Tonight I went to a paint party at my church. It was an event for women that was put on by our women's ministry team. I'm part of the planning team, but that's not why I was so excited about going to and participating in the event. Really it's because I love social crafting events like that. It's the third time I've done a painting event like that, and I knew I'd have fun.
We had delicious snacks: fruits, veggies, salami, chocolate-covered strawberries, and more. The snacks were some of my absolute favorite ones, which added to the fun of the evening ... no one likes crummy snacks. ;)
While the women were doing their paint event in the main sanctuary, the kids were having a movie night watching Monsters University in the kids' sanctuary. They had lots of popcorn and candy--a less sophisticated fare for their young palates.
So, 4/5 of my family had a great night. Travis completed workout 19.5 for the CrossFit Open, and I'm sure it wasn't near the amount of fun as what the rest of us had! :D
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Monday, March 25, 2019
Bowling...That Almost Didn't Happen
Today (3/21) I really, really wanted us to go bowling as a family. Two of my kids had never gotten to experience it, although I knew Evelyn's tiny, five-year-old arms would struggle, even with a kids' bowling ball. Despite my desire for us to go, we had errands to run and the kids had to get their bedrooms cleaned. Cleaning bedrooms is practically a daily task for them because they just can't seem to put things where they belong. It's not like my husband and I go in their bedrooms and throw random stuff around. Nope, it's their own toys, books, blankets, laundry (not all of it dirty, even), etc. Well, thankfully they got their acts together after we went grocery shopping, because their rooms got cleaned in time to go bowling.
We went to Grace Lanes in Carthage. It was clean, quiet, and a nice environment for our family. Since it was Thursday, we got shoe rental and game price for half price (yay!) and splurged on two buckets of popcorn. It was a fun, inexpensive way to spend the afternoon as a family!
We went to Grace Lanes in Carthage. It was clean, quiet, and a nice environment for our family. Since it was Thursday, we got shoe rental and game price for half price (yay!) and splurged on two buckets of popcorn. It was a fun, inexpensive way to spend the afternoon as a family!
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Branson Day Trip
Today we decided to take a day trip to Branson to go to Silver Dollar City and a couple stores at Tanger Outlet. It was cold-ish and dreary, which isn't honestly my favorite weather, but for Silver Dollar City it works quite well. The park is not crowded at all when it's like that (unless it's Christmastime, then it's usually pretty packed no matter what the weather is), which meant we had very short ride lines, lots of open space to walk, and close parking. Despite the low-40s temperatures, it was a fun family time.
After we spent a few hours at Silver Dollar City (don't worry, we'll go again and again to get the best use out of our season passes), we went to Tanger Outlet. We needed to go to the Kitchen Collections store there. It wasn't the most exciting thing to our kids, but when you get "old" you enjoy buying household things that need replacing, like measuring cups and a rolling pin. I've also been watching The Food Network a lot and making lots of fun, new recipes thanks to our eMeals subscription, and so I have been needing a meat tenderizer-hammer-thingy. (That's the technical name.) I can't wait to actually use it!
We got home around dinnertime, so we stopped by the grocery store and grabbed a couple frozen pizzas for the kids and relaxed in the living room watching the rest of Thor.
After we spent a few hours at Silver Dollar City (don't worry, we'll go again and again to get the best use out of our season passes), we went to Tanger Outlet. We needed to go to the Kitchen Collections store there. It wasn't the most exciting thing to our kids, but when you get "old" you enjoy buying household things that need replacing, like measuring cups and a rolling pin. I've also been watching The Food Network a lot and making lots of fun, new recipes thanks to our eMeals subscription, and so I have been needing a meat tenderizer-hammer-thingy. (That's the technical name.) I can't wait to actually use it!
We got home around dinnertime, so we stopped by the grocery store and grabbed a couple frozen pizzas for the kids and relaxed in the living room watching the rest of Thor.
Tuesday Tax Day
Tax Day isn't typically synonymous with Tuesday, but that's what I spent a chunk of today doing, and it was Tuesday.
I don't really enjoy doing taxes, and I'm pretty sure not many people do (outside of those who choose that as a profession). Despite my lack of enjoyment with doing them, once I finish my taxes, I do get a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction for completing the task. Plus, it's been on my to do list for the past two months and really needed to be done this week.
I've seen several posts online about people getting less money back from their taxes this year, but we got more. The only thing I can credit that to is the fact that our kids were bigger deductions/tax credits this year, and we have three of them. They cost us so much money throughout the year I'm glad I could get back an extra couple hundred dollars thanks to them. Hahaha!!
I don't really enjoy doing taxes, and I'm pretty sure not many people do (outside of those who choose that as a profession). Despite my lack of enjoyment with doing them, once I finish my taxes, I do get a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction for completing the task. Plus, it's been on my to do list for the past two months and really needed to be done this week.
I've seen several posts online about people getting less money back from their taxes this year, but we got more. The only thing I can credit that to is the fact that our kids were bigger deductions/tax credits this year, and we have three of them. They cost us so much money throughout the year I'm glad I could get back an extra couple hundred dollars thanks to them. Hahaha!!
