Weekend Recap- St. Patty's edition

This weekend was OHHH so needed.

First up, Friday, this guy had his last day of wearing glasses!

He had LASIK surgery.

His eyes are swollen a bit, and the doctor told him this is normal, but he should be good to go in 2 weeks. Apparently, the worse the eye sight, the longer the recovery.... and people, his eyesight was FAR from good. He's already seeing well close up, it's just distances that are blurry.

We attended PaP Pap's family gathering. It was good being together with his side of the family after losing him the week before. Thank you all for praying for NaNa, and Ryan's family. It means EVERYTHING!

We also had a holiday... and you know by now, that Coleman's love a reason to craft, decorate, and celebrate! So, Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Burke has this gene of mine... and well...he made his share of traps for the leprechaun. hahaha

The  next morning, Burke was the first one up (of course), and followed the leprechaun trail to his favorite find... the green tinted potty water ;), and a little leprechaun treat for he and sister. 

I used what I had on hand to set up a St. Patrick's Day breakfast...

complete with rainbow pancakes that little Miss helped her daddy mix up. :)

 Unfortunately, they were AWFUL... and made me grateful that we were headed to a family gathering where everyone brings their best dish and you leave feeling like you don't need food for a week. ha!

Despite the taste, they were pretty! :)

Ryan and I caught the kids snuggling on the couch post breakfast. :) They can be the sweetest to each other sometimes! 

 

We played outside for a good part of Saturday evening... it makes me wish for summer more than ever!

Sunday, after church, we came directly home to change, and headed back outside for a little family hike. 

The kids had so much fun!

Hylan Marie couldn't stop talking, laughing and giggling at every little thing of nature she encountered. (She especially had a fascination with the school of butterflies that had made themselves at home by our vehicle.) She has such a love for life, and enjoys the simplest things. I adore it.

She will tell you she loves you, your pretty, your a genius, or your her best friend at any given moment... such an ego booster. hahaha

I plan to freeze her at this stage. :)

It was a great time spent together. Some of the best times involve keeping it simple and costing nothing.

I so love my people.

St. Patrick's Day, Weekend Recap and Taxes

Those go hand in hand, right? Pot of gold... taxes. Yeah right.

Friday... (because I'm a believer Friday is the first day of the weekend) we made sure we had our green on and momma threw in a little bit of fun. The elementary teacher in me comes out every time. Being festive is my jam. I didn't take a picture of how the leprechaun left our house... but it looks much like last years. He always comes in through the window, leaves shamrock footprints, goes potty (Burke gets the biggest kick out of the green water. #boys), and leaves a little fun surprise.

This year, he left a note explaining that he left the kids coins from his pot of gold all throughout the house... but they had to find them! Burke had so much fun. The best part was when he would discover the chocolate pieces of gold intend of the "real gold coins." He would shout, "That Leprechaun tried to trick me again!":)

Special rainbow breakfast for my littles... complete with the ultra healthy Lucky Charms and green milk. :) At least the fruit balanced it out, right? ;)

No pinching for these two!

The next day, Ryan's awesome firm volunteered to help with the farmhouse (that was damaged terribly during a storm two weeks ago). They were so much help!

 So once he got back that evening, we got ready and headed out for a bite to eat at Harvey's. 

Funny story... Burke has recently taken an interest in picking out some of his clothes. He saw this one at Buttons and Bows last week, and had to have it because it had bicycles on it. So hipster. :)

Dessert was her favorite part. :)

The next day... Sunday!

(We may have worn the same thing to church... I mean, if you are a kid, wear something less than two hours, and somehow magically refrain from spilling anything on yourself... it's a miracle and you celebrate by allowing your momma to not have to do extra laundry. Amen?)

Plus we needed to dress down for the day... we would not be coming home till late that night, because it was TAX day in Cullman for us. :/

Fortunately, that was the most fun tax day- EVER.

 We had to leave right after church to get the kids to my parents in time for us to get to our appointment, that was another hour away... but church ended early, and we got to our lunch destination in Birmingham before they opened! Ryan wanted us to try hot chicken at Hattie B's and oh.my.goodness.

That was a first for me, and it won't be my last.

The mac&cheese (not shown) was to die for.

Ryan and I split a chicken a waffle plate and the kids split a kids meal. It was perfect!

We got to my parents house in plenty of time to visit with my grandparents for a bit and check out my dad's latest toy. :)

Then...  said our goodbyes to the kiddos for the night (they would be staying the night and return to us the next day) and headed to everyones favorite spring activity- TAXES.

It's a good thing we LOVE our accountant. Seriously sweetest lady ever!

