Tea Parties, Trains and sand tables

I'm telling you that life is just too busy! I have no time to blog lately. Last weekend we were really busy. On Saturday Madison and I and her Grandmas went to the cutest tea party. The first part of the tea party was a little fashion show for dolls! Madison got to stand up in front of the room with her doll. The presenter told everyone the name of Madison's doll, what the doll was wearing and a special story about the doll. Madison brought her swim baby to class. She named her Emerson after a good friends daughter and Madison's baby can swim in the water by herself. Then Madison walked down the middle aisle. She did great! She actually stood in the front of the room all by herself which is huge! Then we went and had punch and some super yummy cookies! I ate way more than I should have =) They also did a raffle and had a TON of stuff to give away! Since I paid for everyone to go to the tea party the Grandmas paid for some raffle tickets. Madison kept asking me when she was going to get a toy. I explained to her that we needed to have a winning ticket and we may not win anything at all. But she did end up winning a very cute doll! The doll has a china face and hands and feet. As I am telling Madison shed needs to be very gentle with it she is twirling it around by the arm! LMAO! We really had a great time! Thanks Erin!!

Sunday we went to the Day out with Thomas the train. It was a lot of fun but it was COLD! We were in no way dressed appropriately! Winter hats and gloves were needed and we had neither. Both kids had colds and were feeling a bit off but still had fun. We got to ride on Thomas. Madison was as good as she always is and Cooper was very entertained for the ride. When we got back we did pictures with Thomas and then the kids did a bunch of the free activities that they had there and then Grandma and Grandpa said that they could both pick out a toy from the tent. So Madison got a Thomas the Train bubble blower and Cooper got a Thomas the Train boat for the tub. But I'm pretty sure that the favorite part of the day was when we pulled into McDonald's for lunch and it ended up being one of those play place ones. Madison's eyes got huge and she says "wow, I'm not hungry anymore. I want to play!" So they pretty much didn't eat but the rest of us got to relax and eat! Hopefully next year it won't be so cold and we can stay longer.

Madison got this sand table for her birthday. When I opened it it was EXTREMELY small. It took a 1/4 bag sand to fill both sides. But it was working. Until the kids leaned on it and the legs popped off. So after this happening 5 or 6 times I left it on the ground and they just sat on the ground to play with it. But my MIL was not happy that she paid $60 for a toy that doesn't stay together. She called Toys R Us and they wouldn't do anything because we didn't have the receipt anymore. She then called Little Tikes and they told her that people had complained about this happening and their recommendation is to place it on a flat surface and don't let the kids lean on it. Um yeah, so basically don't play with it and it won't fall apart! I ended up picking up this sand table for the kids and LOVE it! It is exactly what we wanted. My MIL is still working on getting a refund for the other table. Fingers crossed!!

Sweet Silence

Last weekend Ryan was out of town and next weekend he is going out of town again. From the end of April through mid June Ryan is out of town every other weekend. So I told him I needed a break this weekend. And by break I meant going to the grocery store by myself =) But Ryan decided I needed a real break and asked his Dad to take the kids today and also have them spend the night! So I dropped them off after breakfast and the rest of the day has been mine! I stopped at the mall (because who doesn't go shopping when they are all alone?!) and found these shorts. They are super comfy and have a wider leg on them! I sat in the food court and had lunch and read a little bit of a book I had just picked up from the library and then I stopped and had a reeses pieces sundae that was YUMMY! What do you want to bet that I gained back those 5 pounds I lost last month! I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow!!!!! And then Ryan and I are heading out to breakfast before we pick up the kiddos.

Madison was so excited when she got up this morning! She could not wait to leave for Grandma and Grandpas. I dropped the kids off and they didn't even look at me as I was leaving, they were having too much fun already!

It is strange to not have the kids with me! I usually only go out 2 times a month. One night Ryan and I go to a wine tasting and another night I go scrapbooking. Except for this week! This past Wednesday Ryan and I went out to dinner and then met up with his 4 wheeling friends for drinks (I didn't get to bed till 12:30am!!) and then last night Renae and I went to the Olive Garden for dinner and then went and had pedicures! So relaxing =)

I'll update after the weekend, it will be a busy one. Tomorrow Madison and I and her Grandmas are going to a Tea Party and then on Sunday we are taking the kids to the Day out with Thomas the Train and they are so excited that they get to take a train ride!! I can't wait to see their faces =)

I'm missing the kids already but the alone time is nice also.

Another shooting

Today there was a suicide at the local High school. The school that is 15 minutes down the road from us. We live in a small town and you think that something like that could never happen here. It scares me to death to know that a child was able to walk into school and kill himself in the bathroom. He had a modified shotgun with 30 rounds of ammunition and 2 Molotov cocktails. Thankfully no one else was harmed. But what was he doing with all of that stuff?? I am seriously afraid for the kids to go to school someday. School should be a safe place not a place where kids shoot each other or themselves. Condolences to the family that lost their son today.

