Weekly Happenings: The work/school week was pretty normal. Yesterday we decided to take a day trip to Austin. We stopped for a mini-break at Buc-ee’s (a humongous gas station that has all sorts of fun stuff inside), leaving with fresh drinks, beef jerky, and two plush beavers (the “mascot” for Buc-ee’s is a beaver), haha. Once we got to Austin, we stopped at In-N-Out for lunch and then went to IKEA and Zilker Park. Zilker Park is a huge park (kind of similar to Brakenridge Park here in San Antonio) with a lot of natural areas and a really fun playground area. They also have a small train to ride around the park as well. It was a pretty fun trip.
The Weekly Weather: It’s been gorgeous. I can hardly believe that we actually have gotten a spring this year (warm, but not too warm). It’s been mostly clear. We did have one thunderstorm come through, but it was overnight Friday, so yesterday was just as clear and beautiful as the rest of the week was.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s enjoyed having a bit of a break from school. He was able to get his finals done early, so he had most of last week off and then this next week is his official break before he starts up on his final semester. I am so proud of him. He has been maintaining a pretty loaded school schedule (and getting good grades) as well as working full-time (not to mention holding down a calling at church and making time for family). I know it’s been stressful, but he’s handled it amazingly.
What Sarah’s Been Doing: I’ve mostly been doing the normal mom stuff: running errands, keeping the tiny human happy (as well as the not-so-tiny-anymore human), and the like.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been doing really well in school. He also got to have a friend come over after school one day, which he loved a lot.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s been her normal cute self. She keeps us all on our toes with how mobile she’s become. We’re getting better at remembering to close doors as well as using the lock features on the fridge and dishwasher (since her reach is increasing as well).
This Week in Pictures:
Joseph pushing Abigail in her new stroller. He loves helping out!We wanted to get something more lightweight that didn’t take up as much room in the back of the car. This Minnie Mouse umbrella stroller fit the bill (and was super cute as well).Looking at their reflections in the oven glass.Our garden is doing really well (and the pumpkin seed that Joseph brought home from school in October that we dried out and then poked into the ground to “see what would happen” actually sprouted).Walking home with one of his best buds.They had fun playing video games (and other things).In the swings at Zilker Park.Have I mentioned that she loves swings?Abigail in the car.They had this old fire truck incorporated into one of the play structures. Both kids enjoyed crawling around on it.Momma and Abigail on the train.More fire truck fun.Daddy and Joseph on the train.Paul put a bunch of Baby Einstein videos on his tablet and used that to help entertain Abigail.Joseph on the fire truck.Joseph upon realizing that one of the shows he had on his tablet matched a game he had for his DS: “Hey, I can play along as I watch!”Abigail really loved this fire truck.Joseph loved it as well.One of the things we picked up at IKEA was a new set of baskets for my music storage. I had been using some green cardboard boxes, but they were starting to wear out. I love the look of the baskets!
Weekly Happenings: This past week contained the regular stuff (work, school, errand-running, etc.) but fun stuff as well: trips to the park (I think we went four times), a trip to the zoo, and tons of home fun.
The Weekly Weather: It’s been mostly warm (with cool mornings and mild evenings). Yesterday a cold front moved through, dropping the temperature about 25 degrees. It was interesting having to dig the winter stuff back out for just one day (today it’s supposed to be back up to almost 80).
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s finishing up his final projects for this semester. He’ll have a short break before diving into his final semester before getting his Bachelor’s Degree.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Taking the kids to the park, doing the back-and-forth school drop-off and pick-up, running errands, keeping the house in a {relatively} organized manner, etc.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been busy at school but has loved afternoon park visits and play dates at the house.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s starting to respond to simple phrases and commands. For example, if I ask her if she wants to give one of her stuffed animals (or one of us, or anything, really) “loves”, she’ll hug it close to her and pat it. The other day I was cleaning up the toys in the loft. She was watching me rather intently, so I handed her a car, and as I was putting other cars away, I said, “Come put your car away.” She sat for a moment (I could tell she was processing) and then crawled over and put her car in the bin (and was rewarded with a “Good job, Baby-girl!” which she loved to hear). We have to spell the word “bath” unless we’re ready to put her in the bathtub right then, or else she gets rather upset (she LOVES bath time). Oh, and while I was making dinner one night, I was letting her play with some kitchen utensils that I keep just for her in a plastic bowl. I tuned around to pick them all up (since I heard her playing with toys in the living room) to find that she’d put them all back in the bowl before crawling off to the living room. It was a rather nice surprise, haha.
