4.30.2012

{Weekend Glimpses #33}

happy monday!
it is storming like crazy outside...great to have free water for the grass...not such a great day to grocery shop with a toddler!:)
anyway, how was your weekend?
we have not had this mellow of a weekend in a loooong time!
i think it had to do with how little soccer we had...but shhhhh don't tell my soccer lovin' crew:)

saturday we had practice in the morning and then janey went horseback riding with her girl scout troop. i didn't go along on this trip so i don't have any pictures, but she had a wonderful time! we have heard lots of stories about "scooter" not being a very good listener and going backwards when she pulled the reins and said "whoa!" funny! i think i might have ridden the same horse before:) horses are beautiful creatures for sure, i love watching them and secretariat is one of my favorite movies, but not such a fan of actually riding one if you know what i mean. janey was a bit nervous too, but overcame her fears and went for it...that i love!

saturday night we had friends over for sno cones and tried to play outside but it was just way too chilly. (i tried not to say cold...it is spring ya know!) we ended up warm inside watching roller coaster videos on youtube. good times i tell ya. we ended the evening with an early bedtime for the girls and mission impossible: ghost protocol for us.:)

sunday we had no soccer. yes you heard that right...NO SOCCER! we should have gotten up and gone to church, but we all needed a good sleep in day. (when i say sleep in you know that means 7 for dave and i right??!!) riley didn't come down till after 9!!! i guess she needed it the most. we had a late breakfast and then went to lowes for paint ideas for riley's 10 year old room re-do. we found the perfect color and she is thrilled!!!

the rest of the day was filled with playing, homework and little to-do's. i even managed one big to-do!! yes, organizing our paperwork into our new filing cabinet downstairs can now be officially crossed off the BIG to-do list! wow that feels good!:) slow and steady right....?

as i was taking the only few pictures of the weekend on sunday evening i said to dave "goodness we do basically the same thing every weekend don't we....he said "ya play with the kids and eat pizza!" are you tired of pizza pics yet???



the girls like to have a pizza picnic and watch one of their favorite backyardigans episodes on pizza night...chichen-itza pizza. i'll spare you the details, but it involves pizza, cheer leading and college fight songs. they love it. (and we love that show too...we have countless discussions  about the different genres of music, which is our fav, and which character appears the most...we have analyzed every episode i think, i can't tell you how much i love my "big girls" watching "little girl" shows!!)


dave made two of my faves this time...can you say "lunch this week??"


when janey had dinner at mcdonalds with her troop on saturday night she saw 2 couples heading in for prom date dinner. she was fascinating by that and "pretended prom" all evening on sunday. daddy was of course her date of choice.


she dressed up in my dresses, had a clip on corsage and all.
funny, funny girl my janey brooke.


see...cheer leading.



riley made the starter for friendship bread with her girl scout troop and sunday we finally got to make the bread. have you ever had it? it really is super yummy but i am secretly ready to have that big ziplock of bubbling fermenting stuff off my kitchen counter!!:) is that wrong?? but i am thankful for a yummy breakfast this morning!

hope you had a wonderful weekend.
maybe you had pizza, danced for prom and shook some pom-poms too?!?!:)

have a happy day,
cindy

{thankful for}
1. creative play
2. the smell of baking bread
3. green grass
4. healthy bodies
5. water

4.26.2012

{today}

the girls and i had such a great morning today.
everyone was rested which meant happy.
there was a field trip to look forward to which meant out the door on time and smiling.
riley worked her magic which meant aubrey got into her car seat lickety split.
oh how i love escaping those little morning time battles.


i usually try to see the girls each week for lunch, but today they wanted to have lunch together.
so i made the mad dash from school to school to collect everyone and we made it with just enough time to spare for a quick drive-thru smoothie/milk shake run.
it was a perfect midday midweek break.
now that our weather is finally warming up, this might happen more often and at our favorite park i think!


