Cullyn's 6th Birthday

Cullyn's 6th Birthday will be one I won't seen forget.  It was the year we surprised him with a 4 Wheeler and he hated it!  I mean completely refused to put the helmet on or take it for a spin. #ParentingFail  Lucky for him, he also got a metal detecter and a pair of gloves for digging, a pair of baseball gloves, and some other treasures he had been requesting. 

Cullyn was most excited for his first ever Friend Birthday Party.  We rented out the local movie theater and invited his entire class {when we ask him who his best friends are his response is 'everyone!  I like playing with everybody' Bless his heart!  So he and his favorite 20+ friends watched Wonderpark on the big screen.

Cinema Sundays + Favorite Summer Movies

Our new house has a theater room in it.  While I know these are semi-popular and many people would have been excited to see one while house hunting, I was actually annoyed by it.  I have a husband and son that would watch TV all day if it were an option and I just didn't want to deal with it.  I'm almost a TV free person {I was after college until I moved in with Adam}.  So, since it's here, I've decided to make the best of it and we started Cinema Sundays at the house.  Sometime Sunday afternoon we watch a kid friendly movie and anyone who is around can come watch it.  My mother in law gave us a popcorn machine and I bought a ton of boxes of movie theater candy to snack on.  I must say, this 'team no TV' mama couldn't love this little tradition more!   It's such a fun way to sit down and connect with my little family to regroup before the next week.  Here are a few of our favorites from this summer...

What we've been watching

Megan Leavey - Incredible, true story about a Marine and her dog.  Almost anyone would love this movie, but make sure to have tissues nearby!

The Glass Castle - True story about a poor family and their nomadic lifestyle.  You can enjoy this movie even if you haven't read the book.  

Inside Out - Great kids movie talking about expressing feelings.  Phyllis from The Office is one of the voice-overs. :)

Leap - Jordyn got this movie for Christmas and we all {except Adam!} loved it.  It teaches kids about working hard and following their dreams.

We're currently in the middle of an ice storm, so I'm thinking we'll watch Up this afternoon.  Our date night this week may result a movie on the couch, too since Adam's battling the stomach flu! :(  

Any movie's you've watched recently that you can recommend?  We like most {non-scary} movies! 

Thanksgiving 2017

It was so hard to go to work this morning after a great Thanksgiving weekend!  I feel like I always look ahead to the weekend and think about how much time I'm going to have and before I know it, it's Sunday night and I'm hopping into bed thinking about how fast it went!

The ONLY photos taken this Thanksgiving...sigh.

Highlights this year included starting the weekend at noon on Wednesday, listening to Past Vertical on Wednesday night, enjoying Adam's fried turkey, my mom's potatoes, and my sister's scotcharoo bars.  Looking through the ads on Thanksgiving afternoon followed by shopping with my mom and sister all day Friday is always a favorite.  This year Adam and my dad surprised me by organizing the garage and making room for both of our cars -- living in Iowa this is a definite perk before winter!!  Saturday I took down my fall decor and decorated for Christmas {everything but the tree}, saw Wonder with my mom and sister, and Adam and I went to our friend's 40th birthday party.  And Sunday we found out my sister and her husband are expecting a GIRL!!

Such a fun weekend.  I feel so blessed to celebrate with a group of loved ones -- I definitely don't take the for granted!  Especially since today marks 2 years since Murdocks death & we have a friend that's been in the hospital all weekend.  Life is so short!  On a happier note, Lola turns 6 months on Thursday, my niece has a dance team competition in Des Moines on Friday, & the kids and I are spending the weekend with my parents while Adam's deer hunting with his dad.  Now, if we could just get some snow already... ;)

Beauty & the Beast | Belle's Brunch

On opening day, our good friends invited us to a Beauty & the Beast Brunch at 'Belle's Cottage'  She had a beautiful spread for brunch and afterwards we all went to the local movie theatre for the first showing of the movie.  

Dirt Cups & Family Time

A few Sunday evening's ago, the kids helped me make dirt cups and then we settled in for a family movie night with Zootopia.  It was exactly what we needed after a week of running around!

Drive In Movie | Finding Dory

A couple of weeks ago, we had a free night in our schedule, so I arranged to swap vehicles with my brother in law and pack gear for the kids' first drive in movie.  Unfortunately, Adam wasn't feeling well, so at the last minute he decided to stay home, but the kids and I had an absolute blast.  We sat in the back of the truck and watched Finding Dory.  The weather was perfect--the temps cooled into the 70's and the sky filled with stars after the sun went down. 

Local Drive In Theatre

Outdoor Family Movie Night

All last summer I saw people hosting outdoor movies and I wanted to do it, but Jordyn was just too little {movies aren't really her thing}.  But this year I thought she would finally be able to enjoy the concept.  So I asked my sister in law if she were game for making it happen and she was excited like me.  So, the Thursday evening of Father's Day Weekend, we headed to the lake to do it.  My sister in law hosted it; she hung the 'screen', setup the projector, and popped popcorn.  I brought snacks & lights and my other SIL & MIL brought pop.  We set up yard chairs and backed our minivan up to use the 'stadium seating' {FYI…it rocks!}.  Last minute we added little tea light candles inside of mason jars to see better once it got dark {I would recommend those}. We ended up waiting longer than I expected for it to get dark {read: Cullyn was in bed for the whole thing!}, but everyone {especially Jordyn, she talked about this night for days!} enjoyed it.  Next time we do it, I'll put the lights behind the seating {away from the screen} because we weren't able to keep the lights on during the movie because they were too bright to see the screen well.