Busy Mother's Day Weekend

This should be the last of our crazy weekends around here for a while - at least that is what I am telling myself.  This one was crazy though. 

On Friday night Ava had her fourth dance recital rehearsal.  Thankfully for her, she loves when it is recital time - everything about it.  James, the boys and I went to visit our friends who lost everything in the Vilonia tornado a couple weeks ago.  I can't even imagine the devastation that they are feeling.  They are probably ten years younger than James and I, but they are grounded in their faith and have been the picture of grace through this process. 

On Saturday morning Ava had her fifth recital rehearsal (seriously) from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm.  AND Sam had his last soccer game of the season.  What an absolute joy it is to watch him play soccer.  It never gets old to watch your kids do something they love!  He scored four goals and made several great passes.  The very last play of the game he took the ball from one end of the field to the other and scored with the biggest grin on his face.  Can you tell from these pictures that it was a little humid?

 

 

After we had a little time to rest it was time to go back for Ava's dance recital.  We decided to take the boys this year because we thought they would have fun watching Ava.  Never again.  I repeat never again.  Anyway, Oh my gosh was Ava so cute up on the stage.  She really gets into it.  She is a beautiful dancer and I loved every second of that recital.  Except for the part where Jack dropped his juice all over me, or the part where Sam asked for the 372nd time if it was almost ever. 

 

Before we left for the recital

 

Just to keep it real - here is how she looked moments before we got dressed for the night

 

 

Proud Daddy

 

And then it was Mother's Day.  The kids were so cute.  Both Sam and Ava woke up early to tell me Happy Mother's Day.  I usually get up hours before they do and run, take a shower, etc.  But they made me get back in bed so they (James) could make my breakfast :)  They included some handmade notes which are the best. Then Ava had a birthday party at Disney on Ice and James took Sam and Jack fishing.  So...I had the house to myself which never happens. 

 

 

Mother's Day is so special and I love all the love.  But what they don't know is that they all save me- James, Ava, Sam and Jack save me every day.  They are my biggest blessing.  And I am beyond honored with the responsibility of being their wife and mom.  It is by God's grace that I am here with these perfect for me people.  I just wish that I could go back and talk to the 25 year old me and show her all the perfect gifts that she would have one day.  And the best gift of all is being mom to these three.



Easter and such

We had a great Easter weekend, but I don't think I sat down once.  SO busy!

Sam had a soccer game bright and early Saturday morning, and we were so glad that Mimi got to come watch.  Ava is not one bit goofy :) 

Then Ava and I headed out to the grocery store while James and the boys did boy stuff - don't ask me?? 

That afternoon Sam had a standing play date with his best little buddy, Brooks. It seems as if so much revolves around Ava here that I was excited that Sam got to have a fun day.  So, after lunch we went to pick up Brooks and came home.  I had to have a talk with Ava because she was directing their play date with a tea party, games, etc.  She sulked for a minute and then asked if she could text her friend and say hi (she uses my phone to text one little friend maybe once a week, every other week).  I did not see  any harm in that, so I let her. Well, she handed me the phone two minutes later and the text conversation went something like this--

Ava - "Can Bailey come over and play?"
Friend - She would love to- right now?
Ava - "Yes, please"
Friend - "We are on our way."

LOL!!  We love her sweet little friend and were thrilled to have her over, but Ava did get grounded from texting for a long while and she has had to do some extra chores this week! 

Of course, Easter morning was a blur.  The Easter bunny definitely made his appearance and we spent the afternoon at Erica's house eating carbs and hunting eggs.  Erica dubbed it the "Easter of the worms" because her yard is full (and I mean full) of inchworms.  My kids loved it, James loved it - guess who didn't love it - me.  Especially when James put three or four in my hair several times just for laughs.

 

So very blessed to be able to spend Easter with my favorite people!

Some of my favorites

I finally figured out how to post some pictures.  I don't know what in the world I was doing wrong!

Here are some of my favorites from the last couple months.

Jack's 2nd Birthday.  Isn't this the best birthday picture!  I have to give credit to my sister-in-law Cory.  Love  

I lost my phone for a little while on Thanksgiving.  Later that night I found a lot of pictures of these two sweet girls.

Sam was a cow in his Pre-K Christmas program.  We all had so much fun watching him.

Ava had a Gingerbread House decorating party at school.  Parents were invited to help, and James could fit this one into his schedule, so he joined me.  And thank goodness for that because I am not an architect and cannot build a gingerbread house to save my life!

Our Christmas Eve picture.  They were not excited at all!

And Christmas morning... Jack's favorite gift then and now.  We have had hours of fun with this thing.

Sam got several gifts that I thought were going to be big hits.  And he also got these $8 dollar dinosaur/car things from Target.  They were by far his favorites to this day.  Isn't that crazy how their reactions can be so different than what you think!

