10 on 10: December

Actually, it's more like "5 on 10". I couldn't get my act together today and once I got going I forgot to take pictures! Oh well, something's better than nothing. 

I call this my "shelf of death". It's where my warm, yummy cups of coffee go to die. I'll be sitting in my chair with coffee and something/someone will need my attention and I'll get up and set my coffee here, only to get distracted and find my cup there some time later, cold and yucky.

7am-ish

8ish

Picking out my outfit for the day. I like to have several outfits with accessories ready to go so busy school mornings I can just grab and go without thinking! Funny story though: I had picked this outfit to wear, but right before I got dressed Owen needed my, ahem, attention and it made us run late for school. I ended up throwing on my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt and jeans to drop him off at school, and changed into this outfit later. Ha!

Skipping hours 9-12, housework, picked Owen up from school, lunch at Chick fil A with Ruth, Luke & Joel. 

1pm, 

a mountain of laundry waits folding

3pm,

 Owen up from nap rest time

4pm-ish

 mail arrives with my new necklace from the Splendor Shop! She had a great Black Friday sale and I got this hand made baby for $11 shipped. I've been waiting not so patiently for it to arrive!

Follow all that with the gym, dinner and A Curious George Christmas movie, and that's my day! Hopefully I can do an actual 10 pictures with next month's 10 on 10!

Instagram Dump

It's ridiculous how many times I sat down to put together this post! I often feel like a mom version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, or rather, my version, If You Give Danae a To-Do List.  I should do a post someday about the process of getting completely distracted from my current task to do another one. It's really quite funny.

It's been a few weeks since I've posted so I have a lot of pictures to share!

We've been to the library a couple times. Here's Austin when I took him to storytime while Owen was at school. He gets really into the hand motions of the songs, if you couldn't tell.

Actually sitting for story time! Success!

So glad the library has an outside play area, two train tables, and lots of toys (in addition to books, of course, ahem) that keep my boys happy and entertained and help them get some energy out!

Owen had his 4 year well check. Tall kid! 98%

I wore mustard + gray + white and loved it.

We got in the Thanksgiving spirit.

I took Owen on a date to see cousin Taylor in a play. He loved it and was so good, especially when he had his cousins there too!

Austy and I have enjoyed our 1 on 1 time while Owen's at school. Even if it does include standing in the toy isle at Target pushing the display toy buttons  938,494,836 times ;)

Could.He.Be.Any.Cuter. 

Tara snapped this picture of us Thanksgiving evening right while we were Black Friday shopping - our tradition continues! We hit Toys R Us a bit before 8pm, and then proceeded to shop at Target, Kohl's, Bath & Body Works and Walmart. I went to bed a bit before 4 the next morning. Totally worth it, got some great deals and wonderful sister time!

And, God bless him, Ryan let me sleep in and I woke up to my favorite Starbucks. Seriously, my guy is a keeper. 

Early morning Spider Men. This was before 7 in the morning. 

We along with the McFaddens went to see Zoolights. We all loved it, and bonus, I got some cuddle time with Austin while we watched a light show.

Last Friday night, me + a beer. And I don't even drink! It was a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day. I don't want to talk about it ;) On a positive note, I'm loving having our tree up!

Saturday night we invited my in laws over for egg nog, hot chocolate, yummy treats, and Elf. It was a wonderful night, I hope we have many more nights like this!

Owen begged me for a gingerbread house this year!

And just when I thought my week couldn't get more eventful (more on that in a later post), Owen left the faucet on last night and it flooded the bathroom, hallway, etc. Ryan headed out to buy a wetvac and Doug came over to help us clean up. Friday nights are not good to us lately ;)

Happy Monday

Happy Monday!

Ryan starts his new job today. He's been home for 2 weeks in between jobs and while it was nice, it also feels good to be back in the swing of things. As much as I adore him, his being home kinda throws off my groove ;)

Owen has his 4 year check up today (ahem, a month and a half late). He is getting 4 shots. He is not going to be happy about that. He doesn't even know what shots are, the last one he had was over 2 years ago. I will be happy when this appointment is over. We'll definitely hit up Target or Sonic or wherever he wants to go and get a special treat!

