Random

- Piper and I were talking about Christmas yesterday and Jesus. Since we don't go to church it is hard to explain the 'religion' and stuff behind it. I told her it is the season of giving, in hopes she will want to 'give' more.
   Piper : What does Jesus look like?
   Me : What do you think he looks like?
   Piper: I don't know! Jesus and God are in my heart, how can I see what they look like?
   ***my heart melts!***

- Piper rec'd a goody bag from the birthday party she went to on Saturday afternoon that had some candy in it. Including 3 Hershey's Hugs (the black and white kisses). She ate two of them and Presley was just constantly annoying her by pretending to take her candy. On Sunday afternoon Piper runs into the room and asks "Mommy, can Presley have my kiss? Pretty please!!!! I want her to try it so can she have it?"
Me being confused by this niceness "You want to give Presley your kiss?"
Piper : Yes! I had two and she wans to try one! Can she have one please??!!!"
Me : Yeah okay...…..but Piper? Don't EVER stop being so sweet!

- We found out today that Presley was chosen as 1 of 2 girls in her class as a 'role model' for a 'friendship group'. There are 4 girls in the group and 2 of them are 'troubled' and Presley and Amelia, for lack of better words are the 'good girls'. They had to talk about their families, one of the other girls has 11 siblings (real and step! I can't imagine the chaos and inconsistencies she has grown up with!) I think this group was formed in hopes to give these other girls a peer to befriend and look up to?! I am so proud that she was chosen for this and I really hope she can learn from this experience and learn be kind to those less fortunate than her.

Quiet weekend

Saturday morning we had Boston over so Samantha could get some stuff done. He came over about 8, and then he and Presley headed to the basement at 9 and we didn't see them again until noon! Those two play SO well together! It's crazy and awesome!

Piper and I played some games and hung out. She helped me make some low carb biscuits were turned out okay.
We ate a little lunch and then Steve took Piper to a birthday party and I took Presley to her friend Addie's for a playdate. Sam came and got Boston about 2 and then I did some laundry and lounged around until it was time to pick up Presley at 4. However, by the time I got there they had decided that they were going to the 6 o'clock showing of the Grinch and that they were going to have a sleepover at our house that night! Well okay then! So I left without Presley.

That evening we picked up and I worked out and enjoyed the quiet of not having the girls fight! Presley and Addie were dropped off after the movie at 8 and did some playing and then camped out in the basement for the night.

Sunday Addie's dad came and got her about 9 and then we hung out. Steve took Piper to run some errands and I actually got a ton done around the house, from dusting, cleaning bathrooms, bedrooms, doing laundry and putting it away, working out, playing games with Presley, doing some reading, plus getting ready for the week ahead....I actually felt very productive, which is rare for me!

When Steve and Piper got home, the girls played pretty well off and on throughout the afternoon. We got some of the Christmas decorations out, Steve made some pretty cool coasters for a Christmas gift (though we kind of want to keep them now!) and then he made a really good low carb chicken taco soup, basically for me. :)

We had a good, busy, productive weekend which should put us in a good position for the long holiday weekend ahead!

Week in Review

Last week I had Monday off for Veteran's Day. A day to myself and I really didn't get much done. I wanted to but things just didn't work out that way. I was going thru clothes to take to Once Upon A Child, I heard they were picky about some of the stuff they take so I went thru our 9 bins and picked out the name brand clothes or those that were in really good condition and the rest of the stuff am going to take to the Johnston Partnership for local families that might need it.

Anyway.....Once Upon A Child was closed for the holiday also, so that didn't happen (Steve did end up taking my 2 bins of clothes later in the week and we got $25 and it didn't look like they hardly took anything out of them. Oh well). I ran to Hobby Lobby to get some xmas shopping done, then ran to Price Chopper for a couple things, then grabbed McD's and went to have lunch with Presley!

I headed home, did some stuff around the house, worked out, showered, met Steve at TBH for one drink before picking up the girls for gymnastics! Presley was not feeling very well so by the time we got there she decided she didn't want to go to class. Steve came and picked her up and I stayed with Piper for her class. She got moved up another level, so now she is only one level behind Presley!

