Spring conferences

Last Thursday we had conferences for the girls.

Presley's teacher has the student present their conferences. It was cute, she had to formally introduce her teacher to us and go thru her papers and progress reports. Her teacher chimed in occasionally and we could ask questions. It was short and sweet. Basically she is doing what she needs to. She has been working really hard at getting her multiplication facts down and had really done a good job over the last 2 months at getting better and quicker!
She was part of a 'math club' that had some extra math practice and she seemed to really enjoy this extra time but she has now 'graduated' from that club since increasing her understanding and knowledge, now onto division!

Piper. Oh this girl. Her teacher loves her and wants to keep her another year. She called her a rock star, a mover and shaker, so sweet and respectful, so helpful and of course, smart. She did mention that she is looking for 2nd grade books to get her started in since she knows all of the sight words for 1st grade. She is fluent and understands what she is reading. She can summarize what happened in short sentences. In math, she just gets it. They really haven't done too much addition and subtraction yet, but she already knows the concept and loves doing math with us at home. Two things the teacher asked....if it was okay to recommend that her and Becca go into the same 1st grade class together?(she said they get along so well, are both so sweet, nice and respectful that she thinks they would thrive with each other again!) and to see what we thought about her recommending Piper for the ELP program (enhanced learning program)?I think the challenge would be really good for her, so we said that it was fine and we'll see what comes of that over the next 6 months.

February

Tuesday the 19th we had a school skating party. We picked up the girls at 5 and headed straight there. They both are starting to really like skating and I don't mind it either. Steve doesn't skate but does help Piper and also socializes with the other parents. We stayed there until about 7:30 and headed home, the weather was starting to get bad at that time too...again.

Presley woke up in the middle of the night staying her stomach hurt. I gave her a tums and told her to go to the bathroom....and an hour later she was puking in bed. :( She then came to our bed with me and Steve went to the couch. Steve had to work that morning, so I stayed home until he got home about 11 and then I headed to work. Presley puked again when she woke up at about 8 but then was just lazy the rest of the day. No fever, no appetite until dinner, never napped and then she was fine after that! So must have been something she ate or something that just didn't sit well with her. We have been lucky (knock on wood) with the kids and sicknesses this year so we just need to get thru the next month of being cooped up, hopefully.

Thursday night I went out with some work people to Iowa Taproom, it was really good and I like the beer selection. A couple of us headed to this very odd bar called The Black Sheep. There are two red crosses on the outside and it's in the basement. It is very dark and smells of incense, but it was good and not busy. I stayed for one and then headed to Lynn's to help Sarah celebrate her birthday with the neighborhood girls!

Friday night we had plans to go out with Sarah, Kyle, Gabby and Brian for Sarah's birthday dinner at Alba! It was really good, expensive but good! After dinner we headed to Quinton's so the boys could watch the Iowa basketball game. We hung out there and then headed closer to home and went to The Boat House for a bit. It was fairly busy, we played some pool and had some shots but were home by midnight.

That weekend we didn't do much. I'm sure the weather was really crappy and cold so we didn't want to leave. On Sunday I helped the girls with their last Kiwi Crate boxes. Presley was this little felt garden, she said this was her favorite of the 3 that she did. It was pretty cute.

Then I helped Piper with hers, pretty sure Presley was in trouble and was spending time in her room during this. Pipers was able the human body. We sewed little organs together, placed them on the poster where they belong and the we made a stethoscope and xray page. She thought it was very cool! These definitely helped keep us busy for a couple hours which we needed!

Every Monday, Steve picks up the girls from school at 4 and takes them to gymnastics at 4:30. I show up pretty close to that time and relieve him so he can go home and get dinner started. Presley's class is from 4:30-6 and Piper's is from 5-6, so it works out pretty well. And I just love watching them, I use some of this time to read but I usually can't stop watching them. Piper got to try the rope and that girl went just about all the way up! I was nervous and just imagining her falling straight to the ground, but she did great! They had testing this week to see if they are in the right class, it is possible that she moves up into Presley's level, which I'm sure Presley will not be impressed by! Presley's level is basically the highest you can go without doing competition and taking classes multiple times a week!

MIA

I know, I know.....I have been totally MIA for the last month and I really don't have a good excuse except for my obsession with reading. Once the girls go to bed, I curl up and read!
So I need to get caught up and back at it! At least once a week posting so I don't get so far behind!

Rewind to before Valentines week....I took the girls to the Dollar Tree to find some cheap valentines, they each wanted to take $5 of their own money to maybe buy something okay, whatever. They bought these coffee cups (to use for when they play school) and the sleeping masks. Two of Presley's friends had sleeping masks when they spent the night, so I guess it is the cool thing to do. Piper also picked out two things she wanted to buy for her friend Becca! :)

One of Steve's parental jobs every year....help with the Valentines Day box, I am not creative or crafty and Steve loves this stuff. So they got together decided what they were going to make and he helped her do it! So cute!

