Birthday!

This year was one of the most memorable birthday's I think I have ever had...thanks honey! J planned a big surprise for me, little did I know how big it really was. As you can see from the picture it was big!!! We headed out to wine country (Texas style) with some friends and spent the day drinking and eating. The weather was beautiful as well as the company. We had a great time and I am feeling pretty special thanks to J!!! I think my hubby wins the award for best hubby of the year award!

Another Turkey day come and gone...

Well it's been another great Thanksgiving! This year we were at Nana and Poppy's house, without Aunt Mimi (she was in Italy, yes Italy). We had a wonderful time and great food, thanks Nana! We made a turkey day trip to Bass Pro Shop, never been, it was cool and we even got a free photo with Santa (the 4 of us, it was great). Friday found us at Sea World for the much awaited 4-D Polar Express. T was in absolute heaven!!! I have to say it was awesome, I felt like a kid again. It was 18 minutes of the best parts of a great movie, The Polar Express. We wore the funny glasses, A even kept hers on. They made it snow in the theater too. We then made our way over to see a Christmas Shamu show, it was amazing! Nothing like watching Shamu jump out of the water to Christmas music. I love Sea World! We made our way home and then today went downtown to watch the Chuy's Children Giving to Children parade. We all 4 had a wonderful time. Tonight we are relaxing watching good old college football, okay relaxing isn't really the word since we have a lot on the line with the games tonight. Thank goodness Tech beat Baylor...now we are waiting to see if somehow OSU can beat OU.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have told your loved ones and friends how thankful you are for them!

It's Turkey Time

Where to start...we are off to Nana and Poppy's house for Thanksgiving. We will wake up early on Thanksgiving and do the Turkey Trot as a family (4 miles)...that's nothing, and I never thought I would say 4 miles is "nothing" haha!. T is super excited because he knows that Thanksgiving means he gets to watch his favorite movie, The Polar Express. We are going to Sea World to see the Polar Express if 4-D...T is beside himself. We are also going to the Chuy's Parade on Saturday...so needless to say it's a jam packed turkey day...I will post photos when we return.
I want to plug a great photographer...we had our family photos done for the 2nd year in a row with a great photographer named Robin Winkles. You can look her up at www.robinwinklesphotography.com. She is fabulous. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

It's just plain funny...

We went to San Antonio today to cheer on my sister who ran in her first Half Marathon! She did great by the way. On our way into the race area there was a grandma, grandpa, and two grandkids. The grandma was yelling at the grandpa "Pop, Pop" and he did not respond (he was talking on his cell phone)...the next words out of grandma's mouth had to be some of the funniest I have heard in a while...she yelled "Oh crap, he has his good ear to the phone". Just writing that makes me laugh. That line has kept me entertained all day long. I only hope you are able to enjoy it as much as I have.
Life lesson, don't use your cell phone in a crowd if you only have 1 good ear, and for goodness sakes don't piss off grandma!!!
WAY TO GO AMERS!!!

T's weekend...

Well T is now officially 4 years old! He had a great birthday weekend. Saturday we had his birthday party. He got lots of cool toys (with lots of pieces). I thought we would need 10 pizza's...lets just say we had pizza all weekend for breakfast, lunch, and dinner ;-) haha! Sunday we took T and A to the movies to see Madagascar 2. It was a very cute movie...they both did great! Who knew skittles and peanut m&m's would keep them so happy ;-). We had a lot of fun and yes I made the cake, the rocket/space shuttle cake.

A weekend for T day one...

We started T's birthday weekend today. J and I took the day off and took T for a personal tour at the fire station close to where I work. I know 2 of the fire fighters and they did such a great job of making it special for T. They blocked off an entire hour for us! We all enjoyed learning about the fire truck and how the fire house works. It really is amazing...and yes I still love firemen!!! Anyway, then we headed off to the Jumpy House (as T refers to it). We met up with the grandparents and A there...let's just say for the next hour we all felt like kids again. We got in the bouncy houses with both kiddos and had a blast! We headed off to Chuy's for lunch (yummy mexican food). This evening we met up with friends for dinner and went to a very very small carnival. Tomorrow is the big birthday party!

