Thanksgiving Week

The last 4 days consisted of me working out all 4 days, being up too late every night, everyone sleeping in but me and almost no pictures were taken! What is wrong with me??

And this picture has nothing to do with this post, but goodness child. Melt my heart with that smile!!

Anywho......Our long weekend started Wednesday about noon! I took off from work a little early and picked up Presley from moms and we went to see the movie Wonder. It was so good and so good for kids to see! I think Presley was excited to see it b/c she knew her teacher and some classmates were going to see it this weekend too. She told me she liked it right when the movie was over, before I could even ask her. I asked her what she thought the message was and she correctly replied 'to be kind'. Perfect!
So of course, I reminded her of that many times over this weekend when she was being mean to her sister! :)

That night we decided to let Piper miss gymnastics and we all headed out to Reclaimed Rails and met my sisters and their families. We did this last year and had a lot of fun so thought we would do it again and make it a good tradition. We bring coloring books for the kids and they do a good job playing and keeping entertained.

Thursday we hung out and headed to my parents about 1. We did your traditional turkey dinner which was great! We played some games which was fun and talked and talked. It was a very nice day and so thankful that we are all able to get together!

Friday we got the Christmas tree out and decorated! Steve got the lights on the house, we did some cleaning and some laundry and some cooking and then headed to neighbor Sarah's for the Iowa game. The game was great! The kids were good, the food was good and it was a nice chill Friday night hanging out with them. Eventually Steve and Kyle headed to the bar and the girls and I hung out and watched the Trolls holiday special and then headed home.

Carver and Piper are too cute! 

Saturday we hung out in the morning and got ready for the Goodrich thanksgiving in Earlham. We spent the afternoon and evening there. We ate too much, the girls played SO hard, Steve was disappointed he lost the family pool tournament and it was nice just having everyone there (which we later thought that we should've taken a picture!!) Plus many new girl/boyfriends for our nieces and nephews! The already big Goodrich family just keeps growing!

When we got home (after 10:30) little Miss wanted her pictures taken in front of the house!

This morning everyone was WORN out! I was still up before 9 so I worked out, read my book, did some laundry, picked up some of the kitchen and took a shower before anyone else was up! We actually had NO plans for today which was perfect since we had been busy. Once everyone was awake and ready we headed to brunch at Jethros, got a car wash and stopped by the library to pick up a Star card (this is a program they do where we can pick a card/child and buy presents for her/him. We did it last year and Presley wanted to do it again, which I think is a good way to get them to think about others during this time of the year!)

When we got home we basically did nothing for the rest of the day! It was nice! Did some laundry, played some games, some cleaning, watched Jumanji.
We did dinner and baths and then watched The Good Dinosaur. We took the girls to see this on Christmas Eve 2 years ago and Steve ended up taking Piper to the car halfway thru b/c she was being so bad, so this was a better experience! Both girls sat and actually watched it and at the end Piper bawled! Like crying, inconsolably crying! It was so sad, I started crying! To see your child have those kind of feelings, ugh...totally broke my heart!

Tomorrow is going to be a struggle to get everyone up in the morning. I'm dreading that! Then Tuesday I have to start testing for my underwriting authority in my new department, so nervous and irritated by the whole process. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it over the next 2 months!

Senior luncheon and weekend update!

Piper is in the Senior 3 class at daycare...the last class before kindergarten. The senior classes have a senior formal luncheon every year. They get to dress up and properly use their manners and the lunch room is decorated like a fancy restaurant. It really is too cute!  My mom and Steve were able to stop by and see some of the cuteness!

That night I took Presley to gymnastics. That place is a madhouse! There are so many people and kids and no where to sit or stand. It gives me anxiety! I decided to leave and meet my friend Lyndsi for an hour to catch up and have a drink! It was perfect and I'm glad it worked out for a last minute get together!

Thursday we had Presley conferences. As we expected she is friendly, nice, quiet and a pleasure to have in class. They are supposed to be reading 90 words a minute and she is at 136 a minute. She struggles in subtraction but is liking multiplication! Her 'report card' is a mixture of M's (meeting expectations) and P's (progressing towards expectations)....and these ratings are not for specific 'subjects' like math, reading, writing....it's subjective things like focusing on the speaker and staying on task (I guess the girls have tendency to braid hair or play with each other shoes laces when seated next to each other on the floor).......Can I tell you how much I dislike these 'report cards'? They basically tell you almost nothing. Any who!

Friday I had a girls night with my mom, sisters and aunts (from Texas and Wisconsin)! We went to Saints in Beaverdale to talk and have a couple appetizers and then headed to see Bad Moms. Even the 2nd time around, it was still SO funny! I think we all enjoyed it!

Saturday was busy! Thankfully we all slept in, which I was happy about b/c I have been waking up early which is super annoying. I slept until 9 and then worked out, once we were all up and ready to go we headed to Target! We got home had some lunch and got ready for the rest of the day. Steve dropped Piper off at a birthday party at 2. I took Presley to a gymnastics clinic at 2:30, this was a kickover clinic. She can do kickovers but not very consistently so when I asked if she wanted to do the one hour clinic she didn't really hesitate. I think she was happy and learned a lot, so it was worth it!

