busy busy weekend

Wow! This weekend was so busy!!! We seriously barely had time to sit down and breathe.  In fact that's part of the reason I am just now blogging about our weekend.  It was rainy yesterday so we took that as a sign to stay at home and rest all day!!  

Our busy weekend all started Thursday evening when Matt and I had a Trinity Clinic Awards Dinner at Hollytree Country Club.  We got a babysitter and enjoyed a night out to ourselves.  Sadly, I didn't get a single picture of us.  

Friday during the day, the boys and I took a trip to Sam's! We love going to Sam's to get samples and have pizza for lunch while I get some grocery shopping done.  It's the only time I go to the grocery store with them now.  

Friday evening after dinner, a friend of ours helped us up pick up some furniture I bought off of a Facebook Garage Sale Site.  

I picked up this awesome Pottery Barn Sleeper Sofa for only $300. It's all washable so it's perfect for us.   

 This picture makes the room look totally empty but it's very very deceiving.  The other walls are full of toys!! It's in our playroom.  It's actually a really big 5th bedroom in our house that we use as a playroom.  I've been wanting a couch since we moved in, but just couldn't find what I wanted in my $300 price range.  I refused to pay anymore than that for a couch that was going to used constantly by my boys.  I wasn't originally looking for a sleeper sofa, but it was just a total bonus that this one was.  In fact, we will be putting it to use this week.  Pearson will be sleeping on it this week when my parents and grandma come in town.  Now I can't get wait to get to decorating this space!! That big blank wall is just screaming "wall collage"!!!

 We also got a great deal on a lift chair for my parents.   It's a $1500 chair that we got for $500.  It's in perfect condition.  It's going to stay at my house until my parents can bring a friend to Tyler to help them move it back home since we don't have a truck.  We just went ahead an rearranged our furniture so it would fit in and not just be a random chair hanging out in our house.  

 After we got the kids to bed, I headed to the grocery store for my weekly grocery shopping trip.  The last two weeks I have gone on a Saturday night and it's been glorious.  We had plans Saturday night so I went on Friday night.  Just as glorious!!! I may never shop with my children again.  

 Before our soccer game on Saturday morning, the boys were getting some good use out of Pops chair.  Now that we have a chair in our living room, I really want to get one of our own.  We've just always had the sectional and that's it.  

 Nash wasn't really into watching Pearson play soccer so he watched a show on Daddy's phone during most of the game.  

 Our little all-star score 9 out of 11 goals for our team.  He is quite the soccer player.  We are so proud!!

 The Baylor Alumni group here in Tyler had a little playdate at the park so we joined up with some of Matt's college buddies and let our kids play at the park.  The boys just love when Daddy is at the park with them.  He knows how to have a good time! He's such a good Daddy.  

 We enjoyed BOGO Chipotle for lunch, then headed home for naps.  I thought for sure Nash would crash after such a busy morning, but he was too busy checking out his new found freedom.  Matt was outside mowing and Nash just decided to check it out.  Nash was doing so good in his big boy bed, but this weekend was a little tough.  

 Friday evening we invited our friends, Kiley & Zach, over for dinner and spades.  We had already invited them over before he helped up pick up furniture, but it was the perfect way to pay him back the favor.  Clearly you can tell we had a 4 year old photographer!

 I feel like we are always rushed to get out the door on Sunday mornings by 9:40, but I always make sure to get my Link Sunday Portrait.  If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I take a picture of my boys every Sunday morning with the hashtag #linksundayportrait.  It's such a fun little tradition that I started and hope to never give it up.  

 

 One of our friend from our Sunday School Class was getting baptized in the main worship.  We celebrated with her then slipped out and headed to Resonate Worship.  It what the older people of our church would call "rock worship".  But it's more our style and not the tradition Baptist church choir feel like the main service is.  We have our own worship and then they pipe in the pastor on the big screen. We love Resonate at Green Acres. 

 We dashed home for a quick lunch and a super quick nap for Nash then we headed to Pearson's little friend Jackson's birthday party.  It was a monster truck themed party, so my boys were in heaven!!

The boys had their normal "Mac N Cheese Sunday" for dinner, we dropped them off at AWANAS, then Matt and I tried out a little Italian restaurant for dinner.  

And then they crashed.  

 And yes, Nash is asleep in this picture.

Like I said, we had a busy busy weekend, but it was so good!!  

All we have planned for this weekend is soccer and AWANAS.  I'm kind of hoping it stays that way.  We definitely need a slower paced weekend after this past weekend!!

Big Boy Bed {take 2}

It feels like just yesterday we were moving Pearson to his big boy bed.  

