Bounce House Fun

After leaving Nashville, Memorial Day weekend, we headed back to Birmingham. Bob's brother from another mother, Mike and his fiance' Brandi, dog sat for us. We were planning on just dropping by to pick up Winston, but ended up staying the afternoon.

Mike and Brandi have a little girl, Ryen, who is the exact same age as Bobby. I've mentioned her a few times on the blog - like their first date. Anyhow, the two of them had an absolute blast swimming, and bouncing the afternoon away.

I'm not a big fan of bounce houses, for Bobby, at this age. They are often too big, and too crowded. But, this one was perfect! He loved it!

TGIF!

Are you confused yet? It's not Friday, it's Monday!

(I only wish it was already Friday...)

Actually, I'm just doing a little recap post of our last two Fridays. So, bear with me, as I play a little catch-up on my ol' bloggidy blog.

On Friday, the 28th of January, we headed to the zoo! This was the beginning of a tease of a weekend, weather-wise. It was a gorgeous day out on Friday, and we met five of our neighborhood friends for a morning at the zoo. We followed our outing, with lunch at Taziki's, a favorite Mediterranean restaurant of ours.

Luke and Bobby checking out the goats.

Check out this rooster, hanging out in the petting zoo/barn section...

We hung out with this cute llama for awhile.

Having fun!

Here's Bobby enamored with the tractor!

From left to right: Jude, Jack, Luke, Cooper, and Bobby.

Bobby enjoyed his lunch with Cooper!

We had a great time that day, and it was followed with a four hour nap for Bobby!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past Friday, we headed out again. This time, we went for our second Fire station tour, and then lunch at Chick-fi-la. Seriously, I think Chick-fi-la is the mecca for SAHM's during the week! This week was a dud, weather-wise. We had cold, rainy weather almost everyday. I am thankful though, because we were able to do activities each day. It can be so HARD to be a SAHM when the weather is bad.

As for our tour; Bobby was not a fan this time around. It kind of reminded me of Halloween. Remember this post? Needless to say, Bobby was not a happy camper. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that he had not napped in 3 days! {I think we're at the end of a bad nap spell. The kid has them every few months. Let's hope?}

The clingy munchkin with his momma by the fire truck.

Just miserable!

From left to right: Cooper, Luke, Harper, Bobby, and Jude.

"It's ok sweet baby, momma is here..."

Totally bad picture here, but it's just proof he did have fun at Chick-fi-la!

I hope you all have a great week!

In a Nutshell...

Wow, what a week!

I am amazed at how fast this past week went by. Seriously... I can't believe my beloved blog has been neglected for so long. I was on such a roll too! Between Christmas shopping, spending a day hugging the porcelain goddess (yes, ewww), sending off my good friend Claire back to England, and partaking in more Christmas festivities, it's been a whirlwind of a few days.

So, what have we been up to? In a nutshell...

I did receive my gorgeous ornament from Lauren of Life with a Lab at the beginning of the week. This was due to the the fun Ornament Exchange I participated in with numerous bloggers across the country. The exchange was hosted by Shannon of Webbisodes, and Karen of Karen at Home. And, while I would have liked to have showcased the ornament on a tree, we didn't put one up this year (I know, I know... shame on us.) With all of the traveling we'll be doing (ATL-ORL-MIA) {Can you guess all three cities?}; I seriously could not fathom a tree. Plus, I have a busy body 19 month old! So, here's the ornament! It'll have a place on our tree next year for sure!

As previously mentioned, one of my best friends Claire moved last week. She was moving back to England. I didn't want her to go (and, neither did she); and it was a very sad time for us, and our friends. We did some fun things the last few weeks she was here, as she had an American/Alabama bucket list she wanted to complete. I babysat for her a few times, so she could get organized for their move. Here are some pictures of Bobby and Cameron's last play date together. Sad.

Bobby and Cameron looking out the window.

Cameron gives Bobby a push on his favorite toy.

The boys sharing a sippy cup!

Playing with Bobby's tool bench.

On Wednesday night, Claire's closest friends went out for one last dinner together. It was an emotional night for all of us. I have become so incredibly close to these girls over the past several months. They all have my heart. And, I think watching their kids grow up, alongside my own, makes it that much more sentimental. We laughed, and we cried. This picture was taken by my friend Jenny.

Claire and myself.

I finished off the last of the week miserably sick. Let's just say I lost about 5 lbs. in one day! We did manage to do one fun thing though on Friday, which was to have lunch at Bob's office. They hosted a Christmas pot luck for the employees, and their families. I worked my last ever shift at Fleet Feet on Saturday. We were so busy, I had no time to be bittersweet. I plan on doing a post about my experience there soon. Sunday was spent going to church, having lunch with our neighbors, and finishing up some shopping. Later that night, we headed to our friends', the Harris's for dinner. We then made our way to the Birmingham Zoo, for their annual holiday festival, "Zoolight Safari." It was fun, and neat for the kids - but, oh so COLD!

Bobby, Luke, and Cooper.

Lastly, yesterday morning, Bobby and I headed to a Cookie Exchange/Craft party in the neighborhood. It was a lot of fun, but pure chaos - ha! The hostesses did an amazing job though.

Bobby at his craft table.

And, as if those pictures aren't cute enough... I'll leave you with two more! I snagged these from my friend Jenny's blog. Her son turned one a couple of weeks ago, and she hosted a party for him. I thought the pictures of the kids on the couch was to die for!

And, this one is just too dang cute of Bobby...

Ok, I'm officially exhausted from this recap! I'll be back again tomorrow, to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas!

Fire Station Fun!

Today, Bobby took his first trip to the local Fire Station. He had a great time (as did I)! We were able to go with our play group, and all of the wee ones were in awe of the big red trucks. Of course, all of the mommies went a little crazy with the pictures.

"Who you lookin' at?!?"

Play group!

From left to right: Claire and Cameron, Gina and Luke, Me and Bobby, Volree and Cooper, and Jenny and Jack.

My little firefighter.

"This hat makes a pretty cool drum, Mom!"

YOU try and get 5 kiddos to smile, AND look at the camera at once!

"I'm loving this Momma!"

Luke and Cooper taking a ring at the bell!

Bobby and Mommy.

"Momma, how does this work again?"

Bobby was pretty enamoured with the firefighters.

Jack (8 months) posing in the truck.

Cooper (11 months)

"Honk, honk!"

Luke was pretty confident he was posing for a Fire Man calendar here.

Bobby (15 months) and Cameron (16 months) checking out their reflections in the truck.

Bobby and I BOTH in the truck. Bobby did not want to be in the driver's seat alone! Poor guy...

Luke, you really got this modeling thing down good!

Mother's Helper

Mary Grace, age 6, and Bobby.

I had a mother's helper for a few days last week, and it was really nice. Mary Grace lives behind us, and she is in 1st grade. We also share the same birthday. Until she is done with school for the summer, she'll be coming over a couple of afternoons a week. She is still young, so I do still need to be close to her, as she plays with Bobby. I was able to do a few easy tasks, like clean the kitchen, or bathroom.

I remember being a mother's helper one summer for one of my mom's friends. This was my before my babysitting days started, and gave me a bit of experience. I believe I was around 11 or 12 years old. I would go swimming most afternoons with her kids, while she finished up on some chores. I think it's a great thing for girls to do, to gain some experience with babysitting.

While Mary Grace still needs plenty of supervision herself, Bobby loves having her here. He really enjoys playing with other kids, no matter their age. Let's hope I can steal her some this summer! :)