It's all about the cupcake...

We have a busy next few days coming up in our household. It's T's 4th birthday this coming weekend. The festivities will start tomorrow, he is taking cupcakes to school (no I didn't make them this time...HEB did ;-). Friday we are taking him to the fire station for a personal tour, that's right I get a personal tour with a fireman, oops I mean my son get's a tour of the fire station (haha). We are also taking him to Madagascar 2 that afternoon. Saturday is his birthday party, woohoo!!! Then Sunday is the acutal birthday! What a weekend. I guess this weekend cake will be a food group for all of us ;-). Oh and yes, I will be making his birthday cake. It's a space theme so I am making a rocket ship, I will take pictures and post them after it's all said and done (hopefully it looks like a rocket, I am no Martha Stuart).

And the score is...

33 to 39 Tech!!! That was the score from last night's *7Texas Tech v. *1Texas game. It was one heck of a game and this morning I find myself with very little voice, but it was all worth it to see Tech beat Texas! What a game!

Happy Halloween

The kids loved Halloween this year. It was the first year where A actually got to walk up to the doors and say "Trick or Treat". She and T had a blast together. A was a Texas Tech cheerleader and T was Buzz Lightyear!

It's all about the outfit...

"I Did It Mommy..."

A has been expressing interest in the potty lately. She has been asking to go before bath time and a few other times throughout the day. We have started putting her on the potty before bath, but mostly she just sits there. Well...last night she asked to get on the potty again and I took her off and put her in the bath tub, she cried the whole bath. After bath she asked to go again so I let her. "I did it mommy" were the next words out of her mouth. She did it! She went potty!!! I was so excited. Tonight she did the same thing and went potty again! I can't believe it because she is not even 2 years old yet. Maybe we will be diaper free by Christmas? We are very excited about the pay raise we will get with not having to buy diapers anymore.

It's The Weekend...

It's the weekend and it's off to a great start! Last night we headed out with our good friends to Oktoberfest in Walburg, TX. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the band. It was a different sound then I am use to but they were great! We all had a great time. The camera was acting up so we were not able to capture the night as well as I had wanted. Saturday morning J headed out to run the Livestrong 5K and will ride 90 miles in the Livestrong ride tomorrow. He has a busy weekend. As for me...let's see...I plan on getting a pedicure and manicure later today, do a little shopping, and watch some good college football! It's going to be a nice relaxing weekend. We are so proud of J for rasing money for the Livestrong ride and going out there and joining everyone in the fight against cancer! Thanks J!

Oktoberfest!

So tomorrow night we are headed out to Walburg with the neighbors for Oktoberfest. This will be a first for me. Not sure what to expect, but I will make sure to take the camera and capture it all in photos. Not sure what types of pics I will get...haha...we shall see. All I know is there will be "beverages", this works for me. After the loooooonnnnnnnggggg week I have had at work I am ready for some "beverages". Okay so I started early tonight and am having wine with chili, yep chili, it's cool here (not cold). I know what cold is, but 65 degrees is about as cold as I like it to get. That is why I live in South Texas ;-). If it were up to me I would live on a beach in the Caribbean and be content all year long!

FOOTBALL!!!

Texas Tech plays A&M today...let's just say "GO RED RAIDERS!!!!".

Call out the search party, I lost my keys!!!

Have you ever lost something and really didn't know where it was, when all along it was right under your nose? Okay good, I am glad I am not the only one. Well let's just say after making a trip to the HEB Tuesday night I couldn't find my keys!!! I knew they were in the house because I had gotten home for the HEB. I searched for 2 days for them, thank you J for walking me through what I did after the HEB. During this 2 day adventure I managed to go through the garbage 2 times, yes 2 times...did I find them, no...what a waste to have to sift through 2 bags of garbage! I had looked through my purse, drawers, counter tops, kiddos stuff, and my work bag several times. Well J came along and said "Did you check your bag?", I replied "yes, several times"...something made him check it again and wouldn't you know he found them!!!! They had fallen into the front of my bag where I didn't look. Nice, huh? So I guess I will leave the detective work up to him from now on and wear my keys on a chain around my neck. haha!

