Easter 2015

I was lucky enough to get Thursday, Friday, and Monday off for Easter. Nola went to daycare on Thursday so I could paint and on Friday we ran some errands. On Saturday we heading to Lincoln for a birthday party. We decided to stay the night so we left early to spend some time in the hotel pool.

Nola loves the pool, she would have stay forever if we let her.

The birthday party was for a friend's 4 year old and was at the children's museum. We've been once before and had a blast. The museum was closed for the party so it was really fun to have the place to ourselves. Nola was pretty much content to play by herself, she only joined the party to watch Ainsley open the presents.

The one on the left is when we went in 2013.  She's so little!

She had 2 mallets in her hand- just like Aunt Jessica!

On Sunday we had lunch and did Easter baskets with Robert's family. Nola got spoiled, it was fun.

We got home and were so excited to see that the Easter bunny had stopped by the house (PS the Easter bunny went overboard). She hunted some eggs in the backyard and got a lot of goodies.

She was super excited to fly her kite so we took it out right away. I actually think Robert liked it more!

It was a nice break. Now I'm excited for the final push, then SUMMER BREAK!!!

I love weekends

We had quite a few things planned for last weekend, but only managed to do the fun stuff!  There was an Easter egg hunt in Columbus on Saturday, so we met some friends there.  It was apparent as soon as we got there that Nola was "scared".

Nola is scared of everything.  Santa, people in costume, the vaccum, her new bunk beds, and (news to me!) Easter egg hunts. 

They had sections of the square marked off, one for two-year-olds, three-year-olds, etc.  We stood by the three-year-old rope and waited for our cue.  When the horn sounded Nola refused to go under the rope without me.  So, against egg hunting policy, I went under with her and pointed to eggs for her to get.  Here she is with her loot.

ONE.  ONE EGG AND A PIECE OF CANDY.

We've been practicing egg hunts in the backyard, so I'm surprised she wasn't more aggressive.  I guess it's different when there are other kids around?  Good thing she doesn't have any siblings and/or cousins to compete with on Sunday :)

We had lunch after the hunt, then headed to Omaha to fulfill Nola's week-long dream of going to Build-A-Bear Workshop.  She told her daycare last week that she was going there over the weekend to get an Anna Bear.  She mentioned it to us a few times but we weren't really sure what she was talking about (I think she saw it on a commercial).  When Robert dropped Nola off at daycare on Monday everyone asked where her Anna Bear was--- I guess Nola was so confident she was going that they assumed we were in on it.  She talked about it nonstop this week, so we caved and took her.
When she saw the store in the distances she took off in a sprint.  She started by picking out her bear.

Then she stood on the pedal to fill it up, added a sound button and a heart.

Then she gave her a bath.

Then it was time to put her in the Anna dress, thankfully she didn't want the wig- it's a little creepy.

We got her birth certificate, paid (ouch), and headed out the door.

She loved the whole experience.  We've played "Build-A-Bear Workshop" several times since we got Anna Bear home.

The mall also had these weird animal things that you could ride around for a small fee.  Nola wanted to try the elephant.

Have you ever seen these?  Crazy.

I spent Sunday prepping some chairs to be painted.  Nola helped me sand, then when I lined up the chairs to spray paint she said she wanted to be a chair too.

It made me laugh.  I'm laughing now just thinking about it.

It was a fun weekend.  Today is day two of our 5 day Easter weekend!

  I <3 weekends. 

Be.YOU.tiful

The Columbus Public School Foundation had an art auction in the Fall.  I donated a custom piece of furniture like I have in other auctions.  Some of the money raised ended up coming right back to our department so it worked out well!  The woman that won wanted a desk for her daughter.  I love the way the top turned out! 

If you are interested in getting something custom painted, visit www.swirlsandstripes.com for details and pricing. 

Spring Break 2015

Spring Break was last week and we had a special guest!  Jessica came to visit from Pittsburgh!  

We spent a few days lying around, watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmit (highly recommended), eating several desserts, going to a hockey game, and Facetiming John.  

She got trapped in the beer cooler :)

Nola LOVES John.  At one point she took the phone in her room while he was on Facetime and did who knows what.  We heard a lot of laughing.  I'm sure it was a pretty fun time for John, she doesn't really get Facetime so it was  probably a lot of looking at the ceiling.

We went to Paint Yourself Silly on Sunday and watched Nola paint a ceramic cat.  She was pretty excited and gave it a mustache.  She didn't paint very long, but I think she had a good time. 

We had a great time.  It wasn't a crazy spring break, but let's be honest.... I'm too old for that.

Two fun weekends!

Our last two weekends were full of fun! We....

1. Went to the casinos with some of Robert's friends!  After my success in Vegas, I decided to try Craps again.  They didn't have the video version, so I had to be brave and play at a table.  We had a lot of fun, and only lost a little bit of money :)

2. Had a staycation in Lincoln!  After a late night at the casino we decided to stay in Lincoln.  Nola and I shopped a bit on Saturday and because we had to be back on Sunday for a birthday party we stayed on Saturday too.  Nola had fun hanging out in the hotel room and enjoyed her own bed.  She also made a little spot in the nightstand where her stuffed animals slept. 

3. Went to a birthday party!  Robert's friend from high school has a son Nola's age and a boy who just turned one.  We went to an indoor playground to help Henry celebrate.  Nola had a blast, even though she managed to get herself locked in the baby area twice.  

4.  Got our nails done!  It was Nola's first time for a manicure and she cracked me up the whole time.  She told the lady that she had 5 boyfriends and smudged her nails when she started dancing to the music.  She had a lot of fun and ended up with some glittery, pink nails.

5.  Went to a Frozen tea party!  A restaurant in Columbus had a Frozen themed tea party and Nola got to go with her aunts- I was at a speech meet.  She met Ana and Elsa- who are both students of mine- and ate Olaf cupcakes and Sven sandwiches.  Her aunts said that she was the only girl dressed as Ana and she had a blast.

6.  Went to another birthday party!  This was a party for one of my friends and was not at an indoor playground.  Fun was had by all.

7. Went to the park!  I'm so excited that the weather is getting nicer, and Nola is too.  We went to the park on Sunday then had an ice cream cone.  It's good to know that Nola still LOVES sand.  Is it summer yet? 

Our fun times are just beginning because Spring Break starts in two days!  Nola doesn't know it yet, but we have a very special visitor coming....