Our Busy Social Calendar ;)

We've had a busy social calendar this last week. In one week Randy has gone out-of-town for work, Grammy came to visit, we had a playdate, we had a birthday party, Randy and I got date night then I got a ladies' night with my fellow mommies. Whew! In between all of these fun activities, I have been party planning for both Ava and Dylan's birthday parties. Their birthdays are seven days apart which means that I will be in this party-planning mode every year at this time. :)

It was nice having my mom in town because she is always so much help with the kids as well as being a partner in crime with my crafty endeavors. :) The focus this time was kiddo birthday parties. With Ava's party on March 11th and Dylan's on March 17th, I needed to get some things ordered to make sure I had everything here on time. The dates snuck up on me! So...first I ordered the invites...

I used Pampers points and got 30 of the invites for free! I just had to pay shipping. The remaining 10 invites, I used a $10 off voucher that Shutterfly gave me for posting Ava's invite on my blog. This means that I got some great invites for very little money! Couponing works for everything!!

Next, I got on Etsy and began looking for ideas. This is what really got me going! I ended up ordering birthday shirts for both kids! Ava got two shirts because Dylan's party is on St. Paddy's Day so she needed a shirt for that too! The shirts are scheduled to ship on Monday. I can't wait to see them!

As for party favors, Dylan's goody bags are easy! I'm having so much fun with all of the St. Paddy's stuff! Our house is going to be so festive! I can't wait!

Ava's party planning is fun a different way. We (my mom and I) got a bit crafty with her goody bags.

I still have to add the ribbons to cinch it up. My mom did most of the sewing, but I cut and ironed some seams. :)

We had most of our projects done by Friday when Randy came home from his work trip. My mom babysat the kids so that we could do date night! We didn't leave until after the kids went to bed because they needed some daddy time with Randy being gone for a few days. Since Ran and I got a late start, we just went to dinner. It was so nice to just be out with the hubs, eating good food and chatting. Of course, I had a margarita to mark the occasion. ;)

Saturday was party time! Dylan had two friends that were having their birthday parties together at Walton Park. It is such a great park! This was the scene the day before as I was trying to get a picture of the kids for the birthday cards.

 Hee Hee. :)

My mom took a family pic before we left for the party. This doesn't happen too often. :)

Don't you love messy cupcake pics?

What I loved about this celebration was that both Dylan and Ava wanted Randy more than me! It was so cute watching them hang all over him!

Randy was in the middle of protesting the pic. :) But, I had to post to share Ava's red shoes. Her new love!

 

She was holding onto his shorts. :)

Ava wanted to join the party.

The kiddos had so much fun running around, this was the scene when we got home. :)

Love it!!

Later that night, it was time for us ladies to go out! A friend picked most of us up and we went to the hot spot, Chili's. ;) We had a great time drinking margaritas, chatting and laughing. I even got to meet the newest addition to our group, baby Crew.

Now it's Sunday and we're still going. Dylan played a little dress-up this morning.

Dipping into the b-day goody bag

Randy's helicopter helmet :)

It is time to head to the hockey rink for a little ice skating. I tried to stay home with Ava, but Dylan informed me that wasn't happening. Shucks! Ava is a lot to handle at the rink, oh well.

Have a great Sunday!

My Mommy Night

It is a rare moment nowadays to have a night to myself. Not that I don't love my family, but the alone time just feels so refreshing.

The original plan for tonight was that I was going to meet up with some of my mommy friends for a wonderful night-in with wine and yummy food. Then Randy came upon some free tickets to the Coyotes hockey game. This was a great opportunity for the first of many father-son hockey games. Dylan was SO excited! I decided to give up the mommy group night for a quiet night at home.

You may ask, what about Ava? Well, her afternoon nap went late so we had about 2 hours together before it was time for her to go to bed. Regardless of how long she naps, she always goes to bed at 7pm. If I'm even a little late at putting her down, she whines. So we had some nice girl time. I turned on the radio and began singing and dancing for her.

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 I didn't feel like cooking so it was an easy dinner...

 For both of us...

