Weekly Happenings - 9/22 - 9/28

Not a lot of pictures this week but sometimes it just works out that way!  

1.  Work has been pretty crazy here recently for both Chad & I.  Usually, our busy times have been at different points in the month but right now we are both nuts.  On Wednesday, however, Chad was awesome and took full duty with the kids so I could go out for a happy hour with several of my co-workers, a few who were in from out of town.  Our happy hour that started at 4:30 ended around 11:30!  It was great to relax with a great group of people that I have the opportunity to work with each and every day.

2.  On Sunday we were greeters at church.  Garrison wanted to wear the name tag and he looked beyond adorable so of course I needed a picture - doesn't he look so very GQ?!  A little known secret, he was wearing his cement mixer shirt under his nice polo - it was a compromise!!  The kids were awesome greeters, holding the door open, saying hello and handing out bulletins after church.  It is so fun that they are excited to fill this role at church!!

 3.  As said before, things are crazy with work.  This weekend, Daddy had to go into work both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday we ran a few errands and played around the house.  On Sunday, we played at home again (something we really enjoyed since we usually don't have time to do so!) and then met some friends at the playground for the afternoon.  During Garrison's nap time we heard the ice cream truck.  Since Peyton was having a great day and we are quickly running out of ice cream truck kind of days, we caught him and got some Barbie ice cream.  She was thrilled with catching the ice cream truck since we missed him the last couple of times through our neighborhood! Ah, the little things!!

4.  Garrison wasn't real hip with going down for his nap on Saturday.  I heard some noise up in his room so decided to go check on him.  I find him covered in white stuff, the popcorn from the ceiling, that he had knocked down with his golf club!  I asked him what he was doing.  His response?  "I wanted to make it snow like Christmas, Mommy!"  And how do you get mad at that?!

5.  Peyton has recently become mildly obsessed with mouthwash.  To try and avoid making a trip back downstairs to get said mouthwash, I asked Peyton if she had it before she made it upstairs.  Her response?  "Mom, what do you think this green stuff in my hand is?"  Well, ok then!

Weekly Happenings - 9/15 - 9/21

1.  This one doesn't have much of a story other than Garrison liked Peyton's new headband and was sporting it while he waited for his turn at swim lessons!

2.  On Friday, Peyton's school had their annual fun run fundraiser for the PTA and it was a great time!!  We started with dinner from one of the food trucks, the kids played on the playset, we ran/walked the one-mile run, had sno-cones and played with lots of friends!  It was so fun to see Peyton in her new element!  She even raised enough money that she got to throw a pie at some of her teachers!

3.  On Friday night after the run, we went down to Grammy & Grandpa's.  Daddy played in a tournament with Grandpa on Saturday morning, the kids had a fun time playing with Grammy & Grandma Mintun and I went down to the lake for a girls day (more later!).  While the boys were playing golf, they stayed busy making some goodies out of Peyton's cookbook she borrowed from the   library, went to a park to play and had donuts at the donut shop!  Since it was nap time by then, Grandpa & Garrison took their nap together - Garrison thought this was pretty hot stuff but I think they both rested well!  On Sunday, the kids voted for a PJ party so they spent most of their morning in PJs playing around the house.  By the time I arrived to pick them up (Daddy went home after golf on Saturday), they were dressed and playing outside.  I know they had a great time but were very excited to see me which made me feel pretty special!!  After a yummy lunch we were on our way home to get ready for the week.

4.  For the last 10 years, I have spent ~24 hours with these lovely ladies at the spa, wineries and/or just hanging out having fun.  We all went to college together and it is so great to have a chance to catch-up with them since it is very hard to touch base often now that we are all married with kiddos!  This year we met for lunch, spent a little time at the spa, relaxed at our condo, went out to an awesome dinner and wrapped-up our visit with some more time at the condo (with a few bottles of wine!).  We were without one this year (she just had her 3rd baby) but we staged a re-do of our picture from 10 years ago.  My we looked young 10 years ago!!!  Sadly (or impressively, depending on how you look at it), I still have the sweatshirt that I was wearing in the picture 10 years ago!  

Weekly Happenings - 9/8 - 9/14

1.  On Monday, Chad flew to Scottsdale to play in his annual Golf Channel Am Tour Nationals Golf Tournament.  I have gone with him the last two years but this year he went with one of his fellow competitors, Patrick, for the week.  Believe it or not, their practice round got rained out and their first round significantly delayed but he still had a great week!  He even won low round of the day on the last day with an 88 on Talking Stick North.  He also played on Talking Stick South, Greyhawk Talon & Greyhawk Raptor.  Check-out the golf ball hole filled cactus!  On Friday they even took-in a Diamondbacks game.  Overall I hear it was a great trip but we were excited to welcome Daddy home on Saturday night!!

2.  Since I am used to taking the week off with Chad for his golf trip I had the time to use so I took the week off too and spent lots of time around the house.  I had a great time playing the role of stay at home mom - picking Peyton up from school several days and dropping her off a couple of days too, caught-up my scrapbooks for the year so far, knocked several projects off my to-do list and found some time to relax with an extended massage.  Grammy also came-up for a couple of the days in the middle of the week to help with logistics, some of my projects and spend time with us.  

3.  On Friday afternoon, Grammy & Grandpa returned to spend the night with us and join in some fun at the circus on Saturday!  The kids were absolutely mesmerized at the circus!  We arrived early and got a chance to pick-out some souvenirs, go onto the floor for some fun pre-show entertainment, grab some fun snacks and get ready for the show!  Peyton's favorite was the many acrobat skits - especially when the girls were spinning in the air with pretty dresses!  Garrison seemed to love it all but his favorite was probably the elephants.  It truly is amazing what those large animals can do!  Grammy, Grandpa & I all had a great time too since it had been many years since we had been to the circus!  Totally random - our tickets were upgraded due to a potentially blocked view and we ended up right in front of two of Garrison's friends from school - Harlow & Zoey.  He managed to get in a little flirting during the show - hilarious!  We had a great time at the show and the kids were talking about it for days afterwards!!

