Off he goes to the 3's!!!!

Click for a few more;)

Little man went back to preschool today! He has been super all excited all Summer about his teacher Ms. Laura and was in tears when the boys went to school without him two weeks ago, begging to go to school also. Last night he had a change of plans and announced to us "I not goin' to preschool." When we informed him that he was in fact going to preschool he replied with "I don't think so...I stay home with Mommy." We decided to drop the subject and re approach this morning :) He happily got up, got dressed and sat down for breakfast with the big boys. When they turned to tell him goodbye and to have fun Luke's reply was "I'll have fun with Mommy, I not goin' to preschool today!" (You can imagine the fit of giggles this sent Brian and Matt into!) Once Daddy returned from dropping off the boys, we headed to preschool (a bit curious how he was going to act!) He was giddy to put on his new Mickey backpack that he insisted on having (even though it is literally as big as him!) So...HOORAY...he did great! He hung up his stuff, found his buddy Jackson and barely waved goodbye as he was so engrossed in play-doh! The kid never fails to break my heart...(but at least he went!)!!!

Brian the Soldier:)

Click to see a few more...Today at school, Brian's class was responsible for leading Chapel. The theme was "Stand Guard for the Lord" and his whole class marched (literally) into the church dressed as soldiers! It was too cute and Brian was beaming with pride. He had a one line speaking part that he said perfectly and then they all sang two songs about being soldiers. Craig and I loved seeing him so utterly excited about something and watched our soldier sing his little heart out wearing a milk jug on his head!!!

Another year has begun!

Click for a few more first day pics...some are foggy...it was sooo humid out that my camera kept fogging up!

Yet another school year has officially begun in our house! Brian started second grade today and Matt started first grade. Luke will not start preschool for another two weeks so he's my sidekick for the time being! In the past I have been a sobbing mess at the prospect of sending my kids off for seven hours each day but this year was different. I will admit I still had a few years (but only in the shower since Brian forbid me from crying!), but I feel so happy about the new school we are sending them to that I am truly not all that sad as I know my boys will be loved on all day by everyone at the school as much I as love on them! Craig & I found a place that pushes them academically (their textbooks are one grade level ahead in each grade) but still allows them to be 6 & 7. They recognize the fact that they can't sit all day and gives them P.E. five days/week, as well as two recesses/day. They both have show & tell each week (which I as a teacher admit that I hated doing but completely understand how important it is to little ones!) They have "messy" art twice/week, spanish, computers and music twice/week, are actually allowed to celebrate Christmas and be excited for Santa (no more of this "Holiday or Winter Fest" nonsense!) They will have no less than four field trips each year and they encourage and beg for parent help in the classrooms:) They have IPads to use for centers and Smartboards in their classrooms for virtual learning. They have "whole school" chapel each week where they are picked up by and sit with an older buddy (Matt's is an eighth grade cheerleader and he is deliriously happy!!!) and they recognize two students of the week in front of the whole school at the beginning of chapel. No worries though...we have found the one negative of this "too good to be true"place...the cost! But we know this is a place where our children will spend a good chunk of their lives and be happy, which is most important to us, and is worth every penny:)

In typical fashion, Brian was not overly excited to start school! Brian declared at the ripe age of preschool that he would rather be homeschooled:) He was of course excited once he got there but school does not hold the fun aspect for Brian like it does for Matt. Brian has his group of friends that he's had for awhile now and has no desire to be a social butterfly like Matt. He likes to sleep in and would rather lounge around and learn in his jammies than be worried about the social aspects of school, whose friends with who, whose wearing what, etc. :) He lives and breathes sports and would much rather watch SportsCenter all day than anything else! Brian thinks of school as his job whereas Matt can hardly contain himself thinking of all of the fun he will have! Brian did manage to crack a few smiles once the big day actually arrived and I know he will come with tons of stories about his day! His teacher gave him a giant hug when we walked in and has made him feel so welcome as the new student in their class. She went out of her way over the summer to send Brian a questionnaire asking him all about himself so she could talk about him to the other students at "meet the teacher" and have everyone already know a little about him! He is the only new student in a classroom of 16 (love the small class size!!!) and will be able to walk in feeling like he's been with these kids since preschool:)

