Mardi Gras

The week of Mardi Gras means a week off of school for Lynne's kids, since they live in Baton Rouge, LA. So, they loaded up the car, with lots of southern goodies, and headed up here for a weekend on their way to Washington, DC. I'm pretty sure I gained 10lbs from all the great food and king cakes they brought! All the kids were way into getting the baby in their piece. Johnny was SO excited when he realized he had the baby in his mouth! He was yelling, and screaming that he won! Until...he took the baby out, washed if off, and realized it was a NAKED baby. He looked at me and said, "No thank you, you can have it back!" As luck would have it, it was a rainy weekend. On Sunday we went to Sports Connection. Tons for the kids to do there. They all jumped in the bounce house room while the adults sat and talked. Curtis and Emma were the only two who wanted to do rock climbing. LOVE this picture of them, as they have been GREAT friends since they were three years old.

It was also Emma's 8th Birthday that week. So, of COURSE Auntie Katie had to spoil her! We went out for pedicures...

manicures...

And had to buy new flip flops at Justice to complete the look.

Top that off with a little bit of Starbucks and you have the PERFECT DAY! We did this just the two of us, while the boys went to play indoor baseball and out for Buffalo Wings. Emma REALLY felt special, as she has no Grandmas, or Aunties in her life! But she DOES have an Auntie Katie...who loves nothing more than an afternoon out with her! For her Birthday present, I took her shopping at Justice...her FAVORITE store and let her try on as many outfits as she wanted, and bought her a new one. Here's the before pic above. And here is the made-over Emma! She was SO excited and wore the outfit EVERY day they were here!

Finally we had Birthday Celebration to top off the weekend!

Ever since the kids were three, they liked to dress up and act goofy. Some things NEVER change! Here are Curtis and Emma.

All six kids in on the action!

Finally, Curt-Dog posing for a pic he wants me to put on the cafeteria TV's at school!

Was a GREAT weekend that went way too fast. I'm VERY grateful because this May Alan and Lynne are being moved by Shell Oil again. There was a pretty good chance it would be abroad again- Singapore, Australia, and Holland were all thrown out there. In the end, he accepted a job for 3 more year in HOUSTON, TEXAS! So excited that we'll have a few more years of fun vacations with our best friends!

Like Father, Like Son!

Found this picture of Erik on the right the other day. Curtis is a bit older than he was in the pic, but just look at how much the two of them look alike! HOLY COW!

The BIG 30!

On Saturday February 11th, it's my sister Megan's turn to join the "Thirty-Something" Club! In honor of her Birthday, she's having an online give-a-way. Check out her blog at www.meganzellner.blogspot.com for the contest rules or her facebook page- Mimi and Chip. Trust me, you won't want to miss it! Who doesn't love a free purse?

On a Roll...

Can you tell I've been home with a sick kid the past 24 hours. I'm finally able to catch up with my blogging. (Along with laundry as well!)

I wanted to write down a few things that Curtis said to me last week before I forgot them:

#1: I was walking in Target on Friday night with my boys and we came upon a cart with a four year old and two year old girls in it. Their father was pushing the cart, and as we passed them the older girl looked at her Dad and said, "Daddy, you are as sweet as CANDY!" I stopped when I heard this, and put my hand over my heart and said to her Father, "That is SO sweet...my boys have never said anything like that. Enjoy it!"

After that came out of my mouth, Curtis started laughing and looked up at me and said, "Mom, you are as stinky as poop!" Then he and Johnny lost it! I started laughing and looked up at the Father of that little girl and said, "You know what...I wouldn't have it any other way!"

#2: Tonight while I was doing the dishes, Curtis was giving Andy a piggy back ride all around the house and they were pretending that Curtis was the airplane and Bubba was the passenger. I smiled thinking how cute they were, and then I heard Curtis say, "It is now time to turn off all electronic devices until we reach 10,000 feet!" Said like a true frequent flier!

Luau Fun

Above is some footage I snagged of Johnny dancing at the school Luau on Saturday night. He is in the green swim trunks. He was in his glory, and the older girls were trying to get him up on stage dancing with them. He's WAY too shy and didn't want to. Curtis on the other hand would be FRONT and CENTER if they tried to get him up there!

This video is of Curtis hula hooping during the dance. He provided great entertainment for all my friends and I. When I first saw him do this, I just smiled, as it brought back many memories of the way his father looked when we were younger trying to do the same thing! (:

The Luau was a GREAT night and success. They had volleyball games going in one court, bounce house with slides in another court, hula dancers, DJ, and lots of food! Our PTA is seriously the best and I'm happy to be apart of it!

Super Bowl and School Happenings...

This past Friday was "Hawaiian Day" at school. Here is Johnny on Thursday showing me what he's going to do at school on Friday. Don't worry, I made him wear a shirt! Was a fun week capped off with a Luau Dance on Saturday.
Here's Curt-Dog at practice last Friday. Back during our "Central Hoopfest Days," little did I think my kids would LOVE our old practice jersey's! This one happens to be Auntie Colleen's because she was #12...the SAME as Aaron Rodgers. Mine didn't make the cut! (: Made me smile while I was coaching and I had to snap a pic!
Yesterday one of Curtis' friends invited us to a party for the Superbowl at his house. I went with just Curtis, as Johnny and Bubba needed to go to bed early. Here he is in his GLORY! Friends, soda, and football!

The three amigos in the front watching the game on the BIG screen in the garage!

We left at half time and after a quick shower, Curtis asked if he could watch a few minutes of the second half. By the looks of this pic, I'm certain he had a GREAT night! He couldn't even stay awake!
Today is the 100th day of school for the kids. Johnny had to wear 100 items to school. I went to Pintrest and got the idea of googly eyes on a shirt. Johnny used puffy paint to make an alien head, mouth, and antenna's. I thought it turned out super cute! He was excited to wear it!

Mystery Reader

Last week I brought Andy in to be the "Mystery Reader" in Johnny's classroom. He was SO excited! Here's a video of him hiding in the Hallway as the teacher read off the clues to the class about who was going to be the reader. He brought his book "A Light in the Night" with his stuffed animal that goes with the book. Johnny was SO excited when he ran out to find us!

Bubba had a short bout of stage fright, and then went right into "reading" the book for the class. I repeated everything he said because he wasn't super loud. After he read, I got to share a few of my favorite books with the class. Johnny was really excited to have us there, and Bubba felt like a SUPER STAR! I tried to post the video of Bubba actually reading to the class, but after an hour and a half of it trying to upload to the blog, I just quit!