New Years : Welcome 2014!

UI can't believe another year has come and gone. WOW that happened so fast! 

We enjoyed our day first off with 6 friends coming over to play. It's soo nice having friends over so the moms can chat, and the kids can play. We had the best time and I got zero pictures to prove it. Being the host is busy, but so worth it to get everyone together. 

I told the boys if they were happy and nice to share their toys with friends that afterwards I would take them out shooting their BB Guns. They were SOO happy to share all of their new Christmas toys :) It was a win win for everyone. 

We ate lunch, took "rest" and then played until Kevin got home from work.

We pulled out our yummy food, played many board games, competed in Wii games, blew on our noise makers, and enjoyed time at home in our pajamas.

Hope your 2014 is great!!!

This week wrap up!

I can't believe this week is already over. It can't be Saturday already!! The days and weeks are just flying by and I'm not liking that the boys are growing so fast and that Kipton is almost 3 years old!

On Thursday, Kipton and I went to an event with our Mother's Club. We provided the flowers, pots, and dirt for all of the kids to plant flowers for their moms. It seems almost cliche to buy something for yourself, but the kids really loved giving and crafting for their moms.

Kipton had a great time with mommy. Karson and Kevin went on a fishing trip. They had the best time. 

We have had lots of fun playing at the park with friends, and eating lunch on the porch :)

This is a great way to keep the kitchen clean :) I am ALWAYS looking for ways to keep the house from getting messy. I know sometimes it's rainy, or winter and that can't happen but in the summer and nice weather we are outside!!

My big 4 year old boy is getting ready to have his graduation from his little preschool. I can't believe how big he is getting. He is in love with baseball (even though he doesn't play yet), and loves to wear this Reds jersey. He wants us to call him Joey Votto. I think it's super cute!

Kipton is almost 3. I can't believe it!! He wants to have a party at Beech Fork Lake. I need to get on that!

These boys have really enjoyed the outside time. They have also been giving me a run for my money over the last few weeks. Kipton doesn't want to nap anymore. BUT, that just isn't gonna happen so he has to stay in his room for 1.5 hours or else he will wake up Karson. He does stay in his room very well. Sometimes he ends up sleeping, but most days he doesn't. It just goes to show just how different children are from each other. Karson is 4 and still taking LONG naps. Kipton is 2 and trying to stop them. 

Let's pray for daily naps :)

Valentine's Party - Toddler Style

Last Tuesday morning I hosted our Mother's Club Valentine's party. 

Going to the aquarium the whole day before didn't make it real easy on me :)

But we made it, and I got all the treats ready the night before and we had a great time.

Keeping everything red and pink was fun. I'm used to all boy things in the house.

While I was getting the boys dressed before everyone started arriving, Karson said he didn't want to wear a "stinky ole heart shirt". So as a 3.5 year old he already has his opinion in what he wears. He agreed to wear a red shirt, but it is not what I had in mind. However, it works :)

We had a great time just chatting and letting the kids play. It's always so fun for the kids to play at other kids houses. New toys always keeps them quite busy. My boys however did have a hard time with 15 toddlers in the house. I think it was a little "overload" if you will. Kipton was more upset than Karson. He cried a few times and said Mommy they are taking my toys. My boys do really good sharing with others, but I have learned they are not quite "there" when sharing with lots of other kids. We will get there! :)

After about 2 hours everyone was beginning to take off. We decided to get just one group picture to prove that we had a great party and our kids are cute as ever :)

Again, I am so thankful for this group. Last May when I joined I had no clue how much void it would fill as a stay at home mom to me. It gives us something to look forward to, and has given the boys and I many new friendships. 

Super Saturday

This past Saturday our Mother's Club had an event to join. The Success by 6 group of our area hosted a day of activities for kids. There were lots of booths set up for the kids and our club was one of them. We had playdoh for the kids to create with. 

Karson tagged along with me and Kipton stayed back with Nana & Papaw. I didn't think I could keep them both close and Kipton had a fever the day before so I wanted to play it safe. 

I have met some AWESOME friends from the club. I can't say how thankful I am for this club and what it provides for stay at home moms. Being at home with kids can be VERY challenging in every way. The club is so great for adult conversations, support, and friendships. 

Here I am along with Brandy & Kelli.
Brandy is the Secretary, Kelli is the Treasurer and I am the Vice President.

Our President wasn't able to come because she is expecting a baby any day.

We had a lot of moms come help out at our booth.

Thankfully our booth was right next to the bouncy houses. Karson had a blast! He got so excited when his friends came and he could jump with them. He was so fun!

During the event on Saturday we got even more snow. I couldn't make it up our hill. This is really our first winter in our new house in the country. We haven't been able to leave since then because my van is NOT good in the snow. Kevin tried to make it up the hill and the tires were spinning and then he almost slid over the hill. NOT GOOD! So the boys and I are home bound. I NEED to go to the grocery store so bad but it can wait. 

Hope your having a great Monday!

Pajamas & Pancakes Playdate

Yesterday we got to get away from our home to visit with friends from the Mother's Club.

The boys LOVE when I say we have something to attend with the club. It has been so beneficial in our life of being a "stay at home" mom & kids. It's nice to get out and interact with other kids and have adult conversations. It has truly been a blessing that I found this club. 

Karson ate and ate and ate pancakes and breakfast type foods. 

Brandi is ALWAYS such an awesome host and remembers every detail of hosting a 

party even if it's for 20 + toddlers. 

