Weekend Update

I'm slow on updating b/c my blog is blocked from work right now!.....Oh well, eventually I will be able to access it again. Anywho.....I snapped this picture of my baby one night last week at bedtime. So sweet, on top of her bedspread, only under a blanket, cuddled with her stuffed monkey and she had moved a picture of herself onto her nightstand so she could see it. :)

Another day I got a picture of the two of them getting along! Presley helping Piper with her workbook.

Friday night we had Sarah and Kyle over with the kids. We didn't see much of the kids that night b/c they played so well. Little Cohen did a good job of keeping occupied without getting into too much trouble and us adults were able to play a couple games. They were over until 10:45 and all the kids were still going strong! (Cohen might have watched the Trolls Holiday special 4 times to keep him occupied as it got later)

Steve and Kyle headed to The Boathouse and played in a poker game and the girls decided they wanted to fall asleep together which actually worked really well.....they were asleep within minutes! My sleeping beauties!

Saturday we all slept in....I was the first one up at 9! And we did NOTHING all day. It was cold and dreary and we just didn't have anywhere we wanted to or needed to go. Steve did make a brisket for dinner so he kept busy for a bit, I worked out, the girls played and we played Trouble 9 million times.

Finally Sunday we decided to get out of the house! Hallelujah! Our 'diet' went out the window days ago so we had brunch at Mullets. It was busy but worth the wait. This is the cinnamon roll I got! Holy frosting!

After that we headed over to Brenton skating plaza to use some free ice skating passes we had! It wasn't too busy, it wasn't too cold and the girls had fun! Ice skating makes you realize how weak your ankles are!

We were there a little over an hour and it was fun. We will totally go again (if we have free passes! ha!). We took a short walk over the pedestrian bridge since it was nice out and then we headed home.

Presley had a birthday party at Glazed Expressions, so I dropped her off there and then did some Target shopping. Sunday night was the usual routine of getting ready for the week ahead.

Monday Holly picked up the girls from school to go for ice cream and stop at Popcorn Heaven to pick out a bag of popcorn. This was their birthday presents from her.....time and fun instead of toys they don't need! I love this idea and they had a good time!
Once they got home, Presley went outside to play, Steve made dinner and Piper and I worked out. She ended up doing more time on the elliptical than I did! Though she really likes to talk while we work out and that doesn't work for me! :)

Random

- I am not a tech savvy person at all. I just learned how to 'snap chat' about 3 months ago and really don't use it. The kids use it to take funny pictures other than that.....I'm not really using it.
I also just figured out to 'group text', this really was as simple as googling it to change the setting on my phone but it is really pathetic how I don't even try to understand or advance my knowledge. I have an Instagram account that I put about 10 pictures on about 3 yrs ago and I haven't been back on it since. I don't twitter either. I feel like that old woman who is against technology.

- I signed Presley up for Girls on The Run. She wanted to do it last year b/c her teacher was a coach but you have to be in 3rd grade. So I got her signed up and her BFF Leah is signed up for it too. They run twice a week and end up doing a 5k in May......you want to know the problem that I'm really struggling with?? The 5k is the SAME night as Piper's preschool graduation. You know the super cute graduation with caps and gowns and songs and freaking adorableness. I'm so torn up about it, I don't want to miss either! On the plus side, Piper did 'graduate' last year so at least I have those pictures and memories but still......so right now I'm praying for a full-out thunderstorm the night of May 24th so they have to reschedule the 5k, that is the only way I can make this work out for me.

- We were talking about boys and how in high school girls end up thinking that boys are the #1 priority and how they really aren't (or shouldn't be!). Presley insisted that she wasn't ever going to like a boy and wanted to bet on it. I told her I would give her $1000 if she didn't like boys before the age of 20. :)

- Steve and I started the Fast Metabolism Diet again today and there is nothing I want more right now than a glass of wine and a Girl Scout tagalong cookie (currently known as the peanut butter patties). We are going to try for 2 weeks this time and know that we won't be doing it 100%, we will have more success if we know there can be a little flexibility (like when I go to dinner with Lisa and Lyndsi on Thursday night!)