And Ava's favorite - her American Girl doll, Chelsea.

Catching Up

So it was my New Year's Resolution to blog every day.  I am obviously right on top of things around here.






How can it be the middle of February already?  I don't even understand how fast time is going lately. 
I have to sign Sam up for kindergarten tomorrow which is ridiculous.






I just looked over the last time I wrote a post and it was in October.  Yikes!  So I wanted to briefly update what I have missed.






Jack's Birthday.  My baby turned 2.  He is just the cutest thing.  He is not in any kind of Mother's Day Out this year, so he is with me all day every day, and he is my buddy.  Because his birthday is the week of Thanksgiving and we were going to invite family members to the party, we just combined it with our Thanksgiving celebrations.  Pretty cool to have a whole holiday centered around you!  We all love that boy so much - he makes everything around him a little (lot) better.






Christmas - We went to Bryan for the Piraino Family Christmas in Early December, so we stayed home for Christmas this year.  We had all of our usual family traditions.  At some point over the holiday I was looking at the fireplace and all the stocking hanging there, and I just feel blessed.  There was a point in my life when I was in my late 20's and early 30's and thought I was so old (if I only knew), and I thought that I would never find anyone to marry.  And here I am with James and these three perfect kids.  So blessed.






New Years and James birthday-  Our New Years was terrible - really terrible.  James was so sick - like emergency room sick - with pneumonia.  Then Sam and Jack ended up with pneumonia several days after.  It was just awful.  There was a moment one night where I had been taking care of James and Sam all day (both running high fever and feeling awful).  I was exhausted and put Jack in the bathtub with Ava to speed up the process.  I walked out of the room for a minute, and Ava immediately announced, "I think there is poo poo in the bathtub."  Oh my gosh - all moms know that means A LOT of cleaning.  I got them out of the bathtub and then just sat on the floor for a minute in defeat.  And then I cleaned it up (and maybe told James I will be needing a raise).  I don't know exactly why I just shared that story, but it was a hard couple days.  And James was so sick on his birthday - we will make it up to him.






Now it is already February somehow, and I have Ava's Valentine's Day party this week and her Birthday party next week.  So we have a lot going on around here.  I have been trying to post some pictures here, but I something is either wrong with me or the computer, so they will have to wait. 


Hoping I can stick with this.  I miss blogging, and I feel so much better when I do.  I will do my best. 

One of a Kind

How do I describe this boy right now.  Active.  Cute.  Funny.  So smart. 

All of the above.  He is just one of those kids you want to be around.  Where Ava and Sam have always been a little reserved in most situations, Jack is not.  He comes in and makes his presence known.  He is waving and telling everyone, "hi."

He is talking so much now, and you forget how cute that early speech is.  He says some words all day - tractor, cup, mommy, football.

He loves Ava!  Sam is his buddy and they play (and fight) a lot more than he does with Ava.  But he loves her!

He has got a little bit (or a lot) of a temper.  Our kids didn't have much of a chance with that Sicilian and Lebanese blood in there.  They also talk with their hands A LOT.

Did I mention cute?  Always smiling, laughing, making faces.  So many people stop me when I am out to tell me how cute he is.

This is a pretty good capture of Jack's personality.  He has this new smile - or maybe that is his pirate face?  And he will (and does quite frequently) pick up any kind of bug outside.  He especially loves a spider.  This is some kind of punishment for me to have all three of my kids like bugs.  I don't know what I have done to deserve this.  And if you zoom in (or look real closely) you will see a nice little granddaddy long leg in his hand.  Lovely.

Sick Days

One of the hardest things about having kids - sick days.  I have always said I would have so many kids if they didn't get sick.  But they do.

So.. this past week Sam and Jack have been under the weather.  They both get pretty bad allergies which in turn leads to a bad cough.  If Sam's cough doesn't get treated quickly, it can lead to pneumonia - which we thought we were dealing with on Saturday.

After a trip to the after care clinic, many battles with the inhaler, and several sleepless nights for both of us, I think we have made it through the worst of it.

I promise to be back with better posts this week. 

Here is to healthy kids!

Favorite Things: Bryan/College Station

So..  obviously I didn't do a great job keeping up last week.  We headed out of town on Friday for a very fast trip to James' hometown of  Bryan, Texas.  We attended a memorial for James' grandmother on Saturday and had a nice visit with family.  We also took a little tour of Kyle Field so Sam could see where the Aggies play, and we  caught a glimpse of the Heisman - so cool!

So I thought in honor of our trip I would share a couple of my favorite things about James' hometown:

Freebirds.  Probably the original make your own burrito joint (I really have no idea).  It is like our Moe's but way, way better!

 

Chicken Oil Company - pretty popular in College Station.  We try to visit here or Koppe Bridge every visit.  They have great (and very greasy) burgers.

