Weekend Rewind

Wow did we have a busy weekend!  It started Friday night with a quick trip to town to get Aiden some new muck boots.  He'd outgrown his old ones - they were a size 2 and his new boots are a size SIX!!!  Uh yea, I think his feet have grown!  He officially wears a bigger shoe than me, and he's not even 10 yet!!!  The bunny rabbits were in the farm store so Tate was able to see them hopping around in their bin.  That's a definite sign Spring is on it's way!  We got home just in time for showers and bedtime.

Saturday morning Aiden had his last basketball tournament of the season.  We left the house at 7:00 to get there by 7:45.  His team lost their first game, won their second and lost their third.  We didn't leave the school until 1:00!!!  It was a long morning!  Luckily my parent's live only 7 minutes from that school so I ran Tate there after the second game.  Tenley did so good all morning, she was passed from person to person and was given tons of snuggles!  Brennan was MIA most of the tournament, off playing with his buddy Cooper.  Aiden did really well and it was fun to see him out there on the court again.  With basketball being over we are moving on to soccer - the first game is the first Saturday of April so practice will be starting in the next couple of weeks.  We won't even finish soccer before baseball starts. Going to be a busy few months coming up.  Lets hope the babies can handle all the craziness and being on the go.

After the tournament we took the older boys to my parent's house to stay the weekend, along with Tate.  My folks' are right in the thick of lambing season so the boys were outside helping with the new babies quite a bit.  They went out to the timber with my dad for a walk.  Brennan found a shed deer antler just before he stepped into the crick where the water was higher than his boot.  I guess he was pretty wet and waterlogged on the walk back! :)

Meanwhile, Andy, Tenley and I went to the big city to get a little Easter shopping done and to meet friends for supper.  We were at the restaurant for 2 hours (it was super busy!) but Tenley and the 1 year old that was her date (ha ha!) were so good the whole time!  It was noisy in there, and our table was definitely adding to the racket, but they were so calm and cool through it all!  We had a great time catching up with our crazy group, it was a much needed night out for Andy and me!

Sunday morning Andy, Tenley and I went to church then headed back to the big city to finish up our shopping.  Andy made a comment that he felt outnumbered by women (finally!) and he treated his girls to some shopping and lunch.  We got home with enough time to make chocolate sheet cake before we headed out to my parent's house to get the boys and have supper.  We were celebrating all of the February and March birthdays, and in our family we have a lot!  The majority of us celebrate in one of those 2 month's -- isn't that crazy?!?  We had supper, ate sheet cake and took a few pictures.  :)

Nora, Pat, Tate, Nicole, Dad, Me and Grandma, Brennan

I swear I didn't sit down to relax all weekend!  It was go go go!  Now I'm trying to play catch up.  Today Tate started going to my sister's house once a week for 2 hours to play with her daycare kiddos.  I've felt for awhile that he needs to learn how to play with other kids so I begged my sister to let him come to her daycare once a week.  She was super sweet and said yes right away.  While he is there for 2 hours Tenley and I are going to run our weekly errands.  Luckily this morning I (barely) had enough stuff to do for 2 hours but every week I'm not sure.  Once the weather warms up I think we'll start taking a walk for part of those hours.  Today, though, we washed the car, filled the tank up with gas, hit up Goodwill for a basket to spray paint and use as Tenley's waste basket (we scored!), wandered around WalMart and bought more than was on my list and got groceries.  And guess what -- Tenley slept the entire time!!!  I couldn't beg her to sleep through all of that any other time but today when I needed her company she was out like a light.  Ha ha, pretty girl!

Since Tate was not home (for the most part) since Friday night when we got home this morning at 11 he started to pull out all of his toys and sit in the middle of them all.  It was like reuniting him with his long lost friends! So sweet and cute. :)

That was one heck of a busy weekend, and it looks like we are going to come close to that again this weekend.  Let's see - Andy and Aiden have a rabbit meeting for 4-H (he's considering showing a rabbit), Brennan has his friend party at the bowling alley, the big boys have religion class and we have both our families coming to celebrate Bren's birthday Sunday.  Gosh, I'm tired already!

Hope your's was a good one!

