Five on Friday 28/53

1. Things I Did This Week

-Watch two seasons of Girl Meets World. It's surprisingly good.
-Fill out paperwork to start a new job on Monday! More on that next week.
-Plan two completely different birthday parties for Alyssa,
because it is most likely going to rain out our original pool party plan.

2. Things I Did Not Do This Week

-Start the daunting project of cleaning out the basement. There is so much stuff down there and I've been planning to sort through it one bag at a time. I just haven't brought myself to get started yet.
-All of this week I've had my three kids, my sisters two kids and a few neighborhood kids running around my house. And they are all still alive. I've given up the notion that I may want a fourth child.
-Anything productive, really. I've put off all of my chores to enjoy my last week home with the kids.

3. Things I Window Shopped This Week

-This simple wire basket from Wal-Mart.

-This swimsuit for Alyssa from Old Navy.

-These wedge booties from Target.

4. Other Posts I Wrote This Week

-One on One: Here.

-Baby, You're A Firework: Here.

5. Pictures I Took This Week

Linking up here, here and here.

Baby, You're A Firework

Our holiday was pretty calm yeaterday. We swam a little bit, ate a lot and Blair got to hold her first sparkler. She loved it! Since we had a long, lazy weekend I am kind of just now realizing that I only have 4 more days to get ready for Alyssa's 11th birthday party on Saturday. Yikes! We are having a pool party and BBQ for our family and friends. Somehow this is the first pool party we've ever had for her birthday. I've been dreaming of checkered table cloths, fried okra and flower centerpieces for weeks. Her one request has been a donut cake, which is going to be the easiest part. I'll take it!

One on One

This little beauty has had her mommy and daddy to herself for three days now. It has been so fun (and pretty relaxing for me) to get to spend a little one on one time with Blair. It isn't often that we get to do this with the kids, but we try to give them all "up close and personal" time with us as often as we can.

Saturday we took her downtown for dinner and ice cream. In between the two, we stopped outside of the Tennessee Aquarium and let her play in the water fountains that they have. There were tons of other parents with the same idea. We hit up Ben & Jerry's for our ice cream and let Blair pick a candy topping. She chose mini M&Ms and she basically dug each one out of the ice cream with her fingers and only ate the candy. Oh well, that's what a date night is for... getting to do what you want.

Sunday we had a cookout with my mom and brother. Blair spent the day in her kiddie pool while snacking on a banana popscicle. I thought the sun and water would tucker her out, but she fought me really well at nap time. We finally got a late one in and then were able to stay up a little later than usually to let her see a few fireworks. She really loved them and afterwards she had me looking up videos of fireworks on my phone for her to watch.

We let her cuddle up with us and spend the night in our bed; something she hasn't done in over a year. It was a really great weekend and we are looking forward to spending the day togather again today.

Happy 4th everyone!

Five on Friday 27/53

1. Things I Did This Week

-Taught Blair how to "fist bump."

-Andy had a late start to work on Wednesday, so we took apart our sectional couch and cleaned out all the toys and spare change and vacuumed it and washed the cushion covers.

-Finally printed off some thank you cards for our wedding gifts.

2. Things I Did Not Do This Week

-Sell my kids on the internet after pitching their 4898472 fit.

-Make any real plans or lists for Alyssa's birthday party, which is NEXT WEEKEND.

-Spend an entire day hiding from the kids in my room and watching Netflix.

3. Things I Window Shopped This Week

-This off the shoulder dress from Old Navy.

-This grey rug from Target.

-This floral comforter from Target.

4. Other Posts I Wrote This Week

-Our Redneck Adventure: Here.

-Watermelon for Life: Here.

5. Pictures I Took This Week

Linking up here and here.