Happy Birthday Dad, Mom & Matt!!!

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Another year and another Birthday for Craig, me and Matt! Craig is 36, I am 35 this year...I feel like I am losing my memory so apparently I am officially getting old! And let's not forget...I got called middle-aged by Matt's young, good looking, single orthodontist! Special...just special! Craig had a very low key Birthday playing video games with the kids and enjoying the biggest steak I have cooked for him thus far!  Mr. Matt had the best Birthday this year! It kicked off with a double Birthday party with his best friend Cason! The two of them share a Birthday so a double party is the way to go! We rented campsites at Georgetown Lake and invited their whole class for a camping adventure! We pitched tents, kayaked, shot bows/arrows, cooked our own dinners, made s'mores, did a scavenger hunt, spent 6 hours running through the woods and hiking up/down the hill to lake, warrior painted ourselves and had an absolute ball! The girls all headed home at bedtime while the boys camped out! I consider this the best party ever...left Craig to spend the night with kids and came home to sleep in my own comfy bed solo!!! I met back up with party the next am to do breakfast and clean-up! SO MUCH FUN!!!

On our actual Birthday Gaga & Papa came to celebrate with us! Matt woke up to his cinnamon roll "9", opened his family presents and went off to school. Gaga, Papa and I took him lunch and his cookie cakes and then I went to lunch solo with my parents! What fun! I truly do not remember the last time the 3 of us went out to eat by ourselves! I was given free shots by our waiter and at the encouragement of my parents downed them! After school we opened the rest of our presents and went to my favorite restaurant for dinner (where I had a giant margarita...gotta celebrate being middle-aged correctly!). Such a fun, laid-back Birthday!!!

A few weeks of random fun :)

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We have had a busy couple weeks complete with crazy sports schedules, Birthdays, parties, hanging out with our close friends, random days off school, Matt was in a fishing derby, crazy days at school, our school field day and of course some plain old fun! We also got to go to the BAM Academy, a ninja warrior like training course right here in Austin! As you can imagine, Luke was beyond delighted with this adventure and the other two were equally as excited! We went and spent the afternoon climbing, hanging, flipping, tumbling, balancing, darting, jumping, falling and just having a ton of fun! Thanks Aunt Key & Uncle Jerms for the AWESOME gift!!! We can't wait to go back!!! Here is a glimpse of our last few weeks :)

Another Basketball Season...

Click to see my guys AWESOME season!

Another basketball season, another year of Craig being the great Dad he is and coaching all 3 boys, another year of Mom in the bleachers week after week with her camera and another year of watching tremendous growth by all 3 of my guys!  Luke has officially "clicked", making him a force to be reckoned with on the court. He is playing his last season of the 5yr-Kinder league, having started 3 seasons ago playing up and is clearly one of the more skilled kids on the court in his age group. He is so fun to watch as he is out there making passes, baskets, free throws and fully grasping the game! Brian and Matt played on their team together again this season. We also had 5 kids from their football team play with us and watching this group of kids that all really know each other and their strengths/weaknesses play together is an intense, super fun game! Brian and Matt clearly practice together at home and it is so neat to watch them play together. They make passes that no one even sees coming, know "secret" moves that they just make eyes at each other to perform and really enjoy playing together. Sadly Brian suffered concussion #4 during this season and had to miss a few weeks of play. Rather than let it discourage him...he became Craig's wingman helping coach his team! I have found that my role in life on the sidelines suits me well and I am usually hoarse every Monday morning after spending each weekend cheering on my guys!!!

Rock Climbing

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What's a Mom to do on a lazy Sunday with 3 crazy boys, 1 of which is a Ninja that have a TON of energy to burn?!?! (thank you weather this week for cooping us up!) Rock Climbing of course! Craig & I took the boys indoor rock climbing today and boy did they have a BLAST! This really neat facility is less than 45 minutes from our house! It was a little boys dream world....every wall ceiling, wall and even floor surface was meant to be climbed on! Craig and I even got our workout harnessing and tethering them all afternoon! This will definitely be a come back place!!!

