***OCTOBER 31st***

First things first....I'd like to wish my mom a very happy birthday today....on HALLOWEEN!!!

She's 54 years young today!

Not only is she my mom but she's also my best friend! 

She's always there for me when I need an ear and she gives THEE best advice!

Not to mention she's the best grandma to my two boys...who love her to death!! 

I wish her a happy day today and every day!!!

I took this picture Monday night after the football game (picking up Pierce's trucks) and the moon was awesome!  Looks like a spooky sky...perfect for HALLOWEEN!!!

I'm not a huge decorator for any other holiday but Christmas but I found some HALLOWEEN decor in my storage room so Pierce and I put it up!

 The kids LOVE the ghost lights!

This neat little Hawkeye ghost was a birthday gift from a friend a few years ago! 

 Table and window decor....

I hope you all have a great HALLOWEEN!

We plan to:)

Pictures to follow of BATMAN & SPIDERMAN!!

October Fun

Friday night we got together with our group that's going to Green Bay for the Packer game next Sunday.  We had a good night with great conversation and great food!!

I am so excited to get away for a few days (kid free!!) and have some fun!  Come on Friday:)

Saturday we went to my sisters for the Iowa game to to celebrate this princess' 2nd birthday!!

Happy Birthday to Miss Kadence!

It was a great day hanging out with family, eating good food and playing some cards!

The Hawkeyes could have made the day even better but they are struggling!

I am horrified and cannot get over the poor player from South Carolina who had his knee snapped Saturday.  I'm thankful to the halftime announcer who said "this image is very graphic..." so I didn't even watch.  Watching everyone elses reaction was bad enough for me.  My wonderful brother in law had to pause, rewind and watch it over and over....until my sister yelled at him!  My eyes and stomach cannot take that!

I pray he's okay and can make a comeback!

 Sunday we decided it was time to carve pumpkins!  The boys were really excited for the first 10 minutes then found better things to do! 

I think they were pleased with the final product...thanks to Travis!

We went simple this year:)

 We finally repaid the favor of getting Booed!

Pierce and I had a blast driving around being sneaky (or trying to be!).

Not sure all our victims know it was us but if they read this post they will:)

Busy, busy week ahead! 

Today I'm hosting a spray tan party here.  If any of you locals would like a $10 spray tan let me know!

Tuesday I'll be traveling for a spray tan party.

Wednesday is HALLOWEEN!!!!

Thursday I'll be packing for Green Bay (YAHOO)

Friday we'll be leaving for Green Bay (DOUBLE YAHOO!!) after work.

Hope you all have a great Monday!

Ah Shoooooot.....

I did it...

...I opened the Halloween candy:(

OOPS

Don't worry...it's not all gone {yet} but it's in a safe, safe place;)

You know..the place where your husband and kids will never look!

I thought I was doing good this year buying candy early.

I always wait until the very last minute and all the good stuff is gone.

Not this year...this year I stocked up on Target's $2.88/bag of GOOD candy!

The real hum-dinger of this lovely story...we're never home on Halloween to hand out candy!

We both go out with the kids up and down our street then to the 30 family members around town!

I could leave the candy sitting on the porch but that defeats my whole purpose!!

I guess I could go the day before Halloween and get the "not-so-good" candy for the porch;)

You'll have to stop to see!

Anywho....TGIF!

It's been a long (trying) week but I'm glad it's soon to be the weekend.

Cheers:)

Napping...No Longer:(

This sleeping beauty has decided napping is for the birds:(

I'm about to get selfish with this post...bear with me...

I have kids here all day...10 hours a day...5 days a week with daycare and then my own two....24/7 (obviously).  I really, really, really look forward to the quiet house for an hour or two in the afternoon.

I need that time to unplug and not speak (more importantly, to not repeat myself) for an hour!

Mind you..I also have an infant who cat naps and rarely ever naps with everyone else so I'm not 100% by myself....BUT this baby doesn't talk back!  I like our quiet snuggle time...every baby in my daycare has gotten this time!

So now my problem is Mr. Pierce!  I know he's four and should be getting out of his napping routine but I'm not ready to give it up!

We've never had fights at bedtime when he naps so I told myself we'll let him nap as long as he wants!

That time has come...he's just not tired at nap and when I make him lay down he's up 6-10 times saying it's taking too long, he has to pee and every other excuse in the book.

Now I'm constantly telling him to be quiet, sit still, stop talking...all because EVERY single room of my house is occupied with napping kids (including his room!).  I can't send him anywhere...

I was sending him outside but it's too muddy this week.

I need some ideas for him!  I've had him play Candy Land, Leapsters, color, finger paint, play-doh...but all seem to get too loud and he ends up getting in trouble...because he woke someone up!