- I bought Piper a kindergarten workbook for Christmas....it was a waste of money. Mainly learning how to write letters and numbers, sequencing, patterns.....she was bored with most of this book and completed the rest of it with no problem. So I bought a 1st grade book, this is exactly what she needs. There are things in it that she can't do...like writing sentences and such but for the most part it is simple math, sequencing, begins with sounds....And she loves it!

- So we have lived here for over 5 years and had been lucky enough to not hit any deer until recently. Of course it was the night after I got my car back from being fixed. At first we didn't think it was that bad, two small cracks in the front grill. Then my turn signal stopped working the next day, getting that fixed is not an easy/cheap feat in these cars now so we hadn't done it yet. Steve washed the car Saturday and we ended up with water in the headlight. The headlight part of this car is close to $1000. It SUCKS! So I get to call the insurance company tomorrow and figure that fun out!

Lazy

Man this 3 day weekend was really lazy, I just can't deal with the cold weather. Saturday Steve headed to his uncles funeral in Creston. We were all supposed to go but with Presley being sick we didn't know how she was going to be Saturday morning so we decided to not push our luck and the girls and I would just stay home.
I did 6 loads of laundry, mostly all of our bedding....the girls played which was nice since Presley was finally feeling better (attitude was completely back!) and I cleaned, I took wet wipes to a lot of our white trim and kitchen cabinets, I cleaned our the refrigerator out, emptied all the trash cans, we played Trouble a couple times, the girls worked in their math workbooks....it was an overall good day home.
Steve got home and we did a quick dinner out, mainly just to get out of the house for an hour.

Sunday I just didn't want to move. I did a lot of laying on the couch, occasionally going to the floor to play Trouble with the girls, I read my book, they did their workbooks again. Steve got up and went to Whole Foods, Target, Hy-vee and grabbed lunch at Wendy's and the 3 of us girls hadn't really moved that whole time. I did eventually find some energy and worked out and showered! HA!
We did go over the Wendy and Jason's that night for a small get together, so we got out of the house for a bit and the kids played so good!

I actually had today as a holiday this year, one of the new holidays my company gave us this year. I kept both girls home with me. It was so rainy and dreary and cold that I didn't want to do anything. I knew the girls were probably getting stir crazy but they actually did pretty good. We watched movies, did their workbooks again, I worked out and they played and now here we are getting ready for the week ahead. Next weekend we might have to plan something to get out of this house!

I think Presley is more than ready to get back to school, since she hasn't been since last Monday. Yikes! I'm sure we'll be getting the letter home from school saying that she has missed too many days this year. Oh well! 

Sick

Poor Presley got hit with what we think was the flu.....Tuesday I stayed home with her, she was bored...we played games, she played Barbies, we ran to Target....and then about 5 pm she started to complain about her throat and head hurting.

Wednesday Steve was going to go to work late so Presley could sleep in a bit and we could figure out how she was feeling. She had a fever again, so he took her to the doctor (after he dropped off her Valentines box at school). The doc said it looked like she had strep, she got a really bad throat swab b/c Presley was gagging too much. The strep test came back negative but she prescribed meds for strep anyway.
Presley was totally the opposite of how she was on Tuesday with me, she laid around, she took naps and overall just didn't feel good. :(
I took Piper to gymnastics that night, she is seriously so cute in this class. Being so little doesn't bother her at all and the bigger girls love trying to help her but she just smiles the whole time. And it is so cute seeing how much 'conditioning' they do with these girls at this age! And she loves it!

Thursday my mom was able to take Presley for us b/c she still wasn't feeling good which is so nice to have that option so we don't have to miss so much work. She laid around all day again. Once Piper and I got home she seemed to perk up and actually played a little, but then bedtime she crashed again.

