Weekly Happenings - 6/17 - 6/23

1.  Milestone for the week - Peyton & Garrison started working on learning to climb a tree!  Garrison of course needed lots of help but Peyton did a great job of getting into the tree and moving around with only a little guidance!  She is quite proud of her new skill and I enjoyed taking some fun picks of the kiddos up in the tree!

2.  This is a scene that is all too familiar recently - Peyton LOVES to be independent, including putting her sunscreen on.  She does a good job, only with a bit too much at the beginning...

3.  This weekend was my annual (10th annual!) spa/winery trip with my girlfriends from college!!  On Friday after the kids were in bed I went halfway to the lake and stayed with my parents for the night.  It was great to have a chance to visit with them without the kiddos around (even though we all love having them around, it was just different!).  Saturday morning I woke-up and ran to Grandma Mintun's house (my two-mile run for the weekend!) to have breakfast before heading down to the lake.  

We met at a winery in Camdenton to start visit for lunch followed by a trip to the mall before our second winery visit.  The 2nd winery was by far the best - and a repeat from last year!  We enjoyed a ~15 sample wine tasting, a few appetizers and a couple of bottles of wine outside overlooking the vineyard.  Yes, it was hot, but the wine was fantastic and it was great to kick back, relax and catch-up!  Next up was dinner.  We went to a mexican restaurant that was very yummy - while there, we ordered drinks.  When ordering our margaritas, the waiter asked if we wanted "12 oz, 16 oz or Pimp-size."  Um, we're here to have fun, we'll take the pimp-sized glasses.  BIG mistake - these glasses were seriously 46 oz - holy cow!  They were yummy though! :)  After dinner, we went back to the condo to visit and sleep before wrapping-up our trip with breakfast Sunday morning.  I still can't believe we have been doing this trip for 10 years now - so fun!!  Until next year, girls!

4.  While Momma was away, Daddy and the kiddos went to visit Grandma & Grandpa Todd!  After breakfast, they were on the road and started their visit at Nana & Papa's!  Next up, Grandma & Peyton went to pick Whitney up so she could join in the fun!  After lunch, Grandma treated the girls to a movie - Monster's University.  Peyton thought she was pretty hot stuff getting to go to the movie with her big cousin!  Of course, since it was hot, they spent lots of time outside playing on the tetter-totter, on the new rope swing and some fun water play as well.  Wyatt joined in on the fun later in the afternoon too! Peyton & Garrison also helped Grandpa pick some fresh raspberries - apparently Garrison ate his weight in raspberries straight from the vine!  (Check-out Garrison trying to climb into the pool below - not only is he naked, he also is sporting one kickin' farmer's tan!)

On Sunday, Morgan & Aunt Christy came to visit the kids before everyone went to church.  Peyton was quite smitten with Morgan Clinton but Garrison didn't like having to share his toys with another little man about his size!  Needless to say, a fun time was had by all and the kids had no trouble falling asleep on the ride home!

Weekly Happenings - 6/10 - 6/16

1.  On Monday, Peyton asked to wear her heels to gymnastics - of course, why not?!

2.  Tuesday was my birthday - we don't need to talk about what year!  It started off great (but very early) as I started my neighborhood boot camp!  5:30 came early but it was great meeting several new friends and having a great workout.  I now look forward to Tuesdays & Thursdays, even if it means the alarm goes off an hour earlier than usual!  

Everyone was just waking up as I got home and when I hopped in the shower, Peyton went upstairs to get the present she had picked out for me.  She was so excited she brought it to me in the shower!  Luckily I convinced her I should wait until I was out and dressed before opening it but I was super excited to get my new jacket!  Next up was work and then we wrapped-up the day with a tasty taco dinner.  I got to spend a lot of the day with my family - doesn't get any better than that!

3.  Friday was Donuts with Dad day and the kiddos were excited that Daddy got to join them for breakfast!  A great way to start-off our Father's Day Celebrations!

