High Five for Friday

Hi there! I'm linking up with Jennie today to share some fun stuff from the past week.

1) Friday evening, since we had no homework to do, Grant and I made some candy cane bead ornaments to get a jump start on Christmas stuff. The best part is that my mom taught me how to make these when I was kid (crafty, she was not but we had fun) and now I get to make them with Grant.

2) Saturday was my birthday. As soon as I woke up, Grant handed me an envelope that said "Mom" (he calls me Mama). Then he told me "I wrote 'mom' by myself! It's a sight word!" How cute is that? I'm not one to make a big deal out of my birthday but Husband wanted to take me out to breakfast and do a little shopping before we took Grant to a birthday party for one of his friends. Later on we had a movie night and Grant got to see Jurassic World for the first time.

Brunch at Briggs! I love starting the day with a dish the
size of a row boat filled with grits :)

We took Grant to a birthday party at this neat gymnastics
place (that's him on a trampoline about to dive into a foam pit).
What a fun place! He had a great time and I dont' think
he's ever been that tired after a birthday party!

Testing out my birthday present on Sunday!

3) Also over the weekend, my little kitchen helper and I made some chicken & rice soup.

4) I had a dinner date with Grant on Monday! Usually he picks Cracker Barrel for our dates. I guess he's tired of it because it was Moe's this time. He loves when they yell "Welcome to Moe's!"

5) Since I was off work on Wednesday and Grant was off school, Husband took the day off and we went to the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. It's one of our usual places on days off but they recently opened some new tree houses so we were excited to check those out. We had a really great day together!

Up in a tree house!

Even with the new tree houses, "Into the Mist"
is still one of his favorites!

6) Yesterday when I got home from work there was a package from my sister waiting for me. Along with a cute new bag, she also sent me three boxes of my favorite store bought cookies! I love packages with treats from home :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday

Hi there! I'm linking up with Jennie today to share some fun stuff from the past week.

1) Saturday was the third swimming lesson so we're half way through. I sort of don't feel like he's getting as much out of it as I'd hoped but I'm trying to stay positive about it.

2) After swimming lessons we decided to run some errands for school stuff and had a really great evening. After some clothes shopping, we had dinner at a re-vamped shopping center which was near their new play ground so Grant got to play a bit after dinner. We wandered around for a little bit after play time, found a cupcake shop and got some yummy dessert to go. It was a pretty great Saturday!

Dinner at Red Hot & Blue

Followed by the playground

Then some heavily frosted - and delicious - cupcakes
from Gigi's for dessert.

3) I've been neglecting exercise lately. The only time I really have available to go is in the mornings and that is soooo hard to do. But Sunday morning I decided to get up and go and it was such an awesome morning! (Too bad I haven't been able to motivate myself any other morning this week.)

4) There's been some backyard baseball this week in the evenings at our house and we're having so much fun with it! Somehow, I've become the pitcher and I'm pretty terrible at it but Grant has no idea...for now.

5) Monday was Grant's kindergarten assessment. I had to drop him off at his new school for a couple hours and then this afternoon we find out who his teacher will be ON MONDAY. Seriously? Kindergarten on Monday. I'm going to get through this, right?

I had promised snow cones after the assessment, Grant
went with the dinosaur flavor.

6) Today is Grant's last day at preschool. I think I'm more emotional about that than I am about his first day at kindergarten. He's been at this daycare/preschool for 4 1/2 of his 5 years and they've done so much for all of us in so many ways. To say thanks one last time, I baked some brownie bars for the teachers/staff and Grant wrote them a little note. I know he's really going to miss it there and we will too!

On the left is a picture of him "playing outside" and a flower on the right

Twix Truffle Brownies!

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday

Hi there! I'm linking up with Jennie today to share some fun stuff from the past week.

1) Friday night we let Grant stay up way past his bed time for some fireworks. We didn't make it to the park (due to road blocks!) but thought we could still see them just down the road. We didn't have the best view but Grant loved it anyway.

Waiting patiently!