What's Up Wednesday

What we're eating this week... Pork.  With the warmer weather over the last week we have grilled out a few times.  Marinated pork chops, pork burgers, and brats.  Those were some good meals!  I made some funky enchiladas Monday night and last nigh we had a pork roast with corn and potatoes.  That's a lot of pork this week!  My dad fattens up a hog for us every other year so we always have some in the freezer but we don't always eat that much in a week's time.

What I'm reminiscing about... the simpler times of days gone by.  We love having our big little family but I do still miss the simplicity of having just one child, and the even simpler days of it just being me and Andy.  I've also been reminiscing about my childhood - now those were simple days!

What I'm loving... my new IPhone.  I've had it a full month now and I really like it!  I don't know if I'll ever go back to an Android.  

What we've been up to... laundry.  I feel like I am doing laundry all the time!  I am thinking of limiting the boys to 2 or 3 pairs of jammies per week.  Right now they wear a different pair every night and all of those jammies are weighing me down! Is it gross to wear the same pair 2 or 3 nights in a row?  

What I'm dreading... Aiden raising sheep for 4H.  There are so many reasons I am dreading this.  As of right now we have nowhere for him to put them, we have no way to transport them, we have no idea what in the hell we are doing, it's going to cost money and I doubt we get any of that back, etc etc etc.  He really wants to do this but we are the ones worrying and stressing over the how's, where's and what's.  I want this for him but for me I'd much rather pass on the whole darn thing.  Why oh why don't we live in the country? That'd make this all so much easier.  

What I'm working on... finding the perfect tile for the basement bathroom.  Yes, I showed you what I thought was 'thee' perfect tile but after a little consideration (and seeing some tile I loved on Fixer Upper) we changed our minds.  And so now I'm working on finding that tile.  Let me tell you, Lowes and Menards don't carry it.  Boo.  That means it's pricey.  Luckily it's not a big room so the overall cost won't be too terrible.  Hoping to find time this weekend to go looking.

What I'm excited about... my birthday!!!  It's tomorrow, I'm going to be 35!  That's as "mid thirties" as you can get. After this year it's the down hill side of the roller coaster hill to 40.  That makes me shit my pants and feel like puking.   No kidding.  BUT! The birthday part, that's what I'm excited about!!!  Andy is making me crock pot cake, yum!  He'll make a big deal over me, which is about the sweetest thing about that guy, and I'll feel all warm and fuzzy all day.  Aren't birthdays the best?

What I'm watching/reading... UP TV.  Have you guys found this channel yet?  I love it!  Well, during the late morning and afternoons.  It starts with 7th Heaven at 11:00, 12 and 1, then at 2 and 3 it's one of my all time favorite shows 'Ed'.  After that, Gilmore Girls!!!  I pretty much just turn the TV to UP and leave it there all afternoon.  I toodle around the house cleaning, checking blogs, writing my posts, etc, but it's on in the background.  Yesterday 7th Heaven finished up - I never saw the last couple seasons - and I was bawling like a baby!  I hate when shows end, don't you?  So today it starts all over again with the first season!  I'm kind of excited about it. :)

What I'm listening to... the click click click of the baby swing.  Tenley, that sweet little girl, is still sleeping in there during the day.  I swear, I am going to work on her sleeping in her crib during the day - soon! Just not today.  I am enjoying the peace and quiet of two sleeping babes.  Don't judge me!

What I'm wearing... old, ugly, not trendy in the least, clothes.  I'm so bored with what I own, need to go shopping in the worst way, just don't have time to get there.  It's not fun clothes shopping with littles in tow, am I right?  And I'm shaped funny enough that it's hard to just order something online and have it fit when it arrives.  Add to that I'm cheap and freak out spending money on clothes and you get a pitiful closet. 

What I'm doing this weekend... it's another busy weekend ahead for the McGuire crew.  Saturday morning Aiden has his final basketball tournament of the season.  Following that all 3 boys are going to my mom and dad's for the weekend.  We planned this so we could go out to celebrate my birthday and Valentine's Day (late) but some friends are coming back from Omaha for the weekend so we are now going out with them, plus another couple from our old town.  So it won't be just the 2 of us (well, 3 with Tenley) but it's going to be even more fun because we'll be with our friends!  As of right now I don't know where we're going or what we're doing but it'll be fun no matter what since they'll all be there!  Sunday the boys will still be gone so we'll just spend time spoiling Tenley with love and attention. For supper that night we are going to my folk's to celebrate all of the February and March birthdays.  There's me, Brennan, my dad, brother in law, sister, niece and my sweet Grandma who passed away a few years ago.  My mom's birthday is April 4th so that's right in there, too.  Nuts how we're all mushed together!