4.  If this doesn't say "Saturday morning," I'm not sure what does.  A boy with his milk and cartoons - priceless!

5.  On Saturday morning after breakfast, we drove down to Grammy & Grandpa's to celebrate Father's Day with Grandpa Arthur.  We played t-ball, went for a walk, looked for frogs, put puzzles together, played games and had two great meals for our celebration!  We had planned to swim but the huge rainstorm had another idea so we'll have to save that for next time!  

6.  On Sunday, we took Daddy out to First Watch for a Father's Day breakfast followed by a trip to Kohl's for a little shopping.  Of course, the kiddos always love climbing on their Daddy so Father's Day was no exception!  Good thing Daddy is strong and can keep up with how fast they are growing!  We spent the rest of the day relaxing at home and enjoying lots of family time!  Peyton & Garrison picked-out some super hero t-shirts for their super-hero Dad - a perfect gift!

7.  Peyton is very creative and apparently has become quite a little leader in her class.  Her teacher recently told us that she coordinated her entire class into a game - she invented the game, explained it to her friends and kept them in-line to make sure they followed her rules.  Here's the kicker, they listened! We are very proud of how she is learning new things every day and learning how to teach others too!

8.  Garrison loves to line things up and when he is done he says, "Did it!"  He gets so proud of himself!  So cute!!

9.  Garrison is starting to put more words together starting to form little sentences.  Instead of "ball" he now says "soccer ball."

10.  When I put the kids to bed each night, I always sing to them - Peyton gets "Goodnight Sweetheart" and Garrison "You are my Sunshine."  Apparently when Chad puts Garrison to bed and he tries to sing he reaches up and touches his face and says, "No."  Hilarious!  Guess he doesn't want Daddy to sing!  Then, on Sunday night, I was putting him to bed and he started singing along with me - absolutely melted my heart.

11.  Peyton is always a great helper.  She not only has started helping around the house to pick-up/clean-up but she works really hard to help her brother learn new words, likes to help me cook and even helped me pot plants on Sunday.  It doesn't matter what the job may be, she is happiest when she can jump-in and help.  She is so great at everything she tries too, love the big girl she is becoming!

Weekly Happenings - 6/3 - 6/9

1.  A few weeks ago, Grammy & Grandpa had a beautiful bouquet of flowers when we visited them and Peyton wanted to bring them home.  They lasted a little over a week but then were ready to be thrown away.  So what did I do, I threw them away.  Peyton was DEVASTATED!  She wanted to keep them forever.  Then Daddy came up with an excellent idea - he suggested that we bury her flowers so their nutrients could feed other plants - the beginnings of the circle of life.  Genius!

2.  On Saturday, we had a fun day that started at the pool (Peyton put her swim suit on at 8:30 so was very ready when it opened at 10!), played outside and ran a few errands.  Then about dinner time, Grammy & Grandpa arrived for a visit!  After dinner, the kids put candles in the cake Grammy made for my birthday - they were super excited and the cake was delicious!

After dinner, Chad & I went to our first neighborhood deck crawl and had the best time!  The party was  progressive through the decades spanning 1920s themed through the 80s across three houses.  The host couples did an awesome job of pulling together great menus & drink concoctions as well as fun decorations.  We met lots of our new neighbors and had a fantastic evening out.  Only downside?  Walking home ~4 blocks in the pouring down rain after midnight!

Since the first house of the party was next door, Peyton got to stay-up a little late since it was a little loud and her window is the closest to that side of the house.  She thought she was pretty hot stuff getting to stay-up late and "party" with Grammy & Grandpa too!

3.  On Sunday, we had planned to go out for breakfast for my birthday with Grammy & Grandpa but Peyton got sick in the middle of the night so instead we brought-in breakfast and had a relaxing meal at home before Daddy left to play golf.  The kids, Grammy & Grandpa & I had a busy day before the went home in the afternoon - we played outside a lot (including playing in "the van" - Peyton LOVES to play in vehicles), painted the driveway with water, went to the nail salon, the girls enjoyed a frozen treat at Orange Leaf and we learned out to play Hearts.  All in all a great day!

