A Truck Race!

We have had so much fun these past few weeks.... here is what we have been up to!  First, Maddox has "Show and Tell" every Friday at school. On this particular Friday, he had pajama day as well.  He had to bring something for the letter "Q" (which was tricky to think of)..... so mommy said he could take a quarter (if he promised he didn't put it in his mouth!)..... I turned around and saw him balancing it on his nose as we were getting ready to leave from school Friday afternoon!  Thankfully it didn't end up in his mouth!

Linds and I completed our last long (10 mile) run before our half marathon.  Thankfully, we have had great weather and great times on our runs lately.  We have one more practice run before race day.... it will be here before we know it!

Two Saturdays ago (after the 10 mile run mentioned above), we took the boys bowling.  Zander has been asking to go for weeks and it just seemed like the perfect day to go.  The weather was still pretty cold outside and we are hopeful that spring temperatures will get us outside more in the future.  So we went for an indoor activity.  These types of days just make me smile...... to see the excitement the kids have when the pins get knocked over and to see how their daddy helps coach them to bowl on their own (giving them advice about where they should drop the ball, etc).  I love days like this!

I was able to chaperone a field trip with Z's class a couple weeks ago as well.  He really wanted me to go with him and I'm not able to make his field trip later this year due to a work meeting so I was so excited to have my travel buddy on the bus as we made our way to see the Cat in the Hat play! 

 Maddox loves bath time and I love messing with his hair! His favorite is the Mohawk!

 We celebrated Daddy's birthday with the Bakewell Bunch at a sit down Japanese restaurant.  Grammy brought cupcakes and everyone had a great time celebrating our favorite guy!

Zander had fairy tale character dress up day last Friday.  He went as Flynn Rider who heroically saves Rapunzel from the tower (we might have merged "Tangled" in there a bit so he could match his buddy, Mia, who was Rapunzel with her long hair)!  They are just too cute! :)

I got to take Zack out to dinner for his birthday.... a date just the two of us! :)  We were still at home in bed by 9:00!  We are such night owls! ;)

On Saturday, we gave our birthday boy a whole day to himself!  He rarely ever gets any "down time" between work and family responsibilities.... so I thought he would love a day where he could make his own schedule and even relax a bit!  I went with my parents to the Martinsville truck race and introduced our boys to racing fun!  We had the best weather, the best food and the best day!  We will definitely be back in the future! It was so fun watching the boys pick their favorite drivers and follow the trucks around the track.

When we got home from the truck race, Zack had a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me and a really sweet card.  It really was a great end to a great day!  Unfortunately, by bedtime, I was running a 100.5 fever and kept a fever until Monday night (it even got up to 102.9 with pain meds).  I went to the doctor on Monday morning for them to confirm I had strep throat.  My throat has never hurt so bad in my life!! I had to take two days off of work..... could barely talk and was not able to have solid foods for a couple days.  I am happy to report that thanks to a shot and doctor prescribed medications, I am on the mend!  Ironically, Zack got one day off of dad duty in exchange for three days on full time parent duty..... because mama was off duty (not by choice but by circumstance).  I am hoping to take it easy the rest of the week and be ready to tackle a half marathon in about a week and a half!  Prayers appreciated that everyone else in our family stays healthy!

My Two Front Teeth

We had so much fun last weekend visiting our family! We made a day trip on Saturday and coordinated the weekends so we could see our favorite nephew along with Aunt A and Uncle Jay!  First, we went to Grannie's and played inside.  Then, we grabbed lunch at ChickFila....a family favorite!  While Henry was napping, we painted with Grannie and then went to see Granny V, Paw Paw and Uncle Grant.  The boys were easily entertained by the Houstons in their fun game room!  After nap time, we went back to Grannie's so we could eat dinner and see GranDan.  It was a full day but it was also so perfect!

