Spring Break {Part 2}

We planned a pretty low-key spring break this year. Matt had to work some at Ramay and he also needed to get some work done on his grad work as well.

 

Monday started off bright and early. Matt took Harrison to his dentist appt early that morning -- I know, what a way to start spring break, with an 8am dentist appt! Then Harrison got to go to work with Matt while the girls and I did some grocery shopping for the week. Divide and Conquer, right??

 

We finished up and picked up Harrison and headed home. The rest of the day was spent playing outside or hanging out around the house. I'd discovered the Magic Treehouse website and showed it to Harrison that afternoon. He and Madeleine spent most of the afternoon playing that or doing Reflex Math (their choice, not mine. :) 

We taught Harrison to play SORRY that night and had some pretty competitive games the rest of the week! We love to play games as a family and we are very competitive!

Matt had to work again Tuesday and the kids and I spent the morning hanging out and having a Wii tourney.

Matt had acutally gone into the office around 7 so he could come home early. He got home early that afternoon so Madeleine and I could go out and do some spring shopping. We found some great things and I snapped this picture of this dress that we both loved -- and of course bought!

We met up and Matt, Harrison & Charlotte for dinner at our fav mexican spot. Yum! Madeleine & I beat them there and enjoyed some chips and salsa just us for a bit.

Wednesday was my day off. :) Matt stayed home and took care of the kids and I got to have most of the day to myself. With his crazy work schedule right now (and getting even crazier in April) I just needed a day to take care of those little things I'd been putting off (like Easter shopping!). I also needed to get the kids some warm weather clothes with spring just around the corner. It was such a nice day and one that I desperately needed. Not only to get things done, but also to just refresh my spirit and prepare for the coming months.

While I was gone, Matt took the kids on a picnic to the park and played games with them. They had a super-fun day with Daddy too!

Thursday we met up with our besties, the other W family, for a playdate at the Monkey House. It was crazy busy but the kids had a blast! Harrison was beyond excited for some playtime with Drew (and Adam) and Madeleine blew me away with her sweetness by helping not only with Charlotte but Titus as well. Madeleine is going to make one great babysitter soon. She loves little kids so much! And, has such patience with them.

It actually started snowing as we were leaving -- crazy weather!

We had movie night that night. We watched the old Disney movie That Darn Cat for the first time and the kids loved it! It was one of my favs growing up and fun to experience it with them.

Friday morning we stayed around the house and cleaned and I did some much needed laundry. :) That afternoon Madeleine, Harrison & I went to the library while Charlotte napped. We had quite a list of books we wanted to look for and found most of them!

We paid for that nap that Charlotte took later that night-- she was up and reading in bed with us at 10:30 that night. Ay-yi-yi!

Saturday we picked up Alex and Veronica again and went to do the building project at Lowes. It was by far the hardest project yet (we actually took extras home to build that afternoon).

The kids had fun which was all that really matters! I think they had a fun spring break. Our kids are so easy -- they love being home and staying in their PJs all day and playing with each other at home.

Spring Break {Part 1}

We started off our spring break with a crazy weekend this year! After Charlotte and I spent the morning playing with Sarah & Mary Mack, we headed home for her to get a (much needed) nap and so I could get ready for the rest of the weekend.

 

We picked up Madeleine & Harrison from school that day and added another 2 to our number as well. We'd invited Alex & Veronica (from the family at school that we help/mentor) to come and spend the night and most of the next day with us. They were all pretty excited about this and we headed home to start the fun. :) We came home and played outside for a bit before heading in for snacks and more playtime. 

Once Matt got home we loaded up the van and headed out to dinner. We ended up at Red Robin -- Alex and Veronica were so excited to eat out and had never been there before. The kids were all sooo good during dinner, but corraling 5 kids while eating out is quite an adventure!

After dinner we went to a nearby park to run off some energy. It was a new park to everyone except Madeleine so they had fun exploring. We discovered a neat looking trail, but ended up turning back because it was getting dark. We decided to come back and try it later and surprised the kids by coming back the next afternoon.

We left the park and headed to braums for some ice cream. It was a perfect night to sit outside and eat! Then it was home to clean up and bathe everyone -- which takes a good hour with 5 kids! Ha! We got everyone tucked in bed by 9:30 which I thought was pretty good. :)

The next morning the kids all slept till after 8 -- yay! When they got up I made pancakes for breakfast and then we played at home for awhile and let it warm up before heading back out.

We went to another park that morning. It's one of our favorites and the kids never get tired of playing there. And, for Alex and Veronica -- they don't get to do things like this and they were thrilled  to be at the park. We took frisbees and soccer balls and made a long morning of it! The weather was perfect and I'm thankful we took advantage of it since the next week ended up being rainy/snowy.

After the park, we made a potty break and then decided to go hike the trail we found the night before. It was a great little hike and even Charlotte was able to make it.

By the time we'd played at the park and hiked we were all hungry. So we grabbed a quick lunch and then took the kids home. It was a fun way to start our spring break! Matt and I were both pretty tired from keeping up with 5, but it was so worth it!

Good Friends = Good Times

The first weekend of Spring Break our good friends Ryan, Sarah & Mary Mack were in town for the weekend. We were so excited to see them and spend some time with them. Charlotte and I especially have missed our park buddies this year and we met up with them early Friday morning to spend some time playing at one of our favorite parks. We explored most of Wilson Park since it was a gorgeous day! Charlotte was all about the water on this day. :)

 

 

 

 



Saturday night we met them at one of all of our favorite dinner spots for some pizza. The kids were so good and afterwards had such fun playing while we talked outside.

It was so good to see them and hear all about how awesome the college professor schedule is -- we will hopefully be there soon! Sarah and I had a great time catching up too and it was encouraging to hear that the end result of these crazy 5 years will be worth is!

Library Fun

Charlotte and I have started going to the F'ville library for story time a lot lately. We go early and spend some time doing puzzles and playing on the computer. Then we stick around for storytime. The children's librarian is so sweet and great with the kids. The toddler time is perfect for her -- parents still interact with the kids and most parents sit on the floor with them which works great for us! I am so thankful that we have such a great library close by -- we are taking full advantage of it these days!

She loves the computers they have and there are some great games for little ones on them. Her favorite right now is a Dora game. :)