Busy, Busy, Busy

Since I wrote last, we have been very busy over here. We went to the Cubs vs. D-backs game as a gift I gave to Andy for his birthday. I bought really good seats so it made the game even more fun. Max really enjoyed eating everything he could at the game. 

Max has been enjoying the pool with his avocado tube that he got from grandpa J and grandma V.

Girls Night Out. This is always such a fun night! I went to the NKOTB concert with my ladies one night and of course, we had fantastic seats. All thanks to Jessica for becoming a member of their fan club so she can become part of the early ticket sales and snag us the awesome seats. It was a fantastic concert reliving my childhood and most importantly spending time with my girlfriends. With our busy lives, we don't get together as much as we would like so when we do I really appreciate the time. 

The next day was Max's last day of school. I decided to have the end of school year party with Max's closest friends at our house with a rented water slide. It was a ton of fun and exhausting at the same time. 

These boys had a blast together, but I think Sammy had just as much fun as they did. She was outside chasing them around, playing in the water, and trying to be a part of their party. So much that she ended up getting on the slide and I struggled to chase her to get her off. Once she learned to get on the slide I couldn't keep her off so I had to lock her in the house. Once all the boys left Sammy crashed on the couch. She was just as tired as the kids were. Zoe could care less. She greeted the kids and then was fine letting them have their water fun. 

I spent the next day with Max at the Aquarium. Of all our time being here, we never visited the aquarium. It was way better than I expected and Max and I had a lot of fun together. 

He even did the VR exhibit where he got to see what it would be like to swim with sharks. It was pretty funny watching his facial expressions as he was doing VR. 

Andy and I went on our date night for our 11th wedding anniversary and we had a tag along. Max was super excited to celebrate with us mainly because we had dinner at the Melting Pot.

Max's game room is finally complete. I have been spending the last six weeks cleaning out his toy room and donating the younger toys that he doesn't play with and organizing the toys that he does play with. I organized all of his legos by color into clear bins and put them in a rotating shelf. It turned out way cooler than I thought it would. Then we organized the room for a TV and video game entertainment center. This will be where can hang out with his friends when they come over. His favorite part is the "Boys Only" LED light we hung up on the wall. It does change colors but Max likes it red to match the room. I am debating putting some gamer art on the wall but haven't quite figured that out yet.

We also went to see the latest Top Gun movie and it was fantastic. Max enjoyed the fighter pilots and was in awe of the jets. It was a great movie and a good time for all three of us. It's been a busy week and time to get back to normal. Max went to camp today and he starts basketball practice tomorrow night. 

Mother's Day and School Musical

 Of course I was spoiled for Mother's Day this past weekend by my two favorite people in the whole world. Max likes to stick to traditions, so we did our usual breakfast in bed while we watched Ratatouille. Andy and Max made our favorite breakfast, avocado toast with smoked salmon. Of course it was fantastic. 

They gave me flowers and we went to the movies to see a new movie that Max has been dying to see. 

The pool has hit 90 degrees so Max got his first swim in for the year.

This week Max has his first school program due to COVID the past two years. Second grade performed the musical Stone Soup. It was super cute and Max did a great job. He was thrilled to get go stand next to his really good friend throughout the program.

End of April Update

 Two weekends ago Max was tested to advance to the next level at Ninja. He didn't pass, but I am beyond proud of him for getting up in front of every kid and parent to be timed on the course. I didn't know this is how they do the testing when I signed him up otherwise I would have prepared him better. I saw the anxiety and fear in his face when it was his turn. I think that might have held him back a little. I was just so beyond proud of him to get up and run the course to the best that he could in front of everyone. Especially since I know that is very terrifying for him.

This past weekend we had Stella and Briggs at the house because their parents were on vacation. I got to hang with them on Saturday and they had fun playing games. Max also taught Stella how to play Fortnite.

I took an early morning flight on Sunday to my conference in Louisville, KY. It's the annual accounting marketing conference I attend every year. It was so good to see everyone and reconnect in person because the conference has not happened since 2019. While I was there my department took home another marketing achievement award for an internal marketing communications campaign. I am beyond proud of my team and I will note that this is our tenth marketing achievement award. Not trying to brag, but I believe we are the only firm with that many awards. A lot of the recognition does go out to my team though, because they are pretty fantastic at what they do.

We finally got our railing done. This is something I have been trying to get done for the last two years and it finally happened. It looks so good! I just love it!

It was so good to get home to see Andy and Max after a long day of traveling on Wednesday. I know Max couldn't wait for me to get home. On Friday I was able to attend the Muffins in the Morning event at Max's school. I enjoyed this very much especially since Max was excited to have me there. I just cherish this because I know one day it won't be cool to have mom visit the school.

