Catching Up

Things have been s-l-o-w-l-y getting back to normal around here. Even though I've been back from my "girls weekend" for almost a week now, life kinda smacked me in the face when I returned, so it's been a long week.

First, our dishwasher broke. Dear God, I never realized how wonderful a dishwasher was until I didn't have one. Washing every single fork and cup by hand sucks is not my forte.

Second, we discovered we have a leak in Parker's bedroom. The wood floor began buckling up so I called the company who installed them and their repair dude used his little moisture meter on the floor and sadly looked up at me and said, "Ma'am... your slab is soaked!" Awesome.

Third, and sort of a result of the second, we started digging up the landscaping near where we believe the leak is occurring and realized that we have two busted sprinklers. Unfortunately, these aren't just "swap out the top nozzle" kind of sprinkler repairs. These are "pipes are buried deep, deep down under bushes and other landscaping, so you better call in a professional" kind of sprinkler break.

Everything happens in thirds, right? So, we're done, right? Please Lord, let us be done.

So basically most of my week was spent talking to plumbers, contractors, roofers, and our homeowner's insurance rep. All really nice people, but house repairs take a LOT of time. Thus, the few and far between blog posts.

Oh, and did I mention our bunny got spayed this week too? Sounds like an easy thing, but apparently it's quite an undertaking when it comes to bunnies. I was sent home with TWO oral medications that she needed every 12 hours. (I love the bunny, I love the bunny, I love the bunny... this is my mantra.)

To add to the chaos, today was our community's bi-annual garage sale. We're only allowed to have garage sales twice a year, on specific dates. Today was the day. So I've spent the last couple days preparing for that.

Fortunately, the kids loved all the whacky garage sale people buying our junk  nice people who came to shop our "wares" and we made over $100, so that helped ease the pain of the week... a little.

But since I've barely posted any family photos recently, I need to do a quick photo dump. If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen  a lot of these, but my Mom hasn't so, I still need to post em.

Here we go...

Payton's first Cub Scout meeting was the annual "Drum Circle" meeting. Imagine over 300 elementary-aged boys each with their own drum all playing together in one cafeteria. Yup...I needed some Advil when I got home. But truly, it is such a fun experience for all the kids.

P.S. Doesn't Payton look adorable in his uniform?!?

Here's the dude that leads the event. I imagine that he might have his own hemp garden... for making clothes of course. :)

Even the little guy got to play a drum!

Here's our little Mocha the night before her surgery. I think she knew something was up because she was super cuddly and sweet. Good thing, because I could have asked the vet to just keep her. I'm only joking...kind of.

 

 This week we also kicked off the month of October with a special "first day of October" breakfast...

...mummy dogs for dinner...

 

...and made the most delicious chocolate chip cookies which we delivered to all of the boys' teachers as a special fall treat. 

Sorry, no pictures of the cute teacher gift buckets... I was probably distracted by a call from the plumber, or having to give medications to the bunny. :) I can tell you that I used these free gift tags from the blog "Hello, Good Gravy" on the buckets (which I got from the Target dollar bin) and they were really, really cute!

Okay peeps, I gotta go take the bunny to the vet for her re-check. Complimentary they assured me. Yeah, it better be after I paid $400 for her surgery! Sorry...I guess I have a little pent up angst.

Hope your October is off to a great start. Promise my posts will get more interesting and more frequent... well, once we fix our house that is. :)

Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby

This past Sunday was Payton's Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race. And while he looks forward to this event every year, this year he was very undecided about his car's design. We actually didn't even start it until a couple days before the race! But the boys worked hard (even the night before it was due for the weigh-in) and got it done!

Sanding...

 Assembling the wheels (of course Parker wanted to help too)...

 And enjoying good father-son bonding time with power tools!

Last year, Payton's car won a trophy for the design, so naturally he was hoping for another trophy again this year. Unfortunately, he did not win one.

The good news is, he had such an amazing attitude during the entire event. Despite the fact that his car didn't win anything, he "high-fived" and cheered on his other Scout friends. He showed phenomenal sportsmanship. And for that, we couldn't be more proud!

I love these photos of Payton high-fiving his buddy, Quin (who won a trophy for speed).

 Very proud indeed!

 

Cub Scouts Project

Did you know that Lowe's has a program called "Lowe's Build & Grow" where you can go in on a Saturday morning and build things for free?? It's a wonderful program and I would highly recommend checking out your local Lowe's and looking into the upcoming schedule. I hear the Valentine's day project is quite cute!

On the same note, our Cub Scout den had our monthly meeting this week and Brian and another father were in charge of the program. It was focused on tools, so naturally going to Lowe's was a perfect fit. They provided each of the kids a kit to make a wooden airplane. Boy did those little Scouts love putting on their safety goggles and hammering out some nails!

Before they started, one of the father's did a great lesson on tools.

 Then, they got to work!

(This is Payton & Brian on the right, and his good buddy Quin & his father on the left)

 It was really neat to watch Brian & Payton work together.

Of course Parker had to join in the fun too! :)

The finished airplane was really cool and Payton was quite proud that he built it himself.

That Cub Scout meeting was our only night out this week, and we were all home by 6:50 p.m. I've  really been enjoying the slower pace of the days and the unhurried, quiet evenings at home.

Yesterday, I spent the day alone with my littlest man. We ran a couple quick errands and then spent a long time at one of his favorite parks.

