Looking Fine at the Age of Nine

This nice girl turned 9 last weekend. Here, she is enjoying her birthday breakfast. She refused Josh's offers for homemade waffles and my attempt to make her eggs and bacon. Nope. She just wanted toast. With honey or jam or peanut butter? Nope. Just butter. She won't eat anything else for breakfast, which annoys me a lot. But it's her birthday and she gets whatever she wants for her birthday breakfast.

Not only did she want to have an ice skating party. But she also wanted to dress up 50s style for the ice skating party. So....despite my attempts to come up with lots of other ideas that didn't involve me freezing on the ice, she stuck to her original idea. Although I couldn't feel my fingers for 2 full hours, we had a lot of fun. I still like this girl.

Evil Hedgehog

Jack tends to still be a scaredy cat a lot. He chooses random things to be absolutely terrified of. This time I took pictures to try to understand the process of why he is scared of such diverse things as a cookie monster puppet or a round brush.

Maddie was showing us some presents she got from her birthday. She got these little animal erasers and Jack loved them all....until she got to the hedgehog. Then, for absolutely no reason, he was super scared of it. What a weirdo! 

"What is that thing?"

"I guess it doesn't look so bad."

"No! Get it away from me!"

"Is it still there?!"

"Uugghh! I said get it away from me!"

Good ole fashion fun

Josh and I love to have travel and have fun. Let me rephrase that: Josh and I love to travel and have fun when we don't want to go to bed early instead. Here are some of our fun recent activities where I remembered to take pictures.

Josh likes to travel to cool places for cool sporting events, such as the World Series game in Boston.

And Washington DC for a Chargers game.

The great thing about living in the great city of Las Vegas is that we have amazing home grown bands like The Killers

And Brumby

We also have great performers in our city at all times, so our Mommy and Me Date Nights don't have to be lame. This night we went to see Shania Twain. (There were no pictures allowed at the show, but I was able to snap a quick one right before the curtain closed.)

Maddie loved the concert but could barely stay awake long enough to get our car back from valet after the show. :o)

School Picture Day

When I was young, I used to tell myself that nobody took good school pictures. Everybody had a pimple on their chin or their hair was sideways or they had a stain on their shirt. It made me feel better about myself because I always looked kind of like this:

But once again, my kids proved me wrong. They both look adorable in their school pictures.

I like them, so too bad if you don't

Here are some pictures that I like, but everyone else probably thinks they are a waste of a blog post because there isn't anything specifically important about these pictures.  :o)

When you are a little brother to a big sister, you are sometimes forced to be the sister's live doll. Who knew that Jack looked so good in pink doll clothes?

I continue to watch in awe as Maddie gets older. She will be a teenager before I know it.

Family dinners are so much fun with my two kids. They are darling and they love each other. I'm just lucky to be the third wheel in their lives.

I just think Jack looks cute and weird and funny and silly in this picture. Perfect representation of his personality.

Jack has this new fake mad face that he likes to do sometimes. It is ridiculous and I love it. It turns up about three to five times a day. Like when he gets a bean stuck on his forehead...

...Or when I won't let him go to sleep at 4:30 on daylight savings day...

...Or when he gets macaroni stuck on his forehead... Oh the injustice in this world!

 

I love getting pictures of Jack from his baby school. His teachers say he is the kindest, happiest, gentlest baby they have ever seen. He loves the other babies in his class and brings joy to everyone who meets him. 

 He also doesn't have much of a poker face. Busted!

Halloween 2013

The mandatory (and annoying) traditional pumpkin carving. One of these years I will remember to buy the candles for inside the pumpkins.

Jack went to school as Jack Skellington. Thumbs up for my cutey patooty.

Maddie still wants me to come to her school Halloween party. Also, she said I HAD to dress up because ALL of the other parents dress up. Turns out....I was the ONLY parent dressed up at the whole school. It was bullcrap.  :o)

Maddie just glowed as a southern belle. Really, truly, honestly, sometimes her beauty just catches my breath. She is lovely. AND nice. AND smart. Talk about a triple threat!! 

Jack? Well, he was yoda. And he was just an adorable little dufus. Gosh, I love this little guy.

He loved his costume's accessories of a light saber and the real Obie Won Kenobi to push his stroller around. Somehow he stayed awake for all the fun.

There is nothing more fun than counting the stash with your cousins at the end of the night. (And stealing the candy you like when the kids aren't watching.)

Maddie's best weekend ever.

Maddie and her sister cousin got to go on the coolest trip ever. Emma flew all by herself to Las Vegas, where Maddie waited patiently.

Then the two of them boarded a plane to Indiana...

...Where they met their Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mark at the airport. That was just the beginning of the greatest weekend of their lives. Don't believe me? Just check out the pictures. How magical and amazing was that trip? Can Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mark be my Grandma and Grandpa too?