December...

The month of December held so many fun things that I am condensing it all into one GIANT post! We really tried to do as many Christmas things with the kids as we could. Our elf Zippy showed up sending us on treasure hunts nightly and even had a few tricks up his sleeve! Matt & I went to a Christmas Tree Farm on a fieldtrip! Matt got to see his pride & joy OU (still no clue why he loves them!!!) play football against Baylor! We took my parents to Dallas with us for a weekend of fun at Six Flags and Great Wolf Lodge! (Of course we picked the coldest weekend in 5 years to do this and made Six Flags Christmas Festival seem like we were truly at the North Pole!!) We got back from Dallas and all got the Flu (and yikes...Kerry was on her way with the girls and we were terrified of getting them sick!!!) Kerry, Jeremy and the girls made it to Austin enabling Kerry to tackle all of the boys Christmas parties at school with me while Craig & Jeremy babysat the girls!!! Kerry's clan arrived with Rotovirus in all 5 of them!!! (guess my flu worries weren't such a big deal after all!) We all headed to Houston for the Baptisms of Maggie & Walker together! So stinkin precious!!! They looked like a mini bride and groom! Kelly's clan didn't make it as yes, we also gave Mom & Dad the flu! With Kelly being pregnant it was best for them to keep their distance from this diseased group! Craig & I are Maggie's Godparents and spent the entire time on the altar focusing on not showing everyone what was in our stomachs! Yep...making out with the girls after missing them so much backfired BIG time and we were the next victims of Rotovirus! Luke on the other hand has no self control and threw up all over the entrance to the church! In our defense, Christy's whole guest list also bailed due to flu and other sicknesses too! With all of this going around, three of us literally unable to hold it in, we bagged on the party plans and went back to my parents where the bathrooms and beds are plentiful! We literally were too sick to make the drive home to Austin!  Good thing we stayed...Brian & Matt were up next! The rest of the night was spent cleaning people and toilets ;) Seriously...whatever plague Kerry brought from Vegas was spreading faster than a fire!!! Her poor girls went for round 2 just for extra fun! Sunday morning...Gaga & Papa were the next victims!  Since Craig & I were feeling somewhat human again, we scrapped our plans of taking the kids to Sea World and just went home! The next few days were spent lying low and Christmas Eve was about as low key as you could get!
Christmas morning...Santa came in full force! Go-karts all around!!! The boys were ecstatic!!! We went out to drive before opening any other gifts! After the rest of Santa's loot was open and a few hours of fun, we packed up and headed back to Houston for Christmas part 2! We spent the evening opening an abundance of amazing presents and just playing with all the kids! Sadly we missed Kelly's family again as they came over Christmas Eve and spent Christmas Day with her in-laws. The next few days were spent playing, playing, playing. Friday night it was time to say goodbye to Kerry's people and head back home. But not for long! Sunday we spent the day at Sea World with the kids and then took Brian's teacher & his fiancé with us to see the Spurs vs. the Kings game. Aaron got traded recently to the Kings and happened to be in San Antonio! The next day Craig took my Dad, Brian and Matt to Shreveport to watch UA play in the bowl game! Brian was over the moon to see his team play for the first time live! Luke & I spent New Years solo and had the best day ever! The rest of Christmas break was spent playing with our new toys, trying out the ninja gym Aunt Key sent us to (Luke thought he dies and went to heaven!), checking out the new Austin Aquarium, going to a wedding and catching up on rest after a whirlwind 2 weeks! Enjoy all the pics! I managed to condense the 1250 Kerry & I took down to 360!!!

Star of the Week Movies

3'rd grade at our school has a Star of the Week setup that allows the parents to be involved every day of the week with a different activity. Last year for Brian I made a video surprising him about his life. He loved it and watches it all the time on his touchpad. Matt is up this week so I spent 6 hours today making another movie. (Oh how I miss those fat little cheeks!!!) Going back and watching Brian's, and spending all day making Matt's makes me so anxious for Luke to get to 3'rd grade so I can sit and have a treasure of him as well. I thought I'd upload the two I currently have...if you are lame like me you will sit here and watch with a slight tear in your eye and a weight on your heart...over and over and over... :)  :)

 

 

Another spontaneous vacation...Colorado!!!

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Craig's company has a site in Denver and wanted him to come for two weeks for training and to meet his new employees/clients. Being that he has traveled so much since September, I was not looking forward to this two weeks on my own again. Fortunately for awesome deals I didn't have too! I found a flight deal for the boys and I for a whopping $237 total charge to my cc!!! We were able to fly in right smack in the middle of his trip and enjoy the weekend with him.

Holy cow what FUN we had on this trip! Craig left on Sunday and headed to Colorado Springs. We flew into Denver on Wednesday (after a four hour flight delay spent sitting in airport!) and spent the night there as Thursday was going to be a busy day. Fortunately I did my research and found a beyond cool restaurant for dinner...it had live cliff diving shows going on while we ate! They had this really neat pool with waterfalls set up right in the center of restaurant and we literally watched people diving off of them throughout our whole meal!

Thursday- First up we had an 8:30am tour of the US Mint to watch money be made. Brian and Matt both have been studying this in various levels and were so excited to se it in person! Luke was just excited to see money being made and the fact that he was missing school!!!  Our tour was awesome and we headed to our next stop...Bronco Stadium! From there we headed to Colorado Springs to meet up with Craig. Along the way we had another stop...the US Air Force Academy. The boys really liked this one...seeing the planes flying overhead, watching a video about how hard it is to be in the Academy and touring the campus was super neat and makes you so thankful for those who do this. Next stop was a ridiculously fun soda fountain for lunch with a 3 story slide attached to side of building and a whole lower floor designed to resemble a children's museum. We had a blast exploring, playing and eating :) Our final destination for Thursday was one of my favorites...the Olympic Training Facility. We had a complete tour of the campus, played on actual Olympic "toys", watched a movie that made us really excited for February, learned how the athletes are invited to stay on the campus and even saw the US men's and women's (I find this to be a weird sport for women!) wrestling teams in training, as well as the current silver medal holder in shooting practicing!

Friday was another day full of adventures...Craig had to work in the am so the kids and I were off to Garden of the Gods, a national park with the neatest rock (ok...giant boulder) formations! My guys were in heaven exploring, climbing trails, climbing rocks and pretending to be ninja warriors! Lunch was at yet another ridiculously fun restaurant...this time an old warplane converted into a restaurant! The kids were over the moon playing in the cockpit, pushing buttons and using the controls while we waited for food! After lunch we met up with Daddy at Cave of the Winds. This is a preserved cave that we took an hour and a half tour of carved right into the side of Pike's Peak! The cave was at 7500ft and it was freezing outside when we arrived but inside was a cozy 54 degrees! All of us enjoyed learning the history behind the cave, the peaks and exploring ourselves through narrow paths, low ceilings and tight curves!!! (And yes, I was the one who called ahead to verify that there in fact NO bats in this cave (much to Craig's embarrassment!!) before we paid for my admission ticket!)

Saturday was another early start...we had a train up the side of Pike's Peak to catch! This was one of our more anticipated events as it is something my Mom did as a kid and still talks about to this day. It did not disappoint!!! We bundled ourselves up well as the top of the peak is at over 14000ft and was expected to be -11 degrees!!! Yep, I said negative!!! Poor Luke literally had on 5 layers, starting with long johns and ending with his ski coat! We made it just shy of the full ride and took our train as high as we could go thanks to 70mph winds at the very top! The only thing we missed seeing was the gift shop/restaurant but both were closed thanks to the insane winds!!! The ride itself was incredible...we had the "good" side of the train and had the neatest views! The kids particularly enjoyed the frozen in midstream waterfalls with icicles over 5ft long! Our train let us out to play for 40 minutes (which was plenty of time in those temperatures!!!) and my guys had a ball cracking ice to touch actual water in the frozen over streams, throwing snowballs and ice at primarily me (the favorite target!) and running through the woods in the snow!  Once we made it back to the bottom we spent a few hours shopping for treasures in the little city below and enjoying a yummy lunch before Saturday's final stop...The North Pole! Yes...you read correct...we went to North Pole, Colorado...a Christmas-themed theme park on the side of the mountain!!! It was 34 degrees out giving us that Christmas feeling and we all loved exploring this adorable park full of rides and entertainment...all Christmas themed!

Sunday was our last day and we had one last adventure...going to the bottom of the Mollie Kathleen gold mine! The kids were so happy...this was only open weather permitting in the winter months and we got lucky! We put on our hardhats, climbed into a 3ftx3ft metal cage, and were lowered 1000ft into the ground (swinging the whole way!) into the mine. It was damp, dreary and the guys in my family loved it! (I would've been happy skipping this one but sadly was not offered the choice!!) Again...there was a bat inquiry made prior to my being locked in a cage!!! After the mine, we headed back down the mountain to North Pole to use the 2'nd day on our tickets.

What a fun, amazing, spontaneous trip we were fortunate enough to have taken! When I look back at how much we have traveled this year with the kids I am truly in shock...we went from coast to coast and a whole lot in between in a very short amount of time!!!

Football...Part 2

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Football finally came to an end today (after 7 hours and three games!). The boys team entered playoff this morning as the "Undefeated Losers" of the season...aka...they had not won a game yet :(  Playoffs was single elimination...the odds of us making it past round 1 were not good. Fortunately their team played their little hearts out and WON!!! Those boys were on cloud 9!!! The smiles on all 14 of them could've lit the sky! Round 2 was a nail biter and in overtime...we pulled out ANOTHER win!!! I swear these kids were flying on pride at this point!!! Round 3 was a tough loss, and only by one touchdown. The team we played had entered playoffs at round 3 (yes, they were that good!) and we kept them working the whole game. Our guys were literally exhausted at this point and fought hard the whole game. What a fantastic 1'st season at this extreme version of flag football! As a Mom I loved watching each game and cheering for my guys. The pictures I took are proof of the bond the two of them have...they are together in almost every shot. Matt was always blocking Brian so Brian could make the throw/handoff, they were always chasing down a guy together and you really are hard pressed to find one without the other in these pics. I cannot wait to watch them grow together in a sport they so dearly love! We can't wait for Spring season!!!

Halloween 2013

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 Halloween kinda snuck up on us this year. With putting our house on the market I didn't decorate this year, and have been so consumed with school, sports and keeping the house clean... it was Halloween before I realized it! We made a quick daytrip to Six Flags to get in the Halloween Spirit this year. The boys always LOVE the creepy, well decorated park and it did not disappoint!

We had two sets of close friends join us for dinner and trick or treating this year and the boys were giddy at having them over! Both families have girls in their classes and all of the kids get along great! It was perfect in my opinion...Dads were on beggar duty and took all the kids trick or treating while Moms stayed here and sat in driveway passing out candy and enjoying sangria ;)

This year Luke was on a man on a mission. He knew just wanted he wanted to be and wouldn't stop till we found it...snake eyes (from GI Joe!). He was giddy with his big muscle costume and face paint. Brian and Matt had ninja costumes that they had picked out and purchased...until they found out the girls were gonna be cheerleaders! My two stooges actually changed their costumes and went as football players!!! Lordy...I thought I had a few years before we were impressing girls!!! All in all we had a great Halloween...friends, food and begging for candy...what more could you ask for?!?!

Finally!!!

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After 5 cancellations and rescheduling's...we FINALLY made it back to Jellystone! I swear the trip is not meant to be! We started off the long weekend with Walker being born! Hooray for Aunt Christy and her good timing...we all got to meet our new little man on the way to the park Friday morning! He is absolutely perfect and we are all completely in love with the newest member of the family! Walker's birth meant Gaga & Papa only being able to come with us to Jellystone for one day but we changed plans easily and are so happy Walker is finally here!

We were fortunate enough to get one of the brand new cabins and it did not disappoint! Fans and working a/c in every room, a nice big shower, a huge loft and even a leather couch! This is my kind of camping!!! After checking in we hit the pool, mini golf and bikes. The kids had an absolute ball enjoying the very uncrowded park!! Luke was elated to be tall enough for all of the waterslides this time around and we finished off our first night with fishing, a campfire dinner and smores!

Saturday Gaga & Papa joined us for a full day of fun! They brought Luke all of his birthday gifts as well as an awesome Star Wars cake! We spent the first part of the day enjoying the pool and slides...and then the rain came! Holy cow did it come...we were absolutely poured on! All said and done we got almost 7 inches of rain in 20 hours! Gaga & Papa headed home and left us in mudville USA! Packing the car in the pouring rain Sunday am was not my idea of fun but the kids haven't stopped talking about Jellystone so I'm gonna say it was a success!!!

Back on the fields...




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Fall sports have arrived and once again I live on a field of some form! Luke is playing his last season of t-ball and really doing well! It's like everything finally clicked and he knows where to throw to, how to run, how to slide, he's hitting every time and all around doing great! Watching his team is one of my favorite activities...one minute they look like little ball players hitting and fielding and the next they are sitting on the field, drawing their names in the dirt and asking how much longer till snack!!!Brian and Matt are playing football again but we have moved them up to the next step...extreme flag football. They are now the proud owners of over $400 worth of equipment and having a ball! They wear helmets and pads in this league. They can block and shove, but not tackle! Since we practice these activities 24/7 around here they are doing awesome at this take on football! Brian generally plays quarterback and Moose is on the line. It is so neat to see them understanding so much about a sport and having so much fun with it! I have resumed my life of sitting in a chair cheering for my guys and loving my life as a Mom of these guys!!!

Luke is 6!!!!

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Little man is officially 6 and LOVING life! He was beyond excited for his big day and spent the day acting like a crazed maniac on a serious high of some form!!! Craig was on a flight home so Brian, Matt and I did the morning with Luke. We had a GIANT donut formed as a 6 for breakfast (much to the delight of both Luke AND Matt!), opened super awesome presents from relatives, and were off to school. Luke spent his morning at school and then I joined him for the rest of the day at lunch. We had a yummy lunch of Subway together, had Star Wars cupcakes (complete with lightsabers!!), chocolate milk and giant pixie sticks with his class and then the FUN began! Daddy was home waiting and we opened more presents...including Luke's beloved ITouch affectionately named "Orange Carrot"!

Luke's has a best friend in 8'th grade...Caleb. The two of them met last year when assigned as chapel buddies and have formed the neatest bond together. Caleb pushes Luke on the swings, Luke watches him play football. they bring each other weekly treats, they high five everytime they see each other in the hall and truly just love each other! Caleb came home from school with us for a playdate and then joined us for dinner at Chuck E. Cheese...Luke was over the moon excited about his big guest! The two of them played together at home for two hours before we headed off to dinner :) 

Chuck E. Cheese was everything Luke could've hoped for! He ran around like a maniac playing games, winning tickets, eating pizza and dancing with Chuck E.! In true Luke form, he managed to knock the entire platter of his cupcakes on the ground, smashing all of them!!! (Chuck E. Cheese priced ice cream with a candle became the new plan!) His buddy Caleb even went into the Ticket Blaster with Luke to help him win that magical 1000 ticket!!! It was definitely a long, exhausting but SUPER FUN day celebrating with Luke turning the BIG 6!!!

Ninja Nightmare!

Ugh! Luke is obsessed with American Ninja Warrior and deems himself a ninja these days! It is like having a toddler all over again!!! Between his ninja behavior and the other two bozos teaching him more ninja tricks...I am losing my mind!!! He literally climbs to the top of my fridge using the handles and sits on the top, spider climbs between wall frames (which he learned from Brian's wall climbing ability!), thinks he can fly (wears the super Luke cape from Aunt Key (thanks for that) and jumps down as many stairs at once as he can fly over, hangs sideways between walls and furniture and the list just keeps going!!! Ninja Luke managed to crack his head open last week while "in training" resulting in 3 staples in the back of his head!!!  BUT in true ninja form...he sat like a champ! I mean, holy cow...the kid didn't even flinch when they gave him two lidocaine injections straight into his head!!! The Doctor even looked down to make sure he hadn't passed out! 3 staples and 2 days later...the Ninja took himself of the "injured" list and smashed the front of his face into a dresser! We are now sporting a giant black eye that gets uglier by the day, complete with sold black eyelid, as well as a knot the size of a marble under the corner of eye! He actually hit his face so hard we had to get xrays to make sure he didn't crack anything! Thankfully bones are okay but we will apparently be sporting this marble sized hematoma for 2-3 months! If CPS shows up one day at least we have picture proof of our crazy ninja who thinks he's invincible!!!  Thank goodness I am heading to Kerry's this weekend to get some MUCH NEEDED girl time with 3 of my favorite 5 girls!!!

My Boys Are Gonna KILL Me!!!

Seriously...this is what my boys are up to! I always said I wanted all boys...word to the wise...Be Careful What You Wish For!!!  UGH!!!!!!

Feelin Sucker Punched!!!.

And my bum luck continues...so far this summer I have broken my ankle, ripped my fingernail off my finger and now had emergency gallbladder removal! For the past three months I have struggled with what I thought was severe heartburn...WRONG! I had even gotten on heartburn medication :) Apparently my gallbladder was on the verge of rupturing and I was clueless! I have actually had three attacks, lasting 4, 6 and 10 hours! The first time I truly thought I was having a heart attack...I have never experienced chest pain like this. The second time was even longer and I assumed it must be severe heartburn as the previous time wasn't a heart attack...WRONG AGAIN! The third and final attack was last Tuesday. It lasted 10 hours and over the course of the night I debated between going to the ER and searching the Internet for what could possibly be causing these excruciating chest pains. I stumbled on the word gallbladder and suddenly everything made sense. After a quick search of rupturing gallbladder symptoms it became very clear what had been causing me all this pain.
   

From there everything moved very quick! I called the gastro and was seen immediately. They agreed with my Internet diagnosis and sent me straight to hospital for labs and ultrasound. Ultrasound revealed my gallbladder was full of stone's and four times the size it should be. Next stop was straight to surgeon's office. He informed me that I needed a removal asap but wanted to wait 24 hours to let the inflammation from the attack die down a little. My parents arrived to help Craig with boys as well as brought a car full of freezer meals to help me while I recover! Friday morning I had surgery and am now home with a bloated, bruised stomach and feeling better everyday! The four holes they made in surgery are healing, the bruises are getting uglier and the bloating will last 4-6 weeks but the chest pains and heartburn are gone...whoohoo!!! Fingers crossed I get clearance on Friday to fly to Vegas and see all my girls this weekend!!!

Ninjas, Slime, Disney & Gators...

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(This is a little out of order but I had sooo many pictures to go through!!!)
What a super fun vacation we just came home from! Two full weeks of FUN!!! This time we took a roadtrip East to Florida!!! We left on a Thursday and drove to Orlando from Houston in one day, arriving at the Nickelodeon Hotel...a kids paradise! My friend Beth and her family joined us at the hotel. Beth has been one of my best friend's since we were both teachers WAY back when in Arizona! We have been close ever since and talk on the phone non-stop, as well as try to visit each other (though not as frequent as we would like!) She has 4 kids all around the ages of mine and we have been pregnant together with two of the kids! All 7 kids had an absolute ball getting slimed, playing on the waterslides, endless swimming, playing mini-golf and video games! Luke's dream came true when he dressed up in his ninja turtle costume and met the "real" ninja turtles! They couldn't have been cooler guys...Raphael actually stepped out of the pack to let Luke be the honorary Raphael with the rest of the guys! After LOTS of pics and a few ninja moves, he even got his shell signed!

Saturday the Williby's left us and we headed to our Walt Disney World Hotel...home for the next 8 nights!  We spent the week thoroughly enjoying all 4 parks...Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Epcot! Luke was tall enough to ride almost everything making his dreams come true! In true daredevil form...one of his favorites was Tower of Terror! Our little Star Wars fans had yet another magical experience when they were all chosen to participate in Jedi training at Hollywood Studios. The were given robes and light sabers, placed onstage and trained with Luke Skywalker!! As they thought they were ending...Darth Vader showed up for a battle! The kids all took turns fighting him and talked about this once in a lifetime experience for days!

We were also thrilled to be able to meet up with Aunt Chandelle and Serena for a day. We met at Universal Studios City Walk at the NBA Restaurant! (Yet another piece of heaven for my guys!) We had fun exploring the restaurant, had a yummy lunch and then let the kids play in the fountains for awhile! While we are so sad not to be able to see Aaron and Uncle Mike, we hope that next time we make it to Florida Aaron will be on the road to recovery and we can have a whole lot of fun together!!!

After spending 10 days completely exhausting ourselves...it was time to turn the car back towards Texas. But first...a few days at the beach! We left Orlando and headed for Destin and Pensacola beaches! We spent four days soaking up the sun and sand and playing in the waves! The big boys were giddy to spend one morning in their snorkel gear and heading 300yds out to a sunken pier and ship which has turned into a natural reef! After a few days of beyond delicious seafood dinners, long, lazy days on the beach and some well earned R&R...it was sadly time to head home! One more super fun find along the way in the heart of Mississippi swamps was Gator Ranch...the home of "Gator Boys" on Animal Planet! My car of people thought this was way too fun to miss so off we went in search of  gators. Holy cow did we hit the jackpot! We found gators of all ages and sizes, fed them beyond disgusting pellets that resembled dog poop, and even held a live gator! I personally would've been happy if they had left me at the outlet mall off the freeway but in the end am so glad we stopped at this side of the road freakshow! After our gator fun it was time to finally wrap up this trip and make the long drive home. Sadly school is literally less than a week away and we are so NOT in school mode!

First Day of School 2013

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Another school year has arrived and this one hit me hard...like running straight into a building hard! Not one of my kids cried last night telling me how much they will miss me and it means that they are growing up. Brian started 4'th grade, Matt started 3'rd and Luke started Kindergarten...the grade I taught that surely my baby cannot possible be big enough for! He is now going to school full time, five days a week and I am so, so sad. My M/F buddy for the past three years while in preschool is gone. In fact, everything I have spent the last nine years of my life doing is gone as I no longer have kids at home. I no longer have a sidekick that goes with me everywhere. I no longer have Disney channel on the whole day. In fact, I can now run my errands faster and far more productively, I can watch whatever I please on the TV, I can take a shower and go to the gym, I can have a life of my own for the first time in nine years. And you know what...I DON'T want it! I don't want to be alone. I don't want my kids to grow up and I most certainly would rather watch Disney than the horrific, continually depressing news! I literally feel like someone whose whole life has flashed before their eyes while trying to accept it will never be the same. I will never have kids at home during the day again and I am really having a hard time coping with this realization. So many people cheer when summer is over and they get to send their kids back to school. While I will admit there were certainly days this summer I was wishing for school to start, those thoughts were gone as soon as I tucked my three precious guys into bed. I will admit that I have cried more today than I have cried in the whole past year. I drove my own car to take the kids to school so I could cry all by myself (but my dear friend Beth did spend the whole car ride making me feel better and letting me be sad!). I just keep thinking of all the things Brian does now and how "mature" (ahem, ahem...some of you will get this!) some of these things are. It literally seems like yesterday he was the one I was walking into Kindergarten and now Luke is there. After dropping the kids off with Craig and then staying for morning chapel, Craig had to get back home to his career, his job, the thing that defines him. I will admit I was jealous. I stood there like a lost soul trying to figure out what to do next as I am in clear need of a career change after a forced retirement! Once I get through this week (particularly Friday which will be the hardest day for me without my Friday sidekick) I will surely have plenty to do with PTL, classroom volunteering, sports beginning, subbing, cleaning this disaster we call a home, the endless laundry, cooking, never ending errands and so many other things that define me. But for now...the biggest thing that defines me, being a stay at home Mom is really shaken up without the kids here to stay home with.

The good news is all 3 guys had a GREAT day! They love their classes and their teachers, they were excited to see their friends and overall happy to be back at school. After picking them up, (and yes, I was the lady sitting in my car an hour before school ended in my car in the parking lot like a complete stalker!), we went with a few friends for ice cream! WE created our own hand-dipped ice cream bars which was quite the hit for everyone! A fun dinner of the kids favorite meal...Chinese food, wrapped up our night and we are ready for day 2...only 174 more days of school left till summer!!!

Our Fantastic 4'th!!!

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For the first time in four years we skipped the beach on the 4'th and headed to Gaga & Papa's on the lake! Since our two week trip to Disney World and the beach is right around the corner, we decided some fun on the lake was in need! The boys had a ball!!! We went a day early to let the kids play on the lake without crowds and hit the jackpot! There was no one and the water was calm...perfect for tubing! After a few rounds of waterski attempts and a couple successes the boys hit the tube! They had a ball flopping all over each other and flying off into the water :)  We got home and had even more fun kayaking in the canal (now that we are old pros and all!) We even sat right underneath the fireworks on the lake to wrap up our fun weekend celebrating America!

Our mini Staycation :)

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Lake LBJ and the city of Marble Falls is less than 1 hour from our house. For Kerry's 30th we went to the Marriott Resort for a girls weekend. Somehow since my people were so close they showed up at the resort for one of the afternoons. The kids had so much fun we took them back for a few days the last week of June! I managed to kick the trip into high gear by ripping my fingernail completely off of my finger with the acrylic still attached to it as we were packing the car!!! One of the most painful things I have EVER done!!! A few stitches later to repair the finger I tore as well (under where the nail used to be!) we were late but on our way.

The Marriott at Horseshoe Bay is such a neat place. The grounds are extraordinary, there is a sand beach right on the lake, multiple pools, the coolest rock Jacuzzi I have ever seen, an 18 hole professional putting course that is like mini golf on steroids, fishing, marina and so much more. The kids had a ball with Craig for three straight days and I happily sat in a chair with my ankle up (yes, I am also coming off an ankle fracture!), finger dry and wrapped, pain pills on board and constant margaritas being the photographer. The kids all kayaked for the first time (I think we found a new family activity...they LOVED it!!!) and we also made fun use of my new "Mom-proof" phone...the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active...it has indestructible, shatterproof gorilla glass and is FULLY waterproof!!! The kids had a ball playing with my cell phone in the pool in aqua mode and I enjoyed watching the people around us look at me like we were insane taking a phone in the pool :)

Another "Successful" Swim Season :)



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We were officially swimteam slackers this year. We actually only made it to one meet at the very end of the season. Not because we had other commitments or activities...we just weren't that into it. The boys went to 3-4 practices/week since April and while they enjoyed the practices, they had ZERO interest in going to meets this year. Luke finally wanted to go to one just to show everyone that he can in fact make it all the way across the pool without touching the wall, lane lines or bottom. Brian and matt agreed to participate as well since they were going to watch their brother. Holy cow...we should've gone to more meets! My guys did GREAT! They all had multiple time improvements and placing's in the top 10 in their events (well...not Luke but he did complete his lap in a "record time" of 2:06, earning himself a GIANT gold medal from Mommy!!!) Click for a few pics of the one meet we actually participated in :)