Birthday Weekend

This Friday was my Handsome Hubby's birthday. We had a whole weekend of fun in celebration of it. His big brother, Lee, came up to Dallas from San Antonio to hang out with us. Lee and I watched Daniel's soccer game Friday night and then all of us went with a bunch of friends to a local restaurant for some yummy beers and dessert (it was a late game.)

On Saturday, we met up with several of our friends to go rock climbing at Stoneworks. It is this huge indoor rock wall that is built on the inside of three old grain silos. Its actually the tallest indoor rock wall in North America. Cool, huh? Lets not even pretend that I made it very far up the wall. I think maybe 30 feet, or 3 stories. I'm TERRIFIED of heights and really not in the best shape, so I didn't feel too bad about. Daniel and Lee were the only ones out of our group of 7 that made it all the way up, 120 feet. I was pretty proud of my Papi! Next up was a BBQ gone wrong at our buddy Joe's house. I say went wrong because we took much longer to climb than we planned for and by the time we were done, none of else had the patience to actually grill out. So, we picked up some take out and booze and headed to Joe's pool. I had way, way, way, way too much fun, and had to end the night a little more quickly than planned, but we wont get into that, okay? Thanks.

Today, we had breakfast with Lee before he headed home and then Daniel and I just enjoyed being with our kids all day. Dylan wanted to go swimming, so we took him to do that. I have not cooked one single meal all weekend. Not healthy, but very relaxing. I'll make up for it this week with lots of grilled fish and freshly steamed veggies. Its been such a nice weekend and I hate that its almost over. I'm about to go curl up with my Handsome Hubby and watch Duplicity.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Dylan Logic: 02

I'm swatting a rolled up magazine around like a mad cavewoman in a desperate attempt to kill not one, but TWO flies in my house that WILL not die.

Dylan: Mommy, your not so good at that.

Mommy: Well, I'm trying, Hunny.

Dylan: Daddy can kill flies really fast. He just goes like this *slaps hand on the table* and kills it.

Mommy: That what I'm trying to do, Dylan.

Dylan: Well, you not very good at it though.

*Silence from both of us while I chase this stupid fly around like a mad person *

Dylan: Don't feel bad Mommy. Your just a Mommy. Your not a Daddy. That's why you can't get the flies. I think only Daddy's are good at catching flies.

Mommy: Oh, you think that's it?

Dylan: Yeh, sometimes things are just like that, Mommy.

*Sigh. Flies are STILL alive (an hour later). It might have to wait for Daddy, sometimes things are just like that.

Check Ups

The Hubby and I took the kids to the doctor today for well visits. Dylan had his 5 year old check up and London had her (very late) 9 month old check up. Both of them had good visits. London is still in the 97 percentile for height and weight, and Dylan is still in the 50th for both. Dylan didn't do as well as Dr. V would have like on his eye sight test, so we have to take him to an opthamologist for further evaluation. I thought "No Biggie, I'll run him to one today." However, I did not know that he would have to see a pediatric opthamologist (to be honest I didn't even know there were pediatric opthamologist), which proved to be a pain in the you know what to find one of. I finally did find someone to see him though, and he has an appointment next week. I'll update you when we know more.

Childlike

You know one thing I love about kids?

They can be silly without any reason other than the want to be silly.

Both my kids often burst into silliness out of no where.

Today, I was trying to take a picture or two of my babes, and London just got the itch to be silly.

So, Silly she was.

If only adults would just turn silly on whim sometimes, life maybe wouldn't be quite so stressful or serious.

I often think life might be better if we were all just a little more child like:

Need to laugh? Then laugh.

Want to scream and cry? Scream and Cry.

Make friends with every stranger? Of course.

Look for fun in everything you do? Always.

Dance without music? Everyday.

Trust full heartedly? Thats the only way.

Love with everything inside of you? Yes, of course.

...Ah, the lessons that I learn from my children everyday.

They make me so proud and happy...

Dreaming of Fall

One of my favorite daily reads is A NYC Housewife-In-Training, also known as H.I.T. She blogged today about what she is looking forward to most in regards to fall. I love, love, love fall, so I thought I would join her in the dreaming of crisp fall breezes.

Fall is my favorite season. I could go on for days (well maybe more like hours) about how much I love it and why. But, I'll fallow H.I.T.'s lead and give y'all a list, okay?

So without further ado, my very most favorite things about fall are:

1. The first event of fall for us is always the decoration of our house for Halloween. This is our second year to be in our house. We do this the last night of September. We went pretty low key last year, seeing that on the last day of September, I was about to POP with London in my belly. This year, I plan to go all out with a fun, funky Halloween theme. The center will be a big, huge wreathe for my door that my mom will make (thanks in advance Mom, sorry I haven't officially asked you yet). I'm thinking something like this:
Except bigger, fuller, and a much bigger "boo" in the middle, instead of the top, or maybe a witch to sit in the middle.

I'll also do a table scape that will stay up all month of the kids. London isn't old enough to enjoy it, but Dylan sure is! He LOVES any holiday.


2. The first of October also brings the pumpkin patch into our lives. We have a fabulous one in a town near by. It is the huge field of, well, pumpkins, that is just beautiful. They also have tons of activities for the kids like face painting, wagon rides, train rides, bouncy houses, corn mazes, a house made of pumpkins, and a bunch of other neat stuff. The coolest part? Its free. We spend a many of October days at the pumpkin patch. They make their profit off of their pumpkins, which cost a little more than if you go it at a store, but the memories of picking your pumpkin are worth it, and the food and drinks they sell there.

3. The State Fair! My parents took me every single year to the State Fair. We lived in Mississippi though, and it was a good deal smaller than the Texas one. It was a bigger deal to us Mississippi kids though, I think. Here in the Dallas area, we have tons to do for fun including Six Flags. Still, I think Dylan love the fair because its out of the ordinary and we get to eat lots of yummy junk food. The live entertainment is always fun too. Really, I don't think you can replace the fair with any amusement park.
4. Trick or Treat, Halloween parties, and all other festivities revolving around Halloween. Can you tell we are loving Halloween around here!? We are planning to host a party for all of Dylan's classmates, the kids in our neighborhood, and a family friends at our house this year. We are calling it "Dylan's Monster Bash". He is beside himself excited and Mommy is having blast planning it. We'll also have several other parties and festivities to be part of. And of course I can't wait to dress the kids up and take them Trick or Treating.


5. All things Thanksgiving (maybe that's what I should have said for Halloween too, no?). I will decorate the house again for Thanksgiving. For the exterior, I'll just take away the jack-o-lanterns and cobwebs, and change out my wreathe (again, thanks in advance Mom). I'll do a new table scape as well. I'll start planning the menu for thanksgiving in October, but I am already dreaming about pumpkin pie. 6. What is fall with out football!? My Handsome Hubby isn't much of a football guy himself, so we don't really watch it like religion (unlike my side of the family), but we still enjoy a few games and the delicious game food that comes with it. For my Daddy, I just have to say.... GEAUX TIGERS!!!

7. Fall clothes are really just the best, aren't they? I can't wait to break out cute sweaters, scarves, and boots.

Dylan Logic: 01

*Dylan jumping all over my furniture like a wild person.
*
Mommy: Dylan, you know you shouldn't jump on the furniture, pumpkin.
*
Dylan stops and give me a pouty face.
*
Dylan: But why not, Mommy?
Mommy: Because you might break it and its not good for it.
Dylan: Well, I jump on the floor and it doesn't break and you don't get mad about that.
*
Pause for thought on my part. (That was pretty quick of him, no?)
*
Mommy: Well, honey, the floor isn't breakable and the furniture is. That's why it is okay to jump on the floor but not okay to jump on the floor. Okay?
Dylan: Weeeellllll. Okay, but its not as much fun to jump on the floor. Sometime rules are not fun.
*Dylan bounces away on the floor like a little kangaroo.

