Spring Break

Spring Break was a lot wintery and just a little springy, and we were very grateful for the sun!

Max went to a party at The Muse and he had so much fun building legos inside and running everywhere outside. This action shot is the only pic I could get. 

Speaking of Legos, Max is SO into legos right now. He amazes me with his ability to create pretty cool things without any plans at all. I have zero spatial awareness skills (or patience) so I could never do what he does. 

Haricuts all around! I do love running errands on breaks; it might be my favorite part.

I did quite a bit of laundry during the week, as usual. 

Max had to make a leprechaun trap and, thanks to Brandon's help, it was pretty awesome! I am pretty sure his was the only one with a syringe and I could also tell we were the only parents who did not just do the project for our kid. 

I signed both of them up for a round of swim lessons, just as a refresher, and Anderson swam 1000 yards during his first session. 

Max....did not. 

We made a quick visit to B-ham where the boys were RIDICULOUSLY spoiled. 

I ended up getting sucked into lots of basketball playing at Aunt Manda's. Based on my fitbit summaries from those days, I basically never need to work out again because I got 5x the steps in the same amount of time. 

I also almost passed out/died/broke my ankle, so there were trade offs. 

We hit up the McWayne Center for a couple of hours. 

Aunt Manda even got in on the fun. 

Max is SO in his element when there is any kind of pretend play. 

It was not all fun and games....lots of hangry and sibling moments. 

Aunt Manda turned the hot tub on for them at every request....did I mention they were spoiled?

We made a quick stop at the library during one of the wintery days. 

Then it was warm and we hit up the park!

And we paid Ijams a visit. This is our third year in a row to spend at least one day of Spring Break there and I am always so grateful for the free entertainment that we get there.

Anderson always takes his animal cathing very seriously. 

Max in his camo is the best. 

Brandon, GG & Anderson went to the 2nd round game for the Lady Vols and, even though they lost, we are still VFL in our house!

February Fun.

Despite the fact that his name is only 3 letters, Max does not want to actually sit to write it so I had to spread out his Valentine card writing over the span of about 10 days. Really looking forward to kindergarten over here...

Max brought little bags with dinosaur valentines, suckers, dinosaur tattoos and little dino eggs that "hatch" in water. I already bought the tattoos and eggs for his b-day party (I know; I am crazy) and since I got them from Amazon, I had enough for this holiday, too. 

Also, the post it note on the counter because I was, of course, in charge of ordering shooter shirts for the basketball team. (I bring these things on myself....insert face palm emoji.)

Enchilada night at Toni's was a huge success, as always! So grateful for these people and great food!

Nicole bought this amazing marble run for the boys. It actually WORKS and does not just fall apart as soon as the marble is put on it.

One night over the "sick days" we took Anderson's basketball team to Main Event where they have unlimtited games from 4-midnight for $11!! It was AMAZING because we did not see them for 3 hours. 

We did so many fun things on the sick days, including swimming at the Y, jumping at Jump Jam, eating/playing at every fast food place with a playground, hitting up the park, playing basketball, exploring, etc. but I have zero actual pics. 

Noni took this kid to buy some legos, which are his new obsession. He is able to build really elaborate things out of legos-it is super impressive. 

I love when I get pics of his day at school. His choice of attire is my favorite except for EVERY DAY when it makes us late because he cannot find the exact piece that goes with whatever look he is trying to pull off at that moment. 

This girl always looks like a puppy when she is groomed. 

Max brought an alligator head for A show & tell. I am not sure what I love more-the fact that we have this or the fact that it was his first choice. I am also not sure how the other 4 year olds feel about his selections. 

Max ALWAYS sneaks into our bed multiple times EVERY night. I wake up and realize he's there and bring him back to his bed....just to do it all over again an hour later. I do love that snuggliness, though.

They have been asking FOREVER to crack a coconut, so I finally gave in and bought one. They were seriously so excited. 

Brandon provided some assistance. 

Nobody actually liked the taste, but they were so proud of the process. 

Max added some extra touches to his army outfit one day. 

SO MUCH OF THIS at Anderson's games.

We stopped by to visit Pappaw one afternoona and the boys were so excited to see him and hang out. 

Valentine's Day gifts: putty, a book, a TOOB (prehistoric for Max & Galapagos for Anderson), Nerd rope and candy. 

They were super excited and Anderson made sure that I knew this was better than last year. So, there is that. 

Brandon surprised Anderson with lunch one day at school and everyone was happy. 

Max had to make a Valentine's Day box and I put out all of these stickers and markers for him and....this is all he wanted: a car stuck in lava on the side of a mountain. He kept requesting a picture of this so I finally just printed one off and let him glue it on there. 

His teachers did not think he was crazy, as I predicted, as they truly love Max and his quirkiness. 

One day he really wanted to paint camo wall paper....so I obliged. 

Valentine's Day party!

GG bought the boys LEGO sets for Valentine's Day & Max finished his completely on his own. 

Max was able to go to Reese's for a night to celebrate her birthday and he was PUMPED!

Anderson went to a party for one of his teammates...

and they somehow ended up at my house for 4 hours after it. 

On a really pretty day we met up with the Brimers at the park and it was so nice to just be outside!

Since we are working late hours every night doing interviews, my boss let me take Anderson lunch one day! And, I found this "Where's Waldo" book and we spent 30 minutes trying to find Waldo, which was actually really fun. 

I love when Anderson sends me pics. 

Anderson's 2nd grade class picture. 

Mom & I went to a play one night and Brandon sent me this of the boys. 

The play, 9 to 5, was hilarious. 

More entertaining Max at Anderson's games. 

In the BEST twist of my life, I was able to attend a conference in New Orleans with Nicole & Denise!

As always, the grandparents are amazing and took care of these boys. Noni took them to the zoo in addition to the feeding/keeping alive parts. 

Max got to snuggle with GG one night, too!

I cannot remember the last time that Nicole and I actually had an entire conversation much less spend actual TIME together, so this trip was amazing. We talked and attended sessions and ate meals and all of the things. It was fabulous.

I miss working with Denise SO much so I am incredibly grateful that I got to spend a few days with her. 

February was good to us and I am already looking forward to March!

Random funny story that I want to remember: 

We booked a condo over the summer & told the boys that it only had one bedroom and that they would be sleeping in bunk beds in the hallway. We ended up switching our reservation & now they will be sleeping on a pull out couch.When I told Anderson that he was so relieved and said, "Oh, good. I was really scared about sleeping in the hallway with all of those stranger walking by and you being inside the room without us."