{Weekend Recap} Fourth of July 2015

As I sit down to write our weekend recaps each week, I've come to a realization that I can never get these babies posted on a Monday. I guess that's what happens when you just have too much fun. Sometimes you just need a day to recover (; But since I spent yesterday by the pool relaxing & recovering with my friend Jennifer, I've finally got this weekend recap lined up for you ladies. So let's get to it.
On Friday, Harper and I met up with my co-worker, Taylor, and her daughter, Hutson, for a lunch date. We grabbed hot dogs and ice cream at a local dairy bar. While Taylor and I caught up, Harper and Hutson ran around the place like little crazy people. Thank goodness they're cute (; And I swear they are destined to be best friends!

Friday night, Kevin had to work another twelve hour shift, so Harper and I met up with my brother-in-law, his girlfriend, and one of Kevin and Brian's mutual friends for some dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. By the time we left it was nearly 9pm. So we headed home, did the usual nighttime bedtime routine, and called it a night by 11pm. But not before I colored a bazillion pictures for Harper. Which brings me to a question. Are we ever too old to stop coloring? I think not my friends, I think not. 

Saturday, Harper and I got up bright and early and made our way to my family's place at the lake. We spent the day there and enjoyed a delicious cookout with all of my siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Thankfully Kevin even got to come up for a few hours before having to return home and head into work again. Such is life. We ended our evening with another cookout via poolside at Kevin's aunt and uncle's house. 
Saturday night I didn't sleep very well. Around 1 o'clock in the morning my phone rang and Kevin's face popped up on the screen. Immediately I knew something was wrong as Kevin would never call me in the middle of the night when he knew I was sleeping. Sure enough, he dropped a bombshell. One of his friends and teammates had been killed in a motorcycle accident just a few hours before. To top it off, it happened right behind my parents' house and right in front of one of my friends' houses. After getting off the phone with Kevin, I couldn't get back to sleep. My heart was heavy and burdened. Two precious babies lost a father. Another lost a stepdad. And another lost the love of her life. So much sadness caused by a life taken so early. 
Needless to say, the rest of my night was spent tossing and turning. By 9am, my head was splitting open in pain and since Harper was still sleeping soundly, I decided to lay back down and try to catch up on some more sleep. Thankfully I managed an extra hour of sleep before Harper woke up. But since it was after 10, we decided to forgo going to church and decided to head on back to the lake to meet my parents instead. 
We ended up spending most of the day at the lake on Sunday. Mom grilled up some hot dogs and we all hung out on the porch and enjoyed the somewhat cooler temperatures. Sometime around 2, the bottom fell out so we sought refuge inside.

 I'd have killed for a nap but instead I settled for a movie and homemade ice cream with the family and my friend, Brittni, who joined us for the day. We ended up watching Black or White, which I'd definitely recommend if you haven't seen it yet. 

Hope your families had a great 4th of July! 

{Weekend Recap} Father's Day Weekend

Happy Tuesday, ladies! This weekend flew by but so do most weekends when you're having fun! 
Friday Kevin had to work so after taking Harper to daycare, I ventured back to Greensboro to do a little shopping by myself. I left with the intention of picking up things for a Father's Day cookout but somewhere along the thirty minute drive, I decided I'd spend the afternoon shopping for other things as well. While out and about, I swung by a few home stores in search of the final items I needed for our patio makeover. Lucky for me, I was able to wrap up all the final items I needed thanks to a visit to the Home Store, Pier One, Target, and Hobby Lobby. With the exception of our fire table, the patio is complete. I'll have a full reveal later this week (: If you didn't catch the sneak peek on my instagram account, here you go.

Saturday morning all of the members here in the Holt household slept in and it was glorious! After whipping up some bacon, eggs, and toast, we headed to the pool where we spent most of the morning. 

Around 1, we called it a day and headed back to the house for a quick lunch and naps. Usually when Harper naps, Kevin and I take the opportunity to use that time to accomplish things around the house but not this day. I'm not sure if it was the sun or the water, but we were both drained and so as soon as Harper took a nap, so did we! Might I add, we didn't get up until about four hours later... 
Our Saturday evening was spent celebrating our niece's fifth birthday. Kevin's cousin (who his parents practically raised, hence how it's our niece) and his wife hosted Samantha's party at their home. Of course, like most little girls parties these days, it was Frozen themed! 

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the birthday girl so I tossed in a photo of Harper and Samantha from a few weekends ago (; 

Saturday night after everyone was in bed, I stayed up wrapping Father's Day presents. I was so excited about this year's presents that I felt like a kid at Christmas waiting for morning to arrive. 

Needless to say, when the alarm went off, I was rushing Kevin downstairs so Harper could give him his present. This year I purchased Kevin a few new workout clothes (which he discovered a few weeks ago hiding in the back of my car) and a new fitbit so he could compete with the rest of our friends and family. Thankfully, he loved his gift. Now as to what to get him for his upcoming birthday. Any ideas ladies?

After opening gifts, we got ready and headed to church. It was the first time in forever we've attended church as a family and it felt wonderful to have Kevin by my side. Following church, we grabbed lunch at a local Mexican restaurant with my sister and her family. Typically we do lunch at the parents' but due to some Father's Day festivities going on, my mom didn't have time to cook.  After lunch, Kevin and Harper headed to the pool while I cleaned up the house in preparation for a Father's Day cookout. Around 6:30, our parents, siblings, and Kevin's grandparents joined us for a barbecue dinner honoring four of the greatest men I've ever known. 