Pajama Day

My Handsome Hubby is a Video Game Programmer. Most of the time, he works normal 8 hour days. But sometimes, they go into "crunch" mode at the office. This means that they work more like 12 hour days. They also have the less harsh "sprint" mode, where they are only required to work two extra hours in a day, including working through lunch (don't worry, they always have yummy, healthy lunch catered to them on these days).

The Handsome Hubby is a cross between sprinting and crunch for the past two weeks. What I mean, is that the office is asking him to sprint, but he isn't able to work as quickly as he would need to in order to only sprint and make deadline, so HE is more like crunching. For the past three days, I have seen him for maybe 2 hours a day. Last week was the same. I miss my hubby!!

I'm thinking that as soon as he is past this deadline, also known in the gaming world as a "milestone" (that sounds so much nicer, huh?), that I might send my kids to my mom's house over night. It would be London's first time to stay away from home, and Dylan first time in a long time (I think maybe since she was born). But my mom only lives a little ways away, I know they would be fine, and I am dying for just a little one on one time with my handsome hubby. Sure, romance would be involved, but really I just want to curl up with him in some comfy PJs, watch movies, eat tons of cheese cake or maybe some truffles, smooch, and talk for hours. Baiscally, I'd like to have pajama day with just me and the hubby. Ahhh. That sounds like bliss. Too bad the milestone is not over until October. A girl can still day dream.

A bucket full of fun.

London Paisley has more toys than any 10 month old could possibly need. Tons of sweet little girl toys. What are her favorite things to play with? Why, her BROTHERS toys and a little green bucket, of course.

This green bucket has provided more hours of entertainment than any other toy in our house. We fill it up with little toys, and London takes them out one by one and then usually puts them back in. She also uses the bucket as a drum and a hat. I think I paid 10 bucks for this little bucket. Best ten dollars ever spent, I guess.

Its the simple things in Life, right?

Fly Away Little Birdie!

There comes a time in every mother's life that they have to let go of their little birdie and let it fly.

Actually, there comes several times in every mommy's life that you have to let your birdie fly. You have to let go on the first day of Preschool and first day of "BIG school" as Dylan calls it, also known s Kindergarten, the first time they go off to High School, and then College. You have to let go the first time they jump on a bike with no training wheels, the first time they want to try the monkey bars with out your help, and for us the other day, the first time you let them play in a germ infested play place.

I'm sure it is not as traumatic to every mommy as it was to me, but I finally let London down and let her spread her little wings in this germ field play place. She has been begging (also known as grunting, bucking around in her stroller or my lap, and pointing at the ground) to get down for the past couple of weeks before I gave in. She wanted down so very badly and there were only two other children besides my own playing (and in all honesty, it is a very clean play place or else I wouldn't let either of my little birdies fly in there!), so I figured I could try.

And she and Dylan had a BLAST. Dylan LOVED that his baby sister was down "playing" with him and London just loved being free to roam. She wasn't intimidated by anything. She went down the baby slide like a little pro (with my help, of course), climbed through the little tunnel like it was nothing, and "drove" the ambulance like a true woman driver ("talking" on her cell phone hand part of the time). Part of me wanted to snatch her up and throw her in a tub, but most of me was so proud of her. I can't believe how big my little baby is getting.

When we were all done, I wiped her down from head to toe with wipes and gave Dylan his usual anti bacteria gel. Then we headed up stairs for a soda, well Dylan and I had a soda and London had a nice cold milk. It was a great day.

True Love

Dylan: I love you Mommy.

Me: I love you too, pumpkin.

Dylan: I love you as big as the sky.

Me: I love you all the way to the moon and back.

Dylan: Aww, Mommy! I think I'll keep you.

Thanks, pumpkin. I'll keep you too.