 

 

It is really fun to go watch a Texas A&M game in College Station.  I think they have a lot of great traditions, some which I find honestly a bit confusing - there is a lot of singing and swaying and kissing.    Anyway, the best thing about the game (in my opinion) is the band.  It gives me chill bumps every single time.  

 

 

And for a little fashion in honor of the Aggies - maroon is in this year and it is everywhere.  I keep seeing these maroon skinny jeans, and I think I love them.

 

And plaid is in too.  I have my eyes on this shirt from Forever 21 to wear under a grey t-shirt on layered with boots.  Or I could wear it exactly like the picture with my high waisted short shorts and my crop top.  I think the kids would love that!

 

 

Happy Monday!

Hog Heaven (Not Exactly)!

James and I had a weekend with no kids!!  It has been a long time coming.

We met some of James' friends (and fellow Aggies) down in Fayetteville on Friday afternoon.  We started off the weekend with a little Pat Green.  So much fun!

The next day we got an early start to get to the stadium for the game that night.  Our friends wanted to see the stadium and hang out before the game started.  Well, the theme of the day was rain and more rain.  We parked at the stadium to tailgate and maybe even hang out downtown. 

We got about halfway through the parking lot and the sky opened up, and the rain did not stop for hours.  Oh well, best laid plans!

We hung out under several overhangs - doesn't that sound exciting?  We were great hosts!  And we finally made it into the stadium 3 hours before the game started.  At least our seats were covered. 

It was a bad hair day for sure.  As for the football, we (the Arkansas fans in the crowd) were not realistically expecting a win.  At least those of us with some sense.  I was just hoping for something a little less embarrassing than last year.  And even though the outcome wasn't one we wanted, I thought the Razorbacks played a great game, and I have high hopes for them.

I was definitely proud to be a Razorback fan that night. 

(I already mentioned bad hair day, right?)

Happy Places

The other night I was in Sam's room talking with him before night time.  He was telling me he couldn't sleep because his brain was working too hard.  For the record, I am so exhausted lately I have completely forgotten what that feels like.  Literally the second my head hits the pillow I am out. 

Anyway, I was trying to help him.  I asked him to think of something nice  that made him really happy - that might help his brain.  I was giving him ideas.  Can you think of superheroes? No.  What about cars?  No.  Um, Transformers? No.  I gave up and asked him to tell me what he could think of.  He said, "you."

I am tearing up a little writing about it.  It was such a sincere moment.  It was one of the kindest things that anyone has said to me but also one of the most humbling.  I hope that I give him good things to think about as he goes to sleep, and I am sure most days I do.  But there are those days that I am tired and I rush through dinner,  bath, stories, etc. because I want a minute to myself.  There are those times when I lose my cool and say something that I don't mean to the people I love most in the world.  We all have those days and moments, but those words form my Sam put things in perspective for me.

I am so glad to be his happy place - he is mine too.

Kids Say the Funniest Things

I always think I need to write down some of the funny things that Sam and Ava say.  And I never do.  I never want to forget their innocent little minds and the things that come out of their mouths.

Ava has said some funny things lately, and I thought I would share.

A couple weeks ago Ava started a new dance school.  When I picked her up the first day I wanted to hear all about class.  Ava was SO excited!  She said, "Mom I have the most exciting news.  There are big boys in dance.  Really big boys.  I read about that in a book one time, but I never thought that would happen to me." 

Last week I picked Ava up from school and we were talking about what she had for lunch that day.  She said (in an exasperated voice), "Mom, we had Domino's pizza for lunch.  But it is very confusing.  There are not actually dominoes on the pizza.  It is pepperoni.  I think they call pepperoni dominoes."

And finally a couple weeks ago I was dropping Ava off at school.  She comes up to the front of the truck so I can give her hugs and kisses before she gets out.  This particular day I was giving a tight squeeze and Ava said, "Mom you are hurting my nuts."  What??  She said, "(sigh) Mom, you are hurting my nuts.  That is another word for booty.  Daniel told me."  And then I got the look like I don't know anything.  Then the principal opened the door and Ava was gone for the day!

Horsin' Around

We had Sam's 5th birthday party at a local ranch here in Conway.  I have never had a birthday party anywhere than our house, so I was pretty excited about this one! 

We invited Sam's closest friends and our family, and we just spent the afternoon riding horses and eating cupcakes.

 

 

Sam came with me to decorate our space.  It was the two of us and such a sweet, precious time.  He was SO excited!

 



After our chores were through, Sam spent the rest of our time perched on this gate watching the horses.

 

 

Time to ride.  We did not invite a whole lot of kids, so each one got to ride as much as he or she wanted.  This, of course, was the highlight of the party.

 After riding, the owner took us back to the stalls to visit with the other horses.  The kids are standing on some contraption used to massage the horses.  It made them vibrate, and they were all giggling pretty hard after this one.

