April & May :)

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April & May have come and gone...as usual we were just busy, busy, busy! Brian is playing football and having his BEST season ever! Their team made it to the Super Bowl and came out victorious!!! Brian was given the Coaches Award which all of his peers and coaches unanimously voted him as the recipient! What an honor...to be told in front of everyone that you are the hardest-working player, solely responsible for many of their wins that exemplifies leadership, integrity, will go into any position with a smile saying "I'll try" and is the type of player all the kids should strive to be makes me the proudest Momma on the planet!

Matt finished up a great return to baseball! After taking off 4 seasons to focus on football, he wanted to try it again and did great! He had a rough start batting but held his chin high and asked us for batting lessons to get better. While the cost of private batting lessons wasn't ideal, knowing that Matt had the attitude that he wanted to get better and asked for help made us so proud! And FYI...lessons paid off! By mid-season Matt was cranking them to the outfield and strike-outs were a thing of the past!!!

Luke ventured a whole new direction and is loving life! He is in an all boys tumbling class coached by a male, college gymnast determined to help him train for Ninja Warrior! While his brothers found the fact that Luke wanted to take gymnastics absolutely hilarious, we are so proud of him for continuing to stick to his passion and dream! And the best part is, the other 2 goons went and watched him and are now completely jealous of all the fun this group of boys is having!!! Luke is having the time of his life and has almost got an unspotted back handspring down!

Luke and Matt have now started another season of swimteam. Brian is finally "retired" after 5 seasons and fulfilled my commitment of "you have to swim until you complete 10U". Brian and Matt have started a new venture that we put off as long as possible...traveling select basketball. They are now in an ultra competitive league that has tournaments every weekend and is literally taking up WAY too much time! But, my guys are happy, learning a ton and having a blast so I keep telling myself that's what important :)

The rest of the 2 months contained Brian's Birthday, a very low key Easter, a girls weekend trip for me with Kelly, Kerry, Christy and my Mom, Matt & Luke in Houston for a fun filled weekend, Annie's Baptism, M&M's 1st Birthday, field days, school wrapping up, field trips, a Disney on Ice date with my sweet Luke for Mother's Day, school musical, water day, Gaga's BIG 60 and a couple closet parties thanks to crazy weather and tornado warnings!

February & March :)

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So clearly these kids are running me ragged....I completely suck at blogging lately! It makes me sad as I really enjoy my blog and find it calming and relaxing to sit and work on it...I guess this means there is no calm, relaxing down time in my life anymore!!!! February and March were crazy busy like usual around here! Sports run our life and with all 3 running different directions, life is full of surprises and schedule juggling! Craig is still being the crazy, amazing Dad that he is and coaching every team that they are on! Matt had his Birthday party and it was a success! We got a room at the Embassy Suites and took a slew of boys to a hotel for a sleepover, indoor swimming, pizza and breakfast in the restaurant! What a fun, easy party! I got some snuggle time with my sweet Annie/Walker when DJ & Christy came up for the weekend, I was the person of choice by my precious Abby to take her and get her ears pierced (this was so much fun for me as it is something I would never have had the opportunity to do otherwise!), went on a few field trips, celebrated Craig, mine and Matt's Birthdays, did the school science fairs, Luke went to Gaga & Papa's to do the BattleFrog Kids Marathon and what else is new....had medical drama :)

 Matt was the star of this show when after a long day of Craig's Birthday celebrations, 2 basketball games and 2 baseball games he gets out of the shower at 10pm and tells me "what a great day, and my arm didn't get tired"...Ummm...what in the world are you talking about is flashing through my brain as Matt shows me that look, his right arm does not straighten. after a few yanks trying to make it go straight by both me and Craig, and some detective work, we establish that Matt is not actually sure the last time his arm did go straight! (For love of God...talk about feeling like lousy parents! We had NO clue his arm didn't straighten and also have NO clue the last time it was straight! In our defense, Matt is a crazy, active 10 year old little boy that is always busy. In reality, his arms are very rarely if ever straight down by his side, but this knowledge still did not stop my panicking or make me feel better!) Monday am I called my orthopedic and got him in by 10am. I had every intention of getting him into pediatric later this week but really needed to calm my nerves and fortunately have an awesome Doc in my back pocket willing to see us asap! A week later after visits with 3 surgeons, two xrays and an MRI, we established that Matt has an active broken elbow with splits in the growth plate region....UGH! Since there is no specific trauma we can recall that would've caused this, best guess is that back when he broke his arm so badly in 1st grade playing baseball, an elbow fracture was also there and missed due to all the other trauma being focused on. Over the course of 2 years, it started healing slowly in a crooked position it is now frozen in and the fractures can't line up right to ever heal correctly. Good news is all said and done, we have a healthy, active little boy who suffers NO consequences of this other than a slightly crooked arm. He is cleared to play all sports and does so with the knowledge that it will probably fully fracture at some point allowing the surgeons to properly fix it. We felt like this was the best news we could get! We have the option to break it now, do surgery and put Matt in a cast for 6 months or go this route so we obviously made an easy decision.

Spring Break in Vegas!!!

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The boys and I got to take a fun mini trip for Spring Break...to see Aunt Key and her people in Vegas!!! The boys hadn't been there in 2 years and also had not seen her new house. Gaga met us there adding to the fun! We took a late flight literally arriving on mine and Matt's Birthday, how many lucky people actually get to start celebrating at midnight!?!!? Matt was telling flight attendant on plane that it was officially his 10th Birthday, boy did he get a surprise! Next thing we know, the pilots came on telling the whole plane there was a little boy who turned 10 while we were flying and the whole plane erupted into "Happy Birthday to Matt"! What  a neat crew to make a little boy feel so special! One passenger even gave him $5 to have fun in Vegas with! Kerry surprised us by decorating her house for our Birthdays! So much fun! I don't know the last time I actually spent my Birthday with Kerry :) After a late night, we woke still celebrating! Matt had the best breakfast with a massive cinnamon roll cake made specially for him! We spent the morning taking a factory tour of ATM (Tanked, Matt's favorite show!) and then met up with Kerry and the girls for some game time on the strip! The rest of the trip was equally as fun...we spent a day at a really neat park that the boys LOVED, left poor Jeremy in charge and had an adults Birthday celebration for me complete with gambling, spent a day at the neatest children's museum that all the kids loved, had an early Birthday celebration with KK for her big day and spent some much needed time just snuggling with my precious nieces! All in all...AWESOME Spring Break!!!

First Adventure of 2015...San Francisco!

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We are seriously blessed beyond measure getting to take the kids on amazing adventures all over the world! The calendar just changed over to 2015 and we are once again not staying put! This latest trip took us to San Francisco, Yosemite and Pine Grove (where Craig's Aunt, Uncle, cousins and Grandma live).

This trip started really early, like 3am early! Kids were awesome though and are truly better travelers than most adults! We arrived in SF bright and early and met Craig's cousin for breakfast. Craig had so much fun spending time with his extended family and the boys thought it was really cool to meet Daddy's extra family! Next stop...Yosemite! This was about a 2 hour drive from city through some of the most beautiful hills I have ever seen! We spent the afternoon exploring all the stops on the main loop, climbing the trails (and everything else the kids could find!) and seeing the most incredible waterfalls up close and personal! I gotta admit, I thought Yosemite was gonna be a huge yawn but it turned out to be my favorite place the whole trip! (And I was hiking around with a freshly recovering ankle!) By 7pm, we were literally too tired to keep our eyes open any longer and froze our butts off in a cabin under the falls! Beautiful cabin, we were just the overtired dummies who couldn't find the extra space heater until morning ;) The next day was more Yosemite...the kids and Craig climbed the rocks (boulders) out to the actual Falls and I just held my breath no one would be injured! After finding some snow, we decided our trip to Yosemite was complete!

Next stop, Mary & Jud's to see the rest of Craig's family. The kids had an absolute ball spending two days with their 3'rd cousins (I think...Craig's cousins kids) who were all their ages. They had a ball with all their "uncles" and Craig playing football and basketball for hours and even had a Superbowl party with everyone! The highlight of this part of the trip was the kids getting to see Craig's Grandma, who is turning 95! They were in awe learning all of the things she was alive before!!! She is suffering from Alzheimers and asked us every time she entered room who we were but it was so nice to get to spend time with her.

Final stop, San Francisco! What fun we had here! We did everything we could cram into 48 hours...Jelly Belly Factory tour, Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Sea Lions, fresh caught seafood, Lombard Street, China Town, Fortune Cookie Factory, "Full House" Park, Oakland Bridge, a trolley ride through San Francisco and even talked to Bill Clinton while he was roaming the streets! This trip was definitely another notch on our memory belt of amazing
adventures!!!

Christmas

So many Christmas pics to look at :)

Christmas has come and gone and we are once again spoiled! Spoiled by those we love and spoiled by Santa! After such a fun month..you might wonder how much better can it get?!?!  LOTS better, LOTS!

We got to celebrate Christmas with Gaga & Papa early this year (much to my kids excitement!) They were heading to Vegas to spend Christmas with Kerry's clan and spent 3 days being elves to all of us Texas based folk! I pulled the kids from school at noon in order to have plenty of time for presents!!! We were once again spoiled rotten and enjoyed my first attempt at "smoking", saw the boys in their Christmas musical at school and spent lots of time opening wonderful gifts!

Christmas Eve was spent at home, with just us 5...and it was exactly what the Doctor ordered! We had an amazing dinner of beef tenderloin and Alaskan King Crab legs, watched a Christmas movie, opened a few gifts and went to bed waiting for Santa! Christmas morning was the annual day of excitement, chaos, laughter and a HUGE mess! The kids got everything they had hoped for and we are now in the process of finding homes for all our new loot! Thankfully we still have another week to play, relax, clean and have fun!

December!

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December is almost over and I can honestly say I am tired! We have had a crazy, busy, fun month full of adventures and Christmas fun...all while I am in a concrete boot with strict restrictions on walking! This month not only held Christmas, but LOTS more in the house that is always on the go! We took the kids to Ifly for indoor skydiving! They had gotten a gift certificate from family friends that they were dying to take advantage of! What FUN this was to watch my kids flying in the sky!!! We kicked off the season with a visit to the Georgetown Christmas stroll, an outdoor craft market/fair full of Christmas fun for everyone! We took a weekend trip to San Antonio to explore all of the Christmas activities going on there...we went to Bass Pro Shops Winter Wonderland, Six Flags, Sea World, The Alamo and finished our weekend with a nighttime boat right through the Riverwalk to see the lights! Unfortunately this trip gave me some setbacks on recovery but was so worth it! Santa called our house and had a video chat with the kids which amaed each and every one of us! We also spent a weekend hanging out with our friends the Rinn's and the Fergusons! Saturday was spent traipsing kids all over downtown Austin. We met at Whole Foods for some rooftop ice skating, walked a few blocks for a fun dinner and then piled 12 people into my suburban to take advantage of my Handicap pass and take the kids to see the Trail of Lights. The 7 kids we had with us thought their parents had lost their minds when we all piled into one car for the 2 mile drive. Clearly we had...the line for the lights was over 2 hours long...all said and done we took the kids on a 45 minute drive to nowhere, with them acting like goons the whole time! The next day was spent together letting the kids make Christmas cookies, gingerbread houses, eating lots of yummy food, playing, watching football and attempting another round at Christmas lights. This time we took 2 cars, waited about 45 minutes and actually saw lights! 2 miles of drive thru lights to be specific and it was the perfect ending to a fun weekend! next up is 2 Christmas celebrations...one with Gaga & Papa and one home on the actual day...stay tuned!

FUN Fall!

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In addition to the specific things I have posted, we have done so many other things this Fall that I am condensing them all into one giant post! September held Grandparents Day at school which Gaga & Papa joined the boys for. The kids loved having them come have lunch with them and showing them their new classrooms and art work! Craig and the boys went paintballing, Matt told me he was star of the week and needed a poster at 8pm the night before it was due, our garbage disposal broke and flooded my cabinets, went on a field trip with Matt, LOTS of football,  Brian started middle school sports playing on the JV football team, and then Brian broke a small bone in his foot playing regular season football. October held even more fun when I joined Brian and broke my foot for the zillionth time walking right off the back patio! Luke was still a psycho ninja, we got "flocked" (a school fundraiser!), the boys completed the Ice Bucket Challenge,  our clever children managed to lock us all out of Matt's room with a barricade of a tipped trampoline,  LOTS of football for the boys, a custom ninja warrior obstacle course out back for Luke, and Halloween! November brought us Luke's Thanksgiving program, a solo trip for me to spend a few days with our nephew in the hospital, lots of laughter, football championship for Matt, some seriously freezing weather, full ankle reconstruction for me, breaking two toes on my good foot tripping over my crutches, kids spending Thanksgiving with Gaga & Papa so I could recover from surgery, Thanksgiving for Craig and I with dear friends that took us in since I was unable to cook, Craig tackling Black Friday deals at Walmart with friends NOT me (this was rough for me to miss,,,seriously one of my favorite Holidays!), me riding a motorscooter around Sam's on my first outing with a friend who took pity on me being cooped up, Brian starting JV basketball at school and Craig going to UA game in San Antonio with friends! We are so blessed to have family and friends that pitch in an help whenever we need it, without being asked and have so much to be thankful for this Fall!

Fall Football!

Lots of football pics here :)

Another season of me sitting in a chair by myself on sometimes cold, wet or hot days watching my 3 BEST guys play football! I was meant to be a BOYMOM!  While I am certainly jealous of my sisters with their sweet, adorable princesses, I wouldn't trade my messy, chaotic, every activity must involve a ball life for anything! Watching my guys play anything with a ball has become my way of life! Craig once again helped coach all their teams...kudos to what an amazing Dad he is...I tallied up the different seasons he has coached the boys and that number is an astounding 29 seasons!!! An let's not forget that is multiple teams each of those seasons! I hope these boys look back one day and realize just how lucky they are!!!

This Fall, all 3 played Extreme Flag. Brian and Matt separated for the first time in awhile and it was so fun to watch Matt shine without being in Brian's shadow! Luke left regular flag for his first season of extreme as well and LOVED it! Luke's team had an almost perfect "defeated" season, but took it with stride and were all just thrilled to be playing real football! Brian's team had an awesome season! They started strong but couldn't quite keep it going to make it through playoffs! I gotta say though...his team is all heart! Over half of these kids have been together since they were 5 and it shows! Matt's team was made up of a group of kids that over 1/2 had been playing together (playing up) on Brian's team, and decided to play a season at their own age group. WOW...you could tell these kids had been playing together and with older boys for most of their lives! Matt's team was AWESOME! They had an undefeated season with most games being blowouts and placed first in the league! They moved on to the district championships and after 2 games sadly ended their winning streak! It was so much fun to watch all 3 of my guys this season! Enjoy the pics...there is no rhyme or reason to them. Some weekends I had my camera, some I didn't. My battery dies a few times, the weather was nasty, etc. :) Matt and Brian are both in orange jerseys...Matt's shorts are green, Brian's shorts are orange and Luke's jersey is white! And to make it even easier...my kids are the ones in black helmets!

Cruise!!!

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What an amazing trip we got to take and have Gaga & Papa join us on! 7 days floating the ocean on a beautiful ship that took us to Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico! Two of these places were brand new for us and we had incredible adventures planned for all 3 spots! I once again was the family dud and was in a cast for yet another cruise! Don't think for a minute I let this slow me down though...heck no! If I could do it or even try to do it, I was there ;)

Our first few days were spent at sea and we made use of all of the amenities the ship had to offer! We played endless rounds of mini golf, the boys played tons of basketball (Craig even played in a tournament and was on the team with the cast of the ice skating show!), rode the flo-master...a surf machine on the top deck of the ship, climbed to the rafters of the ship on the rockwall, the kids won medals in the beanbag competition (all 3 telling the host into the microphone being broadcast over the whole ship that they were brothers and all from different cities! Brian went with Georgetown, Matt with Round Rock, an Luke stuck with plain old Texas!), played in the arcade (Gaga was addicted!), spent some time at kid camp participating in the activities, swam till we were prunes, ate till we couldn't move, Gaga & I got mobbed in a flash sale at the shops, played cards during a rainy afternoon at sea, ice skated, saw an ice show and hit the ice cream machine more times than I could begin to even count!

Honduras was our first stop and we were all so excited at the day's upcoming adventures! 8 hours on a private island, complete with cliff jumping, snorkeling and an animal sanctuary where you hold the animals! The first 6 hours were as amazing as promised...we all had more fun than we could've imagined possible! Then IT happened...the incident that will forever be a Thanksgiving story in this family, the incident that 6 of us never heard the end of for the rest of the cruise...Gaga got bit by a monkey! Yes...you in fact read that correctly...a real, live monkey full on bit her finger, drawing blood, horror from Papa and laughter from me and Craig! We were all holding these sweet babies, Gaga was truly enjoying it the most, we were all having a good laugh that Craig had just gotten peed on by a monkey and then we handed them off to the family behind us. The lady who got one took two of them at once, they started fighting, the lady panicked and the ever good samaritan who can't seem to mind her own business reached over to help and managed to get bit! Another couple passing by (who were on our ship as well) stopped to see her finger and I kid you not Gaga literally takes the man's towel, wipes her bloody finger on it and then hands it back to the horror stricken man!!! (I can't make this stuff up!) Craig is beyond mortified, Papa had already stormed off leaving us in a trail of "I cannot believe you got bit, why the hell did you all hold a monkey, these are wild animals you people are messing with, etc, etc, etc!) and I just stood there like a speechless fool! I dragged Gaga over to the hand-washing sink to try and clean her finger, Craig ran off to find one of our towels to switch the poor innocent soul who was now sporting Gaga's monkey diseased bloody towel, and the kids were just along for the excitement of the '4 capable adults taking care of them have completely lost it' at this point! The real kicker came when Gaga tried to talk to the owner of the property to make sure she would be okay and he was as high as a kite dancing in the bar! Needless to say..Little French Key may be a truly gorgeous paradise but I can assure you it was our first and sadly last visit!

Stop 2 was Belize and this day went so far above and beyond our expectations! This was the day I was most excited about...I had done so much research about the world renown snorkeling/diving areas in the area. It is listed as #2 in the world, only behind the Great Barrier Reef! Anyone who knows Matt knows he is obsessed with all things ocean, particularly sharks. He dreams of being a marine biologist and can tell you more about these creatures than some books! Combine that passion with Papa having turned 60 this year and I created a day those two will never forget! We charted a private boat, driver and snorkel guide and spent the day making memories! First stop was Shark alley, where 5 of the 7 of us (guess who didn't!?!) actually jumped into shark infested water and swam with them! The nurse sharks were rubbing against them and the stingrays were bigger than my Dad and Craig!!! The smiles coming from that water are memories my mom and I will never forget and the sight of seeing my kids actually in the ocean with real, live sharks next to them caused my heart to skip a few beats!!! Next stop was the tiny island of Caye Caulker where my Mom, Luke and I spent a few hours in a private golf cart exploring the island and shopping while the rest of the crew went on to snorkel in Coral Gardens. We all met back in a fun, island restaurant where the beers were icy cold, the lobster was so fresh it melted in our mouths and shared our adventures! What an amazing day spent together in a place most only ever dream of going to!!!

Stop 3 was our final stop and an old family favorite...Cozumel! Having been here quite a few times, all of us knew what to expect and booked ourselves to spend the day at a family favorite...Playa Mia...a private beach/waterpark  that all of us but Luke had been to before. They had made some additions since our last visit and we sure enjoyed all the new stuff! The kids couldn't get enough of the inflatable obstacle course tethered in the middle of the ocean as well as the waterpark and slides just off the beach, my Dad and Craig enjoyed snorkeling and seeing the sunken "treasures"while my Mom and I made good use of the beautiful chlorinated pool! 7 hours of fun in the sun was the perfect ending to our trip and we headed back to the port to do some final shopping before boarding the ship for our final journey...home! Gaga can now begin her Rabies series at the local Health Department!!!!

Jetski's!!!

We got lucky...really lucky! Papa & Gaga sold their house very unexpectedly and we got to buy the jetskis from them! Their new house won't be done for at least a year, their current house doesn't have room to store them and rather than let them sit in storage and collect dust, we decided to take them! The boys were ecstatic! They love going to Papa's and using them so the thought of owning them had them over the moon excited! Unfortunately as we are ending the warm season our trips to the lake are limited but come Spring my guys plan on a lot of lake time! And to double our good luck...we have one less than 15 min from our house!!!

Luke is 7!

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I am not sure how we have gotten to this point but Luke is 7! He is the joy that makes this family complete! He has a giggle that will make you sides hurt from laughing, he writes us love letters daily,  he kisses us almost to annoyance and loves his family with every ounce of his heart! He is still a self-proclaimed ninja and his tricks are getting scarier by the day! The kid literally has NO fear! I don't think he even comprehends to be afraid of anything! He is the strongest kid I have ever met...he can rock push-ups better than most grown men, lifts weights on his own freewill, puts me to shame in plank holding, and is currently sporting a visible six pack and pecs! He takes great delight in being the "little brother"...he loves to torment his brothers endlessly all well placing the two of them as high as Santa on his cool list!

Luke woke up ready to celebrate his big day! He is in full Birthday mode this year and truly believes the whole day should revolve around him! He came downstairs to so many awesome presents, ate his giant  "7" doughnut and went off to school leaving his lunch request with me! Chinese food plus ice cream cones for his class made for a perfect Birthday lunch, followed up with dinner at Chili's left all of us stuffed and happy! What a perfect day celebrating our perfect little man!!!

The biggest thing Luke wanted to do was go to Six Flags in Dallas for his Birthday since he reached the next magical height!!! This milestone got him on his very first looping coaster!!! He was ecstatic to ride and in keeping with our "if I can't ride, Mom can't ride" tradition, I got to be his partner for this excitement!!! Kelly, Chris and the kids also got to spend the day with us at Six Flags and Emma/Abby had a ball riding all the rides with their cousins! All in all...Luke had a pretty amazing time welcoming turning 7!!!

Luke's Ninja Warrior Party



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Anyone who knows Luke at all knows that he is a self-proclaimed ninja that "is in training" to be on American Ninja Warrior! The kid is a nonstop bundle of energy that is constantly doing ninja tricks everywhere he goes! He truly believes with every ounce of himself that he is a ninja and is 100% confident we will all see him on American Ninja Warrior one day! I gotta hand it to him though....he is actually an amazing little ninja whose tricks both simultaneously amaze me and almost give me heart attacks!

Luke is turning 7 in less than two weeks so this year we planned a ninja party at the ninja training gym! He was in absolute heaven! For weeks he has been unable to sleep with excitement and yesterday the BIG DAY finally arrived! Luke had all the boys in his class, plus 2 of the girls (he specifically requested that we not invite the "girly girls" and the Rinn family all there to help him celebrate! These kids spent 3 straight hours being ninjas and having an absolute ball! We literally had to drag them over to eat and have cake! Luke was so exhausted when we got home he put himself to bed for a nap...I'd say the party was a HUGE success!!!

Back to school we go :(

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Summer is now a distant memory and we are back in school...YUCK! As crazy as my fools can make me, I absolutely love being home with them, taking them fun places and just spending time with them. Each time we start a new school year I am forced to admit that they are getting bigger and bigger and that they will not want to be spending everyday of the Summer with me in the very near future...and this literally kills me!

This year we are starting 5'th, 4'th and 1'st. Luke is in full fledged real school, Matt is getting way too big for me (he has 1 inch and 20 lbs on Brian!) and Brian is in the middle school transition year at their school meaning he switches classes and plays school JV sports! Sending them back to school for 35+ hours each week kills me, I miss them and hate that they just happily disappear from my life! Fear not...I found a solution that enables me to spend 2 of those days with them! You may be assuming since I have my Master's in teaching I am teaching at their school....HA! NOPE! I found something even better, something that puts me at their school for two whole days each week but doesn't come with the parents, the grading, the homework, the drama, the lesson plans or even the classroom! What is this dream job you might ask??? I am...(ready for it)...a lunch lady! Their school is so small that Mom's have always run the cafeteria. This year one of my close friends is taking it over and asked me to help...I immediately jumped on it! Brian is overjoyed that he no longer has to eat cold sandwiches as I can bring him warm leftovers, Matt could care less either way but my little Luke thinks I walk on water! He is so beyond proud that his Mommy is a lunch lady and tells everyone he meets this big news! Craig on the other hand tells him to quit telling people and is wishing I was making better use of the Masters degree he paid for!!! I am thrilled to be at their school every week, spending a lot of time with them both in the cafeteria and their classrooms helping out and getting paid to do one of my all time favorite hobbies...cooking!

Summer 2014

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We had such a FUN Summer...it makes me physically ill that it is over! While we didn't really go anywhere, and we really didn't do anything, WE HAD SO MUCH FUN DOING IT! After the beach, our Summer consisted of a very messy house due to our nonstop playing, everyone switching bedrooms and redecorating them, endless wrestling and fighting, swimteam, lots of daytrips with friends, lots of bowling, tons of swimming, Sea World, Six Flags, Schlitterbahn with Papa, RR Express baseball game and sleepover on the field, a couple visits to Top Golf, endless hours of video games, a few days at the lake, movies, fireworks, dirtbikes and Polaris with friends, football camp, a few trips to the aquarium, lots of ice cream, backyard fun, bikes and go-karts, boating & knee boarding, a few trips to the Doctor (and even a call to poison control), and the very best part was time with our cousins!

Kerry & her girls came out to spend most of July in Texas (sadly Uncle Jerms had to work!). This gave us the perfect opportunity to spend time at Gaga & Papa's with the O'Brein clan... Aunts, Uncles and cousins galore! We celebrated Maggie's 1'st Birthday, made fun use of our waterproof camera, went to Bluebell Ice Cream Factory, went out on the boat, went to Incredible Pizza and even attempted a group photo! We also managed to take KK to Sea World to see her beloved Elmo, had fun taking the girls bowling, watching Michael & Macy get Baptized and just spending time with everyone.

Brian & Matt got another surprise when they were chosen (again!!) by Six Flags to come be a part of "media day" in which they were filming for their commercials, media print and brochures advertising their new waterslide...Bahama Blaster! Its crazy steep, ridiculously fast, sky high and my two fools rode it at least 25 times in a row!!! Matt got to make an appearance on Telemundo (yep, the Spanish TV network!) and Brian was interviewed live for a local radio station!! It was another once in a lifetime experience giving them the privilege to ride a brand new ride before it opens as much as they wanted and something they'll remember forever!

South Padre Island

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Another Summer has arrived and that means another trip to the beach! This year we headed back to South Padre Island for 4 days of fun in the sun and were joined by our close friend's...The Rinn Family! We went immediately after school got out, leaving Memorial Day weekend for the beach. We got there as the crowds were leaving, most of the state was still in school and it was PERFECT! The entire town was virtually empty! What fun all these kids had playing in the waves, the sand, the pool, visiting the sea turtle rescue center, a night of mini golf, late night Dairy Queen and swimming, crab hunting in the dark and doing all of these things with no crowds :) What a great start to summer!

End of School year...LOTS of Random Fun :)

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The end of April & all of May brought about a bunch of random fun! With school winding down there was LOTS of field trips with the boys! Luke & I took an Amtrak ride, went to Ronald McDonald House and went to a play. Matt & I went on a 3 mile hike and went to a peacock farm for ice cream making and scavenger hunts! Brian & I went to an indoor trampoline park and a pizza buffet! (Can you tell Brian's teacher is a 23 year old guy?!?!) With all of that fun, the boys and I obviously needed a ditch day :) We spent one really fun day back at the indoor trampoline park, lunch and the Austin Touch Aquarium playing with starfish and stingrays! Brian & Matt ended their football season taking third place overall in the league after a hard fought battle to the end! We ran Smiles4Sammy 5k as a family again in honor of Sammy :) Matt finished his phase 1 (yes there will sadly be a phase 2 in a few years!) of orthodontic treatment and got his braces OFF after 2 years.  Luke lost his first tooth after praying for over a year for this milestone and was delighted when just a few weeks later he lost a second one! All 3 boys took part in their school musical (Luke has been anxiously awaiting this after being in the audience for so many years while Brian sees it as punishment!), Matt & Luke, along with their 2 best friends (who also happen to be brothers) won 2'nd place in the school talent show for their rendition of "The Worst Ballerinas EVER!"! We got to meet the 2 newest members of the family, Macy & Michael, as well as I got the honor of taking Emma & Abby along with my Mom to see Disney Princesses on Ice!!! The boys had another fantastic water day getting soaked and messy at school! Brian & Matt received the highest academic honor for the year at the awards assembly; high honor roll all 4 quarters, meaning they got nothing short of a " High A" (94% or above) this year! My big news is I finished up a 7 year stretch as a PTA officer and will be a parent on the sidelines for the first time next year rather than a parent behind the scenes :) I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with all of this free time! Craig & I celebrated our 12th Anniversary with a solo trip to Jamaica for 5 days, leaving the kids with Gaga & Papa who kindly stepped in to fill our shoes while we were away and did a GREAT job! Luke kicked off Summer into high gear with what I can only describe as a true "Goose egg"...ugh! The ninja never stops...an hour later, with this giant thing coming off of his forehead, he is trying to jump over stools in the kitchen!

Summer is fully underway and we are loving our days of being lazy, swim team, a couple sports camps, lots of video games and endless fun! Throw in a few trips and life doesn't get much better!

Easter?!?! :)

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Funny enough, I went to finally offload the beach from my camera and imagine my surprise when I found Easter there as well!!! Looking back we clearly had a very uneventful Easter which is probably why I wasn't very motivated to blog about it :) If memory serves me (which is not doing the job very well these days!), we had an extremely low key Easter! The night before we dyed eggs and did haircuts :) I was sad this year as Luke was the only one willing to go see the bunny. He asked to go while the other two flat out refused! While Matt has not yet admitted to us to not believing...I think he is afraid to discuss it for fear of what might happen if his doubts are wrong ;) Luke was delighted to wake up Easter morning to a ninja course left for him by EB! He had to conquer it to leave his room and find his basket :) After baskets were found it was time to head outside for the egg hunt! In our house this is always a favorite as the eggs contain not only candy but money!! Coins in most but cash in a few :) Like I said...not too much went on but all around happy memories made in our house.

Double Digits!!!

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The dreaded double digits has arrived...Brian is officially 10! This Birthday bothered me more than any Birthday so far...I do not like having any of my kids with two digits! Single digits means they are still little...double digits means they are closer to leaving me! I will say that my guy had a FABULOUS Birthday!!! Him & I went on a field trip the Friday before his big day and decided to0 bring his Birthday treat with us. In true luck...it was crazy windy this day and our picnic turned into lunch in the parking garage lobby! So yes...Brian celebrated with his class in the parking garage :) He was a great sport about it though!

We went to my parents for the weekend so Brian could celebrate with them. Gaga surprised him with a UA themed party, complete with decorations and a cake! He had a fun weekend riding his new bike and watching basketball. Sunday was his real Birthday and we had to head home. Uncle Johnny, Aunt Christy and Walker surprised us by stopping by before we had to leave and enjoyed a quick lunch with us (Brian's choice...Phillies!) before we had to head home. We decided to save Brian's Birthday dinner for the next night as we were all plain old done by the time we got home :) Monday night we took Brian, Luke and Matt to Dave & Buster's for three hours of dinner and FUN! Lots of games, lots of tickets and lots of $$!!!

Brian is my crazy, will try anything child and is as strong as an ox! He wanted an extreme party to go along with his extreme attitude :) We rented the Rocks & Ropes Adventure Course at the YMCA for his party and oh what FUN this turned out to be! A 55ft. structure that the kids got harnessed up and climbed their way to the top...once there they got to zipline down!!! Such a cool party and Matt/Luke are chomping at the bit to turn 10 now!!!

Are you ready for some football???

  

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My guys appear to be leaving baseball for football on a more permanent basis...even Luke joined in this season! Brian & Matt are playing with their same team in the Extreme Flag league and loving it more than ever! This group of kids has been together for quite a few seasons now and really work together as a team. They are having Friday night, under the lights games which makes it feel like real football and is so much more fun! Last season we were completely defeated...didn't win a single game until playoffs! This season is a whole new game...our team is unstoppable and crushing the other teams! We have even had to put the Mercy Rule into effect for us rather than against us!!! Watching my boys get better and better, and seeing them having so much fun makes me one proud Momma!

Little man is officially in football as well! He is in regular Flag where his brothers started and played 5 seasons but something tells me he's not gonna make it in this league very long! He is an animal! The kid is like a crazy man on the field! He is a flag pulling machine, gets yellow flags for tackling, called for flag protection and rushing the line! Luke is truly a product of older brothers and it is very apparent to anyone watching him play! Watching him is absolutely hilarious...he is playing with kids that are inexperienced and learning the game while he is out there calling plays and getting flags thrown on him! I see Extreme Flag in his very near future!!!

Dixie!!!

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It's official...we have another member of the family! Dixie is a pure (yes this means the most expensive dog we've ever had!) bloodhound! We have been a one dog family for 1.5 years since losing Ally. In that time Wilbur has gone slowly downhill. His face is aging, he sleeps 20 hours/day and seems to have lost his zest for life. Every time he is with my Mom's dogs he perks up so we figured it was time to get him a permanent companion of his own! I fully admit I was completely against another puppy but the kids constant begging wore me down. I have always had a thing for bloodhounds since watching Fox & the Hound as a kid...I am a giant sucker for those ears, the wrinkles and howl! I took one look at Dixie and knew there was no way she wasn't joining our family!

The kids went to my parents for 5 days over Spring break and that is when Craig & I got Dixie. We did NOT tell the kids we were even considering a puppy much less buying one! On the night before they came home we Skyped with them. They were beyond excited when I turned my chair around and had this tiny puppy in my arms! Needless to say this made them very excited to get home rather than the usual protests of "Do we have to come home?" :)

Dixie is now 10 weeks old and a GIANT handful! She is special ed. when it comes to potty training (still working on  it!) but a genius in learning her name...less than 3 days! She is busy, into everything and LOVES those 3 boys with every ounce of her! She has doubled in size in the 1 month we have had her and is expected to be around 100lbs. like her Momma. We took the boys to meet her parents and they loved getting to see what Dixie will look like in a few months! She is working on her howl and goes into a crazy "witching hour mode" every night around 8pm practicing! It is hilarious to listen to :) The best news is Wilbur loves her too! He adjusted to her right away and now wags her tail whenever she comes up to him! He is so much more active and seems happier as well! If we could just get her potty trained....