Dinner with Friends

Last night we had our friends Laurie & Josh & their boys Logan & Lincoln over dinner.  We met Laurie & Josh when we lived in Arizona the first time and played on the same sand volleyball team.  Kevin reconnected with Laurie through facebook when we moved back out here.  We had dinner at their house and swim in their pool last summer.  It 's always hard to balance work and life, but it's always nice to spend time with friends.  The kids had a blast playing and running around the house, while we enjoyed adult conversation.  Kevin made his famous mongolian beef.  Watch PF Changs!  He also made potstickers and egg rolls.  It was so delicious!  I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who makes such delicious meals.

On-Call

I learned how it is for people who work jobs where they are on-call, waiting for the phone to ring.  Sadie's (the baby I watch) mom is a detective and was on-call from 8am today-till 8am tomorrow.  I arranged a playdate with Kileigh's friend Alaina, who lives across the street.  Kileigh came down to our room around 6:30 this morning and then ended up going back up to bed.  I fell back asleep and woke up when I heard a text coming in.  I looked at my phone and it was 8:45am.  Thank goodness for the extra sleep!  I needed it badly as I was started to feel a little under the weather with a sore throat and runny nose.  I quickly got dressed and told Krista that they could come over.  We had a present for Alaina, who had just turned 2.  The girls had fun playing and Krista and I had a chance to talk and catch up.  She's pregnant and expecting another girl in July.  We talked about the baby and potty training the girls.  We were having a good time, when my phone rang.  I just knew it was Gina.  I picked up and she said that she just got called in and needed me there in 45 minutes.  Luckily I had a few things put together and they only live 15 minutes away.  We picked up the toys, said bye to Krista and Alaina, and went over to Sadie's house. 

Sadie's brother's daycare was closed today, so I watched Seth as well.  After Gina left, we went outside and played baseball, they rode the scooter and bikes and swang on the swingset.  I made them lunch and then put them down for a nap.  Sadie was the only one who went to sleep.  Kileigh didn't want to lay in Gina's bed by herself, so I layed in there with her and did some vacation searching.  Seth kept getting out of bed and going to the bathroom.  He didn't want to listen, so I had to put him in time-out and then finally he went and laid down in his bed.  He finally fell asleep and didn't wake up until I woke him up at 5pm when I was leaving.  I just wish Kileigh would still nap like that because it would be nice to get a break everyday. 

I am really starting to contemplate putting Kileigh in pre-school this fall.  I think it would be good for her to be around other kids and to get out of the house and to learn some new things and prepare her for kindergarten.

Fondue Feast

Kevin got off work early yesterday and picked up stuff to make fondue for dinner.  He made fiesta cheese (cheddar cheese w/salsa & jalapenos) and cut up bread, apples, carrots, and tortilla chips for dipping.  It was delicious.  For the main course, he made coq au vin.  He cut up shrimp, scallops, salmon, brats, and New York Strip Steak, and potatoes for our entree.  My favorite was the brats.  I really enjoyed it as I always do and love that I have a wonderful husband who enjoys cooking and spoils me with his delicious creations in the kitchen.

Rainy Saturday

Saturday was a rainy day in Phoenix.  Those are pretty rare, so Kileigh actually got to use her umbrella and wear her rainboats.  We dropped off a garbage bag of stuff at Goodwill.  Then we went to Target and found a few things in the Valentine's Day clearance.  I also got a few books from the $1 bins to put in Kileigh's Easter basket.  Our last stop was the library.  We had some books to return and checked out some new books.  Kileigh found some Maisy books.  I also got some books for St. Patrick's Day and some books
by Karen Kingsbury, which is a new author that I have found and have enjoyed the books of hers that I have read so far.

As we were leaving the library, it started to rain.  We quickly got in the car and headed to Aunt Jeanine & Uncle Jim's house.  They had their grandkids (Kileigh's cousins) over for the weekend, so we went Peter Piper Pizza for pizza and to play arcade games.  It was a fun afternoon.  We went back to their house.  Kileigh and Ciara colored and ran around the house.  Kevin came over for dinner.  Kileigh also loves going to their house and enjoys spending time with her aunt, uncle, and cousins.

