just another monday

today was a beautiful day. i really love this early spring. although i'm not looking forward to july. but let's just focus on the positive.

anyway. hiba, matthias, and i took a little drive to russelville to meet up with my mom and my grandma at a park there. the kids played, we had lunch, and took a little walk. we ended up on a bridge over a little creek and taught hiba and matthias how to play "pooh sticks". oh my. sooo much fun.

what a big boy!

hiba being tall. even taller than grammy!

the see-saw! 

hiba and GG 

hiba, GG, grammy, and matthias

hiba picking out a stick for "pooh sticks"

so whiny and so cute. and he knows it. 

trekking to the bridge

drop the sticks in..... 

and fast, fast, fast, look on the other side!

the final stick 

teamwork!

on our way home, we stopped at wal-mart for a way overdue shopping trip. it was actually semi-enjoyable. we got a good parking spot, a big cart, the kids were in good moods, short line - it ended with no tears from anyone, which is sort of rare when i have to grocery shop with both of them.

when we got home, the weather was still gorgeous, so the kids played outside for the rest of the afternoon. matthias did want to come in at one point, as he was covered in sand and water, but he just hung out and looked at books and then went back out to play some basketball.

he shoots....he scores!!

hiba's castle

this is where she likes to sleep outside

so blessed.

well, hello again. a lot has been happening around the pollack house. but more of that another day. today i want to brag on my in-laws. because they are awesome.

i know a lot of people don't get along great with their in-laws. and, i'm not gonna lie, there are times when the differences between me and my in-laws cause a little stress. but, overall, i am waaaaay blessed to have a monther-in-law that i like, that i like being around, and who loves me and my kids. i am so blessed to have a sister-in-law who likes hanging out with my kids and does it a lot. i am so blessed to have a second family that really is a family to me.

yesterday, i woke up with strep throat. i knew it was strep because i have the privilege of getting it about once a year. fun times. swollen glans, can't swallow, fever...awesome. and to make the day better, jason had rugby practice in the evening, and instead of being 70 degrees and sunny like it had been for the last week, it was cold and rainy. not the kind of day you want to be sick with two kids at home.

hiba was very sweet in the morning. she was so cooperative and even tried to get matthias to be good, although he wasn't really catching on to the mommy-is-sick-so-let's-be-super-good thing. so i texted lizzie (my sister-in-law) and kathy (jason's mom) to see if they would be interested in hanging out with my kids for a while. i was thinking a few hours so i could go to the doctor without them and maybe get a few hours of sleep alone, and they would get a few hours of human interaction instead of watching 17 hours of diego. because i am soooo not above them watching tv all day when i'm sick. don't judge me.

so, i got a text back from lizzie saying she would be there in about 30 minutes to get them. she came and picked them up, kept them all day, the kids ended up spending the night, and brought them back this afternoon.

so i got to sleep on the couch all day, go to the doctor without my two darling children, sleep some more, sleep until 10 this morning, get up, take a shower in peace, go get some food by myself, and come home and relax for a little bit before they got home. so even though yesterday was pretty awful for me (i HATE being sick. i'm a huge baby.), it was way better than it could have been. my kids got to hang out with their aunt, uncle, and grandparents, go to the library, eat real meals (because i'm also not above feeding my kids cookies or whatever they can reach for every meal when i am sick. don't judge me), and actually get attention. they even got to go to teen mops (because lizzie helps in the childcare) which is pretty much what hiba's week revolves around. she was pretty thrilled when she figured out she would not have to miss it. they were happy to be home and were so sweet to me today, making sure i'm feeling better and asking if i needed anything.

so today i'm definitely feeling better and although i know it due partly to the wonderful antibiotics i'm on, part of it is because i got to rest and let myself recover. so thanks, in-laws, for loving me and my kids and helping out. you all rock. 

zuzu, the ladies man

so last weekend when we were up at my parents, we went to a basketball game at JBU. we've taken the kids to a few others, and matthias was generally interested in the game in the past. not this time. he was most interested in running around, throwing himself on the ground when we told him not to run around, eating pizza, watching the "real golden eagle", and the halftime show.

for halftime, they had a gymnastic group perform. the girls had these cute little sparkly red uniforms and did tricks. matthias was mesmerized. he sat on jason's lap, completely still, the entire time. mesmerized.

fast forward to today. we were driving to kroger and passed a basketball court with some kids playing. matthias informed me, emphatically from the backseat, "i HATE basketball". (which sounded more like "i  HAY baffeball"). i said, "what?". he repeated, "i HATE basketball!". i said, "why?". and he responded, "i HATE basketball. i just want to watch the girls. at the JBU. i like the girls".

and he's only two. lord, help us. 

because some pictures just need to be shared

a little update from the camera roll on my phone. (you know, since taking more pictures of the kids is the reason i NEEDED and iphone).

they are always so proud of their slippers. 

big girl booster seat!

and a big boy car seat!

his first picture - it's a ball. which, amazingly, is what it actually looks like.

breakfast snuggles with daddy

why yes, i do think she'll be a fashion designer one day...don't you?

love.

headbands are awesome. fact.

muscles!

guess who won this fight?

eating happily - no whining!

drum!

um......

yay for bubble baths!

weekend review part 2: valentine's day/jason's birthday

so, as i said yesterday, we left siloam after sunday school because we had plans for sunday night. a few months ago, jason noticed that martin sexton, who is pretty much his favorite musician ever, was coming to little rock. conveniently, the concert was a week before his birthday and a few days before valentine's day, so it worked out that the date night was our valentine's day night out and the tickets were his birthday present.

we dropped the kids off with jason's mom around 6 and went out to dinner. our first plan was to make dinner at home, but we were running short on time, so we ended up going to the house, which was delicious. and i'm glad we went out. we don't go on many dates anymore. if we do things without the kids, it's usually with friends. which is fun, but different than an actual date. we have some nights at home together, but by the time the kids go to bed, dishes are done, etc etc, it's late, we're tired, and usually just end up watching a tv show and going to bed. lame. so, getting dressed up, going out, spending time with no kids, no time constraints - it was a breath of fresh air.

after dinner, we picked up our friends, shannon and steven, and headed downtown. we had bought tickets online to make sure we would get them - well, not a problem. it was a really small crowd, but that was great from our perspective. we sat front and center and it was a wonderful atmosphere. most of the other people were there also for the music - not just a random show.

yay for date nights! 

the show was amazing. chris trapper opened, who we had never heard. he was really good. funny, good singer, good performer, good songs.

and then came martin. ya'll, if you have not ever heard of him, listen to his music. right now. do it. he is amazing. his voice is incredible. so much variety, so much heart and soul, so unique. we've seen him live three times now, and he blows me away each time. he never sings a song the same way twice. we were literally five feet away from him. "great" does not even begin to describe it.

he makes a lot of awesome faces

jason, stephen, and shannon enjoying the show

chris trapper joined him on one song - they made a pretty good duo

monday morning, we got to sleep in since the kids were gone, which was another breath of fresh air. if that had been the end of the weekend, it would have been wonderful - but we got an added bonus of a snow day! (well, for me. jason still had to work, but he closed, so we had the morning at home).

such a fun weekend. rest, family, date night, friends, food, music, sleep - pretty much everything i could have asked for.