The One with Lots of Family Time

Friday- I spent most of Friday morning super busy but then the afternoon Kyra and I had to get out of the house. So first stop was the library to pick up some holds and also to take care of some fines. My library was running the Food for Fines program again so we took our canned goods and got our fines forgiven. 


After the library we had to make a grocery store since it was Friday and since we had gotten a ton of work done the past week we treated ourselves to Starbucks. I got the Green Tea Frappe and let me tell you it is now my go to drink! Actually I have been researching how to make it at home because yeah I'm going to need that one a lot over the summer! 

Kyra got a tasty treat from the "kitchen" as she calls it. Not pictured because she immediately ate it. 


We powered though the shopping and then headed home to make some tacos for Cinco De Mayo. Let me tell you there were amazingly tasty. I'm not normally one for salsa and sour cream and all that jazz but everything was so fresh and wonderful and of course I didn't take a picture because I'm a greedy guts who eats her food before being a good blogger and snapping a photo. 

After the awesomeness that was dinner I headed out for my evening walk and passed by these lovely flowers that told me they wanted their picture taken. 

Saturday: I spent part of the morning finishing up some work and then wandered to our downtown area because they opened a few new stores. 

I think I need this. 

These too. 

 Then that afternoon we took off to take Kyra to visit some parks! The day was too gorgeous to spend indoors!

After playing around we had to stop by Target for some necessary things and of course left with things that we didn't really need because that is curse of Target.

Then we headed to my parents for the evening and fed the animals. I should have snapped pictures but again I was playing with Kyra and hanging with my family so yeah my phone wasn't even with me. 

Sunday: More work in the morning and then the afternoon was spent watching some old movies. Not like super old more like...90s old. We watched- Major Payne, So I Married an Ax Murderer, Clue, and Nothing But Trouble. All hilarious and a great throwback. 

Sunday night another evening walk that was accompanied by a few little hop toads. 

So that's what we were up to. How was your weekend? 

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The One with the First Weekend of April

Well hey there. It's been more than a hot minute since I posted a blog. I have no excuses it just didn't happen in March. I'm going to try and do better this month. 

Friday: The little dogs were WAY overdue for a grooming appointment and so it was their day to get done. They were pretty matted up so shaved it is! That was fine with me because that means it will take longer for their hair to grow and honestly they seem so much happier and lighter without all that hair. I do have to knit some sweaters for them however because it is still chilly on our morning walks. 

Saturday: Rainy and chilly out so Robert and Kyra watched movies all day while I got some work done. After that it was basically all Netflix and some awesomely delicious meatball subs that I made but forgot to snap a picture of because honestly I'm just the worst blogger ever. 

Sunday: After spending all day Saturday in we decided to get out and about. We headed out for a late brunch and then the mall. Kyra got to meet the bunny at Build A Bear which was honestly way cooler looking than the actual Easter Bunny that was there for pictures. They let me take a picture but Kyra was pretty unsure of the whole situation. Still super cute though. 

Well we walked around for a bit and I basically window shopped because while I looked at a ton of things I walked out with nothing. Which is pretty much par for the course. Although they did have a Sephora and I was sorely tempted to stock up on some items but I resisted because I am in a spending freeze until Comic Con later this month. However we did get to meet this adorable Great Pyrenees puppy that seemed to really adore Kyra. 

After the mall we just kind of drove around (aka Robert drove me to places to catch Pokemon) and then headed home. It was an exciting night however because we watched my brother in law win the Madden 2017 Challenge! It was streaming live and it was absolutely awesome to see him win! I realize most of my readers are not gamers but just know that this was a HUGE deal and we are super proud of him! 

He's the one on the left!

All in all it was a pretty quiet weekend! Hope you all are well and here's to getting back to blogging again!

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In Which We Gave Thanks, Found Fantastic Beasts, and met a Strange Doctor

On Saturday we had our first Thanksgiving of the year at my parents' place. It was delicious as always and a lot of fun. So much good food and talking, visiting, playing games. We had a really great time. Lots of pictures of Kyra were taken because she was especially adorable. 

After our dinner we decided to take a family trip to the movies and see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. We used to go to the movies after Thanksgiving when we were little and it was great to relive that tradition this year. We also went to see all the Harry Potter movies together when they came out. It was awesome to have our big group of 8 head to the movies and all get to sit together and watch a movie. 

The move itself? BRILLIANT. It was wonderful to get to be part of the Harry Potter world again even with different characters. Actually it was even better because this was totally new. I loved the stories and the Fantastic Beasts were like something out of my childhood imagination. I want to see the movie approximately a billion more times. I would drop everything and go see it again today if I could! 



Sunday morning Robert mentioned going to see Doctor Strange and after seeing Fantastic Beasts I was ready to go to the movies again. Kyra was so well behaved during the movies and I think that part of that was due to the awesome theater seats that they have installed. You can recline them and she was having a great time making hers go up and down before the movie started.

