Date Night at the Viking Cooking School

The eighth wedding anniversary is traditionally celebrated with bronze or pottery.  Matt took those recommendations and turned them into a fantastic weekend getaway for us!  We drove to Greenwood, MS to have massages at The Alluvian Hotel and Spa and to attend a cooking class at The Viking Cooking School.  His thinking was we'd use bronze/copper pots in the cooking class (a bit of a stretch - I think they were actually stainless steel) and on our way home, we drove through Merigold, MS to pick up a new piece of pottery from McCarty's Pottery.  It was really nice to get away for a couple nights and enjoy getting to hang out with each other without having to referee kids in between sentences!

I don't have pictures from our whole weekend, but I took several from our cooking class because it was so much fun! 

Most of you know that I am definitely NOT a cook.  Matt is the head chef at our house.  But I can get into it when wine is served and it's more of a party!  (Or when you secretly make it a contest to make sure your food turns out better than the other teams...)

Here is Matt caramelizing the apples that would go on our salad.

Our tied-up tenderloin is ready to cook!  And my always-in-charge husband allowed me to flip the shrimp skewers...under his watchful eye.  :)

Cooking together!  He probably wishes this happened more often at home. 

If you've never attended a cooking class, it works like this:  the class of 12 is divided up into three groups of four and each group prepares the same menu.  There is a center cooking table where the instructor gives details for each step and then you turn to your cooking area to do it yourself.  Once everything has been cooked, the instructors plate it and serve it for dinner.  Each group eats the meal that they cooked.

Here we are, ready to dig in!

Our meal started with a salad of mixed greens, pistachios, and candied apples topped with a homemade champagne vinaigrette.  On the side were grilled rye and brie cheese sandwiches. This was not really the part I was looking forward to but ended up being so delicious!  In fact, I may request it for dinner again tomorrow night. 

I forgot to take a picture of the main course until I'd eaten half of it.  We had cheesy broccoli souffle, chateaubriand (beef tenderloin) with bernaise sauce, and glazed prosciutto-wrapped shrimp.  It was fantastic!  

We finished the dinner off with chocolate creme brulee and fresh raspberries - my favorite!

It was a weekend trip to remember and I'll be ready to do it again next year...hint, hint.  :)

April Phone Pics

Picture this: it's early on a Sunday morning.  Like, super early.  Kids were up at 6:00am and it's your turn to take the early shift.  Sleepy-eyed, you let the dog out and shuffle into the laundry room to throw last night's forgotten load of laundry into the dryer.  You're bent over, shoving damp clothes into the dryer and you rise up to see this:

The first April Fool's Joke of the day was on me and no one even knew they had played it!  Screaming and jumping, I nearly wet my pants before checking to see if that gargantuan, dangerous, poisonous, scary spider was real or not.  

After pulling myself back together - definitely awake now! - I snapped the picture and fired off an Instagram post about little boy's laundry was not for the faint of heart; never know what you'll find in their pockets.  Fast forward to later in the day when I was again in the laundry room and quizzing Thomas on the origins of the scariest spider ever.  "Where did you get this?  Who gave you this spider?" As he stared at me blankly, Katie Wynn popped up behind him and shouted, "Hey!  That's mine!  Where'd you find that?!"  

Oy.  Life with girls is not for the faint of heart.

There's just nothing better than clean kids after a bath!  Especially when they're wrapped up in matching hooded towels.  :)

In April we attended the kids' school's annual Wine and Cheese fundraiser.  It's always a fun grown-up night with our friends, even if it does end up costing a fortune after we tally up our Silent Auction winnings (and raffle tickets, dinner tickets, babysitter, etc...).  I didn't get a picture with my cute date, but I did get one of me and the girls.

Since Easter was in April, we spent a night during the month dying Easter eggs.  This was the first time I really let the little kids do their own, and they loved it!

We spent some time playing outside and lounging in our Eno hammock. 