What I'm looking forward to next month... warmer temps, Easter, Brennan's 7th birthday and the beginning of soccer. Andy's going to be coaching Brennan's team this year and I'm so excited for him to be doing this!  It's going to be a hoot!  

Bonus question

What is my favorite Easter tradition... the Easter egg hunt at my Uncle Ferd's house!  These days it's at a church yard because my Aunt Martha took over the hosting duties so she rents the church basement for lunch.  Back when I was a kid they'd shuttle all of us kids down to the basement of Uncle Ferd's house while the adults and big kids (teenagers) went out the the yard and threw candy all over the place!  When I was really little they'd actually hide plastic eggs but that got to be too much of a pain, thus throwing candy.  Now as an adult I still absolutely love this tradition!  I buy a couple bags of candy, along with a bunch of other grown up kids, and we go walking through the church yard throwing candy.  The kids are told to stay in the church basement while we do this.  Then, once we are done throwing the candy, we go in and make strict rules about the big kids running all the way to the other end of the yard so the little kids can have a chance at finding candy, then let them go.  I grab my little kids and their sack and we go out to the yard to see what we can find.  The kids all love it and I can almost feel what I felt as a kid all those years ago.  It's a little magical that way.  

This afternoon Brennan has his second eye appointment.  Fingers crossed what the doctor told us last month holds true and it's just that his eye muscles need to catch up.  Say a quick prayer for us if you get a chance.

Erin

Life Lately

Good morning, friends!  'Life Lately' has been busy but with nothing really going on, if that makes any sense.  What I mean is we've been busy doing day to day life but we haven't had any major events going on.  Until I looked back on my camera I didn't think I had anything to blog about.  Boy was I wrong!  Here's Life Lately...

Aiden gave his presentation to his 4-H club.  Every year each 4-H-er has to give a presentation to their club, preferably one that is Ag or 4-H related.  Sometimes a kid will do a presentation that they gave at school, so maybe something on History.  This being Aiden's first year we (I) were fretting over what topic for him to do.  My first thought was Farm Safety but we settled on him doing Shop Safety instead.  It seemed to me to be more relevant to Aiden at this time because he is always out in the garage helping Andy when Andy works on the basement (we are finally working on finishing the bathroom!).  So, Aiden and I sat down and brainstormed about what people should know for Shop Safety.  We typed up the main talking points and Aiden cut out and glued those onto his poster board. Then he practiced his presentation in front of us 2 times.  Finally it was showtime!  He nailed it (ha, pun not intended!)!!!  I was so darn proud of him, he did such a great job!  I could hear the nervousness in his voice a little but he didn't let that stop him!  It can be so intimidating to speak in front of your classmates, let alone the older kids that are in the club.  Job well done, Aiden!

The boys spent the night at their friend's house, who happen to be brothers.  According to Brennan, he and Cooper stayed up until 2am. (I find that hard to believe).  This meant that he was super tired when he got home Sunday afternoon at 1:30.  I suggested he lay down and take a nap but of course he claimed he wasn't tired.  He climbed up next to Andy on the couch and 5 minutes later I look over and see this.  Mmm hmm, not tired at all. :)

Miss Tenley has gotten big enough to get the Jumperoo out. She loves it!  She sits in there for quite some time looking around and seeing the world in an upright position. The boys were super excited about her being in there, too, and were constantly checking on her and helping her 'jump' in it.  

