"Guttermom"

We have really tried to make a point of getting out of the house and doing more as a family.  It's hard because we know that every time we leave the house we're going to end up spending money.  On the flip side, the reason Kevin works so hard is so that we can get out of the house and enjoy life.  He's been able to take these past couple of weeks off and we've had a blast. 

 

This past week we went to the bowling alley.  I am the world's most terrible bowler.  There was a time, waaaaay back when, when I could throw a couple turkeys up on the board.  Those days are long gone.  My ball sees a whole lot of gutter and not much more.  See if you can guess who is who:

After two games we took the kids next door to ride rides and to play games in the arcade. 

Needless to say, they had an absolute blast.  We ended up being there for over three hours.  Here's a little video of them on the rides.  The squeals and smiles are priceless.

 

Yesterday was another fantastic day.  The kids were showered in gift cards for Christmas this year.  They both love to shop so we dedicated the day to running from store to store cashing them in.  First stop was Starbucks where we used the gift card from Uncle Jeff.

Talan used some of his Best Buy gift card to buy the movie Paranorman (super cute movie!).  So that night we went home and busted out the sofa bed, blankets, pillows, and about 350 stuffed animals that they insist on having with them and watched the movie all together. 

Moments like those are amongst my favorites.  I feel like we really reconnected as a family over the holidays.  I'm actually sad to see them go back to school.  Getting back into a routine will be so tough.  We've all grown accustom to staying up extra late, sleeping late, and spending the majority of the day in our pajamas.  Getting the kids to bed at a decent time tomorrow could be the death of me.  But I'll cross that bridge when I have to and no sooner.