Our Spring Break Staycation

The first day of Spring Break was spent with NANA!! So thankful for our sweet Nana who took vacation so that Mommy could come home from work and sleep! Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU!! The kids had a BLAST with Nana that day!! She took them to McDonalds for breakfast, then back to her house for some little surprises, to the Library, to Piccidilly's for lunch with Auntie Pam, to the Dollar Store, and lastly TCBY!!! Dang they had a FUN day and a busy one!! They were both exhausted by the time Nana dropped them off!! But they both talked about how much fun they had for the rest of the week!! 

On Tuesday, the kids and I played at home that morning and then ran a few errands. Back home to play and have rest time. Then we went to Coleman's BIRTHDAY bash at Pump It Up!! It was a PJ party!! The kids had a great time and Max loved seeing a lot of his buddies from school!! Thanks Coleman for inviting us!! Oh and the only pic I took...MAX ATE PIZZA (with sauce!!) This is actually his second time doing it but seriously I was super impressed!! He really is branching out a little as he gets older!!

On Wednesday we met up with my friend Candice's crew. Eli, Ella Kate, Noah and Maggie. Candice was actually out of town on a cruise so we got to spend the day with Candice's mom Mrs. Paula (aka Granna)!! We met up at Andy B's bowling first!! I called ahead and they said they had lanes open. When we got there all that was open was the VIB lanes. It was SUPER nice but a little pricey. We split the cost which made it a little better but the ultimate thing was the kids had FUN!!!

After bowling Granna was taking the kids to Dollar Tree and McDonalds so the kids of course invited Max and Emery to go with them ;) Granna said "Well, if it is okay with their Mommy" I couldn't say NO! The kids were having so much fun together!! So blessed to have sweet friends for my kids to hang out with!! 

And while we were at McDonalds Noah invited Max over to his house. LOL Granna said "Sure!! Come on!!" So we practically spent the entire day together!! We had such a great time though!! All the little kids were EXHAUSTED as we parted ways but totally worth it!! They all talked about how much fun they had for a few days!! 

Thursday we woke up and played at home for a while. Then we headed to the mall for a ride on the Carousel! Walked around the Disney store and I let the kids use their Valentine's money from Grandpa Mickey and Grandma Helen!! Below is what they picked out...and they had so much fun playing with it when we got home!! A BIG thanks to GMickey and GHelen for their special treats!!

Emery became OBSESSED with the James doll. CRACKS me up!! She wanted to sleep with him and take him everywhere she went. Not sure if I should be worried yet or not.. LOL At least he is a cute little guy!! 

After Disney I let the kids pick out a snack. Emery picked out three mini cookies and an ICEE from the Cookie Place. Max picked out a pretzel (no salt) and an ICEE from the pretzel place. And then we ALL shared while we waved to the EASTER bunny!!!

The kids were loving watching all the kids go up and sit on the Easter bunny's lap. Max and Emery both wanted to go and sit in his lap but we decided we would wait for Daddy to come with us. I honestly was blown away that Emery said "I wanna sit his lap. I love him. I not cry." WHAT?! Not sure when she got so BRAVE!! 

On Friday we had another LAZY morning and then....

We loaded up and headed to the park for a picnic lunch!!!

We got to the park and Em said...I have to potty!! Oh dear (we did potty before we left but when you are potty training you gotta go when you gotta go)...so we loaded back up and headed home. Em pottied and then we brought the little potty with us just in case we had another I have to potty RIGHT now instance....

We got back to the park and finished our lunch. Then we got to PLAYING on this beautiful beautiful day!!

Emery and her NO FEAR self was climbing on everything!! Max tried the spider web thing once and decided it wasn't for him!

SLIDING!! One of Emery and Max's FAVORITE things at the park!!

Swinging by the lake!! This was one of Mommy's favorites ;) 

Afterwards we walked around the ENTIRE lake. We found some ducks so we went back and grabbed our left over sandwiches and fed them. The kids were LOVING that and wanted me to get more bread!! The ducks were honking at us for more food!! So funny!!

On Saturday we spent most of our day OUTSIDE!!! It was so beautiful and warm enough to play in the WATER!! The kids were ALL about that!! First time playing in the water table this year!! Now for it to warm up MORE so we can SWIM!! We are ALL ready for warmer weather!! 

So sad our SPRING BREAK (aka lazy fun week) is over!! Now to get back into a schedule/routine again :( I can honestly say that this was the FIRST week that I have had the kids to myself that we had so much FUN!! I didn't feel like we had a lot of crying/whining and fighting. Don't get me wrong we had a little here and there but for the most part it was an AMAZING week!! We got up and made breakfast together, had snuggle time, played games, and more and more!! So looking forward to our summer break and all the fun things we will get into!!

Catching up....

Okay...I am almost caught up on the blog!! Can I get a OH YEA!!! Whoop! Whoop!! Ha!!

Anyways...March has been a FUN month so far other than a little sickness that wouldn't go away we are now all healthy and enjoying some beautiful days!!

We started out the month with our very FIRST Build a Bear birthday party!! Our dear friend Hudson turned 4 and we got invited to celebrate with her!! Max and Emery had a blast!! It was such a cute little party!! Thanks again Tracy and Ryan for inviting us!!