Monday, March 18, 2019
More Spring Cleaning
This morning one of my girls asked why we had to work so hard cleaning today. I simply responded, "If we work hard today when Silver Dollar City isn't open, we won't have cleaning and work to do on another day when it is open, and we'll be able to go." It's that simple, really. Just a matter of opportunity cost. If you have something to do now but choose to put it off, when something fun comes along, you might miss out because of the necessary task obligation. (That's not what I planned to blog about, so consider yourself lucky to get an extra little nugget of truth.)
Today I cleaned all the windows in our house, both inside and out, including the window casings. It's a job that takes a couple hours, but the sun was shining, the temps were deliciously warm, and a little music playing on my phone helped it to pass by as quickly as it could. While I did that, the girls played in their toy room and picked up their bedroom a bit and Travis and Coltin went to several stores to get necessary items for re-landscaping the front yard. We've been in this house for seven years at the end of the month, but it's been a few years since we did much landscaping. The front beds were looking kind of ragged as the mulch disappeared bit by bit. Today we remedied that by moving around a few established plants and bulbs, planted some new spring bulbs and roots, spread new mulch, and added two planters on either side of the mailbox. Travis and I worked side by side for several hours with sporadic help from the kids when they took breaks from playing, and it looks really nice. We'll be able to enjoy it immensely this spring and summer!
Today I cleaned all the windows in our house, both inside and out, including the window casings. It's a job that takes a couple hours, but the sun was shining, the temps were deliciously warm, and a little music playing on my phone helped it to pass by as quickly as it could. While I did that, the girls played in their toy room and picked up their bedroom a bit and Travis and Coltin went to several stores to get necessary items for re-landscaping the front yard. We've been in this house for seven years at the end of the month, but it's been a few years since we did much landscaping. The front beds were looking kind of ragged as the mulch disappeared bit by bit. Today we remedied that by moving around a few established plants and bulbs, planted some new spring bulbs and roots, spread new mulch, and added two planters on either side of the mailbox. Travis and I worked side by side for several hours with sporadic help from the kids when they took breaks from playing, and it looks really nice. We'll be able to enjoy it immensely this spring and summer!
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Family Cookout
I love Sundays. I love Sundays even more when I have Monday off. It just makes the day that much more relaxing when I know the following day is yet another family day.
Today we took the opportunity to drive a little way across the Kansas border to Travis' parents' house in Neodesha. Since the weather has been warming up, the dogs needed a makeover to be rid of their winter coat, and my in laws have professional-grade hair clippers that they use in conjunction with their dog kennel. My mother-in-law and I worked together to get the dogs cleaned up while my kids picked up branches in the expansive yard and my father-in-law got burgers and dogs on the grill. Once the necessary cleaning was done, we all went inside to relax and enjoy the food.
After everyone ate, the kids put on swimsuits and hung out in the hot tub for a bit. Then everyone came inside to play a bit longer before we had to say goodbye and hit the road for the drive home.
It's always a fun time going to visit my in laws, and today was no exception as we enjoyed the first official cookout of the year!
Today we took the opportunity to drive a little way across the Kansas border to Travis' parents' house in Neodesha. Since the weather has been warming up, the dogs needed a makeover to be rid of their winter coat, and my in laws have professional-grade hair clippers that they use in conjunction with their dog kennel. My mother-in-law and I worked together to get the dogs cleaned up while my kids picked up branches in the expansive yard and my father-in-law got burgers and dogs on the grill. Once the necessary cleaning was done, we all went inside to relax and enjoy the food.
After everyone ate, the kids put on swimsuits and hung out in the hot tub for a bit. Then everyone came inside to play a bit longer before we had to say goodbye and hit the road for the drive home.
It's always a fun time going to visit my in laws, and today was no exception as we enjoyed the first official cookout of the year!
First Official Day of Break
Today was a great start to the break. A few members of the family slept in and had a leisurely morning. Those who didn't sleep in were able to sufficiently take care of themselves so those of us who did want to relax were able to. ;)
Travis went to the store to rent a snake ... of the plumbing variety. We have an issue with our kitchen plumbing, and about once a year he has to snake from the kitchen sink toward the laundry room and garage. Water leaks in the garage, which indicates the need for it to be snaked out. I don't know the actual cause or if there's a more technical name for the process, but I do know that it takes care of the problem for the foreseeable future.
After he took care of that issue, I got lunch made for the kids and started in on my big task for the day. My job was to scrub the dining room grout. It's not the most fun job, but it's not particularly strenuous, either. I spent a couple hours sitting on my hiney, scrubbing grout with a throwaway toothbrush and Norwex cleaning paste. Other than taking some time and a bit of elbow grease, it was an easy job that makes a big impact on the look of the room.
Travis went to the store to rent a snake ... of the plumbing variety. We have an issue with our kitchen plumbing, and about once a year he has to snake from the kitchen sink toward the laundry room and garage. Water leaks in the garage, which indicates the need for it to be snaked out. I don't know the actual cause or if there's a more technical name for the process, but I do know that it takes care of the problem for the foreseeable future.
After he took care of that issue, I got lunch made for the kids and started in on my big task for the day. My job was to scrub the dining room grout. It's not the most fun job, but it's not particularly strenuous, either. I spent a couple hours sitting on my hiney, scrubbing grout with a throwaway toothbrush and Norwex cleaning paste. Other than taking some time and a bit of elbow grease, it was an easy job that makes a big impact on the look of the room.
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