i have been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the ever growing size of my to-do list lately.
usually i'm pretty good about tackling things one small project at a time. but sometimes they just all build up and it seems everywhere i look their is something to be wrapped up. lose ends and incomplete tasks get to me after awhile.


you know the feeling right?


putting away laundry reminds you of the closet you need to clean out and organize.
a trip to the basement reminds you of the gazillion trillion photos that still need to be printed and put into albums. seeing those albums reminds you of the baby books that have never been completed or even started.


good grief i feel and sound like a page right out of the book if you give a mouse a cookie about now.


little things are pretty easy for me. those i handle well and get accomplished...it's those elusive "big things" that are kicking my mental state to the curb today.


breaking projects into manageable pieces that seem to drag on forever can get to a girl after awhile.


this post from my friend megan helped.
it was just what i needed to hear.


this i do know...little things matter more and big things do get done...eventually!:)

have a happy day,
cindy

{thankful for}
1. sticky notes
2. inspirational music
3. inspirational words
4. a park in our neighborhood
5. an unplanned adventure

4.23.2012

{Weekend Glimpses}

happy monday.
was it a good weekend for you?
we had a full one but a happy one, with just enough relaxation thrown in to make it awesome.


saturday was filled with soccer, soccer and more soccer.
dave and riley headed to their first tournament double header bright and early.
aubrey, janey and i tagged along a bit later.
it was cold and windy.
but nothing a warm blanket, juice box and lots of snacks couldn't handle.
riley played well and is really improving with each game.

i got a few hours alone in the afternoon and it really felt good.
tried on all kinds of shoes...but bought none.
sadly that is just the way it goes for me.:(
but i guess it really is better to be a shopper then a buyer!:)

saturday evening was just perfect.
pandora playing (mat kearney station...love him!)
mcdonalds fountain coke
and pizza in the oven.


bbq chicken...my all time fav!

janey had a birthday party that evening.
she came back looking all dolled up and gorgeous.



and thankfully for little sisters, she doesn't mind sharing her party loot.


remember those amazing bubbles?
well some independent little one got a bit over zealous with the pouring.
we need a new jug now.


sunday morning dave and riley headed out for another early, early game and the three of us decided to stay home and snuggle.
i really do love when we are all together, but there is something special about just one big sister here to love on aubrey. they both just soak up all the attention and cuddles.


aubrey finally got to try out her new tricycle sunday evening.
the big girls were so funny...we didn't give it to her thursday and friday because of our weather, then over the weekend, we had to try and find a time when aubrey wasn't sleeping and both of them were home. they were so excited for her and couldn't wait to see her excitement. they walked her out to the garage with her eyes closed. you should have heard the squeals...from all three of them!:)
i really love that.




is that perfect bike riding weather or what??
just look at those skies!

dave lucked out with a little flower bed help from this motley weed crew.


i wish they did floors.:)


we finally broke out the snow-cone maker for sunday evening dessert.
do you have one?
oh goodness are they awesome and totally worth it.


janey worked so hard this weekend on her pioneer project.
quite the masterpiece i'd say.
my favorite part was the cupcake liner hat.
she was so proud.

today we had panera and grocery shopped with an extra little tag along.
riley was sad and tired and didn't want to go to school today.
i guess everyone is entitled to at least one mental health day a year.
i think all that soccer and staying up till 9:45 reading might have had something to do with it too...!
her and aubrey are having so much fun together and i think they both needed that too.
they really miss each other during the week.
right now they are playing in their secret hide-out...under my computer desk...little hands are sneaking up here to type as i write!!:)

hope your weekend was wonderful too.

have a happy day,
cindy

{thankful for}
1. a new blender for smoothies
2. cozy, cozy blankies (as aubrey calls them)
3. sunshine
4. inspiring music
5. carpool buddies