Oh wait, it was just a little over a year ago that we were doing this with Pearson. Pearson was in his crib until he was 3 years and 7 months old.  Nash is only 2 years 2 months old.  We are doing it WAY sooner this go round, not because we wanted to, but because we had to.  Nash climbed out of his crib for the first time sometime before Christmas. He only did it once but would try every now and then.  Every time we put him to bed we would just watch his monitor like a hawk to make sure he wasn't trying to climb out.  I thought we were smooth sailing in our crib until all the sudden last night he climbed out 4 times.  We probably could have pushed it a little longer but I was just so scared he would fall the wrong way and break his neck.  Definitely not worth the risk.

 Matt got to work last night converting the crib to the toddler bed.

Pearson even got in on the help.  And of course his tongue had to join! Ha!

 Nash was so excited he hopped right in his bed before we even put the mattress back in.

 When we were all finished putting it together, he crawled right in and laid right down.  You could tell he felt like such a big boy.

When it was time for bed, we did our bedtime routine as normal…….told Daddy & Bubba night-night, read Big Red Barn, read Brown Bear Brown Bear, read our Bible story, said our prayers, sang Jesus Loves Me, gave him his "meh-sin" (zyrtec), tucked Mickey in, then tucked him in.  He laid right now and I had high hopes that he would go to sleep just as he always does.  

Night-Night big boy!!

 After we got finished with Pearson's bedtime prayers, we checked the monitor.  He sat up and laid down about 4 or five times, but finally ended up sitting up.  I kept thinking the monitor was frozen because he literally sat up in the same position just staring off into space for 45 minutes.  He finally came out of his room and started crying.  I made him go back in his bed, but he would scream and get out when I would start to leave.  I finally just sat in his rocking chair.  He stayed in his bed but cried and cried and cried.  After about 10 minutes of crying, he sighed really big, then laid down. He finally just gave up.  It wasn't long before he fell asleep and I slipped out.

It took about an hour and half longer for him to go to sleep than normal, but I didn't think that was too bad for his first night.  He slept all night and woke up at 6:30.  He sat up for a few minutes then laid back down and slept until 7:15.  I'd call that a successful first night!

 For his first nap time, he laid right down and fell asleep within 5 minutes.  I have his Mother's Day Out teachers to thank for this.  They sleep on mats at MDO and his teachers always say he is the first to fall asleep.  I guess when you play hard you sleep hard.

I just laid him down for bed and it went just like it always did in his crib.  No fussing at all.  He laid right down and was asleep in about 10 minutes.  

We are so proud of our big boy!  He's growing up way to fast.  

Now if we could just get rid of that paci!!!

We LOVE the Zoo!!

For Nash's 2nd birthday Matt's parents gave him a zoo membership. Nash loves animals, so it was a great give for him.  But I love that it was really a gift to our whole family and it keeps on giving all year long.  We went for the first time back in February as a family.

Pearson was super excited they had a map for him to look at.  He loves maps!!

 The tigers are so pretty.

 Obviously Daddy's favorite animals were the bears.

 The bongos were a favorite of Pearson's.

I told Matt a story about a silly memory I have of this rhino.  Well, it might not be this exact rhino, but when I came to the zoo with my grandma as a kid (when she lived in Tyler), I saw this rhino pee. Let's just say it was like a giant bathtub faucet flooding out.  I will never forgot that moment.  It was hilarious!!!

 I'm so glad that we went as a family for the first time because it was such a great day!!

 I can already tell we are going to get a lot of good out of our zoo pass.

 Our second time at the zoo was with our sweet little friend Reagan.  The bird exhibit was closed when we went as a family, so we were excited to get to feed the birds.

After a few hours of strolling through the zoo, we had a picnic in the park. 

 It was obviously a good day, because he couldn't even make it home without falling asleep.

Our latest trip to the zoo was this past Friday.  I went with two of my girlfriends, Melanie & Rhiannon, and all 6 of our boys!!!

Boys for days!!!! Finley, Garrison, Gatlin, Nash, Pearson, & Jack!!

 Pearson and Jack were so cute.  They wanted to hold hands the whole time they walked around.

 One of the "little" lion cubs was posing for us. So pretty.

 Pearson and Nash had to take a picture with the bear to show Daddy!!

 We had a blast interacting with this turkey.  We all kept making gobbling noises and he would puff up more and more and kept coming closer to us.  Not sure if he thought we were turkeys or mad at us for mocking him!! Either way, the kids loved it.

 The birds were especially chatty too.  We kept talking back and forth with them and Nash loved it!!

 My cool boys with their shades on had another fun day at the zoo!

 Only one more trip as a family and we will have our zoo membership paid for.  I see way more than one zoo trip in our future so it was definitely worth it to get a zoo pass!!

Soccer Saturdays

This Saturday was the start of Pearson's 2nd soccer season.  For the next 6 Saturdays you'll find us on the fields cheering on our boy!

Not only will I be cheering on Pearson, but I'll be cheering on my husband too.  Matt is Pearson coach this season!!
**And isn't soccer season in East Texas gorgeous?  I just love all the trees here in East Texas!!!

These sweet kiddos are their "bubbas" number one fans.

 They don't keep score in our league, but we technically lost 3-6.  However, Pearson scored all 3 goals!!  We are so proud of him. I was able to catch one of his goals on camera!

Of course, a soccer game wouldn't be complete without a snack.  It's so funny how excited the kids gets for a little snack after the game.  They play hard, so I know they are hungry afterwards.

 I am also so proud of Matt for the way he coached these sweet kiddos.  He was so patient with them.  In fact, a few parents even commented to me how patient he was with them.  It's not an easy job coaching 4 year old soccer, but he totally rocked it!

 We are looking forward to a fun season with the Monkeys!!!
Go Monkeys!!!

meal planning {april}

I haven't done an actual Meal Planning Monday post in a while.  I did my Whole30 in January but after that  I have been struggling keeping up with what I actually plan. I have a meal plan typed up in my phone, but I just haven't been posting them.  I have been a cooking rut lately, so I am trying something new.  My friend Jenica meal plans for the entire month and loves it.  So here goes…...here is our meal plan for the entire month of April.  I'm sure things will come up, life will happen, or I just won't feel like cooking, but at least I have a plan!!

**And don't worry, Matt and I don't have Mac N Cheese on our date nights!  We feed the kids Mac N Cheese every Sunday night before AWANAS and they think it's the greatest thing ever.  Then, after we drop them off at the church, Matt and I go grab dinner together.  It's been the best way for us to have a date night each week.  We are going to be so sad when AWANAS is over at the end of this month.  

Fri 4/1: Grilled Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, & Brussel Sprouts

Sat 4/2: Eggs in a Basket
              Rounder's Pizza
              Beefy Mac & Garlic Toast

Sun 4/3: Chicken Salad
               Mac N Cheese Night/Date Night!

Mon 4/4: Chicken Zucchini Poppers, Sweet Potato Fries, & Fruit Salad

Tues 4/5: Bruno's MOPS Fundraiser

Wed 4/6: Sausage, Potatoes & Peppers, Brussel Sprouts, Steamed Veggies

Thurs 4/7: Mexican Spaghetti Squash

Fri 4/8: Out before Kid's Night Out! (Chipotle)

Sat 4/9: French Toast Casserole & Bacon
              Out after Soccer (Panda Express)
              Pork Tenderloin, Baked Potatoes, & Veggies

Sun 4/10: Brisket Chili Pie & Fruit
                  Sandwiches & Chips

Mon 4/11: Stir Fry Chicken & Egg Rolls(Whole 30 Cookbook Pg. 340)

Tues 4/12: Talapia with Shrimp Bayou Sauce, Rice & Broccoli

Wed 4/13: Stuffed Peppers (Whole 30 Cookbook222) & Black Beans

Thurs 4/14: Trinity Mother Frances Event

Fri 4/15: Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans, & Rolls

Sat 4/16: Banana Bread (Bake Extra for SMBS)
                Chiptole (BOGO w/ Soccer Jersey)
                Two Sauce Lasagna, Caesar Salad, & Garlic Bread

Sun 4/17: BBQ Pork Sliders, Chips & Fruit
                 Mac N Cheese/Date Night!

Mon 4/18: Hot Ham & Cheese Party Rolls, Chips & Fruit

Tues 4/19: Leftover Ham, Potatoes, & Green Beans

Wed 4/20: With Lolly & Pops

Thurs 4/21: With Lolly & Pops

Fri 4/22: Mexi Mac N Cheese

Sat 4/23: Sausage Twirls
                Shrimp Fried Rice & Egg Rolls
                Spicy Sausage Pasta

Sun 4/24: Out to Eat
                 Mac N Cheese/Date Night!

Mon 4/25: Ritzy Chicken Casserole, Baked Brown Rice, & Candied Carrots

Tues 4/26: Out to Eat (Somewhere Kids Eat Free)

Wed 4/27: Mississippi Roast, Carrots & Potatoes

Thurs 4/28:  Crockpot Salsa Chicken Tacos & Black Beans

Fri 4/29: Roast Beef Sandwiches, Chips, & Fruit Salad

Sat 4/30: Banana Waffles
                Out after Soccer

                Chicken Pot Pie