When that was over at 3:30, we ran a couple quick errands and picked up Piper at 4:30 and then headed to swim lessons that started at 4:55! 

When lessons were over, we stopped by the house and picked up Steve and some things to keep the girls busy. We headed to Firetrucker to watch The Sheet play. They are an awesome little reggae band that everyone should check out! They are fun and the girls were good and it was just a good, laid back night of listening to music!

Sunday everyone slept in! I got up at 9 and worked out. Finally at 10 the girls came downstairs! We got ready for the day and headed to my parents house to watch the Packer game. They suck this year so we are still trying to be positive and keep cheering them on! We ordered pizza and the kids played. Steve and Piper left about 1:45 for another birthday party for Piper. When the game and the party were over, we met at swim lessons.

The girls are doing great at swim lessons! I was a little worried since it had been about 6 months since they have really been to lessons but I'm pleasantly surprised!

We all went to bed early! Well, everyone but Piper who was still awake at 10, but when she sleeps in late in the mornings we have to expect that! 

We are definitely ready for a short week! Thanksgivings with both families, we'll get the tree and xmas lights up and hopefully have some time to just chill out!

Piper

Thursday morning (the morning I was DRAGGING) I did get to sleep a little late b/c Piper had her 5 year well child appointment. Instead of 6:15, we got up at 7:15, dropped Presley off at school about 8 and headed to her appt.
She knew she was going to have to get shots and she really wasn't all that scared (I think she was a little nervous b/c she wouldn't stop talking and that is what she tends to do) She asked if it hurt and I was honest telling her that it would for a just a second....kind of like when she got her ears pierced, but overall she just wanted it over with so she could tell her friends at school that she got her '5 year shots!'

Goof ball!

She was 3'6" tall, which was about 35% and 38 lbs which was about 37%....she is petite!

She also said that Piper has huge tonsils! We don't have that many issues with strep but she asked if Piper snores (YES!) and if she has an appetite (NO!) and these are things that are affected by large tonsils. She said we might want to have them checked out just in case they recommend removing them, which if they did, we would want to do before kindergarten!

Piper had her shots....she said 'ouch' about 3 times and that was it! No tears! She was SO proud of herself! (and I was proud of her too!)

Steve was able to take her to the ENT on Thursday and they said that if she is snoring but she is sleeping good, then we don't have to worry! So no need for anything addt'l, which I was happy about!

Bad Moms

After our weekend in Nashville, we were pooped last week. Monday is our night that we rarely have anything planned and we were looking forward to just hanging out with the girls after being gone.

 

Tuesday Steve had to work late, so I picked up both girls, went home and did a quick dinner and then left for gymnastics about 5:30. We got Presley into class and then Piper and I headed out to Firestone to have my tire fixed. Thankfully Steve was able to meet us there about 6:30 and take Piper home! Tuesdays are always such a quick night! Presley and I didn't get home from gymnastics until 8 and then it is time for her to get ready for bed!

 

Wednesday Steve was able to pick up both girls and take them to Piper's gymnastics b/c I had a Bad Mom's date with my friends/neighbors! I got home about 5 and had about an hour to MYSELF at home before we were leaving for the movie! I got done so much in that hour! It was awesome!

 

Jamie, Me, Sarah, Wendy, Andrea and Mitzi



It was such a fun movie! We had a good time and afterwards we headed to Lynn's, a small bar that was on our way home....and I didn't end up getting home until 12:30! That is way too late for this mom!

Thursday I was DRAGGING! I was just so tired and I had a work outing after work. I sucked it up and went out for about 3 hours....and was home in time to help put the girls to bed.

Friday we did dinner at El Mariachi (b/c I haven't been there in like 2 whole weeks!!!) and then Steve met a friend at The Boat House and the girls and I went home and hung out! We started a puzzle, we watched some of a movie and just cuddled. It was nice!

Saturday I was on a mission!!!! I was going to clean and purge, mostly the kid stuff. I did both girls rooms.....putting stuff where it goes, dusting, organizing, throwing away so many things that they'll never miss. Their rooms look so much better, too bad I didn't have an extra couple hours to go thru their closets too.....that will have to wait for another day.
I went thru the box of toys in the family room, our storage for games and went thru all the crayons, markers, coloring books and papers! It felt so good!

Steve made a trip to Hy-Vee, but the girls and I didn't leave the house all day and it was great!

Sunday I actually got up and worked out! *GASP* This hasn't happened in like 2 months and I need to get back into it ASAP!
We got ready and headed to Holly and Jerry's for the Packer game! Finally we got a win! We got home from their house about 4 and did some more cleaning and laundry and the girls played. We did baths and got ready for the week! Presley and Steve were asleep so fast! and of course, Piper laid on her bedroom floor talking to herself for over an hour before she finally caved in to sleep!

Nashville Day 3

We decided we needed to see SOMETHING besides the inside of bar so we walked near Music Row.

Then we happen to find ourselves back in another restaurant/bar....The singer from Tootsies the day before was playing at this place and remembered us!