Friends, Sun, and Arizona!

What a great weekend we had with some great friends of ours...it started off on Saturday morning when we got up and got on a plane to visit some friends of ours in Arizona. Justin and Amber moved out there with their 3 great girls back in July. By mid-July I had booked us on a flight to visit them in Oct. and well time flies and we are already back from the trip. We will be planning our next one very soon! Saturday was great we sat around their pool catching up and then around 7PM our "driver" picked us up to go to Barcelona, the place in Scotsdale, Arizona. We had good food, live music (a former American Idol singer was on stage that night), and fancy cars that I don't even know the name of. We had plenty of beverages and ended up back at their house by 2AM...for those you in Texas that is 4AM our time, yep we had been up about 24 hours...it was GREAT!!! On Sunday, when we finally all rolled out of bed, (did I tell you there were not kiddos this weekend!!!) the guys went to Starbucks to get us all drinks and we sat around and talked about what we wanted to do that day. We got dressed and headed down to Margaritaville. It is next to the stadium and wouldn't you know Dallas Cowboys were playing Arizona Cardinals that day...so we got our game on and cheered on the Cowboys at Maragritaville (they lost, but it was fun anyway). We enjoyed some great "drinks" while we were cheering on the game and pissing off the Cardinal fans by cheering loudly ;-). It was great! We ended our trip by stopping at BevMo (the local liquor shop) to restock then Amber cooked us some of the most wonderful steaks I have ever had. We sat out on their patio next to the fire pit and drank, laughed, listened to music, made smores, and had a great time! It was good to see our friends and get away for a nice relaxing weekend. We are hoping to meet up in Vegas soon...the plans have begun! Thanks Taylors!!! It's always good to see my BFF and my boyfriend!

Ironman

Well this past week has been super busy! T is having a great time in soccer class and A loves going and running around watching her "Bubba" do soccer. As for our weekend Aunt Mimi came up and we went to a carnival in our neighborhood with our cousins and then today finished out the weekend with watching Jeff and our friend Brian complete the Austin Longhorn Half Ironman. For those of you who don't know what an ironman is let me tell you...it's 70.3 miles that include a swim, bike, and a run (half marathon run at that!). We are so proud of boy guys. This is Jeff's
3rd completed half ironman. The kiddos are getting really good at spectating at these events. Aunt Mimi and I agree that we need more family though to help out at these events. Unfortunately they couldn't make it this time so we did it alone and realized how much we do appreciate them there ;-). As for the athletes, what an accomplishment!!! Jeff and T crossed the finish line together, this was a first at the half ironman for Jeff to have T cross with him...maybe a new tradition? Maybe a look into the future for the full ironman that he is signed up for in Kentucky next September??? We shall see...

It's soccer time!

T started back to soccer today. A was a little upset she was not allowed on the field once the class started. Don't feel too bad for her she kept us busy going back and forth the whole 45 minute class ;-). T is really good on the field. He is very coordinated and can kick and stop the soccer ball, we are so proud of him!

There were 6 in the bed...

You all know the nursery rhyme "There were 10 in the bed" right? Well if not it goes a little something like this..."There were 10 in the bed and the little one said roll over it's crowded, so they all rolled over and one fell off there were 9 in the bed..." and so on. Anyway we have Saturday night football gatherings at our house on Saturday nights and there are at least 12 kiddos there and well they like to watch movies and the only place they can is our bedroom in our bed. It's so cute to see them all in the bed laying next to each other and it reminds me of the nursery rhyme so I had to take this picture and post it with this blog.
It's been a while since I last blogged. T starts soccer tomorrow afternoon and is very excited! Work is just crazy right now I cannot seem to get my head above the water right now I am just treading water and hoping I don't drown! Things will get better, they have to right ;-) haha! A is talking up a storm now, poor J he is stuck with all talkers in this house, they take after me I guess.

A few pics for the start of College Football!

Wreck 'Em Tech!!!

What a week...

