14 days of {love}

We are crazy for holidays around here...including Valentine's day!  It just makes life more fun!  We have already been decorated for Valentine's day for awhile now...but I wanted to come up with things to do with the superheroes and princess too.  

I am trying out a new idea this year called my {14 days of love}.  The idea is to celebrate the first 14 days of February by showing people around you how much you love them with a note, craft, or snack.  I found {stole} a lot from Pinterest and added some of my own ideas for my kiddos to do during the 14 days.  Every morning I plan to leave a note or supplies in their little mailboxes {like everyone else in Pinterest world...we got their mailboxes from the dollar section of Target} for them to work on.  I plan to blog about their activity everyday...or almost everyday because life can get kind of crazy around here ;).  Please fill free to follow along with us or use an idea to create your own!  Just click on the link to download the calendar!

14 days of love calendar

the "joys" of snow

This was us on Monday...

{Beautiful weather!!!}

Then two days later we have this...

{That's the Midwest...and I really wouldn't change it even though we all like to complain about our crazy weather!}

What happens in a house of a 5, 4, and 2 year old who see snow on the ground in the morning?  Well it goes a little like this...it begins by them asking constantly if they can go outside to play in the snow...after finally giving in you are faced with the huge chore of getting everyone ready and out the door...

This tale begins at 10:45 am...

{Ellie is throwing a fit about something as only a "big" two year old can...while the boys are actually waiting patiently for me to okay going outside while playing on the "big phone"}

I let them know it is time to get dressed...

 {This is Evan throwing a fit about the shirt I picked out for him to wear because it is not "comfy enough"...he claims this because it is a pullover with a short zipper on the front...after several minutes of throwing a fit about it he says he will wear it, but he is not going to zip it up...}

{At least Avery is dressing himself, but Ellie is off task in the background trying to get some candy...}

{Then you must try to hold a 2 year old down while putting layers of clothes on her, while she tries to pull more toys out of the cabinet in the boys' room...}

{Next, we must move downstairs to put coats, hats, gloves, and boots on...you see Evan really is helping out here while he just lays in the middle of the floor...}

{While I try to get these gloves on a two year old's hand...impossible...the boys head outside...this is Evan already crying because Avery got snow on his neck...maybe he should have zipped up his shirt, right???}

We all make it out the door at 10:59...a minute later...

{Evan is having problems because his gloves keep coming off...}

A few minutes of fun actually happens!

But of course that doesn't last long...at 11:09...a whopping 10 minutes after getting outside...and less time then it actually took us to get dressed...Ellie gets cold and wants to come in...

 We watch the boys from inside...

At 11:16 Evan decides to come back in...

Followed by Avery at 11:18.

19 minutes of "fun" and this mess of clothes is what you get ;) with snow!

I am ready for spring!

so what happened?

This weekend was great, but I am exhausted and I am grateful for a relaxing Monday at home.  Here's a little review...

 

Scrapbooking and the bake sale...

The bake sale did awesome and I cannot believe how many talented women I go to MOPS with!  My two days of scrapbooking, {finally} let me get all caught up on everything...now if you are a scrapbooker you will know this is a very RARE occurrence...I should say caught up until Sunday when I already have three more pages I could do now!  It was great spending some time with some very dear women too!  I don't know why, but I have never taken pictures of my scrapbooking nights...is it wrong to scrapbook me scrapbooking??  There's always next time {Jennifer be prepared I am bringing a camera with me next time ;).}.

 

The 10k...

My race went well enough.  I accomplished!  That's the main goal right?  My race was held in an underground cave system that has businesses in it.  So it is all concrete and paved inside...I wasn't climbing up rocks or anything.  It was nice to be able to run inside in 60 degree temperatures in January.  The bad parts were that it was a little stuffy in there, not much to look at {but tunnels and tunnels of concrete really} and the gps on your watch won't work so that means I didn't know my pace or mileage {Ryan did have his foot pod so he did let me know every know and then, but I look at my watch constantly so I was lost without it}. 

Here's us before the race...

 

{Looking a little better then after the race}

After...

{Just be glad this was taken from far away :)}

 

Actually, the water bottle lady right after I finished asked if I was okay and if I needed to sit down, so yes I was looking a little rough.   My time was ok, although it was two minutes longer then my first 10k.  Ryan stayed by my side the whole way even with me screaming at him during some points {I can't talk normally while running + wearing headphones + not knowing my mileage = me screaming at him to know how many miles :)}.  Sorry!  I told him to not be surprised if I start crying during my half marathon...not really out of pain or sadness, just me overcoming my mental challenges :).  He asked if I thought I could do this half in April and I said yes because I believe running is 90% mental.  No matter if it has been a 5k or 10k I still find them both equally hard to get my mind ok with knowing I can complete them.  Which every time I have, but my mind likes to tell me I can't the whole way.  Yes, I do love the accomplishment at the end, but kinda hate the run in the middle :).  On another note, this race had nothing really to eat afterwards except oranges and bananas.  Most runners, me including, only really do these for the goodies at the end...so I don't know if I would do this race again...

 

"Ice" Skating...

Tamarin watched our kids for us during the race...thank you!  So afterwards we headed to go "ice" skating with her at a place near her {new} house.  I use the word "ice", but it was actually just plastic sheets they skated on.  It was very weird and I have never seen it before, but I guess you can go "ice" skating year around this way.  I don't do any kind of skating so I just watched from the sidelines with Evan and Ellie who also didn't want to participate.  They said it was actually very hard to skate this way and I don't know if we would go back, but it was nice not having to deal with crowds and they had a skate helper for Avery to use.