Brandi has a daughter around Kipton's age so most of the toys there are girly. 

Kipton LOVES babies. Everytime we have a playdate at a little girl's home this is what I find.

He is a very nurturing person. He loves to love on them and feed them. I don't find anything wrong with boys  playing with babies at a young age. It gets out the curiosity. 

All of the boys loved her kitchen set and baby dolls. It was so funny!

This picture cracks me up!! Look how happy he is. So funny :)

We look forward to many more playdates with our Mother's Club friends. We have 2 birthday parties this weekend with 2 different little girls from the club. 

We are always trying to plan fun but cheap things for the club. Coming up we have an ice skating playdate, Valentine's party, mall playdate, St. Patrick's party, bouncy house playdate, and chick-fila fun. 

So thankful for such a great group & to be apart of it!

Projects and Parties

We've been working on a few different projects around our house. You know because it wouldn't be "our" house if there wasn't at least a few projects going on. While I do like seeing progress the projects drive me crazy. Kevin is painting Karson's room and we decided to try a stripe along the middle.

Like this:

Source

So we have begun the process. It has been interesting. Always an adventure working with Kevin. He has his way of doing things, and I have mine :) I will soon be posting before and after pictures. Stay tuned!

Yesterday the boys had a birthday party for our friend Hallie from the Mother's Club.

They had a blast! 

I normally have them match because there are so many people there on Saturdays and I can keep up with them easier. It's quite the challenge to watch 2 little ones with lots of people in the building, but we did it and had fun! We have 2 more birthday parties this week and projects to finish. 

Here's to hoping we have a good week!

Fun times in December

There have been a lot of fun parties and get togethers with friends and family latley. I love December because there is always something going on, and I like to stay busy.

 

Brandy hosted a charity event at her house for a local preschool who needed toys and diapers. There were a few of us moms from the mother's club that came along with lots of her friends from college. It was a great time and I wish I would've taken pictures of her food and drink tables. They were amazing!

 

 

My good friend Christie and I

 

 

On this evening the boys and I were meeting up with my parents and sister for dinner at Cracker Barrell. The boys love it there because they like to look around in the gift shop. Whoever thought of that was a genius! It helps pass the time if there is a wait.

 

 

I picked up these shirts from Crazy 8 and they say "Worlds Coolest Brother". I thought they were really cute for them. Karson always gets a kick out of matching shirts.

 

 

Kevin couldn't go to dinner with us because he was leaving for work that evening. So we took a quick family picture before he left. Look at Kipton looking over at me. We can never get a good picture of him looking straight when he's with all of us. He wants to see what we are doing and doesn't want to miss a single second of anything. He is so fun!

 

 

I have to share something special about Kipton and our week this week.

 

My baby is no longer a baby :)

 

Pictures to come!

Halloween Parties Continued...

Our friend Brandy and Lola hosted the Mother's Club Halloween Party. It was the best time with over 20 kids and lots of mommas. She had everything you could think of to do with Halloween. Lots of good food, Halloween music, spooky decorations, crafts for the kids, games, and prizes.

 

 

The mommas were asked to dress like their children's costumes so a Hunter Girl was super easy because I already had the camo. The boys loved it too!

 

 

Here is Brandi the host at the cupcake decorating table. It was so nice and the kids loved it but I am pretty sure Karson was sneaking too many worms and sprinkles throughout the party and not enough actual food for lunch :)

 

 

Ready for the Pinata....loads of candy. The moms were laughing that Halloween has seemed to go on forever and forever. It has seriously been like Halloween for the past week and it is still going on because Trick or Treat has been changed because of the big storm Sandy.

 

 

 

I didn't get many pictures of Kipton. He was off playing with his friends and not interested in taking pictures! Brandi did such a great job hosting the Halloween Party. It was all so fun!

 

 

Karson says this is his best friend Luke! He LOVED his costume :)

Pumpkin Carving Playgroup

It's been scheduled for a few months that I would host the Pumpkin Carving playgroup for our Mother's Club. So I got 15 pumpkins ready for our little friends to come over and carve them out in the garage. I know the pictures are no fun because they are of a yucky garage....BUT all of that mess with toddlers is easier outside.

 

 

I thought the boys would REALLY enjoy this...but I was a bit surprised when they suddenly left me to do all of the work. Neither of them wanted to get the "goop" out. I was so shocked because MESSY is their thing. They wanted to play with their friends who also left their momma's to do all of the work, but we had a great time carving and talking while the kids played.

 

 

 

 

I managed to take a few pictures amongst the chaos of trying to watch my 2 boys and carve a pumpkin, take pictures, and talk to my mommy friends.

 

 

The hit of the playgroup was this corn table. I got the idea from a local pumpkin patch and we had our water table that we put up for the winter but I dug it back out and loaded it with Kevin's deer corn. The kids LOVED it. If you are OCD about messes this is not for you. That is why it's NOT for me and I tried to stay away from that side of the garage. My Type A personality kicks in and I want to constantly clean the little corn kernels off of the floor but I wanted them to have fun and not worry about the mess.

 

 

Kipton had a blast with his friends!

 

 

The kids were happy and hipped up on cupcakes and yummy Halloween snacks.

 

 

I'm so thankful for the Mother's Club. Another fun festive playgroup for both the kiddos and the mommy's. Next week is our Halloween costume party! Can't wait :)

 

 

Karson says = SUCCESS!