My Birthday Celebration

I had a great birthday this year! I would have to say it was by far the best birthday celebration! It was pretty low key--just the way I like it. The Saturday before my birthday, my mom, dad, and grandma came down to the house to celebrate. We ordered take out from one of my favorite restaurants in town, Olde Bostons! Then we celebrated with marble cake from Hy-Vee (yum yum!) and played some cards! Brody also picked out some tulips for me when him and Mom were at Hy-Vee picking up the cake. What a sweet boy! And thanks Mom for helping him pay for them!

The day of my birthday I was beyond blessed with how many people wished me a happy birthday, so thank you to all of you for the Facebook messages, Twitter Messages, Snapchats, text messages, cards, phone calls, and face to face greetings! I loved them all! I was also surprised when all three of my boys sent me flowers at work, and then my husband took me out to eat to another one of my favorite restaurants in town- Willow Ridge. I was completed spoiled out there by Chef Michael and my culinary students. Thank you to all of you for the great dinner and singing! And thank you to my husband and boys for making it a great day! I am so blessed to have so many outstanding people in my life!

I had a great day, and was completely spoiled. I'm excited to see what year 28 has in store of me-cheers!

Flowers Brody picked out for his Mama



This was the best tasting cake I have ever had!

Love love love these two pictures for my mom and Brayden--his smile just melts my heart!

 



Flowers I received at work from all three boys! So pretty!!!

Menu for the Week

Here are the meals I have planned out for the week.

• Monday- Brandon is in charge tonight since I'm working late
• Tuesday- Steak filets wrapped in bacon with mixed veggies
• Wednesday- grilled pork chops with cinnamon applesauce and California blend veggies topped with cheese
• Thursday- Grilled bacon cheese burgers with French fries
• Friday- Eat out
• Saturday- Tacos for lunch and grilled bbq chicken for supper with mixed veggies
• Sunday- French Toast, bacon and fresh fruit for brunch. For supper we will have chicken stir fry.

Hope everyone has a great week!!! :)

Bridget's Birthday

On Sunday, April 6, our friend Bridget was turning another year older and since her family is about 5 hours away, we invited her over for a birthday supper. We had nice dinner and a delicious cupcake to tip it off--with singing of course! Brayden thought he needed to help her and take the frosting off one lick at a time.

A Day At The Park

The weekend after we moved was an absolutely beautiful day! We have not had much of a spring this year and a very cold cold winter, so we had to take the opportunity and head to the park. We have a park right in our back yard and access through our privacy fence. We lost our playground that Brandon and my father-in-law built last summer during the negotiation of our previous home. We were going to take it with us, but it ended up being part of the deal--and we lost it :( Soooo we are very thankful for the park in our backyard and the boys love it!

The boys kept saying yeeehaaaww! I think they are confused about which animal they are on ;)

I just love Brayden's giggles as he goes down the slide--everytime he thinks it is the funniest thing!

Even Daddy had to be apart of the fun---what a dare devil annnnd show off!

Weekend Activity

On a Sunday afternoon when it was too cold to go outsdie, the boys and I decided to play with a little rice. The boys just loves this activity. I found this idea on pinterest a few years ago and it was a big hit at our house! It is a little on the messy side, but very easy to clean up. Who cares about messes when the laugh and giggle annnnd give you non-stop smiles :)

Colored Rice-

4 Cups of White Rice
2T Food Coloring
3T Rubbing Alcohol

Mix all in a ziploc baggie and shake up. Place on a cookie sheet to dry. Then play!

Menu for the Week

Here is our menu for the week:

• Monday- Grilled hamburgers with french fries and fresh fruit
• Tuesday- Brandon is making plans since I have to work late
• Wednesday- Grilled chicken breast with BBQ, green beans and applesauce
• Thursday- Again...Brandon is planning the meal since I will be working late
• Friday- Tacos
• Saturday and Sunday I have yet to figure out and go grocery shopping for.