Our friend Kruse was able to drive up from where he was working in Georgia to meet us for the night. He had met us in Chicago when we saw AC/DC and we have been talking about meeting up with him again and this worked out!

We got a tip from a friend who had been in Nashville last month to go to Bailey's to watch the Iowa game...and she wasn't kidding. They have reserved seating for Hawkeye fans, they do the I-O-W-A chant after they score and they had a raffle for different things. It was really cool!! And a lot of fun when your team wins and they weren't expected to!

We hadn't planned on really watching the whole game....but we did and it was worth it! After the game we went to more places, the view from the rooftops were awesome and the weather was perfect!

One of Steve's bosses daughters (did ya get that?) just moved to Nashville about 6 months ago, we had met her once before at a wedding this summer and exchanged contact info. We got a hold of her and she met us out for the Iowa game and then ended up hanging out all night with us! Meghan was fun and I'm glad we got to hang out with her and get to know her better!

Somehow we ended up at some bar dancing...and dancing and dancing. Meeting some new people and rocking out!

My hair only came down and out of my pony b/c I insisted that Kruse let me put his hair in a man-bun! It was a little short for a bun and he was not impressed with my need to 'do' his hair! 

We actually didn't stay out too late. We were somewhat responsible adults!! We did gain an hour of sleep with daylight savings time but we did have to get up about 7:30 and head to the airport. It was  great trip and we will definitely be going back! We were exhausted and ready to get home to our babies. Our flight left at 10:10 and we were at my parents house by 1:45! Short and sweet travel time!

My tips from this trip:

Fly Southwest...totally worth it. It was a 50 min flight to St Louis and a 50 min flight to Nashville!

Airbnb....don't count them out! So much cheaper than hotels!

Nashville....if you like live music, go! We loved this city and didn't see half of it!

Nashville Day 2

We actually slept like crap that night and it stormed and then construction started on the roof of our building....so it was slow moving for us Friday morning. We finally rolled out of bed and just ate some of the snacks we had bought and decided to roam downtown in search of a good lunch. Since we didn't go to very many places on Thursday this was our chance to check some other places out!

Alan Jackson's bar

We walked into many different places and finally found this place, not very busy, open windows and doors....and the food was REALLY good!

Really?

We ended back at Tooties and Mark (the guitar player from the night before) got us the perfect seats right up front. People in this industry are really good with people, as they should be. But Mark remembered us, remembered our names, that it was our 10th anniversary....it was pretty cool. He even said that he hopes some day he can meet our daughter Presley b/c he liked her name so much! HA!

Basically these people don't have true 'bands', you can tell they just pick up a singer, guitar player and occasional drummers to combine and make music on random times at different bars.  Either way, it works!

Surprisingly we didn't stay at Tootsie's all night. We did continue to make our rounds checking out different places, music and atmosphere's. It's crazy b/c almost all the bars are 3 levels with a different band on each level and most have a rooftop patio too! We went during a good time of year and while there were no concerts! (CMA awards are this Wednesday!) It was busy but we didn't have to wait in line, we had no problems getting any service anywhere!

We found Zoltar....and then we found Willie's! :)

Nashville - Day 1

Finally, we made it to Nashville! We have been wanting to go for years and it just never worked out. The hotels have been so expensive there....about $400 a night and I just can't justify that. So we tried an Airbnb! The total for 3 nights was $410! I found pretty cheap flights on Southwest so we left Thursday morning about 6:30 and we were at the door to the studio apartment at 10:30! We would've been there earlier but we ate in the airport when we got there b/c we weren't supposed to 'check in' until 11 am....(which was a mistake given the prices!) but we met a guy Landon from Oregon there!

The place we stayed at was brand new....still construction going on upstairs and the lower level. It was so cute and perfect! There was a gas station 3 blocks away that we walked to for some pop and snacks to have and there were a couple restaurants that were within walking distance too!

Our first stop after getting situated in the place was lunch at 51 Taproom, 2 blocks away and it just opened 3 weeks ago! Very cool place! We shared the shrimp tacos, had a couple beers, chatted with the manager and then got an Uber downtown. Only a $10 Uber ride, so it wasn't bad at all. Totally worth it!

We got downtown and the atmosphere is awesome! So many people, so many open windows and doors to floors and floors of live music!  We found the famous Tootsies right away so we went there.....we ended up there from 3 until about 9 pm. We had good seats, we liked the bands and we ended up getting to know the guitar player Mark.

There was this cute singer....too bad he chewed. Gross.

And this chick was really good too....I wouldn't mind having her body either!

Supposedly the older guy wrote the song he sang, who knows if that is true or not.

We met this guy and his wife from New York....New Yorkers are usually dbags in our experience, and this guy was pretty close to fitting that description. They switched glasses and hats for the pic.

So graffiti on the walls is totally acceptable and completely everywhere in these bars! Someone in line to the girls bathroom had one so we took turns writing..... :)

We were beat by 10 pm....we had been up since 4:30 so we headed back towards the apartment and got dinner at 51 Taproom....and it was nice enough to eat on the patio! Oh yeah!

My sandwich was okay, fries were great and Steve's fried chicken over mashed potatoes was really good!