Sippin' and Dabbin'

A few weeks ago, I scored a half off coupon for Sip and Dab, a wine and painting evening out. I actually got two, and I gave one to my friend Courtney.

I have heard of things like this in other areas, and it sounded like something I would really enjoy. I just can't get out of town to do it. But when I heard that we had one here in Traverse City, I couldn't pass it up. Basically, a local artist hosts these events at different restaurants and teaches a group of 20 or so people to paint one specific painting while everyone sips on drinks.

This past Thursday, we went out for our event. Since Alden still nurses pretty much constantly, I didn't think it would be a good idea to drink wine, so I sipped on lemonade and had dessert instead. I'm basically a child when it comes to sweets, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this hot fudge brownie sundae.

The painting was supposed to be of West Grand Traverse Bay. It was slightly nerve-wracking for some of us (maybe that's why there's wine), but in the end all of the paintings turned out great. 

Action shot of Courtney and me

We had so much fun! A few other girls that I know from school came too.

Love these ladies!

I plan to do this again...probably a few times. I really needed this night out. I can't remember the last time I went out with some girls. And Dave was so great about it. While Alden is a super happy baby, he is very difficult at night. He wants me and only me. I knew that Dave was probably having a tough time with him (and he was), but he didn't text me or call me at all. He just let me enjoy my night out.

My painting

I can't wait to this again sometime. Such a fun girls night out!

Stay-cation Days Two and Three

Tuesday was date day #2 for Dave and me. We took the boys to daycare at around 9:00, ran a couple of errands, and then went home to lounge around before our movie.

I ended up watching the last four episodes of How I Met Your Mother, since I haven't been watching it, and I got to see the series finale. I was pretty disappointed, but oh well.

Then we went to see Non-Stop, the new Liam Neeson movie. Totally a guy movie, but it was pretty good. Mostly, I was looking forward to the popcorn and candy, so the fact that I enjoyed the movie was a bonus. :)

After the movie, we scooped up the boys and hung out at home. Dinner, play time, bath time, and bed time. It was a pretty low-key day, but it was nice.

Then today, I took the boys to the Children's Museum with my sister-in-law, Danielle, and niece, Kennedi. Dave's brother is in town for work, so it was just us girls with the kids while Dave stayed home to do some work around the house. The last time we were at the museum (just this past weekend), Leland discovered the store and that was pretty much the only place he wanted to play today. He loves the toy buses. Maybe one of these days I will buy him one, but I rarely bring any money in with me when we go - because who needs another thing to keep track of?

He spends his time taking all of the buses from their spot in the store, and putting them in and around this rock-filled boat. Then he puts them back. Goofy kid.

He did enjoy playing in the actual museum a little bit though.

Driving the boat is always a favorite.

Showing Kennedi how to go on the big slide.

Kennedi at the water table.

There was a live snake at the museum today. Leland looked at it for a minute and then walked away, but Kennedi was more interested and actually touched it!

And all the while, Alden stayed snuggled up in the Moby. He even fell asleep for a little bit.

After the museum, we went home for lunch and naps. And later, after dinner, we made our first Moomers trip of the year. Leland enjoyed sampling from both Mommy and Daddy. Mommy gets chocolate and Daddy gets vanilla, so Leland gets both!

It's been a great little stay-cation so far, and I'm looking forward to more family time the rest of the week. And even visiting with a dear friend who's visiting from out of state!

Year in Review...

I don't think I've ever done a "Year in Review" post before. I've done the Top 10 before, but figured I'd do something a little different this time. So...here are the big events of each month of 2013. I know my life is so exciting that you just can't wait to see.

January

I worked on completing 26 random acts of kindness in memory of the lives lost in the Newtown tragedy. I posted about half of them here. I never posted the rest though...oops.

February

February was a big month for us. We found out Alden was on his way! Though we didn't share the news with anyone.

I also received this sweet note from a student after a rough day.

March

We had our first ultrasound! At eight weeks, I was having some spotting, so my doctor got me in for an ultrasound a few days earlier than we planned.

April

I got my mommy-mobile!

And had another ultrasound...

And finally announced my pregnancy!

May

I ran a 5k at 18 weeks pregnant. And cheered on my siblings-in-law at their 10k (that I convinced them to do before I got pregnant...oops). On the same day!

June

We found out Baby #2 was a boy!

We took Leland to get tubes in his ears...

...but we were sent home without the procedure because Leland had a slight temp and a rash (turned out to be another ear infection).

So we went back two weeks later.

And I started working at The Coffee Bean Cafe.

July

We had lots of park days, pool/sprinkler days, etc.

We went to the Cherry Festival. 

And the beach.

August

We went to the fair. Which is when I really learned the extent of Leland's tractor obsession. He didn't care one bit about the animals, but spent 45 minutes climbing on the tractors.

We went to the Old Engine Show, where Leland saw TONS of tractors, and got to ride in an old steam engine.

We went to Leland (the town) for the day.

September

School started and we got maternity photos taken.

