August 16 = Help Mommy Day

I was working on some stuff for our MOPS retreat Friday night and the kids were right there to help!

Later, Liam asked to color and I told him he could in a little while... I finished what I was doing and went to find him some crayons and found him coloring on the agenda for MOPS that I had written and made so pretty...  I calmly said "Not cool, Liam."  And he said "I sorry momma."  So cute.  Trouble.  But cute.

August 15 = Nutella Day

I got brave and let Malia have total control over her English muffin with Nutella this morning- not my smartest move.

August 13 = 10 Minutes Day

I'm so proud of Liam!  We've had some new rules in our house lately like eating and drinking in the kitchen (no more crumbs on the couch) and we limit iPad time with a timer.  So today he had the iPad and said "ten minutes iPad" and brought me the timer- already set to 10 minutes!

My dad came in today- he left this morning and is leaving tomorrow morning but we'll take whatever time we can get!  Here's Liam "washing Gramps' hair."

 One of our favorite things to do in the Holliday house:

 Malia got her time with Gramps too!

Also I saw this and laughed out loud because this happens to me pretty much all the time.

August 12 = Chickfila Day

I have two things to be super proud of today.  One is that I'm finally caught up.  This is August 12th's blog post and it's August 12th.  Also, I got the kids up and ready and we were on time- actually early- for my 8:00am Yin Yoga class!

2/3rds of us weren't happy about it:

But we made it:

We left straight from the gym for Liam's OT appointment.  Malia is loving looking at books!  She knew who Cookie Monster was in this book:

And I had brought some Paw Patrol books and she knows who all the puppies are!  I have to use context clues to figure them out but I've learned that she does, in fact, know them all.  She's so smart!

Zachary got off kind of early today so I was able to go grocery shopping by myself!  I got steak and baking potatoes for dinner but by the time I got home, it would have been 7pm before we could eat and that wouldn't have worked for the kids so we headed to Chickfila!

Malia was thrilled about it:

Two interesting things happened in the kids play area.  First, a kid pushed Liam off one of the platforms and Zachary went into Daddy mode.  He went in there, told the kid he needed to quit pushing other kids- the Dad's eyes were glued to his iPad so he didn't even see... later he pushed another kid and the pushed kid went and told the iPad Dad and he responded appropriately so Zachary said he got some points back.  Also, as another kid was leaving, he was asking everyone what their names were- Liam usually pronounces his name "Lallum" so we were surprised when the kid left he said "Bye Liam."  So proud of our little Liam for being so social and speaking so well!

After our early start today, Malia didn't quite make it home...

August 11 = Yummy Breakfast Day

Look at this breakfast and tell me it doesn't look delicious:

Malia's a fan.

The girl likes pink:

Thought this was great: 

#truth:

August 10 = Mess Day

First this:

Then look at this sweet girl snuggling with her momma:

And then look at what said sweet girl and her sweet brother did to her room:

Cute story.  While I was cleaning up Malia's room, Liam disappeared downstairs.  I went downstairs to find him and he had found some white paint.  He used his finger to paint this piece from a book.  I was about to get on to him until he looked at me with his beautiful brown eyes and said "I made it."  He was proud of himself.  Here's his masterpiece.

Also, tonight we got this video of Liam trying to decide what he wanted to watch on TV:

August 9 = Meme Day

Oops.  No pictures again today.  But, again, I have this:

August 8 = No Real Pictures Day

Oops.  I didn't take any pictures today.  But I do have this:

And this!  We were there!

August 7 = Back to Maryland Day

Before we left this morning, we got a picture in front of the Love sign and grabbed a donut from Dunkin.

Then we got to come home to these two clowns that we missed so much!

August 6 = COLDPLAY DAY!

Oh my goodness.  Zachary and I drove to Philadelphia this morning- Grandma & Aunt Shari are watching the kids for us.  Zachary got tickets to a Coldplay concert for me for Valentine's Day and I've been eagerly awaiting this day since then.  As soon as we got to the hotel, we passed out.  When we woke up, we immediately started walking toward the stadium and got there really early.  Here's a picture of downtown Philadelphia from the stadium:

 And here's the almost empty stadium that we got to super early:

Selfie Alert:

So when I say we were there early I mean like two hours early.  So here's some stuff I found and liked on Facebook while we were waiting:

If you can't read this it says: You could eat off my floor.  Just add an egg to the crumbs and voila- surprise casserole!

August 5 = Harvest Day II

Look at my tomatoes!

We went to Liam's OT appointment today and Malia decided she didn't want to wear her shoes...

...so she took her shoes and socks off but look how she placed them so neatly!

Then she helped me with my word puzzles... by flipping back to the answer key.

Later in the day, Zachary got home but we didn't have anything to eat for dinner so Liam and I headed to the grocery store.  I decided to buy Zachary some beer so I took Liam in with me.  As we were checking out, Liam started saying he wanted a pretzel.  I assured him we would get pretzels at the grocery store and the guy ringing us up whips out this container with big pretzel rods in it.  Liam's been in this store with Zachary twice before and remembered they had pretzels- what a smart boy!  Then we got some groceries and as we were checking out, one of the grocers asked if Liam would like a lollipop to which he said "Yes, please."  Here he is with his free lollipop!

While we were gone, Zachary sent me these pictures:

And here's Liam being too cool for school:

August 3 = Playdate Day

We met our friends Amy & Evie and Anne, Samuel, Kathleen & Thomas for a playdate at the playground near the CDC.  Liam loves this slide:

Malia pushed the youngest among all the kids on the swing- she was so gentle and sweet!

Zachary wasn't able to work out during the day today so he got some exercise at home:

August 1 = Harvest Day

This is the total harvest:

Zachary and I both hate tomatoes but Liam loves them so I grew some for him- only one is ready so far but he ate it up and loved it!  Can't wait to get more :)

July 31 = Church Day

We went to St. Margaret's again this morning- the 9:00 service.  The greeter asked us to bring the elements up to the altar for communion today and the priest was impressed- when we handed them to her she said "Wow, you guys are brave."  After church, we went to the gym- I'm doing a challenge that started today where you put $20 in and everyone who puts money in that goes to 24 or more yoga classes in 42 days, splits the money.  So at the very least, if you finish the challenge, you get your money back.  So I went to yin yoga this morning- the most relaxing thing you've ever done in your life.  I love it so much.  Then we headed to the mall/food court to get some lunch because we had some hungry kids!

Liam got some stickers in his kids meal- we love stickers.

Malia was full and happy:

and so was Zachary: