What's Up Wednesday (on a Friday!)

I was on the road on Wednesday so I'm linking up late with Shay, Shaefer and Mel for “What’s Up Wednesday” on Friday :)

What we're eating this week: 
I spent most of the week visiting my friend, Julie, in Kansas City and she made us delicious meals while we were there! She inspired me so I am stalking her yumprint recipes and trying to copy her :)
What I'm reminiscing about:
Jack went to his friend Eva’s birthday party today and it reminded me of her party last year when I accidentally sent Jack with a pooping dog for a present. Hahaha! We got her a non-pooping present this year ;) Here is what I posted last year:

Here is some more proof that my brain is dying - I bought this cute Barbie and puppy for Jack's friend's birthday because I saw the cute Barbie and puppy but failed to notice the "Potty Trainin' Taffy" sign or the toy dog poop or the picture of the dog pooping until the next day when I starting wrapping the dang present 15 minutes before the party!!! I am THAT crude mom who buys kids play dog poop that comes out of the dog's bum.
 
What I'm loving:
The days when we get semi-decent weather. A few days this month, we were able to go biking and play outside!



What we've been up to: 
On Sunday, I went on my first solo road trip with Jack and David (and the first road trip with our van!) and visited my high school friend, Julie, and her family who live in Kansas City. They played with us, fed us, and took us to some fun places around Kansas City. It was so nice to switch up the monotony of winter and it so nice of Julie to have us!
On Monday, it was a balmy 52 degrees and we enjoyed playing at the park for hours after visiting the trains at Union Station. Jack was so proud that he climbed up the rope to the big slide all by himself (and I was proud of myself that I climbed up with him and coached him all by myself! haha)

At the top!


On Tuesday, we went to the science museum at Union Station.


And on Wednesday, we played until it was time to head back to Iowa.

Jack and David were such good travelers! The DVD player was a game changer!

What I'm excited about:
Still Disney World! We've got months to go but I daydream about it every single day and talk about it way too much! What I'm dreading:
Spring cleaning. We really need to do some deep cleaning and organizing but I keep procrastinating!
What I'm working on:
Family Home Evening kits. Every Monday, we spend time as a family and have a small gospel lesson and activity. About a year ago, my friend convinced me to join her Family Home Evening Kit exchange group. (We exchange every other month.) Making an elaborate lesson is definitely not my thing and I don’t enjoy it, but my kids LOVE IT and it makes it worth it! They beg to do family night even when it’s not Monday now and love choosing out a kit to open. I hate the week leading up to an exchange (because I’m printing, cutting, laminating, cutting some more, and assembling and it’s so time consuming) but after the exchange, I’m pumped to do it again because I come home with everyone else’s awesome ideas and lessons! Our last exchanged was on Sunday and these are all the lessons I came home with:

Here was my 10 plus hours of labor this exchange - a lesson on music with a lot of manipulatives for hymns/primary songs:

 

 

What I'm watching/reading:

We are in a show rut again. I’m open for suggestions!
Jack, however, is OBSESSED with 72 Dangerous Animals on Netflix and it cracks me up! He is quite knowledgable in the animal department, especially the dangerous animal department :)

I failed at reading this month and only got half way through my book club book this month - it’s a spin off of Sherlock Holmes and so far, so good!

What I've been listening to:
A lot of “Watch me Whip” because David LOVES it and begs for it and dances to it! haha


What I'm wearing: 
My sister’s hand-me-downs :) I actually remembered to take an “outfit” selfie but I forgot to clean up the mess so that I could trick you into thinking that my house is clean ;) But in all honesty, this is what happens outside of the bathroom door when I get ready in the morning. #themessisDavid’sfaultnotmine ;)

What I'm doing this weekend: 
Celebrating Spencer’s birthday!!!
What I'm looking forward to next month:
Imagination Station (where my kids can meet all of the PBS Characters) and Easter!
Bonus Question: What is your favorite Easter Tradition?
We don’t have very many unique Easter traditions but I loved the rolling decorated hard boiled Easter Eggs down Old Main Hill tradition when we lived in Logan, UT. We might have to chuck some eggs down a hill this year and hopefully not get in trouble :)
What's up with you?!

This is for you, Grandma!

My grandma called today wondering why I hadn’t posted on my blog for so long - good thing I have her to keep me accountable and it's always nice to know I have a following ;)
What we’ve been up to (besides freezing and enduring the winter):

• Swimming! I love and hate taking the boys swimming because it is a lot of work but so much fun once we’re in the water! They love it!

• Mardi Gras celebrating! We don’t live in the South anymore but are lucky enough to have a friend who grew up in Louisiana. They invited us to their house for a crawfish boil and alligator jambalaya! They didn’t cook all of the crawfish and the live crawfish kept the kids entertained the entire night! haha

I told Spencer that I wanted to take a picture of his food before he ate it and this was his reaction. #heisnotaverygoodinstagramhusband

• Valentines day celebrating!
• Sushi and a free 3D movie at the science center :)

 

• Valentine’s Day packages from my parents and in-laws! Valentine’s turtles from my parents (I have no idea how my mom found turtles!) and Valentine’s thongs from my in-laws (just kidding it was a typo but we thought it was funny!)

