A well-balanced Woodwardy weekend

Who wouldn't want to kick off the weekend with some pretty flowers waiting for you on your desk at the end of the day?

Katie, Luke and Carmen thought I might need some cheering up on Friday and these were a very sweet and colorful gesture. I came home to find two cards in the mailbox from a couple of sweet girls in my life who also made the day brighter. Thanks to all of my family and friends for your concern, text, phone calls, Facebook messages, cards and flowers on a day such as that. I appreciate each and every one of you. ;)

Hallie ended the day at the office with me finishing up some last minute paperwork and filing. I love to have an empty binder, no paperwork looming over me and a clean slate to start the new week. I'm not saying that is the case this week but we gave it our best shot. The only problem is that someone was more interested in trying to bust into these heart candies she found on the desk.....

"I'll be quiet and let you work as soon as you open these....it's a give and take world mom"

We had a quiet night at home which was just what I needed by the end of an emotional day. Hallie and I played her little legs off while Riley kicked his legs up. After all, he is expecting, ya know. Oh, I forgot to tell you all?!?!?!

35 weeks along...it's a boy ;)

We all managed to snag about eight hours of sleep that night and woke up ready to take on the day. It was great to see the sun shining again and the temperature was also playing nice. Riley headed out the door to get some work done at his second home while Hallie and I readied ourselves for a day full of cheerleading. Riley had the church league tournament (otherwise known as "state" to him) to play in that day. I guess all of the cheerleader talk had Hallie worried that she wouldn't fit into her uniform because I found her just hanging out on the scale in my closet.....

"Bikini weather is almost here!?!?!"

After we both got showered and dressed I walked into the living room to find one very intense cartoon-watcher who wasn't ready to leave yet.....

"Don't bother me during Mickey...everybody knows that!"

Problem was that we had to skidaddle on out of the house because we had little time to make a grocery store run and make it to the boy's first basketball game by 11:00. We hurried, hurried, hurried but we were still about fifteen minutes late. There were a big group of the cutest babies in town in the stands and lucky for me I got to hold a couple of them!

Meet Mr. Sam!

He was being quite the ladies man and letting Carmen know that he liked her a lot. She wasn't much feelin' it though as you can see.....

"Boys have cooties!!!"

Hal was in her big girl world and spend most of her time sitting on a bench all by her lonesome. She spotted her daddy out on the court a few times and would happily give him a round of applause and point.

Miss big girl

We were in heaven sitting around family, a bunch of good friends and BABIES!!! Hal and I had been missing our Katie/Carmen time lately and we finally got to spend part of the day with them....

The boys won the game easily and we had some celebratory pizza afterwards. Hallie and Carmen were both on their very, very best behavior at lunch and we made it through an entire meal without any screaming fits, flopping on the ground or spilling drinks from Hallie's end of the table. She went and completely redeemed herself......

"Me? I've always been an angel mother."

Nearly seven month old Carmen has been crossing milestones off of her list left and right these days and she showed us her big girl high chair skills during lunch while she played with her toys.....

Papa Bill didn't get to play with the basketball guys today because of a nagging hamstring injury but he was a good cheerleader and Hal's pal at lunch.....

Working on her family names

My picky eater surprisingly shared all of my meal with me and ate everything I offered up to her on my salad bar plate...cottage cheese and all! She took a stab (literally) at trying pizza yet again but got the same result....

Not a fan

Nanny had offered to let Hallie take her afternoon nap at her house so that I would be able to make it to the second tournament game at 2:00 but she got called to work as they were on their way to her house. She dropped off Hallie at Katie's so I headed that way to pick her up. I was finally able to see Carmen show off her crawling skills and she even showed me how she's been pulling up at the window to see the dogs....

Best friends

It's no surprise I'm sure that a certain someone wanted to be involved to. Us moms were loving every minute of watching the girls kneel side by side looking out the window.....

The beginning of a beautiful friendship

Hallie was in need of an outfit change and a nappy nap so we did just that. While she caught some zzzzz's I did some baking and cleaning until Riley got home from this game. They had won and would play again at 4:00 that afternoon in the championship game. Miss snoozy kept on sleeping past 4:00 when I finally decided to wake her up. We were again late to the game....actually really late. They had started early and when we walked in there was only thirteen minutes left in the game. Oops! Hallie sat as still as a statue on my lap the remainder of the game and watched intently as if she knew it was the big final game. Made me laugh a little inside. I've never seen her be that quiet and serious before. She must've been channeling her dad in the moment. She paid very close attention...but me on the other hand...well let's just say it was hard not to steal a few peeks at this little love muffin again....