This month we started our first season ever of T-Ball!  Our, er Katie Wynn's, first practice outfit really hit the ball out of the park.  Cute matching exercise clothes from Walmart (shirt tucked in, of course), new socks, first pair of real tennis shoes, and all topped with a big ol' bow.  I took her with me to pick out her new glove and naturally she picked an orange one.  T-Ball is getting a whole post of its own because it was such a fun season!

This boy right here.  Oh, he knows every trick in the book to prolong a bed time.  He has a million questions, needs a drink of water (warm not cold), has to teetee, wants a "huggie, kissy," wants a story, needs a song, et cetera, et cetera.  He will drive you bonkers and make you go crazy but, when he finally sleeps, oh!  Then he's just the absolute sweetest.  Time is just going way too fast with this little one.

You know what they say about April Showers, right?  They make big mud puddles!  Katie Wynn enjoyed an afternoon of puddle stomping in her Mimi's and Poppy's yard.

Our buddy Levi delivered donuts one Saturday morning and he showed up in matching jammies!  Couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried.  His momma and I enjoyed an early morning visit while the kids loaded up on sugar and drove the Mini Cooper around the house.  Maybe we should plan more playdates for 7:00am.  

This monthly post wouldn't be complete without some Mint Tulip matching clothes modeling!  This month we wore bunny rabbits to a birthday party and lighthouses to a Redbirds game.  

Now, on to May!

March Phone Pics

The month of March was made extra-sweet with hot chocolate sticks and chocolate ice cream cones!

In mid-March, Matt and I took a trip to Phoenix to see his cousin, Jonah, get married.  We left the kids with my parents (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and had our first airBNB experience.  While the house we rented had a few kinks to work out (I think we were their first renters?), it was definitely a good experience and one I think we'll do again!  We had perfect Arizona weather - clear skies and sunshiney days followed by crisp, cool evenings.  The house we were in had a great pool but brrr!  It needed a heater!  I was slightly obsessed with the lemon tree in the backyard.  Just look out how big these lemons are!  I brought some home as souvenirs.  :)

We had a full weekend of events to celebrate Jonah and his new bride, Maggie, starting with a rooftop rehearsal dinner on Friday night.

The wedding was held at the coolest venue - an estate with a house (where the whole wedding party and family stayed), beautifully landscaped lawns, pavilions, ponds, sand volleyball court, basketball court, tennis court, outdoor kitchen and bar, and more.  We arrived shortly before the 3pm wedding start.

After a beautiful ceremony out on the lawn overlooking the lake, we were treated to a sit-down dinner, speeches, slideshows, a night full of dancing, and a cookie truck that served up the most delicious warm cookie sundaes ever.  

We left the reception before the party bus picked up the youngins that wanted to keep partying.  :)  

The next morning, we returned to the venue for a brunch and hangout time before flying back home.  It was a great weekend for a wedding!

I brought home "melting" Easter bunnies for the kids to play with as the holiday approached.  They loved them and immediately played with them on the kitchen table.  It's basically a ball of silly putty that you mold into a figure and press in the plastic bunny features.  They "melt" down to be flattened blobs after a few minutes, or in our case, overnight.  These were a nightly dinner time activity all through Lent!

Katie Wynn's spring break started off with a bang.  And by bang, I mean strep throat.  Poor girl got hit hard out of nowhere.  We were actually at a birthday party when we realized that she really did not feel well, and I decided she felt warm.  We took her straight to a Saturday clinic and sure enough, it was a strep diagnosis.  Poor girl slept her first day of vacation away.

Thank goodness for antibiotics that work quickly!  She was back to her normal self by the next day and able to celebrate my birthday and help blow out my candles.  Yes, the girl with strep got to spit all over my cake.  :)

Here are just a few pictures of us getting to play outside in the nice weather!

By the end of the month, we had our bunny clothes out and were ready for Easter to come!

I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by! 

February Phone Pics

My New Year's Resolution this year (and then, my Lenten Goal as well) was to keep my blog updated.  I'm already falling behind.  But, dang it! I want to keep it up!  I'm gonna try a little harder to post more than just a monthly photo round-up...'cause we're up to more than just phone pics over here.  Help keep me accountable?