When dinner was over, the guys opened up their Father's Day presents. Harper gave my dad and Kevin's dad, this book which happens to be on super sale right now. It's super cute and if you haven't read it, you need to. They make it for both grandpas and grandmas. It was the perfect gift for those dads who have everything (;

Hope your weekends were just as exciting!

{Weekend Recap} Mother's Day

Happy Tuesday, girls! I hope all of you ladies are recovering from a pampered filled weekend. I know I sure am. My little family did all they could to make my day special.

On Friday afternoon, I was out the door from work as soon as my third grade kiddos all made it safely home. After hanging with Kevin for a few minutes at the house, Harper and I headed to Greensboro to the Children's Museum for a birthday party for my coworkers' son. We spent the majority of the evening at the party and finally called it a night close to 8 o'clock so that I could swing by Marshalls and Homegoods before heading back home. Nothing like a little late night shopping (;

Since Kevin worked all night on Friday, Harper and I decided to ride out Saturday morning so Kevin could catch up on some much needed sleep. Because let's face it, no sleeping in is going to happen with a toddler running all around the house wanting to know where Daddy is. ha Since my coworker's husband was also recovering from a long night, we decided to do a little shopping together and take the girls with us. Watching Harper and Hutson interact always makes me smile. It makes me oh so excited to think that one day we may have another little girl for Harper to be best friends with. & that thought just makes me super giddy (; After spending most of the day at the outlets, we grabbed lunch at a hamburger joint then called it a day. But not before making a pit stop at Target. No shopping day is ever complete without a Target run. Whose with me girls?!

Sunday morning Kevin surprised me with breakfast from my favorite local diner. Along with my delicious (and unhealthy) breakfast, Kevin also got me a Fitbit and some colorful bands to go with it for Mother's Day. Though I'll be honest and say that I got that present a little earlier this week (; A girl just can't wait for such exciting goodies!

After breakfast, we headed to church and followed it with lunch at my Mom and Dad's. Then we headed to Kevin's grandparents house for a Mother's Day cookout. We spent all evening hanging out with family and friends, laughed until we cried, and chased all the kiddos around in the yard. We didn't make our way home until after 9pm.

Hope you ladies all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. God knows you deserve it! (: 

{Weekend Recap} Easter 2015

Happy Monday, girls! Like most of you ladies, our weekend was filled with Easter festivities. This year Harper was all into the holiday and watching her soak up every minute of it made this mama's heart swell larger than I thought possible. When parents say having kids make the holidays more fun, they aren't lying.

Having returned home from our vacation late Friday night, Harper and I planned to sleep in Saturday morning. However, at 8am, my doorbell was ringing and my parents were standing there baring breakfast. On most occasions, I wouldn't be too much of a happy camper with that abrupt wake up call but the smell of some fresh baked biscuits sure did sooth my temperament (;

After breakfast was devoured and the kitchen cleaned up, my parents headed out to run their errands. Leaving Harper and I time to get dressed and ready to take the hubby some lunch at work. We were a bit late getting there so we just made a quick stop at McDonald's for some cheeseburgers and fries. Which was a-okay with this mama. I can never pass up an order of McDonald's french fries!

Saturday afternoon, Harper and I headed over to my church for their annual Easter egg hunt. I wasn't sure how Harper would do since Harper hadn't really had the opportunity to hunt for eggs. As you might remember, we took her Easter egg hunting last weekend but all the bigger kids snatched them up before she ever had a chance. Yet, Harper surprised me. As soon as she spotted the eggs, she went straight for them and tossed them in her little monogrammed basket. Watching her run around like a crazy person with a huge grin on her face filled my heart with joy.

Kevin had to work again on Sunday so Harper and I began our morning by joining him for breakfast at work. When breakfast was over, we rushed home to change into our new Easter dresses then headed to church for the early service. While at church I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of this cutie out by one of our blossoming trees.

Sunday afternoon was filled with the usual Sunday lunch at my parents' house. Harper was ecstatic to see that the Easter bunny had left her a few goodies at Nana and Papa's house. The only problem was she was so excited about her new goodies that she refused to sit down and eat lunch so our usual relaxed lunch was filled with a screaming toddler in the middle of a temper tantrum. Definitely not the highlight of our weekend.

Since Kevin had to work on Sunday, I kept Harper's Easter goodies hidden until he arrived home so he could witness her reaction to her "presents". And thank goodness that I did because she was so excited. And can I just add that yet again, the first thing she headed to was her new shoes (; A girl after her mama's own heart!

After the goodies were opened and put together, we headed over to my in-laws for an Easter Egg hunt and dinner. After hearing how much Harper loved hunting Easter eggs my mother in law ran out to the store and bought some just so Harper could enjoy her own private little hunt at their house. How spoiled our child is (; By the time Harper finished it was cold and getting dark, so we all headed in to devour some of my mother-in-law's delicious lasagna!

When supper was over, the guys headed out to see the seventh Fast and Furious movie while I headed home with my brother-in-law's girlfriend to start making some diy pillow covers for our living room. Here's a little sneak peek of how they're turning out. Don't you just love them?!

Hope your weeks go wonderfully!