What a Wonderful Weekend!!!

You know that a weekend is off to a fabulous start when you get to spend a BEAUTIFUL Saturday morning...at the park...with your best buddy...eating Happy Meals!

On Saturday, Landry and I met Erin, Amy, and Carter for a fun play date and picnic at the park. The weather was beautiful, Amy and Landry played forever...seriously, 4 hours... and Erin and I got to soak in the sunshine and catch up. It was perfect. Erin's parents live right by this darling little park...which proved to be very handy since we made several potty trips between our two munchkins. :)

At one point Landry attempted to climb a tree...

Better brush off our hands...

I think the tree proved to be a little out of reach! :)

After one of the potty breaks, Amy returned with...a clock! Love that sweet girl!!! She thought that we needed the clock to know what time it was. :)

After fours hours of playing, tricycle riding, rock climbing, chasing each other, cheeseburgers, french fries, apple slices, juice boxes, climbing slides, playing basketball, and numerous potty trips...it was time to head home. Someone was so tired he fell asleep in the car.

Today we continued the fun with a trip to John's Incredible Pizza! Chad suggested it and boy was it an experience! Let's just say, I wouldn't recommend going on a Sunday, at 4:30. You might think that would be a good time. You're wrong! Holy schnikies there were a lot of people. After stuffing ourselves with pizza, salad, and of course, ice cream...we headed to the arcade side. 

Landry decided he actually wanted to ride on the cars...shocking...I know!

I rode with him the first time...here he is ready to go...all smiles!

We played lots of games...whack-a-mole, stinky feet, and skee ball.

He had just enough credits left to ride the cars again...this time all by himself!!!!

So excited to ride! I was stunned! I kept asking him if he really wanted to go all by himself. 

His response was, "Mom...I'm gonna be okay. I will wave to you as I go by!"

Not going to lie...I was not prepared for that response. I was so proud of him for wanting to go by himself...but a little sad that he so casually said he would "just wave as he went by."

He and another little boy had the whole ride to themselves...and they sat in the same truck. Funny part was Landry was there first, holding the door open, trying to figure out how to get in, and the other little guy just climbed right in. I thought that Landry was going to get upset...but instead he just climbed on in with him!

Here they are...

When he got off he was so excited and proud of himself...and his new friend! :)

It was time to turn in his tickets for some prizes.

His first choice...a huge, rhinestone ring! Ha!!!!

There were actually tiaras and Chad had just said, "If he chooses the tiara, that's it."

So, he didn't choose the tiara...he chose the biggest bling instead. :)

He also chose a pretty cool football...to balance out the bling...or as Chad calls it...his Super Bowl ring!

We had a great weekend filled with beautiful weather, time with friends, and fun family time, too.

The bad news...I didn't get any of my papers graded...oops! 

Guess I know what I'll be doing every night this week. :)

Next weekend Chad and I are headed to a bed and breakfast in Cayucos...just the two of us...I am SOOOOOOOOOO excited! Seriously...can't. even. handle. it. :)

Day of LOVE!

So, in my last post I wrote about how special and fun my birthday was...and Valentine's proved to be a continuation of  love, fun, and spending time with some of my favorite people!

The definite highlight of my day was slipping away from my classroom for a few hours so that I could be a mom and be at Landry's preschool party! When I walked in his class the tables were covered with paper and sweet messages...

and the kids were outside playing...so I had a chance to get some pictures of Landry's artwork in class. :)

When the kids came in they went right to a chair and started making their party hats. 

Sidenote::::I am always in awe when I go to his preschool and see how well behaved the kids are and how calm everything is...amazing...so much so that I used them as an example to my 28 crazy 2nd graders when I got back to school for our class party. :)

Love spending time with this sweet boy...and for following my heart and getting a sub for a few hours so that I could soak in this time with my littlest valentine!

Party hat is finished...ta-da!!!!

I loved that they made a list...before the party...of their valentines. 

I loved it even more that Chad and I made the list. :)

It isn't a party without some food! They munched on heart shaped pizza, fruit, veggies, and so much more. Seriously...there was SOOOOOO much food. 

That is Landry's sweet friend, Luke. Don't you just love him? He is the cutest thing! Whenever I pick up Landry, if Luke is there, he comes running up to me and gives me a hug, too...sweetest!

And of course...it really isn't a party without a treat. Who can pass up heart-shaped rice krispy treats on a stick?

Even though Landry and I had talked about it over and over again...that I would have to leave his party and go back to work...he still burst into tears, did the grasping, clinging, screaming, "Don't leave, Mommy" thing. 

Awesome. 

Not so much. 

What was awesome was that 30 minutes after I left...and was back at school...I got the sweetest message from his teachers telling me that he was perfectly fine and having tons of fun. 

Told you. 

They're amazing!

It has become a bit of a tradition at our house to do the heart shaped pizza thing for Valentine's dinner. The last two years, trying to find a Me-N-Eds that didn't have a 4 hour wait has been a bit trying. Seriously, why doesn't every pizza place in town do heart shaped pizzas? C'mon people...get with it. Anyway, last year I discovered that Papa Murphy's...the take-n-bake place...does them as well. Then a friend of mine told me about this...

Yup...it is a little pizza making kit for kids. Adorable? Perfect? Yes and yes! Did it inspire a future possible birthday party idea? Yes, again! :)

So, that sealed the deal. Chad and I had our own heart shaped pizza and Landry got to make his own...which he loved!

 First step: putting on the sauce

Next up...cheese

Then...pepperoni

Finally, it was all ready to go in the oven!

Look at those yummy pizzas!

To top off our "fine dining" experience...Love Floats! 

A.K.A. cherry 7-up, vanilla ice cream, and a Red Vine for a straw. :)

What was the verdict on the Love Floats? I think this face tells it all!!!

No, we didn't do anything romantic. No candle-lit dinner. No steak or lobster. Just the three of us, some take-n-bake pizza, and Love Floats...perfect!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last Thursday was my birthday...and I have to say...it was one of the best! I'm not going to lie...I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with my birthday. I love birthdays and all that come with them...a day...that is supposed to be about you...right? Well, mine is the day before Valentine's Day...which means that a lot of the time the two get lumped into one. Not cool. Not cool at all. :)

This year was different. This year was full of sweet, little surprises...it is all about the little things. :) So, I decided to make a "Top 6" list. 

I know...six is kind of a random number...but it is my birthday, my post, and my list. Ha! :)

So...here are the Top 6 Ways you know that your birthday rocked:

6. Two are Better than One

...and when it comes to Starbucks Coffee...nothing gets better than having TWO coffees...except when they are two SURPRISE coffees! Don't you agree...surprise coffee is the best. Hands down!

5. Special Serenade

My day was already starting off great...with TWO SURPRISE coffees...but the surprises didn't stop there. As I walked out to the blacktop, to pick up my class, I was greeted with the most beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday" from this cutie:

Sweet Payton was singing her little heart out...and I LOVED it. Really...what's not to love about Payton? I have known her since when she was about Landry's age and I had her older brother in class. 

Love this girl...and her family is pretty cool, too! :)

4. Who Do You Love? 

Since it was getting close to Valentine's Day, I asked my class to think about one person that they loved. They needed to give reasons why they loved this person and so on. I tried to guide them to write about their mom, dad, a sibling, grandparent, etc. Some of them made me chuckle...but this one, well, it literally brought tears to my eyes:

Here is what it says:

"There are many things I love about Mrs. Lofgren. First, she's very nice so she helps me. I love that she loves me. Next, she likes to take care of the class. We have fun in the classroom when we're doing math. Also she loves the class and me. She doesn't give us a lot of homework either. Finally, she is really funny. Mrs. Lofgren has a lot of words of how I love her!"

Seriously. Tears. I am so glad that this little one knows exactly how I feel about our class, her, and my job. It's also pretty cool that she thinks I'm funny! :)

3. Balloons 

I don't care how old you are...balloons on your birthday are amazing! I am so lucky to have a sweet friend that tried her hardest to surprise me with balloons...and she did. Chad, Landry, and I went out to dinner at Tahoe Joe's...one of my favs...yes, I like it better than Yo' Ranch...you can call me crazy...back to the point...when we got home Chad told me to check the porch. There I found these:

Big thanks to Erin for her super thoughtful surprise...and her determination...after driving all around town...to surprise me! Thank you, thank you, thank you...and I love you! :)

2. Did someone say PEDICURE? 

Imagine my surprise when one of my oldest and dearest friends, Sheri, called me and treated me to a surprise pedicure and coffee date.

