Weekend Recap + Parties!

Hi, friends! I hope that everyone has had a great weekend! I have a lot of photos to share from a very busy past few days, so I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum!

Let’s backtrack a bit to some highlights from earlier in the week, shall we?

New Nike running shoes for the big boys…

and an end-of-the-season pizza party for Gibbs’s soccer team. This was such a fun group of kids and parents!!

Thursday night I escaped for one of my monthly Girls’ Night Out dinners with about 8 of my girlfriends at The Light Well. We always have such a fun time chatting over drinks and dinner…it just means a very late night for this tired Mama!

Friday morning I had a check-up with my dermatologist in Charlottesville, so my mom and my aunt met us in town and helped to entertain the boys while I was otherwise occupied. They fed some ducks in a nearby pond and saw some turtles. Big hit!

We made a quick stop at Toys R Us because the boys had some spending money that Aunt Bee had sent them. They are SO lucky and SO spoiled. I was glad to have my mom and my aunt in tow while we navigated the toy store with the 3 kids. We left without any tears and (mostly) stuck to the budget! The older boys both picked out Lego sets while Spence opted for a multi-pack of Matchbox cars.

Then we took Aunt Barbara out to lunch at Panera to celebrate her birthday! We love her so much and we were happy to shower her with a few gifts and (more importantly) the BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE ever. It’s a tradition in our family and it’s an absolute MUST on our birthdays — yellow cake with Spencer Family Recipe Rich Chocolate Frosting. Absolute dessert perfection, in my opinion. The boys had fun helping me make it earlier in the week!

Friday afternoon I had to spend some time on conference calls for work, so Hannah entertained the kids with activities outside while I locked myself in my office for some quiet time. Hannah is the best — she even brings scavenger hunts and games with her when she comes. On Friday afternoon, Spencer was proudly displaying a medal around his neck (that Hannah had made), with the words “#1 Helper” on it. So cute.

Keith made it home on Friday evening in time to mow the grass and join us for some Slow Cooker Sloppy Joe’s for supper.

Saturday morning started early, as usual. Spence discovered a new favorite breakfast (I was eating some and he just had to have it!). Plain Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and cereal. I had mine with granola, but Spence had two of his own servings with Cheerios and Honey Bunches of Oats!

Nom, nom, nom…

After a week of cool, rainy weather, we were all happy to see the sunshine.

After breakfast the boys did some work in the gardens to tie up our tomato plants,

and Casey found another cucumber to pick! He even marched it into the house to wash it and put it in the fridge. Training him early!

The peaches are looking really good and some of the early varieties might even be ripe in the next couple of weeks.

We had hair cuts scheduled for all of us at 9:00 in town, so we stopped by the Farmer’s Market on the way. The older boys each picked out zucchini muffins for snack,

and we were excited to see that our babysitters were still selling some snap peas, strawberries, and mulberries this week.

The rest of our haul included:

– Eggs

– Zucchini Muffins

– Steak

– Monster Cookies

– Snap Peas

– Strawberries

– Mulberries

– Sweet Cherries

– Radishes

– New Potatoes

– and Caramel Corn!

Then it was time for a trim! Gibbs and Spence are really great in the chair,

but this guy is definitely NOT a fan. He’s smiling here, but spent the rest of the time squirming, fussing, and dodging the clippers.

We made it home just in time for the boys’ play date with their buddy Liam. They played Ninja Turtles, Legos, colored, and enjoyed pizza, yogurt, and grapes for lunch.

After lunch, the boys played some more while I folded a massive load of laundry,

and made a huge salad to take to a party later in the afternoon.

Then they requested THIS classic vinegar-and-baking soda Volcano activity, which never fails to entertain the boys. I put them out on the porch so that I didn’t have to worry about a mess inside.

While Spence napped, Keith took the older 3 boys to get ice cream at Yoder’s while I got myself changed for the party. We were invited to a Belmont Stakes pool party at our friends’ farm, so we brought Liam along with us and met up with his family there. A van full of BOYS!!