4.  Later on Saturday, Marla and her kiddos came to town for a wedding reception and stayed for a visit.  Peyton & Garrison were excited to see their friends - here they are at bedtime listening to stories before heading to sleepy town.  Peyton & Evan even had a sleepover for part of the night.

Weekly Happenings - 9/1 - 9/7

We had a pretty quiet week which was awesome!

1.  On Thursday, Peyton re-started swim lessons and she did AWESOME!  She swam at least 6-7 laps and warmed right up to her new teacher - we were so proud of her!

2.  On Saturday, Peyton asked to have a friend over so Victoria came over for a play date and for dinner!  The kids had a blast!!  Garrison was playing with his weed eater.  After about 30 seconds, he put it down and threw-up his hands and said, "Man, this is HARD WORK!"  Hilarious.  We capped off our night with pizza and s'mores - how can you go wrong?!  It is so fun to see Peyton & Victoria pick-up and play even when they don't see each other very often anymore.

3.  Well, we made it a long time (definitely longer than Peyton!) but Garrison took a trip down the stairs this weekend, the head-over feet kind of trip.  Thankfully, he didn't get hurt and really didn't even cry much - what a brave little man.

4.  Sunday was National Grandparent's Day and so I suggested to Peyton that we call all of their grandparents to wish them Happy Grandparent's Day!  Her response?  "Could you just do it for me?" Um, no sweetie, not your personal secretary!!  She is too much!!

5.  Also on Sunday we had a birthday party for Peyton's friend Hailey!  It was an Elsa birthday party and the girls were adorable.  It was a great party - the kids had an awesome time playing on the castle playground and of course the cake was awesome.  As you can see with the last picture, Peyton (and Garrison too) was beyond upset when we had to leave.  Such a fun time!

6.  Later on Sunday, Daddy asked Peyton if she wanted to join him for a trip to the driving range and she did!  She was so excited to take her own clubs and get to hit golf balls with Daddy!  She even got to put some impact tape on her driver and nailed a few right in the middle of the club!  On the way home, Daddy told Peyton he was going to be in big trouble with Mommy.  Why, you ask?  Because he forgot to take any pictures of her first trip to the driving range!  Oops!  Guess we'll have to catch it next time around! :)

Weekly Happenings - 8/25 - 8/30

1.  On Tuesday, we had Peyton's Back to School night which included our first PTA meeting and a chance to meet the staff of the school.  Peyton had gymnastics so Chad took the kids to her class while I went to school.  It was overwhelming, to say the least, but it was great to hear from her teacher a bit more.  I also got to check-out some of her art work hung in the hallway!

Peyton has had a busy week!  She started getting sight words (and has already passed her first list!) and had homework (both paper and on the computer).  She can't seem to get enough and I hope her love of learning continues for many years to come!!  It is so great to see her knowledge expanding and imagine what will come next!

2.  On Friday, Daddy took the day off.  Since he was at home working on projects, he took a break to have lunch with his favorite kindergartner!  Of course, he decided to shave his beard off before he went so Peyton didn't really recognize him (shying away from this strange guy that seemed to want to walk close to her on the way to the lunchroom!) but once she figured out it was Daddy she was super excited!  Peyton even paid for Daddy's lunch with her lunch card!  :)

3.  Recently we picked-up light sabers (debatable who they are for so I'll leave that one for now!) - the kids LOVE them and have played with them several times this weekend.

4.  The kids had a great week and ate an awesome dinner on Friday night so we treated the kids to an ice cream treat!  Needless to say, they enjoyed every bit of it!  While we were waiting for ice cream, Garrison thought it was taking a bit too long.  Every time they came to the window with someone else's ice cream he would respond with "aww man!"

After we got home, fun time ensued.  The pic of Daddy & Garrison below says it all!

5.  On Saturday night we took a trip to the stadium to see the Royals play!  We arrived a few hours early and thought the park would be quiet but we were WRONG!  We still had a great time in the outfield experience (especially due to the kindness of a stranger that gave us free passes to all of the activities out there), enjoyed a dinner of ballpark favorites, a fun game (this year was the first time the kids actually had some interest in the game!) and of course cotton candy & ice cream in a helmet!!  I love the last picture-  our attempt at a selfie on the way out of the stadium.  We told Garrison to put his head down so he could be in the picture - he didn't quite understand!  #selfiefail

6.  Our garden has done very well this year.  Check-out the evidence with the below harvest from Sunday - lots of tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, a pepper and a cucumber!  We had a pretty quiet Sunday but wrapped-up our day with our last trip to the pool this summer.  The kids had a ball and Peyton was super excited to run into her classmate, Isabella, while we were there!

7.  On Monday, Grammy, Grandpa & Grandma Mintun came-up for a visit.  We had a pretty quiet day overall but had so much fun playing lots of games inside, playing on the playlet, checking out the garden and even sneaking in a trip to the grocery store (for the girls while the boys took a nap!).  

8.  Peyton has started wearing headbands more often and I have seen lots of pretty headband holders on Etsy and Pintrest.  I took the challenge and we made our own!  Peyton picked-out all of the supplies and helped me cut the paper and assemble our project!  I think it turned out pretty well and she loves it!

9.  Funny story - Garrison likes to throw things in the air - of course, the one thing that finally hits him in the head was a rolling pin (small one thank goodness!)