Thursday, March 31, 2016

Dollar Tree.

I freaking LOVE the Dollar Tree.

I go there for all types of stuff. Arts & crafts, party supplies, toys, kitchen stuff, etc. There is even food!

In my most recent trip, I went to look for some outside toys for Nate. I allowed to him to have $5 and he could choose what he wanted. With my approval. My rules were it had to be an "outside toy or activity". That's pretty much it. We looked around and since all the Spring/Summer stuff was out, it was easy for him to pick outdoor themed items.

Nate's $5 Dollar Tree picks:
1. Shovel
2. Rake
3. Bug catcher kit
4. Bug catcher kit
5. Bugs

Watering can is from Target; $3, everything else 
is from Dollar Tree.




Now he has all the little tools he needs to be a bug catcher. The extra bugs were in the toy aisle and not the Spring/Summer seasonal items. His other choice was a hula hoop, but bugs made the cut instead. 

If you are looking for some new outdoor stuff for the kiddos, head to Dollar Tree! Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, pails, small sand toys, pin wheels, pool noodles, hula hoops, Frisbees, water guns. I wanted to buy the entire store. 

Here is Nate playing with his new bug catching/exploring tools.



We had a blast talking about bugs and pretending to garden. He loves to be outside and in the dirt so this was totally up his alley.

My next Dollar Tree purchases will be organization bins for our kitchen pantry in the new house. I have a vision.

What is your favorite thing to get at the Dollar Tree? Or any other discount store?

Monday, March 28, 2016

Sick Days For Moms. Nope.

There isn't any, right!? Nope. You still have to be a parent. Unless you have family or babysitters readily available. But I don't. So...I mom on.

When I am sick, I get in this strange mode where I feel like I need to clean or at least do SOMETHING. If not, I will lay down and not get up. Then the kids would suffer. Because they wouldn't be able to feed themselves or change a diaper or be able to throw away trash or be able to turn a cartoon on or be able to find a toy they lost three weeks ago and now just realized they lost. You know, stuff I have to help with on the daily.

This morning, I tried to convince Nate to snuggle with me and watch cartoons all day. Didn't happen. He watched some, but was done by 9am. We did find Inspector Gadget on Netflix though! Say what!? Nate was confused with all my excitement. He watched an episode, but wasn't completely in love. In his defense, it is a remake, new Inspector Gadget so I can't really fault him.


It was a nice day, so I was outside most of the day with the kids. I was tired and stuffy and congested and coughing, but the fresh air helped a lot! The neighbors across the street taught Nate how to play Four Square which was just the cutest thing ever and he was really good!


Four Square, Inspector Gadget, and nice weather!? Yes, please! Brought me back to my childhood and I really wanted a bowl of Lucky Charms or some McDonald's breakfast to really seal my blast of the past day.

Jason came home from work early so I actually was able to get in a nice nap while Morgan took her afternoon nap. Best. Husband. Ever. And he grilled chicken. Score!

Now the kids are both in bed and I am drinking another cup of hot tea, stuffing my nose with tissue, and watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Good times, my friends. Good times.


Hopefully I feel a little better tomorrow. If not, McDonald's is happening. For it being a "sick day" the kids were actually well-behaved and took it easy on me. So thankful.


Sunday, March 27, 2016

Easter.

Happy Easter peeps! Get it...peeps...the Easter marshmallow?? No, crickets...ok...moving on...

So, how was every one's Easter!? We had such a great day!

Both kids woke up before the sun, surprise, surprise. Jason had made an indoor egg hunt for Nate to do when he woke up and Easter baskets were out for both kids. Nate was SO excited. Easter might be more exciting than Christmas to this kid. For real. Finding and hiding eggs made his day. We even used eggs we got from the neighborhood Easter party and Jason stuffed the eggs with Cheetos. Hilarious. And good thing Jason set it up indoors because we woke up to snow. Drunk Kansas at it again.



After opening baskets and searching for eggs, I made a french toast breakfast with bacon and fruit. French toast was a HIT with Morgan, but Nate said he wasn't hungry. Most likely because he had Cheetos at 7am.

Dying Easter eggs was next on our list. Nate and I did them together on the kitchen floor. Fun, simple, and relatively clean.



I got in an Easter workout I found on Pinterest after egg dying and then gave Jason a hair cut.
I did 3 rounds FYI


 We Jason used the eggs we dyed to make deviled eggs for lunch. Then we just relaxed until it was time to go to a birthday party for Nate's little friend.

The birthday party was a blast! The kids played with bubbles, went on a playground, cake, pizza, pinata, etc.






During the party I had a friend snap a few pictures of us because we always use our timer. We got a few good ones!









Hopefully the kids will sleep good tonight because we had a very fun-filled active day. I hope your day and Easter was as good as ours!


Saturday, March 26, 2016

Not A Blog Post.

This is not a good blog post. I repeat; it is not a good blog post.

I'm just writing a sentence so I don't miss a day.

I am online shopping at Old Navy and ranking the renovations I want to do on our next house. Big adulting serious business right now. While eating Jelly Beans my grandma sent. Because Easter. And because my grandma is the best. I just got buttered popcorn and black licorice so that kinda sucked.

I'm also trying to convince my husband to hard boil eggs to dye tomorrow. I am the WORST at hard boiling eggs.

What is your favorite place to shop online?

If you could renovate anything in your house right now (even if you are renting), what would it be?

I'm not doing a long post because I am working on a more extensive one about our move coming up and how to do it yourselves and make money. It will be a lot of information, but it might actually help other military peeps so I'm trying to make it good with accurate information and links and all that good stuff us military people like.

Here is some humor to end my non-blog post.




