Life Lately...a lot of stuff I'm loving

January has been pretty boring.  But not in a bad way.   Just nothing really exciting has happened. But on the flip side nothing really bad has happened either, just livin life.  And I'm totally cool with that!! 

A few weekends ago I met some girlfriends for dinner which meant Brad had a guys only night.  They went to dinner and hung out and when I got back home the boys were fast asleep, but I discovered remnants of their evening and it made my heart melt....

Nothing like a daddy to show you how to make paper airplanes.  So precious.  And notice the little ninja turtle figure on one of the planes, lol.  

The next day Blake was invited to a classmate's birthday party, which meant Brady would be left out.  I took Blake to the party and Brad had some one on one time with Bray Bray.  They went to the park and Brad took these pics of my most joyous child.  Such incredible zest for life this guy has.  Love.

 (The guy behind Brady really creeps me out by the way.)

Been so nice having beautiful days on the weekends and lots of nice fun parks to explore.  We've been park hopping over the weekends and the boys love getting to experience different ones.  I just LOVE spending time together as a family.  My favorite.

A few weeks ago on like a Tuesday Brad texted me asking me out on a "date" for that Saturday night.  I love love love how after all these years Brad still romances me.  We didn't have a sitter, so we had a date night at home after the boys went to bed.  Romantic comedy, bubbly and dessert, snuggled up on the couch.  I made this new dessert.  Nutella whoopie pies and we about died over the goodness.  You all need these in your life stat.

On the weekends Brad and I like to attempt sort of sleeping in.  The boys are at an age where they can wake up, watch cartoons or be strongly encouraged to play quietly during the early hours.  Some mornings this works and some not so much.  But one morning I woke up to find these two curled up together playing on daddy's phone.  Oh, how I love their brotherly love.

Sometimes, ok, a lot of times, I complain about our dog Darcy.  I get tired of dog hair errwhere, walking her every day, being the one that gets up early to feed her, dealing with accidents, etc.  But I do truly love her.  Especially when I catch her curled up being a sweet girl.

Last night Blake found a head band I had put on to keep my long bangs out of my face while I worked out and put it on his head and said, "I'm going for a jog around the block."  I died laughing.  

Then Brady chimed in that he was going for a jog as well.  So, Brad put his running shoes on and took the boys on a jog around the block.  Love.


Blake is a pretty well rounded boy.  He loves and excels in sports, he plays the piano incredibly well for a five year old and he's really awesome in school and loves learning.  His teacher has just recommended him for the gifted and talented program and we are really super duper proud of this guy.  He really truly loves and enjoys learning.  And I love that about Blake.  He came home yesterday demanding that we reenact a science experiment they did at school.  The last thing I wanted to do when we had finished eating and needed to clean dishes and get lunch packed for the following day and get ready for bed, etc. etc.  But I am trying to learn to not always be a "no" mom and love that Brad is more of a "yes" dad to bring that out of me.  So, science experiment we did at 7:00 last night!

Life Lately

I feel like life has been so crazy busy lately.  I don't even really know with what though!  I guess between family visiting and school activities and the holidays and sick kids in between it just gets a little nuts.  I start getting anxiety over it, feeling overwhelmed, and then I end up cleaning my house which is my cure all.  After scrubbing counters and floors and decluttering I'm feeling much better today!  
Time is certainly flying by and I have been reflecting on 2013 and looking ahead in 2014 and ways I can improve it.  2013 was a pretty good year, although it did have its rough patches.  My health for the first half of the year was pretty cruddy with my undiagnosed pain still causing issues.  It brought a lot of days that I didn't feel well and lots of frustration that went along with that.  But I'm feeling really great most days now and that is a huge blessing.  I had knee surgery which was not fun, but am doing great now and starting to FINALLY get back in a workout routine that is knee friendly.  2013 was a great year in regard to Brady's health.  We had no major issues.  We had no specialist appointments and sleepless nights worrying.  Probably what I was most thankful for last year.  Blake started kindergarten which was very emotional for me and Brady started pre-k which was also very emotional!  Both boys though are doing so great with school and I am so very grateful I have been at home with them to be such a big part of it all.  Hoping 2014 is the Jones family's best year yet!!

Here is our 2013 recapped in a few short seconds...

We spent the week of Christmas with my inlaws that were in town and had fun eating and eating and eating oh and some playing too.  We all spent an afternoon at Top Golf and had such a great time.  The boys loved it and can't wait to take them back again soon.

Brad had several weeks off of work and it was SO INCREDIBLY NICE to have him at home and get so much quality time together!  January 2nd came and I wanted to cry when he went back to the office.  I got pretty used to having my main squeeze with me every day!

We enjoyed time together as a family and even though it was chilly enjoyed taking the boys on bike rides.  This one was on Christmas Eve. 

Every holiday is so much more fun now that the boys are at an age to get into the holiday spirit.  They were bouncing off the walls with excitement and watching them open their presents was pretty awesome.  Blake wins the prize for best facial expressions and seemed to be equally as excited over a stocking stuffer as he was for a bigger gift. 

A few days after Christmas was over Brad and I celebrated ten years of marriage.  My parents took the boys the day before our anniversary and we didn't get them back until the day after our anniversary which means we got two full days and two glorious nights sans kids.  We spent the long weekend at the Four Seasons and I have to say was the best weekend ever.  Couples massage, sleeping in, hot tub, relaxing, even working out.  It was great that nothing was rushed, we enjoyed conversations without being interrupted and just celebrating our love.  Fabulous!
We were welcomed with chocolates and a beautiful flower arrangement.

This next picture is me after our massage.  80 minutes of heaven and I've never felt so relaxed. 

We had a really nice anniversary dinner.  I know I'm a broken record, but I just love spending time with this man!

And then, after all the celebrating and holidays and extended family time and time off work, life went back to normal....

Oh, how I love these boys!!!  Life is never dull around here.  That is for sure.  And I wouldn't have it any other way!