St Patrick's Day!

Don't my little Irish boys look cute in green?!

Ice Skating

A couple of weeks ago, Daddy & Drew went ice skating at our local rink. Drew apparently was great at walking on his skate...until he hit the ice! Fear took over a bit but he said he had fun! I'm not sure how soon Daddy will be taking him back...
(Pictures were taken by Miss Sarah who was in town for her spring break! Yet, somehow I don't actually have any pictures of her...)

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Riding the zoo "train"

Enjoying a gourmet lunch - pb&j sandwiches and applesauce

One of our many feathered friends!

Three little monkeys...hee hee hee

My beautiful balloons!

Mommy & her boys...

Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 33 in February - that is really hard for me to believe! Our celebration was very low key, as all moms out there I'm sure can relate to! The boys chose to take me to the zoo during the day where they made a new friend and ate lunch with ducks and peacocks. Patrick baked my favorite cake (yellow cake with chocolate icing) that evening and the boys decorated the kitchen with pink and purple. Lots of hugs from the boys made up for any lack of fanfare that might have existed...

February?

Really? Where did January go? I suddenly realized yesterday that, since it was my birthday, it was also February! And that was not something I was quite ready for! Life is just getting back to normal from the holidays, and we are gearing up for visitors in the spring. First up is our "last" visit from Grandma & Grandpa - they have a new house in Golden, CO so they won't be spending as much time in their camper in our neck of the woods! We are planning a fun weekend camping with them over Valentine's Day. The boys are thrilled! Next up is a visit from Nana & Grandaddy, along with the FBR Open (our local PGA golf tournament that we can walk to!). Just a few days after they leave, our dear, sweet babysitter from TN is coming to visit over her spring break - how much does that rock?! And just a couple of weeks after that, a wonderful friend from our college days is coming for a quick weekend visit to do some fundraising for her heart's work with Beads of Courage. We will follow that up with Drew's spring break (details haven't yet been worked out but something fun hopefully will be happening!) which takes us into April! On April 18 we head back to Disneyland for what will probably be our last visit to that magical place while we live out west. Nana & Grandaddy will make that trip with us and Drew is already talking about everything he needs to "show" them at Disney. Then suddenly, it will be May; our TEN year anniversary (can you believe it?!), the end of another school year and the start of another hot summer in AZ.

In the midst of all of those plans, I have challenged myself to work on some areas of our lives and get some things back in shape.
* Budget
* Grocery
* Meal Planning & Execution
* Home Organization
* Personal Fitness

I'll let you know how everything goes!

Happy New Year!

2009 is coming quickly to an end and our lives are as busy as ever! We have had family in town since December 18 and our last guests leave on January 7 - hopefully after our world settles down I will be able to get photos up from our holiday celebrations.
Until then, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dentist!

Drew had his first trip to the dentist today and he did GREAT! I was a little nervous because I knew he had a cavity and I was concerned about how he would deal with them poking around in his mouth and cleaning his teeth but he really handled it all like a champ. We are scheduled for a cap for the cavity tooth in January. It is too large for just a filling and the dentist was concerned about the filling holding up for 8+ more years anyway. His tooth enamel did not fully develop so he is at risk for multiple cavities. Basically his teeth are soft - they can actually push on them and feel how soft they are. It makes mommy a little queasy to think about! So we are in full cavity prevention mode - juice and milk only with meals and plain water the rest of the day, brushing twice a day with prescription fluoride toothpaste, etc. We won't know if Allen's teeth are the same until he goes next year - maybe at least one of my boys got my strong, healthy teeth?!

Oh Drew...

Sitting at a red light Wednesday morning, I looked over at a nice sports car next to us, thinking it was beautiful but not much more. (Living here has started to desensitize me to luxury and high-end sports cars - it's surreal sometimes.) As the light turned green, the engine revved and the car took off and I then realized "that's a Ferrari!". I told the boys to look since they love Ferrari's (thanks to their favorite movie, Cars) and get so excited at any chance to see a "real" one in person. As we drove, the car in front of the Ferrari slowed down so we caught up and then eventually passed it. Drew pipes up from the back..."Mommy! We're faster than a Ferrari!"
Oh Drew...I don't think mommy's minivan has anything on that car but we'll let you believe that for now!

So much to post...

If I can get my Christmas shopping done I'll have time to get all the photos from the last few weeks posted. But until then, you can see what we are up to this weekend...



That's Santa giving each of the boys the "first gift of Christmas" on the Polar Express tonight! The had a great time and loved every minute of it! It was a wonderful experience for us all!

So much for secrecy...

Last night, Drew & Allen had a Daddy night while Mommy attempted to get some shopping done. I thought they had just gone to dinner but today Drew informed me: "We went to another place besides In-N-Out but I can't tell you where we went and we brought something home besides just cheeseburgers but I can't tell you what it is!" It really made me laugh because I hadn't asked - he just was playing and turned and said it! I guess his little secret was burning a whole in his pocket and he needed to at least let a little of it out! Silly boy!!

Overheard...

Tonight, Drew was playing with the Little People Nativity set and as he put everyone in the proper place he said "Good night Baby Jesus...be born on Christmas day! I have to go play with my Polar Express now..."
Well, at least we are getting some of the concepts of Christmas down!