More Party Pics!!

Birthday Weekend

This past Saturday, we celebrated the Ladybug's 2nd birthday. It was a bumblebee theme, if you can't tell by the cake. Last year was a ladybug theme and with the bumblebee theme this year, we are already wondering what bug we are going to do next year. We had lots of family and friends come out to help us celebrate. Here are a few of the pictures we took.....

My friend, Lynn, did the cake and the cupcakes. It was soooo cute and soooo good, as usual.
Homemade bees by Chad.....

This is not a face of anger. This face is saying, "give me my damn cake."

Getting some advice on what to do next.....

And blowing out the candles....

I'll post more pictures from the party in a separate post.

Then on Sunday, we celebrated Sarah's 30th birthday. She's had her eye on a new Coach purse so several of us chipped in and got her some gift cards to help with that purchase. I got them in $30 increments and then decorated the envelopes. Then I hot glued the envelopes to the ribbon so when she pulled the ribbon it was a continuous stream of envelopes. Of course, Sarah bypassed the presentation and went straight for the gift cards so I had to yell at her. I worked hard on those....she needed to recognize. Hey Melissa! I did those all on my own!!!! Yay me!!

Costumes

The week before Halloween, the Doodlebug had nursery rhyme day at school. He wanted to dress up as the mouse from Hickory Dickory Dock. I thought I would be the creative mom and make his tail and ears. How hard could it be? I mean, really? I, of course, sent the artistic genius, Melissa, a text asking her what was the easiest way to make a mouse tail. She replied...I did not reply to her because what she was saying was basically a foreign language to me. I saw her that night and she interpreted her text with hand motions - perhaps thinking that would help....

Melissa: Just get an piece of felt, about a yard and a half, and cut an elongated triangle out of it. Then just blah, blah, blah and stuff it with blah, "AND SEW IT TOGETHER."

Long pause.......................................

Me: Sew it together with what?

Long stare.......................................

Melissa: Oh. You don't have a sewing machine?

Hold your laughter.

Melissa: Well, you could always just use a needle and sew it by hand (doing the needle and thread motion with her hand).

Me: Yeah, maybe I have enough string in that sewing kit I got from the Mirage a few years ago.

It was that moment (when I called it string instead of thread) that she knew she was going to have to take care of this project for me. So, here is my mouse....ears and tail by Melissa. A special thanks to Bruce for modeling the pieces the night before.

Sleepy mouse....
View of the tail....Me and the Ladybug on Halloween....yes, I'm wearing cat ears. Halloween is not just for kids.
Me and Indiana Jones.....
The whole family.....do Chad's mouse ears look familiar? Please do not ask why the Doodlebug is striking a pose in this picture. I have no answer for you.

Yesterday

So, yesterday I played a new game I invented called, "let's see how many activities I can do in one afternoon/evening and see how late I can stay up after being up since 5:30 in the morning." It was a fun game - here's how it goes. After work, I headed to the bowling alley where a small group of colleagues met for a couple of hours of bowling. Then Sarah and I headed to a jewelry party and I bought a couple of things that I absolutely had to have. We then headed to my house where our husbands and Royce & Michelle were waiting on us. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner called Ciro's. We haven't been there in a long time - it was yummy. I had belinni's....it's been too long since I've had one of those....I missed them. Next up, we went to see Chuck's band, the Wedding Crashers. They play occasionally at a nice little hole in the wall. We stayed for one set. I think everyone in there was a friend or relative of the band...except for one not-so-sober dude at the bar. We walked in and he instantly thought he and Michelle were long lost BFF's. Then, in the men's room he told Jason that "it was all his fault." Jason: What is? Not-so sober dude: Everything!!! Sarah wasn't feeling well so she and Jason headed home. Chad & I and Royce & Michelle headed to the Hotel Sorella where Hamilton Loomis was playing. I don't think we had intended to stay as long as we did but they were really good so we stayed to the very end. They stopped playing a little after 1:00 AM. We finally headed home and I think we crawled into bed close to 2:00 AM. It was a fun evening. Hamilton is coming back on December 10th so perhaps we'll repeat the evening. I think that should give me enough time to recover.....

Kindergarten

What?? Kindergarten?? Seriously?? Yes, it's true. The Doodlebug has started Kindergarten. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Lopez. He's apparently very entertaining for any teacher he comes in contact with. He's making friends, eating his lunch (even bought his lunch one day), following the rules - he's doing great!!