My Moose was 100% the opposite...he has been giddy about the prospect of starting school! He has two teachers and will switch back and forth which he thinks is beyond cool!! He already knows one little boy that he went to preschool with so having a familiar face will be a great thing! Matt has 12 kids in his homeroom class and there are 14 in the other. Matt's class has 9 boys and 3 girls...god bless that poor teacher!!! Every year, on the night before starting school, Matt has a 20 minute sobfest when I tuck him into bed in regards to how much he's gonna miss me. I can honestly say that I secretly enjoy this tradition we share but know it is short lived. He always wakes up having forgotten about this "treasured moment" and can't wait to get to school, meet his friends, see his desk, etc. Today was no different...when he got up there was no more "I'm gonna miss you Mommy" and no more tears, just one 6 year old too excited to even finish his breakfast!

I love how different my two children are and how well they can adjust to any situation we hand to them. They both walked into this brand new school like they'd been going there forever, with no tears and no fear in their eyes, completely confident of themselves. I love how trusting they are...if Mommy and Daddy say they'll love it, it must be true. I can hardly wait for it to be 2:40 so Luke and I can head out to get them and hear all about their day!

The Dance Off!

You are missing out if you don't click to see the video!!!

Two of the things I love most about Craig are his ability to laugh at himself AND how much he LOVES his kids! Saturday night at Six Flags he combined the two by participating in a dance-off with Daffy Duck! As we were waiting for the show to begin, we were approached by a staff member as to if Craig would be willing to participate in the show. He was sitting there asking what he would need to do and she informed him "dance with Daffy." This was all the boys needed to hear and poor Craig looked less than enthused but willingly agreed:) We were moved to VIP seats...(front row-center!) and the boys and I couldn't wait for the show to begin!!! The closer we got to dancing time, the more nervous Craig got but when Daffy came over, he happily hopped up onstage! He danced to Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" with a bright red feather boa, receiving cheers from he whole crowd. (To give you a visual...Craig dances like the white boy he is and there was 300-400 people in the crowd!) It will go down as one of my favorite memories of Craig being an amazing Daddy unless he can do something to top this:)

Excuse my choppiness in the middle of the video...I was simultaneously taping with my cell phone and had to adjust it:)

A Fantastic Fourth of July Vacation!

Click for so many more pics! Our tradition has become to head to the beach for the Fourth of July and this year we had company! Kelly, Chris and Emma met us there, along with two sets of our family friends...Nicole, Steve and their kids Maddie, Michael and Matthew AND Jason, Amy and their kids Ross and Reagan! All together we had 8 adults and nine kids and the kids were beyond amazing! There was not one fight, squabble or disagreement...one was more amazing than the next and we all had an absolute blast! Plans are already underway for next year!!!

We love having the beaches of North Padre Island a short three hours from home and I really don't know how much more patriotic it can get than the fireworks being shot off of the back of the U.S.S. Lexington Aircraft Carrier into the ocean!! The kids LOVED sitting on the seawall with their various glosticks waiting for the fireworks along with a late night ice cream surprise on the way back to the hotel!

After three fun filled days at the beach, we headed to Houston for another three days of fun! First stop...the Houston Children's Museum...currently ranked #1 in the nation for Children's Museums! The kids had a ball painting their own faces, racing from one cool room to the next, racing handcrafted rockets, Lego's, parachutes and boats and conquering the obstacle course over and over and over!

