This weekend was crazy but lots of fun. Friday Arnold went down to Charlotte with his dad, he had a dr appt with a surgeon about a possible back surgery he thinks he is needing. So I spent the whole morning with the kids here at home, and we tried even more to clean up the Christmas mess and put all their new stuff up. That evening I really wanted a girls' night, I needed to get out and get some time away after all those days in a row with the kids, festivities and stress! So my friend Erika and I went to dinner at Wild Wok. I usually don't branch out and go get food like that, but it was really good. I got the chicken and broccoli over noodles with teryaki sauce. Then we went to the mall to do some shopping. I originally wanted to get myself some new clothes/things because I really needed some, but like always I ventured off course and ended up buying for the kids. It was hard not too, with all the good After-Christmas sales going on! I got the kids some cute new animal winter hats at Children's place-- Brooke got a raccoon, Caleb got a monster, and Rachel got a kitty-- and a few other things. Then we went to Gymboree and they were having a big sale And I had a coupon, so I got Brooke a new dress and some new hairbows.. they have the cutest hairbows there!!!! Then we went by Bath and Body Works and that was just a split-second decision but I'm glad they went because they had some of their shower gels on sale for $3 and I also got my first ever car scents and they smell so good! Erika copied me of course and got the same car scents and other things I was getting ;) She just thinks I'm cool! ha! ;)
Saturday we got to sleep in and it was awesome! The kids got right up and started playing on all their new electronic devices and while I usually limit that kind of stuff, I was glad for the extra rest time! ;) We all went out as a family and decided to hit up some after-Christmas clearances. I guess everyone else had the same idea because it was packed everywhere we went. We had to go to Target of course, and while I didn't find a ton, i had to get some Christmas hershey kisses, christmas bodywash, and other random little things. We also went to a few other stores, including Style Exchange.. I love that store now! I found myself a new top, and a new necklace. Some of the stuff looks "young" but a lot of it still works for me ;)
Later that afternoon I decided to have a "girls afternoon" with Brooke. I needed to go to Gymboree and exchange a pair of pants my mom had gotten her that were too tight. They only had two sizes of the pants left, and thankfully one was her size, so yay! Then we went and got a soft pretzel... which I mentioned before was mine and my mom's tradition when I was a kid and we went to the mall, so that was neat ;) We ran into Arnold's cousin Beth and her kids there too, so brooke was all excited to see them :) Then we went into Kirklands and I LOVE that store. I want to buy so many things to decorate my home but never have the extra money while we are in there.. so maybe at Tax time? ha! We also went to a few department stores.. bottom AND top levels so Brooke could ride the escalator.. one of her favorite things to do :) After the mall we went to Kohls and totally scored. They had everything up to 85% off clearance. They have some awesome sales, and I got Brooke some new outfits for school, a baby gift, and I also scored myself some new pj pants and fuzzy slippers :) Lastly we went to Target to do some grocery shopping. I stayed the course and only got the groceries, I was proud of myself because Target is my weak spot!!! :)
Sunday morning we got ready early and went to church at 9:30 because it was the 5th Sunday of the month and I worked the baby class. We had 5 kids in there this week and it was sooo much fun. The kids were all in great moods and were sitting on my lap, asking me to read books to them, and we had a great time playing. Those little babies melt my heart! I would have 100 more babies if they just STAYED that LITTLE! ;) Then we went to the 2nd service and it was wonderful as always.. I am loving that we are back upstairs and they have the big band out playing on Sundays. Can't wait until Arnold starts playing with the band-- he auditioned last week to be a part of the praise team-- yay! :) Anyway, after church we went to grab some lunch at Cookout. Best place, but we don't have one near us, so we don't have it often!
Sunday afternoon Arnold and I decided to go to the movies for his birthday. His birthday is really tomorrow but we celebrated early. Thankfully his parents said they would watch the kids while we went. We ended up getting there late and had to sit on the VERY front row, so we had to hold our heads back and watch.. I hate that! But It was worth it to go. We don't get dates very often, and especially not to go to the movies, so it was fun. We went to see "This is 40" which is SORT of a sequel to "Knocked Up" but just focuses on one of the couples. I love Paul Rudd, he is adorable and always makes me laugh. The start of it was a little slow, but it got better, and it was really funny at parts.. some parts were sad.. a lot of it was true-to-life! Crude at times, but that is to be expected. Overall we enjoyed it. It was long though-- about 2 1/2 hrs long! A date was just what we needed :)
I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a fun and safe New Year's! :)
Caleb and Rachel playing their new Hungry, Hungry Hippos Game
The girls in some of the new pjs they got for Christmas
Out to lunch at Wendy's
Helped Brooke put together her very first lego set. Oliva's Treehouse. I had never put one together before and it was fun! I was proud of myself ;)
The kids after church on Sunday
Caleb riding his new bike this weekend
Brooke riding her new bike. She had her first crash and got a little scraped up. But she was brave and she is doing ok now! :)