Friday morning we were going to let her sleep and Steve would go to work late again. She woke up with a low fever so she stayed home again. They did make a quick trip to school so Steve could pick up her Valentines day box and grab some McD's for lunch...and she fell asleep on the way home. And then napped again when they got home. My kids sleep GREAT at night time....my kids DO NOT nap, ever....unless they are sick!

When I picked up Piper we decided that we needed to go to El Mariachi for a mommy/Piper date! :) And this girls LOVE math....I was doing simple math with her at home but Brittany (our babysitter who also works at Generation) has expanded this math and taught her a little more than that! So we did math at dinner!

The girls and I had a girls night once we got home. We got settled in the basement for the Disney premiere of the Zombies movie......it was really good actually! Similar to High School Musical and the Descendants, the girls love the music and dancing....almost as much as I do! :)

Daddy/Daughter Dance

While I was out with some work people Thursday night, Steve and Presley got to working on her Valentines day box....I think both of them were excited to get creative with it and it turned out SO cute!

Friday after work we quickly got the girls ready for the Daddy/Daughter dance! They were so excited to dress up! Piper said it was like they were going to a wedding!

I did some laundry and then treated myself to El Mariachi and my book! They had reservations at Bravo with Kyle (and daughters Sadie, Grace and Claire) and Todd (with daughter Hadley) and then headed to the dance. They did crafts, very little dancing and a lot of running around!

 

Grace, Piper, Hadley, Sadie and Presley (missing Claire)

 

 Grace, Piper, Claire and Hadley

 So cute, she wanted to pose on the stairs :)

They got home a little after 9 and had a good time with the other girls! Love it!

Saturday we didn't do much. Presley was supposed to have a birthday party but the girl was sick, so that got cancelled. They played really good together in their rooms, we watched some Olympics and did some laundry but really just hung out.
We did go to dinner at Thunderhead in Ankeny b/c we were going to check out music by The Sheet at Firetrucker, but by the time we got there it was too busy to get a table. So we just went home and watched Jumanji instead!

Sunday was another day of NOT doing much. They spent less time getting along and more time in their rooms separated. The nice part about time outs in their room, is that they have to clean them and if they have laundry to put away they have to do that too! :) They played outside for a while, Presley did her thank yous for her birthday party, Piper worked on her valentines for school and they watched Jumanji again! We did venture over to Sarah and Kyle's for Kyle's birthday get together. We all hung out, played a couple games and the kids played really well (despite Piper jacking her forehead on a table leg and having a nice goose egg!).

Presley cried and cried about going to school this morning! I told the girls at work, usually when she is this dramatic about being tired and sobbing in the mornings, I end up getting a call from school that she is sick....and I was right. About 1:45 I got the call that she had a fever.....and 10 of  the 26 kids in her class were gone today! YIKES! We have been lucky so far this year and have dodged sicknesses, so hoping this is a quick 24 hour fever and not the flu that everyone has been getting! :(

Answers by Piper

Piper was feeling left out since Presley was answering my questions, so she wanted to answer too.

1. Who is your best friend? Paige
2. What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher
3. What football team do you support? Iowa
4. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? To fly b/c it seems fun
5. How would describe me to your friends? I love you
6. What does heaven look like? A boring place b/c you are dead.
7. What is the most disgusting thing you can think of? Black beans
8. What's the hardest thing about being a kid? Building stuff
9. If you could time-travel, where and when would you go? Mexico and Skyzone
10. What 5 words describe you best? A lot of friends, loud, friendly, glad, happy

11.  What are the best things about your mom and dad? They are nice.
12. If you could be anyone in the world for a day, who would it be and why? Presley, b/c she is cute.
13. If you could change one rule that your family has, what would you change? I would stay home by myself b/c it would be fun.
14. If you could grow up and be famous, what would you want to be famous for? Being in movies (of course this was after she said dentist?!)

Answers by Presley

Answers by Presley

I'm going to try to start to ask Presley these same questions every year on her birthday to see how they change over the years. I had printed off some different questions online and then FB had questions also so I'm combining them!

