Weekend Recap

On Friday night, the girls from the office and I went to see How to be Single. It was hilarious. Much better than I was expecting, and for that I am so glad. It made me laugh out loud almost the entire movie, and I loved the whole plot. 

I also finally used a gift card that has been in my wallet for 9 years! 9 years to the day, and almost to the minute, so that was super weird, but we don't get out to the movie theater often, and not ever to the large Jordan Creek location.

During the previews, I saw the Movie 'Me Before You', and it reminded me of the book I had downloaded, but had yet to read. 

I started it yesterday during the kids nap, and I am almost done. It is just so, so good. I know it's been out for a while, and I am late to the party on it, but it has lived up to the hype I had heard. So good. 

My mom also came down for the weekend, and it was so nice to have her around. We bummed around town looking at second hand stores, new boutiques, had lunch Fuzzy's Taco Shop, and then stopped into The Olive Tap to try some oils and vinegars. We love this place. I had gotten a gift basket from them around the holidays, and the olive oil I received is outstanding, and so good to cook with. 

It was also GORGEOUS outside, so Tony and I went for a walk with the kids to the park on Saturday. 

We are very excited that they are playing together more independent from Tony and I. They play board games, and run around outside without the need for constant supervision and interaction from us. We always check in every few minutes, but they are doing great on their own for a lot of play time. 

Cheers!

Birchbox February '16

My Birchbox this month was a hit! Of the 5 samples I received, I am in love with 3. The other 2 are nice bonuses. A perfume sample that is nice, and some sunscreen I will utilize later this year. 

Below is the outline of my samples this month:

This clay facial mask is incredible. It made my skin feel so smooth, and it acted as an exfoliating scrub as well. I am really liking this brand, as they have a lip gloss/plumper that I use from a previous sample as well. Its pretty awesome. 

Speaking of lips, this lip balm is the bomb. It moisturizes, and it gives just a bit of color, and a nice sheen. I wish it stayed on longer, but I really like it. The sample is large enough too, that it will last me quite a while. 

No on the mane event. This hair cream is life changing. I used it yesterday and it made my naturally curly/wavy hair look beautiful. I don't normally wear my hair naturally curly because I feel like it looks a bit too wild and really messy at times. This changes that. It gave my curls definition, it gave my hair bounce, and it allowed me to style my hair in about 10 min. Game Changer. 

It also is nice because I noticed this morning while brushing out my hair, how much thicker it feels. I am loving this, and will probably purchase the full size when this runs out. It is very reasonable for hair cream too. 

Do any of you subscribe to Birchbox? I have been for almost 2 years now, and while there are plenty of samples I don't use, or don't like, the benefits of trying new products and using make up samples far outweighs this for me. It also allows me to give some samples to Avery to play make up with, and I have shared with my mom and friends. 

The review process to earn points towards purchases is also outstanding. I got a full size of awesome Smashbox eye shadows for very little money since I used my points. I just love it. 

Valentines Party 2016

Each year, I volunteer to assist with the holiday parties at Avery's preschool. This year, I was in charge of setting up a game for the kids. They are in small groups and spend about 15 min at each station of games, crafts, snacks, etc. 

We came up with a small obstacle course for our game this year.

Hopscotch on the large hearts, through the hula hoop, and past the streamer maze. 

It was a lot of fun, and Avery loved having her mommy there. I love being able to take time off of work to do these kinds of things with the kids too. 

We picked Gavin up from daycare and ran to Target for a few things. He spent a good 15 min in the the kids bedding aisle looking at Paw Patrol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Inside Out, Despicable Me, Frozen, and Little Mermaid. As I was looking at alarm clocks with Avery, Gavin had put in some Paw Patrol sheet sets in the cart. Not today buddy!

After having dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, El Azteca we headed home for the night. We spent the next 2 days all bundled up in our house. It was the nicest weekend. We got a bit of housework done, naps were taken, basketball was watched, and we just really enjoyed it. 

Des Moines Home and Garden Show

The Des Moines Home + Garden Show 2016 is going on this weekend. It's always fun to think Spring this time of year, and to dream up what we want to work on for our yard. 

We finished the paver patio last summer, so we will be working on furnishing it and styling it with flowers and plants this summer. 

I would love a couple of these in the yard to plant some veggies. We want to start making out own salsa, and think it would be fun to have a garden with the kids. We have a small rabbit population that likes our yard, and I like how this is raised and decorative, to protect the plants. It could be used for flowers if our gardening hobby doesn't pan out. I think I will need to cash in Mother's Day and Birthday for these. 

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Work has been going well. We are hard at work on some custom and semi-custom homes. The Des Moines Register came out this week to photograph the model home in our new development: Acadia.

{click below}

Accurate Custom Homes Model Home - Acadia

Happy Valentine's Day this weekend, and Happy Birthday to Papa Steve on Sunday! 

Shopping, Sickness, and K-Cups

How is that for a random title for the post? A few weeks ago, Avery and I went to MN to see my family and check out a new outlet mall. One of Mom's cousins from Illinois was going to be in the area for the weekend, and we met up with her. I love my Illinois family, so it was an easy decision to drive up and go shopping. 

This girl was also excited, and up before the sun. We snuggled, and she showed me her tricks on Subway Surfer. 

We made a quick pit stop at the local meat locker I used to work at to stock up on brats, summer sausage, jerky, and beef sticks to take home. 

Ready for the Twin Cities Outlet Mall!

We hit up BWW for a late lunch, and so I could be sure to catch the second half of Iowa State vs. Texas A&M men's basketball. 

Avery playing with her cousins. 

Then there is this guy. He cracks us up on the daily. This is how he watches Paw Patrol. 

The Noroviris/Flu bug hit our house last week. It hit it bad. We stayed home on Tuesday initially because it was dicey road conditions, but then when the weather cleared up, our health went down hill. Gavin has had it twice in the previous weeks, then it it Avery on Tuesday morning, me on Wednesday afternoon, and Tony on Thursday evening. We are still getting over it. 

I had wine, it helped. This stuff is gooood!

Gavin is becoming quite the little problem solver. He will carry that step stool around with him, so he can get a boost to grab what he wants. Or he will use it to get on a bar stool, to the Kuerig to "make coffee". Tony sent me this photo on Saturday when I was at work for a few hours. He was in our den preparing tax papers, and comes out to check on the kids to find Gavin turning into a barista. 

Thankfully the machine was off, so he didn't start a cup and burn himself. The little stinker. We caught him again on Sunday trying to do it, but he got scolded from me on that one.