Rare

Chad and I had a very rare moment last night. My parents took both kiddos for the evening and we went to see an adult movie! After much deliberation, we chose "The Rite". You see, I forget to breath in scary movies and cover my eyes and beg the hubs to tell me when it is over (and yes, I did all of the above with this one) but it was still great! I had to talk myself into this one, but it was so worth it! Reminded me of the good old days - even if it was just for a few hours!
A much needed night alone with my man!

Cousins

My brother, niece, and nephew were in town for about a week and a half and we were lucky enough to spend a couple of evenings (wish it was more) together for quick dinners and little bits of play time in between picking up or dropping off kids here or there. It was not enough time, but time none the less.

Last night, we went to my parents house for dinner. It was nice to be able to sit down and visit for a few hours while the kids played and played and played!
They left bright and early this morning and we miss them already, but it was time to go home to mama, who unfortunately had to stay behind to work and hold down the fort.
We are lucky that we get to see them in a few months, for my cousin, Carrie's, wedding!
Kyan is going to be the ring bearer and Ava, the flower girl!
Lola and Kyan can't wait to see you again, Ava and Brayden!
Miss and love you, LOTS!

PS - Growing up, my brother and I were fortunate enough to live only blocks away from our cousins. If we weren't at home, you would find us over there and vice versa. It was the best. One of the advantages of growing up in a small town. I wish that our kids lived closer (if I had my wish, my whole family and my hubs' family would live in the same neighborhood) and that I got to spend more time with my brother. I love him.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the cutest Valentine's Day gift I think I have ever received. Seriously, he was adorable when he came in the door and had me read his sign! I was so excited to lean in for a kiss (especially after the day I had)! In fact, he has been dishing out the kisses tonight like no other and I am loving every minute of it!

And my poor little Lolita, we spent the early evening at the doctor's office confirming that she did indeed have pink eye, a pretty bad case of it! She looks miserable and like someone punched her in the face. Both of her eyes are so swollen and red, both in and out of the eye. No daycare for her today (thank you mama for watching her, despite your sore neck/back) or tomorrow. With it as gooey as it is, even with drops, she can't go until that goo goes away.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Lola Turns "Free"

Lola turned three ("free" is how she says it) today!
Wowwee, I thought that because she actually slept in this morning that we were going to have a great day, DIVA free (at least until her party was over)...WRONG!
She bounced right out of bed and got dressed for dance class, we even washed and dried her hair extra special. She loved it! When it came time to go to class, birthday girl threw the fit of her life! She refused to go to dance class, she said she just wanted to watch TV. Over my dead body (she pulled the same crap last week, only in the middle of dance class, at least this one started at home)! We told her that she couldn't have her party if she didn't go to dance and she agreed! She then proceeded to say she didn't feel good! We even told her that she would have to rest the whole day without any TV, and she still said okay. Seriously?! What little birthday girl calls off her own party? I put down a $75 deposit at Build-A-Bear, how was I going to just cancel her party with like an hour and a half to spare?
Finally, with less than half of dance class left to go, she agreed to go and try (she is transitioning from parent/child class to big girl class and it is an hour earlier with a new teacher). She saved herself and was able to have her party, but not without a fight!
Let the "Trying Three's" begin!

With that being said, we did a have a fabulous time at Build-A-Bear!
The party lasted about and hour and our hostess Amber was amazing with the kids!
I think I would be safe in stating that every kid left there a pretty happy camper!

Thank you to all of Lola's friends that joined her and made her day so special!

We REALLY BIG love you Lola!
Happy 3rd Birthday to the BIGGEST little diva I know!

Enough Said.

They make everything WORTH IT.

Happy Birthday, Fishhead!

We have this tradition in our family, he who has the birthday picks where they want to eat their birthday dinner! Kyan and I ALWAYS pick Ah-So, Chad almost always picks McGrath's (if he ever leaves dinner choices up to us, this isn't on our list of stops)! This is exactly where he picked to eat tonight and we ate a wonderful meal as an extended family (usually it is just the four of us). We were joined by my parents, his mama, my brother and two kiddos (we haven't seen them in forever). Not only was the food delicious, but the company was even better!

At the end of dinner, the staff put a giant fish on Chad's head and we sang "Happy Birthday" to him! No one could have looked better and I think is the perfect addition to what I have decided will be my running list of reasons why I love my boo (read the other 31 from last year's birthday post here):
32. You look HOT even with a giant fish on your head!

*please excuse the horrible blackberry pictures in this post. camera phones are no good*

The highlight for the kids: LOBSTERS!
We spent a good 15 minutes watching three of those bad boys fighting over a spot in the corner! The kids were giggling the entire time and picking out which lobster they were!
Thought this picture was cute of the cousins (another one with the old blackberry, horrible I tell you), all lined up at the lobster tank, in birth order!

Happy Birthday Chad!

We really BIG love you.

Not Just Any Sunday...

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!

Yesterday, we hosted our first Super Bowl party, (surprisingly, I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do, guess I was trying to just be in the moment). It was amazing, we were surrounded by old and new friends and family (meant the world to us that you were there), delicious food (ordered one to many sandwiches, so I sent everyone out the door with lunch for a few days this week), football, commercials (think the VW Beetle was my favorite), and one heckofa half time show (might have been the best one I have seen to date)!
It was a day for remembering too, and remember Brion I did, all weekend. When I was coming home from the second trip to the grocery store on Saturday, I was overwhelmed with memories of him, I let a few tears fall, then pulled myself together before I got home. You see, the Super Bowl parties were always his thing (his parties were always so much fun and where every body went), so to carry on his tradition, it feels pretty special, like a big part of him is/was/will be there with us always. I think we pulled off a party that he would have been proud of and we look forward to carrying on his tradition for years to come!

Thank you to everyone who came to the party!
We hope you had just as much fun as we did!