Happy Halloween!!!

What a FUN Halloween we have had! Matt had his Fall Festival at preschool on Thursday...him and Luke had a blast! Matt was LOVING all of the attention he got for his "super awesome" costume during the Halloween parade:) The best part was when he told people "Mommy gave me the black eye!" We then spent the rest of the day having parties, craft and game rotations and some yummy Halloween snacks!!!

Click on the two pictures to see full albums from our fun!!!

Halloween Day was even more fun (especially because Brian was a part of it!!!) Craig wore a Batman shirt in honor of Brian and Luke's costumes and had a black eye and bloody lip in honor of Matt's costume (and no, I didn't actually punch him to make it more realistic!!) We started out our evening at the block party for some "Halloweenie" fun and enjoyed grilled weenies, snacks and a neighborhood costume parade before heading out to trick-or-treat:) We came back home for quick potty breaks and all of the boys headed out while I parked myself in the driveway with the treats! Luke had a blast!!! His first house was the one across the street where he proceeded to dig in shouting "can-ee, can-ee" and quickly caught on to the the fun he was about to have!!! He made it about 25 houses and was brought back home so the big boys could have their "real fun"! Well Luke is obviously no dummy because the first thing he did was run right back across the street and hang out in the driveway with the neighbors, eating from their bowl of candy while they were passing it out:) He literally hung out with them for a good 40 minutes, shouting "Hi Mommy" across the street a few times!!! Everyone is now tucked away for the night, dreaming of all of the fun they had with full bellies of candy to keep them content!

All of this for...$4.09 (NO JOKE!!!)

I was a woman on a mission today after reading a coupon blog and I gave coupons at Target a try. I got everything you see in the picture for $4.09!!! I actually spent $6.09 if you look at my receipt but two things I bought were dollar bin items that I had no coupon for and didn't put in the picture as they are going away for Christmas stockings and they don't really count towards my coupon savings! So there you have it...with a little time on the computer and a list of items to purchase, you can leave Target with 2 boxes of Huggies wipes for $0.49 each ($2.49 each with a $2.00 coupon for each), a Connect Four game for FREE (currently on sale for $9.00, two coupons, one for $5 off and one for $4 off), a Glade scented oil candle holder and one pack of Glade scented oil refills for $1.50 ( $3.49 for holder and $2.99 for refills with a coupon for $2.00 of any scented candle holder and a coupon for a FREE pack of refills with any holder purchase), 1 package of Target Bakery Brownie bites for FREE ($0.99 with a coupon for $0.99 off any bakery item) and 3 packages of Keebler Chips Deluxe cookies for $1.50 (Target has them on sale for two packages for $4.00 with a buy two get one free promotion and I had two coupons, one for $1.50 off two packages and the other for $1.00 off two packages). So there you have it...I spent $4.09 and walked away saving $35.05...not too shabby if I do say so myself:)

The Race & Sea World's Halloween Festival!!!

**click the pics to see more photos from the fun**

Another busy, fun weekend in our house!!! We started with the boys running in the 1 mile at Brian's school early Saturday morning! Papa and Daddy ran with them and they had a good time:) After that, we loaded up the car and headed down to Sea World, making a "quick" pit-stop along the way!!! The UT Co-op is an amazing store full of Bevo apparel and we had to get some Bevo Halloween shirts! (You can't live in Austin and NOT have a wardrobe full of Bevo apparel!!!) My Mom and I "ran in" for some "quick" shopping which was put to an end when my Dad and Craig decided to bust in on the shopping (it had only been 20 minutes)and order us to the car where everyone was waiting...oh well..we'll go another day without them:) We arrived at Sea World to see the park covered in pumpkins and skeletons!!! The kids got to trick-or-treat through the shark exhibit, we saw some fun Halloween shows, went through Jacks Frightmare Forest...in the daylight of course so no scary guys with chainsaws chasing us, just lots of creepy decorations!!! Luke LOVED it while my Mom was terrified!!!

The highlight of the day had to be when my Dad and Craig decided to take Brian and Matt into the bird cage to feed the birds. It went something like this...you pay $4 for 1 T. of nectar in a tiny cup. You hold it in your hands and when you walk in the birds will land on you and feed from your hands:) I wanted no part of this as I am beyond terrified of birds as I saw the movie "The Birds" as a child and have hated them ever since!!! I opted to stay out of the cage with Luke and my Mom thought she would head in (what was she thinking!?!?!?) to try as well. They no more enter the cage when birds start flocking to my Mom...she gets scared, throws her $4 cup of nectar and a bird bites her finger, actually drawing blood!!! You can imagine the laughter that went on as a direct result of this incident!!! She is fine...a little more terrified of birds, but fine and gave us a great memory of the day:)

Paint Eating + Chicken Dancing = SUCH A FUN DAY!!!

Craig's Dad is in town so we spent the day yesterday at Six Flags! The entire park transforms for Halloween and has so many fun activities for the kids!!! We started off visiting Scooby Doo and Trick or Treating for a candy bag:) We then headed to where else?!?!? Wiggle World!!! Luke rode his ides, saw "his people" and even got a picture with the whole gang for fun!!! After a few big boy rides, we headed over to Pumpkinville and let the kids each choose a pumpkin and a cookie, both of which they got to decorate:) Three kids and three adults "seemed" like the perfect amount of supervision but Luke decided to prove us wrong:) The boys were eagerly painting their pumpkins when Luke just couldn't resist the urge to taste the bright green acrylic paint! After a good amount of spitting, a mouth cleaning with a baby wipe and a quick call to poison control (thank goodness for the Internet on my phone which quickly gave us the number!!!) Luke was deemed fine! A little green teeth, cheeks and tongue never killed anyone and Luke was DONE with the pumpkin painting. We thought it might be a little safer if he moved onto cookie decorating where at least he could safely eat the decorations!!!

We headed off for some more rides and ended our day with the Looney Tunes Halloween Dance Party! What a GREAT way to end the day! As you all know...Luke has serious people issues (although they are getting better recently!) but Luke does NOT have giant chicken issues!!! Foghorn Leghorn (that really is his name...thanks Ker) was a 6.5 foot tall rooster that Luke LOVED!!! He danced four songs with him and proceeded to chase him around the dance floor when he started to move away:) Brian, Matt, Luke and Craig had a ball dancing at the dance party and even joined in on the conga line!!! I had the most fun watching my four guys dance without a care in the world:) So my tip for all of you still trying to win over Luke...get a Foghorn Leghorn costume and come dance with him...he'll be your best friend for life!!!!

(click on photo to see pics and click above to see dancing video!!!)

The Boys Cruise with Gaga and Papa!!!

The boys are back and we couldn't be happier!!! Within twenty minutes of getting in the car for our journey back to Austin there were tears, fighting, yelling and two very tired little guys!!! (Life was back to normal!!) They had such a great time in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel with Gaga and Papa. They went to the beach in Jamaica where they played in the ocean and jumped on water trampolines, went on a pirate ship in Grand Cayman...(complete with cleaning the decks and walking the plank!), and spent the day at a beach resort in Cozumel learning to snorkel with Papa!!! Brian's favorite part of the trip was not only walking the plank but diving off of the top rails on the pirate ship in to the clear teal waters of Grand Cayman, the jump was at least 12-15 feet high and he LOVED it! Matt's favorite part was the mini golf and unlimited ice cream on the boat...Matt is our junk food lover and in "true cruiser form" returned home three pounds heavier than when he left:) They are SO fortunate to have such amazing Grandparents that take them on these incredible vacations!!! Click the photo above to see all of the cruise pictures on my Mom's Shutterfly site:)

Lukey's TWO!!!

It has been a busy weekend around here as our little man is now TWO!!! His actual birthday was Friday and he woke up to balloons and lots of Birthday hugs! He was NOT in birthday mode and was actually the biggest birthday loser around:) He went to a fun lunch at Chick-Fil-A with Matt and Papa to play and eat, followed by some serious playground time with Brian, Matt, and Papa. Once he got back he decided the whole birthday thing wasn't as bad as he originally thought and was downright giddy when we cracked open the presents!!! I've never seen a two year old scream "Tank Eww" so many times!!! He was on serious Wiggle overload with all of the Wiggle gifts my Mom ordered from Australia and was running in circles not knowing what to play with first!!! His big night ended with dinner at Fazoli's followed by Chuck E. Cheese for cake and playtime:) The very last picture took of him at Chuck E. Cheese is a perfect way to describe what a "high" he was on. He was sugar filled, crabby, overtired and let us all know it:) Click on the two photos to see more images from Luke's BIG day!!!

The next day was party day and Luke was ready for another sugar filled day of fun! We headed to Hoppin Hippo, which is a really fun indoor playground with lots of inflatables for young children (no one over 8 allowed unless you are an adult) and had a blast!!! We then moved the party home for cake, presents, pinata and more fun:) It's hard to believe that our little NICU menance is now "pushing three". He is a naughty, Wiggle Groupie, tantrum throwing, full of attitude little tornado that has a heart the size of Texas and gives the best sloppy kisses ever!!! What could be better than that?!?!?!?

BIG NEWS.....

So this whole growing up thing seems to be hitting me like lightning speed all of the sudden! As if starting Kindergarten wasn't enough..Brian lost his first tooth today!!!! That's right, my baby is now an official boy, complete with a giant hole in his smile:) He has had a loose tooth for a few weeks and in all honesty it wasn't quite ready!! He was bound and determined to get this tooth out though and has spent the last 24 hours wiggling with all his might! I was busy cleaning when I hear "It's out...OH MY GOSH...what the heck...MOOOOOOOOMMM...IT JUST POPPED OUT!!!!" He came running, tooth in hand, and gave me a giant grin with a big hole right in the middle! It was one of those Mommy moments when you are ready to cry but instead smile and give a big celebration hug:)

2 Boys+Rain= LOTS of Muddy Fun!!!

We have not had any true rain in Austin since May so the boys have really not had the opportunity to use their umbrellas (which we all know is such a fun thing to do!!!) After 24 hours of hard rain, the yard is wet, the flowers are blooming, the grass is getting greener and my two clowns thought this was the perfect day to go play outside!!! Since there was no thunder or lightning, I sent them on their way to the yard, complete with their umbrellas!

Leave it to my boys to find the only spot in the whole yard without grass (under the trampoline from lack of sun) and dive, literally dive, right on in to the "most funnest mud puddle ever"!!!

What better way to end the fun than with a good old fashioned hose off and strip down in the yard before heading to the tub:)

Matt's Big Day!!!

So Matt is officially "the BIG man on campus" at Palm Valley Preschool! He is LOVING the fact that he's in "the fours" and tells anyone who asks that "not Brian, just me goes to Palm Valley"! He has been counting down the minutes until school started as watching Brian head off everyday was killing him:)

He had his night before school celebration dinner at Olive Garden followed up by some Baskin Robbins. He literally couldn't sleep he was so excited to go and popped right out of bed two hours before we would even think about leaving for school the next morning:) Craig and I took him and he "dismissed" us telling us he was fine and that we should leave! He is happily in Ms. Sharon's class (Brian's old teacher) and his only problem is that preschool is only two days per week:)

Matt & Ms. Sharon:)

It's now just me and Lukey on Tuesdays and Thursdays...the house is eerily quiet! I am already dreading my sweet Matt leaving me next year and just thinking about it makes me want to throw up!!! I wish I could put bricks on all of their heads and just stop time...2, 4 and 5 are a perfect age combination! On that note...can you believe our little Lukey is almost two?!?!?!? Stay tuned for those details...

Life is different now!!!

Life is officially different and I am NOT happy about it! Today Brian started Kindergarten...my first little man, whom I have taken care of 24/7 for the past five years is now gone! I have discovered that it is much harder to be a Kindergarten Mommy than a Kindergarten teacher and am just sad. He will now have his own life, his own friends and his days of thinking I'm his "very best friend" are quickly disappearing. I truly feel bad for all of the bad thoughts I ever had as a teacher about the Mom's. I completely understand it and apologize from the bottom of my heart! They give you drugs when you have post-partum depression, do they have anything for post-school depression? I had my morning cry in the shower, held on a brave face the entire time we were at school (so that Brian wouldn't have a repeat of the first day of 3's preschool) all the while feeling like I was either about the throw up or have severe diarrhea! Once home I had my post drop-off cry and am now just a sad Mommy. My house is too quiet and someone else is spending the day with my "very best friend" (there's another woman in his life!)! I guess the only positive is that Luke and Matt will have to finally start liking each other as they are the only option for each other now! (At the moment they are shoving and screaming at each other over a toy..we'll see how the friendship thing goes!)

Best Friends!!!

As for Brian...he was very excited and woke up early ready to go! I am so proud of what a big boy he was...he told me he needed to go to school "cause he has learning to do". He was surprised to find the kitchen full of signs and balloons celebrating the big day and proudly wearing his "Wild About Kindergarten" t-shirt! He walked right into school like he owned the place, hung up his stuff, kissed all of us goodbye and that was it. I stood there almost wishing he would get upset so I could have a few more minutes with him! My little man acted like a big man and I couldn't be prouder!!! There wasn't a single tear and there was actually a huge smile on his face!!! I am counting down the minutes until 2:40 when I get him back and hear all about his day:)

Brian Ready to go!

We are actually there!

Brian and Mrs. Gunn!!! (the other woman!)

I miss my monkey...literally!!!

Luke has been with my parents since last Friday and I miss him!!!! Don't get me wrong...a few days break is always nice but this is WAY too long! My Mom deemed it her turn for some Luke lovin and enough is enough!!!! Thank goodness he'll be home tomorrow! Then we can return to life as normal, with Luke climbing on everything (in true monkey form!)!!!!!

Is there a hole large enough to swallow us up?

So the boys and I have had a fun few days with my Mom! She came up to simply hang out with us and we have played, shopped, dined and had some laughs:) We ended our fun today when we got to publicly humiliate ourselves and wish as hard as we could that there was a hole out there to swallow us up so we could die!!! Let's start at the beginning...shall we???

My Mom had an appointment with an eye specialist where Matt and Luke go this morning at 9:30. We got up, got the kids fed and dressed, made ourselves presentable (by which I mean it was one of those days where you are borderline hillbilly but can go out in public if it's quick and discreet)! The boys were actually doing quite well during this LONG (almost 2 hour) appt. and we were on the homestretch. We had done all of the exams, waited for dilation and were finally locked in a room with the Doctor. Quick note about the Doctor...mid-30's, giant dork, NOT fond of kids and giant stick in the mud! The natives were starting to get restless when I felt the need to ask "this big, important question". The Doctor began answering the question when the boys lost full control of themselves. Luke was shoving Matt, Matt was flicking Brian's ear and Brian was trying to see how far he could roll off of a chair while kicking Luke and picking Matt's nose...all at the same time. They were all three laughing and having a grand ole time and I quickly did what any Mom would do...I pinched Brian's armpit and whispered to please knock it off. As the Doctor turns his stool to come give me a visual of his big explanation Brian starts sobbing in a very dramatic way "Mommy, you hurt me! Why would you pinch me? Oh Mommy, that was so mean!" I look over and see my mom (whose was now behind the Doctor) burst out laughing! So what did I do? I had a church moment...one where you do something you know is SO wrong but just can't control...I burst out laughing in the Doctor's face! As if this wasn't bad enough I try to regain composure of myself while apologizing to this man who is looking at me like I just walked in from the local trailer park, complete with unruly children and my Mom is babbling away about him not having kids and not understanding when I make a fatal mistake...I make eye contact with my Mom and the whole scene starts all over again! That's right, I burst out laughing in his face a second time!!! At that moment I start grabbing our things and am trying to shove the kids (who are still acting like a bunch of wild animals) out the door when Brian literally stops and says to the Doctor "I'm sorry Doctor, I just can't seem to control myself!" I swear the kid sounded like he regularly sees a therapist and was coached to say this. Where his drama skills come from is beyond me:) I leave my poor Mom trying to save face with this Doctor and am walking towards the nurses station when I see Brian and Luke shoving each other and Brian trying to trip Luke. I reach for the first thing that I can grab...it happened to be Brian's ear...give it a good yank with a quick "knock it off" and he screams for all to hear "Mom, you're gonna rip my ear off!" I hear two office staff and three nurses burst out laughing and shove my kids through the door leading to the lobby. At this point I am visualizing how I am going to kill each and every one of them when I get home when Matt decides to ask in front of the entire waiting room "Mommy, are we gonna get "pankings" when we get home?"

I herded them all into their seats and laughed for a good five minutes as I replied this entire scene in my head! I swear, it's a true miracle I didn't have CPS show up at my car while we were waiting in it for my Mom to come out for the scene we had caused!!! There are days when being a Mom is the most humiliating, frustrating job in the world and I still love every minute of it:) I can now add "professional hillbilly" to my resume, sit back with a giant glass of wine and pray to God that Matt and Luke's next appointments at this office are a long time away!!!

Sun, Fun, Rides and The Wiggles LIVE!!!

Well, Luke's dream became a reality yesterday...he saw his very best friends in the whole world...The Wiggles!!! We have our season passes to Six Flags and put them to good use yesterday so that we could go see The Wiggles. They were on their way touring through Texas and made an afternoon stop at Six Flags to promote Wiggle World, the new kids area completely Wiggle themed! After waiting in line for A LONG TIME to get good seats and then waiting for the concert to begin, Luke was rather angry at the world. His attitude drastically changed when all of the sudden, Jeff was right in front of his face, dancing across the stage. The reaction from Luke was priceless...he literally stopped dead in his tracks (mid tantrum) and when the rest of the group came on stage one by one he was actually shaking with excitement!!! I've never seen a toddler remain focused for an entire hour. He spent the majority of the show in the aisle dancing, clapping and screaming HI to Wags the dog! Our seats were so close that Brian and Matt even gave Sam a high-five as he came in the aisle for a minute:) The entire show was a blast and I would spend another long day in 109 degree heat again in a second to see Luke's reaction all over again!!!

To cool off after the show we headed over to the waterpark for a few hours of fun! Matt and Brian both rode the BIG slides by themselves for the first time and LOVED them!!! Nothing was better than seeing Matt come down the slide... he literally got swallowed up by his tube and all we saw were two feet!

Another BIG event came at the end of the day when Matt decided his time had come to ride his first BIG coaster...Tony Hawk! Brian has been riding it for awhile and Matt has never been ready. His usual answer when asked when he'll want to go on is "When I'm 4, or 5 or 6 or maybe 8!" I guess yesterday was the magic day because he hounded us all day to go on it even after I made sure he was aware that once you get on, you can't get off! The roller coaster doesn't stop if you get scared! He still wanted to go so he and Daddy went on and Matt LOVED it!!! He even went through the line again riding it twice in 20 minutes!!! We now have two thrill seekers and actually feel bad for shorty pants Luke! He's the most daring of all and we fear it'll be years before he's actually tall enough to do anything:)

No more tubes for Brian!!!

Brian has the big news in the house this week...his tubes are FINALLY both out and he can now swim without earplugs!!! He has had his tubes for just shy of two years , followed by Matt and Luke. The thought of one less child not needing earplugs is the best news all week!!!

Luke's Finest Moments...

So I know you all hear me talking about how naughty Mr. Luke is. I'm sure you think I'm crazy...how much trouble can one little man cause! Here are some highlights from the past few weeks...

God forbid we just watch TV on the couch like a normal person!!!

Helping ourselves to brownies!

Assisting with the toilet paper!

And my personal favorite...

Climbing our toy bin until it tips over and then promptly getting stuck in a toy basket!!!

Nelly!!!

We added to our family this weekend...meet Nelly! She is a four month old Labradoodle puppy and the sweetest thing ever:) Nelly is going to be a BIG girl as she is already weighing in at 43 lbs. but we figure it's more of her to love!!! We have been looking for another dog since rehoming Bugsy a few months ago (she had serious dominance issues) but didn't want to just rush into any old dog. I had narrowed it down to either a St. Bernard or a Labradoodle as these are the two breeds I have always told Craig I wanted to have one day. We found Nelly at our Humane Society and couldn't resist her! She was a perfect match for our family and LOVES her new boys with all of her heart;) Here are a few Nelly pics to enjoy!

Nelly's First Bath!!!

Isn't she sweet???

Starting the Blog...

So it appears that I have lots to tell a certain group of people on a daily basis! I'm talking about those of you whom I call or get calls from on a daily basis, sometimes more:) ( I won't divulge who had comments about my phone usage or the fact that I talk to certain people multiple times daily!!!) I decided that rather than continuing to talk on my cell phone while driving my children at all hours of the day...I would share some of these IMPORTANT items via this blog!!! I know...I am such a good Mom, thinking of my children's welfare before my own needs;) Whatever the reason may be...I will try to post regular updates on our lives. (Now with the usual chaos going on in my household...this will probably prove to be quite interesting, funny and sometimes even embarrassing) ENJOY!!!!