Our final stop on this week long trip was my parents house! The biggest success came when ALL three boys successfully managed to get up on waterskiis! Brian was the only one until this week that could get up and Matt was determined to change that! He successfully got up three times, only skiing for about 30 seconds each time but nonetheless, he DID it!!!! He is counting down until we get out there again! Not to be told he can't do something, Luke was on a mission to waterski like his brothers!!! We have had a great number of instances lately at Six Flags, Disney and SeaWorld where Luke wants to do something and his literally too little, and he was determined to be big enough to ski! Who were we to tell him he can't so we let him hop in to try...and our mouths dropped when he actually got up on his second try! He skiied for about 20 seconds and was bursting with pride when he got back on the boat!!!! "No one tells Luke he's too small!" The only bummer is both Matt and Luke never got past the huge start splash so there are no good pics of them skiing...next time!

We are finally home and back to reality...unpacking, laundry, floors, grocery store, etc. The good news is summer is only half over and we still have LOTS of fun left to be had:)

OMG...I am sooooo tired!

Click to see why I am soooo tired! We have literally had an exhausting 10 days and I am so tired! We started with a marathon weekend and ended with a marathon weekend!!! Last Friday night the boys spent a great deal of the evening playing pirates with daddy in the backyard and getting to bed extremely late. We had to get up at 5:30 am for a swim meet Saturday morning, followed by a birthday party for the boys best friends...Madi & Drew. That evening was the swim team party and we finally got home for the day at 10:40pm! The next day (Sunday) was kids day at the baseball game and of course we had kids who wanted to go! They had a blast playing on the inflatables, wearing their new (free!!!) team jerseys, watching the game and even got chosen to go on the field and play one of the games between innings:) It was a long, hot afternoon but we all had a blast!

I spent Monday at the pool all day with the kids and Tuesday cleaning my house from top to bottom (though in hindsight it was a wasted effort as my kids destroyed it right in front of my eyes!). Wednesday I took the kids roller skating. All three boys have their own rollerblades and LOVE to go skating. I figured it was a good, indoor activity to avoid the 105 degree sun and we spent two hours skating, followed by a fun pizza dinner:) Thursday was our only "stay in our jammies" lazy day throughout the past ten days and my three goons had a blast seeing who could get their jammies the highest!!!

Friday began our marathon weekend (round 2) and it was a doozy! I started Friday taking the kids to the mall for pictures and actually got an adorable one of their precious faces! After lunch at the mall, we met up with some friends at a local pool for a few hours of fun! The pool was super fun and had something for everyone...the boys LOVED the jumping platform and dropping waterslide! After three hours, we headed to Baskin Robbins for a quick treat before heading to our final destination for the day...a brand new splash pad area right by our house/ The kids loved it and had an absolute blast running through the water, sprinklers and waterfalls. Unfortunately that's where the day of fun ended...poor Lukey tripped on his towel in the parking lot, face planted and put his glasses into his eyebrow...resulting in two stitches above his eye:( He was extremely brave for the whole process and Brian was an amazing big brother holding his hand through the whole process. This did result in a late night unfortunately making our Saturday morning 5:30 wake-up for the boys final swim meet even harder! The boys both finished off the season great and have become such strong swimmers! Brian is loving butterfly and Matt finally mastered backstroke! Craig and I are so proud of them and Luke is chomping at the bit to get on the team as well! (Next year little man!!!) After lunch with the team, we went to another friend's birthday party before finally getting home to wait for my parents and EMMA!!! They headed up so we could all head to Sea World Sunday and Emma got to come:) I LOVED having my sweet girl with us and she fit right into the family fighting with Luke for most of the trip!!! It's so fun to watch the two of them interact...they literally fight like brother and sister everytime they are together with one or the other constantly running and tattling on the other:) We had a ball at Sea World, got to see all the shows and had a great time in the new splash park with all of the kids. It was a super fun, super long day and we made it back home just shy of midnight! To say I am exhausted it literally the understatement of the century!!! (Oh...did I mention I got to spend today at the dentist with all three kids having appointments to top off my 10 days of fun?!?!?!?)

