Spring Break & the Weekend Rewind

Spring Break.

Warm weather, sunshine, and fun!

Well, I guess we will only get 1 out of 3... The Groundhog forgot what he told us, I suppose... Not even Florida was warm. What is going on here?! Global warming...what a joke...

Anyway, back to Spring Break. We did have a lot of fun. I got over the plague (finally) and we spent some time at Grandma and Grand Daddy's while Jason got some work done at yet another plant. I even got a mini impromptu project done.

So, here we go! We hope everyone had a lovely (hopefully, warmer) Spring Break!

{MONDAY}

 

 We headed out to get some fabric to make shorts, but I couldn't find what I wanted. The boys did though... Andy and Alex spied Lightning McQueen from the other side of the fabric section. So, I gave in and bought a 1/2 yard and 2 zippers to make some pouches for them. They used them on our trip to Florida to keep their special toys with them. At home they are using them to keep their stash of Hot Wheels. Such cuties! 

 We saw the sun break out for a bit and the ground was pretty dry (it had rained early that morning) so we attempted to go outside. That lasted about 20 minutes. I swear to you the sky was BLUE and then within minutes it looked like tornado weather! CRAZY. Andy (bottom pic) was pretty bummed. He knows Mommy's rule - 1st rumble of thunder and we are inside. I was a lifeguard in the Lightning State - aka Florida. Mama doesn't play with thunder/lightning. Fuss about it and you go to time out. Poor guys...they were so happy to be outside. The weather has been mean to us lately...

The weather was so bad out power was flickering and we lost the tv for a bit. So, it was time to practice our tracing. These Leap Frog toys are AWESOME.

{WEDNESDAY}

We arrived at my parents' house just after lunch. Andy cracks me up. Last week he was really annoyed with me because we weren't going to Grandma's house for her birthday. He thought she was having a party and I forgot or something. So, my mom - the party queen - said, "We are having a party!" Well, that meant chips and dip and snacks, etc. Andy asks, "Where's the cake?! Let's make one!" So, he and Grandma made one! LOL So funny!! 

Hanging out on the back porch before dinner. And, still cold here, people... I was chilly in that tank top...

 Time for bed after a fun day. Andy is so big that he no longer fits in a pack-n-play :( Really?! So, I brought along our twin airbed for him. Alex is getting too big for his pack-n-play, too.. But I think we can get a few more uses out of it for him. We will see. 

{THURSDAY}

 

 Hanging outside enjoying some sun shine and a tiny bit of warmth. The boys thought this little bench was pretty nifty. Taking their picture in it was another thing...

 

 William and the little guys playing basketball and frisbee. Andy thought he was the same size as William. So, tackled him over and over again during a quick game of football. 

 Having some quiet time before dinner - coloring and learning about monster hunters from Sean. 

 

 Alex and my dad having a serious discussion about trains. Love this pic :)

 Hmmm...what's that band-aid extravaganza on Andy's forehead... Grrr.. Well, after dinner, we headed out for a walk - something that my family has always done (as soon as the weather start cooperating here we will start doing that again here). Anyway, my mom has these stepping stones that Andy and Alex had been jumping across the entire time we have been here. Well, Andy took a wrong hop and cut his head. But, he is fine! Dad and I took him to CVS and got him some fancy butterfly suture strips and M&Ms. He made sure that we got some for Alex, too. Such a sweet big brother. Well, after quite a mess and band-aid applied he was back to his happy little self. All is well. 

Note: I changed his band-aids Sunday night and his cut looks so much better! It is healing quite well :) 

{FRIDAY}

 We came home and I broke out the special bag of items from my mom's friend, Denise. These guys were pretty happy to be in their kitchen "cooking" up some fun. Thank, Denise!

  Once I got all the unpacking/unloading done, I ran out to grab the mail and YAY!! Look at what I got! It is so exciting to find a box from Random House at my doorstep. This is the newest book that I will be reviewing soon. I'll start reading this tonight. I'm super excited about this one! I love Father Barron!! The show, Catholicism, aired last year (I think) on PBS and it was wonderful. He has a YouTube Channel, if you are interested in hearing what he has to say about the important topics that arise in today's Church.

{SUNDAY}

 Happy Palm Sunday! After Mass, we headed to lunch. I'm in a Chinese food mood these days and my sweet hubby took us out to P.F. Changs!! Love him!! The little guys loved the kids chicken fried rice and our waitress was amazing with them!

 This is our book of the week for the boys. This is a brand new publication - just released in February. It is a great book to share the Stations of the Cross with children. We read about Palm Sunday and will continue on Thursday with the Last Supper. The illustrations are great and the wording in just enough that it isn't baby-ish and they lose interest. But, it isn't so much that it is pretty easy for them to understand. If you don't have some Stations of the Cross book for children this is the one to get. I got mine on Amazon, but it may be available other places.  (No affiliate links here - I just love this book and wanted to share!)

Hope you all had a great Spring Break and are staying warm. That is just so weird to say in the South... Come on sunshine!!

{Some Things to Share}

Please keep my husband's grandfather in your prayers. He is recovering in the hospital from a heart attack. Stay healthy, Dave! We love you!