Heading through Bham we decided to have an impromptu date night and see Ryan's favorite movie- Beauty and the Beast. :) 

It was soooo good. Highly recommend!

We got home around 9:30 and I watched an episode of This is Us. (TEARS!) I only have the finale left and I will be all caught up. If you are not watching this one... you need to start asap. So good!

I was able to do a few things on my to-do list before picking up the kiddos in Birmingham today. It was a great weekend, even if we had to do adult things, like taxes.

Weekend Recap- with a little St. Patty's and Easter mixed in

Recap of late last week...

St. Patrick's Day traditions ensued....

Green milk, rainbow pancakes, and lucky charms. :)

We did not catch the leprechaun, but he once again left his mark by leaving the toilet water green... haha

(B gets a kick out of this!)

We were not pinchable ...

except maybe this face. xoxo

We left Burke, in all his green, and some festive rice crispy treats at school for the morning.

And while Burke was at school enjoying his St. Patrick's Day with friends, sister and I did a little cleaning of the playroom... and I found my bow stash... HIDDEN. 

Y'all, it's been over a month I've been looking for this container!

It was in the waffle blocks box,,, among Goofy and a Mickey instrument. 

grrrr....

Of course he redeemed himself by being sweet to sister. :)

The very next day, we prepped for an Easter Party at school. 

Yup, that's right... St. Patrick's Day and Easter, back to back. That's what happens when Easter is early and Spring Break is too I guess!

I BOUGHT the cupcakes for the party (if you really wanna know- they were St. Patrick's Day cupcakes and had the green rings on them... which I cleaned and sent the day prior... see rice crispy picture... #mommaisgood... #orcheap) and decorated them myself with a crushed Butterfinger and   some yummy mini chocolate bunnies!

And this girl got in the spirit with her new bow I made. It's so so cute in person!

Then Ree came to watch the kiddos for the rest of the day while I headed to Birmingham to take my Praxis... ugh... not sure that went well, but I rewarded myself non the less.

The kids had a great time with Ree. Egg decorating, puzzle playing, and much more went on while I was away. So thankful for her!

Saturday, my parents came down. My dad and Ryan went turkey hunting, while my mom was going to keep the kids while I headed to Atlanta for a baby shower... only Burke got sick twice during the night. :( 

I thought he had caught a bug... because just the day before he mentioned that a boy in his class threw up his lucky charms (which made me giggle-I won't lie), but that's all I kept thinking of as he was getting sick... is that he caught the St. Patrick's Day bug... that did not include a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

But nope- after sleeping it off he was absolutely fine.

If only I had known, I would have went. I was so looking forward to seeing my sweet friend Lisa and her baby bump!

Instead, we made the most of it, and did some more Easter egg decorating.

Then mom volunteered to help me fix our yard.

Yes, please!

Here is the before...

 Burke played in this hole FOREVER! He was really putting those yard tools to work!

We pruned, pulled, and planted for about 3 or 4 hours total. I'm pretty impressed with how much we did in such a short amount of time!

It's really sad that we hadn't done anything sooner... now that I know that mulch can make you feel like a million bucks... well... this will happen more often!

And the AFTER!

(Love my new Hydrangea!... Totally my favorite flower....Now if I can keep it alive!)

My parents stayed for lunch and we had a great time!

Sunday, we went to church, and heard the sweetest sounds!

And then we exited. 

Thankfully we had company. :)

These kids are so precious in His sight!

Looking forward to a low key Spring Break and then Easter!

Making up for missed holidays

Some holidays passed us recently...

Valentine's Day!

I could eat them up!

Gosh, she's changed so much in one month!

All four of us went to dinner at a Hibachi buffet nearby. It is about as casual as you can get besides fast food, and the hibachi grill is exceptional...we actually don't even eat off of the buffet when we go!

Providing our dinner entertainment...

We came back home, but the kiddos to bed and watched a movie-gasp!

St. Patrick's Day!

I tell you...at this point, it is HARD getting Burke to even look at the camera... much less smile the cheesiest smile known to man. :)

I love it.

Sister wasn't too thrilled about the choke hold, but she sure did look cute and festive, and Burke in his leprechaun hat sure did make my morning more comical.

Burke missed the leprechaun when he was visited during nap time... he obviously came through the window.... 

(made a pit stop to the potty-since is was green and had clover on the seat!...I'll spare you a picture of our toilet) ...

came down the hallway and left three green dum dums!

Upon finding the dumdums he was thrilled... and then asked for a rainbow. :)

We didn't catch our leprechaun again this year... maybe next time!