1. What is something I always say to you? I love you

2. What makes me happy?  Laughing
3. What makes me sad? When we are crabby patties
4. How do I make you laugh? Tickle
5. What was I like as a child? Kind
6. How old am I? How old are you? 39/9
7. How tall am I? I don't know!
8. What is my favorite thing to do? Read
9. What do I do when you're not around? Laundry
10. What am I really good at? Building houses? Making toilets? Doing stuff to your hair? (I am not good at any of these things! :)
11. What is something I'm not good at? Ice skating
12. What do I do for a job? Work at WF
13. What is my favorite food? Mashed potatoes
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? Reading

1. Who is your best friend? Leah
2. What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher
3. What football team do you support? Iowa
4. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? Invisibility, I could sneak around
5. How would describe me to your friends? A mom, blonde hair
6. What does heaven look like? Angels and the sky is pink and orange and people
7. What is the most disgusting thing you can think of? Poop
8. What's the hardest thing about being a kid? Doing homework
9. If you could time-travel, where and when would you go? Go to Ireland
10. What 5 words describe you best? Friendly, kind, happy, shy, persistent

11.  What are the best things about your mom and dad? I don't have to do my laundry
12. If you could be anyone in the world for a day, who would it be and why? Wonder Woman b/c she can fly
13. If you could change one rule that your family has, what would you change? We could eat treats whenever we wanted
14. If you could grow up and be famous, what would you want to be famous for? Being an artist!

Her answers from 2017.... http://thegoodlife-jgo.blogspot.com/2017/01/answers-by-presley.html

Her answers from 2016.... http://thegoodlife-jgo.blogspot.com/2016/02/answers-by-presley.html

Presley Grace - 9 years old

Presley Grace, oh my. What is there to say? Your eye rolling and attitude have grown tremendously over the last year! :)

You can be SO funny but you only let a few of us see this side of you!

Your best time of day is at 8 pm when we are laying in bed reading together. You love to talk and cuddle and do anything to stall the going to sleep process, but it's cute and I'm sure we have limited time left of you doing this.

You love reading, but only with me. You do not like math right now and it is hard to see you struggle b/c you get down on yourself and you shouldn't.

You have slowly come out of your shell this year, trying new things and such. We have had to push you, but I think you realize that it's not THAT bad! You can swim now! You like volleyball now! You did soccer, liked it and actually got pretty good! You had your first sleepover at a friends house! These are all HUGE steps for our shy, quiet, insecure baby girl! Keep it up!

You are in between M and L shirts...you still wear 7/8 pants but you have big feet and wear size 3 shoes....maybe we can share shoes soon! ;)

You have lost 7 teeth and hated every minute of it! Thankfully 3 of them fell out on their own and we didn't have the hour of crying before we held you down and yanked them out. And no cavities yet!

You love the movies Descendents and Hairspray!You love learning all the words to the songs and dancing along with the dances.

You can be the best sister! but man you are bossy! You love playing house, school, gymnastics and get SO mad when Piper decides she is done playing.

You are artsy and love crafts and being creative. I encourage this as much as I can b/c I am not!

Thank you for making me a mommy 9 years ago. I never thought this job would be so hard and so rewarding at the same time! You are beautiful inside and out. Never give up. Never stop trying. We love you baby girl!

 

Presley Grace

Saturday morning I got up and got busy! Our house was a mess since I really hadn't been home (and awake) for 3 nights. We cleaned, organized, picked up her birthday cake and got ready for her birthday party at noon! And she was actually helpful in doing all of this too, I think she was a bit excited. She just wanted to have some friends over to the house and have a 'game party'. Makes it easier and cheaper for us!

These girls played so well for the first 45 minutes that we didn't really see them! We had a couple games we were going to play...Pin the horn on the unicorn, totally worth the $12 I spent on it!

And the saran wrap game...filled with little toys, some $2 bills and some candy. This was fun and took them a while to do!

We did pizza and cake and ice cream,

Since she wanted a 'game' party, her cake looked similar to the game Twister!

She still does not love it when we sing happy birthday to her, she tried really hard NOT to smile!