That week I was able to get together with my girls Lisa and Lyndsi to celebrate our February birthdays, this is a nice tradition to ensure that we see each other at least once a year! :) We really could've sat there and talked all night!

That Friday we decided to hit up Firetrucker to watch The Sheet play! They are one of our favorites and our kids seem to like them too. Our friend Amy met us out also so it was good Friday night out and something to get us out of the house!

Saturday we didn't do much in the morning, slept in like usual. And then ran some errands out at Jordan Creek. We decided to do some shopping since we never go out there and we all got a pair of new shoes. Piper was excited b/c she had just learned how to tie her shoes and got her 'license to tie' from her teacher at school! :)
We did a quick lunch at Smash Park to kill some time and then headed home for rest of the night!

That Sunday the weather was so crappy but by the afternoon we were able to go to Boston's indoor soccer game in Bondurant. After that we headed to Adventureland Inn. I didn't work and the girls didn't have school on Monday, Presidents Day so we figured it would be something fun and different and again, get us out of the house during this crappy winter weather!
Sam, Boston and Jordan were able to join us for some swimming that afternoon! They all loved it and it was perfect b/c it wasn't busy!!!! We did dinner at Spectators and then hit up the arcade, which is always fun for the kids.

Sam and the boys left after that and then we decided to hit up the pools one more time before getting ready to settle down and get some sleep!

Steve had to work Monday morning, so he got up and left early and the girls and I slept in. I slept like total shit there but oh well. We actually got up and did some more swimming  before we had to check out! Then we went to breakfast at Perkins (the girls LOVE Perkins and it was actually pretty good!). I told the girls we would go to Half Price Books, Piper has been begging for more Junie B Jones books so we found some good stuff to buy!

Then we went home. The girls actually really love playing at home and I was excited to try to take a quick nap! :)

Busy weekend

So Wednesday was my first day working from home. I am able to 2 days a week now if I want as long as I hit some requirements at work, which I don't see happening for too many months but I'll take it while I can.

Then Thursday the work computers decided to go down. We had email access but basically nothing else. So we sat there, waiting for them to come back up.....they didn't, until sometime Friday evening.

Thursday night we had Presley's music concert. It was so cute and it was one of the first times I thought she actually was into it and enjoyed it! They each have to play an instrument, say a part or sing a part for one song...she always chooses the instrument.

 She got to stand right next to Addie...and I thought it was so funny that she almost couldn't get any further away from the boy next to her. I'm not sure that boy opened his mouth the whole time!

 Two of Presley's friends Leah and Quinnlyn are on the right...both sang in this group.

 Our neighbor girl Anika and P's friends Addie and Allie.

Friday I was able to work from home in the morning, which included me doing nothing again for 4 hours but I was able to get some stuff done around the house which was nice. I had the afternoon off for an interview. Just about everyone I work with applied for one of 100 jobs my employer opened up in the risk, fraud and compliance department. I'm not 100% sure I really want the job, but it could be a good opportunity and pay raise, so I had to try. I'm not real confident in how the interview went, but oh well. 

The interview was out at Jordan Creek so afterwards I ran into Nordstrom's Rack and did a little shopping, bought the girls and myself a couple things. I was going to do more shopping out there since I never travel that far west in this town but decided to save some money and just meet Steve at The Boat House for a drink and chat while we wait for school to get out.

The girls had the Daddy/Daughter dance that night! They have been doing this for at least 5 years and they always look forward to it! They love getting dressed up, having their hairs did and even try to wear a little make up. Presley wanted her hair straightened and Piper wanted her hair curled! 

Why does she look SO grown up??

Man, she looks grown up too! She was crying for the 15 minutes before this photo and kept asking if she looked 'normal' :)

There was 3 dads and 6 girls. They do dinner at Bravo and head to Hope for the dance. I don't think they do much dancing. They mostly run around and have fun and the dad's stand around and talk! 

Grace, Piper, Presley, Sadie, Hadley and Claire

Today was the day of Presley's slumber party! We did some cleaning and organizing, Steve went to the store, I ran some errands and then the 4 girls showed up. She had 3 of her close friends from school and her cousin Ava. And Steve's job was to take Piper away from the house for a couple hours so she would leave them alone!

They seemed to have a lot of fun. Loud and laughing, then I heard them talk about playing truth or date. I muted my TV and listened to them deciding when I needed to butt in...it didn't take long! SMH.

They have eaten a lot of food and candy...but did eat almost all our fruit too. They are on their 2nd movie and I still hear whispering but I think they are calming down for the most part. There was talk about putting ice cubes on the first person asleep or putting their hand in warm water. So I had to be extremely stern in letting them know that there would be NO playing with ice or water! Goodness, seriously???

February 3rd.

Our baby is 10 years old. Last Sunday we all slept in and then Presley went to her friend Addie's birthday party from 11-2 at Hy-Vee, it was a cooking class! Very cool and different thing to do!
While she was gone, I took a nap! :) Steve went to the store and Piper kept herself occupied!

