pizza! pizza!

i've been trying to come up with some fun activities to do with the kids on mondays and fridays. we're trying new art projects and making fun foods. today they decided they wanted to make homemade pizzas. it was so easy. we just took english muffins and cut them in half, covered with spaghetti sauce, cheese and pepperoni slices and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes. they were no digiorno pizza, but they weren't terrible. and the kid's were so proud of the fact that they cooked dinner! and yay for not having to bribe lauren to eat her dinner again!

first swim of the summer!

we weren't in the water 10 minutes before a nice thunder & lightning storm ruined our first swim of the summer. the kids were very disappointed. i feel like it's the story of my life this week! on a positive note, we all looked cute in our matching swimsuits!

what is he after?

and we wonder why he hasn't gotten stitches sooner...

while i was folding clothes in the bedroom, brandon was happily playing with his bee bop band set. i didn't hear him banging on the drum so i stopped what i was doing. i then heard him call out my name. he was stuck in that cubby with the darth tater. i thought about running upstairs to get the camera, but i was afraid that he would fall out. so i get him out. he starts playing his drum again and i get back to folding. i come around the corner with an armful of lauren's jammies and here is is trying to climb back up the shelving unit. i do run upstairs this time to get the camera. he has no idea that i'm watching him.

thank goodness this shelving system is anchored to the wall in four places.

" if i can't get up there by climbing up it, i'll climb on something else to get what i want!"

omg! what is it that he is so determined to get???

i should have known. he LOVES his brother's remote control r2d2. jared would die if he knew he captured him!

the academy award for most dramatic toddler goes to...

brandon reid!!!

all i wanted was a picture of his stitches. he was not having it. he let me and the entire neighborhood know it!

pulling hair

we met up with kim & nick for the 10:50 a.m. showing of toy story 3. the kids were very well behaved this time (i think they learned their lesson after shrek), and the movie was really cute. i even got teary eyed at the end. i wasn't expecting that at all!

jared & nick

after the movie, we went to costco to have a bite to eat. lunch ended pretty quickly because brandon was ready to go home for a nap. i knew he'd have a long one since he missed his morning nap. the big kids played and eventually fell asleep too. i got a nice nap in as well. yay! james called about 4:00 and said he was going to be heading home soon. i was like, "okay"...hung up the phone and went back to sleep! i guess i didn't realize how tired i was. i woke up to james getting the baby out of his bed. he was playing happily with a few toys i left in there the day before. gotta love how laidback that kid is!

we make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and we're trying to figure out what board games we're going to play with the big kids.

then all of a sudden, we're dealing with a bloody situation.

YOU: "who's foot is this?"

ME: "funny you should ask!...it's brandon's!"

YOU: "what happened?"

ME: "funny you should ask!...it's james' fault."

actually, brandon was not properly restrained in his high chair (daddy didn't listen to my instructions), and he jumped out and busted his forehead on the corner of the kitchen table.

dr. kane at the 24 hour emergency clinic. thank goodness for these places because you can get in/out so much faster than the hospital's er. not to mention you avoid all the weirdos hacking their lungs, etc. in the waiting room!

my poor baby boy. he needed 3 stitches.

brandon was a little trooper through it all. he was back to his crazy little stunts in the room while we were waiting to be discharged. a few little stitches aren't slowing this kid down!!!

and i'm just thankful that i got that long nap this afternoon. i have a feeling i'm going to have a hard time going to sleep tonight!

happy father's day james!

after church today, we celebrated james being an awesome daddy to jared, lauren and brandon. they worked very hard the last couple of weeks coming up with ideas for cards and gifts to show him how much they love him. here daddy is with his little crew!

daddy's boys!

and for sure a daddy's girl! she's had him wrapped around her fingers since she was born!

jared and james

LOVE this hand made "superdad" card from jared. his superdad has a real dark tan!

lauren made this cute butterfly art project and a handprint drink coozie. daddy was very excited to have some new artwork for his office.

the "loot"

we also decorated some rocks from our garden with melted crayons for new paperweights for daddy's office. the kids added on #1 dad and i heart u to them. he better never throw these away!!!

the bee bop band

woke up this morning to three little rockstars having a jam session!

we had a blast singing john jacob jingleheimer schmidt, alice the camel, down by the bay, and other silly songs. yay for fun saturday mornings!

t.g.i.f.!

today we worked on getting the last of james' father's day presents made. he's actually heading back home after a business trip to london. lauren wanted to make him something special. she's really into coloring, especially butterflies. she had a great idea to make him a picture of her, jared and brandon as butterflies. i totally let her do whatever she wanted, with the exception of putting the hot glue on the paper for the rhinestones. she totally loved blinging out her butterfly. i love that she gave jared's butterfly glasses! at the end i told her that we should label who each of the butterflies were. she looked at me and said so innocently, "why do we have to do that? doesn't he know who we are already?" here she is posing with her artwork:

and i love this frame from hobby lobby. it was almost like a shadowbox because it had some space between the picture and the rhinestones. and it was 50% off! you know daddy loves it when we're frugal!

a few weeks ago we heard that parent's night out was going to be available today at lauren's summer camp. i quickly signed the kids up. they will watch all three of our kids plus provide super fun entertainment (bounce houses, etc.) and snacks for $25. that is a steal! i let a few people know that we were going to be kidless, and rachel & tim decided to come hang out with us. they had never been to ruby tequila's, so we went there. i LOVE their chips and salsa. they have the best salt seasoning on their chips. i don't have to really post here how many chips i ate? it was out of control that's for sure! anyway, the table behind us was visiting from kansas, and they were having a grand old time knocking back these dos equis margaritas. only in texas right?!?!?

me & james

rachel & tim

we were a little concerned during dinner that our plans to go play putt putt would be ruined due to the weather, but the rain pushed through and we were able to go still. before going out to play, we played some indoor games.

i love me some skee ball!

rachel found the stuffed animals!

and of course tim & james found the games that involve shooting guns!

after a few games, we finally made it outside to play putt putt. it was pretty warm and muggy, but it was still a lot of fun. i quickly threw out the idea to play boys against girls instead of us vs. them...boy i wish i hadn't. james and tim beat me and rachel big time. i thought that jet lag would get to james and he would play horribly. i'm openly admitting that for the second time (okay, maybe third) in my life...i was wrong! here are some pictures of us on the course:

i was the biggest loser. so embarrassing. i might just lose the little scorecard instead of saving it for the scrapbook!

thanks tim & rachel for coming out to play with us! we had a great time!!!

cutie pie productions

i have been thinking about starting my own business for a while now. i actually woke up from a deep sleep a long time ago and drew this cartoon-y looking picture of a pie. i saved it in a binder and it has been patiently waiting there until the right time. recently i was inspired when i saw my friend joy take a leap of faith in starting her own business.

i recently mailed out some pretty little flower barrettes to my best friend in west virginia to make sure that my craftsmanship holds up to her three little girls that are all under the age of four. so far i haven't had any quality control issues with the barrettes lauren has been wearing. i've purchased several different types of barrettes. i want to find the highest quality to use. i am such a perfectionist. i refuse to put on my child or anyone else's anything less than the best!

i'm still brainstorming the graphics for a website, business cards, as well as little cards that the barrettes will clip on to. i'm excited about all the possibilities. the name of my new little venture is cutie pie productions. i have set up an email address if anyone is interested in more details: cutiepieproductions @ yahoo . com.

and here is a sample of some of the barrettes/hair wraps that i made last night. let me know which one is your favorite!

1 lb

lauren and i are having fun tonight playing with a 1 lb container of these jewels. pretty soon you will see some of the things we have been doing with them!

tickle the baby

i was lounging on the couch in the den when i heard lots of giggling. that could either be a good thing...or bad. either way, i grabbed my camera and quietly stuck my head around the corner to see what they were up to. i was happy they were being good and just tickling their little brother.

shrek

you wouldn't know it by this picture...


but the kids acted like the biggest ogres today. after spending over $24 to take them to see shrek the final chapter with grammy, they behaved so badly. omg. their behavior almost sent me into a tailspin. i know they are just kids, but when all you do all day is do things they want to do...one should be able to reason that when you want/need to do something, that they'll fall into line. well, not these two. it's going to be a long summer.

as for the movie, it was pretty good. i wish i had seen the other movies prior to going because i didn't quite understand some of the inside jokes. and any movie that entertains brandon enough that he sits still the entire time is going to get brownie points!

brandon proofed

i hate baby proofing a house other than outlet covers and putting away dangerous chemicals. i hate that we are basically teaching our kids that our world revolves around them. that this is their house instead of ours. but jeez......i am so sick and tired of chasing brandon up and down the stairs. he is getting into everything lately. the newest activity...sticking anything in the toilet including star wars figures, legos, full rolls of toilet paper, etc. so at least for today, our house is brandon proofed. i'm exhausted and my legs need a break from all these steps!

his lovies

brandon was given three lovies as a little baby.

1. my mom gave him monkey (not pictured). who we did carry around everywhere we went until a nightmare of a trip to the zoo with grammy & grandpa dallas. short story: monkey goes to zoo with us, monkey gets lost at zoo, mommy throws temper tantrum because of the sentimental value including calling her mom and crying about it, does not enjoy the last half of the zoo, does not want to check lost and found because no one would have turned it in, mother-in-law makes me...monkey is safe and sound in lost & found. either someone honestly turned it in or someone saw it and had planned on taking it home but saw me so upset and felt guilty about taking the monkey. whatever the case, i was so glad the monkey was returned, and vowed that it would never leave the house again.

2. my dear friend gave him mr. owl. or "hoot hoot" since brandon can't say mr. owl yet. it used to light up, but then the battery died. or the little button on his foot to make him light up died. either way, it doesn't light up. but brandon doesn't care. he loves that owl. he chews on one of his silky feet. it's disintegrating away. kind of gross and sweet all at the same time. we know when brandon is sleepy and is ready to crash his crib because he will roam the house looking for mr. owl calling out "hoot hoot" in between thumb sucking!

3. my other dear friend rachel gave him mr. giraffe. we want to call him something else, but we just can't think of the perfect name yet. rachel gave it to him after melinda's baby shower. i fell in love with it, but when i went back to target to get brandon one, they were all gone. and i've never seen them restocked since. i almost died when she gave him to me. i mean to brandon. :) he used to just keep him in his crib, but now he totes him around the house. he has figured out how to twist the little metal "key" and make him sing. he'll sing a little bit. then brandon will talk to him. then he'll twist the key some more and he'll sing. brandon will talk back. just like they are having a conversation. it is so funny! i need to get it on video!

and obviously my kids see this camera way too much. brandon just put his lovies on the stairs and looked at me like, "go ahead...take their pictures!" ha ha

if you have a name suggestion for mr. giraffe, please post in the comments section! we'd love to hear what you might name him!

at the park

i found a fun little park by the church for brandon and i to hang out at while j & l are finishing up their little summer camps today. i'm so glad that the kids had the opportunity to do this camp, but i'm so glad that this is my last day of making this drive down here. well, until vbs in july. but i'm volunteering for that, so i'll be entertaining lots of kids instead of just one for three hours.

where's the baby?

if it weren't for the heat, we could have stayed out here for hours. there were so many different activities at this park. brandon loved this little section the most though.

after our fun time at the park, we headed back over to church for the royal graduation. it was neat to see how many dad's and grandparent's showed up to see the finale! i know that our kids love when james makes it to their events. thank goodness our church is near the office. afterwards we took them over to cafe express for lunch. brandon loved the little breadsticks. and thankfully lauren ate her lunch without us having to fuss or bribe her! maybe princess prep school made an impression?!?!?!

thanks dani!

danielle (and jake) got jared the star wars r2d2 pop-o-matic trouble game for his birthday. as if the "pop" isn't annoying enough, it r2d2 makes noises too. as if feeding me tender vittles and still tattle-taling on me to mom as a little kid wasn't enough fun for her...she still continues to torment me! but as annoying as all the noise is...jared and lauren LOVE it and have been playing with it for hours today!!!

at the lake

we recently found out that rickey has breast cancer. because of her kidney disease, they were not able to do the scans on her to see if it had spread. she chose to have a mastectomy to be on the safe side, and during the operation, the doctors would remove the lymph nodes to see if the cancer had spread at all. because of her surgery being schedule for tomorrow, i thought it would be nice to take her mind off of it by bringing the kids up for a little visit. i ended up picking up jake from danielle so that he could see her too.

as usual, rickey was ready for us to come! she had lunch ready to go for us when we got there. i had not planned on her feeding us, but a torrential downpour right at the exit before hers prevented us from stopping. she was worried about tornado threats again, so we just headed straight to the house. kind of funny because as soon as i pulled the car in the garage, it stopped raining.

after we ate some lunch, she taught us how to play this new dice game called left, right, center. we had such a good time playing. jake won the most money!


after a lot of games, rickey busted out this big bag of goodies. she let each of the kids pick something out of the bag. of course the boys picked silly string, and lauren picked the disney princess lip gloss.

they had so much fun spraying each other!

jake covered in silly string!

the boys had fun looking at all the fish in the lake.

on the pier

love this picture of rickey and pawpaw with the great grandkids

(just missing taylor)

and this was hysterical. pawpaw asked if it was okay to dunk brandon's feet in the water. brandon LOVED it! what cracked me up was lauren's expression! i should have gotten a picture of brandon's face when pawpaw stopped. he was not happy at all about that. later this summer when rickey has recovered from her surgery, we'll have to come back for another dip in the lake!

we are hopeful that this cancer was caught in its earliest stage. and hopeful that tomorrow's surgery will show no signs of the cancer spreading. i am so sick of these nasty diseases robbing our family. i hate cancer.