It's making me a little cranky because I'm not getting my down time (insert selfish part here).  Not to mention this kid asks 500 million questions a day!

I've dealt with kids not needing naps in the past with other daycare kids but they all listen to me...Pierce does NOT!

I realize this complaint of a blog will not win me mother of the year but lets be honest, I lost that a long time ago;)

I love my kids to death and I'm just trying to be a better person (and not so cranky) for them!!

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated...and please no judging.  I already know I'm extremely lucky to be with my kids 24/7 and I'm even luckier that I get to answer his 500 million questions.....in one day;)

Weekend Recap...

Friday we celebrated a birthday here in the daycare...Ella turned 3:)

Her mom loaded the kids up on cupcakes and juice boxes!

The kids loved it and were jacked up on sugar!

The last few weeks we've started a Saturday ritual with cinnamon rolls!

The boys could not wait for them to get done!

I have to admit...they were pretty fantastic:)

I'm trying new things with my hair.  I just want a little curl so I bought a new curling iron.  Not sure this was the exact look I was going for...but there was no changing it once I was done!

I'm really thinking about cutting my hair like this again!  I really love short hair...it's easy to take care of and you are forced to actually "do" your hair everyday!  I'm still debating....

Saturday night we had GNO at Gus' in Coralville.  The Hawks looked terrible but that didn't ruin our night!  It was a great time and we need to do it more often!

We had lots of family time this weekend....celebrating Taylor's 7th birthday and then my in-laws 35 years of marriage!

Here are Makenna and Pierce in their Hawkeye gear:)

Saturday I celebrated 4 years of my daycare opening!

Seems like yesterday when Pierce was 9 weeks old and I was starting this new journey!

I've been completely blessed to be home everyday with my kids and providing care to others!

Happy Monday to all of you!

**UPDATE**

I've had a few people ask me how I make my cinnamon rolles (I also posted this on Facebook).  I have no secrets and I'll be the first to tell you I buy Rhodes frozen cinnamon rolls.  You let them rise overnight and bake them for 15 minutes the next morning!  Super easy!

Cheers....

.....To the frick'n weekend:)

And Happy Friday to me:)

I made these bad boys yesterday!

While pregnant with Pierce I used to finish off a pan of scotcharoos in a week!  I got really burned out on them and haven't had them for a while!

I decided it was time to reunite:)

AND NO...I'M NOT PREGNANT!

I actually haven't made them because Cash has the darn peanut allergy.  I figured how rude of me to make a pan of these delicious things and try to explain to a 23 month old why he can't have any!  That's way too mean!

BUT....one of my sister-in-laws told me to try all natural peanut butter but I've been hesitant..for obvious reasons...you know the whole breaking out in hives and throat closing thing just really scares me!!

Cash had an appointment Tuesday afternoon (diagnosed with bronchitis) so I decided we were going to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.  Something this daycare hasn't seen for a while!

I decided it was okay to try because he was already heading to the doctor anyway!  Don't judge my logic;)

To my surprise he was completely fine!  No signs of hives or throat closing!  YAY!!  I'm so glad but I was also kind of like WTH?!

Anyway...I figure he's good to go with all natural peanut butter so I whipped up a batch of scotcharoos!

WE.ALL.LOVE.THEM.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

I know I plan to...GNO Saturday night for the Iowa/Penn State game...HOLLA!

TGIF



New Phone....

As I mentioned in an earlier post I got a new phone (long time coming!!).

I'm having fun learning all about it....although I feel like learning everything will take a decade!

I'm sure it will come with time....but since I've had it this is what's going on over here.....

I made this collage with PicsArt app:

Travis was at a continuing education class for the fire department and entered a drawing.

Turns out he won and scored the W'Burg Fire Department $500!

[Wish he was that lucky when it comes to winning money for us.]

Anyway..he had to have his picture taken so we got to go to the fire station!

The boys love it when we go there!

I turned it into play-time with my phone!

 I'm having tons of fun playing with my wallpaper!

My sister told me about an app called Zedge (I'm sure you're all thinking geez Kim...get with the times!) but I'm just learning about it and loving it!

They have free wallpapers, live wallpapers, ringtones, notifications and games....we're talking like 604,000 different types!!

That's where I found this beauty!

And during the Iowa game Saturday I may or may not have turned my text notification to "wet fart" just to laugh hysterically every time it went off.  Don't worry..I wasn't the only one with tears in my eyes...my sister loved it too!  The kids also had a blast!

I made sure to change that back before we went shopping and out to eat Sunday;)

 Another wonderful thing is the kid apps!  I made sure to download some of those first!

I now find myself fighting Pierce for my phone...

Although it came in handy while eating out at Buffalo Wild Wings Sunday;)

Cash is till trying to learn the ropes of the phone!  He's got a heavy finger and somehow gets it back to the homepage and away from his game!  That turns into him crying because his game ended!