 

 

Sam and his buddies--



 

It was the perfect party for our little cowboy.

 



A Few of My Favorite Things

So, I am starting something new every Friday.  I want to share some of my current favorites - anything from books to fashion (don't hold your breath for this one) to gadgets.  Just anything that I am loving right now.  Think of Oprah's favorite things (I wish)!

Here goes--

 

 

James and I pick a series to go through about twice a year, and we watch a couple episodes most nights.  We are currently on West Wing, and I love it.  I did not appreciate it way back when it was on TV, but I am completely involved with the lives of these guys.

 

 

 

 

Old Navy yoga pants

 

They are so comfortable and stretchy and they have never stepped foot into a yoga class.

 

 

 

I downloaded the Artkive app for my phone and love it. It saves all the kids artwork from school and home in one place.  I never now what to do with all that stuff.  I can eventually make a book with all of the saved images which I plan on doing soon.

 

I can't download the image, but I recently finished Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle.  It is not a all like the books I normally read, so I was reluctant to try it.  I loved it.  I rarely laugh  out loud at TV or books, but I could not help myself here.  It is totally enjoyable and completely relatable.

 

Have a great weekend!!

 







Times Are a Changin

Check out this big boy - no more high chair!

Birthday Boy

Our Sam is 5 today.  It is hard to believe.  I used to love when Ava and Sam were so little and people would ask me how old they were and I could answer, "They are 1 and 2."  It made me feel like I should get an award or something.  Then I blinked and they are 5 and 6.  What??!!

Where do I begin about Sam?  He is our funny child.  You never know what is going to come out of that mouth.  He makes me laugh all day!  He is sensitive.  He is one of those kids that will take a while to get to know you.  But once you are in, you are in.  He will be loyal forever.

Sam is a rule follower.  You have to watch what you tell him because whatever you say is the law.  He will remember.  He brings new meaning to the word stubborn.  He really didn't have a chance with James and me as parents, but oh my goodness he is stubborn.

He has the best laugh, and he laughs a lot.  He loves his daddy.  He and Jack are becoming best buddies.  And he really wants to be Ava's protector.  The other day he told her he would stop all those boys from chasing her on the playground.  She said, "Uh Sam you don't have to do that - I really like it." - ha!

We are so blessed by Sam and count ourselves as the luckiest parents to get to love on him!

We are actually going through a little something with Sam.  He is not one to adjust to new situations real easily.  So, we started him at a new preschool which is the same place where he will go to kindergarten next year.  We thought it would be easier to transition him this year instead of next.  Well, he is having a HARD time.  He starts crying the night before he has to go and is crying when I drop him off.  Not actually crying but tearing up, which is worse to me.  It is so hard to watch.  We know he will make friends and be OK, but it is so hard to explain that to a five year old.

I will continue to pray for and love on him.  While Sam was at school today I was reading about a zillion books to Jack and he brought me Oh the Places You'll Go to read.  It is funny how when you are struggling with something sometimes an answer or a bit of encouragement will just pop up in unexpected places.  

As I was reading this to Jack, I felt like I was meant to read this today.

"But on you will go though the weather be foul.
On you will go though your enemies prowl.
On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.......

On and on you will hike.
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are....

Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So get on your way!

Sam - you are strong, funny, kind, loyal - really all the things that people love in friends.  Growing up is like climbing that mountain. I have no doubts that you are going to get to the top of any mountain you want and make us proud doing it.

I love you buddy!

One of those Days

We had a pretty busy weekend planned, but I will tell you it did not get started in a good way.  I had one of THOSE days on Friday.  First, we had a birthday party at the park.  Within two minutes (and I am not exaggerating) I had two screaming, injured boys.  Yikes!  After a little rest at home, we had to go get Ava at school.  A lot of times Sam will go without shoes because we just drive through and then drive home.  That was the case on Friday.  Well, I forgot that I had to pick up our dog, Elle,  from Petsmart where she had gotten a bath and haircut.  So, I decided to run in with all three kids - and Sam with no shoes.  In my head I knew we could run in and out and no one would ever know.  I was SO wrong.

On our way out (in the middle of the store), Elle decides to potty everywhere!  This may be too much information, but let me assure you it was awful.  I was holding Jack, cleaning up a major mess, directing store traffic away from the mess, trying to keep up with Sam and Ava- ugh! 

Then we headed to watch my oldest nephew play football.  We were so proud of him! 

Sam had a soccer game on Saturday.  I am putting this on the record - there is nothing cuter than Sam and his buddy Brooks playing soccer.  They dominate the game!  And they are cheering each other on, giving high fives the whole way down the field.  Seriously nothing cuter.

And the major highlight of our weekend.  We hosted Ava's class pet, Penguin Pete.  He went everywhere with us, picked out his favorite restaurants, shared his opinion on just about everything.  My girl takes that stuff seriously, y'all.