Fun, Fourth, Family, Fabulous!

I truly don't even know where to begin! This first picture is of Matthew on is last day of swimming lessons (last Thursday). It doesn't go with the rest of the pics, but I just think it's pretty darn cute! He is very proud of his accomplishments in the pool! We spent the 4th of July weekend at my cousin, Jennifer's. They live out in the country in a beautiful new home, and the lake is their backyard! It was such a fun weekend! I just love this picture of Molly--mostly because she's so stinking cute, but I also love the light at the end of the day.

Cousins--how much more fun can it be??

Justin--Jennifer's husband. I need to tag this pic of him on Facebook.

More cousins!

I just LOVE this picture. I haven't edited any of these, but I think I should crop it, tweak it a bit, and frame it.

Boys will be boys. Once one of them started "going" in the lake, they all had to do it!

This may be my favorite picture.

Aiden . . . look at that precious face! Is he happy!?!

Serious fun. Playing with sticks in the lake. Who needs toys?

Jenn and Aiden in the lake. (Notice Jenn's sun-in-her-eyes squint. This is the same squint I have seen at least a million times swimming with her since birth!)

This picture cracks me up! Caden has the same little sun-in-eyes squint! Same eye and everything! I love it!

Oh look! Gorgeous was there! This is Missy Britches not too sure about getting in the lake.

Oh, wait! Daddy's with her. Everything's fine.

Oh, no it's not! Get me out! My dad came to her rescue and got Little Bit all warmied up!

Love, love Matthew's jumping skills!

Molly wasn't quite sure about the fireworks. Back safe in Daddy's arms.

Matthew WAS sure about them! HE loved them!!!!

A Day in My Life (and 4/52)

It was very, very early this morning when I was awakened by "Mom! Mommy! I need to tell you something! Come here!" That was at 6:11 am. By 6:17 am, this was the scene in our bed:

Molly has quite the fashion sense. She put together this little ensemble all by herself. Quite talented!
We watched cartoons for a few minutes, played a bit with Mike before he headed out the door, and then met my dad at Denny's for a special breakfast treat.

After Denny's we headed through the Lightening Car Wash (a family favorite)! The kids love it because they get to stay in the car while it goes through the wash.

Then off to Sports Clips (Matthew's new favorite hair cut place) for Matthew's hair cut. Here's the before picture:

And here's After (Mom, I want it spikey!)

We headed to Blockbuster, where Matthew rented Fire House Dog, and Molly picked a My Little Pony movie. Matthew watched his movie while Molly napped. This was about 11:30 this morning--and we'd already had a full day!

Or So I Thought! After napping/movie time, we met Matthew's friend, Preston, at the pool for a couple of hours of summer fun! Matthew got a new snorkle last week and has gotten way more than $5 worth of fun out of it already!

And look at sweet Molly! She's loving the goggles. Work it, baby!

Preston may be Matthew's friend, but Molly adores him, as you can see!

After our fun time at the pool, we went home, changed clothes, and headed for Matthew's T-Ball game. The kids are getting really good! I can't believe how much they have improved! Check out the look of determination on his face!

Another great thing about tonight's T-Ball game was that Uncle David and (soon-to-be) Aunt Jessica got to come! Matthew loved it!!!! And so did Miss Molly!

We ended up this super-busy day with Mexican food. This was the latest Molly had ever been out. It took both of the kids about 3 minutes to fall asleep tonight.

What a busy, wonderful day. I think this is what summer is all about--those great times with friends and family doing things you don't normally get to do. I can't believe we squeezed all this fun into one day. Maybe we'll get to sleep past 6:11 tomorrow!

All I wanna do is dance

The highlight of the weekend was a wonderful dinner out with BIL David and his girlfriend, Jessica. We went to a "fancy" restaurant and had an incredible meal! It was a gift from David to Mike for his 40th birthday and let me just say, it was sooooo nice. Here we are basking in the after-deliciousness. Jessica and I had peppercorn glazed petite filet with a lobster tail, garlic mashed pots, and yummy asparagus. We also had calamari, and a peanut butter, banana yum yum for dessert. Then we went back the their house and played Wii. So fun!

So--we also moved Molly into her big girl bed on Saturday. She's been trying to climb out of her crib and would have made it if I hadn't run right into her room. So, sweet baby girl is fancy pants now. Check out this precious bed. She saw it at Baby's R Us and it was love at first sight. It's a toddler bed, and the bedding and canopy have satin fabric with fairies (Tinkerbell) on them--soooo pretty. She loves it during the day, and the nights? Well, not so much.