I wore a new rugby stripe hoodie that my parents brought back from their recent trip to the beach, along with these white shorts (I just noticed that the shorts are on MAJOR sale right now, so scoop them up right away if you’re interested). Summer!!

Mollie and John Paul own Bending River Farm here in Madison, where they operate their 4,000-acre cattle ranching and tourist hunting business. Their son Henry is classmates with Casey and Gibbs!

Mollie and John Paul spent the winter converting an old, unused building on the property into a pool house, so we were all very excited to use the pool for the first time. Too bad the water was fah-reezing!!! I watched from the warmth of the pool deck (and chased Spence around) while some of the brave kids jumped in!

It was a fun cookout and a beautiful way to spend the afternoon. We said our goodbyes a couple of hours later when the younger two boys were on the verge of a meltdown…SO tired!!

At home we watched the running of the Belmont Stakes (such an exciting race!) while Spence drove cars on Molly’s back. Poor dog is so patient!

Then we put the exhausted kids to bed and enjoyed a quiet evening on the couch!

This morning we were off and running again…

Keith made blueberry pancakes for breakfast while the boys played outside.

After breakfast, I cleaned up the kitchen, started the laundry, and changed the sheets on the beds. Then I headed out with my older two!

We spent the morning in Culpeper at Target and the grocery store. We were shopping for groceries for the week, as well as some extra snacks and entertainment to take with us on an upcoming road trip. Shopping in multiple stores with these guys was…interesting.

I rewarded myself with Starbucks on the way home!

While we were gone, Keith walked Spencer over to our neighbor’s farm across the street to check out the tractors. He was in heaven!!

Back home, I fed everyone lunch and then made a quick Lightened-Up Blueberry Coffee Cake for breakfast and snacks this week,

and prepped THESE Crispy Oven-Roasted Seasoned Potatoes to have with dinner tonight.

Then we put the boys in their rooms for naps and quiet time while I headed upstairs to shower and change for another par-tay! This time I went solo for an afternoon with the girls!

Remember when I spoke to Margeaux’s cooking club earlier this year? Well this month Margeaux was hosting her club for a wine tasting, invited me to join, and of course I said “YES!”

{Margeaux and her neighbor Jennie, who organized the group}

Margeaux and her husband have worked in the wine industry for over 20 years, so they are definitely professionals when it comes to anything and everything related to wine. I learned so much from them, ate a lot of delicious food, and had a great time.

There were a total of about 20 ladies in attendance, so it was a big group for Margeaux to prep for. She did an awesome job!! The tables were set in advance with water glasses, wine glasses, plates, and utensils for each guest.

She had created a pamphlet for us to use as we worked our way through the various wines and foods. We could make notes about the flavors of the wines, the way that the tastes changed based on the foods that we ate, and anything else that we wanted to remember.

We learned how to swirl the wine and smell it to pick up on the various aromas in the different types of wines,

and we learned which foods pair nicely (and not so nicely) with each variety.

For instance, the chocolate desserts were a great match for the Red Zinfandel,

while the spicy peanut satay and the salty Parmesan and olives were a nice complement to the Reisling.

It was such a great way to spend the afternoon! Unfortunately, I had to leave after a couple of hours to get home to Keith and the boys, who were tired and hungry for dinner.

I quickly roasted the potatoes in the oven and picked some lettuce and chard from the garden to make a salad,

while Keith grilled the steaks from the Farmer’s Market. Dinner was a HUGE hit,

and I even managed to get Keith to grill some shrimp for dinner tomorrow night as well. I will be gone much of the day for work and other appointments, so I needed a quick meal that I could throw together in the evening. I’ll toss the grilled shrimp with some pasta and pesto sauce and everyone will be happy!

By 6:30 Casey and Spencer were asking to go to bed, and Keith and I feel like we need an extra day to recover from our weekend. Fun, but exhausting (as usual)! Three day weekend, anyone?!