House Projects

We have been knocking out quite a few projects around the house lately (with quite a few more on our list).  First up: Matt finished the chicken coup!  By the time they moved in, I was sooooo tired of them being in the garage.  They were getting out of their box all the time.  It stunk.  They were pooping everywhere.  I was constantly worried one would get permanently locked out of the garage.  I was over it.

They have been in their coup for about a month now and they love it!

We headed to Home Depot one day to get some plants and some materials for the lean-to Matt is adding to our barn - and of course Cooper fell in love with all of the lawn mowers out front.

Coop had a blast riding in this!  Well, until he got his head stuck in the top (no joke!).  It came out easily, but it scared the mess out of him.

After our Home Depot run, this girl went to the grocery store with me while Cooper took a nap.  :)

After nap, we re planted the entire flower bed in front of LL's window.  All of the bushes that were planted by our builder have died - so we have to start completely over.  Yay for us.  We still have a lot more bushes to plant, but this was a start!

We also planted some pretty summer flowers on our front porch.

A few projects down, a lot more to go!  Including:
new weather stripping
the lean-to behind the barn
extending the fence
finishing our Instagram wall
more bushes and flower beds

Greenridge

Growing up, my sister and my mom and I lived in a cute little house on a street called Greenridge.  When my mom got re-married (when I was in 5th grade), we moved out of our house on Greenridge and into a house with my step-dad.  My mom never sold Greenridge, and just rented it out.  Then, about 1 year before Matt and I got married, I moved out of my Dad's house and back into Greenridge by myself.  After Matt and I got married, we lived in Greenridge for about 3 years before we moved into the house that we live in now.  Since we moved out, my mom has continued to rent out the house.  The house is currently free of any tenants, and my mom is doing some renovations to it.  This house will always hold a special place in my heart.  It's where I grew up.  I had friends over.  Played outside all day.  Had slumber parties, halloween parties, birthday parties.  It's just such a good place in my memory.  Not to mention that this is the house that I spent my first few married years in.  Matt and I had our first holidays together here.  We had numerous game nights here.  We had lots of friends over.  I finished out my last years of college in this house.  I just have so many great memories here.

A few weeks ago, we went out to dinner and swung by Greenridge on the way home.  Mom had to get quite a few trees cut down recently, and I wanted to see how it looked.  LL has been to Greenridge a few times before (and she loves it and wants us to live there - haha), but Cooper has never been.  I'll be honest, I had a moment as it was a full circle to see my kids standing on the porch where I grew up.

Me and my babies at my childhood house!

One of the renters put up some swings in the backyard from the oak tree.  LL loves to swing on them, so we took a few minutes to do that before heading home.  You can see the videos here:
Video 1
Video 2

Spring Break Fun

For Spring Break, I really wanted to try and fit in one fun thing every day.  We kicked off Spring Break with our trip to see Mr. Andrew's plane.  Here are some of the other fun things we managed to squeeze into the week:

LL and I went with Grammy and MeeMee to see the new Cinderella!

Girl time and popcorn!

We had tons of food left over from Easter - and none of us were complaining!

We also had bright colored spring flowers in the house.

Cooper spent some time at Gigi's...

...while LL and I spent some serious time cleaning the house.  This is what was under our couch when I moved it!  Holy cow!

Kayla and Andrew came over to help us finish the chicken house and the kids loved playing with KK's.

Coop got his first pair of flip-flops (ever!).  Until now, his feet have always been too fat and have never fit!

The chickens got to check out the chicken house for the first time.

LL and I had a fun girl's night with Gigi and went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

We celebrated Matt's 35th Birthday with our kids and Kayla and Andrew!

To finish out our fun week, the kids and I went to see Disney on Ice with Emily, Kye, and Britt.  The kids loved it!

Proof that they are sometimes sweet to each other.  ;)

We really did pack in so much fun stuff during the week - it makes me look forward to this summer!

Going to the Airport

We have been friends with Kayla and Andrew for almost two years now.  Kayla teaches at my school, and they also live very close to us.  We because fast friends because we work across the hall from each other, and Andrew was deployed for about 6 months.  This past December, Andrew came home and will be home (hopefully) for a good chunk of time.  Kayla has been saying this whole time, "I'm glad I'm getting a head start on bonding with your children because once Andrew is here, they'll only want him."  Haha.  And she's kind of right.  Cooper loves Mr. Andrew (and even dressed up like him at Halloween!).  Over Spring Break, Andrew asked us if we would come visit him at work, and he would show the kids around his plane.  

Cooper has always been obsessed with vehicles (including airplanes) and always tells us that things are "going to the airport".  Sad/funny story: for Valentine's Day, Grammy and Pop bought Cooper this huge bear balloon (Pop calls Cooper "Bear"), and as we were taking it out the car, Cooper let go of it, and obviously it was gone for good.  Cooper cried his little heart out and kept saying that his balloon was "going to the airport".  As a replacement for his balloon (he was so upset), Grammy and Pop bought him a stuffed bear that is now named "Airport".  

When Andrew asked us to come to the base, I told Cooper that we were going to the airport, and he was beside himself he was so excited.  He wore his halloween costume when we went so that he could match Mr. Andrew.

Before going to look around the plane.  Coop was pumped.

This gang of boys are buds!

He had absolutely no hesitation to get in and look around!

The inside is HUGE!

This is Andrew's seat in the plane - right next to the window and the potty (the very right of the picture).

We also got to climb to the tip top and look at the cockpit!

I mean- can you even??  This is one of my all time favorite pictures of him ever.

The kids seriously had a blast and loved looking all around!

We are so blessed with Kayla and Andrew as friends.  I have never seen people love kids (that aren't related to them) as much as they love my kids.  It is so genuine and so sweet.  We hit the friend jackpot, for sure!

This is the kids standing under the tail of the plane.  This giant door in the back can lower down to load/unload bit important things.  This scale is just amazing.  This plane is a beast!

Family picture with Mr. Andrew's plane in the background.

Twin flight suits.  So adorable.

After we left, we went by the static displays that they have on base and let the kids look around.  They liked this part, too!

It was such a fun day for all of us!  I know that the kids had a blast, and it gives you such an appreciation for what so many people do to keep us safe ever day.