Last week it warmed up to almost 60 degrees here one day so I took advantage of the warmer weather and washed coats and Tenley's car seat blanket.  My mom made it, it stays in the seat and is under her so I can wrap her up warmly without it blowing off her.  Love it!  So I took it out, along with the head protector that keeps her head from rolling too far to one side or the other.  We decided to meet Daddy for lunch and when I put her in the seat without all of that extra stuff she just looked so darn grown up in it!  I mean, doesn't she look BIG in this picture??  Plus, that smile! :) :) :)

My little thumb sucker.  :)

Oh my goodness, THIS GUY!!!  He is such a monkey!  First I caught him in the cabinet where we keep all of his books.  He'd pulled them all out and climbed in.  Super cute. Then an hour later I look over and he is in the top shelf of this cabinet!!!  I have no idea how he got in there but I totally cracked up at it!  Then I had to help him down. :)  He tried climbing in again later but I caught him in time and talked him out of it.  What a goof ball!

About 6 weeks ago I bought Tenley's Easter dress, size 6-9 months.  Well, the little peanut is just that, a little peanut, so it wasn't going to fit her.  Saturday I took it back and tried exchanging it for a 3-6m size.  Guess what, they were all out!  They had clearanced the rest of that particular dress and all that was left was 0-3m and 6-9m.  Waaa!!! I was so bummed out!!!  So I grabbed these 3 and sent the picture to Andy asking which he liked best.  Then I decided no on all of them because I didn't want to spend $20 on the dress plus another $10 on the cardi to go with it.  (Side note -- dress makers, start sending LONG SLEEVED Easter dresses to Iowa, we are never warm enough for short sleeves on Easter!!!)  We ended up going to another Target, still not finding the dress but found another one that I decided to live with.  I'm not 100% happy with it and still might look for something else but for now it'll have to do.  

Tate can tell us who everyone is when asked - who's that? "Mommy!"  who's that? "Daddy!"  And now when we point to him and ask who's that? he says "Tatie Tot!"  :)

Our little lady is turning into a wiggly little worm and is starting to scoot herself around. When I change her diaper she makes frog legs then pushes herself back with her feet.  Makes diaper changes challenging!  Yesterday when I went into the kitchen to make supper she was laying in the middle of her playmat.  When I came back she was NOT on her playmat anymore! And she had kicked off her sock and was pretty happy about it!

Last, we went to town for groceries and errands yesterday morning.  We stopped at the bank and I told Tate we'd see Grandma Jean.  Well, Grandma Jean wasn't there, she was at a different branch, and boy was he mad about that!

That's Life Lately!

Tenley Louise || 3 Months Old

I can't even believe it but Miss Tenley Girl, you are THREE MONTHS OLD!!!  That's one quarter of a year already!!!  The time, it just needs to slow down!

I remember reading another blogger telling how her mom told her in the middle of a particularly rough week with a new baby to just make it to the 3 month mark because after that it's like you have an all new, EASIER, baby. They are more content, you are more relaxed because you know what you're doing with this little one and it's overall a calmer experience.  Well, you haven't been a difficult baby in the least but I've still been waiting for the magic 3 month mark to hit, and here we are.

A little bit about you at 3 months old:

\\ You are very happy baby!  You give away smiles freely, even to inanimate objects!  There is an orange circle where the legs of your playmat connect at the top and for some reason that thing tickles your funny bone!  You coo and smile at it every time it catches your eye.  That cracks me and Daddy up.

\\ Speaking of your daddy, you are a BIG fan of his!  As soon as you catch sight of him you light up! You give him big gummy smiles, you make funny little sounds of love and you sigh with contentment.  He likes to call you Loulee Talulee these days.

\\ You are quite chatty.  We have many talks throughout the day and you are good at keeping me company while Tate is napping.

\\  When I hold you on my lap you like to stand up and are very strong and steady on your legs.

\\  For the life of me I can't get your to sleep in your crib during the day. At night you sleep there just fine but the second I lay you down in there during the day you wake right up, no matter how hard you were sleeping.  I have vowed 3 times now that *this* will be the week we work on it, but then something comes up and I find it's Thursday and yet again we haven't worked on it.  Oh well, eventually we'll get it figured out.  For now you nap in your swing and you seem very content with that.

\\  The swing is not just for your naps - you enjoy swinging in there while awake, too. And the seat comes off and becomes a bouncer which you like sitting in.  Besides that you like laying on your playmat, cooing at your orange friend or sitting up in your Bumbo chair.  You are just now steady and holding yourself up solidly in the chair.  I have found you prefer to be upright when being held, and if I am standing holding you, you really prefer to be facing out.