Woohoo! It was so nice to sit, relax, have my feet pampered, and enjoy another Starbucks...we did this on Valentine's Day...I don't think I could handle THREE Starbucks in a single day. :) 

I think this will definitely be a birthday tradition for her and I.

You might be wondering...what could be better than all of that? Well...it is not necessarily better than all of that...but it certainly was a surprise. It says a lot when your hubby is willing to get you a date with another man. Ok...maybe DATE is a strong word...but we WILL be in the same arena. :)

1. Look who's going to see...

Tim...just so you know...I will be in section 106, row N, seat 10. 

I mean, just in case you wanna come see me. I give an awesome hug! :)

Seriously it was an awesome day and I felt loved all day long! There was so much more to the day than these six things and I want to thank everyone for making me feel so special and loved...it looks like 33 is going to be awesome. :)

Super Bowl 2014

Last Sunday we had all of our friends over for the big game!

Some people have some chips, dip, pizza, buffalo wings...not me. I like to go all out for Super Bowl! 

Here is the invite that I created...

Yes, I was pretty proud of it...and the fact that I made it all by myself. :)

It's not a party without decorations...

Believe it or not, I already had most of the materials that I used to make my decorations. I always keep any of my decor items so that I can possibly reuse them...this party had a lot of recycled items.

I made the tissue poms, the green and yellow circles were left over from Landry's 2nd birthday party.

Mason jars and burlap runner were from my sister's bridal shower. I made the pennants with paper I already had. The footballs are upside down bowls that were purchased in a 2-pack at The Dollar Tree.

My "big splurge"...besides food...was the astro turf. Lowes sells it by the foot...for a little less than $5 per foot. The guy was pretty confused when I asked for 2 one foot strips. So much so that he reminded me that one foot was only 12 inches. :) He finally just asked what I was using two 1'x12' strips of turf for. He was a bit surprised when I told him it was for my Super Bowl Party decor. :)

Here is the kitchen and all of the yummies! I also made the goal posts...thanks to Pinterest for the idea. I was told that they will "need" to make appearances at next year's Fresno State tailgates. :)

I covered the counter with brown packing paper, that I already had, then the turf, food, goal posts...success!

You might remember that last year I did a hot dog bar. I love the idea of a food bar. This year, it was a chili bar! We had traditional chili and Brian's super delicious white bean/turkey chili. Seriously. It is amazing!

We had a TON of other snacks/treats to eat.

For some reason I didn't get pictures of the rest of the food. There were some "oldie but goodies" such as "Vince Lombardy Veggies," "First Down Fruit Salad," "Gridiron Guacamole," "Sack the Quarterback Salsa," "Blindside Brownie Bites," and "Chain Gang Chili Dip." We also enjoyed Sheri's famous "Pass, Punt, Kick Pasta Salad" and "Kick-off Cakes" - cupcakes.

Of course, it isn't really a Super Bowl Party until you have the betting squares.

This year I laminated our chart so that we can use it again and again. :)

Oh...and the team logos are completely removable.

Last year everyone learned...if you are a winner...you get your picture taken...just like at Table Mountain. :)

First quarter winner...

 Second quarter winner...

Do you see a trend?

Third quarter winner...

Yep, it was Ryan...AGAIN!!!!!!!!! He had to leave early to go to work so he wasn't present for his picture.

The big winner for the fourth quarter......

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The game wasn't the best game ever...I even think Seahawk's fans would agree...but we still had a good time. It was a bit crazy in our house with a million children running around crazy...bit is an understatement. 

Here are two cuties that always have fun together. 

No matter how long it has been since they have seen each other...they pick up right where they left off. 

They really do love each other! 

Sweet Amy and Landry...this photo will be in their wedding slideshow!

#futurespouses