No Small Feat

Birthday Boys

Our family had TWO birthdays in September. Why am I telling you about them in October?  Well because in between these two historic events I was "deathly" ill. No, really. Like I didn't even tweet for a week.  Let's recap:

The kids had a great plan for their father's birthday which included baking and decorating their own cake for him and also making his present instead of buying it. The time to do this coincided with my first getting sick so by the time we got to decorating the cake I was feeling so bad I had them doing it without assistance (hey! I took pictures): 

The "art deco it yourself" cake:

 

They also made these tie dye shirts all on their own for their Dad:

(Don't ask. He has taken to wearing this hat in the house)

Right after this it was time for our lil' man to turn FIVE years old with a blow-out party at Monkey Joe's. It was jam-packed with a whopping 24 children. It was truly a lot of fun. Here is the view from his blow-up king's chair in the party room:

 

Every year he chooses his cake and its theme. This year was Toy Story:

Now September has bid us adieu and we are looking to the Father/Daughter Dinner's and Mother/Son Halloween Dance, hay rides, petting zoos and pumpkin picking. Pumpkin decorating, pumpkin bread,  UGA football (please win a game), the WEEZER CONCERT and last, but certainly not least, collecting candy from strangers on the last day of the month.

Just wait until you see what my son and I will be for Halloween this year!

Stay tuned.... <3

I was with Waldo?

I think this is the longest I've gone without writing a post since I began this blog three years ago and I am sorry for that.  It has just been SUCH a busy month and a half for me (and by busy I mean I was totally sucked into the Southern Vampire series followed by the The Mortal Instruments series).  

Last month I had yet another birthday *throws confetti*  Mimi, who proved herself to be quite the pro at blowing out candles at her own birthday party, helped me out. 

 

The kids both got rollerskates this summer so between that and their bicycles it seems the only time they ever came into the house was to eat and sleep:

 

We also added to our family.  Please give a warm welcome to Popcorn. 

As you can see he is guarded 24/7 by Professor Snape and Edward Cullen.  This is imperative given that Max has already tried to feed him ALL the fish food in one sitting, provide him better lighting by placing a flashlight directly against the glass and has attempted to pet the fish as well.

Oh and Max also raided Daddy's closet one night and gave me epic levels of cute:

And Mimi sported my glasses and proved once again that she doesn't have a bad look:

 

Thankful.

I just walked in from the most fantastic weekend in LA with my friends.  I cannot even blog about it tonight because I am so sleep-deprived and what little time I have left I want to spend with my family.  I am the luckiest woman in the world.  Look at what I came home to:

 

I will have lots more to write (hopefully tomorrow) about my trip to LA and when I came face to face with a really bad (but oh so good looking) vampire!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Canine Kids.

This blog primarily focuses on our children but we must not forget the "kids" we had before Max and Mimi came into our lives.  Twelve years ago Brian and I had our first baby, Rookie.  When we adopted him he was just a year old.  He's an old dog now and in failing health now but every once in a while he sports that grin that reminds us he is still a pup at heart.  People always say that Rookie is my favorite but he's not -- I have just loved him the longest:

 

About three years after Rookie came home we felt he needed a playmate and decided to adopt a puppy at the pound.  Enter Tanner.  He came home at 3 months old and a week later we almost lost him to parvo but he beat the odds.  Sadly all the other puppies at the pound were put down so we always call him our little miracle dog.  Tanner is a real chill pup who loves to lay on your feet.  Even though he is an old dog now he still loves to play ball like a puppy and he IS Brian's favorite (though he denies it):

 

Three years after Tanner came home, and after a series of mishaps after we offered to help place a friend's dog with a family member who changed her mind shortly thereafter, we welcomed Skipper into our family.  Skipper's an interesting dog.  When he first came home to us he was incredibly timid, easily spooked and hid in the bedroom so much you wouldn't know he was in the house.  Brian always said Skipper reminded him of the wolf in Dances With Wolves.  In fact, when Max was a baby we would not let them be in the same room because we were concerned Skipper might act out of fear.  What a misjudgment that was! It seems all Skipper ever needed was a lot of love and kids to play with and enjoy.  In the end it was Skipper turned into our family dog -- the one who is still young enough to let the kids do whatever they want to and with him and exhibits a kind patience and willing heart toward his family:

 

Visit to Mt. Foodji

Last week our home was full of ALL the good things in life: family, laughter and good food.  My mom flew in from New York with her brother, my beloved Uncle Nick and his wife, my dear Aunt Bev.  It was a perfect visit.  We ate, we talked and we laughed and we did it ALL in abundance.  My uncle is one of the funniest men on Earth, my aunt has a laugh that is infectious and my mother was relaxed and full of "luster."  Brian and I were truly sad to see them return home.  Max and Mimi soaked up the love and attention they received.  Memories were made; let's reflect.

*Brian, who had to work, would leave the house, return later in the day and we would STILL be in the same position as seen in this photo. :o)

 

Uncle Nick needs a double knee replacement so he took advantage of the *special accommodations* afforded the disabled at the airport and Target.

 

This was the first time Uncle Nick and Aunt Beverly met Mimi.  It was mutual love at first sight:

 

Grandma lapped up the love bestowed upon her by her grandkids:

I lapped up some Mama lovin' too (not to mention the stuffed artichokes):

 

Games were played too:

 

More family visits with cousins Claudie and Rich and we ate, talked and laughed some more:

 

We actually left the house to "tour" the area and visited the nature center:

 

... a plantation home:

 

Then we reflected on the past of those we don't know by visiting a historic cemetary.  Pictures were taken (of course):

 

... and we ate out:

 

But it was a lot more fun when the men cooked for us:

 

By the time it was over we were stuffed -- on an overdose of food, fun and love.

The Easter Beagle Came!

Brian's family marks spring every year with a fun-filled family reunion at Uncle Carl's house in Augusta for the Masters and, if we're lucky (as we were this year) to celebrate Easter together. 

 

The kids all colored eggs ...

 

... and participated in an awesome Easter Egg Hunt!

 

... and had a visit from the Easter Beagle (we all watch A LOT of Charlie Brown)):

This was Mimi's first Easter and it was great that she got to spend it with a lot of her cousins, and they all became fast-friends with neighborhood kids:

 

She also got experience her first PGA tourney with her Daddy (she wanted to follow Tiger Woods).  Photos are prohibited at Augusta National but I took pics of her before she left with Brian:

 

Max also had a great time...

 

... at least until he was forced to surrender to a 104 fever (the only thing capable of stopping him in his tracks).

 

Special mention to my brother-in-law Joe who has a future as a chef if he tires of his gig as a world-renowned surgeon. ;0)

 

Oh and of course we played this (a lot!):

America's Favorite Past Time

Tonight we took Mimi to her very first baseball game. It was an exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers.  We got free tickets from an attorney in my office (thank you Glenn!) and they were awesome seats.  Since it wasn't a packed house like a regular season game we really got to chill during the game as we had a few rows to ourselves.  That kind of "leg room" comes in handy when you have kids at the game.  See:

 

Mimi really LOVED the team mascot -- she was pretty much stalking him.  Max, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him.  Seems the only mascot worthy of his time and attention is Hairy Dawg (and we're okay with that):

 

Max did, however, feel the need to do this in front of a cartoon (boys!):

 

Ultimately, it was a great opportunity to hang out with our kids and share our passion for baseball with them. 

  

My favorite picture of the night is this one.  You have no idea how much I love this man, and this is just one of the gazillion reasons why:

No Longer The Lone Star State

Texas has a new star today -- our sweet niece Zoe.  While we are so very sad to see my sister-in-law and her family move away from us we are excited about the new opportunities before them.  We are also looking forward to having a great new place to visit and vacation!  We spent this last weekend together with them before their send off but there were no long, sad goodbyes as we will be seeing them all in a month.  We are also holding out hope that they won't be far from us for long.

 

 

 

The Week in Review.

Our niece Zoe turned 2 earlier this month and we attended a party in her honor last Saturday.  Mimi and Max had a great time doting on their cousin and playing with the kids in attendance and also enjoyed the cake.  Cake, the childhood equivalent of drinking so much alcohol that you'd put a lampshade on your head   ;)

 

Valentine's Day was really nice.  Brian surprised me and the kids with flowers and yummy chocolate treats, and then the kids opened presents from their Aunt Linda and Grandma Carol.

   

Max continues to try new foods and adds to the list of items that he "loves!"  He also continues to do great with wearing his underwear and since January 19th has only had one accident while he slept.  Go ahead, be impressed - we are!  Here's Max eating "new food":

 

Mimi is just thrilled that she can FINALLY put her hair in clips, bows and pigtails.  Here she is looking cool -- see, even her shirt says so:

 

Life's A Beach

My father-in-law was kind enough to give our family four tickets to attend the Capital One Bowl in Orlando as a Christmas present, as Georgia was picked to play against Michigan State.  We decided to use this as an opportunity to visit our friends and family who live in Florida.  Also, Mimi had never been to the beach and was very anxious to check this off her list of things to do.  Here's how it all went down:

We first went to visit my childhood friend Maria who now lives in Florida with her family.  I have known Maria literally my entire life as we lived next door to each other the first 10 years of my life; in fact, I am actually named Laura because while pregnant (with me) my mother would constantly hear Maria's Aunt Millie calling up to her sister (Maria's mother, named "Laura") from the alleyway that separated our homes and the name stuck with her.  Here is Maria hamming it up with Max:

 

Next up -- THE BEACH!  We drove out to Clearwater Beach to relax beneath the hot December sun.  It was wonderful for all of us -- Max had only been to the beach one time last year and while he enjoyed it, he was not even 2 years old yet.  Mimi, however, had never been (a point she made to us CONSTANTLY) and Brian and I cannot EVER get enough white sand in our toes, salt water air in our nose and grouper sandwiches in our bellies!  Even better, Brian's Mom lives nearby and joined us for some fun in the sun, complete with a picnic lunch (including a grilled cheese sandwich that Max unwittingly shared with a very aggressive seagull):

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It was time to say good-bye to the beach but for good reason as we were on our way to my Dad (who retired to Florida) and his wife Celia's home for a fantastic Italian styled New Year's Eve lunch (with Dad's famous freshly baked New York Cheesecake).  This was also the first time Mimi was meeting her Grandpa Dom and Grandma Celia, and it went great.  Everyone really enjoyed spending time with each other, and I was particularly happy to get to spend time with my Pops. 

  

Next stop?  The land of Disney (shh... don't tell the kids, they had NO idea and we got out unscathed with not one souvenior in hand!).  We arrived in Orlando on New Year's Eve and had a nice evening with the kids, going out to a great dinner at Landry's Seafood House.  The place we stayed at had a room within a room that was designed for kids and they LOVED their hotel room.  It was so convincing that while in the main part of our hotel room they would suddenly declare "I'm going to my hotel room."  This is what it looked like:

  

New Year's Day brought the first win for the Georgia Bulldogs in 2009!  It was certainly a great day to be a Georgia Bulldog and a lot of fun for our family to experience a game together, now basking in the warm January sun.  It was Mimi's first time attending a football game and expressed interest about what was actually happening on the field.  Max tried to keep up with the game and also kept an eye out for Hairy Dawg and UGA, well at least that is until exhaustion took over Max and he slept for a while (and thankfully missing a *rousing* rendition of Led Zeppelin classics as interpreted by the school band during halftime).

 

Last but certainly not least was a visit to Brian's sister Beth's home for a visit with her family.  They have property nearby their home which is for nothing more than having a whole lot of fun -- it is stocked with horses, pigs, chickens and acres of paths made for 4-wheeling.  We packed all of that fun into one day!  The kids LOVE spending time with their cousins and Joey had a captive audience in Mimi who marveled at his skills.  Here are some pics, you'll see what I mean:

 

We certainly packed a lot into a quickly planned trip to the Sunshine State and as we journeyed back toward home we both agreed that there are many more visits there in our future -- and soon.