dropping her off from school due to witnessing it first hand and not for the first time.   Thankfully the teacher is aware of what's going on and steps are being taking to change certain behavior!) made for some aggravating days and made for a mommy who was quite stressed out and found it hard to be slow to anger at times.  Thankfully, Grace is gracious and forgave me and in turn showed me again just how special she is.  Her heart is beyond description.  She's so willing to quickly forgive and love more deeply.

Again, thank you God for teaching me more about you through my child.
I see you in her eyes and in the way she responds to others.
Thank you for your forgiveness and for never loving me any less.

Happy Wednesday night.
Hope your Thursday is an adventurous one.