Our Valentines Weekend Recap PLUS Life Lately

It has been WAY TOOOOO LONG!

First I have to say that I am SO very sorry that I have been majorly MIA here...

I guess that I am NOT doing so hot with my blogging goals so far... does it at least count even a little bit that I DO think about blogging daily...even JUST a little?

Anyways...

As you can see life has been CRAY CRAY on my end... SO much has happened since I last left you with my hair-tastic post....

But lets start with a recap of our Valentines weekend recap shall we?

Friday night the elementary girls came through the door right after school all hyped up... of course because they had their bellies full of valentines candy and goodies from their annual valentines parties but also because this particular Friday meant Valentines Dance AND a the beginning of their three day weekend thanks to today being President's Day...

Friday afternoon I managed to cook dinner and get 4 VERY EXCITED and HYPED up girls ready for their BIG night of dancing...

Wonderful #epicfailrealization came later when it dawned on me I only got ONE out of FOUR of the girls' pictures after they were decked out...

WAY TO GO MOM!

Saturday was pretty laid back around here, we ran errands and went grocery shopping because we all  know how fun that can be...

Saturday night we lined up our kitchen table with Valentine goodies for our loves and on Sunday morning you would have thought it was Christmas in our house!

For our LOVES

From MY LOVE! 

 The rest of the day was filled with our wild child's drama and movies in between. 

So it was a typical day after the spoiling of gifts :)

Today all the kiddies are home and since it is wet and rainy out I plan on overhauling some rooms that are in desperate need of some deep cleaning with hopes the rain will let up long enough to get a photo sesh in for my sister and her babies...

As for where we have been?

Here is a quick recap... 

Prepare for pic over load!

Aaliyah had to have a tooth taken out on the fly... no more crowns for this princess! :)

We have been bargain shopping like mad over here :) 

We squeezed in a girls day!

 I am working on a new home decor project... which usually takes a day... has been a WEEK and counting :/

The hubby tried his FIRST ever cinnabon!

Of course I updated my chalkboard for Cupid's holiday!

 A friend of ours was murdered at the age of 20. He had just recently graduated from High School and had his WHOLE life in front of him... I have known Trevon since he was about 12 or 13 years old and he was like a son to me. My heart and mind has been very numb over the whole ordeal...

Trevon you will be missed dearly and never forgotten!

My prayers and thoughts are with his family and friends. 

I still HEART ipsy!

We are party prepping for Dakota's birthday next month!

A dear friend of Alora's is in the hospital. Today marks day 11...Prayers are with Aiden and his family

With a mild winter we have been able to get out and do some yard work as we work towards making our house our home!

There has BEEN SO much more happen here but I of course can't blog it all! 

What have you all been up too?

And the Theme Is...

If you stay and hang out with us here on the blog for any length of time you will come to find out several things about me.

#1: Birthdays in this house is a HUGE deal!

#2: I plan for these things WAY in advance...

Perfect example... I have the theme picked out for 2 of my daughter's sweet 16's ALREADY!

#3:  I tend to go OVER THE TOP for them and I REALLY don't care...

Growing up I was taught that each year you are given on this earth is a gift. A gift from God and should be celebrated. As a mom I couldn't thank my grandmother enough for giving me this knowledge to show and share with my children just how important their lives are not only to God but to me. This is one of the things that I hope they will pick up on and continue on one day with their own children. 

ANYWAYS...

As you may have guessed I have already been brain storming what the 2016 birthday parties will bring us and I can tell you that we are SET with themes for my three girls and I am EXCITED! 

Plus since my sister and her kids are here we get  more to plan and that makes me even HAPPIER and we are one shy of having them worked out. Once we do I will share them also. 

So without further ado...

Here are our birthday party themes this year!

HORROR MOVIES:

 My oldest turns 14 in March and to be honest I am SCARED TO DEATH! 

