Ten on Tuesday

 1.  Last week when Brent was working and I was not, we joined him for lunch at a sushi place near his work.  Brent and I love sushi and were delighted to discover that our kids are loving it more these days too.  E loved the Miso soup.  M was a big fan of the salad, and B preferred the tempura shrimp, but everyone ate sushi too and had a great time.

2.  There has been a lot of LEGO fun around here lately.  The kids got a delightful amount of LEGO goodness this Christmas and are loving every bit of it.   We've recently re-instituted screen time limits, which is going well, and making the LEGOs even more popular.

 3.  On New Year's Eve, the Morans came to visit us.  We had a fun, relaxed day eating, talking and watching the kids play.  When it was time to go the little guys hugged the sweetest good bye.  Wish they lived closer, but we treasure the times we have together.

 4.  The visit meant E missed his nap and fell asleep during book time.  Quite the NYE party guy, and also so cute :)

5.  The kids helped create their own new year's tradition by deciding that Ginger Ale and Ice Cream were so much better than GA and pretzels ( my dad's traditional picks).  Brent and I waited and enjoyed food from our new Date Night In book after they went to bed (pictured above). The recipes were delicious and felt fancy without being too laborious.  We watched Silver Lingings Playbook and managed to make it to midnight for another kiss to begin and end the year.

 6.  On Friday, we had planned to have date night out (yes, we're in to date nights), but babysitting didn't work out so it became family night at Tuckers, which is also a very good thing.

 7.  On Friday, we also took the kids to Toys R Us to spend some of their Christmas money.  It was a little bit nuts trying to figure that all out with them, but E loves his giant Mario and the other kids seem very happy with their choices too.

8.  On Saturday, we got up early and headed to Tulsa to celebrate Ms. Maia's 1st birthday party with the Wainrights.  As is our tradition, we stayed well after the party ended for some lunch and extra play time with friends.  Our families are just awesome together and I love it. 

9.  M had a tough transition back to school on Monday even with her special new hair clip.  Too many tears.  I've since learned that hope is on the horizon for her various issues at school, which is good as I'm in no way putting up with her being sad every single time we go.

10.  I subscribed to Ali Edwards' Story Kit for the first time this month and I'm loving it.  It includes physical products that are great, but also lots of classroom materials including prompts, story ideas, sample layouts, brainstorming suggestions, and videos.  I have made three layouts so far and each has SO much journaling. I love that the stories are really the focus and being told more fully with a little help focusing on one theme and having the products and content to support that.  I think it will be really good for my memory keeping this year.