The beginning of the month my sister Laurie and her crew came down from Chicago, IL!! My niece Kahla was pitching for her school Depauw. They had a tournament at Rhodes college so everyone came down to watch her first game of the season!! It was bitterly cold that Sat (and snowing off and on) but we survived. Sunday was much warmer thankfully!! Max and Emery had a blast playing with their cousins!! I didn't get many pictures as I was a little under the weather during their visit. But Em and Lindsey were two peas in a pod as well as Max and Brendan!! It was a wonderful (but quick) visit and can't wait to visit with them again VERY soon!!!

The kids had SPRING pictures at school March 4th. I of course had to get a few pictures before school ;)

Sometimes they can be OH SO ADORABLE with each other!! I just love these pics of them together! They really do LOVE each other and I honestly can see that as they get older they are going to be the BEST of friends!! 

My little CUTIES!!!

Craig signed up to play basketball with our Sunday school class and they play every Mon and Tue for the month of March. The kids were ALL about doing some stretching with Daddy!!

It was really cute how they were copying EVERYTHING he was doing!!

And Craig was hysterically laughing the entire time! Not sure how good of stretching he got in....but we all got some good laughs ;)

March 7th Em had SILLY SOCK day at school!! Ummmm and I didn't have ANYTHING!! Luckily I had two pairs of baby legs that I picked up a while back. We threw those together and Emery LOVED it!! She was so excited about her SILLY socks that day!!

The end of the week we enjoyed having picnics and playing games outside!! It was in the mid 60s so the kids and I were soaking in the fun!! We played outside most of the day and that ended in...

Miss Em taking a nap!! These are few and far between these days. She still does rest time but I think she may nap 1-2 times a week. And yes she is still in her crib. She has climbed out a few times but hasn't done it at all lately. I need to take the front off but I am just denying the fact that my littlest one is growing up! I think we are actually going to just start looking for big girl bedding and go ahead and change it out very soon. She keeps asking for a big girl bed like her bubba...sigh....why oh why do they have to grow up so fast......

Our Reward System (aka Treasure Chests!)

We started a new reward system a few weeks ago and it is going VERY WELL!! I looked at some different ideas on pintrest a while back. But honestly it all came together when I was in Knowledge tree and found these cute little treasure boxes. I think they were $4 bucks a piece. Anyways, I went to the dollar zone at Target and found quite a few things to put in their treasure boxes. Also, grabbed some candy and other things around the store. Pretty much tried to stay at $1 per item. 

The dollar zone had just restocked with lots of cute things. Princess, Peter Pan, Hello Kitty, Fun Chapsticks, etc.. I also grabbed some big bouncy balloons and bubbles. And then I have found things while out and about that I grab too. 

Anyways, back to the reward system idea. What we are doing is each time they do something good or nice we PRAISE them and let them put a ball in their cup. Or if they do something without being told (like clean up the mess they made, no whining, using manners...) I feel like their is so much negative with discipline a lot of days so I wanted to pull some GOOD out of the whole process. Oh and they can't lost balls out of their cup for being bad they just won't get one. Staying positive...

And this little reward system is working GREAT for now!! It really is something good for Max as he has been feeling left out with us potty training Emery and constantly praising and rewarding her. So this little system came at a good time. Emery doesn't really understand the concept and it takes her a little longer to get a prize but that's okay!!

I think it took them about a week to get their first prize but they were SUPER excited when it was time to pick something out of the their treasure box!! 

I know it is nothing big and I think total I spent about $30 bucks getting started (that's on everything, including the craft balls). But I think it is going to be a HUGE help as a motivator to do the right things. The kids have a reward system at school so I am kind of following that. Consistency will hopefully pay off. All I know is right now it is HELPING a TON!! Praise the LORD!! God is GOOD!! 

NO MO DIAPERS for Emery!!

As of March 3rd!! We are OFFICIALLY Diaper FREE!!! Emery went 5 days in panties without ANY accidents!! Can I get a whoop! whoop!! Her PRIZE this time was just like bubba way back when...

She got to go to the toy store and pick out whatever she wanted!! I think it took us like an hour to decide....

I want this baby....

no this one...

oh....I LOVE this "geetar"!!

No I want this barbie purse....and after about 25 other things she wanted she kept going back to

the silly KITTY!! It has a microphone and you can sing into it and your voice comes out of the Kitty's belly in a kitty cat voice...very silly but oh so FUN!!

Then she decided she wanted to put the kitty back and get two suckers (seriously we have a CANDY-aholic on our hands)...we opted for one sucker and the kitty too ;)

Such a little cutie!! She was so EXCITED to take her Kitty home with her! She has been loving on that thing ever since. Honestly, I am SHOCKED that my little 2 and half year old is completely potty trained!! I really thought it was going to take much much longer but as I have said before Emery does things on Emery's timeline....and I guess she was READY!!!

Praise the LORD!! Such a HUGE blessing and accomplishment for my sweet little princess!! We are oh so PROUD of her!! She really is a ROCKSTAR at it!! She pretty much goes all on her own without being reminded. It is crazy how different Max and her are in the potty training world. I honestly have no idea how you could read a book that would work for all kids with potty training.....just saying....