Grady's 3

Grady’s Birthday fell on a Saturday. We had his birthday party the same day as his actual birthday. For every birthday so far we have had donuts in the morning and we normally go to our favorite donut place but it is currently about 25 minutes away. I had all intentions on getting up super early right as they opened (5am) to go get donuts but my alarm didn’t go off so we settled on just normal donuts from daylight donuts

I mentioned in the previous post that instead of toys we asked people to gift Grady with memories this year. To hold true to our request we purchased Grady some Paw Patrol Live tickets for the next day. He didn’t really understand the concept of it the day of but was sooo excited on Sunday when we went.

After his birthday party he took a LONG nap and then we were just going to chill and put the Christmas tree up but instead Grady wanted to go to the Christmas parade so we grabbed a pizza on the way out of town and headed to the Christmas parade. We stopped at my parents house on the way home to take bathes and get ready for bed because any parent knows that once you wake a baby up to take a bath or change into PJs they are up forever and won’t go back to sleep. Good thing we did this because Audrey’s was smooth out by time we got home. Grady needed a little comforting.

On Sunday we decided not to go to Church and have a chill morning. My mom came over to watch Audrey while we were at Paw Patrol. Grady absolutely loves my mom so I was really worried that he wouldn’t want to go and want to stay home with his Nina. However as soon as it was time to leave he told my mom “bye, I go see Paw patrol” and out the door he went. Grady had an amazing time and the smile on his face was everything definitely worth every penny. The show started at noon and it was about an hour and 15 minutes long. On the way home Grady passed out from all the excitement.

Sunday night we put the Christmas tree up and had some left-over party food for dinner. It was a good weekend!

Truck on over, Grady is 3!

The day of Grady’s birthday fell on Saturday which was also the day that we had his birthday party. I went with a vintage truck theme and wanted a vintage gas station feel to it. He is in love with trucks and cars right now so it was perfect. We are also going to decorate his room with trucks so the decorations that we used for his birthday party will be perfect for his new room.

Since we are living in a rental right now we knew we didn’t want the birthday party at our house so I called around different places but nothing really felt right. I was talking about it with my in-laws and my mother in-law mentioned doing the party at the fire station where my father in-law volunteers at. I quickly said yes even though it was site unseen (can’t turn down free!).

I searched pinterest high and low for ideas and ended up finding a license plate sign that I loved. I tried searching the internet and spent way too much time than I really would like to admit trying to find someone that could make me this sign. I ended up going to a print shop and having them custom make it, do not know why I make things harder than they need to be. I found a tutorial on You-tube on how to make a balloon garland. I bought way too many balloons at Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, and Amazon but love the way it turned out.

I found little blue trucks in the Target dollar spot and got the last 2 that they had and picked up the “Route 66” sign from Hobby Lobby when it was 50% off. One day that I was off work I went into a vintage shop and picked up a gas can and tool box for under $10. And found printable motor fuel and oil can labels online that I just printed and cut and taped on left over cans from Audrey’s birthday. I was so worried that it wasn’t enough but it was perfect.

The temperature said it was 55 degree but it was a cool 55 so we borrowed a bounce house from my co-worker moved one of the fire trucks outside and put the bounce house inside.

This year for his birthday instead of presents we asked people if they insisted on getting Grady anything to get a gift card or something similar to an outing of some sort. We got a ton of great ideas from going to see a Movie, Christmas lights, Fishing, Baseball game, etc. I absolutely loved this idea and we might be doing it every year.

We had the party at 10:30 which I love having parties with in the morning or in the evenings. I tried to stick with the gas station theme and do gas station styled foods, so we served pretzels, corndogs, popcorn (kettle corn), and crispitos.

The birthday party was a success and Grady had a blast!

Sources:
Table Cloth - Amazon
License Plate Sign - Local Print shop
Route 66 Sign - Hobby Lobby
Blue Truck - Target Dollar Spot
Fuel and Oil can printable
Invitation - Etsy
Grady's Shirt - Etsy
Cookies  - My Blooming Bakery
Party Favors - Tattoo & Chocolate Truck
Balloons - Amazon
Vintage Gas Can & tool Box - Local Vintage shop
Pretzels - Walmart
Corndogs - Sams club
Popcorn - The Corn Popper
Crispitos - Gas Station
Cake - Local

Halloween 2018

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. The creativity and inspiration that goes into little kids costumes is what I look forward to every year and seeing how excited kids get for their costumes is just simply magical.

I also read a quote that said “Halloween is one of the only holiday where you are not obligated to spend with family” bahaha so true!!

We ended up celebrating Halloween 3 times this year. I put a lot of thought and time into my kids’ costumes, so I want to make sure that they get the most use out of them.

I’m trying to get away with family costumes (by family I mean my son and daughter) for as long as I can. They dressed up as the Alfalfa and Darla off of the Little Rascals and were adorable!

We started off the holiday with a block party in my parents neighborhood. Grady had an awful cough so we ended up having to leave before the costume contest but I’m for sure that we would have won!

That Sunday we purchased tickets to the Tulsa Zoo. We ended up doing Sunday and figured it wouldn’t be as crowded as another day and it was a blast. We met up with my sister and her kiddos and my mom and dad. This is probably be an annual event

On the actual day of Halloween we stayed around our neighborhood and went trick or treating. We started super early around 5:30 and there was no one out or handing out candy and we got super nervous it was going to be a bust but they ended up coming out of the woodworks and we ran out of candy early in the night.

