Valentines

Valentines weekend was so fun!! Riley surprised me by taking off on Friday and arranging a sitter for the twins!!! After the older kids went to school we headed to Waffle House and Costco. It was so nice to shop and just think about food choices lol! I know one thing... We must think about getting a second full size fridge. We currently have a French style fridge and the largest cubic mini fridge they make. It just isn't big enough for a family of seven and all the fresh product/yogurt/milk/eggs I buy. Must start thinking like a big family!! We also hit Sprouts so I could get strawberries and other fresh produce. I also picked up some Halo Top Creamery Lemon Cake a Icecream.... It's amazing and only 70 calories per 1/2 cup!! We were able to grab lunch too before our crazy Friday ballet evening started. I'm looking forward to next year when ballet is on another evening! 

Saturday morning Ben ran in first thing to our room to say Happy Valentines. Riley and I exchanged our small gifts. We usually only do small gifts because our anniversary is 21 days later. I fixed the kids cute heart shaped valentine cinnamon rolls and high protein yogurt parfaits. We had invited Riley's parents over for Valentines Dinner. His mom was charge of pies (chocolate and coconut cream) and I was in charge of everything chocolate. We just grilled out hamburgers but these burgers beat any burger we've ever had out.... Lightly toasted bun, patty, muenster cheese, bacon and Sweet Fire Relish we get from the farmers market.... Yum!!!! I set up the table all cute! We gave the kids an assortment of valentines candy. His mom gave the kids each a bag of after school treats and candy!! The kids crashed hard by bedtime! 

Sunday Riley took the older boys for a "man date" as my boys call it to the movies. Then to go buy running shoe because their feet won't stop growing! Brit and I had a date with this horrible thing called laundry! Both of us tackled it and had time to spare to watch a movie together before they got home. I sent Riley to the store for salad/spinach for the week and he came home with tulips for my kitchen window sill. He is always so thoughtful! I love him for it and much much more! 

Riley's gift to me!! It's perfect! 

The twins were so cute in their valentine pajamas but I gave up trying to photograph them! They move to much!! 

Ps: I don't blog as often as I'd like but I do Instagram daily! I've been working on fitness, healthy lunches/meals, motivation for me and my followers. Follow me! Say hi! Look me up under krissriley 

-Kriss :))

Thirteen TEEN Birthday

I had the hardest time deciding what I wanted to do for Brit's birthday!! Brits only requests were that it have aqua or teal colors thrown in amd that there be cake! I actually left it all a surprise until the day I put it out! I had to work on most of it during the week and put it away before she came home from school. I decided to go with a more grown up theme and do "blooms" because all I could think about is the young lady she is blossoming into. Making the tissue paper flowers was so fun and really added a huge pop of color! I was able to use a lot of items I already owned (yellow sheet, aqua fabric runner, some tissue paper, dishes). Only things I purchased for decorations was tissue paper, silver glitter paper, butterfly paper punch, poster board, candles and some scrap booking flowers to put on the cake. We ordered the cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes and I was so happy I didn't make it this year! The sign I channeled my inner painter...... I haven't painted with watercolors since elementary! 

Party Details: 

Cake : Nothing Bundt Cake 10in White Chocolate Raspberry

13 sign: Crayola Watercolor paint, poster board and gold acrylic paint 

13 glitter numbers & flower: glitter paper and tissue paper dahlia 

Flowers: tissue paper

Bottles: Sidral Mundet Green Apple soda (so refreshing!!) and a steal at .66cents (Hispanic Market)

Paper Goods: Hobby Lobby spring collection at 40% off

Aqua backdrop for sign: plastic table cloth to cover existing art

Butterfly's: Martha Stewart paper punch

I found these lemon cookies at Family Dollar and they were delicious! Loved the swirl detail! Added a raspberry for that extra touch. 

Scrap booking flowers really added to the cake

Granny's birthday is four days after Brits so we always celebrate her too! She got a mini bundlet to take home for later! 

The apple soda was a huge hit! 

I LOVED the pop of color from the paper goods!

Birthday and Death

Well my daughter is officially a teenager! I can't believe how fast the last ten years has gone. She is turning into a beautiful confident young lady. We kind of ended up celebrating over the course of three days!! Which I'm sure she didn't mind lol! 

Before I share her party pictures I wanted to document a few things. This last week leading up to her birthday was stressful and incredibly sad. Brady had a HUGE school project with MANY parts due on Feb. 6. That in itself took up a few evenings. Britney also had a choir trip one evening and she didn't get home until way after 9pm. I was proud of her though because she called to tell me the bus was running behind and not to worry. 

We also had a very sad and stressful family event that made us all stop in our tracks. Riley's dad is an identical twin. His twin had gone into the hospital last Tuesday for a new heart valve and some bypasses. This was his second time on the table having had bypasses many years ago. When they started the surgery they discovered his heart was stuck to the chest wall and the surgeons had accidentally cut into it (from what I understand). They had to get him stabilized before they could continue with the surgery. My FIL had gone into work with plans to go to the hospital after he had finished a few things. As he was working he started to feel very sick and nausated. He decided he better head for the hospital because he knew his brother was in distress. On he way to the hospital his nephew called to tell him it was touch and go. When his brother made it out of surgery they had the valve and left side of the heart working but not the part they cut into. They hoped the heart was just in shock and it would start working in 1-3 days. By The next day they had to take him back into surgery (he was still open from Tuesday) because he had a few leaks. By Wednesday night the other side of the heart was working. This was wonderful but we all knew he was not out of the woods yet. Unfortunately his time here with us was cut short and he went to heaven on Thursday morning. It was a sad and somber day. We were also so worried about Riley's dad. Riley and I couldn't imagine being a twin for 76 years and then your twin is gone. It also made us stop and think about the age of my inlaws. We will be shattered when it's their time to go. Britney's party was supposed to be Saturday night but we moved it to Sunday because Uncle D's memorial got scheduled. Britney was a little upset but she understood. To top it all off, I started running fever on Wednesday (which I never do) and by Wednesday afternoon I was so sick with chills, sore throat and lethargy. Thursday morning I woke up with my throat hangy down thingie so swollen I could barely talk or swallow. Thankfully I was able to get to the doctor, get a shot and get some liquid antibiotics/liquid Advil. It was so bad my doctor said if it got any more swollen I would have to go to the ER. I'm happy to say that by that afternoon the steroid shot worked fast and I was feeling so much better!! That swelling was scary! My doctor said,"There is no way you can swallow a big pill".  Britney was happy too because we were supposed to go shopping (she had Friday off from school) with Granny. Thursday was just not a good day!!

Friday: I woke up feeling much much better and was able to take Britney shopping!! 

With her granny: 

Saturday: Originally Brits party was scheduled for Saturday evening but Uncle D's memorial was that night so we had to move it to Sunday. We were still able to get up and take just her for breakfast, James Avery and to go pick up her cake. She was so surprised and excited about her new bracelet! 

I'll post the party pictures in the next post!