MIA

So, I've been a little MIA lately... Keeping up with two blogs is proving to be harder than I thought... I left my camera at Nanny and Pappy's house and need to swing by to get it... Blogs just aren't as fun without pictures, so I've been a slacker. I guess I can post some oldies but goodies just for fun!:)











Of course, the kids still continue to crack us up... Addie got to have a "girlfriend" over this week and she had a blast playing actual girl things... like princess dress-up, babies, and barbies. She was so excited. She has been really into playing board games lately... and especially Connect Four. When I sat down to play with her, I said, "Ok, who goes first?" She said, "Me, Mommy. Ladies go first!" Ha! When I was doing her hair this week, I asked her who gave her such beautiful hair. She has an answer for everything and always responds like she knows the exact answer. She quipped back... "Thanks. My God and the real Santa Clause gave me my hair, Mommy." She's never at a loss for words.:)

Chris has also had a fun week and he's keeping busy with daily activities. We've become Chuck-E-Cheese junkies. He still loves to watch American Idol with me. Chris, Addie, and I pile into my bed and watch it. In between auditions, Addie sings Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Chris thinks if the people get to go to Hollywood that they "joined." He will say, "Did they get to join?" He always tells Addie she joins. He has started to have a little smartness back to Brendan and I and we're working on that... but sometimes it's hard... Like when Brendan disciplines him. At my parents, Brendan lectured Chris. Chris was mad, so he looked at Brendan and said, "Why are you such a maniac?" He then knew he was in trouble and walked straight to the stairs for timeout without us saying a word. Maniac? Where did he come up with that one? When Brendan was leaving for work, Chris was upset and asking him not to go... Brendan was telling Chris he had to go to work to make money so we could live in our house, eat our food in our house, etc. Then Chris said, "Ok... Daddy you don't have to go- I love eating at Resturaunts, we can just eat there." Ha!

We also had a birthday dinner for Eric at my parent's house this weekend... and Chris got to stay to spend the night with Nona and Papa all by himself. He LOVED it. Mage, Jack, Chris, and Addie were all playing together great. They were running around a chair chasing each other and then Addie stopped them all and pointed to the ground. There was a piece of poop on the floor and someone had stepped on it and tracked it on my mom's wood floors- YUCK!!! We checked every childs' pants and everyone was clean... As Mage says, It's a mystery. It's the case of the missing poop.

Another fun visitor!

Yay- Uncle Sean had a layover at Dulles Airport and got to spend the night with us! The kids were in heavan and I'm sorry Joanie, but I think it was good birth control for Sean, so don't plan on any more grandbabies any time soon! Addie was allllll over Sean...



My mom always says how I liked older men when I was a little girl and that I would always love to watch the construction workers... Today, my mom was watching the kids and she was doing pretend make-up with Addie. Addie heard a guy stop by downstairs- he was there to for business with my dad... and Addie looked at my mom and in a prissy voice said, "I need to go downstairs so I can see that MAN!" Ha!



Chris was so excited, he got to get a new Wii game today... and Addie got an Easy Bake Oven (a Santa present we forgot about). Let's just say we need a little practice on our cooking skills!

Partyin' It Up

We had another fun day today....


So much for the posing.:)


We went to Blake's 4th birthday party... which was so much fun. He had a magician perform a magic show- and the kids loved it! It was complete with a bunny rabbit to pet!
Yeah- Chris is only a year older than most of these kids... Can ya spot him?!?


Later in the day we showed up at my parents house, and they took a hint and fixed dinner... and the whole gang was there. It was hilarious though- after a couple hours, my parents just said, "O.K., we're leaving. We're going to Pottery Barn." We all started cleaning up and were joking that they were shooing us out. Then they joked that they are going to start doing that every week... it was the first time we helped clean up.:) HA!

Gram to the rescue...

This week, Brendan and I had to attend a funeral (RIP Papa Jack- we will love you and miss you forever)... so Joanie came up to help us out with the kids for a few days. Whenever she is here, I kind of "take off" for a few days. I sleep in, get errands done, rest, etc. because she takes over with the kids. Let me just tell ya, it's soooo nice... and Joanie, please know, I'm not that lazy all the time!!! She doesn't get to see them all the time, so when she's here, she's a bundle of energy, and I appreciate it so much!!!

She even went to a kickboxing class with me this week... Not bad for a Gram!:)

And of course she had the kids eating healthy- making ants on a log. She told Chris to count out 6 to 8 raisins for he and Addie... He thought she said 68!:)

More cooking....



We also got to make a trip to Fair Oaks Mall and we went to Build-A-Bear workshop for the first time... The kids LOVED it!!! We came home with a bear named Yoda and a dog named Doggy.:)




She also got to see Addie's ballet class and Chris at swim team... Thanks sooooo much for all of your help Joanie!!! We love ya and appreciate it more than you know!

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!