Sunday, February 27, 2011

Crazy Eight


For Darren's birthday this year, he had a "Crazy Eight" Party - and it WAS crazy, that's for sure!!! He invited a couple friends from church and the neighborhood, and his entire school class.
Here's the cake - and YES, it took a long time to make - good thing I started the night before! The lettering got smeared when we put it in the refrigerator, but Darren still thought it was cool.

The weather was perfect, and we played lots of games outside. We had a Cheeto-eating contest,

a mummy wrapping contest,

(here are the two cute winners - the one on the right is supposedly Darren's girlfriend, Maddie)

We did the Limbo, played outside, opened gifts, and had a gift pass as we told some funny stories about Darren. The party ended with a bang when we let the kids spray each other with silly string!


Friday, February 25, 2011

Happy 8th Birthday, Darren!



Wow - we have an eight-year old!!! Isn't he so handsome?! We have had lots of fun celebrating Darren's birthday this year. His birthday was on Thursday. We started the morning out with monkey bread for breakfast. Then, Sammi and I joined him for lunch. A little while later we brought treats for his class - instead of cupcakes, he wanted donuts, and the kids loved that! We ended his birthday with presents, cake and ice cream. On Friday, we went to Chuck E. Cheese and had pizza.

Here are some special things about Darren:

1. He is so smart! He is such a quick learner!
2. He loves to play jokes.
3. He constantly surprises us with his ability to learn things quickly - for example, is a good pianist - he has only been taking lessons since September.
4. He is an entrepreneur - he has written and illustrated several books with plans to sell them to the neighbors!
5. Darren LOVES video and computer games!
6. He always does his chores promptly, and anything else I ask him to do, with the promise of some game time afterward!
7. He never sleeps in, and doesn't need a lot of sleep.
8. He has read almost all of the Harry Potter books. His current favorite books are: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Captain Underpants.

We love you, Darren! We are so proud of you!!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Projects

I love a good project, and since things have finally settled down after the holidays, I was excited to work on these:

birthday cards for my card exchange

this sweet baby quilt for a friend who is having a girl

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Valentines Day 2011

We had a really nice Valentines Day this year. I made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. This year Darren and Claire were old enough to put together their own Valentines, which was nice. Unfortunately, while I was gone this weekend, they ate all of the candy that we were going to put in the valentines! So, we ended up using every last bit of candy and gum that we could find throughout the house to make sure each of their friends got a treat - this was VERY important to Claire!

Because it was on a Monday, Jerry and I did not go out (we'll go out this weekend - )instead, we had a nice, candlelight dinner with the kids. They thought it was really cool. We had salad, garlic bread, and lasagna. For their dessert, they each got a box of chocolates. We went around the table and said nice things about everyone. When it was my turn, everyone was being silly, so Miles said,"I like Mommy because she goes to the bathroom!" and then Sammi said in the cutest little voice,"Poo-Poo!" and looked around at everyone and laughed. How is it that even a 20-month old knows potty talk and thinks it's funny?! Oh well. Despite their potty mouths sometimes, I love my little sweethearts! (And my big one, too!) xoxox

Monday, February 14, 2011

Sammi Talk

Some of Sammi's babble-mumble-jumble is finally starting to make sense to us! She is 21 months old now, and she can say all of the important words:

Mama
Daddy
baby
cookie
cake
chip
outside
shoes
kiss
thank you
please
sorry
uh-huh
no
eeww
poo-poo
night-night
I want one (or some, this, more . . . )

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Dining/Living room makeovers

Our dining room has been empty (except for the picture) for the four years that we've lived in our house. We actually got this right before Thanksgiving, but I'm just now getting around to taking pictures. We haven't been brave enough to let the kids eat in there yet, so I guess it is just for looks!


I really liked some place settings I saw in Pottery Barn, only they were really $$$. I found almost the same chargers at Target for $8 (each) instead of $18, used dishes/glasses I already had, and got the place mats and napkins from Garden Ridge!
I love it when I can copy looks for less!

And, we finally got furniture for our living room (back in June!)
Before :

and after:





All-State Jazz


This weekend, I got to go to San Antonio to hear my brother Paul play with the All-State Jazz band. He was one of three trombonists in the whole state to earn a spot in the band, so it was a really big deal! He had an awesome solo, and it was fun to listen to some good jazz.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Snow Day(s)!


A big storm blew in, and the kids were out of school for four days one week, and one day the next. Jerry stayed home from work for two days. You think our city could invest in at least a couple of snow plows, considering all the lost revenue each year when we get a storm. You really can't go anywhere, because the roads are solid ice. The kids and I did have fun ice-skating down our street, though. We didn't stay out for very long since it was only 21 degrees. Basically, we didn't go anywhere for almost a week. I was glad that I had gone to the grocery store before the storm hit. It was nice to sleep in every day and have no obligations, but we were ready when it was time to go back to school!

My favorite quote came from my friend, Melanie, when she posted on Facebook: "I went ice-skating in my car today! Fun." I'm glad she lives close enough to walk to my house. She and Preston (Miles' best friend,) came over one afternoon and we had a huge snowball fight with the kids.