October

Dave and I celebrated nine years of marriage!

We visited the Pumpkin Patch.

Alden Walker arrived!

October 17, 2013

And Leland went as a farmer on Halloween.

November

Leland and Alden met Santa (second time for Leland)! And Leland LOVED him!

December

We decorated cookies...

Celebrated Christmas (Alden's first)

And celebrated Leland's 2nd birthday

2013 was an amazing year for us. We had some low moments, of course, but the birth of Alden and all the fun times with Leland make those low moments just fade away.

I know that 2014 will be a great year as well and I can't to see all the wonderful things that await us!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Traditions...

Growing up, my family didn't really have any holiday traditions. At least not that I can remember. One thing that excites me about having my own family is creating our own traditions - our own special ways of celebrating things that we can look forward to year after year.

One Christmas tradition that I am starting this year, now that Leland is old enough to participate, is baking and decorating cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa.

Today, my mom came over and helped Leland and I decorate cookies. We had lots of fun, and Leland did better than I thought he would. I was sure he would just eat them and not decorate, but he did a great job. And, as I usually do, I took a million pictures - enjoy!

First, we rolled and cut out the dough...

And killed the gingerbread man {first he cut off his foot, and then stabbed him with the spoon handle}.

I tried to show him how to frost the cookies, but as soon as the frosting hit the cookie, he licked it. Ha ha. So he frosted a couple, and then I frosted the rest.

Mmmmmm...cookies!

Frosting kisses for mommy.

Then we got to decorating.

Leland was pretty excited to see m&m's for decorating. He's definitely my son with his love for these candies.

He shared some with me.

Grandma helped with the sprinkles too.

We ended up with lots of colorful, candy-covered cookies. We sent some home with Grandma, we ate some, and we made sure to save some for Santa.

I am so excited to start this tradition, along with many others. I look forward to decorating cookies every Christmas Eve with my boys for years to come!

Weekend Recap...

I haven't been loving the cold, cold, COLD weather, because it means we're stuck inside a lot. I get cabin fever bad, and unfortunately, so does Leland. I am constantly trying to think of fun things to keep us both busy. Well, this weekend didn't disappoint.

Friday, I kept Leland home from daycare. We spent the morning at the mall. We did a little Target shopping, got a pretzel from Auntie Anne's, and then played at the germ tree. Leland had only been there once before that (about a month ago), and it was kind of annoying because he kept running out of the play area when I would try to nurse Alden. This time was much better though. He played well with all the other kids and stayed in the play area (until the last 10 minutes, which is how I knew it was time to go).

Friday night was Dave's company Christmas party. Instead of having their own party, they bought a table at the Grand Traverse Resort's "Biggest Little Holiday Party." It's a way for small businesses to have a big party. Since MAC only has four employees at the moment, they went this route rather than having a small dinner party. It was lots of fun. The food was AMAZING. There was a DJ and dancing (I tried to get a video of some ladies line dancing to "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas...hilarious...but there were too many people in the way).

Saturday morning, I was exhausted from my late night, but ventured out with the kiddos anyway. We went to Mini Mo's, which is a toddler play area inside Incredible Mo's (bowling alley). It's only about three miles from our house, but I have never taken Leland there before. We were the only ones there, which is a bummer because Leland loves to play with other kids, but he still had lots of fun.

There's this big play structure, as well as the tree (below), a kitchen, some ride-on toys, a lego table, train table, tunnel, books, puzzles, and lots, lots more. Pretty awesome for $4.

He was cracking me up with this pink ride-on toy. In the background, you can see a blue one and a fire truck. But Leland loved the pink one. He played with that more than anything else. Ha ha.

See?

Climbing through the tunnel

He kept saying "I see you!"

Such a joyful soul

The only crappy part - literally - was when I went to get Alden out of his car seat, I noticed that he had a bit of a blow out. He has never had one before, so I didn't even bring his extra clothes from the car. I had only grabbed a couple of diapers because I just didn't want to carry so much stuff. UGH! 

Never again - I will ALWAYS carry the diaper bag.

In the afternoon, we just laid low at home.

Sunday morning, we took a quick trip to Old Navy, because everything was 50% off and I had some rewards money burning a hole in my wallet. When we pulled into the outlet mall, we saw a front end loader plowing the parking lot. We HAD to stop and watch the "BIG tractor" for a few minutes. Leland loved it.

Side note: Google "auto awesomed" (their term) my photo to make it snow. Interesting...

After that, we went to my sister's house for a play date with cousins and visiting with my dad for his birthday. Leland had lots of fun dancing and playing with Rafe and Silas.

And again, in the afternoon, we hung out at home. Had pizza for dinner, enjoyed a Chuggington episode, and read some books.

It was nice to have a good mix of fun out-of-the-house activities and relaxing-at-home time. And now I have a busy week of preparing to go back to work on Thursday, making Leland's birthday treats (because Friday will be his last day at daycare until after the New Year), and baking treats for co-workers.