Cheers to the Weekend, Celebrations Edition

It would have been hard for us to pack one more event or activity into the last week. This will undoubtedly prove to be the busiest week of the entire year for me - it was BANANAS, which will continue through the weekend. But it has also come to a close, and I'm still standing; so, I call that a win - ha! The rest of the year should be a breeze from here on out. :) A few things we're saying CHEERS to over the last week/end as we continue to crawl towards that May Madness finish line. Getting so close!!!

Bella's birthday - Oh, our sweet girl is now a BIG fan of birthdays, I can tell you that. She woke up to balloons on her door and loved being serenaded first thing in the morning. We quickly got her dressed and showed her her big gift from us (a new bike!) before she was whisked off to breakfast with her daddy. 

When they returned, I took her and Harrison to one of her favorite play places - Barre3. Seriously! I'm not lying when I say that she starts laughing and smiling every time we walk in, as was the case on her bday. :) She got to play, and I got in a good workout. We grabbed a cake pop at Starbucks on our way out and then came home so she could open more gifts, eat lunch, and take a quick nap before our afternoon fun began!

I took Bella and Harrison to the pool for a couple hours and let me tell you, Bels loooooooves the pool! Loves it!!! Then, when the big two got home from school and attended their second swim team practice, we picked up dinner and then headed home to enjoy it as a family. What was it? Why, Chinese food of course! We then headed out for Banks' playoff game and then came home for the big finale: Bella's smash cake! All three of my big kids had a smash cake when they turned one, and since this was Bella's first birthday as a Luton, she was due hers! I made it rainbow-y and sparkly to match her birthday party theme this weekend. :) Our 3-year-old had such a great day and we had such a blast celebrating our birthday girl! 

Clay's birthday. My hub's birthday was the following day, so we got some sleep and were ready to celebrate the hero of our family, our daddy, the next morning! His big gift was a deep sea fishing trip he had taken the weekend before with two of my brothers and three of his good buddies, and they had a BLAST! My hub, being the amazing man that he is, used his birthday to do everything he could to help me during this crazy busy week. I asked over and over to let me do it all so that he could relax but he insisted - making breakfast and dinner, cleaning the kitchen, having lunch with Banks, etc. He is one in a million, and we were honored to celebrate him. Happy Birthday, hub. We love you so, so much!!

Grown-up Celebrations. In addition to our two big birthdays this week, I had so much fun at three other celebrations last weekend. The first was the annual Kentucky Derby Party one of my awesome girlfriends and her husband throw each year. Because my hub was out of town, I attended solo but picked up a couple girlfriends on the way whose hubbies were on the trip with mine. And the party, as always, was a blast! I even bet on the winning horse and brought home a little moolah. Hooray! 

The next day, three of my girlfriends and I threw a surprise Baby Sprinkle to celebrate our dear friend's impending arrival of sweet baby #4. We hosted it at this awesome new coffee shop/bakery/bar and had such a nice afternoon with the lovely guests. :) 

I then went straight home, changed, and was ready when one of my sisters picked me up for a Mom's Night Out. We met one of my sisters "in law" and her friend in Charlotte, grabbed dinner and drinks, and then laughed for hours while seeing the "I Mom So Hard" show. Do y'all follow them on Facebook? They are SO funny. I have been busting out laughing at random points throughout the week when I will suddenly remember one of the jokes they made or stories they told. So, SO funny!

Sports galore. Banks and Rals started swim team this week. They practice four afternoons a week (which will switch to four mornings a week when school gets out), and they are both LOVING it so far!!! I cannot wait to watch them in their meets this summer. And I am loving the adult social hour I get with the other swim team parents during practices. So fun!

Also, Banks had his last baseball game of the regular season on Monday night and had a playoff game Tuesday night. Unfortunately, our Aggies lost, but luckily for my sports-loving kiddo, baseball will continue on for much of the summer due to All-Star season! 

Second grade celebrations. Just as Raleigh did last week, Banks had his STEAM performance this week (yesterday, to be exact). It was such a sweet show by the second graders, and I simply cannot believe they'll be third graders in just under two weeks. Didn't they just start kindergarten? I am excited to join him again today for his "Poetry and Picnic" event at school. <3

Muffins for Mom. Mother's Day would not be complete without a Muffins for Mom at the preschool. I attended this special breakfast with Harrison (with my littlest sidekick in tow, of course!) on Wednesday morning and loved my time with my sweet baby boy. <3

Whew. Is that enough yet? Well, the fun continues this weekend, as we have tons of family in town - all grandparents and nearly every aunt/uncle/cousin on both "sides" of the family - for Bella's birthday bash. We are excited to celebrate with our family and friends who have been so supportive of our girl from Day 1. My hub and I also have a fun event to attend Saturday night, and then of course, Mother's Day is on Sunday. After that, we'll dive back into our last full week of the school year - yeehaw! Have a great weekend, friends! I hope you can find some rest somewhere along the way. :)