We had a fun and semi-busy weekend that felt productive in the best way. Family dinner and an impromptu neighborhood gathering on Friday, yardwork and movie night on Saturday, a race and a birthday party on Sunday! Feel like I’m running on adrenaline today, but we had such a fun time.

We went out to Fire on the Mountain on Friday and the kids were acting like maniacs per usual 😅 At least we were out in the tent and hopefully not disturbing anyone else. The hot honey mustard wings were so good! Back at home, we were going to water our front yard plants then put the kids to bed but then the neighbor kids were out and before we knew it, it was an hour past bedtime and everyone was hanging out in our neighbors’ back yard. Summer vibes for sure! Finally got the kids to bed and watched the finale of The Amazing Race and I’m so happy it shook out the way it did!

My one goal for Saturday was to get our back yard plants bought and planted, so: SUCCESS! Dempsey helped pick out a bunch of good ones and basically did the planter above all on his own 🥺😍 He’s such a good helper and has quite the green thumb!

Before Lydi’s nap, we took a walk around the block because her new favorite thing to say is “just a tiny walk!” and then I hung with Demps while Joey did some work on our sprinkler system. After Lydi was up, my sis and Wayne came over to pick up Wayne’s race bib and we all hung out in the backyard for a bit. I made us sweet and sour pork for dinner and even though I was nervous about shallow frying the pork, it was super easy and the whole meal turned out SO GOOD! Against my better judgement, we let the kids watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit? for movie night and Dempsey was such a big fan. We only made it halfway through for time reasons, but he laughed at all the parts I was worried he’d find scary 😂 Got them to bed and watched Top Chef and some of SNL before going to bed ourselves.

Race day! We got up and ready and the kids up and ready and everyone dropped me off at my leg before heading over to Sloan’s Lake. I’ll just keep it brief by saying I do not recommend running a race with a UTI and I was kind of disappointed with how my leg went but what can you do? The kids were SO EXCITED to see me finish though and that’s the part I’m going to remember forever! Afterward, they both gave me the biggest hug and Dempsey kept kissing me 😂🥰 We watched Chad take off, Wayne finish and picked Joey up after his finishing leg. It was a long morning of being transported all over for the kids but I think they handled it so well and I’m proud of our team!

Back at home, downtime, lunch time, nap time, salad making time and then we headed off the Landon’s birthday party! The kids had so much fun and I got to see my parents too. Gifts were strictly forbidden but Joey couldn’t help himself 😂 I hope Landon had the best time! We love him so much 🤍

A truly perfect Mother’s Day Weekend that started with two kid-free days in Pittsburgh and ended with two days home with my babies 🤍🤍 Being a mother is deeply difficult and will push you to the absolute limits of your patience and energy, so having a couple days to be an off-duty mom and remember what it’s like to eat a meal without anyone in your lap or go to bed without forcing anyone else to bed first is so necessary and makes coming home and seeing their little faces light up and their little voices say “Mommy!” and their little arms wrap around you all the more sweet. We had such a nice day celebrating all the moms in our lives yesterday and I couldn’t have asked for more 🥰

Joey had a steel conference to attend in Pittsburgh, so he flew out Tuesday and I took my first ever solo flight and met him out there on Thursday. Why is a city with a river so beautiful?? I love it so much and we had such a nice view from our hotel window. We had a really good dinner at The Parlor Dim Sum on Thursday night then got ice cream 🥰 Friday started with divy buns and an iced red velvet latte then a walk through the University of Pittsburgh campus to the botanical gardens. I was soooo happy walking through those indoor greenhouses, just my husband and I. After, we hit up the Senator John Heinz History Center and I guess Heinz Ketchup originates in Pittsburgh. Who knew!

Cleaned ourselves up before dinner at Iron Born Pizza and man did it hit the spot. Walked along the river to PNC Park for a Pirates game and we even got to walk down the middle of the Roberto Clemente Bridge, since it was closed off for the game! The Pirates won, so it was a happy crowd and I let Joey convince me to go duck pin bowling afterward. It was fun, except for how often the pins would get tangled up and I even beat Joey in one single game 😂 I don’t know that I need to go back to Pittsburgh any time soon, but we really had a good time. I don’t think we’d been on a vacation just us two since 2022?? Much overdue!

We had an early morning flight home on Saturday then spent the rest of the day doing laundry, ordering and unpacking groceries and giving the kids the gifts we bought them in Pittsburgh. Ketchup, mustard and pickle chapstick was a hit and if you come near my kids and they smell like a hot dog, you’ll know why 😂 They also helped Joey move some mulch from the alley to the front yard and I’m so glad he has two little helpers 🥺 We had leftovers for dinner — thank God for my mom and all the food she left in our fridge — then put the kids to bed and watched Top Chef. I was more or less sleeping through the entire episode but oh well 😅

The kids slept in on Sunday so Happy Mother’s Day to me! I told Joey to tell them to come “wake me up” and Dempsey proceeded to yell “BOO!” in my face and also tell me my armpit smelled. Motherhood is so magical 😂😅 They (but really Joey) spoiled me with such thoughtful gifts and then we had everyone over for brunch at 10. I did a breakfast taco bar because it seemed minimal effort and I think it worked really well. Plus everyone brought such delicious side dishes and the moms got even more flowers, gifts and cards 🥰 We had the most beautiful Mother’s Day weather, so we headed outside after everyone was done eating. So nice! Everyone but my sister and Wayne left around noon and they stayed and hung out with Dempsey and I while Joey attempted to put Lydia down for a nap. Post nap (that she eventually took at 2 PM after I rocked her to sleep!), we hung out and then Joey made us all buffalo chicken burgers and I took the kids and their scooters around the block. It was such a sweet way to end Mother’s Day. I hope everyone else had a good weekend too!