The Weekend Lens

Friday: a trip to the park, Piper's new friend Mr. Duck, a ride of the carousel, we made a rice box for indoor play when it's too cold for our beloved sandbox, two mile run, a fun delivery from amazon, and DATE NIGHT! Saturday: grocery shopping, chores, laundry, cooking for the week, I caught Pip reading, chicken caesar pitas for dinner, a short run, bathtub painting  

Sunday: an early morning wake-up call,  lesson planning, modern family on DVD, noshing lunch and dinner, old school DVD workout, Pip loving on baby Emma, laundry, laundry, laundry, her new fashion statement.

The Weekend Lens

 Friday: Pip is a big fan of undressing and dressing herself. She picked put the cupcake shirt and Christmas tights on her own. I am not sure what to make of her fashion choices, but I love that she rocks them proudly. 

Reindeer Fleece. Someone is gearing up for cold weather.  

 Mimi sent a package. 

Tammy the Turkey!

 This is Pip taking pictures. She holds an item up to her eyes and makes clicking sounds. 

 Chipotle lunch date. Steak bowl, rice, black beans, and guac. 

 Costco big shop. Apples, soup, Brussels sprouts and crablegs. 

She loves my sunglasses. 

And while we are at it, she is loving my shoes too. I find my flats scattered all over the house. 

 Jumping on our bed this morning. 

 Dorothy Shoes!

All we are missing is Toto.

Thankful 30: Day 3

Thankful for weekend mornings with no agenda and long lazy brunches with fresh coffee and homemade biscuits.  This weekend we have no plans. There is no place we HAVE to be, no one we HAVE to see, no schedule, no demands. I am still in pajamas at 9:30. Octonauts is currently entertaining Pip, and Simon and Sophie are snoozing on the couch. It's not often we have a days like this and that is all the more reason to savor today.  

Sunday:

Today the Republican Household was uber productive.

Well two members of our household were productive... the other two members did this.

We put the final coat of paint on Pippa's two walls.

(8:00 AM)

(We painted and primed the other two last weekend).

I made cinnamon rolls

(9:30 AM)

We went exploring at the Town Center: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Anthro, Banana for Mr. R., Target, and Loft.

(10:00 AM)

We stopped for a pretzel snack.

(12:00 PM)

We headed to COSTCO and our fridge is full!

(1:00 PM)

We had lunch at Chiptole. I LOVE the steak bowl. In fact this pregnancy has made me CRAVE it. This baby has made me a beef eater! My iron count has never been higher.

(2:00 PM)

We painted more of Pippa's room. I am in love with her walls. And I think it will come together beautifully. I am not ready to share pictures just yet. But the image below is my inspiration.

(3:00PM)

It was time to add the pink paint so we headed to Home Depot

(5:00 PM)

Two trial containers later we hung up our brushes and painting clothes for the night.

(7:00 PM)

I made this salad for dinner. I added rotisserie chicken meat, blackberries, and craisins. It was AMAZING and I am adding it to the monthly meal rotation.

(7:30 PM)

I love long weekends so much! It's like I get a second Saturday. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little less productive :)

Weekend Wrap-Up: Feb 11-13

I have no idea how it is Sunday night already!

I feel like I was just on the "yay, it's Friday!" high... and yet as I write this I am sitting amongst menu planning materials and papers to grade. That means it is definitely Sunday night up in here.

Friday: The first meeting of the YaYa Bunco Club! To take a line from Danielle, there is something to be sad for spending a night amongst amazing women, great food, and silly hats. And I have to congratulate Betsy who beat the pants off of ALL OF US! She was a three round Bunco Winner!

And Mr. R and I also ran two miles.

Saturday:

• Mr. R and I did an easy one miler.
• I cleaned out the pantry, goodbye carpet cleaner and goodbye inversion table.
• Mr. R got rid of our old sad grill. But... in happy news it found a new home :)
• Mr. R got a hair cut and I got Starbucks. This makes sense because the hair salon is down a few stores from Starbucks. So while he had his "ears lowered" I drank my skinny macchiato and read Glamour in peace. (win-win)
• We also had a date night complete with lava cake and Barnes Browsing. I totally want this book for Piper. Who doesn't want to be a princess?

Sunday:

• Mr. R asked me for pancakes this morning. We had none. He knew we had no pancakes, no pancake mix, and no milk to make them from scratch. So.... we headed to Cracker Barrel.
• We also made a Home Depot stop for primer and paint brushes.
• A super secret project is coming up and I would love to say more... but then it just wouldn't be a secret.

Superbowl, Super Brunch!

It's Superbowl Sunday! And I am ecstatic! Not because we are Steelers or Packers fans, but because tonight signals the END of football season and finally being able to watch actual TV on Sunday.

Mr. R and I are attending a superbowl party tonight. I am super stocked to get invited out so I can talk with the girls (who don't care which team wins), laugh at the ridiculous commercials (I hear Geico is supposed to be awesome!), and eat wings (and things that end in -ito).

I knew we would be eating lots of junk food tonight so I tried to make brunch as healthy and filling as possible.