We're working with him!

If any of you have apps you cannot live without I'd love to hear about them...for the kids or me!

Ladies volleyball tonight!!  YAHOO:)

Happy Hump Day!!

Happy Birthday to my BIL Chad!

Hope you have a great day:)

Mission: New Clothes

As I was going through the boys' closets I realized Cash is in desperate need of clothes!

I went to my go-to-gal when it comes to good deals and sales...my sister!

She actually suggested Garanimals from Wal-mart.  I told her I've tried looking there before and they're always picked over (at least the boys anyway!).

She said to go online and order them!

So I did:)

I was looking for a 2T and all they had was 24 months and 3T.  I didn't want to go with 24 months because I knew if they fit him now, they wouldn't last long!

I went with the 3T....and to my surprise they fit him perfect!

{he's only 22 months old}

So what if I have a chunky kid....he's 100% healthy and happy and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Here are some outfits I got him....

I got him 16 pieces of clothing for $80!!

AND....shipping was only 97 cents!

I was super pumped about all that!

If you're looking for cheap, cute clothes your kids can wear everyday go here!

The crappy deal in all this....I ordered him all these clothes because the next hand-me-down Rubbermaid  from Pierce was all 3T and I didn't think it would fit Cash.

I was wrong...

He now has a closet busting at the seams....BUT I don't feel too bad considering the deal I got!

Hopefully Travis doesn't read this;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to Uncle Bubba

[my brother Jacob]

We hope you have a great day!!

Happy Tuesday All!

Perfect Sunday!

It all started off.....with Cash and I sleeping in to 11am!

I'm ashamed to admit it but yes...I was super lazy and slept the day away!

Not sure why he slept so late but it might have something to do with the rain and being darker outside!

After we got up we decided to make a trip to Iowa City for groceries and odds and ends!

We weren't the only ones who had shopping on our minds!  Good lord there was a lot of people out!

I had the best check-out girl ever at Wal-mart....she was super speedy and I made sure to comment on that!  She said I wasn't the first to compliment her:)  I'll be looking for her next time I'm there!

We had a late lunch (ya know...because we slept in!) at Buffalo Wild Wings. We watched a few quarters of NFL then headed back home...for naps:)

Cash took a 2.5 hour nap!  I hope this isn't the start of him getting sick...  I'm thinking growth spurt!

Pierce is *STAR OF THE WEEK* this coming week so we sat down and filled out the papers and picked out pictures:

Travis and I had a good laugh.....

What are some interesting facts about me:

Pierce: "I love riding my bike, I love gardening, I love playing with my little brother Cash, I love farming, my daddy is a firefighter, I love wearing my cowboy boots and my best friend is Rogan!"

Here are some of my favorite things:

Book- Batman

Food- Casey's pizza and chicken nuggets

Toy/Game- Hungry Hungry Hippos

Movie- Toy Story 3

Color- Red

The best time I ever had was when- I got to ride in a fire truck with my dad!

Someday, I want to be a- Firefighter (DUH)

If I could have one wish, I would wish for- 2 more wishes;) (he seriously said this and my jaw dropped...smart kid!)

**********************

We ended the night with chips and dip and watching the Packers! 

I hope you all had a perfect Sunday as well!

Have a great week!

Friday, Friday, Friday!

There goes another week!

Last Friday I was hand delivered a letter from the city saying our water will be shut off on Tuesday, Oct. 9th.  I came to the conclusion that I could not do daycare without water so I called my mentor (Kay) to see what she would do.

She offered her house for all of us!  I asked all my daycare families if that would be okay and everyone was fine with it!

So...on Tuesday I actually had to get up, get ready, get my boys ready & fed and get out of the house!  I never have to leave in the mornings so it was a test for all of us!

Anyway...all the kids were awesome and the day flew by!

Not going to lie...I really enjoyed the adult conversation....and no mess in my house!!

Here's Kay doing craft with the kids.  I was in charge of the babies...and the camera;)

Wednesday Pierce woke up all excited because his daddy was bringing the fire truck to his preschool!  He couldn't hardly contain himself before school! 

The bus picked him up and I heard him yell at the bus driver..."Marcia..my dad is bringing the fire truck to my school today!"

I asked Travis to take the camera but of course he said no!  I would have loved to of seen pictures:(

Travis came home before going off to work and I asked how things went.  He said the kids were not allowed in or on the fire trucks and Pierce was having a hard time with it.  He's used to being in them. 

So of course there was a fit!  Travis had to escort him back into preschool and Pierce had another fit when Travis left. 

It was supposed to be a good day but ended on a bad note!

The good news....Pierce was still super excited when he came home from preschool! 