Click for some Sea World Fun!

School is out and sports are done....hooray!!!!

Click to see more sports pics:)

This is my favorite picture of the whole season...this was literally mid-game!!!

The end of school has also brought the end of three boys playing three different sports at the same time:) Thank goodness cause I think I was about to lose my mind!!! Luke finished his first season of soccer and kudos to him...really believes he was the STAR of the team:) He made one goal the whole season (in the wrong goal) and spent most of his time strolling the fields lifting up his shirt and asking when he gets his snack but in his precious, delusional mind...he is the star!!! He absolutely LOVED soccer and tells anyone who asks all about his team and that Mommy, yes Mommy was his coach! Matt finished up his last season of t-ball (he's moving on to coach pitch in the fall) and played for the psychotic Round Rock league, not the YMCA. I say psychotic as the people here really are! Anyone who truly thinks kids that are five years old need more than one practice and one game each week are crazy!!! Matt literally had weeks where he had two games (yes, even on school nights!) as well as practice! Let's not forget...this was t-ball:) For as much as I despised it, Matt LOVED it! He had a blast with his friends, is now a die-hard Giants fan and is ready to move up a league and loved having his Daddy as his coach again:) Brian finished up another successful football season on the Patriots again! He is actually getting pretty good and LOVES being the quarterback:) Lucky for him...he has quite the arm! Daddy co-coached his team and Brian enjoyed having moved up a league where they are now actually running plays and grasping the game:)

The Boys Dream Weekend!!!

So many neat pics and even a video of the teacup fools if you click! This past weekend Craig and I checked the boys out of school on Friday at 10 and headed to Dallas for a weekend catered to little boys...two days at Six Flags and VIP Tours of both the Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium AND the Dallas Cowboys Football Stadium! To say my guys had a fun weekend is a severe understatement!

We got up to Dallas and just our luck, it was pouring! The good news is that by the time we checked into our hotel the rain had stopped so we headed over to the park and hit the jackpot...it was dead! The storm scared everyone off so what was a crowded park in the afternoon became a ghost town for us to enjoy! Six Flags Over Texas is at least twice the size of the one we frequent in San Antonio, with so many more rides so we were grateful to have this extra time to ensure we rode everything we wanted to! Unfortunately the rain made a U-turn around 8:30 so we headed back to the hotel just in time to meet up with Gaga, Papa, Aunt Christy and Uncle DJ... who were flying out of Dallas to Las Vegas on Saturday at 11pm and decided to meet us and join us for Six Flags on Saturday.

Holy cow did I get the best surprise ever...the elevator doors opened and my precious Molly was with them!!! My Mom had been in Vegas all of last week as well and Kerry was gracious enough to let her bring Molly back with her to spend the day with us since my Mom was literally only back in Texas for 48 hours before returning to Vegas! Molly and I spent the whole night snuggling, playing and bugging Uncle Craig who was trying to sleep (for reasons unknown since she doesn't see him that often...Molly is obsessed with Craig, has been since she was a teeny, tiny peanut and apparently still is!)

Saturday was Day 2 at the park, this time with everyone! We had such a fun time taking Molly on her first rides, riding coasters with the boys and enjoying a perfectly overcast day!!! Luke was able to ride two different coasters much to his delight, as well as the two different log rides (complete with giant hills) and spent his day repeatedly riding them over and over and over again! Brian and Matt were tall enough to ride the two biggest coasters in the park...the Texas Giant and the Titan and happily jumped on! The Titan is actually the tallest coaster in Texas, topping out at over 25 stories tall, lasts for almost two and a half minutes and goes over 82 mph!!! I am so blown away by the level of fear my boys DO NOT seem to possess. Brian and Matt are climbing on rides that some adults are afraid of and Luke is literally sobbing that he is too small for them!!! They are always the littlest ones in the lines and come off with smiles on their faces! My goons not only have no fear of speed and height, they also don't mind getting dizzy to the point of almost vomiting! DJ and Craig took them not once but twice on the giant teacups, spinning to levels that impressed even the ride operator and had people in the park stopping to watch! (Let's put it this way...Craig's shoulders were sore the next day from the amount of use he was putting into them to spin like a lunatic!!!) The operator literally made them sit in the cup for a good minute after they stopped spinning for fear they would all hurt themselves! (Who in their right minds think this is fun?!?!?)

