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.