I got to see my favorite niece on Monday! Grammy picked up all three grandkids since the parents had work commitments.  I came home in time to feed the kids a "healthy" dinner of chicken nuggets, fruit and seasoned corn.  Fortunately, the kids ate their dinner and then it was time to get Zander to his first baseball practice of the season!  We are already getting prepared for weeks full of two or three day baseball commitments and are looking forward to spring-like temperatures as we watch our favorite ball player on the field!

 The boys got hair cuts this week!  We are definitely getting ready for spring!  You will notice in the first picture, Maddox's two front teeth are starting to turn a gray color.  As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, he fell at church, scraping his nose and bumping his teeth.  Well.... those teeth have started to show the effects of that fall!  I took him to the dentist on Tuesday for an x-ray.  Fortunately, the permanent teeth are still in tact.  At this time he will hold on to his two front teeth whatever color they are!  It makes for a good story for sure!!  He is definitely my "rough and tumble" boy!

 Everything is made better with ice cream! ;)

My parents celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary yesterday!  I am so blessed to have them in my life and so thankful for the marriage they have modeled for my sister and me.  Having now made it to a decade of marriage, I am celebrating with them each year of their relationship.  I know it is hard work and am so thankful that their love has stood firm no matter what the challenges may be. Happy anniversary to my favorite couple!

In Like a Lion......

Or maybe some other storybook characters!  We have had dress up days at both schools within the last few weeks so we are getting creative with costumes and enjoying all the fun of being "in character" for the day.  We have also continued to have a pretty brisk pace as we check off another month of 2019!  I can't believe it is March already and with the weather we are having right now, it is definitely coming in like a lion!  Zander is fascinated with this phrase right now and March 1st's weather was a clear example of this saying.... cold and wet!  We are bouncing between 60 degree days and then 40 degree days.  The rain has been pretty constant lately, causing us to ensure we have outside activities planned if we see a glimmer of the sun!  Here is what we have been up to!  I chaperoned a field trip with the K-2 students at our church last Sunday with Zander.  We ate yummy pizza and then went to a trampoline park which also featured a rock climbing wall.  We enjoyed jumping around and even made it to the top of the wall together!!  It was a first for both of us!!  We were supposed to do a service activity as well but the person had to cancel at the last minute due to sickness.  It was still a fun day with Zander and some of his church friends!

On book character day at our school, I was Fern from Charlotte's Web.  The office staff came together to each have a part within this beloved book.  Mom came early to french braid my hair, proving yet again that you are never too old to need your mama!  Zander was the Big Bad Wolf and his friend, Mia, was Little Red Riding Hood.  They even made the front page of the newspaper!

Maddox came to Zander's swim lesson on Thursday and we were all smiles knowing we had one more day of school/work for the week!  He did a great job watching his brother and cheering him on.  As predicted, my little daredevil would walk as close to the pool as possible..... just to give his mama a slight heart attack thinking that I would be jumping in with my clothes on to rescue my little swimmer!

We got new stools and I absolutely love them!!  They work better for the boys and are pretty sturdy for our crew!  I love the look as well!

 On Saturday, it was sunny!! After Linds and I busted out a 10 mile run, we headed to the science center.  We also fit in bike rides in the afternoon.  Thanks to daddy for taking the boys out to breakfast and grocery shopping while I went for my weekly run!  We skipped nap time (living life on the edge I guess!) to enjoy as much sunshine as possible!! We ended a perfect Saturday by celebrating the newest doctor in our family with dinner at Olive Garden!  We are so proud of Uncle Boomer (a.k.a. Dr. Kennedy) and can't wait to see him at his graduation in May!

Sometimes, you just have to stop on a bike ride to make a wish!! I love that this boy enjoys the little things! :)

 Uncle Zack entertaining the kids while we wait for dinner!

Today is Maddox's book character day to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday!! He is the cutest Cat in the Hat!  He absolutely loved getting to dress up this morning since he watched us dress up last week!  Its crazy to think that four years ago (tomorrow) I found out we were going to be a family of four!! I cannot believe how fast time is going by!  I want to soak up moments like I have included in this blog post!! They are only little once!