They do a gingerbread unit to start off the year so he had a homework assignment before school ever started. As a family, we were supposed to decorate a gingerbread man. We had a bunch of popsicle sticks around the house because the Doodlebug had been creating things with them throughout the summer so we used those. He did the coloring and I did the gluing. Chad took care of everything about the neck.

Here he is before we left for school on his first day.

And here he is walking into his classroom.

Did I cry? You betcha!!! But then again, so did his father......

Summer Fun Days

The bugs went to Summer Fun Days at the school the Doodlebug has been going to since he was 18 months old. It was back in July (yes, I'm a little tardy) - 3 days a week for 2 weeks. It was a nice little mommy break. This was the first time the Ladybug had ever been in a school setting. Actually, it was the first time she had been away from any family. The first few days....well, she was not a fan. But the second week she had fun!! She would go to her teacher without any tears. She played all day and even laid down for her nap without any tears. She will be attending this school starting in the fall so this was a good rehearsal...she'll be fine. Here are a few pictures (the second one cracks me up). Check out the Ladybug with her backpack and lunch kit.

The Doodlebug has only a few more days left before he is officially a kindergartner. Lord help me......

Fred...part deux

After surviving the pooping pigeons of San Antonio, we headed to Fredericksburg. Our friends, Jason & Kristie, met us there for the weekend. Have I defined "us" yet?

The boys....Jason, Chuck, Chad and John.

The sexy bitches....Sarah, Melissa and me. HI!
(The above 2 pictures were in San Antonio so Jason & Kristi are not pictured. Yes, there were 2 Jason's that weekend. Keep up.)

We were staying at the Almost Home Guest House. This is a house owned by some friends of mine and we stay there any time we head to Fredericksburg. Once we got there and unloaded everything, we opened up the bar. After boozing it up for a little while, we headed to Hondo's for some dinner. Here's a photo of our party of 9.

Then we headed back to the house because, well, booze was free at the house. The ladies staying inside and talked (and knitted) while the boys got hot in the hot tub.

The next morning after breakfast, we headed to Comfort, TX to our first winery, Singing Waters. It was a lovely winery and the people there were so friendly and personable. After our tasting, we all got a glass of our favorite wine and headed out back to enjoy it. Our party of 9 turned into 11 because Sarah's sister, Emily, and her husband, Jeremy, joined us on Saturday. Here we are enjoying our wine. The 2 Jason's are not paying attention in this photo.

After lunch, we went to another winery that we don't really want to talk about because they weren't as nice. Then after that one we came back to town and hit a wine bar. Blurry photo, I know. I need a new camera.

This picture proves that Chad was on the trip with us......

Saturday was a long day and I think we were all a little tired that evening. We had a nice dinner at a cafe close to the house then we just hung out for the rest of the evening. We headed home on Sunday. We had a great time. Chad is getting a little spoiled with trips for his birthday. Last year we were in Vegas and now Fredericksburg. Wonder where we will be next year for his birthday as we say goodbye to his 30s..........

That Bird is Crazy....

Fredericksburg...Part I.

Our first stop on our Fredericksburg trip was lunch in San Antonio on the river. You know what they have there??? A lot of??? Pigeons. Bert likes them....Sarah does not. There was a table next to us that was 95% kids and they were feeding them and then chasing them away. Chasing them towards Sarah, who would make the most precious and amusing squeal any time one would come her way. What is your fear anytime a bird comes near you?? Especially OVER you?? Here are a few quotes from lunch....enjoy...

• I just don't want to get pooped on.
• The dookey just fell.
• Is he pooping???!!!

And here is a quote from just moments ago...

• You just squealed so loud my cup vibrated in my hand.
  

Lost Pines

Chad and I took the bugs to the Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop for an overnight getaway. We spent the day in the pool and floating on the lazy river. The Doodlebug thoroughly enjoyed the water slide. I lost count of how many times he went down.

Here is a picture of the Ladybug in the car on the way there. Have you ever seen anyone cooler?

The bugs by a lake.

Me and the bugs....same lake.

The Doodlebug wanted a lollipop. The Ladybug and I opted for some Dippin' Dots.

Bed time.....