I LOVE frozen yogurt and decided that since the boys weren't here, it was going to be my dinner. :)
We also picked up some wine. :)

Ok...I know the number of bottles looks a little extreme for one night, but I had to buy six bottles for my $25 rebate. The special ended today and it had to be certain brands of wine. The only kind I've tried is the Mirassou, but there are very few wines I do not like. :)

Ava and I played around a little more after dinner then it was her bedtime. As always, she went down very easily. :)

Now I sit in my awesome St. Paddy's Day pants

with a glass of the Mirassou Pinot Noir and watching Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1. Since I don't get to the movies very often, I always catch these movies a little later than everyone else. ;)

I hope everyone else is enjoying their Saturday night as much as I am! :)

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Owl Offering Pink Birthday Invitation

Party invitations and announcements for college graduates.

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Friday Fun Day

I can't believe it has been a week since I last posted! In my head I have written a post each day, but unfortunately haven't made it to my computer. :( So...what have I been doing?

Let's start with my fun Thirty-One Bag party! I mentioned a couple weeks back that I had attended a bag party and just fell in love with the line. Not only do I just love bags, but I also love the patterns, the different styles and the personalization. I got my order on Wednesday...

Thirty-one is now my new fav! When I LOVE something, I feel the need to share. This is why I decided to throw my own bag party, but this one had to be online. It is currently in progress and will be open until Feb. 27th. I'm curious to see who decides to participate. I hope people love it as much as I do.

So...I took these fabulous bags to the park today for a playdate. I mentioned last week that Dylan really loves playing with his friend, David, from school. Well, we joined David, his mom and sister at a park by their house.

A few other mommies showed up and I met some nice women and kiddos. It turns out that one of the mommies is a YMCA gym goer like myself. We recognized each other. She said she noticed my red hair. Of course...a redhead can never hide. ;) Dylan was very excited because he got the opportunity to water the bushes today...if you know what I mean. ;) Lack of bathrooms opens up new experiences. :) Ava was walking all over and even got a little cuddly with David's mom, Billie, since her morning nap consisted of the 10 minutes it took to get there.

Now, I have both kiddos napping which is absolutely wonderful!! Woot Woot! It's time to organize my coupon binder, which by the way, provided me with about $100 in savings this week. Another Woot Woot! :)

Have a wonderful Friday!!

Great day with a messy ending

She puked all over me! That is how my evening ended today.

We actually had a pretty great day today! Unfortunately, Ava woke up with a temp. of 101 so it looked like the doctor was a must today. No matter what I do, I just can't keep that temperature down. We had plans for a playdate at Dylan's friend's house. The boys go to school together and get along so well and us mommies have fun together too! It's a good match. :) I needed to take Ava to the doc, but I was bummed that it was going to effect Dylan's fun because he REALLY needed a friend to play with today. Well, when I shared our situation with Billie, my mommy friend, she suggested I drop Dylan off to play while we go to the doc then come over when we're done. I LOVED this idea! Not only was Dylan going to get to play, but the doctor visit is so much easier with one. :)

The diagnosis for Ava...double ear infection! No wonder her temp wasn't going anywhere! The hope is that the meds for her ear infection will also clear out the congestion and get rid of the cough. Cross your fingers.

When I got to the playdate, the boys were having a great time! Our little fivesome (Dylan, Ava, David and the 2 mommies) began hanging out regularly a couple of weeks ago. I wish it hadn't taken us so long because we are a great group! We stayed until almost 1:30pm because time kind of got away from us. Next time I'm bringing my camera!

Naps were awesome and the moods when waking up were also wonderful! Randy got home early from work which I always enjoy. So we were set up for an awesome night. Then....da da da da...the dark cloud comes over after dinner.

I was on the phone talking with our tenant in VA regarding the repair issues and the change in property managers. My poor little girl is coughing up a storm so I pick her up to pat her back. Next thing I know, she throws up all over me! Not just a small throw up you might think a baby would do, but an enormous amount of liquid that soaks my tank and my pants from the knee up. I put the tenant on hold until Ran could grab Ava. Then as I'm finishing up our conversation, I'm stripping off wet clothing in the kitchen. I then have to take a wet paper towel to wipe down my skin. Soooo gross! By the time I hang up the phone, I'm in my bra and underwear with sticky skin and a happy little girl. She feels great now that all that junk is out of her! The things that happen with a sick child. Lordy! From that point on, it was obvious that Ava was ready for bed. I followed her lead and down she went.