Art, Jeeps and New Things

 I volunteered to teach Art Masterpiece at Max's school this year. It's about 1.5 hours out of my day and it brings art into the school since they cut art out many years ago due to the budget. Growing up art was my favorite class so when I found out AZ doesn't have art I was definitely bummed. Then I heard about parents volunteering to teach Art Masterpiece so I signed up. I did it three times this year and it was sort of fun. Max LOVED having me in his classroom teaching the kids so I enjoyed going. This month was the last month and it was a painting project. I took this quick picture of Max working on his artwork. It's his tree of life that he is embellishing with shiny things. 

Art Masterpiece is now done for the year and I am probably going to sign up to teach two or three classes again next year especially since Max still thinks it's cool to have me in the classroom. One day he won't think it's cool and that's when I won't sign up.

Andy got a new vehicle. He got rid of his truck and got a Jeep truck. He had a Jeep when I first met him and he always wanted to get another Jeep someday. Max loves it and loves it when Andy takes the top off. He's just waiting for Andy to take the doors off. Now, Max isn't sure which car is cooler, mine or his.

I did a thing! I started swim lessons. Yes, that's right, my old butt isn't great at swimming and is very fearful in deep water. I am fine in play pools but I don't do well in the ocean or a deep pool where I can't touch. And when I say "don't do well" I really mean I have panic attacks. After the last "framily" vacation where I was the only one uncomfortable with the water and requesting to wear a life vest, it was time to learn to swim. I found someone online in the area that teaches swim to adults and kids. I booked private lessons with him in his backyard lap pool, which is 10 feet deep, and I had my first lesson this past Tuesday. It was such a positive experience and I now believe I can overcome my fears. I will see him once a week until I get over the fear of deep water and putting my head underwater. 

Here's to doing new things at any age!

Happy Easter

 We spent the day before Easter coloring eggs in various ways. Max's favorite was to use whip cream and food color.

We went out for sushi with grandpa the night before Easter and filled Max's belly with plenty of salmon.

Max woke Easter morning with his basket full of goodies from the Easter bunny.

We did our annual egg hunt.

Since grandma L and grandpa T were in town we hosted everyone at our house for the WI standard ham on Easter. We started with appetizers and champagne of course.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter. I know we did!

Happy Birthday

 Another year went by super fast and we came upon Andy's birthday. He is such a humbug, he didn't want to do anything for it. He just wanted it to be low-key and let Max dictate how we celebrate. So, of course, the birthday celebration revolved around food. 

We started at Max's favorite breakfast spot and got fresh-pressed juice.

For lunch, we went to the dine-in theater. Max has been waiting two months to see the new Sonic movie and he was so excited. Way more excited than Andy was to celebrate his birthday.

For dinner, I wanted to go out to eat, but Andy and Max decided we would order from one of his favorite Italian restaurants. 

Andy opened presents and blew out the candles on his blizzard. It's crazy that nobody in this house really likes cake. The only cake I care for is Nothing Bundt Cake and Max and Andy just plain don't care for it at all. Andy, therefore, requested a blizzard as the celebration piece while we sang and he blew out his candles.

The Cubs, Crawfish Boil and Friends

 Two weekends ago we went to a Cubs Spring training game. Normally we sit in the grass and lounge, but since it was going to be 93 degrees that day Andy got us seats in the shade. That was definitely a good call because I don't think I would have made it past the second inning in the sun. Grandma L came along and we had a very fun day.

Max also got to see his good buddy from school for a little bit. His parents are Cubs fans too!

Last weekend we went to the Campbell's house for Russell's famous crawfish boil. It was our usual group of friends and just a lot of fun catching up with everyone since I feel like we don't see each other that much anymore. It seems like "life" is getting in the way. 

Max initially didn't want to hold the crawfish, but since I did, he held it too. Russell handed him the crawfish and he reluctantly held it. I think he prefers eating the crawfish over holding it. 

It was another successful crawfish boil and Russell and Jessica did a fabulous job of hosting. We look forward to the next crawfish boil. 

Max had a playdate with his best buddy at the house this past weekend. These boys are crazy when they get together. They were just having fun running around and playing with nerf guns before they settled into video games. 

One day after school this week, one of the moms walked with the group of boys to the grocery store where they each bought their own snacks. The group then went back to Caleb's house to eat snacks and have a play date. Max loved this and felt so grown up to be able to do this with his friends.

It's been a very busy Spring so far, but I will do my best to keep the blog updated.