This school year has been crazy busy...already. Not only at school, but also at home. I am more of a busy body though. I like to go and explore/be adventurous/have a good time. So, usually the organized "chaos" is something I somewhat enjoy. That was until last week. My schedule lately has been getting up at 4 am to make it to school to coach the dance team by 5:45 am, have a full day of work, tutor after work, come home and be Mommy, and then bed time. I have a difficult time not trying to give everything 100%. So, needless to say MEA break last week was very much needed and appreciated. My mom and dad watched the boys Wednesday night so Andy and I could have some time together and then I had a dentist appointment Thursday morning. After that, the boys and I dug into break full force. We were busy, but a different busy. It was fun stuff. Stuff we chose to do.
On our MEA break we...
...made Halloween sugar cookies.
Which is actually a three day process for us. Day 1-Make the dough, Day 2-Cut them out and Bake and Day 3-Frost and Decorate (The boys' favorite day) Although I love the boys to death, I don't believe I will be serving these to anyone. It was more of the process than the product.
A long family tradition, my cute little white-nosed chefs!
...cleaned out closets.
The boys are growing so fast! Aiden is right about ready to switch into 24 month clothes and Alex 5T clothes. Just recently Alex has shot upwards and been complaining about his legs and arms hurting. I am guessing he is growing. So, we spent a whole afternoon/evening emptying out their closets and drawers and making a list for Carters. We are so happy to have saved bins of clothes for the boys, so Aiden gets all the hand-me-downs. I don't feel too bad for him as I don't even think Alex wore half the clothes there are so many. I have a difficult time throwing away anything and have still held onto the 'baby' clothes...we'll see. It is bittersweet for me to watch the boys grow because I want them to be my babies forever and I know this part of life is only temporary.
All of these clothes are Aiden's 18 month clothes. The piles were never ending on mine and Andy's bed.
...had a movie night. Andy was working late and the boys and I curled up with blankets, popcorn & goldfish (our own sort of trail-mix), water, and Robin Hood. Aiden quickly fell asleep for the night and Alex didn't miss a moment of the movie.
...had all our meals together!
It doesn't sound like much, but I love breakfast. It is my favorite meal to cook and the boys are absolutely so much fun in the morning. On this particular morning, Aiden had four home made waffles! What can I say? The boy knows how to eat!
...Did crafts together!
Alex loves his projects and his new favorite thing is cutting out shapes, etc... So, I used Pinterest and found a couple of fun Halloween projects. Trust me, he was all about it! I cut out the shapes for Aiden, but he helped glue them on.
...went to dinner with family!
We love our weekly Friday night dinner dates with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Andersen, Grandpa and Grandma Johnson, and sometimes Uncle Luke too! We go somewhere different each week, this week we headed to Porter Creek in Burnsville. One of my new favorites! We even got a table right by the fire place. This was our last Friday for the year as Great Grandpa and Grandma are headed back to Florida this week. We love having them around, but completely understand why they would want to be in Florida. At the end of dinner, we walked them to their car and the boys gave them big hugs and kisses and they each told them "I love you". Even Aiden. Even on their own, without any prompting from myself or Andy. We will miss you, Grandpa and Grandma!
...Went to Barten Pumpkins in New Prague
We have gone to this pumpkin patch since Alex was a baby and I was not planning on going this year. We grew our own pumpkins and we didn't need anymore. Just look at the front of our house! But, Alex remembered and that made me happy. Andy was working on Saturday morning and the boys and I had some shopping to do anyway, so we headed over to the pumpkin patch to get a couple of little pumpkins. More than anything, they love to just see all the pumpkins. We walked around, played and tried to find the BIGGEST and smallest pumpkins we could see. They each got to pick out two little pumpkins to take home. I'm glad we went.
...went to the Minnesota Children's Museum.
We caved last summer and bought a membership. If we go three times a year (which has easily been done), it pays for itself. We went to dinner at Chili's first where my little man tried getting his first kiss from Little Ms. Emily. It didn't happen. Then we headed up to the museum at about 6pm. It was dead. We had the whole place practically to ourselves and got to run around and have a great time playing dress up, visiting a castle, playing in the tot center, with the bubbles & water, blocks, community center and so much more! It was a fun night, indeed!
I'm really surprised we didn't get kick out we were having so much fun! Our MEA break was so much fun. We also took a fun shopping trip to the Medford Outlet to visit Carters and Children's Place, we read books together, built castles out of legos and Lincoln Logs, took long baths until their fingers were wrinkly, played on their bikes, went to the park, decorated more for Halloween and watched morning cartoons together. What we didn't do was work. We enjoyed our time together, but we were busy. How can you not be busy with a one and three year old?