Sunday brought even more fun with tours of two really cool stadiums...The Rangers and The Cowboys! We managed to snag VIP tours of both and spent our day going into dugouts, media rooms, press rooms, bullpens, the most expensive club seating rooms, locker rooms, the famous "tunnels", owners suites, inside the indoor private batting cages, storage facilities and even saw the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders practicing! The best part was the boys getting to go down on the Cowboy field and play football with each other! They tried kicking field goals, running the full distance of the field and just playing with Daddy! This was truly a trip for the boys and I think we finally managed to exhaust them! If only we could do this every weekend...we might actually get some peace and quiet around here!!!

Field Day!

Click for a few more!

On Friday morning the boys got to participate in the school's annual field day! This year's theme was pirates (Luke was in heaven!!!) and my boys were downright giddy for this morning of fun. Field day is put on by the PE coaches, all "other" teachers and a whole lot of volunteers! The kids rotate as a class through 12 stations, some soaking them and others just plain silly. They earned pirate coins at each station for a job well done which they got to redeem at the end for treasure! It is the one day the kids in school look forward to as they are allowed to let loose and just be kids!!! Luke really got into...donning his Jake gear and even posing with a "real" pirate!!! (Note...my boys did not want one of the school shirts as they thought they were ugly, therefore they wore their own ideas of get wet pirate clothes!)

Mother's Day Weekend!

Click for LOTS of FUN!!!

What a SUPER FUN weekend we had!!! We pulled the boys out of school early on Thursday in order to head to my parents for our weekend at Jellystone...that's right...the home of Yogi Bear for Family Camp!!! But first there was a pitstop at my parents house for three reasons...to pick them up as they were heading to Jellystone with us, to leave Ally & Wilbur with Uncle DJ and to not only meet but actually PLAY BASKETBALL with "our friend Aaron Gray", the 7 foot tall NBA player for the New Orleans Hornets that lives right next door to my parents:) My boys are in love with idea of being friends with an NBA player as they eat, sleep and breathe anything sports and have literally been telling everyone they know they are friends with a real NBA player! Aaron couldn't have been nicer to the boys playing basketball on the driveway for an hour and a half with them and even telling them to knock on his door whenever they are around for "playdates".

Friday morning we woke up and headed to Jellystone, a beyond fun family campground in NW Houston (there are chains all over the US) where you have the option of tent camping, RV camping or cabin camping. We chose cabin and all moved into a one bedroom, one bath cabin with a giant loft and a screened-in porch right on the lake.It was heaven for my boys and livable for me and my Mom:) We spent the weekend completely exhausting ourselves as there was soooo much to do!!! We played mini-golf, really enjoyed the fabulous waterpark, went on a hayride with Yogi, went to an ice cream social, met at the flagpole for the morning pledge with Cindy, danced with Yogi, Boo-Boo and Cindy, fished and caught not only fish but a turtle too, played on the giant inflatable dragon, sang karaoke with Daddy (Old McDonald had a Farm!!!), went off-roading in the golf cart Papa rented, made Mother's Day cards in the arts & crafts cabin, served cookies and juice to Mommy and even had campfires complete with S'mores:) Mommy & Gaga bunked in the bedroom away from all of the smelly boys and they all (even Daddy & Papa) happily climbed up into the loft for a giant slumber party both nights!!! We take our boys on a lot of weekend trips...this was truly one of the best ones we have ever had and can't wait to go back again!!!