He got off the bus and looked like this....

Wednesday night Travis took the boys to my grandma's farm and helped my uncle Pat. 

Pierce rode in the combine for 3 hours and Cash rode with Travis in the straight truck.

Pierce likes to ask a lot of questions so I'm sure Pat wanted to kick him out after 20 minutes but Pierce had the time of his life and won't ever forget it!

Pierce calls him uncle "Pap" and I bet we've heard "Pap's" name 100 times since!

{AGAIN...I ASKED TRAVIS TO TAKE THE CAMERA BUT HE DIDN'T!}

He was grinning ear to ear at bedtime telling me all about his ride and then said he wants a combine for Christmas!

He woke up Thursday and was playing tractors with the daycare kids and Pierce was "Pap" the whole time!

So cute!  I love, love, love having family so close for opportunities like this!

It's safe to say Pierce had an awesome week!

I hope you all did as well!

Cheer to the freak'n weekend:)

Weekand Recap...

We had a nice relaxing weekend!

The last half hour of daycare on Friday I let the kids play Hungry Hungry Hippos!

They love it, of course, but it is the loudest game and not always one of my favorites!!

I only let them play because it was Friday...AND I had a parent bring me a 6 pack of my favorite beverages! 

I knew I had something waiting for me at 5o'clock;)

Travis helped his dad Saturday morning and the boys were driving me bonkers (I was trying to go through closets) so I let them finger paint!

They loved it...but thank God it only lasted about 15 minutes! 

Along with HHH, this is not my favorite thing to let them do;)

We had a birthday supper at my parents Saturday night.

Cash loves his Aunt Mimi (Amy) and she can't say no to him asking her to read one more book...sucker;)

The kids helped Grandpa open his presents!

My sister started telling ghost stories and the boys could not get enough!

They asked Grandpa over and over to tell ghost stories! We had to tell Grandpa to tone it down a bit and make it kid friendly!

In this picture we set up for the shot and in the middle of it I screamed really loud...this is what we got;)

My mom is famous for getting the kids matching shirts for every holiday!  My sister and I realized she didn't do it last year for Halloween but this year they got two....my mom found them from last year in her closet;)  We all had a good laugh with that!

I love, love, love this picture of Pierce & Kahne!

More ghost stories.....again, Dad...they are 4 years old!!  No more stories about the guy who lost his arm by a chain saw!

And then we got Boo'd!

Travis got called out to a fire at 5:50am Sunday morning.  He left in a mad dash and left our bedroom door open.  Around 6am I heard three knocks on our front door!

I was freaked out!  I was scared someone was in our house and I was sure as heck not getting out of bed to check the door!

Well...later that morning I opened the front door and saw all this!

We still don't know who did it but they sure were trying to be sneaky at 6am on a Sunday!!

We will be paying it forward:)

Sunday afternoon I went to USCellular in Iowa City and got myself a new phone!  I got the Samsung Aviator and I'm a little overwhelmed!  I'm not much for new phones and learning everything..that's why I had pictures on my old phone from when I was pregnant...with Pierce!  OOPS;)  I guess you can say it was about time I got a new phone!  I've spent the last few nights trying to learn everything!  I'm excited to FINALLY have internet on my phone!

Our home internet went out Friday night.  I called Windstream Saturday morning and they said they would have someone look at it.  Obviously that didn't happen because come Monday morning we still didn't have it!

I called again and got things figured out!  I talked to the guy at 9am and they had a technician here by 10am changing our modem! 

I'm a bit of a freak with our internet so I made sure he knew it was an emergency...my job depended on it;)  He doesn't have to know I don't need the internet...I just want it;)

So...that's why my weekend recap is so late;)

Happy Tuesday all!

Hello Friday!

Another week has come and gone....is it me or is time flying?! 

I guess the saying is correct....TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN!!

 I took this picture of Pierce the morning of his school pictures.  He was watching cartoons and looked so darn cute I couldn't resist!  I'm just hoping his professional school pictures turn out just as good!

 These are the fun kids I get to spend each and every day with!  The baby is missing from the photo but she's fun too:)

[They just woke up from nap so they don't look too excited but they love it here;)]

 Like father...like son!

 Love me some Cash snuggle time!

[I was spray tanned and hadn't showered yet...I look a bit darker then Cash!]

 Dr. Cash...has a nice ring to it:)

Carrots from the garden....HUGE!  I stuck the bananas in the picture so you can see actual size!

The husband chopped and canned all of them!

Happy Birthday to my dad!!  He's 56 years young today!

He's the best dad and grandpa a girl could ask for! 

Both my boys think he walks on water!!

Also, Happy Birthday to crazy uncle Austin!!

Wishing you both a day full of all good things!!

Have a great weekend!

**TGIF**