I think it is really the number that gets me but the knowledge of knowing the things that I did at 14 worries me too but that is another story we WON'T be going into :) but either way I am fearful. A TON has changed in a year and she is no longer Mommy's "baby" but a young woman and recently that fact hits harder and HARDER each passing day...

Dakota chose her party theme this year since I said no horror movies til she was 14 and she thought it would be great to make it a BIG deal and use her birthday party to do so.

Since I am SCARED to death of her growing up it fit well for us both. 

I am not a horror movie fan these days and refuse to watch them anymore but it is HER day and I am REALLY EXCITED to do this one...

GHOSTBUSTERS:

My youngest Aaliyah will be 9 in April and I am really unsure why she decided on this one but since I was a ghostbuster fan as a kid myself you can say I am kinda proud...

She has never picked a simple party for mommy so I love the challenge she gives me every year for her big day!

The hubby's bday is also the day before her so when she picks a unisex party like this it is easier for mommy to feel a little less guilty that daddy got the shitty deal of a birthday party that is well peacock themed like last years... 

I am grateful he is a good sport about these themes because LORD knows it takes a strong man to embrace pink, fairies, Minnie Mouse and peacocks as a birthday themes...

BONFIRE:

Alora ends our birthdays for the year in September and this year she graduates from the tween status and graduates to being a TEEN...

YES THAT IS 2 TEENAGE GIRLS IN MY HOUSE!!!!

Since her birthday is in the fall she opted for a bonfire themed party... 

and since we ALL LOVE bonfires you know I am game!

Ideas are running 90 to nothing in my brain and I am keep having to think about I still have A MILLION other things to worry about first.... 

Speaking of birthdays this weekend we get to celebrate my youngest nieces birthday with her Frozen aka Elsa Party! 

Stay tuned for more updates!

Which party are you most excited to hear more about?

 

Metal Mouth Madness: Checking in Round One

It is so hard to believe that today we had our first check up on Alora since getting her braces!

If you missed the post about that you can read and catch up on that here. 

As always I took a before the appointment pic...

You would think that they would be used to this... ugh...

The appointment went well and she is already moved up to a stronger wire... yay!

We are in hopes that the last few adult teeth that she needs to come in will honor us with their presence before her next appointment in March so we do not get behind on her progress. 

She was super excited she did not require the spring spacers again this time and that her appointment was super quick and she could make it back to school in time for choir class.

Along with the adult teeth coming in between now and March we are hoping they can finish adding all her brackets then and we again advance to another wire level. I know she is ready to see a difference and though she just got them on she is ready to beat her sisters time as a brace face...

In the mean time she was reminded about brushing skills and angling that toothbrush head to get around those brackets :)

YAY for a great visit and a new wire!

See you all in March with Checking in Round Two!

Our Weekly Forecast

Since we had a snooze-fest of a weekend this last weekend aka it was one of those weekends that are boring as shit nothing blog worthy happened, I figured it would be kind of fun to give you all a outlook on what my week has "planned" and I say planned loosely since they are more like things I NEED to REALLY do but if life allows it kind of way. 

I am not just a blogger but a mom, wife, in the process of starting revamping my own business along with the many other hats that mom's wear. 

This last week was tough on blogging since I had my youngest home sick the majority of the week and we all know when they are 8 they still WANT mommy. I LOVED being able to cuddle up and watch movies with her and just have that one on one time with her. I know all to well once they hit Middle School it is ALLLLL OOOOVVVVEEERRR!

Hints: My middle schooler is home today...

ugh!

This is the worst possible timing too, this weekend we are headed up to Omaha, Arkansas where my biological dad lives to celebrate an early Thanksgiving. So this week is cleaning house, tying up loose ends for What the Photography (my biz) and packing!

Plus due to a certain text message this weekend I will be rearranging MY ENTIRE house for something HUGE! More on this to come, and with this HUGE change it will mean more stories and my beautiful chaos will be more chaotic...BECAUSE everyone knows that is just want you NEED right before the holidays, but in all seriousness though my brain and stress has hit a WHOLE new level I am actually kind of excited for it. I am just not sure the hubby feels the same excitement. 