It was actually a really nice day outside so the girls spent a little time outside before we went out for Presley's birthday dinner. She picked Applebee's! She loves the regular good ole mac and cheese there! and then we got Dairy Queen on the way home. I felt bad that we didn't do much else for her day but she was getting 3 weekends in a row with a little celebrating (with my family, her actually bday and then her party weekend).

Tuesday my sisters and mom and I decided to do the Disney lyrical trivia at Wisco. They have different trivia every week and it seemed like fun so we wanted to participate! The 4 of us plus our friend Nancy and her sister met there after work for dinner, drinks and some Disney singing. It was much harder than we thought it would be! But somehow we came in 2nd place and won a 6 pack of beer.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

So my 40th birthday weekend started Thursday night! I met Holly out after work with some of her work people at The Walnut downtown. It was pretty cool and bigger than I thought. Then her and I went to bottle wine and then I headed home!

I had PTO on Friday, so Steve went to work and the girls and I slept in for a bit and then I took them to school about 8. I came home and took a shower...I really needed to shave before my massage at 10:30! HA! I had my massage at East Village Spa, which was AMAZING! It was so good and I almost fell asleep twice! Totally worth it!

After that I headed to the school and had lunch with Presley and her friend Addie. She didn't even want me to take her anything for lunch b/c she wanted the French toast sticks the school was having that day! She didn't want her pic taken with me, but I didn't give her the option.

After lunch I had some errands to run, including a Target trip all by myself!! I told Steve before I even went that I was planning on spending a lot of money....and that I did! But I really only spent $12 on something random for myself! 

I got home and unpacked my shoppings and did some picking up and then headed to The Boat House to meet Steve after work for a drink. 

That night Piper had another birthday party so Steve took her to that and then went to watch the Iowa bball game and Presley and I went to the mall. She really wanted to spend the Justice gift card she got for her birthday....and unfortunately they didn't have any good sales and she didn't want to spend HER $$ on full price stuff! It is harder when it is your own money!! :)

We were going to go to El Mariachi on the way home, but it was 6:30 and it was PACKED! So I was good and went home and had peanut butter toast with real PB and real bread...no low carb crap. :)

Saturday, February 2nd....my 40th birthday! The kids were fighting so Steve told me to go have lunch by myself...so I did, at El Mariachi of course. I enjoyed the hour I was there, reading my book and such. Then we hung out at home, the girls played and I vegged out on the couch. Then we got ready to go out! Lexis came to babysit about 5 and we headed to dinner at The Range. It was really good, expensive, but good! We will definitely go back again. After that we headed to meet Holly and Jerry at The Hall for a drink before going to our next plans at 9.
Little did I know, it was packed with so many of my friends! I was SHOCKED!! Literally moved to tears with how many people came out for my birthday! I didn't realize I had that many friends! :)

Samantha made these cookies! 

A case of Spotted Cow beer from Wisconsin! Love it!

The Sunset Ridge neighborhood guys!

The Sunset Ridge neighborhood girls!!!

It was such a great night! My aunt Ellen from Wisconsin, my friends from Creston all made the drive and came. So many of my friends got babysitters for the night. I rec'd so many awesome gifts that NO ONE really should've done at all! The best birthday I could've asked for! 

Cold

Well after MLK and Presley was sick, the weather just turned south. I was supposed to do trivia with my mom and sisters but it was postponed due to the weather. That Wednesday school was cancelled, Presley was going to hang out with my parents that day so Piper went there too....along with Boston and Jordan! House full for my parents!

That Thursday I bottled wine with Sarah. We had dinner at Eatery A again, which is always so good and cheap and then bottled wine. Sarah had to pick up her daughter at dance that night so I went to Steve's hang out for a drink and took a selfie with all his friends and sent it to him! :) HA!

Friday we had plans to hang out with Sarah, Kyle, Mitzi and Zac at Sarah's house. Steve had to take Piper to a birthday party so P and I went over there. The kids played SO well and us adults just ate, drank wine and played games. Eventually Steve and I showed up and joined the party too! :) It was a good, laid back night of hanging out!

Saturday Steve played in a poker tournament....which he did not win. The girls and I went to Mary's basketball games for a couple hours that afternoon, ran some errands, did dinner at El Mariachi and then headed home!

Sunday we did our birthday dinner at my parents house, for my mom's, mine and Presley's birthdays. Yes, that cake has 3 different ages and a troll doll on it! This is just one of the amazing cakes my mom has made me over the years! I love it!

We had a great dinner and so many good desserts, opened presents and enjoyed our birthdays together! It is kinda fun having all 3 of ours birthdays so close together.

Last Monday, we did gymnastics and we had to leave a little early so we could make it to Piper's music get together at 6:50. We decided to leave Presley home for that hour by herself. They didn't really want siblings to attend this music 'class' and offered daycare for that time, which we didn't really want to do with her so we left her home with my phone for that hour that we were gone. It went perfect, she wasn't nervous and just watched TV for that hour we were gone.
Piper's music thing, was so cute! Each kid got a little part to sing and participate in....even the parents were able to participate! :) I wish I could've taken some pictures!