4.  Later on Sunday, I fixed a snack of watermelon for the kids & I.  Since I knew Garrison would dribble watermelon juice everywhere, I took his shirt off.  This cracked me up - check-out the big bellied little man pushing his lawn mower with his farmer's tan - love it!

5.  And here is a fun one of Peyton that I took when she was trying not to have her picture taken.  I'm starting to get the hang of my camera and love the blurred background with Peyton in perfect focus! :)

6.  And these two, they are the best of friends.  Garrison loves Apollo - I think the feeling is mutual but at the minimum, Apollo tolerates all Garrison throws at him.  This seemed like a very special moment!

7.  Peyton is one smart cookie.  When we were painting outside, she dumped her bucket and I told her we were done.  We then watered our flowers before we were going to head in...except, she used her watering can water to fill her bucket and dump it again - guess there is more than one way to get what you want. :S

8.  Garrison has a few key words that he focuses on and the top one on the list right now is "nack" or snack.  Boy loves snacks!  A new one this week was sucker - Friday is sucker day at school and he was quite proud of his sucker on Friday evening!

9.  This week was beyond crazy for me work wise and I am very thankful for Daddy carrying the load this week.  Nothing like working almost a 1/2 weeks time in just one day.  Ugh - hope to avoid a repeat of that one for a while.  I know there were lots of other fun things that happened this week but as I am exhausted I am drawing a blank...guess I will have to update if I ever remember!

Weekly Happenings - 5/27 - 6/2

1.  So this week was a big week for me - I decided to take the plunge and get a DSLR camera.  Seems easy, right?  Buy a camera.  NO.  Which brand, which base model, which lens or lenses - and everyone had great thoughts, problem was, everyone's opinion was different!  Anyway, I pulled the trigger on Wednesday and my camera arrived on Friday - woo hoo!  I've had fun playing with it and hope to learn a lot more about how to take great pictures!  Best of all, it takes pictures super fast which is awesome for capturing moments with the kids!  Thank you to Chad & the kids and Grammy & Grandpa for the early birthday present!! :)

2.  This week was, well, RAINY!!  On Thursday night we got over 4" of rain and it thundered - loud!  I couldn't resist this picture of Peyton walking to her class with her umbrella. She looked like such a big girl!

3.  On Saturday morning, Peyton went with me to do a little shopping at Target.  She wanted to pose with The Hulk mask - Daddy was quite proud!

4.  Here is a little fun pic I took of Peyton while playing with my camera - love her so much!

5.  On Saturday afternoon we went to Deanna Rose for one of our old neighbor's birthday parties - it was so great to visit with friends we don't see often enough anymore and explore!  We partied, rode the pony, took a hayride and toured pretty much the entire farm!  

6.  And on Saturday night, Daddy wrestled around with the kids - their giggles are so infectious!  Plus it made for a few fun pictures!

7.  On Sunday, we thought it would be a great day for the zoo and it was (even if it was a little cold)!  Grandma & Grandpa Todd joined us for this trip to the zoo and since it has been several years since they had been they enjoyed getting the tour from Peyton - she definitey knows the ropes around the zoo!  About half-way through, we enjoyed a tasty picnic lunch before finishing our trip with Cheetahs, Gorillas and a ride on the tram!

 8.  On Sunday afternoon while Garrison was taking his 3.5 hour nap, Peyton & I went to the grocery store.  We only needed a few things so Peyton was my official cart girl - she loved getting to push her own cart and thought it was pretty cool she got to push everything!  She even loaded the conveyor belt when we got to the check-out and swiped the credit card.  Is she too young to send to the store on her own?  I think she has this down!

9.  Sunday evening brought our next neighborhood activity - a pool party and ice cream truck visit!  Of course, it was only ~65 degrees and a bit windy so it was cold!  Luckily, the pool is heated but it was not fun to get in and out very often!  We swam for about 45 minutes before calling it quits and changing into long sleeves and pants to enjoy our tasty ice cream treats!  It was hilarious - Garrison would stand on the side of the pool waiting to jump in and would shake he was so cold but he had a great time!  Peyton, on the other hand, mostly stayed in the water - smart girl!  We enjoyed visiting with some neighbors we had already met and few new ones too!