SO on to 

THE LIST

Today I had to go put my car in the shop and lets just say I HATE not having a car...

Then it was off to get the sick Alora, who of course thought she was dying... girls...

This afternoon I am running the neighbor kid across the street to an appointment he has for his mom and in between it is cleaning, blogging, dinner prepping and of course house rearrangement 101!

Dakota has a dr appointment in the morning  and those are my ONLY set things for now...

BUT

I NEED to...

Pack three kids and us for the weekend trip

Grab Christmas gifts for the weekend trip since we are merging them together

Plan our Christmas card photo shoot and maybe JUST maybe do it

Rearrange the house  

Get together my Christmas Card List

Pick out Christmas Cards

Square away our fur-babies sitter for the weekend

Clean House

Prep for Thanksgiving Break  next week 

and

Continue on my Website building for WtP!

That I am sure is ONLY the START! 

Our weather right now is cold wet and makes you want to lye in bed all day and sleep so that is just so VERY helpful... 

Anyways I am off to the kitchen so I can get something accomplished today... 

See you all tomorrow! 

{Hugs}

Sandra

Surviving Our First 9 Weeks

I have come to find out that the older you get the faster time seems to fly past you. 

It is SO HARD to believe that 2015 is thisclose to being over and not to mention we have already SURVIVED our first 9 weeks of school! 

Going into the 2015-2016 school year I was a ball of emotions ranging from nervous, scared, overwhelmed and so many more! 

This school year was a HUGE change over for us all. 

Not ONLY was I still working overnight; which meant that our girls were on their own in the mornings...EEK, but it was also the very FIRST time all of the girls would be separated and in a school of their own.

Here is the scoops

Dakota:

Dakota was headed off to 8th grade which here in Central Arkansas means Junior High.

I in which freaked out on this transition but I promise it was only on the inside... maybe :)

This school year she decided to drop band after playing the clarinet  for two years in Middle School and to say that my heart didn't break just a little would be a lil white lie... kids...

When we went to her open house she was super thrilled with her class line up and managed to get EVERY class she had wanted!

Here is her 2015-2016 work load: 

1st period: Honors Pre Alegbra (all 4 semesters)
2nd Period: Career Development (1st & 2nd semester)
2nd period: Art (3rd semester)
2nd period: Art (4th semester)
3rd period: GT (1st & 2nd semester)
3rd period: FCSI (3rd & 4th semester)
4th period Social Studies (1st & 2nd Semester)
4th period: Arkansas History (3rd & 4th semester)
5th period: PE (1st semester)
5th period: Health (2nd semester)
5th period: Computer Tech (3rd & 4th semester)
6th period: Pre AP English (all 4 semesters)
7th: Science (all 4 semesters)

Dakota so far has a pretty calm start to the year.
We did come to the decision early on in the school year though to have her retested and reevaluated for ADHD, when we made this decision her doctors decided to take her off ALL her meds and this was a HUGE change for us all. Especially her since she has been on meds since she was 5.
THANK GOD though her grades have stayed pretty decent considering...
Dakota decided that this was the year to start the dating scene and found her a sweet boy to help ease mommy into this transition.

These two have gone to the movies, ice skating, and roller skating TWICE!

Alora:

It is so hard to believe that this girl is already in 6th grade and in Middle School!

I have come to the conclusion though that when my kids hit this stage in life they become DRAMA queens and the brain that they DID have goes on vacation...

I can honestly say that I do not think that there has been one week that we did not have some sort of drama out of this kid... 

GIRLS! 

Here is her 2015-2016 work load:

1st period: Science

2nd period: Band 

3rd period: Social Studies

4th period: Advisory

5th period: PE, Music, PE, Art and then PE

6th period: Math

7th period: Social Studies

8th period: Language

Since I am a mean mom I require the girls to do one year in band and one with a foreign language  of their choice. Alora chose to play the flute (just like her mamma ;) ) this year in band. I had figured she would have loved this and I had HOPED she would love it... 

and so far we are at a bust...

