five on friday

1. On Saturday Bryan had a meeting so I put on my brave (crazy) pants and took the girls to Princess Night at Chick-fil-A.  It was packed and lines were super long, but we did alright.  We met Aurora, Belle, Elsa, and Cinderella, ate chicken nuggets, Jilly bounced in the bounce house, and she got a balloon "Aurora wand"- whatever that is.  I was happy to escape to peace and quiet at home with my little princesses.

2. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo in the very best way- eating ourselves silly.  We had taco chicken, Santa Fe lime rice, Mexican sweet corn cake, and black beans (my first time really enjoying beans- monumental.)

3. We also went to San Jose to see Lisa and boys this week.  I've said it 800 billion times, but Lisa really is the besty best friend a girl could ever ask for.  We had a great time chatting and the kids had so much fun playing together.  

4.  A couple weeks ago I made Jilly a Job Chart to hopefully help her be more responsible and helpful.  She gets stickers for putting her plate in the sink, putting toys away, putting her clothes in her laundry basket, etc.  I told her when she got enough stickers she could have some money and go to the dollar store and pick whatever she wanted.  At some point when I wasn't paying enough attention she asked if she could get an Elsa dress at the dollar store and I unfortunately said yes.  So, now her little dollar store reward has turned into an Elsa dress (that will not be found at the dollar store.)  But she is so, so excited- she tells everyone (gymnastics coach, Blake, my family on Skype, complete strangers) about earning her Elsa dress.  And, she really has been helpful.  Plus, I made the chart pretty big so hopefully we can draw this out for a couple months.  It's kind of scary that she's already figuring out how to get what she wants- too smart!

(one of her favorite activities- counting her stickers)

5. Next week is Mother's Day, Jilly's half birthday, and Mattie's full birthday.  Consider yourself warned as I plan to turn this blog into a full-on gush sesh.  

Happy Mother's Day to all!

five on friday

1. I loved this article that's been going around facebook.  I am not the best housekeeper (there are many many many things I'd rather do than scrub my kitchen floor) but this made me want to be better.

2. TOTW (Tricks of the Week) - Mattie has mastered clapping and Jilly is finally successful at dressing herself (though clothes are frequently on backwards.)  This has increased Jilly's daily outfit changes by tenfold.  She was so, so proud to surprise me with her full Cinderella ensemble- dress, purse, and glass slippers.

3. Late on Tuesday afternoon I sat down to start our 2013 Family Photo Book.  On Shutterfly I saw that there was a 50% off books deal that ended that day.  So, I spent the entire evening putting our book together and ordered it at 11:58pm.  Phew.

4. Mattie learning to stand up has thrown quite the wrench into our sleeping routine.  Nearly every time I put her in bed she immediately pulls herself up and cries and cries to be let out.  Once when I went to get her she looked right at me and said "ma ma ma" and I melted and swore never to put her back in that cell (. . .until it was time for her next nap.)

"saaaaave me!"

5. Our Chick-fil-A was doing free breakfast this whole week and we went twice.  We probably would have gone more if I had found out about it before Wednesday afternoon.  Ridiculous? Maybe. Delicious? Absolutely.

Wanted to leave you with a happier picture of Mattie.  Happy Weekend!!

Chick-a-Rella

A few weeks ago we saw a flyer that Chick-fil-A was having a princess night.  There would be a princess, free ice cream, and chicken nuggets- basically our 3 favorite things.  On Saturday night we put on Jilly's pink princess dress and headed over to cfa.  She was completely star-struck when she saw Cinderella, but she also loved the princess cow.  She was constantly on the lookout for the cow and ran over to hug her at least 6 times.

 

On the way home Jilly chanted "chick-a-rella! chick-a-rella!" and I woke up this morning to a little girl standing next to my bed holding her princess dress and asking, "we go see cow again?"  So I'd say the night was a success.