Nothing better...

Earlier this week, we had a couple abnormally warm days... and it was the best thing ever... Of course, we were in our element, hitting up parks and having fun!

I met up with Sarah and we took the kids to the park... and Nona and Papa stopped by to join in on the fun.



If you look in the distance, there is a lacrosse net... We would send the kids running to it as a race... It worked like a charm tiring them out!:)

Volleyball court? Nah- Sarah and I are famous for letting the kids play beach at volleyball courts... at least we didn't have out the sand toys!:)

Oh, Add...

These kids love each other soooooooo much! But seriously, Todd, I'm proud of you and all, but this UVA stuff has to stop!




Oh, and speaking of Nona and Papa, I have to share the funniest story of the week. He was babysitting Jack and Mage... Sarah makes them homemade lime juice... so Papa kept filling their cups up with the lime juice... OOPS!!!! He had the wrong pitcher... Let's just say that Papa and the boys were enjoying homemade margaritas all afternoon!!!! The boys went to bed early... and slept off their hangover!

Mr. Mom

Brendan is gone a lot with his job... but when he is home he makes up for it. It's hard when he's away because I'm pretty much a single parent and for the past couple of months he's been gone a ton. Since Christmas though, he's been home a fair bit. Sometimes I feel like I don't give him enough credit when he is home. He really does help a ton! He lets me sleep in, plays with the kids, does dishes, works on my honey-do lists, and really contributes to the household chores... and I'm soooo thankful for that! This morning, he totally amazed me. We've found a new church that we love, but today the Cowboys were playing at 1- so if I was going to workout, I had to miss church. Brendan came upstairs, got me up and told me to go to my class at 9am. When I got home, he had:

-Showered with the kids, gotten them dressed, and taken them to church all by himself... and bonus points- he even remembered a bow!



Started homemade chili for us to have during the football game,

and make blueberry muffins for breakfast!!!

What a guy!:) Thanks baby!:) And the next time I'm complaining about you being gone, remind me of this.:)

Oh- and too bad those Cowboys sucked today... Ha Ha!... Addie started cheering during the game without us saying anything. She started yelling, "Come on Romo. Gooooo Romo!" It was hilarious! We looked at her shocked and asked her where she learned that... to which she replied, "Ummm, at church." Ha!

Boo Boo's and Owwies

Knock on wood, my kids are usually pretty healthy. Last year Chris made it a whole year without a doctor's visit... well, besides a broken arm! But lately, we've been having wierd things going on... First, Addie had a growth on her arm... She got the stitches out and now we're just putting neosporin on the wound to try and keep it from scarring- She was such a trooper. Now, Chris has been battling a wart on his foot. It started as a small wart about 2 months ago. I have taken him to our pediatrician twice and it's now been frozen twice, and nothing really happened- It just seems to keep getting bigger and it's on the ball of his foot and hurts him.:( Since the dermatologist was so good with Addie, I took Chris this week to see her. She had to laser his foot and we're hoping this is going to take care of it... It looks like it may be dying... and I hope so because poor little Chris screamed bloody murder during the laser. I know it had to be so painful- I have NEVER and I mean NEVER heard him scream like that- it sounded like pure pain.:( Let's hope we're done with these crazy ailments soon!

Gone, but not forgotten

Awwwww. We visited the cemetary this weekend with the kids. It's so sweet how they ask questions... Chris is really interested in learning about our loved ones that we lost and that makes me happy. He's also interested in knowing if a grim reaper is going to get us at the cemetary, but it's all good. Oh, and yes, there is snow on the ground, and yes, Addison is barefoot at the cemetary. I guess I'm not in the running for mother of the year yet again. Some fights just aren't worth fighting... but you might want to remind me of that if she has a cold later this week!

Birthday Partays!!!

Parents must get busy during the same time of the year--- because there are a ton of January birthdays!!! We had a weekend full of birthday parties and we had a great time celebrating... We got to swim at Claude Moore, play games, and spend time with some of our best buddies!:)







Notice Addie had to share the chair with the birthday boy... D.J. and Addie have a speical bond... Should I be worried that she says she has a boyfriend already? At least I'd love her in-laws!:)

Fun with friends...

We've been staying busy with our friends... Playdates are so fun these days- the kids play, and I can actually sit and have adult conversation!!! Here are the kids with Kim and Aaron Smith's girls... so I guess it was a cousin playdate.:)

Cabin Fever

It's still freeeeeeezing here and we've been holed up in the house. The kids have been so cute playing together. Chris is actually big enough to give Addie "horsey rides" and she loves it. We ventured out to the pool at Claude Moore this weekend and the kids were in heavan... summer can't come soon enough! Chris got to stay up to watch the Cowboys win last night- he made it until halfway through the 4th quarter and then he crashed- he just couldn't stay up any longer!

Addie is still becoming quite the handful. She's little Ms. Priss Pot... I looked at her and asked her why she's so cute... and this picture was taken as she was saying, "Because I'm soooo pretty.":) She also likes to come up with new words... she is so much like her brother- she does everything he does! Today's word was "Bunga, Bunga," and she even has me saying it.




Tonight, we went to Chuck and Jackie's to celebrate Dean Alex's graduation from the BEST college in the world- Virginia Tech- WOOO HOOOO! You would have thought that we were some high class family or something... We had a cocktail hour and then a catered dinner of salmon, beef tenderloin, asparagus wrapped in proscuitto, mashed potatoes, bread... and more. But if you had listened to our dinner conversations, you'd quickly realize that we're just white trash with a little money... But I'm soooo proud of my family- we are a family that loves each other so much.




And I'm super proud of this guy right here... We love his girlfriend soooo much. Alexis- you're the best... Doesn't this look like a cute little family.:)



But poor Alexis... now that Dean's gone, Brendan is trying to figure out how he and Mike can crash at your place for their annual guy's weekend at Tech for a football game... Get out your shorts now- Ha!