~~ Yahtzee ~~

Oh my goodness - I LOVE this game!  It has always been a favorite game of mine and my family.  When the boys were younger we had a Toy Story version.  Who am I kidding?  We STILL have it! SO. MUCH.FUN!!  Of course when I go to get it out to take a picture of it both boys have to play a couple games with me!  They are so funny.  They stopped what they were doing and both of them were like LET'S PLAY!  They are competitive so we had to play several times so everyone had a chance to win a least one game.

Jesse's girlfriend comes to visit and we usually play at least one game of Yahtzee while she is here.  It is such a fun game.  Next time she is over we'll have to introduce her to the Toy Story version.

~~ My Marathon Kids ~~

~~ MOVE ~~

I first discovered Third Day back in December 2008 when I won a radio contest and received a few of their cds, along with a few cds of some other wonderful Christian artists!

They are AMAZING!!!

I have wanted to go see them every since the first time I listened to that cd. I couldn't make the show when they were here late last year and I was totally bummed thinking they wouldn't be back for a long, long time. Imagine my excitement when I found out they were going to be in San Antonio on February 20th. One of my best friends gave me their new cd, MOVE, for my birthday. It was just as amazing and that just sealed the deal--I knew I would be at that concert! And who better to take with me, than 3 of my best friends?

These ladies are pretty AMAZING too!!!

Now, there were some potential conflicts that almost kept all 4 of us from committing to making this road trip down to the concert, but finally it worked out. The tickets were purchased, it was written in permanent marker on the calendar and I began memorizing their new cd, cause you know I planned on singing every song right along with them!

Concert day finally arrived and we met up and headed out of town so we could be there when the doors opened at 3:30. Good thing because a *few* other people had the same idea.





It really looks worse than it was. It didn't seem that long of a wait either, mostly because, well, Liz began to hand out the tickets--here is yours, and yours and yours and then.....WHAT THE HECK?!?!?


That's Liz kicking herself for only ordering 3 tickets! Um, yeah, the concert is sold out and we only had 3 tickets for 4 people. Oops! We all remained calm and after the initial shock wore off, we came up with a plan. I found an usher, explained the situation and asked if he had any suggestions about how we could sneak one extra person into a sold out event. He, unfortunately, could not help. I thanked him and head back to the girls and our spot in line.

Then, out of nowhere this girl walks up to me, she overheard me talking to the usher, and asks me if we need tickets. I told her we only needed ONE. She had 2, since her friends got sick and couldn't make it. PERFECT! I swear she was an angel. I should have taken her picture, not really sure why I didn't. Her and her nephew stood in line with us and once we got inside she got her tickets from will call and gave, GAVE, her ticket to Liz. An angel I tell ya! Melissa hugged her, of course ;-), and we never saw her again, although I looked.

Once we got inside the building we had to wait for what seemed like FOREVER before they would let us in the arena/seating area. It was a test of my patience for sure, mainly because it was so hot and we were squished like sardines. They finally opened the doors and off I went, Amy kept me in her sights as I found us 4 seats and then found us 4 more seats 2 rows closer. It was general admission and we scored some awesome seats on the 9th row! ~Aaa-mazing!~

Trevor Morgan is an up and coming artist that opened the show. He rocked it! He played a few songs and they were awesome. His new album will be out soon!

See? We were THAT close! We were on our feet the entire time and I sang EVERY song (I'm sure Amy and the girl on the other side of me loved that.) Love, love, love these guys!

Love these girls too!

It was an AMAZING night! I'm so glad we made the trip down to the concert. Time on the road gave me a chance to catch up with friends. The show, well, that was a chance to see one of my favorite bands, hear some amazing Christian music and sing praise to the Lord!

Of course, since we were in San Antonio, and we hadn't eaten all day, we had to stop for some Mexican food and drinks after the show.

~~ AMAZING ~~
(word of the day)

~~ Pizza & Tokens ~~

My boys absolutely love to go to Chuck E. Cheese, still.

We have been going for years-a couple of times back in March 2008, again in April 2008. Aunt Sandra has always gone with us and she joined us again today! We had pizza and rootbeer and lots of fun! They just run around with their tokens and play whatever they want.

I love that they gave me 1 token to get a picture of them!

~~ NoNo's Pool Party ~~

Tonight we celebrated Nolan's 6th birthday!

lighting the candles.....

thinking about what he is going to wish for.....

giving it all he's got!

He's an August baby, born on the 4th, and well, it is HOT in August. So what better way to keep all the kiddos cool, and wear them out, while celebrating than have a pool party?

I can't believe he is already 6, man these kiddos are growing up SO fast! The kids had a blast jump in and out of the water and they were just all over the place, they would not sit still for pictures, but here is one of the birthday boy and his pretty mama!

*It was a great party and that part about wearing the kids out.....it didn't work for mine! It is almost 10 and they are wide awake. Also, ya see that big red balloon in the 2nd picture? Miss Amy gave the boys that balloon to share. When we got home we let it go. I thought that was what they both decided to do with it, but once it was long, long gone-barely a dot-Michael's eyes fill with tears and he says, "I wanted to keep it." His feelings were hurt and it really broke my heart. I promised him I would get him another one and he could keep it forever!

