Birthday Fun and the Sickies

We've had quite a week around here, and I am exhausted! I typically try to balance a good bit of going and doing with a good bit of staying home each week. I think it's important to learn both skills. Well, this week {against my own rule} I booked us up with stuff every day, then Brenson ended up being sick all week so we had to cancel everything and just stay home. I kind of felt like this was coming. Last Friday, he was acting very unlike himself and very tired. We followed that with an overly busy Saturday and Sunday, so I wasn't surprised when he got sick on Monday. However, dealing with a sick little boy all week has worn this Momma smooth out!

So, this past Saturday (before the sickies hit us) we had a full day! On the 3rd Saturday of each month, our church hosts a food give-away that we typically help work. We served 44 families on Saturday (which is A LOT for our small church and the small town it's in), so it was quite a busy morning. We grabbed lunch then headed home for naptime. We woke the kiddos up from nap a little early so we could head over to Chris's sister's house to celebrate our nephew Zeke's birthday.

So happy to be 5 years old!

Brianna adores her cousin Abby!

I didn't grow up with any cousins close by, so I'm thrilled that my kiddos get to grow up with cousins they see often. Brenson pretty much followed Zeke around all evening. He was very interested in the Jake and the Neverland Pirates Ship that Zeke got for his birthday.

Zeke was showing Bren all around the toy :-).

I don't have a photo of Brianna and Zeke, but they were double trouble for sure! They are about a year and a half apart in age, but they play so well together right now.

After some food, cake, and gift opening, we all headed outside to play for a bit. Uncle Joe gave the kids suckers, which of course they loved!

Brenson was too busy eating to smile for the camera.

There is a nice playground just down the street from Chris's sister's house, so we all walked down there to play before the sun set. My kids LOVE playing outside.

Brenson was on the move so much that I couldn't catch a good photo of him . . . this one is blurry because he's moving so fast!

He thinks he's SO big. You're only 19 months old, kiddo!

The slide is always a big hit.

I'm sad that this photo is blurry . . . it's otherwise so cute!

I really wanted a photo of the four kids for a gift I'm making my MIL for Christmas. After what seemed like 25 shots, I got this one that I'm happy with:

Then, I tried to get one with Meme and Papa in it as well. Ha! Well, this is the best I could do:

Notice that it's not just the kids that weren't cooperating? Oh, and Zeke's face is PRICELESS!

After church on Sunday, we went to another birthday party for our friend Jackson (from Music Class) who also turned 5. I didn't take any photos at this party, but it was the cutest Lego themed event and I wish I had photos to show you all.

We have our Mommy and Me preschool class in the morning, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to make it. We missed cheering on Daddy playing basketball, a playdate, toddler Bible Class, and Music Class this week. I'm ready for my little guy to feel better so we can get back to our normal routine!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Mamarazzi Monday

I enjoyed this link-up so much last week that I decided to link up with Mamarazzi Monday again this week!

link up {here}

I realized that this week, the photos I'm using really tell the story of our week. I kind of love that. 

Last Monday poor Brenson ended up having a massively dirty diaper in Brianna's room. It leaked all over her carpet and was pretty disgusting. This all happened not long before nap time, and because I had just used carpet cleaner in her room, I didn't want her sleeping in there with all the fumes. So, she ended up napping in my bed. She looked so tiny in my big bed snuggled up with my {incredibly} oversized snoogle.

On Tuesday, Daddy tried to do some work from home. Brenson decided he needed some company :-).

That evening, we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I couldn't get over how pretty Brenson's eyes looked with the light from the window.

Brianna colored and waited so patiently for her food. She is such a big girl.

Brianna has a book that we've been reading that mentions origami. On Wednesday, I decided that we needed to try our hand at origami while Brenson was taking his morning nap. We made this fun crane:

We are attending music class on Thursdays now. We went on Tuesdays for the longest time, but our teacher decided to take a break and they canceled the Tuesday section. Our new class and teacher has been good so far, and we have several friends from our old class that moved with us. Brenson and Brianna were really concentrating in this one:

Dancing with the scarves:

This was during free play time. Brianna was playing with her friend, Jackson, and Brenson was enjoying the percussion instruments (his favorite by far).

Shaking his egg:

More percussion enjoyment . . .

After music class, we went and visited Daddy at work. This is a RARE happening, and the kiddos loved it! Then, we all went out to eat (another fun and rare treat!).

On Friday, the weather was AH-MAZING so Daddy took off a half day of work and we went to the zoo! It was crazy busy, but we had so much fun!

Brenson wore a little Jon-jon and eeeeek! He looked so cute! 

They had free train and carousel rides for all zoo members that day. We definitely took advantage of this!

We went with cousin Chloe Jo and her parents. The girls were EXCITED for the train ride!

One of Brianna's favorite parts of the zoo is the petting zoo. I kind of hate the petting zoo (I'm no fun, I know), so Chris took her in while I stayed with Brenson and the stroller. Brenson is honestly old enough to enjoy the petting zoo now as well, but he was really tired at this point, so I didn't want to get him out of the stroller and all worked up.

We had a very low-key Saturday that consisted of house cleaning and an afternoon nap for everyone. Mmmmm . . . my kind of day! 

Happy Monday!

Ahoy, Matey!