Meganerd posted her love for bagel sandwiches earlier this week. And today seemed like the perfect day to recreate her breakfast fave. Ours contained 2 eggs, 1 cup of spinach, 1 sliced Roma tomato, 1/4 red onion diced, sliced ham and an everything bagel.

I also had iced coffee with mocha creamer. I think this creamer deserves it own post! It is THAT GOOD.

Steppin' Out Saturday: Gala Style

Mr. R asked if I was up for a chocolate date.

A date centered around eating chocolate? Umm... YES!

And then he said I needed to dress up because it was called a chocolate GALA! Put the words chocolate and gala together, and you my friend have a winning combo that NO GIRL will ever turn down.

I got dolled up in my favorite polka dot tank and cardi combo and Mr. R donned a tie.

I also included the pre-chocolate belly shot at 26 weeks. I was convinced that the stretch panel in my maternity pants would result in excess chocolate eating and a much larger 27 week belly. So this picture is for comparison sake.

The spoils of the evening include cupcakes, fudge, chocolate covered strawberries, cannoli, and truffles.

Click the smilebox below for more pictures and details.

This event was a sugar lovers dream and must do for next year.

Ecard created with Smilebox

I made waffles (on Sunday).

From scratch.

Using this recipe.

And we ALL loved them.

Yes, I am including the pups in the ALL statement. (They love waffle scraps).

We have a well loved (and seriously old) waffle maker. But he is still going strong and rocking brunch on Sundays.

Mr. R was also pleased to see bacon is back in our fridge. (I may have actually bought 4 pounds of it at Costco! Thank goodness it freezes well).

I love waffles, but much prefer them for dinner rather than breakfast.

Stay tuned for more waffles recipes later this month.

Chocolate waffles with strawberries

Oatmeal cookie waffles

Cinnamon Bacon Waffles

The nursery part 2:

We have a chair!

Yesterday I went shopping with Danielle and Betsy, the goal being to get Betsy a fridge for her new casa. She closes Thursday, so say a prayer that all goes well.

We didn't find the perfect stainless steel fridge, but I did find a chair for Pip's nursery!

It is super soft, so comfy, and it reclines!

It's also a little kooky with the Ikat print so it will blend into Casa Repub just fine.

We moved the chair into Pip's room today and I can't stop sitting in it. I hope she will love it just as much as I do.

Thanks Danielle for taking the photo!

Also check out my baby belly in the photo below.

You can totally see my bump!

This week is week 25!

Sweetheart Sunday!

Nothing makes my heart sing more than Sunday.

It's 11AM and I am still in pajamas.

I have a brunch date with Mr. R in an hour.

Target is calling my name.

The stenciling will be completed today.

My curtains from World Market came in.

I just L-O-V-E Sunday!

sweet, sweet Saturday...

Today was one of those rare perfect days where I actually accomplished a ton of things and still felt totally relaxed and calm doing it.

It all started with a pair of jeans. I discovered I can fit into my 7 jeans, these jeans are pre-marriage, pre-Florida, and pre-preganancy. They are bit snug, but I wore them anyway and they felt wonderful!

Then a trip to Pottery Barn to see what they had to offer in the Christmas decoration department. I love PB for ideas, but the price tags give me agida. I left empty handed, but with a few ideas on how to display our stockings, Christmas cards, and how to make a fancy new wreath for our front door.

We came home and set up the Christmas tree. I LOVE our tree! The tree contains Mr. R and my histories from birth to now. Each year our parents gave us an ornament to commemorate what happened that year. Ex) Jeff's 1995 Dallas cowboys ornament (when they won the Superbowl) or my Swimming bear from 1996 (when I made the varsity team). We also have one that looks like our wedding cake, one for our engagement, a key for the year we bought our house, and a patriotic Snoopy for the year Mr. R got his job on Capitol Hill. I love that each ornament tells a story and holds a memory.

And this is our advent tree.

25 days of Christmas and 25 activities!

We also listened to Johnny Mathis on Pandora as we decorated the house and unpacked our Christmas boxes. Mr. R feels its not Christmas without a Johnny Mathis holiday a-track tape. Thank goodness for Pandora and itunes because we definitely at lacking an a-track player.

Dinner tonight called for comfort food and a holiday movie. I settled on Mac and Cheese and Elf.

I love Christmas! I love Elf! I love carbs!

I don't think these jeans are going to fit tomorrow... oh well.

I'm thankful for...

lazy Sundays with homemade breakfast

easy errands

time to catch up on chores and laundry

and a whole day dedicated to thanksgiving on the Food Network!

Thankful for...Sundays

Sundays are my day to relax and prepare for the week.

There is grocery shopping, dinner planning, church...

And our newest tradition, pancakes for Sunday brunch.

Weekly Menu:

1. Hawaiian Slow Cooker Pork sandwiches

2. Roast chicken, baked beans, and potato salad

3. Blue cheese sliders with bacon & avocado

4. Breakfast for dinner: Mr. R's take on the panera breakfast sandwich