Weekly Happenings - 4/18 - 4/24

1.  I love Spring and especially when all of my plants start to come back.  Here are my two peony bushes - the first came with the house, the 2nd came from Grandma Mintun's back yard and it survived the transplant and winter - YAY!  It even has a couple of blooms!

2.  On Friday, we went out to dinner as usual but since the weather was so nice we got to treat the kids to eating outside at Cheesecake Factory.  Needless to say they were thrilled with the evening!

3.  Garrison had his 2nd soccer match on Saturday and Daddy got to help as the sideline coach!  Garrison played well and loved having his cheering squad of Mommy, Daddy, Peyton, Grammy & Grandpa there!  He was SO close to scoring his first goal but didn't quite make it.  Next time!!  After his game, we had lunch at Blue Moose, a favorite, and Grammy & Grandpa stayed for some play time outside before heading home.

4.  Unfortunately, Daddy had to work after Garrison's game on Saturday so after we took Peyton to a friend's for a sleepover, Garrison & I picked up dinner and took it to Daddy to have a picnic.  Garrison was on cloud 9 getting to go to Daddy's work and eat outside.  Of course, exploring for bugs in-between bites was a bonus, too!

5.  Sunday brought soccer match #2 of the weekend and we were the drink providers for the game!  Garrison played another great game for his still stocked cheering squad of Mommy, Daddy, Peyton, Grandma & Grandpa Todd!  After the game, we had an afternoon treat at Orange Leaf which was of course a big hit!  Grandma & Grandpa came by the house for a visit before they had to head home. 

Weekly Happenings - 4/11 - 4/17

1.  Because Peyton did so well with her swim lessons on Sunday, she got to pick our dinner location on Monday night.  She chose Culver's because it is family night every Monday night and they have a face painter there!  Needless to say, Peyton was thrilled with her cat face paint!  Garrison also had his hand painted but he didn't want that in the picture.

2.  On Saturday, Garrison had his first soccer match of the season and he had such a great time playing!!  He came off the field at the end of the game and told us "I didn't score a goal but I helped my team!"  That's right buddy - you did awesome!!  Peyton and two of her friends from school & Girl Scouts (who have little brothers on the team too) cheered on their brothers from the sidelines!!  Grammy also came up to see Mr. G play and took him out to lunch afterwards while Peyton went to a birthday party.  He was pretty excited to get to pick where they had lunch - Chick Fil A!

3.  Later on Saturday, we took advantage of the super weather and pulled-out bean-bag toss for some family fun!!  Apollo even got to come out front to spend time with us!  It was so fun to just spend time, listening to the kids giggle!!

4.  On Sunday, we surprised the kids with tickets to the symphony.  You might think that symphony tickets wouldn't be high on the list of activities for the kids but they loved it!  The event was a Screenland Symphony where they play music from various Pixar movies with clips from the movie playing in the background.  It was fabulous!!  The kids stayed engaged (albeit a bit antsy at times) and said they want to go again sometime!!

5.  In other exciting news, Chad has volunteered to coach Garrison's t-ball team this summer!!  Garrison is very excited about his upcoming t-ball season and can't wait to get started!  Chad, I mean Coach Todd, held his first team meeting to meet his players on Sunday and they are ready to go!!  Also, Peyton is very excited to be Daddy's helper on the bench during the season!!

Weekly Happenings - 4/4 - 4/10

1.  This week Garrison was the "student of the week" and it was a spectacular week!!  Garrison got to pick his favorite recipe - he chose to bake his friends Cherry Coffee Cake!  He also had a display board outside his classroom, had a chance to talk to his board with his friends, telling his friends about where his Mommy & Daddy work and bringing his favorite book to read before rest time.  All-in-all it was a pretty fantastic week for him (and us!).

2.  On Tuesday, Chad brought flowers to my cube as a surprise - and a fantastic surprise it was!!!

3.  Peyton was awarded the Principal's Pride Squad in March for exhibiting the Blue Valley Virtue of Kindness - so proud of this girl!!

4.  On Wednesday, Chad went on a trip to Las Vegas with one of his college buddies and they had a great time!!  They spent their time at the MGM New York, New York casino/hotel.  While there, they had fun playing a round at The Royal Links golf course and visiting several casinos, including downtown Las Vegas.  The trip was reasonably short but a good time was had by all.  (I need to ocme back and add pictures as I just realized I haven't downloaded Chad's phone - oops!)

5.  While Chad was away, Grammy came up to help a bit with some logistics so we enjoyed having her up for one of the nights.  Then on Friday, we went down to Grammy & Grandpa's for a visit and had a great time!!  Friday we went to the Rotary Shrimp dinner - Peyton & Garrison were Grandpa's big helper with all of the carry-out meals he was fulfilling and they had a blast!!  On Saturday, we spent the day relaxing, playing games and playing outside.  The kiddos stayed overnight on Saturday night while I went home to go to a charity function.  On Sunday, they came home shortly after lunch after having a busy but fun weekend!!

(this bike was my Grandma's stationary bike and I remember riding it a lot as a kid - so fun to see Peyton on it now at Grammy's house!)

6.  On Sunday, Peyton started a new swim class, the highest level available at her swim location.  This class is a swim team prep and is an hour long of swimming laps and perfecting her strokes.  She was a bit nervous but did a fantastic job.  Peyton was even singled out to show the rest of the class the proper form for the freestyle stroke.  SO proud of her swimming accomplishments!!