Normally we eat out once a week (Friday evenings), but our monthly budget for eating out is $100 and we have already passed that, wwwhoopppsss!, so we will not be eating out until May comes around.

Have a great week everyone!

Weekly Meal Plan

Since we have moved three weeks ago now, I'm finally getting back on track with everything. I sat down today for the first time in three weeks and planned our meals for this week. We have spent waaaay to much money lately on eating out since we have moved, so I'm ready to get back on track by planning out our meals again.

Sunday- Baked chicken breast with wild rice
Monday- Sloppy joes with French fries and applesauce
Tuesday- Brandon is in charge of supper since I work late
Wednesday- Grilled chicken with cooked carrots and green beans
Thursday- Pork chops with grilled potatoes and bell peppers
Friday-

• BLT's with chips and strawberries
• Baked chicken with potatoes and green beans with Italian seasoning

Saturday- In Laurens for Easter
Sunday- Easter dinner: turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, fresh fruit, dinner rolls and desert

Have a great week everyone!!!

Celebrating Cole's 1st Birthday

On March 28th, we were invited over to the Aden household to celebrate Cole Brady's first birthday!! Brooke and Mitch served supper and then we had some delicious cake and ice cream for dessert! We had so much fun celebrating and catching up on good times! Thanks for letting us be apart of your special day! Happy birthday sweet boy!

Brody and Brayden "helping" Cole open his gifts--a little on the blurry side

 

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cole!

 

Yummy cake!!!

 

Sam and Tucker eating up some delicious cake

 

Brayden chowing down on piece

 

 

 



Kid Quotes

Brody calls everything, "Mommy's...." For example, our bed is called, "Mommy's bed" and in our old home it was called, "Mommy's house."

Now, that we have moved Brody has a new term--- "New Mommy's house." I have tried to explain to him that he does NOT have a new mommy, but instead mommy has a new house. He has not caught onto that and is calling our new home, "New Mommy's house."

I told Brandon he has some explaining to do.... ;)

A New Place to Call Home

 

As of tomorrow we will have been in our new home for 2 weeks now...holy smokes where does the time go!?! I can't believe it has been 2 weeks already!

 

Slowly but surely we are getting settled, and we absolutely love the new space we have. Square footage wise, we have doubled our space and we love how open the layout is! We are beyond excited to start building new memories here! Cheers to our new home! 



 

Brayden loves looking out this window. He is like a dog perched on the couch watching cars go by. Silly boy!

Loading Up

We rented a U-Haul and loaded up on Thursday, March 20, since we had to be out of home on Friday, March 21, by 8 am for the new owners to take pocession. We had amazing help during our whole moving process, so Brandon and I want to thank everyone sincerely for all the help that was provided. I would list names, but I am too afraid I would forget someone. So a big thanks to our help: getting the U-Haul, loading the U-Haul, cleaning our old house, hosting us at your house for the night, providing food, unloading the U-Haul, fixing all our repairs, cleaning our new home, unpacking boxes, watching our children, and doing laundry. Big big thanks to EVERYONE involved in this process! We are so blessed to have you all in our lives, and we wouldn't know what to do without you. Because of every one's help, Brandon and I were able to remain sane during this process. Moving is a big job, but it would not have gone so smoothly and successfully without all the volunteers we had. We feel so fortunate to have all of you in our lives, and for you to take time out your day to help us out was greatly appreciated. So thank you all again! We love you all!

Last Few Pictures in Our Old Home

Here are pictures from the very last few hours we had ownership of our first home. I wasn't sad taking these pictures, but now looking back, it is making me teary-eyed. I think I was so caught up in the moment of moving, I didn't really have time to reflect on leaving our first home. A lot has happened within the past fives years and we have made so many unforgetable memories!

The kitchen

Dinning area/part of the living room



The other part of the living room

The toy room- minus the toys since they are in boxes



Ooohh yikes,t his turned out a little dark--this was our bedroom

The boys' room

The man cave!