\\  You are a good little nurser.  You eat every 3-4 hours during the day.  At night you typically wake just once to eat, usually between 4 and 5, but there have been a few nights over the past month where you woke 2 and 3 times - growth spurt.  You have also blessed me with a couple of full nights of sleep!  Just this morning you didn't wake until 6 am!!!

\\  During the day you usually take 2 really good naps which last between 2 and 3 hours, then a bunch of shorter cat naps in between those.  At night you go to bed between 8 and 10 and wake in the morning between 6:30 and 8.  The books say you are sleeping through the night because you typically sleep a solid 8 hour stretch before waking for your early morning feeding but I have to say I am ready for you to sleep solidly from 9pm to 7am.  It's been months since I've had a solid night's sleep and I believe it'll take months of solid nights of sleep for me to start feeling like I'm caught up again.

\\  You can still roll over from your tummy to your back.  You seem to enjoy tummy time and you can hold your shoulders completely up off the floor now.

\\  I have finally put away all of your 0-3m clothes.  I put you in your 0-3m Valentine's Day dress turned tunic to wear with jeggings this weekend for V-Day just so we could celebrate the holiday, but there is no way it could have been worn as a dress as long as you've gotten. And girlie, you are LONG!  I can't believe how much you've stretched out!  Your growth spurt is really noticeable!

\\  All 3 of your big brothers continue to dote on you!  All the kisses from Tate!  Most times he can't walk away with giving you just one kiss, oh no, it's 2 or 3 at a time!  I can hardly blame him, your cheeks are irresistible!  I have finally given Aiden permission to pick you up and carry you - not far, just to the couch from the swing or to bring you to  me from laying on the floor - but he truly loves having this privilege.  He is very gentle with you.  Brennan loves laying next to you on the floor talking to you but 9 times out of 10 Tate, the baby hog, comes along and gets in between you two.  I swear, Tate thinks you are his baby and I am just here to do all the diaper changes. :)

\\  Like I mentioned, you are completely in 3-6m clothes.  And you are in size 1 diapers still (!!!).

\\  Last month you came down with a nasty cold which turned out to be RSV.  You were quite a trooper and took most of your nebulizer treatments without fussing and really, through the entire week of you being sick you weren't at all fussy!  You are such a good baby!  At those appointments you weighed 12lb 12oz, and 12lb 9oz (you lost 3oz in 3 days!).  My guess is that right now you are hovering just at or under 13lbs.

You have brought so much joy to our lives, Loulee Loulee Lou!  Oh how I love you!  As one of my favorite literary characters, Anne Shirley, says "I simply fall upon you with kisses".  We are "kindred spirits" and going to be "bosom friends" for sure.  I do adore you, Tenley Louise, and I feel so blessed to be your mommy.

My Last Day

Today, if I was a working mom, would be my last day of maternity leave.

I am 100% the luckiest person ever to get to stay home with my 2 sweet T's - Tate and Tenley.  I thank God every single day for letting me be here with them.  It's not the easiest gig on the planet, a lot of days are super challenging.  I might cry, yell, get frustrated and just plain give up but in the end I always go back to feeling so blessed to be able to be here with my babes day in and day out.

Tate Lately \\ 2 Years Old

I can't believe it but my little Tatie Tot is 2 years old today!!!  TWO!!  He's gone from this...

.... to this in the blink of an eye.

A little bit about my sweet boy:

• He loves fruit.  When he eats raspberries he puts his pointer finger in their hole before plunking them into his cute little mouth.  Blueberries, bananas, raspberries and oranges are his favorites but I have yet to find a fruit he'll turn down.
• Tate is a great big brother to Tenley!  All the kisses he gives her, each and every one melts my heart.  He is (mostly) gentle with her.
• Tate LOVES his big brothers!  Aiden is more like a buddy to him - Aiden fawns over Tate, gives him anything he wants and is totally smitten with him.  Brennan is definitely his brother - they fight then make up and wrestle and laugh and have fun together again.  All 3 play basketball in Tate's bedroom with his Little Tykes basketball hoop, it's their special time together.
• He is very good at putting together cut-out puzzles.  You know, the kind where each piece has their own precut spot to fit back into and they have a little peg/handle sticking out of the top of them.  He does them over and over and over again.
• Give Tate his shoes and he'll put them on and take them off again, over and over.  Last week he did this for half an hour, no joke!
• This little boy is NOT a picky eater.  He is 100% a carnivore - he loves steak, chicken and pork and always ask for more.  He eats his veggies like a champ, too.  Pizza, chili, casseroles -- anything I feed him he will eat!  He even likes pickles!  And recently he has started liking to dip things in ketchup.
• He is talking more and more every day.  He asks "what's that" five hundred times a day, at least, which is helping to increase his vocabulary.  I wrote down all of the words he knew a couple weeks ago but have lost track because he is learning so many new words every day.  He's stringing 2, 3 sometimes 4 words together in sentences now, too.  
• Tate is quite chatty - at home - but get him out in public and he clams up.
• He is a wild man!  He runs, he jumps, he crawls, he does silly things - he's wild!  
• Tate is a book worm!  He pulls out tons of books every day, sits and reads them out loud to himself, brings them to me or Andy to read to him, shows them to Tenley, takes one or two to bed to read as he's falling asleep - he just loves books!
• One of Tate's very favorites things to do is play in the basement with the big boys.  They got a mini pool table for Christmas and Tate thinks it's pretty cool to hold the pool cue and push the balls into the pockets.
• He likes Daniel Tiger, Thomas the Train and Curious George, although he doesn't sit and actually watch these shows for more than 5 minutes. But if I turn the channel before the show is over, oh no!
• He loves playing outside!  The sandbox is his favorite place to play while out there.
• Tate is an independent player, meaning he can play by himself very well.  We are working on sharing when other little kids are around.  
• He is the baby hog!  Any time the big boys try to have time with Tenley he barrels in on their fun and gets between the boys and Tenley so she can only see him.  I can't help but laugh every time!  It totally irritates the big boys, though. :)
• Tate shares his most prized possession with Tenley - his snuggle blankie!!!  He doesn't share Snuggle with anyone, yet when he sees Tenley uncovered he grabs his snuggle and tucks her in tight.  That's true love!

We had Tate's well child check on Monday.  His doctor checked him all over and he's healthy as a horse!  He's lost both of his tubes now, but both are still dangling in his ears.  The right one has been doing that since November!  Fingers crossed for no more ear infections.  

Weight:33lbs, 96%

Height: 37 1/2 ", 98%

We love you, love you, LOVE YOU Tate!  

Tate's 2nd Birthday Party

We celebrated Tate's 2nd birthday this past weekend.  It was a nice, small party with family.

We started with lunch.  Andy grilled brats and hot dogs while I made some of Pioneer Woman's Rosemary Potatoes.  We also had a lettuce salad and chips.  It wasn't a huge meal but we figured with everyone going to Super Bowl parties that night they wouldn't want to eat too much.  Everyone loved the meat off the grill - winter gets long around here and everyone gets excited to eat off the grill!

For dessert it was cake and ice cream!  Tate is a fan of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood so we asked a local bakery to make him a Daniel Tiger cake. They did a great job decorating the cake special for our little Tatie Tot!  He was SO excited to see Daniel on his special cake!  When it was delivered the day before his party he was went nuts over the cake!  He actually screamed and cried big ol' tears when I put the lid back on the cake box!  So, he was very happy about his 2nd birthday cake.  :)

We lit the candles and started singing.  He started with a huge smile then as the song went on he became more and more shy and withdrawn.  I thought for sure the tears were about to start but nope!  He pulled out of it!

He ate NONE of his cake but almost ALL of his frosting - true 2 year old!

Once the cake was all gone and the sugar was doing it's job it was time to open presents.  Tate must remember Christmas very well because he knew exactly what to do with those presents!

Tate had so much fun opening and playing with his new presents!  He was very spoiled!  He will get the presents from us on his actual birthday, tomorrow.  I can't wait to celebrate our little Tater Tot some more!

Last night we had some of his leftover cake and we sang Happy Birthday to him again - he really loves that!

Happy Birthday, Tate!

So What Wednesday

It's been forever since I did a So What Wednesday post so I think it's high time to get one written up.
Here's what I'm say 'So What' to this week:

So what if...

\\ Tate shoved a raisin up his nose yesterday.  He sneezed, it flew out, all's well that ends well.