~~ Marathon Kid ~~

Today started off cool and rainy, but that didn't keep Jesse and I from heading down to Burger Stadium to run his last lap to complete his marathon! It all started back in September when he brought home the flyer and with a huge smile on his face and excitement in his voice he said, "I want to do this!" This kid LOVES, really LOVES to run so I knew this would be perfect for him.

Back in October Phillip and Michael took him to the UT Track & Field stadium on a rainy Saturday morning so he could run his first mile. He ran all the miles in between at school and today I got to watch him finish what he started.

We were lucky that the rain had stopped and the humidity helped warm things up.

Checking the time. "Mom, I thought it started at 11:00? When is it going to start?"

Me and my runner

There were so many kids and parents there. It was great to see so many participating in this program. This is the first group of maybe 7 or 8 groups. The people in the yellow shirts were police officers that volunteered and they hold hands and walk down the track, then they release their hands and that is the signal....RUN!! We were right at the front of our group which was cool. Man, he was pumped!

He is fast and I had a hard time keeping up. I am surprised that I was able to actually snap a couple of pictures. This is him crossing the finish line.

He did it! He finished his 26.2 miles!

~~ Lunch ~~

It has been a couple of weeks now and well, still no calls for sub jobs. No biggie really, because I got to have lunch with my sweet friend Rachel at one of our favorite restaurants-Chili's. Chili's changed up their menu, so I thought I'd try something new. These mini tacos were delicious!




Thanks for lunching with me Rach, it was a blast as always!

~~ The Pick Up ~~

Today when I dropped Jesse off at school he was so excited to tell his teacher that I would be picking him up this afternoon. No more riding the bus after school to daycare. The very first time since school started that I have ever picked him up from school, except that time I had to take him to the emergency room for stitches or the time we went out of town one Friday afternoon or the time I picked him up for a doctor's appointment. Okay, so I have picked him up from school, but those times were different and don't count because, well, I picked him up early those days and had to go through the office to sign him out and they went to his class and got him.

But today, today I was there when the bell rang and school got out. I got there about 5 minutes early and waited at the front of the school. The bell rang and out came the first kindergarten class, then the other 2 kindergarten classes. I waited a couple more minutes. Okay, where are they? I finally asked one of the teachers.

Turns out Jesse's class comes out the side door and waits by the playground. I thought, great now I'm going to be late. It worked out though, I was there before him and Oh My Goodness was he EXCITED to see me when his class walked out. The smile on his face was HUGE. I have to admit that I was pretty excited too. It was an AMAZING feeling to see how much it meant to him that I was there.

It was a beautiful day, so I decided to walk up to school to pick him up which meant we got to walk home. He was so sweet, he held my hand and we talked about his day.



It's a little blurry, but you can kinda see that big, happy smile.

We picked up Michael, went to gymnastics, and when they got home there was a moment of brotherly love.





It was a GOOD, GOOD day!

~~ Pajama Parade ~~

It wasn't just another ordinary Friday at Michael's school today. Oh no, it was pajama day! We often have these days at home, but this is a first for him at school. Not only did they get to wear their pajamas all day at school, they had a little pajama parade. It was so cute all the kiddos walking around in their pj's. He decided to go super hero and wore his Batman pj's. Here is a picture of him and a few of his classmates in their pj's parading--some of them brought baby dolls, blankets and some even wore their house shoes.

I love little boy pajamas!

~~ Swim Lessons-Day 2 ~~

Another day of lessons and well, my boys might just be turning into little fish. They are just loving the water and they are so excited about swimming! Jesse wants me to get him one of these red belts. I'm hoping that by the end of next week his instructor will have him trying to swim without one. Michael told me after his lesson he went under 3 times. He was so proud!

~~ Swim Lessons-Day 1 ~~

I was so impressed with how well the boys did in the water this morning.

We actually go to the pool on a regular basis being that 1) it is so close to the house 2) it is 100+ degrees outside and 3) it is free! Jesse has really gotten brave this year. He has started wanting to go under, jump in and tippy toe to the deep end. It is the combination of all 3 of those reasons that they both need to take lessons. Michael doesn't care to go under or have the water in his face, but he tends to eventually do what his big brother does.

They did take lessons a couple of years ago, but I was in the water with them and the instructor. This year I get to watch from the lounge chairs on the side of the pool. They go everyday for 2 weeks and I am excited to see how much they will learn!

~~ SummerFest 09 ~~

~~ 4th of July ~~

What a day full of fun and friends!

We started by heading down to the neighborhood park to watch the bicycle parade. We weren't real sure about the parade details, but next year the boys will decorate and ride their bikes and be in the parade. Uncle Tony came too! We spent some time at the park enjoying music, games, and a train ride.

After a short nap, we headed over to P-ville to celebrate with some old neighbors. First we stopped by Brian & Kady's. They had a little crawfish boil and OH, BOY! They also have the most beautiful and one of the biggest backyards I've ever seen. The boys loved playing a little t-ball, swimming in the hot tub and running through the sprinkler.

Next stop, the Moore house--more great food and great friends. The kids enjoyed splashing around, laughing and playing.

It was a busy day, but oh my goodness, it was fabulous!