Our Spring Break Week

It's the Monday after Spring Break and I wish I could bottle up this Monday morning feeling I've got going this morning, for it's far different than how I feel most Monday mornings!  Beau and I woke up early, got a good workout in, ate our eggs and sausage together, did our daily devotions, and talked schedules and plans for the week ahead before the kids were even out of bed.  The sun was shining, the temps are supposed to climb into the fifties, and Mila willingly wore the pants outfit I picked out for her...this alone was a big deal!  Beau and Mila were off on time, Cruz and I made it to the bus on time, and I treated myself to a skinny caramel latte on the way to work.  We tackled a huge storage room overhaul this past weekend, made some money selling some treasures that are now in new homes, and are looking forward to a weekend of hosting some of our very favorite people here.  And I'm in the final push of my semester, just six weeks shy of a summer break at home with my two favorite kids.  I'm feeling motivated, energized, and excited to get after it and do these days well.  And when not every morning goes this way, as many don't, well, I'll have my bottle of this Monday morning magic to sprinkle the stress away. ;)

We didn't travel this past Spring Break week, but made good use of our week to reset and recharge right here at home.  I had plans to organize, spring clean, and shop a little, but made sure to also be intentional about doing none of that some days and just have fun with the kids.  Knowing myself, if I make a list of some good jobs to tackle that make me feel accomplished at the beginning of the week, I can relax and focus on having fun the rest of the week.  And that's pretty much how our week went!  A mix of productive and play, quiet and social, full and slow. 

Our Spring Break week included...

|| Some basement organizing!  We are nearing the final stages of this project and it feels pretty amazing to have nearly every square inch of this house complete.  We moved in three years ago this month and Beau and I are so glad we waited to finish this basement off until now.  One of the best parts of building is the opportunity to build just what you need...in my case, a closet strictly for craft supplies!  I spent one Sunday afternoon organizing all the supplies from about twelve different places in our home, and making a new home for all of it in one place.  It's organized, it's labeled, and it makes me smile every time I open the door.  I even threw together a bigger box of lots of random supplies and labeled it "Creativity Box" for the kids to dig into on rainy days this summer. 

The before... 

And the happily ever after...

I wasn't the only person in this house doing some work this week!  We hosted a big ole party with Beau's work friends and put the kids to work last weekend.  I love the way Mila held her dress up so it wouldn't get wet.    

|| Beau took a day off work last week and we decided to brave the youth pavilion as part of their dollar admission for "The World's Greatest Spring Break."  The youth pavilion was busy and loud, but our lunch at Single Speed afterwards was worth it.  

|| We made pancakes for supper and followed it up with a long but successful game of The Game of Life.  I won the game with my longterm wages as a doctor, Beau came in last by a long shot, Cruz had six kids even though he said someday he only wants one or two, and Mila lost interest within five minutes of playing.  But she did chime in and say she wanted sixty kids someday!  

|| We had a lot of dance parties.  We listened to The Greatest Showman soundtrack at least twenty-two times this past week and have committed to seeing the movie in theaters at least one more time before it leaves.  We are big fans around here.

|| We spent a good day crafting out of our newly organized craft closet.  First we constructed a leprechaun trap.  It was a team effort with a lot of trial-and-error.  

|| Since it was too cold to picnic outside, we decided on a picnic inside instead.  And now the kids like to apologize like the bunnies in Peter Rabbit.  It's adorably sweet, until one of them presses a little hard and ticks the other one off. :)

|| The way he makes her giggle.  They really are the best of friends.  

|| More crafting!  This one took me ten minutes to set up and about five minutes for them to complete, BUT, they turned out cute and look especially colorful on our wall.  

I told Mila to write her name really nice and she got this devious little smirk on her face and proceeded to write her name as silly as she could.  Look how proud she is of her effort!

Cruz, on the other hand, nailed it.

|| We had quiet time and read lots of good books.  

|| We got some fresh air and sunshine at the playground.  Mila discovered she is a big fan of underdogs and Cruz discovered he is a little too short to get it done for her.  This created lots of giggles between the two of them.  

Mila passionately turned down the plain gray leggings I picked for her to wear under her dress and decided on these reindeer ones instead.  She completed her look with her favorite accessory, a headband.  She fit right in at our trip to Wal-Mart afterwards. ;)

|| We snuggled up for a movie night or two

|| We kicked off St. Patty's weekend with a rainbow and cloud breakfast and a visit from Grandma.  

|| A clean house...

|| Some sensory bin fun (this craft closet has opened up all kinds of new doors around here!)

|| And a little green party to celebrate the Irish, March Madness, and friends!  Beau made reubens and they were delicious, the kids ran around and played Just Dance until 11:00, and we all got to cheer on UMBC and watch them make history as they beat #1 seeded Virginia.  

|| And as for our leprechaun?  He came, grabbed his gold, and left a little mischief for the kids as well.  Those balloons had a long string attached to them that made its way all around the house and into our bedroom, where a big pile of gold was left for the kids.  Cruz is already devising his plan of action for next year. ;) 

|| And lastly, a weekend well spent.  We tackled the epic storage room, a room that has been neglected since beginning the basement finish over a year ago.  It was quite the mess, but I'm happy to report that those concrete floors are so clean I'd let your kid eat off them.  Mila even tested them for you!

Happy Spring!  I'm ignoring the snow flurries in the forecast and focusing on the bright side of things.  Like this unicorn Mila so diligently painted.