Where do I start? This week I went back to work, no kiddos yet just getting the room ready and lots of meetings and trainings. I am exhausted and the kiddos aren't even back yet.
Grandma was here watching A and T, it was good but I was sad that I couldn't hang out with them as much this last week before work begins and their new school begins. We have had a lot of fun this summer! This weekend we are busy getting all the things the kiddos need to go to their new school on Monday. You already saw A's backpack. T wants a new blanket for his rest time at school. I also have to pack their lunches everyday so we are trying to figure out what things we will pack, if it were up to T he would have Peanutbutter and Jelly every day for every meal. Both kiddos are excited as are we for them to start at this new school. T is excited about making new friends and I am excited for them both to learn new things.
As far as me I have 16 new little Kindergarten students coming on Tuesday this week. I met them all on Thursday and Friday and they are just soooo cute! I forget how little they are when they come in. I am starting to realize that T will be there in 2 years. They grow so fast!
This morning we started our family fitness...by this I mean I started back with my running group Round Rock Fit and training for the Half Marathon (again) and J decided he wanted to do the training for the full marathon so he is pushing the kiddos in the jogger and we are all doing Round Rock Fit! It was great to be out there as a family. It is very important to us that our kids grow up in an active, healthy life style. It's going to be great!

Backpack, Backpack

We have been busy getting the kiddos ready to start their new school and I think we are finally getting there. Both of them now have new backpacks, yep A is moving up from a diaper bag to a backpack. T got a Lightning McQueen backpack a few weeks ago and this past weekend we finally found A's backpack, it's a toddler size Dora rolling backpack and she is in love with it! She carries/rolls it all over the place. It's way too cute!

Check out this rock star girl!

A loves listening to music, better yet she likes doing it on You Tube (go figure). Anyway she likes to dance and well now she acts like she is at a concert. It was very cute and fun!

Too much fun!

This past weekend was just too much fun! We started it out on Saturday morning meeting up with friends of ours and their kiddos and headed to San Antonio for a trip to Sea World! It was A's first time to go and T's second time. It is a great place where everyone feels like a kid again...okay it's no Disney World, but it's a pretty fun place. T convinced me to sit in the splash zone with him at Shamu, luckily we were high enough up we only felt a sprinkle when the gigantic whale decided to use his tail to get everyone wet. He was a little upset he wasn't soaked, but he got over it when he went to the water area after lunch. T rode his first roller coaster (the kiddie kind). A fell in love with Shamu! I think all of the kids really enjoyed going to the water area for kids since it was 104 degrees outside. After Sea World we headed back to Nana and Poppy's house for some dinner. Poppy got a new grill that can cook 36 burgers, we only needed 10 or so, but it sounds good. They were great, thanks Poppy! We all got to bed early and on Sunday morning headed to the Ski Ranch in New Braunfels for Jack's Generic Triathlon. Daddy, our friend Brian, and Aunt Mimi were all racing in this event. We love going to the races! T had the best time of anyone though, he got to run across the finish line with daddy and if you ask him how it went he beat daddy across the line. He is so proud and we have been waiting to let T do that with his daddy for a long time. Great job daddy, Mimi, and Brian! We were all pretty hot and tired after the race so we all went our separate ways and rested. You didn't think it ended there did you? We met up for dinner with everyone and invited a few others at Plucker's! We love their food, okay the "large" drinks are great too! What a great weekend!!!

Cutie in piggy tails

New pictures

We had fun taking pictures of the kiddos being silly this weekend...enjoy!

Good Times...

This past weekend was very busy! Friday night J and I went out on the town with some friends. We ate at a mexican place dowtown called Cantina Laredo, if you have never been you must go!!! They make guacamole at your table. I have never liked guacamole but I do now ;-). Saturday morning the guys went on a bike ride and the girls came over to the house and we cooked up a big breakfast for them to eat when they got back. We had pancakes, eggs (lots of them), bacon, sausage, and tortillas. It was good stuff! Saturday night our neighbors came over for some food and fun! T and his friend PJ have the best time together...they are such boys. They played cars, trucks, and puzzles. J made the best burgers, thanks J! Sunday brought on a lazy day since our weekend had been so busy so far. We did manage to make it to some yummy mexican food at our local spot Mesa Rosa, yummy eats! J likes the margaritas!!! We always get to go buy a movie or two at Best Buy after our trips to the Mesa Rosa ;-). So once again another great weekend. We will have lots to tell about after this coming weekend J, my sister, and our friend Brian are doing a Triathlon and we are going to Sea World.

