Brian's party

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Brian had been deadset on having ALL the boys in his class spend the night for his Birthday...God help us! Last night we did just that! Matt and Brian received a 12 man tent for their Birthday's from Gaga & Papa so Brian had a campout...complete with hotdogs and s'mores! Papa joined us for the "fun" and we had 10 boys sleeping in our backyard. We took them to the big playground in our neighborhood to wear them out, ate our hotdogs picnic style, played a few fun games before returning home. Were they tired yet...nope!!!!! Next up...presents and s'mores over the firepit! Between that and these boys running around my yard with every weapon we could find we thought surely they'd be tired...nope!!!! It wasn't until about 11:30 that everyone was finally sleeping! No worries...3:30 AM arrived and they were all back up!!!! I went our there and promptly sat outside the tent listening to "Is she gone yet?" and "How much longer is she gonna be out there?" for a good 45 minutes before they gave up and realized that I can indeed outlast them :) By 6:15 the sun was up and so was the party...back in bandannas running around shooting each other! 8am brought us the whole lot of them trying to escape OVER our LOCKED fence and getting caught by Craig :) By 5:30pm...every single one of us were asleep on the couch from all of our "fun"!!!!

The good news is Brian had an absolute blast and it IS OVER...the bad news is I am already preparing myself for Matt's campout next year!

Mommy & Matt's Birthday!

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March 18 is the day I get to celebrate giving birth to my sweet Matt...oh and it's my Birthday too but I gave up celebrating it! (The beauty is I'll never get older!!!) Since we had literally just returned from and exhausting but super fun Spring Break, Matt & I had no big plans. We went to church (minus Brian & Daddy since Brian was in serious need of an attitude adjustment and was summoned to yard work!) and had a Birthday breakfast at Ihop afterwards. Matt told the waitress it was "mine and my Mommy's Birthday) so they came out singing "Happy Birthday to Matt and his Mommy" complete with chocolate cake :) We got home, changed and headed as a family to Lowe's (seriously the fun never ends around here) where we spent a small fortune on replacement grass and mulch...and then we got to come home and put it all out!!! Later that evening was spent at the movies watching Matt's choice "Big Miracle"...great movie! Being that it was a Birthday, we actually decided to not be cheapskates and let the kids have popcorn and candy...so go figure...no one was hungry enough to go out for a Birthday dinner! Matt had his heart set on BBQ so takeout for Matt it was :) The rest of us had ramen (seriously wasn't kidding about not celebrating my bday anymore!!!!) Tomorrow will be spent celebrating Matt's Birthday with his class and then finally having our Birthday dinner at Matt's choice....SaltLick BBQ!!!

Spring Break

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Spring break has come and gone and WE HAD A BLAST! The boys and I spent the first half hanging at home...destroying the place, going to Waco to see the zoo, the oldest suspension bridge in the state and the Dr. Pepper museum, playing at our local "dinosaur park" (think massive sandbox completely covered with huge dino bones buried under the sand waiting to be excavated...we dug so deep we hit water!), meeting Aunt Kel and the girls in Brenham for lunch and the Bluebell Ice Cream factory tour, hanging at gaga & papa's with LOTS of pool time, having a GIANT family Birthday party celebrating Daddy, Aunt Christie, Mommy, Matt, Brian, Aunt Kel and Aunt Key (and now Mackenzie too!!!), watching our precious Abby's Baptism with a fun lunch afterwards and ending with football in the yard before heading home to wake up and celebrate Mommy & Matt's real Birthday!!! Phew...I am exhausted just writing about it and I still have to decorate for Matt :)

Matt's Party



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So TV marketing clearly gets to Matt...he insisted on having a party at Chuck E. Cheese this year after seeing about a billion commercials advertising for the ticket machine a new ticket with worth 1000 tickets! Matt was determined to get in that machine and get that ticket...so a party with four friends at Chuck E. Cheese was tonight's agenda!!! Holy cow did Matt have fun...that little guy was literally beaming in every picture I took of him! He had an absolute blast running around the place with his friends, winning tickets and dancing with Chuck E.!!! When the big moment came...Matt was literally visibly nervous...his eyes were on the prize and then the wind started blowing. HOORAY...Matt caught the 1000 ticket coupon and the party was officially a HUGE success!!!! I still cannot believe my Moose is turning 7....I need a brick on his head!

Lots going on at school...



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Holy cow...BUSY few weeks! The boys competed in PSIA...a private school academic competition, Matt has been on two field trips, Brian has been on one field trip, (Mommy went on all the field trips) Luke had Texas Day at preschool which I co-chaired this year, Craig had a Birthday, Basketball finally ended and we went right into baseball for Luke and football for Brian/Matt, and Matt is having a Birthday party Friday night  .

So PSIA...They were chosen in their classes to go to the competition based on their grades and work ethic. Craig and I were so proud that they were chosen and both boys really enjoyed the day away from school with their friends, touchpads and DS's. The best part of the day came when Matt placed third overall in the the Central Texas region in creative writing!!!  

Field trips have been so fun! Matt and I went with his class to the dentist, and then I went with both boys to the Texas State Aquarena for a glass bottom boat tour. Going on one field trip with both boys was definitely the way to go...I love killing two birds with one stone!!!

Texas day was as fun as ever! Luke was an adorable cowboy and had a blast spending the day with Daddy, Gaga and Papa. After five years at the preschool, I took my turn as a co-chair and spent the day hosting the cookout. Matt also had a great time at their Texas Day which Brian unfortunately missed due to a stomach bug and then was greeted at school by Daddy, Luke, Gaga and Papa which both boys to go to the social studies fair which both boys had entered.

Craig had a very low-key Birthday which was exactly what the Doctor ordered! He worked a 1/2 day, went to the boys school and then we had a fun family dinner at Chili's with my parents...Happy 34'th Craig!

Raptors vs. Rockets!!!

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Last night we took the boys down to Houston to watch "Mr. Aaron" play against the Houston Rockets. The boys were downright giddy for their first NBA game...especially when they knew a player! Gaga, Papa, Uncle Chris, Uncle DJ and Aunt Christy met us there as well! The game was great, close the whole time and the boys had a blast cheering and holding up their signs for Mr. Aaron! After the game we all got VIP badges and got to go down to the court and hang out with Mr. Aaron for awhile before heading on our long, late journey home;) Such a super fun night for three little boys that are absolutely clueless to the fact that not many kids have a friend in the NBA that gives them VIP treatment ;)

Valentine's Day

We got crazy straw glasses from Mommy & Daddy...click here!!!

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone and I am more in love with my four guys with each passing day! How lucky am I to have four Valentine's each year??? Craig took the day off work AND drove the kids to school for the first time since his accident!!! BEST Valentine's gift ever...I got to stay home in my jammies and not leave the house before dawn!!!! On top of spending the day with Craig, he went all out out getting me a massage gift certificate, four roses from each boy and my favorite bottle of wine! We spent the day going to all three kids class parties, going to lunch with Luke, coaching basketball and having a super fun family dinner...complete with candles much to the kids delight! My boys were perfectly trained to tell me repeatedly throughout the day that "I was their Valentine and the best Mommy ever"....could a girl ask for any more?!?!?!

Me & My Guys!

So it's been a crazy, busy month  in our household! Life is officially back in full swing after the nice Christmas break. We have all three boys playing basketball with Craig coaching two days each week, Craig in PT three days each week, Luke in swimteam pre-conditioning lessons twice each week,  Brian in CCD once a week and Brian and Matt studying after school with their teachers once each week for the academic competition they are in at the end of the month! Baseball starts next week overlapping basketball for the next four weeks!!! You think that's bad...try keeping track of it all!!!  The good news is I still find time for snuggles and movies with my guys!

Christmas 2011

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Another Christmas has come and gone....the biggest and best gift that we all got was that Craig was here and an active participant when we think of all of the "what could've happened's". Our Holiday officially kicked off with Kerry Jeremy and Molly arriving to our house for two days on their way into Texas. Kerry was thrilled to finally get the chance to come to something at the boys school and spent the morning with me watching Matt participate in Chapel and then tagteaming both boys class parties that I was in charge of :)

Christmas Eve was low key and spent in our jammies! We "finally" made our cookies for Santa, the boys opened each others gifts and Craig and I SHOCKED them with their presents...a touchpad for each of them!!! Matt was speechless, Luke kept screaming "a touchpad" and Brian actually cried while repeating "you did not do this" over and over again! It will definitely go down as one of our favorite Christmas memories :) Christmas morning we discovered...Santa had in fact stopped by!!! The boys were thrilled with all of their loot and the house was noisy for hours!!!!

Next up...Christmas round 2! We packed up the car later in the day and headed to my parents for five days to celebrate Christmas with my family! Everyone was there and were were all beyond spoiled by parents, siblings (Aunts/Uncles) and cousins!!! All three boys were thrilled with their Aaron Gray signed jerseys, and Brian's new love is his electric scooter! To say my kids got too many presents is a severe understatement...I had to make a solo trip back to Austin mid-week to bring all the presents home in order to fit all of us in the car that Saturday!!!

The rest of the week was spent with LOTS of playtime, nighttime corn hole with the Uncles & Papa, midnight bedtimes every night, a giant family outing to our favorite hangout...Incredible Pizza AND a super fun event for Brian & Matt...front row seats to Phineas & Ferb LIVE! Kerry and Jeremy got them tickets for Christmas and thanks to their awesome seats...Brian and Matt got called up onstage to dance with the cast in front of the entire arena!!!

Muddy Fun!

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Our yard is in seriously bad shape this year! We had a seven month severe drought and weren't allowed to use our sprinklers! It finally rained...for three straight days! What's a Mom with three stir crazy boys to do???? Send them out in the muddy backyard...that's what!!! Holy cow did my guys have fun! They discovered that under the trampoline was a gold mine for mud as grass has a hard time growing there in a good year ;) Enjoy some muddy day pics!!!

Jammie Fun!

Every year Gaga buys the kids (and herself) matching Christmas jammies! With all of my laundry FINALLY caught up three weeks after I started it (thanks to my elf this weekend!!!), I seized the moment for a few Christmas pics of the kids! Wait until you see how many pics I had to take in attempt to get one decent picture of my three goons! Click above...you'll get a good laugh! :)

A Dinnertime Surprise!

Click for a few more!So I discovered that Schlotzsky's was having Santa for dinner tonight and thought that would be such a FUN surprise for the boys! Like the single Mom I recently became...I packed up the kids and took them to dinner not letting in on the fact that there would be a surprise guest! We arrived about 15 minutes before Santa and were eating (actually Luke & I were eating...Brian and Matt were in the middle of a giant kicking match under the table) when we heard jingle bells and a loud HO-HO-HO! All of my kids stopped dead in their tracks...Matt actually dropped his sandwich and Brian ever so slowly made it look like he had been innocently eating ;) Luke could actually see Santa from his seat and busted out waving and screaming "Hi Santa!" OMG...what fun this turned out to be! Since there were only six people in the restaurant, my kids spent a good 10 minutes chatting with Santa. Luke was busy showing him his Mickey crocs, Brian was telling him about his sleepover party he went to and Matt was telling him how much he likes candy canes (subtly hinting for a second one!) Poor Daddy was definitely bummed to have missed this super fun surprise!!!

Luke's BIG Show! (click for more pics!)

Anyone who has talked to Luke in the past few weeks knows that he had "a really BIG show at preschool today!" He has been soooo excited for his Christmas performance and was downright giddy that Mommy, Gaga, Brian, Matt, Ms. Candice and Daddy all came to watch him! He proudly stood in front of the whole school wearing his Mickey hat, singing away! Five straight years of seeing the same show (with various children of mine in it every time!) and I still look forward to it each year ;)

The Christmas FUN begins!!!

Click for LOTS of fun pics!!!Thank goodness for my parents acting like elves and stepping in to help us function :) Even with Craig homebound...we are managing to make sure the kids get in all of their Christmas fun! Last weekend was Cookies with Santa at our neighborhood clubhouse. I played single Mom and took the boys to get our Santa pics out of the way and not have to fight the mall! We saw the Big Guy, got our pics, had our cookies and made it home all in under 45 minutes...not too shabby!!!

This past weekend was the annual sledding in our neighborhood! This is something that all of the kids in the neighborhood look forward to. They bring in a ton of snow, lay it on the hills of the golf course, bring in sleds and let the kids go at it! The boys had an absolute blast sledding and were joined by their good buddy Perry :) This year Gaga happened to be here playing elf and (helping me survive the day to day activities of being a single Mom with three kids and a handicapped hubbie) and we managed to even get her on a sled!
Such a FUN memory for the kids!!!!

Craig's BIG BANG!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family in Houston :) Everyone but Uncle Jeremy was there and I got to spend so much time loving on my two girls ;) The boys had an absolute blast with all of the attention they received and after four fun filled days, we headed home to spend Sunday decorating the outside of our house for Christmas.

What a HUGE mistake that turned out to be....Craig managed to take a 12 foot fall stuck in a ladder from our back patio to the ground! He had his kneecap stuck in between two steps of the ladder, with his leg fully hyperextended and his foot touching his chest! He ended up tearing his meniscus, breaking his fibula out of the knee joint, shattering his tibula, completely tearing his hamstring off of the bone and a few other fractures throughout his knee and shin!!! Poor guy ended up with 2 plates and about 20 screws, as well as a reattached hamstring :( After a few days in the hospital, we are home and he is on the LONG road to recovery! He is non-weight bearing for three months and will require a great deal of physical therapy to regain function of his leg. Fortunately he can work from home so he and I will be spending a whole lot of time together ;)

Matt's Big show :)

Matt has been so excited for his Thanksgiving play...he got to be a pilgrim! My parents and Emma came to join me & Luke for the show! Daddy had to be in D.C. but got to see the rehearsal on Wednesday :) The Kindergarten and first grade put on a 40 min. comedy act reenacting their version of the First Thanksgiving! It was priceless and the kids did a fantastic job! Kudos to the three teachers...this show was clearly a lot of time and energy on their part!!! The video is too long for my blog but enjoy a few pics by clicking the one above!

Ally...

Big Al went to Heaven today. Putting this old girl down was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Ally didn't get rapidly sick like Mia preparing us for a quick end. Big Al simply got tired and over the course of a few days gave us endless signs that she was ready to join her old pal Mia in a more restful, peaceful place. She made it to her 13'th Birthday which was a huge accomplishment and something we never would've dreamt would happen. She lasted 1 1/2 years longer than Mia...something we never saw coming. Anyone who knew her loved her for her curvaceous figure and enormous smile. Ally has seen us through five homes, three kids, two states and patiently a plethora of "foster dogs" that we tried to make a part of our family and ultimately found better suited homes for :) Ally has been with us longer than any of our children and will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Ally was the dog we got two weeks after marriage, sight unseen. The local Humane Society called to tell me they had an owner release golden retriever and did I want her? We were across the country at my cousin's wedding and they told me I had to make a decision over the phone as they couldn't hold her otherwise. They told me she had recently had a litter of 12 pups and that she still had some "baby fat" along with her "nips". I said yes... a little unsure as to what we were getting...and showed up a few days later to this obese, waddling, nips touching the ground golden retriever who looked so sad. She put her head on my lap, looked up at me with these giant eyes, smiled and I was sold.

Ten years later this old girl still has the waddle, the baby fat never really went away and the biggest smile I've ever seen on a dog. Ally's chub did give her the very best splash upon entry of the pool though...she could seriously win a splash contest!!! Over the years we did countless tests to check why she looked like she had been inflated with air and the end result was always the same...she's just a big-boned girl, no thyroid issues, just happily plump :) We will forever remember our big girl who could hold a ball in her mouth until she had lock-jaw, particularly anytime we walk into our closet :)

Another FUN Halloween!

Click for a few more pics!Halloween 2011 was another HUGE success! Luke was totally into this year...choosing his own costume ("Paging Dr. Luke!") and thinking trick-or-treating was just about the coolest thing next to Disneyland!!! We started the weekend with a Halloween carnival at the boys new school. They were super excited to be a part of this annual tradition and spend the night locked in jail :), on hayrides, playing games and just running around with their friends!!! Pumpkin carving was a little more interesting this year courtesy of Matt's broken arm but he was in good spirits and made the best of the situation! Halloween day was super crazy, plain and simple!!! I provided cupcakes for both of the boys classes, ran Matt back and forth from Dr. 's appointment for cast (hooray!!!) to school, had lunch at school with the boys, got them home and changed, made cookies in between all this for a neighbor's "Halloweenie" hotdog pre-trick-or-treating party, went to the party, came home and passed out candy while Craig took the boys around, and finished off my night with laundry and packing Craig for his trip (and mine later this week!)

Can I also add that Halloween should be a mandatory Friday or Saturday night, like Thanksgiving is a mandatory Thursday!?!?!?! Getting three kids up by myself at 6:30 after trick-or-treating and getting to bed almost two hours late is NOT my idea of fun!!!

Not the way we anticipated the season ending...

Poor Moose...he had an amazing baseball season this Fall, complete with his very first 'official' homerun! Not one of those fielding error homeruns, but an honest to God, ball hit the fence homerun! Today was the end of season tournament with single elimination games all day. We won the first game, leading to a second one immediately after. My sweet guy was "on-deck" swinging the bat and lost his footing, causing him to fall and managed to break his arm :( It was clearly broken and disfigured but "Moose of Steel" shone through...the kid barely cried!

Four hours later, Matt is home resting. He actually ended up breaking both bones :( The ulna was a clean break right in half and the radius was broken and displaced. He ended up having to have a reduction (manipulation) done to put the radius back in place as it was shaped like an "S". (Painful but Matt was a serious trooper!!!) It is now correctly in place and set in a splint for the rest of the weekend. We will follow up with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday to make sure it has stayed in place or he will need to have surgery to put a pin in it. Hopefully it stays put and he can just get a cast on Monday for 6-8 weeks ;)

Animals, Pumpkins, Mazes...Oh My!!!

Of course there's more...click on the pic!

So I set off in search of a really fun pumpkin patch since all of the ones nearby are completely lame! After a few hours on the Internet, holy cow did we hit jackpot!!! Jersey Farms is a working Dairy Farm in La Grange, Texas...a short 1 :15 hour from us. It is also home of the famous Bluebell Cows (as in Bluebell Ice Cream...a Texas staple and one of our favorite factory tours!) Bellerina, Annabelle and Jinglebelle are currently used in all marketing for Bluebell...tv commercials, movies, print media, etc, and are the friendliest cows ever! They walk right up to you and want you to pet them. The boys even milked Bellerina!!!

Back to the beginning, we paid a $7 admission fee and spent five hours meeting, playing with and feeding more animals than we could ever have dreamt of interacting with! We took a 45 minute hayride, stopping along the way to milk Bellerina (I am 32 and this was a first for me!), meet Ethel...the 700 lb. pig who loves to be pet, meet 1 week old calves (so precious and friendly!) and go into the milking room to learn the process of milking cows!!!

After the hayride, we continued our tour to meet and feed goats, miniature horses, bigger calves, JingleBelle and AnnaBelle, a smiling donkey, Tex...the fainting goat, chickens, pigs, sheep, bunnies, turkeys and ducks. We then got to bottle feed baby calves (so much fun!) and eat what else??? Bluebell Ice Cream of course, made with milk from the dairy!

We headed into the pumpkin barn to find this year's picks...Matt & Brian went for size while Luke decided he wanted a white pumpkin ;) Matt topped off the fun being dragged to the parking lot by Craig for an overtired tantrum (are you honestly surprised?!?!?!?!), calming down before our grand finale...the hay maze! What fun they had conquering the maze...they got lost too many times to count and giggled their way through the whole thing! Our day of fun ended in typical Rose fashion...Luke pulling down his pants and peeing in the middle of the farm!

What a SUPER FUN Sunday!!!