The big day

Today was Dawn's due date. Today is the day that they should have happily been holding their healthy baby. Instead it has been almost 8 weeks since Shana died. The death of a newborn is different. People don't want to say anything to Tim and Dawn about Shana dying but obviously a baby was born. A baby was held. A baby was loved. A baby was lost. If Shana had been a week old or a month old you wouldn't hesitate to say I'm sorry for your loss. But since she never came home it is almost as if people don't want to acknowledge that loss. My advice to you if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of knowing someone that lost a baby at birth. Acknowledge that they were born. Tell the parents you are sorry for their loss. Acknowledge that a baby was born because her life is meaningful.

Spring Break

Last week was our spring break and it was awesome! The weather was perfect every single day. The kids and I had so much fun and were really busy all week. Monday Madison had gymnastics and we went out to lunch and then spent the afternoon playing outside. Tuesday we went to Jump Club and the kids had so much fun! It is smaller than Bounce it out but in a way there is more to do at Jump Club. At bounce it out there are about 12 bounce houses total. At Jump Club there are only 4 bounce houses but there is also a climbing/sliding apparatus and a toddler play area. The kids played for almost 2 hours at Jump Club whereas at Bounce it out I'm ready to go after about 45 minutes. JC was better suited for Cooper as well. Then we spent the rest of the day at a park near out house with my friend Renae and her daughter. Wednesday I asked Madison if she wanted to go to the museum. She wanted to go to the mall instead. She is so my daughter!! We ended up at Build a Bear and Madison made a cute pink monkey and Cooper picked out a panda. The rest of the day was spent outside. Thursday was going to be our quiet day. Cooper had a little music class but we also ended up at the bank and Home Depot for shelves for the garage. I'm tired of all the bubbles and buckets and stuff all over the garage so now everything is nice and organized! And of course the rest of the day was spent outside! And Friday we went to the zoo. This was Cooper's first time going to the zoo (not really he went last summer but he was too little). He loved it! He walked the entire zoo and kept saying more animals more animals!

Spring break was so nice and relaxing! I can't wait for summer! Last summer Cooper was so little and crawling and Madison would want to go to the park. I avoided the parks because he was crawling and eating grass and dirt and whatever else he could find! But now he is climbing the slides and playing right beside Madison and I just can't wait for a nice unscheduled relaxing summer. I bought us season passes for the water park near our house, we will also hang out at the beach and all the parks! Is it summer yet!?!

The only one

I have been avoiding writing this post because I am MAD! So so MAD! Last weekend Madison had a birthday party to go to. A few weeks before the party I called my friend and left a message saying that Ryan was not going to be home the day of the party and I was going to bring Cooper and to let me know if that was a problem. She called back and left me a message saying that she wasn't sure what she was going to do with her other child (why wouldn't she be at the party??!! It's at their house!) but if I HAD to bring Cooper than that would be ok. She would rather that I brought Cooper than have Madison not be able to come to the party.

After the kids played for a while it was craft time. These foam crowns where you put the sticker decorations on. All the kids sat at the table and Cooper wanted to do it too since Madison was. I waited till everyone sat down to make sure that there was enough. There were two extra spots. So I let Cooper sit down. Halfway through the craft she says to me "oh, I didn't expect Cooper to do one. I might have to take that away from him, is that ok?". Huh? Did you seriously just say that to me? Would it be ok to take something like that away from your almost 2 year old?! So whatever, I just let it go.

At the end of the party the kids headed for outside to do a pinata. She brings out the goodie bags. Which happen to be full size buckets and shovels. Pink for the girls and blue for the boys. Madison goes up to get a bucket for her and Cooper. She gets the pink one handed to her. And she continues standing there waiting for one for Cooper until there are NO buckets left. Madison comes back over and says to me "Why doesn't Cooper get one?" As my poor little Cooper stands there and says "bucket, bucket, me bucket, me bucket" and looks at me with those big round eyes. He keeps asking about a bucket as he is the ONLY one standing there without one. My heart broke as I told him we would go to Target and get him his own bucket.

It isn't like it was a surprise that I showed up at the party with him. I called two weeks ahead of time. This is the same person that is chronically late. Also, when we had Madison's party I told her she was welcome to bring her younger child and to just let me know if she was so that I had enough food and stuff. She called to say she was bringing both kids with her. So I paid an extra $14 for her second child to come (which was perfectly fine) and I went out and bought more goodie bag stuff for her so she wasn't left out. Wouldn't you know she showed up at the party with only the one child. And I even sent home the goodie bag for the other one.

I think that this is the last straw......

Scrapbook Pages

Over the weekend I went scrapbooking and completed 55 pages!! I mentioned before that I use an awesome system from Creative Memories. It is called the power layout and I LOVE it! Here are some pages I got done over the weekend. Lisha this is just for you! Now you better return the favor and share some of your pages! I always need ideas =)