Roly Poly Bugs and Bonnets

A couple of Sunday afternoons ago, Vic took the kids outside to play in the sandbox. When I went out there a little later, I learned they were catching and trying to keep roly poly bugs in a jar. Nothing is more fun than roly poly bugs and how much kids love them. And by then, Everly woke up from her nap and I took her outside to the sandbox also. Well, she IS my little fair skinned redhead, so I put a big tshirt on her and a bonnet I wore 30 years ago and felt like she was protected from the sun. We expected her to jump right into that sand, like she did at Port Aransas in January. But, it took her a little while. I think she will love it this summer though.

 Grace...upset because Atticus wouldn't share the roly poly bugs that he caught.

 Like a good brother, he gave in and shared his with her.

Bikes & Scooters & Friends

Back in January, GG brought Rita's grandson's old bike for Atticus to use. Atticus has only recently become interested in riding bikes, because his friend next door rides his bike a lot. He has liked riding his scooter here and there and Grace, has become great at riding his old motorcyle/tricyle. So, finally a few weeks ago, Vic got training wheels put on his bike and they spent a few evenings over by the elementary school where there's lots of bike riding concrete to practice one on one. And, since then, Atticus wants to ride all the time and is getting better and better at it! It may be awhile before his training wheels come off, but that is ok! And Grace loves riding either his tricycle or her new princess scooter! They ride with Luc and Ellie next door and have a great time going back and forth down the cul-de-sac. I never rode bikes growing up; where mom and dad live in the country does not have any sidewalks and I guess I never took an interest. I do not know how to ride a bike to this day! I think I could learn quickly, but I am a little afraid that falling off a bike will hurt a lot more now than it would have when I was little!

We also had friends from next door, Luc & Ellie, come play one day. They all played so well together. Ellie was mostly interested in Everly, but she was great too! They dressed up and then the girls actually rode their scooters for awhile dressed up. They had to have Belle and Shimmer costumes on and wear backpacks while riding their scooters. Silly!

 I don't know what they were doing, but they were intent on it for a few minutes!

We love having them next door. Atticus and Luc are in Kindergarten together and Ellie and Grace will be in Kindergarten together too in a couple of years.

Friday Favorites: (For the past month!)

Here's what has been happening recently:

ONE (Bachelor)

A few weekends ago, we went to DFW for a quick weekend. The kids went to stay at Grandma and Pop's for the night, while Vic, Everly and Charley hung out at Ana & Charley's apartment so Ana & I could go to a party! Since I never do things like this, I had really been looking forward to it. As you may know, Ana & I love to follow Mix and Match Mama's blog. She is Shay Shull, who is the sister to a former Bachelor, Sean Lowe. I found her blog back when he was the bachelor, but then after Bachelor was over, I started following it because her life is so fun to follow. It's about adoption, travel, recipes, life with kids, etc. Plus, she has this group of friends who have similar blogs and I love to follow them all. Of course, Ana & I are pretty sure that one day we will all live in McKinney and be friends with this whole group! Anyways, we saw on her blog that her sis-in-law, Catherine (who married Sean!) was having a one year anniversary party for her stationary company, LoweCo. She was advertising on her social media, and you could buy tickets, so we did! It was at a venue in Dallas. We arrived and it was pretty scarce of people, although we spotted Mix and Match Mama and her friends right away! We also saw Catherine and Sean. The room wasn't big; there was a bar and some snacks and a raffle table of goodies. And there were 5 pinatas hung up that were later hit until goodies dropped out. But, we were super surprised more people were not there. We guessed about 70 were there? Maybe a few more. It was kind of awkward sometimes because there wasn't really anything to do but hang out. There was a fun photo booth! You could dance, which is right up Ana's alley, but there was not a lot of dancing happening. I just expected 100's of people to be at this thing, but it seemed like about 75% her friends and 25% bachelor fans! (or for us, also MMM fans!) Anyways, once of MMM's friends, Kara, befriended us to go dance and we found out she was an Aggie! (then, after I got back that weekend, and posted a pic, my friend Taylor said they were roommates in college! how crazy is that!?). We really wanted to go visit with Shay, but again - all kind of awkward and she was having fun with her friends. So, Ana realized we might run into her in the bathroom and we did! We told her we'd come find her, but didn't until we realized they were all leaving early. So, we ran up, introduced ourselves, took a quick picture and then left after they did. Looking back, we really should have gone up sooner. She seemed super nice and I bet she would have visited a little. I also met Erika, her friend, and we visited with her. Anyways, this post is mostly for my memories, but it was still a fun night! Oh and Catherine seemed super fun too! We saw Sean, but he seemed to hang out in the background so we didn't try a picture with him. Anyways, fun night! I'd do it again but I would be braver! ha!

And while we had a night out, the kids had way too much fun with Grandma and Pop!

TWO (100 days of school)

A couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday was the 100th day of school for Atticus. On Monday, they sent home a note to let the kids dress up like a 100 year old person. So, I had less than 2 days to figure something out. Well, I ran to pick up suspenders and a hat, but that's as far as we got. I didn't have any glasses for him to wear or a cane. We really needed an old person to borrow from! And we put on gray eyebrows and a mustache, but he did not like the feeling of paint on his face so he wanted it off. Oh well! He has been so excited about this countdown to 100 days since the beginning of kindergarten. Constantly, throughout the year, he would come home and tell me what day it was. So, Wednesday was a fun day for him! And here he is, although he looks more like Super Mario Brothers in the first picture and more of a 1920's newspaper man in the second picture. Still a cutie!