Daddy...anyone??

The kiddos and I went to lunch today a few friends of mine. Of course we went to Chuys!! I love that place, it's yummy food and kid friendly. We were sitting around eating our chips and dip dip, as A likes to call it, and I hear A start calling daddy. I looked around and noticed she was calling the man behind us "daddy". At first I looked at her and thought she was crazy, I told her "That is not daddy". When I took a closer look I realized why she thought it was...the man had on a polo shirt like daddy wears, a computer opened on the table, and a little spike in his hair. She could only see his back side so I would hope if she saw the man's face she wouldn't have been calling him daddy. Time passed we ate our food and she did it again! Not only did she call the man daddy, but she was reaching out for him. The man finally turned around and laughed out loud saying it's okay I have a one year old and when she was calling daddy I had to look around to see if it was her. So I guess there are "daddy" look alikes out there and A will call them out ;-).

A trip to Nana and Poppy's...

We made it back safely from a visit with Nana and Poppy. We were there for 3 days and we managed to keep busy the whole time. I took the kiddos to visit a friend I haven't seen in years. It was so nice to catch up with her. She too has a little one and another one on the way so T and A were able to play while Heidi and I had a chance to talk. I think it's funny that we are "much" older now but I still feel we look the same, just older. We went to a Mexican food place called Aldaco's. It was so nice, it was up on a hill and overlooked a lot of the city...very nice! On Saturday we went SHOPPING!!! We went to the shops at LaCantera, if you haven't been there you need to! I would like to go back without the kiddos and do some serious shopping ;-). The kiddos enjoyed the trip there because Nana and Poppy took them to Build A Bear. They each built a bear and dressed it up. T made a brown bear and dressed him as Batman and A made a puppy and dressed her in a denim mini skirt and a pink top...oh did I mention these bears also have pajamas? So at night, as if we needed anything else to do at night, we change the bears into their pajamas after we get changed into ours ;-). While we were there I had my sister and I drive down our old street and we stopped at our old neighbors house and visited for a while. It too made me feel old because I saw one of their two boys, whom I used to babysit and have known since he was 9 months old, he is now 20! Did I mention I feel old? It was a nice visit and a nice stroll down memory lane...We were happy to get back to daddy whom we left here for a "Guys Weekend". Hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Fun with mom

Okay so let's catch you up with what we have been up to...I am off work in the summer and hanging out with the littlest of the family, T and A. We fill our days with spending all of our money, napping, a little learning here and there (thank you PBS), and cooking dinner. HAHA! Just kidding...well about some of it. We are having a great time, I really enjoy being home with them. A is almost 19 months and T is 3 1/2 now and we can do a lot more than we could last summer. We are working on getting T to write his name and A to use english instead of babynese. I think we finally transitioned her from saying "agua" to saying "wawa" for water now. A and T are having fun together making things out of play-do and coloring in their coloring books. I have to say I think A has more fun trying to taste the play-do than playing with it.
We have had a busy travel summer so far too. We started off at the end of May with a magical trip to Disney World. We all felt like kids again and to watch T and A faces light up when we got there was all worth it. Did I mention when we got there we traveled to Titusville, Florida to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch...and did I mention Buzz Lightyear was in the shuttle? T was in heaven!!! At the end of June we traveled to Lubbock to watch daddy in his 2nd Half Ironman. He did a great job, we are very proud of him! Then Grandma and Bonka came back with us and stayed for a nice visit. We are headed to visit Nana, Poppy, and Aunt Mimi. We are keeping busy and loving every minute of it.

Welcome!

I am jumping on the bandwagon...seems everyone's family has a blog these days so here we are. I tried one of these a few years ago and well didn't keep up with it very well, so let's try again.