There is a very hilly, winding road that leads from the main highway to the resort. Along the way, there are little areas along the road where you can pull over and see things. At one of those pull over areas, we saw 2 deer. Then there was another one that was nothing but weeds. It was there where my bad mom moment in the car occurred. The bad mom moment conversation follows:

Me: I don't know why they have this as a pull over area. You can't see shit.

Doodlebug: Who is shit?

Singing in the Rain

So it's been raining here a little lately. Just a tad. Tuesday night, the Ladybug wanted to go exploring the rain. She has no fear.

And she got soaking wet.

The Doodlebug stayed dry. He wanted no part of the rain exploration.

And you are????

I know. I know. It's been a while since I posted - Carrie is really making me look bad. So much has happened since I last posted. I'm sure I'm not going to remember it all and if I did I'm sure you would get bored with my recap so I'll try to keep it brief. Try........

Let's see. The twins came home - have I covered that yet? They actually came home on April 29th - 3 weeks before they were expected to come home. They are getting so big! They have been battling reflux - poor guys - but their mommy and daddy have been trying something new with their meds and they are doing much better.

May 1st was the Wygant wedding. It was a beautiful event!! My parents had to miss it because my mom was in charge of her high school reunion and it was that weekend in Arkansas. Curt & Leah missed because of...well, you know. So Chad and I had to represent and we were all too happy to do so. We had a lot of fun! We also got to see the Walker's - who we honestly only get to see at weddings which is kind of sad. And now we are all married so I don't know when we are going to get to see them again. They are the sweetest people!!

I spent the rest of May just trying to get through to the end of the school year...which actually happened the first week of June. Now I've started my summer and I'm still in the phase where I'm trying to decide if I want to do something productive or if I just want to hang out with my bugs.

Speaking of the bugs, the Doodlebug graduated from preschool. He starts kindergarten in the fall. His graduation ceremony was not as teary as I expected. The fact that my kid was up there with his diploma on his middle finger, waving it around, helped a lot. He's become quite the little fish in the pool....doesn't wear his floaties anymore because he has "bravery in the pool." The Ladybug is a fan of the pool as well. She likes to splash. She is a nut these days!! She loves to twirl and run and "talk." She's repeating so much of what we say but she also has her own special language - especially when she is on the phone. It's so cute. I'm having lots of fun with both of them.

We don't really have a lot planned for the summer. We are planning a trip to Disney in the fall so we are saving money this summer. We are going away for one night in June with the kids. And then in July we are heading on an adult trip with some friends to Fredericksburg.

Ok, that's as brief as I could keep it. I'll try to do better posting this summer....not like I have anything better to do. Right??

A message from management.....

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Flora,

Based on the photo below, we kindly ask that you not return to our eating establishment until your Ladybug has grown out of her 'throw everything on the floor' phase. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Management

Egg dying ain't what it used to be.

Twas the night before Easter, Chuck and Melissa came to the house. We dined on Maryland crab cakes and didn't save any for a mouse. Ok, that's all I can rhyme. Anyway, we ate and drank and after the Ladybug went to bed we dyed our Easter eggs. Have you done that lately? You can still have your traditional eggs that are one color. Or you can have tye-dye. OR you can get the kits with egg-cessories. That's right, you can get eyes, mouths, HAIR, HATS, etc.

So then, after you have had even more to drink, you invent characters like Pedro here. Pedro has bad teeth....or no teeth.

And then, you can capture a priceless video featuring the one and only Pedro. Before you watch the video, know that Chad is Pedro. He's in the middle of a Spanish class so he's practicing his skills here. Listen carefully and you will hear Chuck translate. And you will hear Melissa snort.

And scene.

Where has my month gone?

