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.