See how that was a non blog post. Told you. And you read...still. Suckers! 


Friday, March 25, 2016

Nate Got Beat Up By A Girl.

Tonight we had an Easter get together with our neighbors. Potluck style. Pulled pork, mac and cheese, pasta salad, fruit, hot dogs, rice, taquitos, empanadas, cake pops, s'mores...basically a huge table full of deliciousness. Be jealous.

The kids had an Easter egg hunt, glow bracelets, egg sunglasses (they wore them for all of 1 minute because you can't see out of them well). They all had their little bikes, scooters, tricycles, etc.

Backstory: Nate is sometimes a bully. Like a 3 year old jerk who doesn't want to share and wants what he wants when he wants it. Even if it is a bigger kid. He doesn't care. Hopefully it is just his age and this will lead to future greatness with his stubborn personality and motivation to get shit done. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, back to tonight. Nate and his little friend, who is a girl, started fighting over a bike. He wanted to ride it, she wanted to ride it, blah, blah, typical 3 year old drama. Usually, Nate will win and the other kid backs off. Usually.

Tonight, his friend stepped it up and stood up for herself. And she bitch slapped him in the face. Hard. Like, so hard when she hit him, her nail made a huge scratch on his cheek. She wasn't going to take the high road this time.



So, the question is...how do you handle it? Part of me is thinking, "FINALLY! Someone stood up for themselves and didn't let him get his way!" Another part of me is thinking, "Did he deserve it in that particular incident?"  The little girl has been yelled at and had taken toys from him for the past several months. I bet that hit was bottled up inside and she snapped. I don't blame her either way. She is a super sweet girl that takes a lot from Nate.

Nate was crying because he was hurt from a scratch and he didn't get the bike. Tough luck? In this particular case...yep. He needs to learn to take turns. He needs to learn to let others go before him sometimes, especially friends. He needs to learn to use words to communicate. He needs to learn if he yells and hits, someone is going to hit him back. And harder. Hitting is not cool, kid.



Think he learned his lesson? Probably not completely. But you know what? I will for sure remind me of getting hit. How it made him feel and how he should treat others.

This wasn't a huge issue. small three year old tiff, no biggie. But, it can be a big lesson. A small fight over a bike can be teaching moment for him. And that is what parenting and life and being a kid is about sometimes. Getting slapped in the face by a girl over a bike.

Yes, they are still friends. Because I know you were just dying to know. There are no hard feelings. Both kids had a little moment to settle down, say "sorry" and move on. And the Easter party continued.




Thursday, March 24, 2016

Happy Spring!

Well, since we had so many visitors my blogging every day has not happened. I'm okay with that because I was trying to spend quality time with them.

 A few days ago the kids and I were outside. It was a gorgeous day! Sunny and the kids were playing so nice. We got some chalk out and just enjoyed the weather and time together.

I decided it was the perfect little photo shoot time. I wrote Happy Spring in chalk and just laid the kids down and took a few shots. Nothing special.

Here is their "Happy Spring" pictures. Looking so cute in their little sunglasses. Target dollar spot has them and I couldn't resist.





I hope you are having better weather than us here in Kansas. Kansas is pretty much drunk right now. Beautiful one moment, then raining, and now snowing. In late March. Figure it out, Kansas. We want sunshine!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Monkey Bizness.

Since my family is in town, we were trying to decide what to do with their days here in Kansas. It obviously needed to be kid Nate friendly. A friend told me about Monkey Bizness and it seemed different and fun.

This place was awesome! There was a huge blow up slides, air-hockey(Nate's favorite), swing sets, climbing toys, a zip line (best part, in my opinion) and a baby area. It also had food and coffee. Like...good coffee. Bonus for parents. 

We ordered pizzas and drinks. Decent prices for food and we went during a "power hour" which had discounted admission. Another bonus of parents...you only pay admission for the kids. 

I would definitely go again. It was clean and the kids had a blast! There are a few locations, 4 in Colorado, 1 in Texas, and 1 in Kansas. If you need a play to play and stay indoors, I would recommend it. We will for sure be going again.













**I did not get paid to write this post. This is my personal experience and not affliated with Monkey Bizness. **

9 Months.

My littlest little is 9 months today. NINE. I can't believe it.

Morgan. Mo-Mo. Morgie-Morg. Lil' Chunky Chunk. Lil' Chunks.  Those are all her names she goes by. She is getting more and more personality every day. And she is a sassy little thing. All 21 pounds and 26 inches of her.

She LOVES her brother, especially when he plays Peek-a-boo with her or is having a meltdown. Yep...she thinks it is Hi-lar-i-ous when he cries. Not cool, Morgan.

She has the biggest thighs I have ever seen on a baby. She has 2 bottom teeth and working on more. She loves food (surprise, surprise). Her favorites are blueberries, pasta, ground beef, and crunchies. She loves to be held. She doesn't crawl, but she gets around using baby magic. She nurses a lot (apparently I have awesome boobs). She loves bath time. She is starting to actually "play" more and interact with Nate which melts my freaking heart. That is why we have babies, my friends, those moments.

She hates sleeping. She is getting better, but still up 3-5 times a night (improvement from 10 times a night). She hates when I wipe her nose.

Morgan is overall a pretty happy baby. Her smile is so sweet. Whenever we are out and about people are just drawn to her. They are constantly talking about her bows, thighs, and smile. No joke, people ask me to squeeze her all the time. It's funny.

Here are a few pictures I took of her today...






Happy 9 months, baby girl. Mommy loves you so much. You are my favorite shopping bestie and I can't wait to do more girly stuff with you. If you love me, you will sleep better. K, Thanks.