Tuesday Piper had her last Spanish class! I think she enjoyed it and we have been practicing her colors. It's cute!

Thursday made wine with Sarah. We met after work and had dinner and drinks at Eatery A. They do have the best happy hour with half price bottles of wine and pizza!

We each had a pizza and a bottle of wine and then headed to make wine! It is just a fun learning experience if any one is interested in joining, let me know!
Then we headed to Wisco to see some of the Packer game! The waitress actually remembered me from Sunday and we got 2 jello shots while we were there due to Packer touchdowns.

We didn't stay long and were home by 10. That doesn't happen with us very often! :)

Friday we had a sitter to go out with some neighbors and friends. We decided to go throw axes at Ironside. OMG. This is so fun and totally worth it! https://www.ironsideaxeclub.com/
I didn't even get the ax there on my first throw but it doesn't take long to get a hold of it!

Wendy got the bullseye throwing the shovel! They had hatchets, ninja star things, axes and the shovel. It was very therapeutic to launch these things at the wall!

The gang...Wendy, Jason, Crystal, Kyle, Kyle, Sarah, Steve and me!

We threw axes for 2 hours and then headed to Docs for a while. There was a great 80's band, the boys played pool and us girls did some chatting. We saw quite a few people that we knew there but then headed closer to home and went to TBH for a final drink before heading home and relieving all our babysitters! :) A very fun Friday night!

Cold week

I do not like the cold. I  do not like winter. It makes me want to stay inside all the time and go to bed early all the time! ANYWHO...…

Last Monday I was able to meet Lyndsi for a drink while the girls were in gymnastics and get her caught up on some family drama. Oh the drama! And I got to see baby Kade, oh my, that kid has the best smile! Makes me miss the baby stage.....a little.

Tuesday Sarah, Holly and I got together for dinner at Iowa Taproom before we bottled our wine that we had made in August. We did that, headed to Carl's Place down the street for a beer where we ran into our cousin Steph. We chatted for a bit and then headed closer to home. Sarah and I stopped at Lynn's for a drink and then ended up staying for 3 hours. We ran into some guys that I knew and Sarah was SO funny and we just had a really good time!

Then Thursday we had conferences! We had Piper's first....Mrs. D had nothing but good things to say about Piper. It was SO nice to hear. She said she is the ideal student, she has a good heart and is kind to those who need a little extra help and is SO smart. She is reading at level F which is a first grade level. She is not trying to push her too hard too fast b/c she really wants her to 'get it' and fully understand and be able to spell words, along with reading them. She said she rarely gives out M's (meeting grade level expectations) at this point in the year and Piper's was almost all M's :) She does a great job in all aspects so we are very happy!

Next we had Presley's. Hers was good also! I was a little worried about her progress report with her math but the teacher didn't seem to worried. So we are just going to work a little more at home with basic math so she can be more confident. Other than that, she is doing exactly what she is supposed to be able to do at this point. Mrs. Kannappl said that Presley and Addie are 'two peas in a pod', which is totally true. However, Addie is a little more outgoing and willing to participate, not surprising at all! Both girls spend a lot of time after school in her classroom helping out with different things which I love!

Friday night we did a lot nothing. I'm telling you, these dark, cold nights, I just want to get into bed, read my book and fall asleep!

Saturday we didn't do much either! I did hit an awesome weight loss of 12.4 lbs (of course the rest of the weekend always makes me gain a little weight, oops!), so that felt awesome! Grocery store, laundry, worked out, the girls fought and whined so I tried to keep them apart as much as possible. Piper and I made a trip to Barnes and Noble, we watched the Iowa game, ate a nice dinner and later that evening Jerry, Holly and Mary stopped by for a couple hours. It was nice to catch up with them and have the girls go play.