\\ I'm drinking Mt Dew like a pro again.  I'm tired, I don't drink coffee and I'm just trying to function like a human so if that's what it takes... :)

\\ I absolutely despise dress up days at school.  They are work for the parent, not the kid.  I don't have the imagination to think up and put together these outfits but if they don't get dressed up then they feel left out.  How many students feel left out by these days because the parents don't have the resources to dress their kids up for them?  They are supposed to be fun but for me they create all kinds of anxiety.  I hate school dress up days.

\\ I've decided to stop turning the big boy's and Andy's shirts right side out when folding them because, lets face it, they're lucky I even fold their clothes these days!  Hello, laundry for 6 people?  That's a lot!

That's what I'm saying So What to this week!

Weekend Rewind

Hey hey hey!!! It's FEBRUARY!!! The best month of the whole year  in my opinion!  It's my birthday month, love is in the air, the air is going to start warming up... It's just a great month!

Another great weekend in the books here!

Saturday morning we loaded up the crew and headed to the outlet mall.  I had 3 outfits that were given to Tenley that were the wrong sizes that I needed to return to Carters and Aiden needed new shoes...again.  That boy goes through shoes like crazy!  But I guess that's a good thing, it means he's active.  Carters always has a sale going on it seems so I may have spent more money than I was given for the returns. :)  Tenley came out of there with 5 new outfits for this spring/summer and Tatie Tot got 2 new shirts.  Oh, and Andy picked out some super cute bows for her!!!  He is so smitten with Tenley and would buy up all the bows if I wasn't already doing a good job of that. :)

From Carter's we went to Old Navy. They were having an additional 30% off their kids clearance racks so I went crazy!  Tenley has a good start to her winter 2016/2017 wardrobe already!  I lost count of how many things I bought for her there.  Tate got a couple of shirts, Aiden got a Bears sweatshirt and 2 long sleeved dress shirts and Brennan got a dress shirt.  We walked out of there with a big bulging sack of clothes, most of which were under $4 a piece.  We even got some things for 97cents!  It was a heck of a deal, I tell you!

Last stop was Under Armor.  Aiden needed those new shoes so we stopped there.  He picked out a new pair and I snagged a new pair while there, too.  We also found a new sweatshirt for Aiden and some basketball shorts for Brennan.  It was a good trip to the outlet mall for sure!

We decided to continue our road trip on over to the big city to get some supplies for the basement bathroom.  It was lunch time so we gave ourselves 30 minutes or less to get what we needed and pick out the floor tile.  We knew going in that we wanted the tile that looks like wood flooring so that gave us a lot fewer options to dig through.  We walked back to the flooring and in less than 30 seconds picked out and agreed on the tile.  We grabbed one box to bring home so we could lay it out and get an idea for how it would look.  I think it's a keeper!

Is it ok to use the 'cool' tones of the flooring with the 'warm' tones of the vanity??? HELP!!!

We grabbed what we needed and headed out.  Andy and the boys ate at Pancheros (burritos) while Tenley and I sat in the car nursing her.  Then we ran through Panda Express for my bowl of orange chicken and came home.  Andy worked on the cabinet that goes in the bathroom downstairs and I did a little cleaning up and laundry here in the house.

Sunday morning the boys helped me make Monkey Bread while I baked a quick chocolate cake for Sunday Dinner at my parent's house.  It was pretty darn good Monkey Bread, they did a great job!  Andy worked in the garage on the cabinet some more while I finished the cake (chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, yum!), then we loaded up and headed out to my parent's.  The sheep shearer was coming so we had planned on eating lunch then going out to the barn to watch. Well, he arrived 2 hours later than expected so we didn't get to watch at all. What a bummer!

We came home, Tate took a nap, the rest of us watched Iowa beat Northwestern (men's basketball), then back out to the garage Andy and the big boys went. It was 45 degrees here so a great afternoon to be outside playing (for winter, that is!).  I worked on a menu for Tate's birthday dinner next Sunday, plus what to make for our little Super Bowl gathering we're hosting.

After that, Andy grilled some brats for supper and we just chilled for the rest of the night.  Homework, baths, etc.

How was your weekend?  This week we have our tax appointment, otherwise it's a quiet week before another busy weekend.  Have a great one!