I hope as time goes on she will learn to love it.

Her grades are not the greatest but I am helping her get it done. 

Since the school year has started she has joined softball, gone to her first dance, turned 12 and got braces! 

This girl is ALWAYS busy!

Aaliyah: 

Our sweet baby is in 3rd grade and it is hard to get over for this mamma!
She is lovin' the "independence" from her sisters!
Her grades are on point and she is ready for spring to make this mamma a soccer mom again.
She's gotten to enjoy her book fair and fall festival. She is super excited about her up coming Christmas performance at school.

This has been an interesting first 9 weeks but to say that I am relived that we have already gotten through it.

All three of the girls have just finished celebrating Red Ribbon Week at school and are looking forward to the holiday and snow day season!

Next week I will be sharing lots of tips and things that we do to try and at least keep up with these three!

Red Ribbon Week Celebration!

Last week at school the girls showed off being drug free with Red Ribbon Week.

 This week is always a blast and the girls ALWAYS look forward to it every year.

This year Red Ribbon Week also happened to fall on their 10th week of school so in a weird way it was kind of like a week long party for surviving those first 9 weeks!

Each of the girls had a different theme each day so keeping up with all of it was a chore in it's self and everyday after school was like a three ringed circus with Alora having her two BFF's over trying to to make sure that the outfits for the next day were JUST right and of course because Alora had her style team Aaliyah had to have hers over too! 

I beg of you to PLEASE forgive the shit photography skills with these pictures... my ancient smart phone  and I are not seeing eye to eye recently and my kids are not always the best shooting subjects at 6 am ;)

Monday October 26th

Dakota

Elderly Day

D wasn't able to think of a costume for the day so she skipped participating for the day. 

Alora

Red, White & Blue Day

In true "Mom of the Year" fashion my dumb ass FORGOT to take a picture!!!

smh... I am TOTALLY going to win this year I am telling you and what is so sad....

I am a photographer...

Aaliyah

Crazy & Miss-Matched Day

 I promise she didn't match. As a matter she wore her pajamas that day and I am just lucky enough she remembered to add some sort of bottoms to her outfit. 

Tuesday October 27th

Dakota

Miss-Matched Day

D was more into getting involved for this theme more than I excpected.

We all know teens are not always the best participants in things especially with school events. 

You know it can be considered "uncool" 

Alora

Nerd Day

This girl really pulled off the "nerd" look! 

Aaliyah

Super Hero Day

 I surprised her earlier the week before with this batman shirt JUST for this day. I saw it at our local Walmart for $7 and the fact that there was a cape attached I she HAD to have it! 

 She loved it SO much she even changed her Halloween costume to be bat girl!

Wednesday October 28th

Dakota

Future Career Day

Since she wore just her old elementary hoodie and jeans that morning I didn't think about taking a picture of her because I thought she wasn't participating in this day seeing her and Alora had an appointment that afternoon.

Come to find out...

She DID and her career choice was a teacher... 

way to go mom...

Alora

Elderly Day

Alora decided she was not dressing up since she did not want to look like an old lady going to her appointment later that day. She did however get some new bling that day and FINALLY got her braces! 

You can follow her journey with our Metal Mouth Madness series.

Aaliyah

Twinkie Day

We REALLY got lucky with this one! Her BFF lives across the street from us and they both happened to already own the SAME EXACT shirts! Me and her mom were about as excited as they were!

Thursday October 29th

Dakota

Maroon & Grey Day

So you would THINK that since Maroon & Grey ARE her schools colors and HAS been for the last 4 years she would own SOMETHING in these colors...

yeah

nope

SOOO needless to say we skipped this day too

Alora

Super Hero Day

So it is sad to say that Alora TOTALLY stole this shirt from Aaliyah to wear for her super hero day at school...