But first, better post February's phone pics.  The highlight of the month was definitely our trip to Atlanta.  Not much happened the rest of the month so this should be a short post.

Two days before we left to go out of  town, I found myself sitting in the doctor's waiting room with a fevery little girl that couldn't stay awake.  Just what we needed right before vacation.  Luckily, flu and strep tests were both negative and her ears were clear, so it was just a short-lived little fever bug.  I sure hate it when she doesn't feel well but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the cuddles.

Nothing better than going for a drive with your best buddy!

The blog is not the only thing I've been behind on, I can't seem to find time to finish my DIY projects in the woodshop either.  We now have two embroidery machines for Mint Tulip and need a better work station.  Matt and my Dad built new drawer bases back in January but I haven't been able to get them painted so we can finish the project!  Currently, they're just being used as houses for Katie Wynn and Thomas...

One evening, just before the sun went down, we finally went to check out the Big River Crossing - a pedestrian bridge that crosses all the way over Mississippi River.  It has fun to be able to stand with one foot in AR and one in TN!

Nice weather means snack time is outside!

Katie Wynn somehow downloaded a Kid's Bible App onto Matt's phone and she and Thomas laid on the couch together listening to Bible stories.  We don't really encourage games on our phones, but I guess if this is the worse that's going to come from it, it can be ok! 

Katie-bug actually let me put rollers in her hair one Saturday night.  Aren't kids just the sweetest ever when they're sleeping?

She was really excited about sleeping in the rollers, but then was NOT excited when she woke up with curls in her hair.  I thought it turned out cute! 

I love it when they match and I love it when they both smile and look at the camera at the same time, so this picture is pretty much it for me.

Have you ever walked into your kitchen to see a four-year-old standing in your refrigerator? Someone thinks she's big enough to get her own snacks.  And someone else was watching said four-year-old and got busted climbing up for his own snacks too.

And that's it for February!  Like I said, it was a light month for pictures.  More soon!

Atlanta Bound!

In early winter, we were passed down some clothes for Thomas, and included with them was a full set of snow gear - bibs, coat, and boots - in pristine condition.  Then, for Christmas, both kids were given a new suitcase designed especially for airport travel.  So what do you do when you have a snowsuit + airport suitcases?  You fly to snow, of course!

It might take a day or two to convince your husband that this trip is necessary (you can't waste a perfectly good snowsuit, amiright??!), but once he gives in, you tell the kids and get them excited!  And because they have no sense of "three more weeks," you make a countdown chain to help know how much longer til it's time to ride on the airplane.  For ours, I drew an airplane for the top and added one loop for each day until vacay time.  We tore off one loop each night after bath.

We were all super excited when it was finally time to tear off the last loop!!

Technically, this was Katie Wynn's second time to fly, but since she was only 2 months old for her first flight, we called this the first one for both of them.  And I documented all of it.  Their new suitcases passed the carry-on size check!

Their Trunki suitcases were the perfect size for a weekend's worth of clothes - including their snow gear.  These suitcases are designed to be ridden on.  Each one has a curved top for the child to sit on and two knobs/horns on front for them to hold on to.  They have a strap that can be used to pull the suitcase, and you can hook them together to make a train (that's what we did!).  

They LOVED riding on them; Thomas especially loved being in the back.  We got lots of looks and smiles from everyone we passed.  They made our time in the airport so much fun!

But even fun suitcases can't compete with big airplanes outside the window.  Naturally, they were fascinated by them.  

We were split up in twos so Katie Wynn and I sat together and the boys were two rows behind us.  Both kids did SO well on our [short] flight.  

The Atlanta airport provided more entertainment as they also got to ride their first "train" (airport tram).  

While we rode, we did our best to quickly teach them proper pole dancing techniques.  

Our objective for our weekend away was to focus on the kids, do what they wanted to do, and be spontaneous!  And that's how we ended up on an overpriced ferris wheel shortly after checking into our hotel.  Since it was lunchtime on a Friday, we pretty much had the ride to ourselves.  We counted three different employees napping on the job, which is probably why we went around approixmately 72 times.  Got our money's worth, I guess.