January Birthday Party

Kevin's family does combined birthday parties.  With the bad weather recently, my in-laws weren't able to come out until last weekend.  We celebrated the January birthdays (Kevin;s mom and his cousin Mike) at Uncle Oos's house.  The day was beautiful on Sunday.  We went to church and then came back to the house.  Kileigh, Kevin's mom, and I made cookies for Valentine's Day.  Kevin and his dad went to Lowe's to pick up some wood so they could finish making boards for Cornhole.  He didn't really like the way they turned, so he ended up giving them to his uncle so he could take them up to his cabin.  When he was done with the boards, we headed over to his uncle's house and Kevin pulled the meat apart for pulled pork sandwiches.  We hung out in the backyard, played bags, ate dinner, had cake & ice cream, and opened presents.  It was a fun day!

St. Louis

Kileigh and I flew into St. Louis on Saturday the 11th.  My mom, brother, and sister-in-law drove down to meet up with us.  We had lunch at Guido's on The Hill, which is where we try to go everytime we are in  town.  My mom always gets spaghetti and meatballs and I always get shrimp and garlic pizza with alfredo sauce.  Mark and Catherine got pasta dishes too.  As usual, it was yummy!  After lunch, we headed over to the hotel to check in and ended up going swimming in the afternoon.  We went over to The Loop to have dinner at Fritz's.  It was a burger and shake kind of joint.  We got pickle chips and quesadillas for appetizers.  Everyone got burgers and fries/onion rings.  They made their own soda, so I got a refillable mug and was able to try root beer, grape soda, and orange soda.  After dinner, we went back to the hotel and relaxed.  Kileigh has never slept in a big bed, so it was a rougher night for her and she didn't sleep the best.  Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then dropped Mark and Catherine off at the Temple.  We took Kileigh to Forest Park for some sledding.  She really enjoyed that.  We went to The Loop again and picked up coffee and some mac & cheese at St. Louis Bread Co.  We went by the hotel to pick up our stuff, picked up M & C, and they dropped us off at the airport.  They went back to the hotel to pack and drove home. 

Michael W. Smith & Amy Grant Concert

Instead of flowers that would die or chocolate I won't eat, I wanted to go see a concert for Valentine's Day. I heard that Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant were coming to town and I told Kevin I wanted to see them in person. Kevin's aunt came over with her grandsons (Kileigh's cousins) to watch Kileigh for us. They ended up spending the night and had a lot of fun playing together. We went to King's Fish House at Tempe Marketplace for dinner. We had never been there before, but we both really enjoyed our dinner and will definitely go back. The concert was at the Celebrity Theatre. There was a bit of traffic getting into the parking lot, but once we got parked, we had plenty of time to get in there and go to the bathroom prior to the concert starting. The stage rotated so there really weren't any bad seats. We had a group of college-ad girls in front of us that were taking pictures throughout the concert and were annoying, but what are you going to do. The concert was a lot of fun! The music was great. We both really enjoyed the evening.

Illinois in January

Kevin, Kileigh, and I made the trek to Illinois the week prior to Martin Luther King's birthday to celebrate Christmas with my family.  Kevin worked Monday and Tuesday, so we ended up flying to Chicago on Tuesday night and driving down to Charleston Wednesday morning.  We had dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's house.  Catherine made cheese fondue as an appetizer, beef & noodles, and chocolate fondue for dessert.  Kileigh really enjoyed opening presents.  Kevin had to work Friday, so he drove back to Chicago Thursday afternoon to catch a flight home.  I didn't have to work till Tuesday, so Kileigh and I ended up staying till Sunday.  We were able to go to my mom's office and see her coworkers and to visit Catherine at her office as well.  We also went to the mall and saw my dad at work.  We went down to Greenup to the winery.  Catherine and I went to a movie.  Kileigh went sledding.  Kileigh got to spend a lot of time with her Uncle Mark, Aunt C, G, & Pops.  Despite the cold weather, it was a fun trip.