Weekly Happenings - 3/28 - 4/3

1.  On Friday, I was able to sneak away from work to have lunch with my favorite 1st grader!  They were serving "walking tacos" for lunch, which was one of her favorites and they were celebrating the Royals home opener so the meal had lots of blue treats!  It is always so fun to have lunch at school and get to see Peyton with her friends!  Check-out the display board I found on my way out - the "outfield" is made up of pictures of everyone in the school - so fun!!!

2.  Also on Friday, I surprised Mr. Garrison by picking him up after his lunch but before nap for a fun day for just he & I!  This was our first Garrison & Mommy day and it was fabulous!!  We first went to the Museum at Prairiefire which was amazing.  Garrison LOVED the dinosaur fossils, exploring in their discovery room and of course shopping a bit in the gift shop.  After we were done, we walked across the street for some yummy mid-afternoon treats and wrapped-up our day with a stop at Deanna Rose Farmstead since it had just opened!  It was a bit chilly but we had such a fantastic time!!!

3.  Saturday was a pretty low-key day.  Peyton started her day with finger-knitting Apollo a new collar.  Apollo was very tolerant of her creating and wore it for several hours!

4.  Saturday afternoon, Peyton had a birthday part to attend so Garrison got to have a friend over for his first play-date!  The first thing we learned is that girl playdates and boy playdates are significantly different but man did they have a great time!  Zach and Garrison played for over 3 hours and never once got into an argument.  I mean, they did wrestle out in the yard but it was all in fun!!  

5.  Since the weather was pretty fabulous on Saturday, Daddy grilled-out for dinner then started a fire for us to enjoy toasted marshmallows - our first of the Spring.  

6.  Late on Saturday night, Peyton started not feeling well and unfortunately that carried over into Sunday.  Poor thing, she just couldn't keep anything down at all.  The kids & I had a visit from Grammy & Grandpa while Daddy played in a golf tournament.  Grandpa & Garrison worked to count  his money from his piggybank and we all played lots of games.  Peyton spent pretty much the whole day on the couch watching cartoons and trying to keep food down.  The rest of us had a tasty lunch and the kids both took a great rest to wrap-up the day.

Weekly Happenings - 3/21 - 3/27

1.  Unfortunately, while Garrison & Daddy were both not feeling the best on parts of vacation, Peyton & I came home and were not feeling well. :(  On Sunday, Peyton went to urgent care but she just had a virus that needed to pass.  Monday, Daddy & I split time at home with her - poor thing just couldn't keep anything down.  She was still sick on Monday night so we asked Grammy to come up and spend the day with her on Tuesday since she couldn't go to school again.  Luckily, by Tuesday, she was starting to make a bit of a rebound and was ready for school on Wednesday!

I, on the other hand, hit my low on Wednesday and went to the Dr. to find out I had a severe sinus infection - yuck!  I got some antibiotics and worked part-days the rest of the week, trying to recover from that nasty stuff!  Daddy was a rock star and picked up a lot of my normal routine stuff with the house and kiddos so I could rest as much as possible.  

2.  Thursday was big for Garrison - Garrison swam the length of the pool at his swim lesson which is quite an accomplishment for him!  This counts as the "deep end test" at our pool and since he passed, he got to spend play time without a "bubble"!  

3.  On Friday, Garrison's class had their Spring Party and I was able to make it for all of the fun!  They had an egg hunt and of course lots of treats to celebrate Spring arriving!!  They also had a visit from the Easter Bunny - doesn't get much better than that!

4.  On Saturday, Garrison was supposed to have his first soccer game but on Saturday morning they ended up cancelling it since it was pouring rain!!  Oh well, we had more fun in store so we loaded the car and were on our way to Grammy & Grandpa's for our Easter celebration!  Much to the kids' excitement, the Easter Bunny made an early delivery at Grammy & Grandpa's and they found goodies in their baskets and eggs hidden all around the house - fun, fun!  Not long after we arrived, Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary joined us for a yummy lunch.  We spent the afternoon visiting and going on several more egg hunts.  Peyton had just about as much fun hiding the eggs this time for Garrison & Grandpa to find as she did finding them herself!

5.  On Sunday morning, we were up early and the Easter Bunny had visited our house and enjoyed the carrots we had left for him!  The kids were excited to find their goodies!  After they were dressed for church, we still had time to go on our Easter Egg hunt before heading to church.  Church was of course very crowded but we found seats in the sanctuary, right at the front and by the musicians, a perfect place for the kids to be fully engaged in mass.  They were excellent during mass!  When we walked out, it was SNOWING!  On Easter!  The big flakes were beautiful but luckily didn't stick around for long.

6.  Later on Sunday, we loaded the car to head to Grandma & Grandpa Todd's to celebrate Easter with Daddy's side of the family.  Everyone was able to make it to celebrate and we had a yummy lunch!  The kids had lots of fun playing with their cousins while the adults visited.  After lunch, the kids were excited to see what the Easter Bunny left at Grandma & Grandpa's and going on an Easter Egg hunt in the basement, thanks to cousin Wyatt hiding all of the eggs.  The kids were quick to find the eggs and were great at sharing the eggs and helping each other find lots of eggs - so proud of them!  After the egg hunt, we stopped by to see Nana & Papa before heading home.

7.  We had a big weekend with lots of fun.  When that happens, the kids crash out in the car!!