Aaliyah

Neon Day

Friday October 30th

Dakota

Hawaiian Day

Thank goodness for our Luau themed potluck a few years ago because it dang sure came in handy for her!

Alora

80's Day

Awww the 80's...
Do I need to say more...

Aaliyah

Panther Spirit or Sports Team Day 

 You know the saying you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl?
Well this apparently stands true for an Alabamian...
and an Auburn Tiger fan...

They are already excited for next years!

I would love to hear what crazy ideas your schools came up with for this weeks celebration! 

Halloween Weekend 2015 Recap

 

Another All Hallows Eve has come and gone and let's just say it was a CRAZY yet fun weekend here!

This last week every parent in Central Arkansas was eyeing the weekend forecast as we all begun to reach stalker status waiting and watching to see if our 100% chance of rain would disperse so we could enjoy our Halloween traditions without having to sport rain gear!

Friday afternoon Ant got off early so we decided to treat ourselves to a lunch date. 

When you have three kids getting a real date out of the house is like winning the lottery so we jumped at the chance and played our numbers!

We opted for one of our favorites the Dixie Cafe. 

 

If you are ever in the region where these are trust me and stop in for a bite to eat!

We love the family-friendly atmosphere and the food is always great. 

I opted for my favorite baked potato and salad lunch combo and Ant chose the hamburger steak with mashed potatoes and chicken and dumplings. Of course we both topped it off with the south's famous sweet tea!

 

While at lunch Ant and I decided we needed a relaxing evening since we knew as long as mother nature would be nice our Saturday would be JAMMED packed with all things Halloween. 

We opted for a quick and easy drive through dinner...

And of course to one of the best stores around Hastings to grab some movies to kick back too.

 

Our movie choices were Pixels, Southpaw and Max.

All were AMAZING choices in our book and have made our movies to buy wish list of course. 

We were only able to squeeze in Pixels and Southpaw Friday night since I was back and forth playing taxi for our daughter Dakota who had a date that night at our local skating rink.

 

Saturday was go go go...

In the afternoon we teamed up with one of the neighborhood families and joined forces as we celebrated the spooky holiday.

The first thing on our agenda was trick or treating at the Outlets.

 

 

 

The idea was great but I honestly have to say that I was kind of disappointed to find that this was not something all of the stores were participating in. 

I think that it should have been an all or nothing kind of deal but either way the girls all enjoyed themselves and that is what mattered. 

Since the trick or treating was held later in the afternoon we did our one quick lap and then it was a rat race to get dinner in, adult costumes on and the game plan set for the evening.

I totally cheated and surprised the girls with some hot and ready pizza pizza! 

  

Ant and I decided at the VERY last minute to join in the fun and dress up with the kids so we threw together our costumes maybe 10 minutes before hitting the block.

This was the FIRST year we have ever dressed up and I think it is something we should do again... now if Ant will agree....

 Ant opted to squeeze into my dad's old firefighting gear and I threw on some make up to make it look like I was dressing up...

Maybe next year we will get it together!

 

We had our plan figured out and it was time to get our trick or treatin' on!
Round one we made the trip close to home before venturing off further.

This was the loot after our first round!

We decided for round two we would pile the kids young and old alike into the truck. 

Our neighborhood in mind was a few miles down the road so we stopped and hit an extra neighborhood on the way.

The kids were super excited to reach our final destination. It is a neighborhood that I have taken my girls to for the last three years. They always do well there and most importantly they are safe.

Our final candy count!

The nights fun ended with a sleep over and a little movie

 we all call Hocus Pocus 

and a very worn out Mom and Dad.

Sunday was ALL about relaxing and doctoring our sugar hangovers. 

We de-halloweened the house and put all the decor into the attic.

We got the chance and watched Max and enjoyed the peace and quiet the day had brought.

Sunday Ant and I also celebrated our dating anniversary and did absolutely NOTHING and really enjoyed it! 

What was your Halloween weekend like?