Doctor Strange was good though not as good as Fantastic Beasts in my opinion. My biggest issue is the whole world flipping thing, it always makes me a little nauseous and gives me a bit of a headache. But Benedict Cumberbatch was great to watch and the actual story line was good. 

After the movie we had to stop by Walmart so I could pick up some Christmas gifts I had ordered and then stopped by the Redbox to pick up a few more movies. (What can I say, it was a movie weekend.) The rest of Sunday was spent curled up on the couch together watching Tarzan, Star Trek: Beyond, and Warcraft. 

All in all the weekend was pretty much amazing. 

How was your weekend?

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In Which it is Monday Again

This weekend was short but sweet. Robert was gone (deer season) so it was just Kyra and me at the house this weekend. We spent it happily watching Disney movies, Musicals, Reading, and going to the park enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having here. I didn't get many pictures because instead I was playing with my little lady and just enjoying myself, but here are the ones that I managed to snap. 

Swings are the favorite right now. I cannot get over how tall she is though!

She loves SnapChat filters. So cute.

So now it is Monday again and it feels like the kind of Monday that requires a bit of motivation to get the week going. So here is your Monday Motivation post.

 

Have a Great Day Everyone.

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In Which We Turned Back Time....

I had to. Apologies.

Well I took another blogging break apparently but I have been writing steadily so it isn't a total loss. NaNoWriMo has been going good so far and I am getting really happy with my story. 

Friday was a slow day but Kyra and I spent the time taking a long afternoon walk and gathering leaves for a craft project that we will be working on today. She had such a great time finding all the different colors and got overly excited when she found tiny little leaves. 

The evening was spent writing. I had fallen behind on my word count a bit so I made myself sit down and focus for a bit while Kyra watched a movie and I managed to get 5,000 words done. I felt so much better after getting so much done and was really proud of that word count! 

Also super exciting my parents went to Vegas for the weekend to visit my Uncle and Auntie and cousins. They had won tickets and my Mom hadn't seen her brother or his kids in years so I am really glad that she and Dad were able to go! 

Saturday- Bobby went to help his dad move a bunch of furniture so I spent the day taking down and putting away all the Halloween decorations. I was so proud of myself because even though I really wanted to put up Christmas stuff I stopped myself. I instead put up just some nice fall decor to get me through until after Thanksgiving. But I'm not kidding when I say the weekend after I will be putting my tree up! 

That night we went to my brother's Halloween Leftovers party. Bobby was Dr. Bruce Banner and I was Femme Clark Kent. Kyra went as Hazel from the Little Charmers. She got to meet my brother's girlfriend's niece (they are around the same age) and had a great time playing Barbie and Littlest Pet Shop on the floor while we visited. 

 The party was really fun and was a very relaxed and chill atmosphere which was great because I may or may not have had a slight meltdown over my costume before we got there. A great time was had by all but by 10pm we were headed back home. #lifewithkids

Sunday- Funday. Daylight savings happened but I didn't notice other than having to change my clocks that don't change automatically. Kyra was still up bright and early and ready for breakfast at her normal time. #parentinglife
 Made cookies that turned out really flat but super tasty. Took half of them to my younger brother because he was having guests over and had messed up the ones he was trying to make. 
Made homemade pizza that was amazing because we hadn't had it in FOREVER. 
Kyra discovered that the TV in the bedroom will also play her movies so she spent the day playing on my bed with toys and watching her movies while Bobby caught up on the shows he likes but doesn't get to watch during the week. 
I spent the afternoon writing, working on blogs, and attempting to meal plan for the week. 

Don't forget that tomorrow is the big book linkup! Be sure to share your reads from last month! 

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In Which There Were Many Festivals

Saturday: Our town was having the annual Applefest and of course that meant it was a madhouse around here. However Robert decided that this year we would try and benefit from it a little and opened up some space to let people pay to park in them. I have to say that it was a HUGE success! It was super easy and people were so happy to get to park so close to the festivities. We actually made a good amount of money and will be for sure doing the same thing next week during the annual Irish Festival! 

We also did a little bit of Halloween crafting but nothing is finished yet so I don’t have pictures to show you all. Hopefully we will have them completed within the week!

Sunday: We made plans to go to the Renaissance Festival with Robert’s brother and his family. It was a really beautiful day out and it was the perfect day for walking around. Kyra dressed up as an archer and she LOVED the costume. It was super comfortable and she loved getting compliments. 

The festival always has awesome things to do and see but Kyra really loves the petting zoo. Goats, a donkey, pigs, and sheep…she loves them all.

She also convinced Daddy to carry her around for a bit. We had the stroller but she still managed to get him to carry her on his shoulders for a while. 

The Children’s realm was a big hit this time too. I only got the one picture because I was busy chasing her up and down the slides. Sometimes you just have to put the camera down and just join in the fun! 

I did snap a selfie before we went in because I was feeling my makeup. I needed photo evidence!

It was a great weekend and very busy too! How was yours?