This is how she sleeps. :)

Thankfully everyone is asleep and I can relax. Great day with a messy ending, but anything is possible with little ones right?! :)

No Excuses!

So this morning I felt like I really showed my commitment to the healthier me. Frankly, I was pretty proud of myself!

Randy's car was leaking some kind of fluid so he needed to drop his car off to get serviced in the morning. This meant that I had to figure out how to fit in a workout in between dropping Dylan off at school, taking care of Randy's car needs and doing it before Ava's morning nap at 9:30am. A couple months ago I probably would have used the excuse that "it just didn't work this morning". Instead, I found a way to make it work! :)

I dropped Dylan off at school a little earlier then headed straight to the gym with Ava. I had 45 minutes for a workout before having to pick Randy up at the car place and drive him to a recruiting station to pick up a government car, which he would be driving to work. And all of this before 9:30am! I have to admit that I felt great after all the busyness because I didn't give up my workout morning. Yay me!

I had been planning on today being a running day; maybe 4.5 miles, however, I felt like I needed more out of my 45 minutes.

I also wasn't sure I could run 4.5 miles in 45 minutes. That is a little fast for me right now! So my new and improved workout started with a one mile warm-up run on the treadmill. Once I had my sweat on, I decided to lift focusing on my lower body. You know the rear, thigh, and hip area that peeks over the jeans? ;)

Not me!

So I headed over to the leg press that always does well in beginning a lifting session.

This is a 2-in-1 for me because after each leg press set, I do a set of calf raises on the same machine. Next I moved over to the barbells to add some weight to my lunges. Yes, the dreaded lunges followed by squats. My squats are more of a dancer plie while holding a 25lb weight.

Dancers have great fannies and this is why. :) Next up...a little focus on the hammies then inner and outer thighs ending with two sets of a one minute planks. Whew! Done and on time!

Unfortunately with all of this positive energy flowing, when I walked into Child Watch to pick up Ava...she was screaming. Poor girl is not feeling well at all! I thought we had conquered the worst of it yesterday, but that little bug just won't go away. So, Ava and I spent the rest of the morning playing around on the floor. No nap. :(

Even though I have a sick little one, we are having a great day! I conquered the gym, Ava is 11 months old today and Dylan has shown me his sweeter side. All is right in the world today. :)

Time to Run!

I think I'm getting the hang of this running thing! I do most of my running on the treadmill because I usually have at least one kid with me. :)  A jogger stroller sounds very appealing, but we already have 3 strollers!

The first one that holds the carrier so nicely.

The second one is an "umbrella stroller", which is easier to transport when the carrier is no longer needed.

And third, The Double!

I feel kind of silly getting another one especially when we will be moving this summer. Who knows how running-friendly my new neighborhood will be, so I feel like now it is the treadmill during the week and a nice outdoor run on the weekends. After Ava goes down for her morning nap, I take off to let Randy and Dylan have some QT. ;)

The route I take is relatively flat and just around the neighborhood. I had mapped out a 3 mile run, but keep extending my run to increase that distance. Today I ran 4.3 miles! This is my longest so far. Along with this nice distance, I have also increased my running pace. I ran a 10:15 minute mile overall, which is great improvement from my 12 minute mile I was doing just a couple of months ago. My dad, who is a fantastic runner, told me that every pound lost decreases your overall time by 2.5 minutes. Crazy huh?! Well, I've lost about 5.5 lbs so I guess there is some truth to that. :) One thing that sticks with me as I'm doing all of this running is that my 60 year old dad runs marathons! His first one was at 50! I'm starting slower...I'm training for a 10K on March 3rd.