My life is giving new meaning to the phrase "March Madness." The first few days started out pretty calm. The first weekend was going to be a busy one...I knew it would be. I had the Stride4Stroke the morning of the 6th. That night Chad and I went to see John Mayer at the Toyota Center. We were on the front row. It was a great show!! John Mayer has really toned down his douche-ness...I was pretty thankful for that. His outfit was somewhat douche-esque. Anyway, on our way to our pre-show dinner/drinking place, I got a call from my mom - she had my kids. My brother and Leah were in Austin for the weekend. Leah was out shopping and had, without going into detail, some complications with her pregnancy. Just a reminder, she was pregnant with twin boys, scheduled for delivery on April 30th. WELL...it appears those boys didn't want to wait that long. Where was I....Saturday the 6th, she's rushed to the hospital in Austin - did I mention they live in Houston? Leah and the boys were stable and she was adjusting to the fact that she would be in the hospital until the boys were born. They waited patiently (not) until March 9th. Those boys decided they were ready to meet everyone. What they really wanted was to share a birthday with their cousin, the Doodlebug. Oh yeah!! D-bug turned 5!!! More on that in a minute. So the twins are in the NICU in Austin - will probably be there until May. They both weighed 2 lbs. 15 oz. when they were born. They are now both a few ounces shy of 4 lbs and they have been breathing on their own since the day they were born. Leah is staying in Austin and my brother has returned to Houston to work during the week. It's hard for them to be away from home and it's hard for my brother to be away from his boys during the week but they are in good hands and are being taken care of in Austin. Some friends of theirs have started a blog for them to chronicle their journey. The link to their blog is over their on my list of blogs.

The Doodlebug turned 5!!! We had his party at his favorite place, Pump it Up, on March 7th. He had a great time....and so did we. He's starting kindergarten in August. Can you believe that? Chad and I went to kindergarten orientation the week before spring break and got all of his registration paperwork - haven't filled it out yet though. I'm excited though because he is going to be at my school and I'll get to peek in on him occasionally and get to be there when he does all of the cute things that kids do when they are in kindergarten and get to be there when he gets in trouble.

What else? My brother's bday was the 12th. I headed up to Austin to see my new nephews and to deliver bday presents on the 13th. Those boys are sooooo tiny. They had all kinds of stuff hooked up to them. But then we went back up there this past weekend and they look so much better. They have their baby color and they are opening their eyes and wiggling around and they don't have near as much stuff attached to them. Too cute!!

And to end the month, my dad's birthday is today. Happy Birthday! He celebrated his birthday with a delicious meal from....wait for it....Popeye's. I'm so not kidding. Actually, we celebrated all March birthday's and excitement in Austin this past weekend. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse was our place of celebration....so yummy.

I'm hoping for a calmer April. And I'm hoping to be able to post more often. As little as I post, I still post more than Carrie......

Where did my weekend go?

What a busy weekend. Busy but fun! Friday night started with a Southern Living at Home party at my house. My friend, Sarah, started a Southern Living party so I helped her get started by hosting a party. February was double hostess dollars so I got LOTS of goodies thanks to all of my friends that came and made purchases. I'm so excited to get all of my new stuff. The I'll need to host some other party so I can use all of my new stuff. I'm always the hostess....

Saturday morning I got up and got going pretty quick. I had several errands to run that morning. Then the Doodlebug had a soccer game at 12:00. After that, we went to Pump it Up for the first of two birthday parties that day for the Doodlebug. That one lasted from 1 - 3. Then we headed to the next birthday party from 4 - 6.

Saturday night was spent at home. When I was at the 2nd bday party, Melissa sent me a text telling me about a "words with friends" app for the iPhone that I needed to download. So I did and we are able to play scrabble with each other on our phones. So by Saturday evening Melissa, Chuck, Chad and I had 4 different scrabble games going on with each other. It's semi-lame, I know, but we were having fun. We haven't seen Chuck and Melissa since New Year's Eve but we still manage to have a good time together - even if it is just through our phones.

Sunday, my mom, Leah, and myself went to a wedding shower for a friend of ours that is getting married in May. It was a very nice shower. Very girly - which is always fun. Leah had an allergic reaction to something that she ate which worried us all a bit. Luckily someone at our table travels with benadryl so that took care of it pretty quick. And now, thanks to that incident, I also travel with benadryl.

So a busy weekend is over. Next weekend will be just as busy. I've got the Stride 4 Stroke Saturday morning. That night, Chad and I are going to see John Mayer - front row on the floor, YAY!! Then Sunday afternoon is the Doodlebug's 5th birthday party. 5!!!!! That's probably going to make me a little sad.......

Bug Update

First up, the Doodlebug:
As you can see by this picture, soccer has started up again. It's pretty amusing to watch him play. He doesn't get in a hurry at all...he kind of just shuffles his feet up and down the field - most of the time talking to himself. Our team isn't very aggressive but I have to keep in mind that they are 4 and 5 year olds. Speaking of which, did you know that the Doodlebug is turning 5 in a couple of weeks??!! Can you believe that? He'll be starting kindergarten in the fall at my school. I can't wait. And if you ask him, he can't wait either. We are planning a Disney trip in November. He talks about it often. And by often I mean constantly.