We've been having a few nighttime "issues" with little Miss Priss. Without going into too much detail, she had done really well in her new bed until last night. She had a little cough left over from her sickness and I think it kept waking her up, then she'd cry, get out of bed, and then Mike or I would rock her. Over and over. And over. We were up off and on until 4 am when we finally put her in our bed. We usually don't want to put them in our bed, but people, we had to get some sleep. And to top it all off, no school today! Arrrrggggg! I probably wouldn't have sent Molly anyway (not that you can tell she didn't have her sleep--she's happy and playful now)! But I did have grand illusions of a nap when Molly had hers. Ahhhhh . . .as my friend Andrea just blogged today, "the end of selfishness."

I'll leave you with this: when all else fails, turn on the music and dance! We did (thanks to the reminder from Aunt Judy) and it worked! Everything was better. But I am still tired!

Back in the Bloggle . . .uh . . .Saddle?

Holy Guacamole! The best surprise ever for my sweet husband: He turned 40 a few days after Christmas and I somehow managed to blow his socks off (with a little help, of course). So, last Sunday, the 28th, I told him to pack a change of clothes and we were going to go spend the night out. He thought we were going to the Gaylord, but NOPE! We went to the airport, and headed for Vegas! What a great way to spend your 40th birthday! Even the people in the airport helped keep the surprise--right up until we boarded the plane. He was shocked! Here's his picture trying to figure out why we're turning into the airport: And of course, we spent lots of time on the strip! We even managed to come back with a little extra money.

Our picture at the hotel.

Another big highlight of the trip was getting to spend a little time with my Grandma Mickey. She's 92 and such an amazing, amazing person. She has had quite a life, and always makes the choice to be happy--truly happy. She's a role model, for sure.

Mike's parents sent a bottle of champagne, which was so nice and completely enjoyed by us both! We had a trip to the hot tub (and--it was actually cold in Vegas), so the hot tub was so much fun!

Cheers to you, my love! What a happy, happy birthday--I hope the next 40 are as wonderful as the last 40!

We came home on New Year's and headed for our first play date of 2009. So much fun!

Then last night, we headed over to David and Jessica's for a little fun. Oh yes Wii did! And if it were not for the fact that we are trying to put off video games for Matthew and Molly as long as possible, I would be at the store buying Wii/Guitar Hero right this very minute! It was so much fun! And Matthew managed, somehow, to beat his mommy at Wii baseball. Hmmmm. I don't know how he did it. I was really trying, too!

Mike and Jessica, aka, David's girlfriend. I really, really like her! She and her step-mom are going with me on the famous scrapbooking retreat in just a few short weeks.

Mii, totally rocking out on guitar hero. Well, so I was at the "Easy" level, but still, I was rockin'!

Happy New Year! Any resolutions? Hmmmm. I'll have to get back to you on that. Love you!

Fur, Fun, Friends, & Family

My sweet dh has been home since last Friday and it's been wonderful! We've gotten to spend some much-needed family time together (and managed to argue less than 2 times--which is a success)! So, here's a little update on our past week or so. Last Thursday, Molly and Matthew were in their last morning of school before break when my car suddenly and inexplicably turned in to Petco. My body moved, as if propelled by an outside force, to the SPCA area and I found myself speaking the words "We would like to have that sweet kitty, please." Oh, there was a lot more to it than that, but that pretty much sums it up. So, on Thursday night, our little family added 4 little furry feet to our household. Matthew named her Ginger Bell--she's 6 months old and just as sweet and patient as I can imagine. The kids LOVE her, which was the whole point. Matthew has been asking for a cat for 2 years since the nightmare I like to call "The Psycho Kitten Fiasco" which is not an understatement, but would be an entirely different entry. Then, Matthew was a shepherd in his Christmas program. And it was just about the cutest thing ever. Have you ever seen a shepherd pick his nose on stage? Well, that's just what my little shepherd did, and I loved it! I know, I know. But I did! How funny!

Then Friday, we were off to Build A Bear with my friend, Tiff, and family. Oh, how fun! The kids all had a ball. Molly even picked out pink cowboy boots for her dog and is quite frustrated that they don't fit her, too! The other night, she wouldn't go to bed until we found the boots and they were properly outfitted on her dog. So funny--she has such a fashion conscience!

The weekend before, we had our family Christmas at my cousin's in Shamrock. Going to Shamrock is the high point in Matthew's life right now. He loves, loves, loves to go see his cousins. He would go every weekend if he could. It is also good that Uncle Joe has a big red tractor to sit on.

Matthew and Aiden having fun.
Molly being silly. (Side note: when Matthew was a baby, I always took his paci out of his mouth for pictures and now I don't have any paci pictures of him--which is sad because that was such a part of his little baby life. So now I always leave Molly's paci in her mouth--I know it's not the cutest, but at least I'll have pictures!)

Could they be having any more fun? I don't think so--pure love.

I have tons of Christmas day pictures, too, but it's past my bedtime, friends. I could have blogged about 100 Shamrock pictures. Jenn and Judy: I'll upload them to shutterfly and send you the link so you can see them all. Merry Merry Christmas!