THREE (Co-sleeping)

Vic was gone Sunday through Wednesday a couple of weeks ago. 2 of the 3 nights, I had kids come into my room throughout the night and get into bed with me. I actually don't mind it at all, but when Vic is here, he prefers they be in their own beds. And 4 of us do not fit great, so I agree. But, if just one sneaks in, it doesn't usually bother me. Anyways, they were pretty cute when I would get up each morning.

FOUR (our snuggle bunny)

This girl loves her daddy and gives the sweetest snuggles!

FIVE (Date with Atticus)

A couple of Friday's ago, Vic had to come home for the afternoon to talk to the Dish Network guy so I went to pick up Atticus from Kindergarten alone. As soon as I got there, he asked me what Blue Baker was and then asked if we could go there. So, we had a spontaneous date! I remembered they had cookies and so I thought it would be fun to just take him and then run a couple quick shopping errands. And it was fun! He is really growing up so much and is so smart and inquisitive. He ordered the biggest cupcake they had with chocolate milk and just talked and talked. Oh and apparently. his teacher had a drink from Blue Baker which is why he even knew about the place!

SIX (Fun in the car)

The kids LOVE to play in the car after school or have me drive them around our neighborhood without seat belts. On this day, they were being so silly and I just had to have a picture. Everly was being a seat belted, well behaved baby in the back.

SEVEN (Grace Plays)

I just want to keep recording how much Grace play. Atticus is really into Star Wars toys and building his own Lego ship creations right now, but this girl is always into playing something "girlish" as she says. Princesses, baby dolls, dress-up, you name it, she plays it. Oh and I may have mentioned in the past her love of playing "Mrs. Summer and Hallie". Last year in preschool, she would come home wanting to play teacher/student and would use her friend's name and her teacher's name for us to pretend to be. Well, one of her current "best friends" is Hadley so it's recently changed to Mrs. Summer and Hadley. But, we play whatever it is in the moment she has on her mind. Many times, she just pretends to come to school and bring a toy or tell me (Mrs Summer) about made up scenarios of what is happening in her life or she will sing songs. And in the past when Atticus would play, his name would be "Crosby" (another friend last year) and she will still incorporate him into playing even when he is not here. She is just so funny! And she is into playing with Everly but also getting VERY upset now that Everly crawls to wherever Grace is to play with her toys. Grace will yell about it when Everly is at least 10 feet away. I am trying, over and over, to tell Grace that Everly might not even touch her toys and that there is no reason to scream everytime. Ah...little sisters! 

EIGHT (Dinosaur Zoo)

Atticus's friend, Greer, gave us tickets to see the Dinosaur Zoo this past Sunday. It ended up being only me and Atticus going, but I loved having another date with him. They were giant puppets but it was a cute show.

NINE (Swings)

2 -3 afternoons per week, we will stay at Atticus's school after he gets out and play at the park. To the side is this little tiny park with one slide and two baby swings. Grace still fits so she and Everly got to swing and Atticus pushed. It was such a fun afternoon. Everly couldn't stop laughing and LOVED being pushed. Her weight kept getting pushed to the front of the swing and it was so funny to watch her hang there. I have pictures and video of Atticus and Grace (when Grace was around Everly's age) and it's funny to realize how long it has been since we've been to this park to play.

 Happy Friday Everyone!

Grocery Carts & Suitcases

At Christmas this past year, both kids were given a grocery cart and at birthdays, both kids were given suitcases. Atticus got a dinosaur suitcase and Grace got a Minnie Mouse suitcase. I think every kid should have a grocery cart and a suitcase. These two items get used so much at our house. They put their things in them to move around the house or store every single day. I've probably mentioned before that Atticus has loved suitcases and boxes for awhile because he is always looking for something to put his dinosaurs or animals in. He loves to pack them up "for a twip" or just to pack them up to move to another part of the house for a setup. Vic even brought home a huge box from the lab a few months back and although it has been gone for awhile, Atticus keeps asking when he will bring home another one. We colored it, and both kids and lots of toys could fit inside it. It was a great box. But, any kind of container, big or small, that comes through our house, Atticus will think he can use it for dinosaurs. Grace, on the other hand, currently carries around the grocery cart, with a variety of items. Yesterday, it had her two tiny Frozen plastic dolls, her paw patrol toys, all of Doc McStuffins and her doctor supplies, and some various kitchen items and a ball. She has started to do the same as Atticus and get them all out to set them up, but she will play with them the entire time to talking to them and herself in her little language she is doing as she learns to talk. And, of course, the best part is that they can push them around the house together and race. And the suitcases are the same way.

I asked the kids to pose for a picture, and this is what Grace did. She put her little arm out to Atticus and snuggled right up to him. She loves him so much!

And here they are again a little later when Atticus told me I could take a picture with all of his dinosaurs in his grocery cart. Grace, at that moment, didn't want a picture.

But, I highly suggest anyone with kids buy them each a grocery cart and a suitcase at some point in their toddlerhood!