What a weekend!!!

Click for LOTS of weekend pics!

So this can go down as a weekend to remember:) Let's see...

1. Friday morning I had to do the awful job of dying Easter eggs with the kids! I hated this task as a kid and it is even more horrible as a Mom. Cleaning the blue dye off of my walls and floor made it even more fun!
2. Friday night, DJ got engaged!!!! Christy is our new sister-to-be and we are thrilled to have her joining our family!!! DJ created a beautiful ring for her and we are all looking forward to the BIG day!
3. Craig finally got home from being gone for yet another week and was sick...chest, ears, throat, sinuses...the full works!
4. Were were heading out the door to spend the day at Six Flags with the kids when two HUGE things happened...I lost our season passes and while searching for them, Brian walked in my room to check on me and saw all of my filled and ready to go Easter baskets! Needless to say I was horrified!!! With some quick thinking on our toes, Craig and I actually managed to come up with a believable lie that what he saw was a surprise gifts for each of them from Mommmy and Daddy. Thankfully my children are book geniuses but common sense retarded cause he bought it!!!
5. We got to wake up my Mom to have her relocate our passes confirmation in her email so we could actually get into the park.
6. I got to delay leaving even longer by heading to WalMart to make second Easter baskets for all three of my kids in order to keep Brian believing in the lies we just fed him!!!
7. We finally made it to Six Flags where both of our boys shocked the bejeezus out of us!!!! They reached the next magic height of 48 inches over the last few months meaning their ride choices open up a little more!!! Brian voluntarily hopped on the the Rattler, the biggest wooden coaster in the park with speeds of over 65+ mph!!! He loved it and we were really proud of him:) Matt was a little too intimidated which was fine and made a promise to try it by Christmas:) Next thing we know...he asks if he can go on the Boomerang...a two loop, two corkscrew coaster that does the whole thing forwards and then again backwards! I literally was speechless...Matt loves rides but has always needed a little prompting first:) The kid who turned down the wooden one earlier in the day because it was scary wanted to go on this insane ride instead:) (Where his logic is I am not really sure!) Matt ended up loving the coaster and Craig and I are so proud of both of our daredevils! (Poor Luke...the kid wanted on the rides soooo bad and was furious about it all day!
8. Luke was BIG enough for the family tubing ride and squealed with delight as he and daddy went straight unnder the waterfall!!!
9. After three water rides in an hour, ending with the boys standing on the bridge to allow the boats coming down the hill to soak them, Brian apparently swallowed so much "ever so sanitary" river water that he literally pooped his pants in line for the next ride. And to top that off...he had zero shame and proudly told his brothers and those around us that he pooped his pants:) Go figure...I only had a change of underwear for Luke (who really thinks my 7 year old would be the needer??) so much to Brian's delight...he spent the rest of the day "freeballing" it!!! (which my kids get quite the kick out of!!!)
10. We made it home by 11 and I spent the next three hours hiding eggs, recreating Easter baskets and making new tags, letters, etc. After a "great" night sleep with Luke being attracted to me like a magnet all night, I had the pleasure of climbing out of bed at 7 to start my day:) and managed to drop my ceramic, heavy as no other, pepper jar on my toe, breaking it and slashing my toe while preparing my turkey!
11. The dang bunny made a giant mess of grass and mulch all over my house...it was even on my couch ;)
12. My kids had an absolute blast opening not one, but two baskets and hunting for 102 eggs!!! It made it all worthwhile:)
13. We spent the afternoon enjoying the waterslide, lots of yummy food, dessert and the company of good friends!

We STILL Believe!!!