  Something cool to watch over and over again:

Remember Wile E. Coyote had those crazy contraptions and such to get the Road Runner? Well this video reminds me of that. So cool!!
OK GO - "This Too Shall Pass"

Something funny to watch:

My brother-in-law, Justin, told me about this guy in Paris dressed up like Mario and riding around town playing "Mario Kart" in real life. Wow. Andy and Alex thought this guy was hilarious!
Mario Kart Paris

 Enjoy and have a fabulous week!!

Weekend Goodies

Well, this weekend was not as eventful as one would have hope with the gorgeous weather. I must have caught that yucky virus from Andy. Fun. Luckily, it was the weekend so Jason was home to take care of us. I slept it off and was fine later that afternoon. But, Alex caught it from me somehow (I thought I had stayed away enough. Boo.) and had it this morning. But, I made him sleep it off and he was (and still is) much better later this afternoon, too. So, HOPEFULLY, death is no longer upon us... We were doing so great, too... This was the first time any of us had really gotten sick since about a year or so ago. Darn.

Anyway, here are some pics highlighting some of this weekend. Enjoy!

 Jason pushing around the "bus" - aka the mega-sized box from my bulk Amazon order. I realized that I actually save much more getting cereals, toilet paper, and paper towels than using coupons at the grocery store. But, I'm sure the UPS man isn't a fan of the mega-sized boxes. Sorry, Mr. UPS Man. 

Catholic newspaper in out Saturday mail with the BEST news we have heard this year! I am SO excited for our Christian faith! Pope Francis is going (ok, from the stories I have read so far, he already is) to be amazing!

 Saturday he was all about figuring out how to ride his brother's bike AND wearing his brother's helmet. One day he will get it - a bike, too. But, not just yet ;)

Alex feeling better Sunday afternoon and taking everything in after a day of sleeping. 

Andy being a pirate...Captain Silly Pants. 

 

 Getting in on the ball-throwing fun which somehow turned into dodge ball later. Good times. 

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Here a few things I thought you might like as the weekend wraps up. Just and article and some new things I plan on trying this week at some point.

For parents of young children who have that moment every now and then when you are going to pull out every last strand of hair on your head. Then, you have that one person (or a few) tell you:

“You should enjoy every moment now! They grow up so fast!” 

Just breathe and then READ THIS. 

A recipe just for the boys: 

Easy Homemade Corn Dogs - Chef-in-Training

 Starting my trek into sewing clothes. If anyone has any tips, let me know. This one looks easy, but you never know.

Boys Shorts Tutorial - MADE

  

Realized after Wednesday night that I need one of these...

Sewing Machine Pin Cushion - I Can Find the Time

   

I hope y'all are staying well and not getting anywhere near the nasty sick bug. How was your weekend? 

 

Weekend Goodies

Welcome back FABULOUS weather! We started off our weekend Friday afternoon having lunch and playing in the wonderfully warm sunshine. Yes, We started off with jackets on, but they did come off as the sun continued to shine down on our backyard. So nice! 

 

 Digging for gold. LOL Jason and the boys have been watching "Gold Rush" on the Discovery Channel and are a tad bit obsessed. It is cute, though ;)

 When it wasn't time to dig for gold, it was time to hit the golf course. Hmmm, maybe I should have a post on "Retirement through a Toddler's Eyes"

While Andrew was busy playing golf (Alex had to go in for a nap), I continued reading through this great book. I haven't had this many sticky notes in a book since college. It is SO good. I've already done a handful of Tami's ideas and WOW. Things have been running much smoother here. I'll have a post on this soon.

 Of course, after a while, Andy was worn out, so it was time to go in for a "tiny nap" 

I'm not sure what happened with my little man, but Andy ended up spending Saturday night on our bathroom floor... Poor guy. We had a good evening up until our movie was over (every Saturday night we have pizza movie night). So not sure...he is better now. Just has a mild fever. Weird, right? 

 After a lot of rest for me and the boys, we headed back outside for some good ol' vitamin D. This time it was time for Alex and Daddy to hit the "course."

Ahhh, what a perfect weekend (almost...poor Andy. Get better, baby)!

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I ran across a few things online that I thought I'd share:

source

For my fellow Catholic readers: Cracks. Me. Up. Now, if only I could find one that said something about "consubstantial" - that's the one I always mess up. It just doesn't roll off the tongue very easy, ya know?

For my girls that gotta have their coffee in the morning before the day begins, I bring you "The Coffee Song" by Ralph's World. I heard on one of the kid's music stations in the car! Awesome!!

 Shirts for Ethiopia!!
A friend's sister is working hard on raising money for a mission trip to Ethiopia. She is making the cutest shirts and the one above is Andy's shirt for St. Patrick's Day!! Cute, huh? If you need some cute shirts for your kids, why not help out a girl go on a mission trip at the same time? Click here to check out story, see her designs and find out more on how to help.

source

 Compassion and Communion

This was started by a student at the local Catholic high school as a way to help families in need as they prepare to celebrate their child's First Communion. Ways you can help out are by donating clothing items such as: boys suits. ties, girls' dresses, veils, etc. Click here to find out more about how you can help out a family in need during a very important milestone in a child's Catholic faith.

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How was your weekend??