I’m already thinking of ideas for next year and hoping Grady will let me do another year of him and his sister dressing up together.

September/October Recap

Where do I even begin. We rolled into September with style and just keep trying to keep our head above water. We are the busiest we probably have ever been but I know everyone is busy so I’m trying to work on just embracing it and not making in an excuse or crutch.

Grady was asking us repeatedly to go to another baseball game since the first one we took him to. Luckily the Drillers went into playoffs so we went to the final game and of course he loved it. It wasn’t busy so we got pictures with the mascot and Grady just had a blast. We moved into our rental at the beginning of August and the adventure of it all was starting to slow down and the situation was really taking a number on all of us. But again, we wanted to embrace this stage of our lives and we are making the most of it. We started a “God” box where we write down all our worries and pray about them before we put them in a box and it has worked wonders for us and our family.

We tried out the new Gathering Place in Tulsa and I cannot wait to take the kiddos back. They have everything for every age something that is long overdue for Tulsa.

Everything was starting to work itself out and we were finally starting to feel “normal” and then October 3^rd hit. As I was driving home from work I got rear ended on the highway. Life threw us another curve ball. The air bags didn’t deploy and my head hit the steering wheel causing the worst migraine I have ever had. I passionately believe that you cannot control what happens to you but you can control how you react to the things that do happen to you. I have chosen to remain positive during this situation.

Chad purchased Bruno Mars tickets back in March of this year and the time had finally came. If you know me than you know my love for Bruno. It was a blast and I cannot wait until his next concert.

Grady and I also celebrated a Mommy/Son date where we went to the donut shop and then went to the Zoo with a friend. This was long overdue and something both of us needed.

I’m not a perfect mom and sometimes my kids test my patience, like when Grady has to have every single car in the diaper bag before we leave the house but the love these 2 have for one another is priceless and makes life so much sweeter.

Fall Bucket List

I am late to the game but here is our Fall Bucket list!    

//Paint pumpkins//

We did this last weekend and it was a blast. Audrey got more on her than the pumpkin and I have 2 more left over so I think we may do this again.

//Make a pumpkin dessert//

I already have a dessert in mind to make and my mouth waters everytime I think about it

//Pumpkin patch//

because obviously

//Make smores//

We do not have a firepit anymore or a gas grill but if there is a will there is a way

//Make an apple crisp/pie//

I have not perfected an apple crisp recipe but keep trying every year

//Goulash/ Trick or Treating//

We live in a neighborhood right now so it's the perfect time to actually go trick or treating

//Fall trail mix//

I look forward to this every year

//Halloween crafts//

Really hope to do crafts at least every weekend

//Halloween cookies//

I can not wait to have Grady help me in the kitchen with cookie

//Watch a Halloween movie//

Don't have a Halloween movie plan but I think this would be a lot of fun with Grady

//Make 2 kinds of Chili//

Can't wait to make beef and chicken chili this year with some yummy cornbread

//Have soup once a week//

This will make Chad very happy!

//Fall festival//

I really hope to find a fall festival in our area and try it out

//Go on a hike//

This might be a difficult one to do with kids but I have been dying to go hiking on turkey mountain in Tulsa

//Go to a Football game//

Would love to take Grady to a college football game but we might just be doing a high school or younger game

//Go to the dog park//

We have been slacking parenting on doggie and really need to make him feel special as well

Summer Recap

Bucket lists in our family are essential. Every season I try to make a “Bucket List” of activities to ensure that we don’t just stay at home looking at each other wondering what we are going to do during the weekends. This Summer was crazy busy in our household and Chad and I really tried hard to still have fun while being completely overwhelmed and stressed.

Grady spent the night a few times with Grandparents. We are so fortunate to have family that live close and have the opportunity to have sleepovers. There are horses next to my parents house and Grady LOVES going to feeding the horses and since it is free, we don’t mind it either

Tulsa Children’s Museum – It was our first time trying out the Children’s museum. It was a lot smaller than I was expecting but was a great place to go when it is a super hot Summer day. Grady’s favorite part was the slide of course. Audrey’s favorite was the mirror in the baby section.

We also started having movie nights which I don’t know who looks more forward to them Chad or Grady. We have watched Ferdinand, CoCo, and Spirit the movie.

We went to the Kiddie Park which is an amusement park for toddlers. They have a ton of rides and the kids absolutely love going. We only made it once this year, we planned on going a few times but heard of a hand, foot, mouth breakout and decided to stay far away as possible.

We took Grady to his first Baseball game and we haven’t stopped hearing about baseball since. It was the highlight of his summer and I cannot wait until T-ball in the spring

We went to a few festivals and a Farmer’s Market which Grady was asleep for half of.

We tried out incredible pizza for their mini golf since it was extremely hot. We invited the cousins and had a blast, can’t wait to go back for some more.

We traveled up to Caney, KS and went to the safari. This was the highlight of Chad’s summer. He has always wanted to witness a bear waving at him and he finally got the chance. Pretty sure I saw a little happy tear streaming down his face.

We made some homemade popsicles and as soon as Audrey had a bite it was game over. I’m sure it felt good on her gums.

The only thing we didn’t conquer was the aquarium. I was really trying to fit this in but it just didn’t work out. Maybe we will try to go in the Fall.

We still have not completed or started for that matter our Fall bucket list but will hopefully be sharing it soon.