5 on Friday

1. Last Friday Nick and I decided to have lunch in early celebration of our 7th wedding anniversary.   We thought it would be fun to leave the kids at day-care (pre-paid babysitter), hit up Table 128 (local and awesome) and enjoy a free afternoon.   We had a great time and even got all of our flowers and gardening supplies purchased before Nick went home to mow the lawn and I picked up the girls from school.


2. Friday night we planted some flowers (with the help of the girls and the neighbor girl) and then went in for dinner.  The weather was so beautiful we had to take advantage and ventured out after dinner to plant the garden (once again with the help of three little ones).   So the flower and garden planting I thought we would do on Saturday was all done Friday night!  Perfect!


3. Saturday morning we worked in the garage (cleaning it out and putting up some organizers) while the girls played outside.   After nap we were back outside to play with the neighbors.  Given the beautiful weather we had dinner on the patio and invited the neighbors over for s'mores afterwards.   Turns out the neighbors behind us had the same idea.  By the end of the night we had countless kids riding toy tractors down the little hill in the backyard and running between yards playing.  Ellie even meet a new friend that will be going to kindergarten at the same school as her next year.  This new friend was THRILLED to find out there were two other little girls in the neighborhood, as they just moved in in the fall and the neighbors around them have all boys.  


4. Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day and our Anniversary.   It was pretty low-key (I did laundry and cleaned the house since I spent most of the prior day outside playing).  We did go swimming (which the girls loved) and had an amazing dinner.  Overall, a pretty perfect weekend.


5. Ellie had her dance dress rehearsal in Ames on Thursday afternoon.  We road with the next door neighbors and picked up Hickory Park for dinner after the rehearsal (win-win!).  This weekend is the recital.

Grocery Delivery Update

Way to go Hy-Vee!  They really nailed it on the home delivery of groceries.   We had our first order last week and it worked out nearly perfect.  The only issue was they did not have the diced chicken I ordered and didn't have any substitute options (according to my receipt--- but really, no other options?).   Overall I was very please and the delivery guy was super polite (I think he may have put the groceries away in the fridge if I would have asked).   I would highly recommend this option to people who make lists and stick to the lists when grocery shopping- if you don't have a list you could easily forget something and end up having to run to the store anyway.  


We normally hit up Fareway for our shopping.  It is a lot cheaper than Hy-Vee, not as overwhelming and I love the meat there.   We will continue to do most of our shopping there, but for those weeks when time is stretched thin (or the weather is too nice to be inside shopping at the grocery store), this is a great option.  We will see how often we use the Hy-Vee delivery this summer...  I can already identify a few weeks in May that it will be needed (seriously, our May is SO busy!).

5 on Friday

1. We kept very busy while Daddy was away on his biking trip.   The girls got their hairs cut, we did a little shopping, the girls hit up dance class at LifeTime (while Mommy got a workout in), we went swimming, visited the zoo and had a picnic on the lawn!


2. Daddy got home earlier than expected on Sunday!   Perfect timing for a little water play time with the neighbors.   Our next door neighbor got a huge water slide contraption for her birthday, so we put it to use and the kids loved it.


3. Ellie had her last day of dance practice for the year on Tuesday!   She is already signed-up for next years class.


4. We celebrated Mother's Day early with a dinner last night.  We were headed to the mall for some errands and decided a trip to Cheesecake Factory would be easier on Thursday than on Mother's Day weekend.


5. While we have had some rain this week, we have also had periods of nice weather.    We so love being outside!

5 on Friday

1. I woke up Saturday feeling AWESOME!    Such a change from the previous 5 days.    My sister-in-law messaged me and asked if we wanted visitors that afternoon--- she was in the mood for some shopping and the girls were wanting some cousin time.   Worked out great for us and the three youngest girls came over to play for the afternoon.   It was so much fun watching all five girls play with each other.  They got along great, are so respectful and so well behaved.   We cannot wait for them to come again at the end of May!


2. Sunday we picked out a couple new trees we are having installed near the patio.  It will be nice to have a little more shade/blocking of the breeze.   And such a beautiful day to be outside!   We ended the day with some neighbor time (much missed while I was sick last week).  


3. The weather is awesome!   Neve misses the swings at the park, but they poured the basketball court and sidewalk this week and the equipment is expected to be in early next week.   It will be nice to have it back, but we have been making do in the meantime.


4. Nick is on his spring bike trip.  He left Thursday morning and gets back Sunday night.  The girls and I have our days planned and are looking forward to the beautiful weather this weekend.


5. The girls are so excited for May Day and May Day 'baskets'.   We have been collecting materials for a few months now and they loved putting them together Thursday night.