 

A busy weekend to say the least...so this is what we are doing on this BEAUTIFUL Monday morning...ahhh...

 

me, me, me

I am so excited for the weekend ahead!  Why?  Because it is about me, me, me!  Yes, you read that correctly I am being selfish and my whole weekend is NOT planned with activities for my kiddos, but for ME!  I have been waiting for this weekend for a long time because I get to do....are you ready for it...SCRAPBOOKING :)!  Haha, I am a big dork.  However, you would want to do a scrapbooking weekend too if you got to be away with a fun bunch of women all of Friday night and most of the day Saturday with no superheroes or princesses to worry about and they fix all your meals for you!  I know a dream come true, right...and you really don't have to be that creative to scrapbook, trust me!

Go ahead and scrap on!!!

My scrapbooking weekend happens to be held at my home church, Olathe Bible Church.  This is also where I attend MOPS.  Let me digress for a second and say that I absolutely {LOVE} my Mother's of Preschoolers group!  I do not know what I would do without them being a stay at home mom.  I have met so many wonderful women there who have taught me so much and have helped me to become a better mother among other things.  These women will always have a special place in my heart!  Anyways, during the scrapbooking weekend the MOPS moms are also doing a bake sale.  So I get to make some yummy creations to sale.  If you are in the area, you should totally come check out the yummy goodies for sale to the public on Saturday from noon- 3 pm!  

{My cute bears in a bubble bath that you can buy at the bake sale!  They were so easy to make!  Here's the recipe!}

Then if that is not enough for a "me" weekend...I also have a 10k race on Sunday!  Now let me say I am not a runner who enjoys running...I know that sounds crazy right!?  However, I do like meeting goals and accomplishing things so I love races that require me to push way outside my comfort zone to complete.  This will be my second 10k and although I am more comfortable running 6 miles now, it is still a little scary to me.  This race is also a step toward my half marathon that is about 12 weeks away...eek!  Ryan is running it with me, and even though he could complete the race in half my time, he runs it with me the whole way.  That's why I love him :).

Let the selfishness begin!

what's been going on

Here's what's been going on with the superheroes and the princess...

Avery had a music and movement program at school.  It was very cute and a little different then a normal music program, in that they also incorporated some things they do in PE too.

{I was amazed how Avery got really got into it!}

Then while Avery went on a field trip to Kaleidoscope in the morning... 

...Evan and Ellie had a play date with our friend Brooklyn and then with some other MOPS friends at the "Big Tree" at the mall!

{This was a little strange having a play date without Avery there too because he has always been around in the mornings because he goes to afternoon kindergarten, but I guess this is -what it's going to be like next year when Avery is gone all day :(}

Also, Grandmommy and Granddaddy came up for the weekend to celebrate Kelsey's birthday!

{Enjoying Avery's chapter book from school!}

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL January day so we headed to the park with Grandmommy, Granddaddy, and Kelsey!

{Evan taking Opie, Grandmommy & Granddaddy's dog, for a walk.}

Then we celebrated Kelsey's big birthday!   Happy {early} birthday Kelsey!!

Finally, there was some playing on the "big phone" {aka iPad}...of course, because this is the boys' favorite activity...

{I guess halfway between their room and the hallway is as good of place as any to play the big phone!}

disorganization?!

Anyone who knows me knows how I am a little obsessive about organization...okay maybe a  lot obsessive.  I love containers and finding things to put in them!  One of my favorite things about teaching was organizing my classroom.  If that could be a job...setting up classrooms...it would so be my dream job!  Well anyways, just because you have containers and put things in them does not mean that they are always so "organized".  You can really {hide} a lot of stuff in containers!  So are you ready...I do have disorganization in my home and you are about to see it...

{Now I DO NOT claim those top two containers...that is Ryan's junk..but even with my containers I have given him they have gotten out of control!  I know, can you believe I let this happen!  The problem however, is in that large purple container on the bottom...just see for yourself ...}

{Yikes!  This very large container is filled with all our "important" papers, but you wouldn't be able to tell in that mess!}

I decided it was time to organize these papers so you could actually get to them.  In comes a little Pinterest inspiration and a little bit of supplies...

After hours of going through papers I ended up with this trash pile...

and these three, 2" binders.  Yes, that is correct that is all that was really needed to be kept.  I don't think we needed that VCR tape on how to use or washer and dryer anymore or  the gas receipts from 2001.  It felt so good to get rid of it all!  Pinterest inspired me to make binders so I made a "Life Papers" (you know marriage license, birth certificates, passports, and so on), "Bought Item" (jewelry warranties, home improvement receipts, and manuals), and "Taxes" binders.

{I didn't get too fancy with the covers...in college I used to spend hours creating great cover pages for all my class binders, but who is really going to see these things?!} 

{Here's the inside of the "Life Papers" binder.  I love me some tabs!}

{And here they are easily reached on the shelf!  Ahhh.... feels so good!}

{Yes, the binder next to them is the 4" binder I had to buy for Avery's preschool papers from last year.  I stated off with a 2" one and ended up barely fitting it all into a 4" one (do they make larger binders then 4"??), but how can you throw out all that precious artwork?} 

{Here they are in the art closet...the closet is slowly getting better looking.  It just has to hold so much stuff!}

{And the much improved corner.  The purple container now contains all of Ryan's stuff...and that stuff is never going to be organized, but I don't have to look at it now, right!?}