Celebrating Daddy

Early this month, we had a blast celebrating Matt's birthday! The kids and I had been planning for days what to get him and working on his special dinner. They'd picked out and worked on his cards earlier in the week and were so excited to give them to him. Harrison was devastated that he wasn't going to open his gifts that morning, so we settled on opening his cards instead.

I love the work they put in to each card -- Madeleine wrote a lot of sweet things in hers.

Harrison chose this dinosaur card for Daddy.
Even Charlotte worked on markering her card for Daddy!While Matt was at work that Friday, Harrison, Charlotte & I were busy getting ready for our big evening. We cleaned, got some steak for dinner and picked up his cake. Charlotte was obsessed with the cake and hovered by the fridge for most of the afternoon hoping to get herself a lick. :)

Matt arrived home to find his gifts waiting for him -- the kids arranged and rearranged them by the "birthday chair." Love that Transformers bag that Harrison insisted we get!

We set the table with all the best china, silver and crystal that night. :) I had some good helpers with this part.

Madeleine made place cards for everyone.

We had appetizers while the steaks cooked. Then we feasted on Matt's favorite foods -- steak, double stuffed potatos, green bean bundles, salad and rolls. Harrison discovered that evening that he loves steak too!

After dinner it was time for gifts! I love watching the excitement in the kids faces as they watch Daddy open their gift. They are more excited than he is, I think.

Lest anyone think our evening was all fun and games, her is Charlotte in the middle of a complete meltdown about something.

Finally, it was time for cake! The kids turned off every light in the house except for one so it was quite the event. Matt had some good help blowing out the candles too!

And, Charlotte finally got her cake....and a blue mouth too!

It was a fun night making Daddy feel extra-special!

The Past 5 Days...

The past 5 days, Matt has been at a conference in Tampa, getting lots of rest, eating at great restaurants and enjoying time with his favorite collegues.
All the while, I've been home holding down the fort. Thankfully, I had some awesome help with my mom here (she cleaned my carpets!) and the kids enjoyed some time with Mimi as well. We had a busy Wednesday, dropping Matt off and then heading to Alma to pick up my mom.

Thursday was Madeleine's school program which was so cute! It's an entire post all in itself.

Friday, we met up with our besties (who were also without their dad -- craziest part is both the hubs were in the same area) at the mall for some fun playtime a.k.a. wear the kids out and hope for good naps! :) Charlotte has become obsesses with Titus the past couple of weeks and talks constantly about "Ty Ty" at our house. But, as soon as we get around him, she gets all shy. I tried to snap a couple of pictures of them and at first Charlotte wanted nothing to do with it -- she was pouting about the picture which Titus was showing off his adorable smile!

Finally, she warmed up and got a little closer, but not too close.

We ended our playtime with a ride on the mini carousel.

And snapped some pictures of the boys in their knight armour that they wore while we were there. I think they spent most of the time sword fighting each other and the rest of it playing spies. :)

Friday ended with Grandad arriving and things got pretty silly pretty fast.

Mimi and Grandad left on Saturday and thankfully, we had date night that night so the kids went and I did some early Easter shopping. By the time I picked up the kids, we stopped for ice cream, got everyone home and bathed (twice, since Charlotte decided to poop in the tub) I was exhausted! I think we were all ready for Daddy to get home! We headed out Sunday morning to pick him up at the airport....then home for mommy to get a nap. :)

My Knight in Shining Armor

Harrison has been obsessed with knights lately. He's been fighting pretend dragons and the occasional "bad guy" with his homemade sword (a bubble wand). It was obvious that this guy needed some real knight armor so Harrison and I got on Amazon and checked out all the different sets and finally he decided on one. He counted the days until it came (thankfully, I got 2-day shipping because those were some long 2 days!) and while we were waiting on it to arrive I had to keep the picture of it up on the computer and found him looking at it constantly. And, he's worn it daily since it arrived. I love the face he makes when he is fighting!

I like to ask him what he is fighting and usually he says a Night Fury Dragon or some other kind of dragon. Sometimes he says a "mean guy." But, one day last week, during a particularily heated battle where he was grunting "take that you bad guy!", he surprised me with his answer -- he told me that he was on God's Team and he was fighting the Devil. That one made me smile and made so proud of my little knight!

Taking the Plunge

Harrison has been begging for a fish for ages. So awhile back we decided to give our first "pets" a try and let the kids each get a fish. We bought them both a beta fish because they are supposed to be very easy to take care of and live for awhile. Well, so far they've lived up to our expectations since they are both still alive.

We took them to the pet store and let them choose which fish they wanted and all the gear to go with them. Harrison was quick to decide which one he wanted, but Madeleine to her time choosing the perfect fish. There was so much excitement when we got home and got their fish bowls ready. They were eager to help!

Harrison named his fish Goldie-Nemo-Snapper. Quite a name for a little fish. :)

Madeleine named her fish Princess Lilly.

They have both been doing very good at feeding the fish. Charlotte loves them as well -- I've found her kissing the bowl from time to time. She calls them both "fifi" which is adorable!

Weekend "Away"

A couple of weeks ago, we used the small break in Matt's weekend worktime to "get away" for the night. We decided last minute to book a room up in Bentonville and spend the night and part of the next day up there. The kids were so excited to get to stay in a hotel and it was fun to surprise them with this last minute fun!

We started out by telling them we'd go wherever they wanted for a late dinner -- they chose Mimi's which was right on our way.

Their favorite part of the meal is always the dirt cups they get for dessert. :)

After a quick stop at the bookstore, we headed to the hotel. As soon as we'd checked in, we changed our clothes and hit the pool! Thankfully, the pool was nice and warm and we pretty much had it to ourselves the entire time we were there. Madeleine and Harrison dove right in, but Charlotte was a little more timid that night. By the next morning, she was right in there with them though! Now, I can't wait for summer and all those days we'll be spending at the pool.

Once the kids were good and tired, we headed back to the room and got ready for bed. Matt had brought his computer and we all curled up and watched a movie.

It was amazing how quickly we all went to sleep and actually got a good night of sleep. :) After some breakfast the next morning and more swimming we headed home -- the kids in their jammies still. We had such fun I'm sure it is something we will be doing again! One of the best parts? There was almost no packing involved! :)

Wilsons at Wilson Park

Wilson Park is probably my most favorite park in NWA. It has the best playground for little kids -- actually 2 of them, swings, a trail with bridges, lots of open spaces to run and the coolest rock castle with a little pond. And, the best part is that it's just minutes from Madeleine's school which makes it the perfect spot to stop in the afternoons before heading home! And, thanks to this unseasonally warm weather that is gorgeous we've been doing just that !

If only I could capture the pure delight in her face as she discovered she could do this slide all by herself!