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Weekend 8/20-8/21

Saturday: We decided to take Kyra to the movies and have a little family fun time. We saw Kubo and the Two Strings and it was really enjoyable. I love that they showed some of the animation process at the end of the film. So much work goes into stop animation but it was really beautiful to watch and the story was good. 

After the movie we headed home and Robert's brother came over. We were planning on gaming for a bit but my father in law called and some friends of the family had come into town so we all headed downtown to enjoy the unusually nice weather. We had a really nice visit and even got some of my favorite Lavender Lemonade. 

Sunday: We were up and out early the the store to get some necessary items i.e. Milk, Bread, Dog Food and we wanted to beat all the Sunday crowds. We stopped by the Dollar Tree to get a few things and I couldn't resist the Halloween aisles. It is no secret that I love Halloween and I love a good deal so decor for a dollar is a double score! 

After the Dollar Tree it was the dreaded Walmart run but I am happy to say that we were in and out in just a few moments. Thank goodness too because when we were checking out the crowd was starting to get thick and I could feel the collective stress. 

Don't mind the grumpy face. She was really having a blast she just didn't want her picture taken.

After shopping we headed out to my parents' place to just relax and visit for the afternoon. Kyra could not have been happier. It had been a couple days since we had seen them and she was in desperate need for grandparent time. They actually kept her for the evening when Robert and I headed home so that we could take care of chores and walk the pups. So we got an evening to ourselves which we mostly spent getting the house back in order and reading books but it was still nice. 

Then Mum brought Kyra home and it was time for bed! 


All in all it was a pretty standard weekend. How was yours? Did anyone else see Kubo? What did you think of it?

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Weekend Update 8/5-8/7

Friday: I spent the morning reading Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. I won't give spoilers but I will say that while the story was good...it didn't feel like the other Harry Potter books. Maybe it was the format...maybe it is because some parts felt more like fan fiction to me....either way it left me feeling more sad about the fact that Harry Potter is over than I was before hand. 

The rest of the day was spent getting chores done, writing, and getting caught back up on all the blogs I hadn't read in weeks. If you got comments from me that were super late I apologize for taking so long to play catch up! 


Saturday: Massive Birthday Day. My twin Uncles' birthday was today. Also my Robert's Step Dad's birthday.  My cousin's little boy turned two (his actual birthday was Friday) and we had a little party for him. I can hardly believe that he is two already! It was a nice party though Kyra was slightly bummed that it wasn't a party for her. Still she was sweet and sang Happy Birthday and played so sweetly with the other kids. 

After the party my parents took Kyra so that Robert and I could go and see Suicide Squad. I know it got a lot of negative reviews but I will be honest and say that I really liked it. I thought that Harley Quinn was hilarious and Will Smith was awesome. Also I felt like they managed to keep the actual story line out of the media so I had no idea what to expect going in. However that might have hurt them as I felt like people expected it to be more of a Harley and Joker show when that was just a little bit of side story. Either way I liked it and will be buying it when it comes out. 

We also went to a movie with one of the new fancy theaters that have the reclining seats that you have to reserve ahead of time. Super comfy! 


Sunday: Epic Lazy Day. We had a late brunch and spent the day watching TV, reading, coloring, and just being together. We started a pretty funny show on Hulu called You're The Worst. 

 

It had me laughing pretty hard. Wasn't exactly kid friendly though so we switched over and did a marathon of Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Kyra actually really enjoyed watching those and lots of jumping and swashbuckling took place during the movies. 


All in all it was a great weekend of family and fun! How was your weekend? 

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A Weekend of Friends

This past weekend we had several friends come to visit us. One in particular we haven't seen in months and months because she lives on the other side of the country. It was an amazing weekend and so nice to see each other and just have a good time, talk, and live it up a little. 

Saturday- My parents took Kyra for the evening and the group ventured down to O'Malley's Pub. The drinks were amazing as per usual and the atmosphere is incredible. It is a three tier pub and we of course went to the very bottom tier where it is cool underground and just looks awesome. Many Drinks were had and things of course got silly.

 Night at O'Malley's Pub; Underground; Shadow Squad; Pulled Pork Nachos; Shots; The Dirty Girl Scout; Caunnought and Coke; Sippy Sippy, Stout

Actually a photo of the two of us! Happy Times!

Bestie Dori is in for the week from Baltimore. So happy to see her!

Brother Bear and his Lovely Lady.

Brother Bear apparently getting serious while Amanda clearly isn't.

Sunday- Played games, ate tasty snacks from Baltimore, and lounged around. We needed a relaxing day after the fun filled night before! 

Book of Madness

Buffalo Chicken Dip. YUM.

Tasty snacks from Baltimore!

Celebrating Harry Potter's Birthday!

Of course things like this are going to pop up all over the house for the next week. Love it.

It was one of the best weekends ever and I'm so very glad that everyone came in and hung out with us. Hopefully it won't be so long between visits next time! Now it's back to the grind of Monday Morning and starting a new month! Hello August!

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