I have a mild cold, just annoying enough to have a constant mild headache, sore throat, and zero appetite. Normally no big deal, but since I'm going to DISNEYLAND with Ruth this weekend, I'd like to be feeling 100%!

Just some random Monday thoughts :)

Insta-Friday

I have quite a few pictures to share!

Last week Ryan and I took a wonderful, romantic, relaxing 24 hour getaway to Scottsdale. 

For lunch we ate at my favorite lunch spot, Sauce. 

We saw a movie, Taken 2. Exhilarating and predictable, just how I like it. 

We did some shopping. 

And more shopping

And more shopping. Like my new hat? Thanks, Ryan. 

Friday after we picked up the kids we headed to Schnepf Farms with Papa & Mimzy. 

I think the boys would have stayed in the pumpkin patch the whole time if we let them. They're both obsessed with pumpkins. Owen has slept with both a real and a plastic pumpkin in the last week, if that's any indication. 

Austin had his first "ride" with me. It was a fun bumblebee ride. He started panicking when we got on, I could feel his little heart racing! I cuddled him and he calmed down. He actually enjoyed it!

Watching the pig races

Saturday evening was Owen's school's fall festival. 

We painted pumpkins, did some fun activities, got kettle corn and sno cones. 

Afterwards Jeff and Ruth came over and we carved pumpkins and ate grilled cheese. 

So fun. Love those spontaneous evenings. 

The boys seem to find themselves in duel time outs these days. They're partners in crime! I was trying not to laugh...

Sunday outfit. Pinterest inspired!

Sunday lunch with Nana & Papa. We went to this yummy Mexican place. Austin eats salsa like a boss. This kid is allllll about condiments. 

Random cute picture I took with Joel. He's the closest thing to a baby I have to snuggle right now! 

These two. Cousins and best buds. 

Speaking of buds... 

Phew! That was a lot. And things are only going to get busier now that we're at the forefront of the holiday season. Know what will get me through some of those busy days?

Red cups, baby! The Holidays are here!

Halloween

We had so much fun on Halloween this year. Ryan made Trader Joe's pumpkin pancakes so the day started out right!

It's definitely not my favorite holiday (I always say it's a necessary evil to get to the good holidays), but it is fun to dress up, have parties, carve pumpkins, and hand out candy! We keep it simple, fun, don't put much money into costumes (thanks Tara for the hand me downs!) and focus on the fun family aspect. 

Owen was so excited, remembering the fun from last year. And, being in preschool, he was looking forward to his class' Halloween celebration. He went as a Superhero. Not a "power ranger", ahem. A Superhero. 

I volunteered in his class for the party and it was toooo cute. Owen did great and had lots of fun. I enjoyed meeting some of his friends and seeing them all interact!

Here's Owen stringing a bracelet. Not Halloween related, haha.

He was showing me some of his favorite things in his class. Here's the "specimen station". Spiders. Oh joy.

Crafts!

I was in charge of the snack table. The kids would smear orange-tinted cream cheese on rice cakes and make a face with candy corn and pretzels. It was quite cute. 

After school was out we went to lunch at Chick fil A. The boys took a nice loooong nap and woke up just in time to get ready for the evening's festivities!

The McFaddens came over to our house. I made a big pot of chili and some cornbread that turned out great. 

Then we got the kids dressed up!

Austin (Spider Man) Owen (Superhero) Luke (firefighter) Joel (dalmatian)

We need to work on our poses a bit more..

Owen totally "got" the whole trick or treating process!

I tried to get some pictures of our group after Nana & Papa and some other friends joined us, but they all turned out pretty dark because of the lighting :(

After trick or treating we headed home to eat some candy and watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. 

The boys went to town on the candy. I'm not a "2 pieces of candy" kinda mom come Halloween night ;)

Hanging with the McFaddens! The grandparents stayed for a bit too!

Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm already looking forward to next Halloween!