Weekend Rewind

This past weekend was a long holiday weekend and it was a busy one!

First, it started off with a potluck dinner that we hosted for my soccer team. I was prepared for only 6, maybe 7 families that had confirmed they were coming. But we ended up with 10 families! There may have been 18 kids (hard to count them when they were always running in a million different directions) and 15 of them were boys. I'll let that sink in.... 15 boys under one roof.

But we all had a great time. The adults were able to relax, talk, play pool and darts while the kids all played together. With only one bloody nose, one burned finger from the sparklers we lit later in the night, and Christian crying cause all the boys played with his toys, I'd call the night a smashing success!

Saturday was Gabe's birthday. He had chosen to eat at Joe's Crab Shack which is in Tucson, so we spent the day there. We had bought tickets this past spring for the Biosphere 2 and that was our first stop of the day. It was a pretty amazing thing to see. They had several different ecosystems ranging from a rainforest to the desert.

Their "ocean" with water brought in from the Pacific.

The Rainforest. Just amazing to see, also HUMID.

Where crops were grown when scientists spent two years actually living in the Biosphere.

After the Biosphere, we hightailed it over to the mall to get Gabe some new clothes after his 25lb weight loss. I only got one photo from shopping and it is the most adorably cute picture!

"Take a picture of us mommy!"

We finally made it to Joe's Crab Shack where Gabe got his birthday dinner. Afterward, we raced home because Gabe and I were having our first date night since Noah was born! We ended up bringing Noah because I wasn't sure how he would do at the sitter's since it would be around his bedtime. Thor was the movie of choice that night.

After two late nights in a row, we were all kind of sluggish come Sunday morning but we managed to get to church mostly on time. A little shopping and some lunch later, it was naptime. The rest of the day, we lounged around still tired from Friday and Saturday's activities.

Monday, Veteran's Day, we joined some friends for the annual Veteran's Day parade. We also went out to Applebee's which were giving free meals AND desserts to all veterans. Yes, please! Yum!

Hope you all had a great weekend and happy Veteran's Day to any vets who are reading!

Halloween Photo Dump

We didn't do a family theme (next year's is already planned though!) but we did do matching costumes. Gabe and Christian were ninjas, Alena and I were ladybugs, and Noah wore the only costume we had in his size that Alena wore 6 years ago, a horse (or a cow or giraffe as others mistook him for).

We hit up the mall for their Trick-or-Treating where they had some activities for kids to do. Christian got to break a board at a karate exhibit. He was over the moon and spent the rest of the night convinced he was the real deal. :)

We headed home and while I got hot chocolate and a movie ready, Gabe took the two biggest around the neighborhood. Since it was pretty bare as far as people went, everyone was being more than generous with the giving of the candy. The kids came home with a huge haul that I am doing my best to not eat.

It's Tough Being a Mom

Last night Alena begged me to let her wash the dishes and though I normally don't because I just know the mess she will make, I figured I wasn't doing her any good by never letting her learn. That, and I just really didn't want to wash them myself. ;) So, I handed her some gloves, filled up the sink, and let her have at it. Did she get water everywhere? YES. Did I have to do the dishes? NO.

Alena claimed as she was washing that she felt like a mom because you know, only moms can do dishes... This is the conversation that followed.


Alena - "It's tough being a mom."

Me - "Yes, it is."

Alena - "What's your favorite part of being a mom?"

Me - *thinking*
 
Alena - "Oh wait. Let me guess. Taking care of the kids and kissing your husband!"

November Goals

I snagged this idea from a fellow blogger and have been meaning to put up a monthly goal list for myself. Something about having a baby, two other kids, sports, and whatnots got in the way though. Bygones.

So! Here we are in November (already?!) and I'm finally getting around to setting this up. These are simple (cause let's be real, if it's not simple, it ain't happening) goals that I have in my mind.

1. Read 5 pages a day from a book - I want to read, I try to read, but I can't ever get more than half a page before something else needs my attention. So reading a little here and there throughout the day should hopefully be doable. Baby steps...
2. Date night! - Gabe and I have not had a date night since before Noah was born. This is Gabe's birthday month so perfect timing!
3. Declutter master bedroom - Because the master bedroom isn't seen by anyone but us, I tend to wait far too long to clean it. Flat surfaces are the perfect landing ground for all things clutter and our dresser and night stand are suffering for it. And with the weather turning cooler, I will be bringing my winter clothes in from storage and taking summer clothes out making this the perfect time to go through our clothes and purge what we don't wear.
4. Meal plan - I was doing really good with meal planning for quite some time and then just stopped. Now, most nights consist of me asking "So what do you feel like for dinner? Oh, chicken nuggets? Sounds good!"
5. Blog at least twice a week - Right now, I'm averaging 5-6 blog posts per month so 8 should be attainable.

And that's it folks. Five goals. Wish me LOTS of luck cause I'm sure I'll need it. I'd love to hear if you have any goals that you're trying to accomplish this month too.