You know the drill...click for a few more:)

I am so grateful that all three of my guys are still firm believers of Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny:) It's one of those getting older things that I am so NOT ready for...it will actually mean they really are growing up! I know the day is getting closer and closer as Brian is now 7, but I just love that I can hold onto that piece of innocence a little longer:)

Craig headed to Tucson (again) this morning for another week of work :( It was one of those days where we had no agenda, no one to answer to and nowhere we had to be so the boys and I decided to have an eventful day...first we went and saw the Bunny (where all three of them requested a one-on-one photo...I LOVE it!!!), followed up with a trip to a mall downtown where they just opened a Lego store and ended with dinner at our favorite "true" Austin hangout...Freddie's Place! The best part was...all three of them behaved all day!!! These are the best kind of days and unfortunately happen far too infrequently in our psychotically crazy, busy life!

I think we're seeing a pattern:)

Since Craig and I started dating WAY back in 1995, I have had a cast on an ankle 5 different times! (There was another one prior to this...but I was in middle school!!) We were lying in bed the other night recapping how we've made full circle...we started with me in a cast and 16 years later...I'm sitting here in a cast:) Let's recap...I fractured my right ankle cheerleading after our 1'st date and went on our 2'nd date and the next two and a half months of dates with a hot pink and then bright purple cast:) In college I managed to break my left ankle and shin so bad that I had to have reconstructive surgery, leave college for six weeks and wear a cast for almost four months! While pregnant with Luke (April, 07) I fell on my parents step and fractured my right ankle. While playing outside with the boys (April, 09) I managed to trip on a one inch curb and fracture my right ankle. The latest happened walking into Brian's football game last weekend (April, 11)...I managed to not notice the six inch hole in the uneven ground and fell into it, fracturing my right ankle! All I have to say is based on my recent history of right ankle fractures in odd year April's...I will be avoiding walking in April 2013!!!!!

Here's a photo collection of my ankle fractures:)

Brian's Birthday & Party:)

Click for LOTS of Birthday and party pics!!!

My biggest "little man" is 7....I absolutely hate the fact that my boys are growing up!!! Brian had such a fun Birthday and party! We woke up and opened presents before school...with Brian's favorite gift being a "Roku" box! (You know your Dad is a geek when you ask for a techie gadget for your 7th Birthday!!!) Brian requested Sonic chili cheese fries and a cherry limeade for his lunch so Luke and I picked it up and met him in the cafeteria for lunchtime. We then returned back to his class for his Birthday celebration...complete with doughnuts and Gaga!!! She came up a few days before the party to help me out (since I managed to break my ankle again!!!) and surprised Brian! He was so shocked when she walked into his class carrying his doughnuts!!! The Birthday evening consisted of Matt's baseball game and Brian's football practice so we split up and all met at our favorite Mexican restaurant to finish off our celebrations where Brian ate himself sick with the unlimited ice cream machine:)

Brian's party was a repeat of Matt's this past Friday night! Lucky for me I had helpers since I am gimping it in my ever so fashionable boot:) Papa, Uncle DJ & Aunt Christy arrived late Thursday night and Aunt Kel, Uncle Chris & Emma arrived Friday. He had 22 kids show up for hot dogs, s'mores, cupcake kabobs and the GIANT movie...Yogi Bear:) I have to say...first graders are much crazier than Kindergartners. The kids all seemed to have a blast though and Brian claims he had the best party ever!!!

A BIG thanks to Gaga, Papa, Aunt Kel, Uncle Chris, Aunt Christy, Uncle DJ, Candice and Marty for all of your help and photo skills:) I really appreciated it!!!

Spring Break & Birthday Blowout!

Don't forget to Click! For Spring Break the boys headed out after Matt's party with Gaga & Papa for two days in Galveston, followed by two days in Dallas (to pick up Aunt Key & Molly!!!) and then met up with everyone at Gaga & Papa's house later in the week to celebrate Matt and my Birthday's on Friday, followed by a family party for all March/April Birthday's (there's 7 of us...Craig, Christy, Katie, Matt, Kelly, Brian & Kerry!!!) on Saturday:) The boys had a ball on their trip (minus Luke's battle with rotovirus along the way) and were full of stories when we saw them on Thursday night!!!