The same day that I was hosting a baby shower for my friend, Kendall, Brianna and Brenson had been invited to a birthday party for a little boy in their music class. Since Chris had the kids all day that day, he went ahead and took them to the party. 

Jackson turned 4 years old and had a pirate themed party. My three loved the party! It was all I heard about all evening after getting home from my day. I guess they had all kinds of games, a face painting station, a bow-making station, a whole table of cute pirate-themed food, and great decorations. I was sad to have missed it, but one of the party guests put a ton (like over 100) of photos on facebook so I had fun looking through them. All but one of the photos in this post are from that guest's facebook album. Chris didn't take the camera :-).

{Brianna playing first mate for the birthday boy}

How cute is my little pirate? The bandana, eyepatch, and belt were a few of the {many} party favors. They had face painting, too.

I love her earring, haha!

They "walked the plank" as one of the party games.

Apparently, this boat was a big hit with Jackson and Brianna!

There was also a pirate pinata . . . Brianna's first experience with that! See the hook the boy in the photo has on his hand? That was another party favor, along with a whole bag of other goodies.

While Brianna was outside partying, Brenson hung out inside with a few of the birthday boy's relatives. When I was looking through these photos, I kept asking Chris, "Where is our son?" I guess he was having a great time inside, and they were thoroughly enjoying him as well.

Love this photo!

And this one, too. Sweet girl.

Brenson was such a good boy that day. Love his serious face.

Jackson hugged Brianna after he opened the gift she brought :-).

Brianna is really beginning to "get" birthday parties, so that's been fun for us. I'm so thankful that someone had their camera going so I don't feel like I completely missed out on the party!

Yeah, it was time.

Most of my faithful followers have probably noticed that the 'ol blog got a new look recently. And a new name. Did you notice the new name?

I've had a few ask me about that, so I thought I would give a little background. When I first started this blog back in February of 2008, it was a pretty spur of the moment decision. My friend, Tracy, had a blog that she was showing me around one night while hanging out at her house. We started this one right then and there, so I had very little time to think of a cute blog name or address. I quickly named it The Story of My Life with the best of intentions to rename it later.

You know how that goes, right?

Fast forward 4.5 years to a few weeks ago, and I found myself having a conversation about the name of my blog with a friend. I told her that I've never really liked the name of my blog, but I've also never taken the time to think of anything I like better. She asked me where I got the name, and I replied that it comes from a Bon Jovi song (did you know that I'm a big Bon Jovi fan?) called Story of My Life. Then I sang the chorus of the song for her, which goes like this:

This is the story of my life,

And I write it every day.

I know it isn't black and white,

But it's anything but grey. 

I know, I know I'm not alright,

But I'll be okay cause anything and everything can happen.

It's the story of my life.

Pretend I was singing :-).

So she said, why don't you call your blog Anything But Grey?

Ummm, DUH! Please tell me why I didn't think of that??? See, I told you that I had never taken the time to think about it. So yeah, it was time for a new name and a new look. And I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out!

In other unrelated news, Chris and I went on a date Monday night! I think this is only the second date we've been on since Brenson was born. We just spent so many years as just the two of us that we genuinely like having our children with us. However, it was so nice to have uninterrupted conversation! We didn't do anything too special . . . just went to dinner, did a bit of shopping, and hit up Starbucks. Our 11th wedding anniversary is this month. That just seems crazy to me!

{Monday, before our date}

Yesterday, the kiddos and I went to music class and then on a play date with some of our music class friends. We had a picnic in the park, then played for a bit before heading home for nap time. Brianna had a great time!

She's had a bit of allergy issues the past couple days (just lots of sneezing and bit of a runny nose), but it hasn't slowed her down any. She's such a little sweetie.

I tried to take photos of Brenson at the park, but he was. not. having. it. He's had a rough week or so. He is in the process of cutting his two bottom front teeth. I took the photo below last night, and you can barely see those little teeth poking through. Bless his heart; I know he's in pain.

Remember when I used to do What I'm Loving Wednesday? That was fun. Maybe I need to start that back up :-).

Back in the {Music Class} Saddle

I am behind on my blogging. Again.

I get caught up, then get behind, then get caught up, and it seems like the cycle never ends. However, I LOVE having our daily life documented, so giving up the blog isn't an option right now. I just wish I could keep up with it!

Okay, moving on. 

Two weeks ago, Brianna and I (with Brenson in tow) started back in our Bouncin' Beethovens music class. We haven't been since December, so Brianna was beyond excited when I told her we were going back.

It didn't take her any time at all to remember the routine. Here she is with the rhythm sticks:

I love how she watches the teacher and tries to mimic her exactly!

Remembering how much fun music class is:

This is during free play time. She loves to play the xylophone

Showing Mommy how it's done:

Brianna's favorite little music class friend is named Jackson. His family added a baby sister on December 20, so she's a little over 6 weeks older than Brenson. Look how much bigger he is than her (she is very average sized)!

Mr. B was not happy about having his photo taken. This was at the end of class, so he was ready to go!

Brenson seems small to me until I see him with other babies that are around his age. Anyway, I'm so glad that we're back in class. It's a little more challenging with an infant and a toddler, but Brenson is usually very good. Someday {too} soon, he'll be drumming and singing and clapping along with us!