Then went for a nice long walk:

Stopped by a fountain:

 Then did some more walking:

(Parker is really into putting things in his pockets lately. Yesterday he filled them with acorns and then this giant stick.)

When we got home, we colored and then painted with water (maybe one of the best inventions ever!)

And after all that playtime, he took a really nice, long nap.

Afternoon naps are my sanity-saver.

Not that I don't love spending time with my kiddos, but nap time allows me uninterrupted time to do work, clean up the house, start dinner, and check email.

I need nap time. And a solid 2-hour nap leaves us both in much happier moods!

We have absolutely nothing on the agenda this weekend.

Tonight is "take out" night, so I don't have to cook.

Tomorrow is our local Farmer's Market, so we may hit that up. And if the weather stays as nice as it is, I think a trip to the beach is definitely in order!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Whatever they are, I hope they are fun, allow for some down-time, and help you recharge your batteries.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Rain Gutter Regatta & Random Christmas Happiness

Payton had his Cub Scout Rain Gutter Regatta last night. It's not quite as serious as the Pinewood Derby, but it still has a lot of rules and regulations. And even though he didn't win a trophy this time, he did have fun designing his boat and cheering on his friends at the race.

He decided to decorate his boat like the "Green Ninja" from the LEGO show, Ninjago.

He and his friends had fun checking out each others creations.

Then they place their boats in a rain gutter that is filled with water, and blow them down the gutter with a straw.

 

I think Brian may have been most proud of him by the way he handled not winning, and continued rooting for his friends instead of pouting. He's growing up and learning what's important.

On another note, we made our first batch of Christmas cookies today. They turned out really yummy! I decided to make our own icing, even though I have not had a lot of success with that in the past.

Fortunately, this time, it turned out perfect and the boys loved it. Here's the recipe if you're interested. (The only thing I omitted was the food coloring. No need for that Red Dye if you can avoid it.)

They especially liked licking the beaters after the icing was done.

Parker paid close attention while Payton decorated the cookies with sprinkles and red hots.

And then of course, they had to taste them out to make sure we did a good job. :)

"Cheers!"

 Happy boys!

 

 Aside from homemade vanilla icing, here are some other things that are making me happy this Christmas season...

Pandora Christmas Channel on my phone. Listen to it all day long. Seriously. All. Day. Long.

I

 ...Being able to open up the house and let the breeze float through. It's been so gorgeous lately!

This is how our back french doors look most of the time...

And since we don't have a screen on our front door, I improvise with a baby gate. Hey...use whatcha got, right?

 ...Excited for this little elf to get into some funny & naughty activity next week...

...Displaying this beautiful plate that my sis-in-law, Kara, got me years ago. It's such a great reminder of what's important:

...Being able to turn on our "fireplace" every night. Something about cooler weather makes it a little less cheesy to have a fake fireplace...right??

 ...Going on long morning walks around the neighborhood with my little guy in his Christmas PJ's watching him meticulously pick out just the right acorns to put into his tiny bucket.

...And how he insisted on wearing these reindeer slippers all day yesterday. Even when we left the house. It was pretty cute, I must admit.

What are you enjoying these first few days of the Christmas season?

Whatever it is, relish it because before you know it, it will be January and we'll have 365 more days until we get to enjoy all of this holiday cheer again. :)

Whirlwind

 This week was kind of a whirlwind.

Every night we had something going on.

Monday: Baseball game

Tuesday: Cub Scout Pack Meeting

Wednesday: An out of town friend visited in the morning with her new baby, I went to Payton's school for lunch, and then I had a girlfriend's 40th birthday party that night.

Thursday: I hosted playgroup in the morning, the car battery died so I spent the afternoon waiting for AAA, and then had to get a new battery. That evening, Brian & I attended a work dinner together.

Friday (tonight): We're sitting on the couch eating homemade pizza...I'm pooped!

Here's a recap in photos...

 Payton's Cub Scout Den was in charge of the flag procession this meeting. The boys did a great job presenting the flag, and then guess who got to say the "Pledge of Allegiance" in front of ALL of those people...

(Sorry for the beginning of the video being sideways. I forgot I was using my camera and not my phone. Oops!)

P1070616 from Stacy Heckman on Vimeo.

After that, they had a "Drum Circle." I had never attended a drum circle before, but it was really, really fun! The kids got SO into it. And the leader was so dynamic and fun.

 This picture kind of gives you an idea of how many kids were there. It was2-3 rows deep all the way around the circle.

 Just look at that smile! He had a great time.

 And aside from all the running around that happened in the evenings this week, Parker and I managed to find plenty of downtime at home.

This is his new favorite spot to sit (inside the ottoman).

 

 And we had a movie-watching party with all his "friends" one afternoon.

He literally had me carry each of these stuffed animals out of his room and onto the couch. Then he made sure each of them had their own pacifier and blanket. It was the cutest thing in the world!!

 And I even found some time to do a little baking (finally!). 

Anytime I can bake with these babies some pumpkin pie spice, I'm a happy girl!

I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins using whole wheat flour. They turned out so yummy!

(Someone please tell me using the whole wheat flour somehow counter-balances all the chocolate chips I put in them??)

Now it is officially time for me to go & relax.

I see a new Pottery Barn magazine & a pumpkin spice candle calling my name!

Have a great weekend everyone.