Week in review

**Whew** It's Saturday! We ditched our "normal" routine of not having much on the ol' agenda...for a jam packed, fun week of activities, events, etc. Gotta admit - it was wonderful! I'm so thankful that Ava was healthy all week and we were able to do so many fun things... winter has just been taking its time here and being inside soooo much was wearing us all a little thin. Here are some things we did this week -

Monday: a WHOLE LOTTA this --> Laundry day is actually one of my fave house chores. Weird, I know, but I do love doing it! And I had a lot of "catch up" work to get done as I was a sluggard about it last week. So this pretty much was our entire monday day.

Tuesday: Playdate with our "Mom's playgroup" at church. It ended up only being me and Ava with one other momma and her three kiddos - but still lots of fun! Ava has bumped up to the toddler nursery and just loves playing with the "big kid" toys! And I enjoyed some great conversation with a friend, over our mugs of coffee, of course! Tuesday night I was able to sneak out for a little bit with another friend, just she and I, for some more coffee at a little coffee place here in Des Moines called Smokey Row. Brad is happy to let me go out and I am so thankful for his selflessness in that area...because, momma needs some time away now and again!

Wednesday: This is our big day of ministry with the teens. We have youth group (The Mix) at night and it's the highlight of our week! This week we were learning about Jesus and the 3 offices He holds - Prophet, Priest and King. My hubby is an excellent teacher and I am so proud of him! Wednesday night after we got home, Miss Ava needed a bath. And this was the night she discovered how to turn on the shower! (uh oh...) So, yes, a VERY eventful Wednesday evening! And a good clean up job post bath time. :(

Thursday: Company's coming!!! We had some friends over for dinner Thursday night and I made my first Sausage Lasagna. Turned out to be very tasty! The recipe was really easy and can be found in any Betty Crocker cookbook. I just took some extra liberties with ingredients and added in extra parsley as I have tons to use up prior to it going bad.

Friday: I heard/saw a rumor about The Children's Place having their $2.99 sale so we headed to Jordan Creek for some shopping. Ava is growing out of everything so we needed to stock up. And, we can do $2.99! Sure enough we struck Gold!!! I was able to purchase 9 items (much needed items) and love what we found! Then I walked next door and found some shoes for the girl - I got two pair for a total of $8!!! So happy to have found exactly what we needed and for so cheap! And an added bonus to this trip was, of course, the play place! Ava loves running around on those cushiony, foamy, slides and jumbo butterflies, etc. And secretly, Brad loves it too! Can you see them?

The highlight of my week was going to "Cabin Fever Cure" last night at my friend Emily's house. Our church puts on this event every year as a way for women to get out of the house and spend time together! Each home hosts a different "theme" or activity for ladies to get involved in - or, in my case, learn from the host about something. Emily opened up her home to teach us some tricks to decorating on a budget. Her home is warm, welcoming and very well done and she makes close to everything she uses in her decorating! I left with a ton of ideas and am eager to get back to work on this house! It was also really refreshing just to visit with other ladies and hear about whats going on in their worlds.... I always come home more friendly, loving, and renewed after visits like that.

To end our exciting, busy, week we have a family birthday party and a dinner with friends tonight. I am so thankful for so many fun, out of the norm, things to do this week! Coming up next week... I'll start working on Valentines day decor. I'm starting small...but, you gotta start somewhere!