We ate at a fun pizza place for lunch.  Katie Wynn took our pictures! 

On our walk back to the hotel, we found an awesome playground that the kids wanted to play on, so we did. 

A conveyor belt slide!

Our Friday evening was a little bit of a dud.  After the kids woke up from late naps, we were ready to do some exploring but found that all the kid-friendly places we wanted to go were getting ready to close.  Whomp, whomp.  We spent an hour or so at an arcade place that the kids were too little for, and then had an early dinner at Johnny Rockets, where the ketchup is served in a smiley face.  

We were back early at our hotel and whether or not it had a pool, I don't even know.  I didn't bother looking since I didn't think to pack their swimsuits.  But you don't need swimsuits to "swim" in the bathtub for a while.  

Early the next morning, we bundled up in our snow gear and headed out for the main reason we chose Atlanta as our vacation destination - Snow Mountain! 

Snow Mountain is the winter attraction at Stone Mountain just outside Atlanta.  

In the winter, they make real snow and have a big play area for kids and big slides that you ride down in innertubes.  We had a two hour pass for the slides but had time to hit the play area first before our pass started.  

Thomas was too little to do the individual slides, but he was able to do the big family ride with us.  I am shocked that they let little kids do this, but I guess it's because you can hold them.  If you look past Matt in the right picture below, there is a steep drop off at the beginning of the ride and you FLY down it!  I won't lie, I was a little nervous.  

Katie Wynn and I went down one of the other slides in a double innertube and then we sat with Thomas so Matt could do it too.  We didn't spend much time on the slides since T couldn't do them and KW was scared, but I'm glad we gave them a try!  

Weather-wise, we were there on the perfect day.  It was cool in the morning when we got there, but by after lunch time, we could take off our coats and play in the sun.  The crowds were not bad either since it was the second-to-last weekend for the seasonal attraction.  

The snow was an awesome texture that you could pack together.  I've never gotten to play in snow like that since we mostly get ice here!  There were lots of sand toys for kids to play with so we made a little snow castle to surround our snowman.    

Over in the kids' zone, there were two smaller slides.  It took us forever to convince Katie Wynn to try it and once she finally did, there was no stopping her!  I think she went down it about 25 times.  Thomas could not be convinced, although I did plop him on an innertube and sent him down screaming once.  

There was a fun board you could throw snowballs at that was more up Thomas's alley.  I included the picture on the right below to show you his first throw.  Do you see where his snowball is? 

His aim got better and he threatened to pelt me with snowballs!

The other slide in the kids' zone used a sled.  We tried to get Thomas to ride on it with Katie Wynn but it didn't work.  

He was perfectly content standing at the top and watching her go down.  

We left Snow Mountain in time to take good afternoon naps at the hotel.  That afternoon/evening, we visited the Atlanta Aquarium.  We arrived there just as the last Dolphin Show of the day was about to start and were able to get some of the last seats.  I couldn't take pictures during it but it was SO fun to watch the dolphins do all of their tricks!

Albino alligator...who knew?

Our walk to find dinner was way too long in chilly weather - we should've done more research for that.  But we finally made it to a pizza place that didn't have an hour long wait and it turned out to be worth the long walk.  The kids especially loved getting to color on the paper table cloth.  

Our trip was a short and sweet one.  We were up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to head back to the airport to head home.  

Isn't this the cutest?!?

We switched partners for the flight home so I got to travel with my little buddy.  He got antsy so I was thankful for the Wooly Willy game I had in my purse! The flight attendant gave Katie Wynn her own set of wings to wear.

Heading for luggage pickup after another safe flight!

Our flight was so early Sunday morning that we actually made it back into town in time to attend church!  Needless to say, we all took a good afternoon nap that day.  Next year, I hope we can make it to Snow Mountain before Christmas because I hear they decorate with lots of lights and project Christmas movies up on the stone mountain.  Sounds fun!