Sleeping Sam

Miss Serious sat atop Raenell's lap and requested a drink of her beverage through her swirly straw from time to time. Something tells me she was enjoying all of the pampering while she watched the game and munched on her grapes....

The boys ended up playing a close final game against a big team but came up short in the end. Even though they didn't "take state" I am convinced that they had a fun time this season and will return to the court next year. They were joking around posing in the middle of the court with their trophy and it didn't take me long to be the annoying wife that I am and jump out of the stands with my handy camera around my neck. I think I got a standard eye roll from Riley but the guys happily obliged and smiled big....

These two make quite the duo....

I had a certain delicious sugary treat waiting on the counter for my basketballer at home. He didn't waste anytime biting into his treat...

It wasn't long after Riley had showered and sat down to rest his tired muscles that we were invited to go to dinner with the Williams' and the Harrington's. Just what we needed....a night away from the house. Luckily Nanny didn't have to work and was able to watch Hallie on short notice for us. She fed her, bathed her and I'm confident they played their hearts out like they always do. The play room gets plenty of use when Nanny's around. We met Kim, BJ, Heather, Matt and Stephanie at Charlie's in Gage for some fun. I wasn't even hunrgy for dinner...instead I was starving for some time out of the house with friends. But food was soon on my radar once we sat down and she brought our meals to the table. We had a great time just laughing and chatting. As we were on our way home I had a text message pop up from Nanny. She said "things are getting crazy!" Yes, it appears that they were....

"Trust me...I watch my mom do this all the time"

Nanny and Katie hung out with the girls at our house while we ate. Hallie was ready for bed once we got home but Carmen stayed up for a bit longer sipping on a bottle and letting Katie and I have some more catch up time on the couch. Sleep was not so easy to come by on Saturday night. Insomnia had me in it's grips. Eeek, I've never had it before and I can live without having it happen again. Hallie was up surprisingly early which actually was a good thing....it got us to church on time. Imagine that! The only thing keeping this little lover from getting her pretty church clothes on was the fact that it was reading time. Silly me, I didn't get the memo....but I did join in because let's face it...reading is a lot more fun than rushing around to get ready....

"It's always reading time!!"

We listened to a great sermon and had a very entertaining Sunday school class with lots of laughs. Sunday mornings is where I get in my belly laughs for the week. We are blessed with the group we have. After church we gravitated toward the backyard and played Hallie's very first game of hide and go seek. It was pretty comical and I wished we'd have shot a video of it. She would've played outside all day and taken a nap in her pink car if we would've let her....

Naptime was approaching and of course that meant some good reading time proceeded it. I had a top ten mommy moment today. I had been getting lunch prepared and went on a hunt for Riley and Hallie. I found them reading in her room sprawled out on the floor. I think my heart exploded just a bit. Pure sweetness.....

We scarfed down some chicken and dumplings and Riley joined Hal in dreamland while I decided to hit the pavement with Emmi in tow. It was absolutely perfect outside. I would've been smart to fit in a nap too but I couldn't resist the outdoors on a day like today. After their naps we did some therapy on Papa. I say "we" because Hallie supplied him with some kisses while I helped his knee and back. One uncharacteristicly peaceful trip to Walmart later, Hallie and I were walking to the park and Riley decided to join us too!

Riley got the grilling bug tonight which was well received by me because it meant the kitchen would stay clean and no cooking on my part! We love grilling nights! And Hallie even waited to eat her dinner until later than normal so that she could dine with us. After all, she had helped her dad with the grilling...

Check out that sneaky grin...you can't trust that look!

She gobbled down her pasta and cheeseburger pieces like she hadn't eaten in days. Good dinner, good day, good weekend. Hallie agrees!!!

This was right before I gave her the news...it was in fact bedtime.

Spring is so close we can taste it! No denying that we got a good taste of it today! Just because it's not quite here yet doesn't mean I can't add a bit more color to the house in preparation!