2) Saturday, of course, was the 4th of July. Husband had bought a flag for the house that Grant was all too excited to help hang up (until a bee appeared). We had my in-laws over for a cookout (ice cream sundaes with homemade sauce for dessert!), and then Grant performed some of his favorite country songs for us (his love of country music hurts my soul but it's so cute when he sings!).

Homemade hot fudge and peanut butter sauces...yum!

He has no idea how to play that guitar.

3) Sunday afternoon I got to run errands with this guy (and have a dinner date):

Cowboy hat, basketball shorts, and rain boots.

4) We also did an activity from our latest Kiwi Crate:

Mini golf!

5) This week I actually got my lazy butt up for a couple walks. I'm hoping to make myself do it more often. Once I get over how early it is, it's so nice to be out there when it's quiet, not as hot, and the sun isn't beating down on me.

6) Yesterday when we got home from school, Grant and I found the cutest little stowaway on my car. He blended in so well, I might not have noticed him if he didn't move!

Grant named him Ribbet Ribbet. Very original.

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday

Hi there! Today I'm linking up Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) Last Friday, Grant was sick and home from school. I stopped for a movie on the way home thinking we'd do a movie night. We ended up not watching it until the next morning (Frozen, again...we love Olaf) but I still fixed our typical movie night food: stove popped popcorn! Its one of my favorite things. My mom used to make it for us and I've got Husband and Grant hooked on it. We don't even buy the microwave stuff anymore. 

When I make it I like to send pictures to my sister (who got revenge
by sending me pictures of homemade dinner rolls a couple days later)

2) I haven't been walking or running much yet this year (ok, I haven't been running at all since sometime in December) and Saturday was so pretty! So I set out for a walk in the afternoon and got in 4 miles. It made me feel a little better about not getting out so much last week...and walking is always so much more enjoyable than running!

There's this rundown farm house in the middle of  cow pasture
that I love to look at on my walks. And it was such a pretty day!

3) I had promised Grant some baking time soon since he got some new kitchen tools for Christmas. Over the weekend we decided to make some brownies (just the box kind). He got to use his new giraffe whisk and was so excited! Soon I have to make time for cut-out cookies because he's chomping at the bit to use his alligator rolling pin!

Baking lesson: always, always lick the spoon :)

Enjoying the fruits of his labor (he'll eat brownies but not cake!)

4) Monday I was off! That in itself is wonderful. I kept Grant home with me that day and we explored a new park ("new" meaning we'd never been there) and had lunch together before running some errands. I love our days off together!

Jumping on the bridge

He loved sliding down the pole pretending he was in "Paw Patrol"

Me and my guy :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) Actually this was last Thursday, not last Friday but since I was off on Halloween I baked a fun treat to share at the office. I think this is the third year in a row that I've made this cake, so this year I added green to it. It's always such a hit and no one seems bored with it yet :)

Fun on the outside...

...and on the inside!

2) Friday was Halloween! I took the day off and tried to make this year special for Grant with some good trick-or-treating and fun dinner too. (You can read more about the day HERE)

Ready to trick-or-treat at a local park!

With the spooky scarecrow at one of our neighbor's houses!
(He loved these decorations!)

3) Saturday we went to Chuck E. Cheese (a first for me and Grant) to celebrate the birthday of one of Grant's school friends. Grant's BFF was there and two of them were stuck together like glue. Its so fun to watch them play together!

4) At some point last weekend (Sunday?) I got out for a run. I wasn't really feeling it but I still managed 3 miles. Sometimes I consider it an accomplishment to just make it home without having to call for a ride.

5) I got to make two birthday cakes this week! My friend & co-worker Janis got a fun little chocolate peanut butter cake for one that I've been wanting try. And Husband requested a Red Sox cake for his friend & co-worker Barry who turned 50 this week. I was really excited about how they both turned out (though as a Yankees fan, that Red Sox cake hurt my soul!)!

Fun little cake for Janis!

Red Sox cake for Barry!

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!