This Week in Pictures:
My first attempt at an {almost} homemade pie (for convenience I used a pre-made crust) turned out pretty tasty. It’s strawberry (a favorite fruit in our house). Even Joseph, who is a somewhat picky pie eater said he liked it a lot. He did say that the whipped cream (which I did make from scratch) was his favorite part. 😄Joseph’s model of a pill bug that he did at school as part of a research project. I love how his teacher stretches his brain in fun ways!Paul moved the coffee table from its more traditional placement (it was rather cramped the way it had to be in order to accommodate the recliners) and moved the smaller table as well (since the coffee table is now where it once resided). I instantly loved it. The area is much more open to walk around, and now the board games (which are in the plastic bins under the coffee table) are much more accessible to bring to the table to play.I love seeing her looking at books!She loves this plush milk carton (yes, you read that correctly) a friend of mine got for her.Giving it “loves”.Miss Fiesta came to visit Joseph’s school (Fiesta is a big event in San Antonio during the month of April) and Abigail was rather enamored with her crown. When Miss Fiesta asked if we wanted to take a picture with her, I couldn’t really say no. I did have a hard time keeping Abigail from grabbing all her Fiesta medals (the things pinned to her sash), though.She climbed into Joseph’s beanbag chair with this book and proceeded to just sit back and relax with it.She looks so big in these pictures. I can hardly believe it!Roaring like a bear (unlike the actual bear behind him…who, I think, is getting ready for a nap, haha).Surfing the Komodo dragon.Saying hello to a giraffe…I couldn’t believe how close they were this time.I’m not quite sure what’s going on in this picture…maybe he’s making a giraffe face? Or just a silly face for the camera…either is possible.After the zoo, we went to The Cracker Barrel for dinner. They had games at each table to play. Joseph loved this peg game. As we were paying for our meal later, we noticed they had them for sale right by the register (well played, Cracker Barrel, well played) and decided we would get him one (we decided $4 was rather reasonable).Putting Daddy’s slippers back up on the bench after getting them down to play with.Paul got this shot. I sense a theme starting with her, books, and this spot. We might need to get another beanbag chair eventually (since Joseph still likes to snuggle into this spot on occasion).
Weekly Happenings: We didn’t do too much out of the ordinary this past week. Park play dates, school, work, and the like. The Easter Bunny did visit our house last night, which always garners a fun result in the morning. 🙂
The Weekly Weather: It’s been typical spring weather: warm with a mix of either sunny weather or crazy thunderstorms (I think we got several inches in one day).
What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school, mainly. He’s coming up to the end of his current semester, so there’s all that goes with that.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much on my end, either. Mainly running around with kids and doing the typical “mom” stuff.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had an egg hunt at school, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He also spent a lot of time playing with friends at the park.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: I took her to her 15 month check-up. She weighs 22.01 pounds and is 30.25 inches long. We switched her off of bottles and onto sippy cups, which she is doing really well with. We also switched her car seat around from rear-facing to forward-facing, which she enjoys immensely. She had recently begun fighting getting into the car seat when it was rear-facing, so when I asked her doctor about flipping it around and got the go-ahead to do so, we flipped it around and she has been much happier.
This Week in Pictures:
Since General Conference is today, we put the kids in Easter attire for church last week.Trying out the sippy cup for actually drinking (as opposed to just playing/experimenting with it).Happy to be flipped around!Warm, sunny weather calls for a romper, jelly sandals, and a sun hat!Joseph decorated a bag to use for his egg hunt at school. I really liked his rabbit.He drew a basket on the back, which I was also impressed with.Sporting some of her new warm weather attire.Brother had to get in on the act. 🙂I sure love these two!Trying to put on the Batman mask. I think that she thought she had it on, haha.An updated picture of Abigail’s room. It’s definitely becoming more girly and less utilitarian.I saw this succulent with this magnificent blossom spike when we went to our favorite BBQ joint. I hope I get to see it bloom!More dress up fun…She was trying to climb up and get me (or my phone, haha).Easter goodies. The Easter Bunny leaves the candy (and fills the eggs) and Mom and Dad do the rest. 🙂Checking out her first Easter egg.She was happy to find out the Easter Bunny had filled her eggs with……puffs!Joseph checking out his goodies.He got a Yo-kai watch (a toy he can wear on his wrist that projects different little cartoon creatures and also makes some pretty cool sounds).First chocolate bunny.She smiled at it for a little bit before diving in.The aftermath…I think she liked it (she only bit off a small corner before showing that she was losing interest).Playing with the cars that were in her basket.Checking out her new book.