And we got a group picture before opening presents!

Boston wasn't really sure he wanted to be with the 'girls' at this party, eventually he is going to stop coming and we can't blame him!

After the party was over Piper and I headed to Fox Brewery for a going away party for our family friend Andrea. She is going to New Zealand to study for 6 months!!! I don't know how Susie is coping with this! Having your baby gone for 6 months and in New Zealand?! UGH. But Andrea is amazing and always kicks ass and enjoys every adventure to the fullest so I know she will have the time of her life (and maybe learn something too! :)

 

My dad built a pyramid out of the candy on the table, Piper wanted her picture with it of course.

We left there and met Steve, Presley and cousin Ava at Applebee's (Presley's choice for her birthday dinner). Cousin Ava had to miss Presley's party b/c of basketball but she joined us afterwards to spend the night! These two play so well and there are so many laughs and giggles when they are together!

I accidentally said something about Presley's birthday and the waitress heard it....they came out singing with ice cream! I didn't know they did that at Applebee's and Presley was SO embarrassed about it! OOPS! Oh well, she survived! ;) (we are pretty sure this is why she didn't choose Texas Roadhouse for her dinner, b/c she didn't want to sit in the saddle and such!)

We got back home and these girls just played and played and played!

And then decided to roll over their shirts to look like bikini tops (you know, like us girls did when we were younger?!) then tried to play volleyball with a balloon.

They finally calmed down after 10 pm. Christie came to pick up Ava about 11:30 and then we didn't do much that afternoon but clean up and get ready for the Super Bowl. Presley and I spent some time laying in our bed, her on the ipad and me getting caught up on a couple DVR'd shows, it was nice just to lay and cuddle with my 9 year old!

About 4:30 our neighbors from down the street came over to watch the Super Bowl, they have 3 little girls and they all play really well together so it was nice!
The decided to use the gymnastics mat as a sled and slid down the stairs over and over again! They loved it and no one got hurt!

 Bellamy sat on my lap for bit, see how happy she is about it?! :)

Going to work Monday was a complete drag. I hate my job right now. Hate it. Some of it stems from the fact that we are still learning this new job.  So I don't know what I'm doing, there is minimal work, minimal flexibility and for the first time in 14 years I got denied a PTO day b/c there was already ONE other person who had it off?! Did I mention that there is minimal work for us to do?! It really sucks. I'm hoping I can either find a new job or that this one gets better in the next couple months.

Birthday week

This is always a busy week for me and the family with 3 of our birthdays within 5 days of each other. Tuesday Presley had gymnastics and we still hadn't heard about what they wanted to do with Piper since they messed up her class scheduling. But they decided to move her up into the big gym, where you are supposed to be 6 yrs old....so naturally we knew she would be the smallest person in her class. And when Steve took her Wednesday night, she was! But he said that she did really well! I think she is going to really like this class and learn a lot! 

 

I was able to do dinner with my friend Colleen on Wednesday! We have a tradition of going to Rock Bottom for dinner a couple times a year and now they are closing the restaurant for good, so we needed to have one last hurrah there!

Then Thursday night we met my family out at Gilroy's for my mom's, mine and Presley's family birthday dinner. After dinner, we headed back to my parents house for cake and presents! It was a quick family gathering but it was nice since we hadn't really seen everyone since Christmas....which is kind of long for us!

We did leave the girls there to spend the night so that we could go to the High Life for their Groundhog's day celebration at 6 the next morning! :)

And we did get up way too early. I woke up at 3:45 and never fell back asleep and Amy was dropped off at my house at 5! Then we picked up Sarah on our way out of the neighborhood and headed downtown....we were there at 5:30 and there was a line, a long line! Needless to say, it was cold during our wait outside and we didn't get a table inside once the doors opened but it all worked out!

 

We left High Life about 12:30 and walked over to Fuzzy's Tacos for some lunch.

That afternoon I did nothing! I went home and took a nap, woke up for a bit when the kids got home and basically just laid around all evening and night! Happy Birthday to me! :)