THE Dress

I am a die hard Janie and Jack lover. LOVER. To be truthful, I just love shopping. And I really love to shop for all things adorable for my kids to wear. But I REALLY REALLY love shopping Janie and Jack. I don't buy much from them for Dylan anymore as my Handsome Hubby likes for him to have a bit more of a "grown" look, but oh how I miss the days of baby boy layette at this beautiful store!! Now that I have a little princess to play dress up with, I have even more love for the beautiful store. Turns out there are loads of mommies out there that share my love for fabulous children's clothing. While I was pregnant with London I learned of an online forum devoted to children's clothing. I heard angels sing, and then clicked on the link.

That is wear I learned of this dress. Its from Janie and Jack's Set the Table collection 2004. Everyone in the know simply refers to it as "THE dress."

The moment I laid my big green (not with envy, they really are green) eyes on this BEAUTIFULLY STUNNING piece of clothing. I knew London would have to have it.

I then looked at a price tag on it.

It goes for an average of $120. USED.

*Sigh*

She'd only wear it maybe twice.

My Handsome Hubby, who is usually quite supportive of my addiction love would never go for this price tag.

Then the angels sang to me again.

My dear friend of several years has a beautiful little girl that is three years older than London and she shares this crazy passion for dressing kids beautifully with me. She called me from Idaho last month and said that she had found THE dress in some of her princess's old things and would I like her to send it to me for London to wear.

I had to sit. I was that excited.

So, my blog friends, here is THE dress on Miss London Paisley.

I also am having professional pictures done with her in this dress. I just must. I can't wait to share those with y'all too, because mine really don't do it justice.

*Thanks for still loving me even if you think I'm a little cookie with the shopping. Smooches.

The Wisdom of Babes

Yesterday, after I told Dylan at 8:30pm that he had to go to bed he asked me, "But can I PLEASE play some video games with Daddy? We haven't played any tonight."

I told him that I was sorry but that he could not stay up any later. Daniel told him they would play some tomorrow.

Dylan tears up a bit. Daniel offers a bed time story instead and Dylan agrees. But then says "I'm mad at Mommy. She NEVER lets me play."

I hear him, but decide not to say anything.

Daniel says "I don't think that's true Buddy."

"Yes it is. Today, I didn't get to play video games!"

Daniel asked him what he did do.

"I watched some TV this morning. Then I played in my room. OH! I LOVE to play in my room. Then I played on the computer. OH!! I LOVE to play on the computer. Then I played transformers. OH!! I LOVE to play transformers!"

There is a pause and then Dylan says, "Oh, Daddy! Mommy DOES let me play. I DID have a great day."

Smile. My little guy is a genius. I'm pretty sure. Or maybe all moms just think that about their kid. I was just so proud of him for thinking the situation through and coming to a logical conclusion. I know that's not really what he meant to be doing, but maybe I should start looking at some IV League schools, no? :)

Delicious

Isn't she?

Can You Pass Me the Remote, Please?

At my house, we can not live with out our DVR. Well, I bet we probably wouldn't actually DIE with out it, but it wouldn't be as grand if we didn't have it. We are so spoiled to being able to pause, rewind, and then fastforward live T.V.

I'm watching my Junk Reality TV and the phone rings, no problem... Pause.

I didn't catch what they just said on the news, no problem... rewind.

This is Bliss.

If only life cam with a remote. I so often wish I could just pause time for a bit and enjoy special little moment with my family and children. I long to rewind time and revisit the days of Dylan being a baby or London being a new born. But there is no remote for life. So I just try to not take any little thing for granted. For example, today my sweet little Dylan got overly excited that I told him I was proud of him eating all of his super. "Awwww. Mommy, I LOVE making you so happy!" *Pause, please!* London had a blast today prenteding to be on a phone and even said "Hey" for the first time. *Pause, please!" Darn not having a remote. I'll just have to take those moments in and hold onto how very special they are. The little moments are what makes life so special, no?

Back at It

So, I didn't do so well at keeping on top of my blog that I JUST started. BUT I promise to do better. :)

Forgive me? Thanks! Instead of over whelming you with a huge recap of whats been up while I was a bad blogger, I'll just highlight some of the fun moments over the next few days. For tonight, I'll just say I'm glad to be back.

And just for kicks, lets throw in the cute little pic: