House Happenings

Well, this was quite the week at the House!! Alex is learning to ride his trike, Andrew is done with school and moving up to PreK-3 in the Fall, and SUMMER is here! Eh, calendar schmalendar... Summer is here when school is out. That is just how it goes. Though, I'm sure you'll hear me say, "What?! School?! The summer isn't over until the calendar says so!" Gotta love it. Anyway, we are gearing up for a super fun Memorial Day Weekend. Hope yours is a great one!!

{Sunday}

 Check it out! Alex has a set of wheels! His favorite color, too - Green!! And, the best part? $20 on Craigslist. I saw this exact one at the toys store. They wanted $160 for it...um, what?! Are you kidding me? I don't think so. Andrew has been using his for about a year now and he is ready for big boy bike. Maybe for his birthday? We will see. He is very particular about which one he wants. LOL Boys and their toys, right? Anyway, $160 is just ridiculous for the amount of time that he is going to use it. And, he loves it. Just look at that face!!

{Monday}

 Check it out. We are ready for the summer with a book full of awesome coupons. Woot! I remember having to sell these kinds of books for school fundraisers (which I hated - but, now that I'm a mom...where are the kids selling these? I had to get mine online. At least it was 1/2 off because 1/2 of the year is gone now). These are based on city - so grab one!

{Tuesday}

 Last day of school!!!

Top: Breakfast surprise! I left each of them a Batman toy at their spot on the table. Alex will get to start school next year, so he got one, too. 

Middle: Ice Cream treat after school!!

Bottom: Hot dog sprinkler party for dinner! 

Mud-putt golf, anyone?

 

 

Sprinkler fun before dinner

 While Andrew was at school, Alex and I ran the rest of our errands, got lunch, and headed to the park. He LOVED climbing all over the "big big big" rocks.

{Wednesday}

We played outside all morning and had our lunch outside. There was a so-called "chance" of rain for the afternoon, so we picked up and headed indoors the rest of the day. Where was that rain? Never came. Interesting...

 While the boys were taking a nap and having quiet time, I worked on Andrew's photo book of all his projects he did this year. If you are interested in seeing it, let me know. I will share the link with family and close friends only, however.

 {Thursday}

Another day of playing in the sunshine!

{Friday}

Hello, Memorial Day Weekend sales! We headed out to the outlets today. Check out Alex's favorite purchase - new sunglasses!

 You know, cuz his future's so bright! ;)

 Daddy came home early as we were just getting ready to go outside. And, yep. ALL of us were trying to get that rock out. Still. I swear...the boys have been working on getting that boulder out (where Jason is digging) for about 1 year or so now. It's pretty big...I don't know if they will actually get it out before we end up moving. Too funny!

After dinner treat? Frozen GoGurts!! Yeah!! 

Time to get ready for the weekend!! We hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day!!

Good Day, Sunshine!

Last week started off fabulous with a relaxing, but super fun Mother's Day!! Here is a look at what we did that Sunday and the rest of the week. Enjoy!

{Sunday ~ Mother's Day}

Sunday was such a great day! At first, we didn't really have plans other than attending Mass and going to lunch at Salsarita's. But, after an afternoon with FULL sunshine, we headed to Academy to get our much-need, long-asked-for market umbrella. It was on sale (Thanks, Rachel, for telling us!!) for $30 + base for another $30. So, $60 for a good quality 9 foot market umbrella sounds much better than other prices I have seen. Anyway, after grabbing my awesome umbrella, we headed out for dinner at Five Guys, followed by dessert at Coldstone Creamery!

As you can see, the boys LOVED the ice cream :) 

 

 {Monday}

 Another day of perfect sunshine in the shade of my umbrella! 

 Apparently, it was sports day. Lots of golfing, baseball, and football going on in our backyard! 

{Tuesday}

 

 After we got Andrew to school, Alex and I headed to the doctor. We were a bit early, so we waited in the car. He watched The Cat in the Hat (the PBS show) on my iPod while I read some email. Once we got in to see my doc, he couldn't wait to "see" the baby. Only, I tried explaining we weren't going to see the baby, we were going to hear the baby. Of course, he was hoping for a pic...me, too, haha! Anyway, he giggled when we heart the baby's heart and seemed to enjoy that. After some griping from me to my doc (he loves me haha), I finally found out that we will know if this is a boy or a girl the 3rd week of June. YAY! 

 After some errands were taken care of, we headed back to school to get Andrew. And, look was we saw on someone's van!! AND, it was a Toyota Sienna...one of my top 2 choices, by the way! You know this mom is AWESOME. I wonder where she got those decals. They are just too cool! You know you are loving it, too!

 

These two were snuggling together while I was making dinner. I had to see what was going on because they were just too quiet and, well, you know... Quiet usually is not good if kids are awake. But, they were just watching Mickey Mouse together in Daddy's chair just as happy as can be. Love them!

 {Wednesday}

Another day of glorious sunshine!! And, since it was nearly 90 that day, we broke out the sprinkler!

 

 Boys, water, dump trucks, and mud...

 

 Such dirty little boys and their dump trucks... They loved every minute of it!

{Thursday}

 

 Playing circus in the living room after school!

{Friday}

When we ran out to get lunch after a morning of cleaning up, we saw a Mama Turkey with her babies!! The boys were so excited I had to turn around and go back in the neighborhood to get a better look - and a picture.

{Saturday}

While folding laundry most of the morning, I hear the funniest sounds, loud giggles, and trains on the other side of the house. Here's what I saw:

 I know... Not the best quality picture, but I was trying to be sneaky about it. That is Andy's toddler bed and the two chairs lined up to make...a train, of course!! 

Another fun week!  Coming up soon --

Andrew's last day of preschool for this year. He moves up to PreK-3 next school year. And, Alex will start preschool, too! 

We are ready for a super fun summer!!

Jam-Packed Week of Fun!

Just editing those pictures from a couple weeks ago wore me out! We sure did have a super fun time getting in a few outings before the "big kids" are out of school and "mess everything up." No offense...but, come on. Mama with preschoolers know EXACTLY what I am talking about. Those day care, summer camp, day camp wild children and the adults that are just "there." You know... Anyway, we got a LOT of fun done in one week. Here's a look:

{Saturday}

Jason and I went to a dinner party for his college golf coach, Coach Kaufman! We had a great time and it was fun seeing his old friends and room mates. 

 "The House" Guys - At some point all of these guys lived together in "the house." I have that in quotes for a reason... That house did it's job by providing shelter, but wow... That poor house needed - a probably still needs - love. Very cute, but one of those places you would have a blast renovating down in South Side. But, that is just the girl in me. For these guys it was the perfect bachelor pad 

Jason and I with Coach Kaufman :)

{Monday}

We headed out to McWane after nap time - which was a great time to go! All the school kids were heading back to get home and the place was pretty much empty. Awesome. 

 Top row, left: Playing with shadows and "catching" falling rocks. We built a fort!

Bottom row, left: Mini paleontologists. Alex checking out the jellies. Mr. Starfish.

 1st column: Giant light bright toy. Andrew playing with the face mixer-upper LOL

Middle: Alex in the bug habitat.

3rd column: Andy building a tower while Alex does some grocery shopping. 

 

Attempting to make a giant bubble

{Tuesday}

 Getting some errands done while Andy's at school.

 Zoo time after school!

{Wednesday}

Play date with Braxton!!

 How cool is the view from their yard?? COWS!!

 Such best friends!!

 After we headed home for nap time, we headed out once more to Lowe's to fix the "death" lurking at our front door. I made two of these planters - pretty, huh? Purple fountain grass and pink begonias! The boys helped putting in the drainage rock and dirt. They even had their shovels. Such cuties. 

{Thursday}

 Lunch time with Alex at one of our favorite places. Little did I know that Bumblebee was going to join us - good thing he doesn't talk much. ;)

 Look at what my little man gave me for Mother's Day!! Andrew put his hand print on both sides (the other side say "May 2013") LOVE IT!!! Thank you, sweetheart!!

We ran over to Braxton's to drop off an early birthday present - which we ended up buy 2 of LOL. See that little sprinkler? It is the Melissa and Doug Grub Scouts Sprinkler and it is super cute! And, it is was a big hit, too!

 Bubble beards after a fun day in the sun!

{Friday}

Ending the week with yummy popsicles!

We certainly had a fun week, don't you think? We are definitely looking forward to a lazy summer and the many visitors we have coming to town, too! And, of course, we are also gearing up for the big changes coming soon. Stay tuned for more - we find out in June if we will be welcoming a baby boy or a baby girl to our family!

Have a great week!!

 

Chocolate Cake, Obnoxious Song, and Cold Weather - Oh, My!!

Ah, the first week of May. Flowers are in bloom. Birds are singing happy tunes. Treat are being made and movies are being watched. The weather has that hint of frost bite in the air. UM, WHAT?! Yes, the first week of May (the later 1/2 anyway), we were wearing long sleeve shirts, pants, socks, and jackets. Listen, Groundhog... you are out of a job, buddy. I mean, really?! It. Is. May! MAY! Ugh... This is exactly why we ALL still have a cough. It's hot. It's cold. It's raining. It's hot. It's below freezing. No joke. We had a freeze warning. Not. Even. Kidding.

Ok, enough of that. It was a nice, sunny day for Andrew's Spring Program and we had so much fun the rest of the week that it all just evened out somehow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We made an easy peasy chocolate cake!! Now, that I know that I actually have all of these ingredients on hand (usually), we may have this special little treat more often. It was so moist and delish!

'Round and 'round we go!

 Andrew is clearly in chocolate heaven here ;)

 This is why I have double the dishes to do. Everyone has to have their own spoon. These really are their spoons, too. They picked them out at Publix a while back. Andy said they needed to be able to cook with me and have their own stuff. Fine. 

 Doesn't that look yummy? Well, it is :) 

 Another awesome train track! 

 Playing so sweet together

And then yelling...because the school bus is coming! LOL All the kids and the bus driver wave to them. They LOVE it! During the summer, while out on walks, the big kids we see will say, "Hey, you guys are from the window!" Too funny. 

 Friday's movie night!! Robin Hood - thanks to Julie for this suggestion! The boys loved it! Jason loved it, too. So much that the darn Rooster's Song got stuck in my head the whole weekend. Shoot...now it's back... Here. Let me share with you the Rooster's Song. Enjoy!

(Please note: If you are viewing this post via email, then you need to click through to the actual post to see the video. Thanks!)

We hope everyone had a great weekend (and stayed warm...)!

Spring Program 2013

Last week, Andrew's preschool put on their Spring Program. And, OH. MY. GOSH. So cute!! All of the kids were adorable - the ones who were all in to each and every song, the ones who cried and just didn't want to do any of it, the ones who just stood in stared off, and the ONE that jumped more than the guys from House of Pain (video link here for those who have no idea what song I am referring to - good times)!! Father J said, "He is so happy!" And, yes! He was SO excited for this day (which is hilarious since he hated going to music class). Here is the videos from his Spring Program! Enjoy!!

Some pics from the "after-party"

 Mommy's Little Star! 

 Little Man thrilled to have a "plate of desserts"

Do you love his bandaids? Ugh... This child gets hurt in the most unbelievable ways... 

He was running - while pushing around a giant dump truck - and tripped. 

But, how he tripped was like a scene from a cartoon. He flipped OVER his truck. Nice. 

He will be the next big name stunt man. I just know it.

More of a scrap than a bruise. Luckily he heals fast. Nothing there when we took the bandaid off the next day. It is amazing how fast kids heal!! I'll cry from a paper cut for days... 

Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the show!!