Friday morning Matt woke up beyond thrilled to finally be six like Brian (yes it is that time of year where we have two kids the same age for a few weeks!) and was spoiled by all of his family! Matt and I headed out for our annual Birthday lunch (just me and him!), leaving everyone at home:) Matt's Candyland cake was a HUGE hit so the 2.5 hour drive with it in my lap was worth every minute!!! I love celebrating my Birthday with my little man and wonder how long he will think it's cool to share a Birthday with Mom?!?!?!?

Saturday was spent with swimming, fishing, family tournaments of "Just Dance 2" (even Papa & Emma got into the dance mode!!!) and lots of presents for the seven Birthday people:) Molly had her first swim and the picture of her face says it all:) It was so nice to get to spend three full days snuggling with my two precious nieces and let my family entertain my 3 clowns:) We are all back home after an fun but exhausting weekend of little sleep and Luke has so kindly decided to share his hideous disease with poor Matt!!! Thankfully we are on the homestretch to Summer vacation!!!!

Getting tooooo BIG!!!

Miss Molly is getting too big, too fast! Luckily Aunt Key is great at capturing every detail of her life since they live so far away!!! (We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed that they maybe they can move home soon!!!) Here are a few of my latest favorites:)

Click for a couple pics!!!

Matt's Party

Click for more;)

This year we agreed to let the boys "go BIG" for their Birthdays! Matt invited about 27 kids to his party (luckily only 19 showed up!!!) for his super fun, campout themed birthday party. We rented a GIANT inflatable movie screen, roasted hot dogs and s'mores, made popcorn in our movie popper and had cupcake kabobs in lieu of cake! The GIANT ball you literally get inside of and roll around from Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Mark was a HUGE hit at the party, as well as with my boys! (BIG thanks to you both for that!!!) The kids all ran around and played until it got dark and then we settled in on blankets to watch the movie:) Matt loved his party and all the kids really seemed to have fun! Look for round two of the exact same party in a few weeks for Brian's BIG day!!! Another BIG thanks to Gaga & Papa, Aunt Kel & Uncle Chris & Uncle Johnny & Aunt Christy for coming to help keep things under control:)

Matt's Surprise!!!

Click for a few more pics;)

We are so fortunate to be blessed with such amazing friends...the Licht Family! They will be out of town this week for Spring Break, causing them to miss Matt's party tonight :( Last night at the Daddy's softball game (a whole bunch of our friends Daddy's all play together on Friday nights) , they surprised Matt with a mini-surprise party. Matt was so excited to have cupcakes at the ball field, as well as a few awesome gifts...Mario Yahtzee, a giant bag of Reese's and 16 mini-Dr. Pepper's (do they know my Matt well or what?!?!?!) "Thank you Ms. Candice, Mr. Marty, Madi & Drew...you are my best friends! Love, Moose"

It's FINALLY Luke's turn!!!!

Enjoy all the pics by clicking this one:)

After attending Texas day at the preschool every year since he was born...today was finally Luke's turn to be a cowboy!!! He was SOOOOO excited to dress up in his outfit, complete with boots and hat:) We rode a pony named Cinnamon, sang cowboy songs...complete with dancing!!!, made a Texas craft and ended our day with a hot dog picnic:) I am so fortunate to be at home allowing me to spend days with my little man just having fun!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I think there is no question these are Craig's kids!!! Could they all look more alike???? The man of my world turned 33 today (and as of September I will have been with him for HALF OF MY LIFE!!!)! I can take pleasure in knowing that for the next 11 days he is two years older than me:) We celebrated low key...Matt had a baseball game (and Craig is one of the coaches) and dinner at Chili's. It's pretty lame to get old..right?!?!?! Happy Birthday to the best husband a girl could ever ask for and the best Daddy kids could ever have!!!