Happy 33rd Birthday Nathan!

We celebrated Nathan's 33rd birthday this weekend! I believe everyone should have a special day once a year to celebrate them - even if it is just dinner and a cake (or brownies) with a candle. I gave Nathan a few ideas of things to do for his birthday and he chose to go to Ft. Smith to eat and shop. So, we had his mom watch the kids and off we went! Before we left we had Noah take a picture of us - it was SO funny. He said "ok, now stand right up next to eachother, look right here, say cheese! Ok, now lets take a silly face one. Good job guys!" - he has heard all of these a few times before :)

Thanks Noah :)

We couldn't decide where to eat so we decided to eat lunch and then shop and then dinner too before we went home :) So, we went to our favorite TGI Fridays for lunch and to watch the first half of the Razorback game. We then went to Toys R Us and finished our Santa shopping for the kids! Done before Thanksgiving!! Then we went to a few other stores and Nathan decided he wanted to sit in the car and listen to the game while I ran in and got what we needed. So, he got to hear the Razorabacks shut out Ole Miss and I got to get Ryan some shirts that would reach her waist and get rid of the flesh belt she has been having lately :) It was a win-win! We then went to Academy - Nathans favorite store! The past few times we have went there we had the kids with us and they were not cooperating so it was nice this time to walk all around quietly and look at everything. We ended our evening with Olive Garden :)

The next day was Nathan's actual birthday. So, Noah and I got up early and Noah made him a craft while I made brownies and cooked breakfast. The smoke detector usually goes off while I am cooking, partially due to it's bad location and partially due to my cooking. It pretty much goes off every time I cook bacon though and this year was no exception. Nathan even recorded it going off this year and posted it on Facebook - he better just be glad I have a good sense of humor :) It was all edible though - or he ate it and didn't get sick anyway :) We gave him his gifts next - I got him some enlarged framed prints of his car racing. He got to open his other present earlier in the week. He was online about to send an email to get a sponsor to send him a nitrous bottle warmer so before he did that I had to fess up that I had already bought him one so he didn't need to do that :)

He likes fire more than I am comfortable with :/

We went to church and out to eat Mexican food and then just hung around the house watching movies and playing with the kids for the rest of the day. He said he had a good birthday and acted like he liked his gifts :) Now, on to Thanksgiving!

A "Yes" Weekend :)

We had a weekend where I said "yes" to most everything the kids asked for - love when I am able to do that. We started out Friday night with going to the movies to see Big Hero 6. Noah asked to see it but I wasn't sure about taking Ryan to the movies yet. The preview came on and she laughed and laughed at it, so I took it as a sign :) Nathan had a friend in from out of state and was gone visiting with him a majority of the weekend, so I decided to brave the movies alone with both kids for Ryan's first time at the movies. I really wasn't sure how this was going to go.

The lines were long, but the kids stayed right by my side and were awesome. We got our food and while going in the movie door Noah went in first and Ryan ran into the corner of the door and hit her head and fell and started screaming, then Noah came back out to check on her and spilled some popcorn. So, there I was sitting in the hallway of the movie theater in a pile of popcorn with a screaming kid - I was doubting my decision at that point. Luckily, I was able to get them together and get them in right before the movie started. Ryan stared at the screen from the moment I got her in there until an hour into the movie. She sat in her own seat and ate popcorn and drank her water and was perfect. After an hour she stood up some, and sat in my lap some, but was never disruptive and never stopped watching the movie. I was shocked at how well she did. Noah was awesome too. He still hasn't got the whisper thing down, but other than that he was great. He laughed harder than I have ever heard him laugh. Then the main character died and he looked at me with big tears in his eyes and his lip out and said "momma, this is going to make me really cry". I was thinking surely they are not going to kill off the main character, so I took a chance and told him that he was not really dead and to just wait and see. Well, he did die, but luckily they made a new one (he was a robot) so then he looked at me and said he was going to cry now because he was so happy! :) He was really into this movie!

Saturday morning we had our family pictures. Those are always an adventure. Ryan was not wanting to take them, at all. Especially without Momma right there with her. Noah was the same way at age 2, so I know it will get better, so I just have to take what she will give us for now. We got more crying and pouting pictures from her than anything, but once the skittles came out and I got her to say she wanted a green one, it looked like she was smiling! So I would say "what color skittle do you want?" and she would say "greeeeeen" and we would all look and smile - we finally got a good picture! She loved throwing leaves outside and started loosening up a little once the session was over of course :) As promised, they both got their toy for taking family pictures - I am all about a good bribe :)

Greeeeeeen! ;)

The rest of our weekend was spent doing crafts, wrestling, watching Christmas movies, having a plastic food picnic in the living room, a dance off, doing puzzles, and eating Halloween candy (I swear that bucket will never be empty). The kids are at such a fun age for some weekends full of nothing but memories being made :)

Monkey see, monkey do :)

Best friends :)

Noah loves doing crafts :)

Halloween Weekend!

Halloween as a parent is one of the most fun times! Noah is at the best age for it and Ryan does anything Noah does so she was happy to follow along. On Halloween last year Noah told me he wanted to be a white tiger next year for Halloween. He stuck with that choice all year - but just to be safe I waited to order his costume until about 2 weeks before Halloween (yes, I pay for my kids costumes - I am not crafty so they can be whatever they want that costs $30 or less) :) I know my time is limited to pick the kids costumes for them so I wanted to pick something for Ryan to go along with a white tiger. It finally hit me - a ring leader/lion tamer! One of my friends had actually dressed her daughter as a ring leader for her second birthday and I was able to get the costume from her! It was perfect!

We started our night at Nathan's parents house showing off the kids costumes and getting Halloween goodies :) Noah doesn't eat candy so the banana and stickers that Meme put in his bag was perfect! We then went to my moms where we brought chili and we met up with all of my family to eat and go trick-or-treating. My mom lives in a subdivision so it is a perfect place to trick-or-treat. Noah doesn't like any kind of candy but he loves to knock on peoples doors and say "Trick-or-Treat" and "Tank ew" :) Of course Ryan was right behind him repeating everything he says :)

It was pretty cold so we only walked to the end of the street and then headed back to get ready to head home. Noah informed me I was the best mom ever and that he loved Halloween so I would say that it was a success.

Saturday morning I ran a 5k! It was my first one to run in 15 years - since I ran Cross Country in high school. I have been training using the couch to 5k app just to keep healthy and it seemed to work great.  I ran the entire time, never stopped or walked and never got a side pain. The turn out for the race was not huge, but perfect for my first race in a long time. I got 1st place in my age division and 2nd overall! I had ran the exact same route a few days earlier and it took me about 10 more minutes than it did on race day, so Nathan and the kids got to the race right as I was getting done (since I told him it would take me longer). He and the kids made me the cutest signs to hold up - they are the best :) I don't think I will be doing any more until the Spring, but hope to run a few more then. Maybe I have finally found a hobby besides raising kids ;)

We also made some Halloween cookies that day - it is the little things that get the kids so excited :)

Sunday after church Nathan said he wanted us to all get out of the house and spend some time together so we loaded up the kids and went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and then a little shopping :) The kids were good and we all actually got to eat our meals and Noah (who won't stop growing) got some pants that actually touch his shoes :) It was the perfect end to our weekend.