Next up, the Ladybug:

Here she is with one of her favorite toys...the remote. If it's not the remote, it's the phone. Actually, if it is not technically a toy - she loves it. She loves digging in the garbage and getting things out of the cabinets. She's so much more inquisitive that the Doodlebug was. We could put him in the living room and he would sit there and play with his toys. NOT HER!!! She wants to explore and make a mess....and she is good at making messes. She likes to look at books. She's trying really hard to talk. And she's pretty much running now instead of walking. We're having lots of fun with both of the bugs.

I'll close with a funny Chad story. We went to Ruby Tequila's for lunch today. It was our first time to try it and it was really good. Not cheap - but good. Anyway, we were leaving and the girl at the front said, "how was everything?" Chad replied, "you too!!" As you can imagine, I giggled A LOT!

Sunday fun

Last night was the Golden Globes. John and Sarah & Jason came over and we had a little Golden Globes party. You know...any excuse to drink and make spinach queso and order fajitas. We had a good time. We had lots of laughs...mainly at other people's expense. We got to test the truly absorbent powers of the sham-wow when the cup that Chad was drinking his cape cod out of "fell" over and spilled on the carpet. The ladies on the Golden Globes looked very nice. And the gentlemen who bothered to shave and wash their hair before the show looked good too. We couldn't help but notice, however, that SEVERAL men at the show needed to shave and needed to wash and/or cut their dang hair. It's an award show people!!!! You need to shave. You need to wash your hair. And you need to get a friggin hair cut. If you look like that for a role then I'm going to need a note from the director explaining why you look dirty. Otherwise, dress the part of an award show attendee.

On another note, Disney World trip planning has commenced. We are planning a November trip. I figure that will give me plenty of time to save. Or not......

Tardy

I'm a little tardy with a Christmas and New Year's post. Sorry.

Let's start with Christmas.....

We are terrible parents. We took very few pictures on Christmas day. We've got video....but very few pictures. And that's pretty sad because they were pretty cute in their matching PJs. But if you got our Christmas card then you know what that looks like. Anyway, here is a picture of the bugs with the Dragon World Fortress. I'm lucky to have 2 bugs that play so well together - whether they are playing with a girl toy or a boy toy. I'm sure that won't always be the case but I can always hope right? I'm not going to bore you with a list of everything they got. Just know that they were very spoiled by Santa, grandparents, aunts and uncles. VERY spoiled.

New Year's Eve.....

We resurrected the "Potluck and PJs" party this year. The attendees were: Us, Michelle & Royce, John, Chuck & Melissa, Jason & Kristi, Chris & Elizabeth, Andrew, Jason & Sarah (sort of). Everyone is supposed to bring a snack and a cocktail of their choice. You are also required to wear PJs. Two reasons for this: 1 - you don't have to fret about finding the perfect dressy outfit for a new year's party. 2 - you are ready for bed at any point in the evening - just lay down and pass out; we'll put a blanket over you. Plus, PJs are just plain comfortable. We played blackjack and LCR. We played "Just Dance" on the Wii. We had an awesome time!!!! But once again, no pictures to share. They are either blurry or they would be an embarrassment to at least one person in the picture. It was a long, fun evening. Chad went to bed at 2:30 (bad move on his part). We had a lot of fun at his expense shortly after the went to bed. He vaguely remembers that. The rest of us stayed up until 4. Even Chuck!!! He's usually the first to start jelly-necking. What a trooper... It will be hard to top this year's party but I'm sure we will give it our best effort.

Freezing

Things I'm thankful for in freezing temperatures:

• Garages - I couldn't imagine getting into Eve this morning if she had been sitting outside all night long
• Seat heaters in Eve
• Drive thru's - so I don't have to get out of Eve to get my large, ice cold coke...ha!
• Scarves that Melissa has made for me
• Mittens
• Lunch duty
• The fact that I don't live in Topeka - Carrie and John are much colder than I am.
• A roof over my head with a heater that works
• A husband to snuggle with

Things I'm not thankful for in freezing temperatures:

• Taking kids to buses
• Wind
• Leg shaving
• Having to run into Kroger for 2 items
• Not having garages at work for Eve to sit in