Sunday we did a lot of the same! The girls spent some time in their rooms, away from each other and then we Presley and I headed to Wisco (a Wisconsin bar!) to watch the Packer game, we had to get there early to save a table for all of us. Eventually everyone else showed up also. The kids had colors, food and snacks to keep them occupied for the game and they did pretty well. The game was actually good! and Wisco gives out free jello shots with every Packer touchdown! It was fun and I will definitely be going back!

Weekend Update

This past weekend we really didn't do much. I haven't been feeling 100% so I was ready to just take it easy and go to bed early! We hung out and I'm pretty sure the 3 of us girls fell asleep on the couch watching a movie.
Saturday we really didn't do anything. I did hit my 10 lbs weight loss, so that was exciting! I worked out, Steve ran to the store, we watched the Iowa game and cleaned the house. The girls played and fought and played and fought. Lexis showed up at 5 to babysit for the night. We went to watch Bohemian Rhapsody at Flix. This was the first movie that Steve and I have seen together in the theaters for over 5 year. He just doesn't like to sit still for that long, so at least with Flix we had dinner and drinks to break out the movie. We both REALLY liked the movie! It was a feel good movie, eye opening and just good!

We left there and headed downtown to the High Life to meet our friends Todd and Cari who were out then we headed to the Boat House for one before heading home. Lexis and the girls had cleaned! It looked so good! The girls had so many toys out when we left and had made and 'ice cream and cupcake shop' on the dining room table and a pet store with so many stuffed animals everywhere and it was all picked up and organized when we got home! SO nice!

Sunday we were lazy, lazy! Steve headed down to Creston for a couple hours and the girls and I just hung out and did nothing. I tried to nap but they were fighting too much for me to really get any sleep. I made keto-friendly pumpkin bars. They are pretty good but I'm the only one in the house that will eat them and that is just not really necessary! Once Steve got home the girls and I headed to Barnes and Noble. The 3 of us girls LOVE that store. I could spend hours in there!
Then we met Steve at El Mariachi for dinner! We hadn't been there in a month and it was good! Worth the weight I gained overnight! :) 

Trick or Treat

Sarah and Kyle had their annual Halloween party for beggars night. We eat, drink, do kid pictures and then take over the neighborhood!

 Mal from Descendants and a police officer

 Heehee!

 The Deans transformed into the Incredibles! :)

 The group of kiddos! Oh my!

 Jordan and Boston joined us this year. Ewok and Spiderman

Presley ran ahead with some of the neighbor girls so Steve followed them around and Boston wanted to stay with Jordan so he hung back with me and Piper. Thankfully it wasn't as cold as last year! Piper did pretty good, her and Jordan lasted about an hour and then were ready to head back to Sarah's and eat some candy!

Piper and Boston bobbed for apples while Presley hit up the entire neighborhood and was still done by 7:30!

Thank you Deans for another great party! You are too nice!

Halloween

Last Saturday (before Halloween) we got invited to a Halloween party at one of Piper's friends parents house. They had come to our Back To School party and some of our neighbors knew them thru other things so we all decided to go! Steve and I went as Slash and Axl which we had done years ago, so we brought out our rock and roll! HA!

I love Piper in the background!

 The weather ended up perfect! All the kids (Presley as the oldest, which is pretty normal)

 I was creative and actually made eyeball cookies! Thank you FB recipes!

 Piper and her buddy Connor, he is just SO sweet to her!

 Sunset Ridge Neighborhood peeps!

We got home about 9:30 and Steve headed up to The Boat House for their costume contest! He came in 3rd place ($75), of course Hugh and the playboy bunnies won 1st place.

Sunday we got up and carved pumpkins. The girls LOVE this....digging their hands inside and scooping out everything. And they also love baked, salted pumpkin seeds!

Sunday afternoon Presley's friend Leah came over for a bit before they had volleyball, then Steve took Piper to a birthday party and I took the girls to volleyball. After he dropped Piper off, Steve came out to watch Presley in her last volleyball game.

Once the game was over Steve went to pick up Piper from her party and Presley and I headed to my parents to watch some of the Packer game with the family! We stayed a couple hours and then picked up Dominos pizza on the way home. This was the one cheat meal, I had over those past 3 weeks! And it was so good and so worth it!