• Valentine’s Day sugar cookie decorating
• Valentine’s Day cuddling

• Tumbling class! Jack started tumbling this month and cried the first two lessons because he said it was too hard and that it made his bones hurt! haha Yesterday went a lot better and he says he likes it now so fingers crossed!!!

• Playing in the snow! I’m ashamed to admit, but today I built my very first snowman all by myself! When I started, Jack said, “Mom, you can’t built a snowman! Only daddies can build snowmans!” (I would call him sexist but I may have used that excuse once or twice! haha) 

We walked over to our little hill afterwards and went sledding. It took Jack a while to get the hang of it and David never got the hang of it! He preferred that I just pulled him on the flat snow :)

I love these boys! We had fun in the snow but now we are ready for summer ;)

Friday Favorites

 Today, I'm linking up with Narci, Erika and Andrea and sharing some of my favorite things from this week. 

•  Visiting Spencer at work for lunch!

• These turtle loving boys - my friend knows their love for turtles so she gave David her son’s old turtle back pack. David is thrilled to have a turtle back pack like his brother and proudly wears it to drop Jack off at school :)

• Fort building because it keeps them entertained for a very long time…

… Just not when they knock each other’s forts down and start hitting each other. Here they are in timeout. 

• Art class (I only keep talking about art class and posting pictures so that I can throw these projects away and not feel guilty - so sorry, these pictures posted are for me ;) I thought it was sweet that the teacher added a turtle project to the bug themed class (she also knows about the turtle obsession - Jack makes sure that everyone knows about his turtle obsession ;)

• Picking out Valentine’s Cards! Jack chose sharks and David chose Paw Patrol - they are so predictable :) Jack is really excited to send them to his family and to Crush and Donald Duck :)

David's Birthday

On Sunday, David turned two and we had so much fun celebrating with him on his special day! He scored on his birthday presents - he got a play dough kit from Jack, a toy vacuum from us, a basketball hoop from my in-laws, and his very own tractor from my parents (no more fights and timers and switching with Jack! Yay! Now he just needs to learn how to steer so we don't have to chase him and make sure he doesn't run into cars! haha)



We had friends over for cupcakes and ice cream and had so much fun! (Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of him and all of his friends!) Jack brainwashed David into wanting a “turtle party” and all it took was five bucks and a trip to the Dollar Tree to meet my two-year-old’s turtle party standards ;)






Things I want to remember about David at two:

• The kid jumps and hops more than he walks.
• His favorite color is pink and he won’t go to sleep without his bunny, his pink turtle, and his blue and pink blankie. When he's falling asleep he yells, "PEE BOO!" (peek-a-boo) which means that he wants us to put his blanket over his head - once he falls asleep we have to go in and take the blanket off of his head so he doesn't suffocate!

• Whenever he has an itch, he shouts, “OH NO!!! BEE!!!!” And then we have to scratch his “bee” itch even if it’s on a part of his body that he can reach. I have had to scratch his lip many times.
• He makes the best pouty face when he is mad.
• David LOVES gum and has a gum radar - he can spot a stranger’s gum from a mile away (and he has no shame about asking the strangers for their chewed gum!) He definitely debunked the claim that gum takes seven years to digest because if it did, then his stomach would have exploded by now. And I reeeeeeally hate grocery check-out lines because it’s gum or a tantrum. 
• He knows exactly how to push Jack’s buttons and pushes Jack’s buttons more than Jack pushes his buttons. Example: Jack excitedly will say, “David!!! I have to tell you something!” and David will respond by plugging his ears and saying with his pouty face, “No talka me!” This produces the exact results that David was looking for - lots of tears and attention from Jack. (The little turd!)
• David is OBSESSED with babies and loves all of his friend’s baby siblings. This morning, David crawled into our bed at 5:45 and the first thing he said was, “Mom, baby Brynn is sooooo cuuuuute!” haha
• He pretends like he is a baby turtle all of the time. (A baby turtle that acts a lot like a puppy ;)
• David basically eats a four course breakfast every single morning. He immediately asks for oatmeal when he wakes up, but then asks for yogurt while his oatmeal cools down. Then later when Jack finally decides that he is hungry for breakfast, he will eat cereal with Jack too, and after that he eats eggs and protein shake off of Spencer’s plate when Spencer is done working out. And then he’s ready for a snack by 10:00.
• He snuggles with his entire body - tummy to tummy with his arms and legs wrapped around you. 
• He’s a crazy and fearless swimmer just like Jack was at this age.
• He is always so animated and happy to see his friends, Jack’s friends, my friends and family (on FaceTime). His conversation starter almost always is about what color people are wearing on their shirt :)
• He LOVES Jack and they are the best little buddies. I’m so glad that they have each other.