I have been wanting to sign up for a race for the last month, but was looking for a buddy to run with me. About two weeks ago, my moms' group got together for a moms-night-in party with wine and goodies. I was chatting with a fellow mommy that had a baby 5 months ago. She had just begun running again. I told her to keep it up even if she feels like she is going to die. It gets better. :) About 4 days later, she called me to let me know that I inspired her! She set her treadmill faster than normal and ran 4 miles! She asked me to run the race on March 3rd with her. I love this! Not only do I now have a race buddy, but it makes me feel good that she got excited just by our conversation. :)

Now I have a goal...my race! I'm such a goal-oriented person that this is a huge motivator to keep going. I have now added just one more thing to my never-ending list, but you know...I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a thousand things to do. :)

Two Days of Firsts

It has been a long busy week! Our week has been filled with errands, friends and the unfun task of managing repairs on our VA home.

You may remember from an earlier post, that we had a dishwasher leak in our kitchen in our VA house. Now a leak is really the WRONG word because the result of this "leak" is new kitchen flooring, new carpet in the great room and hallway as well as a new cabinet and dishwasher. So as you can see, "leak" does not really begin to explain the damage.

On a positive note, we have a great contractor assigned by USAA that is getting everything back up to par. The contractor has been great with communication which is what led to some surprises as to how the house was being managed. After chatting with him and chatting with the tenant, I became aware of many issues that  our property manager hadn't dealt with or the work was not finished. Now, Randy and I have not been very confident in her job for a little while now and these conversations just confirmed everything. It was time for her to go. Sooo....I got the fun job of firing her!

I was so nervous! I had to fire a teacher once when I worked at Sylvan, but I got to share that job with my co-worker and she actually said the words. Remember RP? :) What made it worse was that I called her at 9:30am her time and she didn't get back to me until 5:30pm, which meant I spent all day practicing what I was going to say. It went well...no drama. Whew! We already have a new guy lined up so hopefully this home will no longer be an issue.

Enough about the stressful stuff, let me share with you the fun stuff from the last two days! I went to the best party on Friday! Have you ever heard of thirty-one bags? I hadn't until I was invited to this party, but now I'm in LOVE!

There were so many bags I wanted to buy, but this is what I decided on.

I got this tote in the Black Parisian Pop with hot pink "Kreks" on the front. This is my kid bag! It is cute and so functional. I have my eye on a more purse looking bag for next time. :)

These are for the kids!

I got the Textured Twill for Dylan with his name in red and the Pink Circle Spirals for Ava with her name in aqua. These are the perfect size. For Dylan it will be a to-go pouch that carries crayons, cars, etc. For Ava, it will carry diapers, wipes, etc., but will turn into a to-go pouch for her when she gets older. I just LOVE it!

I really want to do a party at my house, but most everyone I know here was at this one. :) However, I know that I have friends that live from MD to HI that would probably love these so I decided to throw a catalog party. I'm still learning the details of how this works, but basically it will all be online. This means no presentations, just shopping online. If this is intriguing to any of you, please let me know because I will be inviting once I get it organized. :) Take a look at the catalog! http://catalog.thirtyonegifts.com/page1.html

After shopping for bags and firing my PM. the topper of the last two days was taking Dylan for his First Skate!!  This was so much fun! Randy has been waiting for this day since he found out we were having a boy. :) Dylan can be a bit cautious so we weren't sure how this was going to go. He LOVES hockey and really wanted to learn to skate, but you never know. 

It was so successful!

 Can you see the excitement as he is getting his skates on?

 His friend Camden met us there! They look so cute in their team jerseys!

They took their breaks together then went back on the ice to skate with the dads together. I think that having Camden their helped Dylan to keep going. :)

 While the boys were skating, Ava (who was in the bjorn) and I took the pics. She was having a great time too. :) By the end, Dylan was able to walk on the ice holding only one of Randy's hands. Awesome! He was so excited that he is ready to go back next Saturday. :)

After 15 minutes in the car and a sandwich, he was DONE. If this picture had sound effects, you would hear some deep snoring. LOL!

It has been a crazy fun two days and I've loved almost every minute of it. ;) I'm excited to see where Dylan takes this skating thing. Tomorrow...the gym is calling my name!

Have a great night!