4.20.2012

{Today}

hi


well our weather took a rainy and dreary turn today.
it's 46 out now.:(
amazing how that can effect your mood huh?
mine anyway.
i really have to fight to stay smiley:)


maybe it's just that these kind of days make me want to curl up under a blankie and read.
or watch "you've got mail" or "sleepless in seattle"
and we all know how that would go!!;)


we moved our play kitchen up to the family room the other day.
endless cooking and countless picnics are had by all.


today we ventured out in the rain to the mall.
we had a few returns to do.
got a pretzel.
some "fun friday in the car" candy for the girls.
walked around.
aubrey was a dream.




we came home and had lunch.
sang and danced to raffi
played with the most awesome bubbles in the world (serioulsy)
colored
snuggled and read.
pretty much an awesome day in my book.



seems like the only way to get her to smile and look at me is to put on the tunes.:)


we have sunshine coming tomorrow and three soccer games this weekend.
i am hoping to make it to the park to take some long overdue Easter photos.
i need to get working on that april header don't ya think?!?!:)

what are your weekend plans?
hope the sun is shining on your neck of the woods.

have a happy day,
cindy

{thankful for}
1. a warm dry home
2. a hubby that doesn't mind running my errands
3. it's friday
4. a treadmill in the basement
5. nowhere to be this evening

4.19.2012

{Sweet Words}

my mom gave me this little sign for Christmas.
i keep it on my kitchen window where i'm sure to see it often.:)
i love it so much.



have a happy day,
cindy


4.18.2012

{A Buncha Stuff}

hi friends!
today is a happy, happy, double happy kind of day!
our weather is glorious and i do mean G.L.O.R.I.O.U.S.!
the windows are open and the breeze is a blowin.

janey loves to bake.



she wanted me to film her like she was doing a cooking show for food tv.
wonder where she gets that idea from??:)

please bare with me and this outrageously large amount of sometimes unrelated outdoor photos;)


today aubrey and i had a pretty simple day together.
we got our "chores" done right after drop-off.
today we did the floors, then vacuumed off the window sills.
window open kind of weather will motivate you to get that chore done for sure.
thinking of aubrey and  windows open reminds me of this old post and this one too.
***oh be still my heart***


later we headed to the consignment shop to drop off some things.
i brought in all my old maternity clothes too.:(:(:(
i kept my favorite shirt for my memory box.
sad day for sure, but i'm trying not to think about it too much.
life is good
way beyond good!


after the consignment shop we had to rush to get janey for a dentist apt.
not enough time to get home for lunch so aubrey and i had a car picnic instead.
we shared a cheeseburger and fries and sat in our favorite park by the lake.
i told her that during car picnics she gets to eat and play in the car.
it was so beautiful i wish we had time to get out and really play, but the thought of cajoling that little sweetie back into her car seat after those few moments of freedom in the grass didn't sound very fun.


you know what i would like to invent?
some kind of barrier you can fit in the car that surrounds their car seat and prevents them from escaping to the back of the van whenever they climb in! what do you think? would you buy one???:)



this little one loves to tumble.
and the tramp is a perfect place to practice.



this picture cracks me up!
aubrey kept asking to play with the hose, but it was still a bit chilly for that.
i turn around and she is struggling to yank it free and turn it on.
should have heard the sound effects too.

speaking of cracking me up...this morning she calls from her crib..."mom....mom....i beg for you to get me....i beg for you to get me!!" later this evening she said, "mom....mom....aubrey's calling you!"



i think aubrey got bummed here and honestly felt left out as these two double jumped without her.:(
she is discovering the power her moods and feelings can have over others.
i ran inside to get waters and found her sitting on the back step staring longingly at the tramp making this face.



she softened a bit when i tried to make her laugh and smile.



so many things to love about this happy, happy day.




hope your day was happy too,
cindy

{thankful for}
1. sunshine
2. dinner with a friend
3. a new tricycle for aubrey from the consignment shop....$20...woohoo
4. thai food
5. good music for the soul