Valentine's Day - Kindergarten Party

I was sooo excited to be a part of Alex's fun day. I volunteered to throw Alex's Valentine's Day party at Coyote Ridge. Linda, the class mom, was a rock star and did so much to make the party perfect. It's so hard letting go - I mean, she's away more than she is home now. I always want to go and peek in at her and see how her day is going...so being there and throwing the party was so much fun as you can imagine. How could 20 kids + pounds of sugar + a sundae bar + arts and crafts + games + prizes = anything other than amazing fun?!

First of all, it was the fastest two hours of my life. We crammed so much in to the party! That was good planning because 20 kids hyped up on sugar-crack can get out of hand in a flash, so having an agenda was essential. We played bingo, box-in-a-box, made take home crafts for the parents, and had a fully supplied sundae bar. At one point I saw a child just flailing about - they had so much candy they literally couldn't control their body at all. I wasn't responsible for the food. If you know me at all, I avoid sugar like the plague with Alex, so this was a lot for Mommy to process. Hey, it was a party...you gotta let them be kids!

Alex was a very proud kiddo - she loved introducing me to all of her friends. She made sure I met each and every person. I enjoyed getting the scoop on each friend. It was adorable. I really do wish I could be there everyday. It was so much fun to be a part of kindergarten for just a day. Here are a few pics. I wasn't able to take many because my hands were full the entire time.

Our sweet little Valentine - she had a t-shirt made that says "Alex"

Kiddos prepping the crafts

Linda helps the blue table make heart pendants Alex was diligent and wanted to make Mommy a very special gift

Finished product - nice work, Alex

The girls helped set up the sundae bar

Alex was trying to quiet the class - shocker! Too funny!

Box-in-a-box game

Alex was chosen to unwrap one of the layers. Check out that cuteness.

Mommy made a picture!

Alex, thank you for making every single day of my life fun. I am your biggest fan!

This is how we roll...

So, I'm in the kitchen cooking and Alex shouts from the playroom, "Mommy, can I have a picnic with a few animal friends?" Of course I say yes. This is what I turn around and see: Our girl is such a trip! And the birds...are we ever going to stop loving birds? I think not. She's quite a hostess, don't you think?

Dancing Diva - February 2011

Our little dancing queen is back at it again! She loved ballet so much last year and has been telling us that she really wants to start classes again. We already have her taking gymnastics on Tuesdays and she isn't willing to give it up, so what do we do...cave and sign her up for both! Did you expect anything less from me, really? I would take her everyday if I could! I love dance, cheer and gymnastics so much - it was such a huge part of my childhood. I am thrilled that Alex is enjoying it like her mama. And can I just say wow, thank you, to my mom and dad?! It's not cheap! Once again I am learning to appreciate my mom and dad from becoming a parent. What an investment. This year, we signed her up at Diane Cole Johnson again, but this time she is taking tap, ballet and tumbling. It's a one hour class. I still think her favorite part is dressing up though. I had so much fun watching her put on tap shoes for the very first time. Priceless entertainment. She gets the "sass" face going and puts on quite a show for me, the dogs, the wall - really, anyone or anything that will watch. Mark the calendar for June 20th: Alex's big recital. So far, so great! Here are two pictures before her first class:

Brrrrr in D-town: February Snow Days

Wow have we had our share of snow this winter. We've missed a record 5 school days in February due to the massive arctic tundra that is known as 1833 Boyd Court, Carrollton, Texas.

I found this article and thought it would be cool to note: This past weekend, Dallas got its largest snow day ever as 9.8 inches of snow was recorded to have fallen on Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as of 10:00pm Dallas time and it's still coming down. That is the most snow in Dallas ever, at least since it started collecting weather data 111 years ago. The previous record was 7.8 inches in one day set in 1917 and again in 1964.

Unreal, huh? Here's the kicker...Dallas wasn't prepared at all. Over 150,000 residents lost power. And of course, we are ALWAYS a statistic. Um yeah, we lost our HEAT! Super fun! If you can imagine a 2-year-old and 5-year-old stuck in a small living room with a fireplace and space heaters for 72 hours, you can imagine it was GOOD TIMES. The kids handled it pretty darn well considering, but seriously, I can vouch: it was misery!

Poor Nathan was camped out in the office - shivering and trying to work. I was whipping up as many batches of homemade baked potato soup as possible and trying to stay sane and warm. I don't think I did so well on that goal, but we did survive! We finally got the heat working again, and then we were able to have some FUN! It was simply too cold to want to play in the snow when the heater was non-existant, but as soon as we warmed up, we piled on as many layers as humanly possible and headed out. Here are pictures from our awesome snow-filled adventure in Oakwood Springs (our 'hood):

Our cutie trying to accessorize even in the "arctic conditions"

Our backyard - day one

Prepping for snow ice cream

Cute snow bunny

"Baby on the Loose" - B on the L as we say

He loved the snow

Our little Eskimo was all over the place

Snow angels

Carson is scoping out Daddy's Jeep

Alex was in heaven

Our casa - pretty with the snow

C is headed for trouble

"Pee-a-boo" as Carson says

Darby sandwich

Yum!

C's favorite activity by a mile - splashing over and over again in the water

Fun times with Daddy

My 2 favorite men

Seeing this melts my heart

Interesting snow lady

Precious snow bunny

My loves. Aww, I want to freeze this moment in time.

Alex's 100th Day of Kindergarten

Alex was assigned a project to represent her 100th day of kindergarten. She did such a great job decorating her t-shirt with exactly 100 stickers. She did the entire project herself and was oh so proud of her masterpiece.

Carson: The Master of Going To Bed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwXUmSbVI1o

January visit to Little Rock

Nathan and his buddy Ben decided to head to the cabin for the weekend for a little duck hunting action. Ben's dad and Nathan's dad joined the crew, so I decided to pack up and head to DeDe's! Nothing like a fun weekend away (especially while Daddy is gone). We had an action filled weekend that went waaaay too quickly. Let's just jump in (no pun intended).

We started the fun by taking Alex to the McCain mall to brave the Spider Jump adventure. Deb has a friend that owns Spider Jump, so we thought it would be a blast to watch Alex. But noooo, peer pressure strikes and I am suddenly wearing a harness in the middle of the mall! Are you kidding me?! At least I don't live there and no one knows me...and let's face it, if you know me, you know I was allll over the idea. Here are a few pics from our Spider Jump adventure:

I am locked and loaded

"Whoa, this is higher and harder than I expected"

Back flip -1

Back flip - 2

Back flip - 3...double back flip!

Love this pic because you can see Alex and I jumping at the same time

Look at my brave lil peanut

Beautiful and graceful "le frog jump, elegant"

Alex attempts a flip and as you can see is all smiles

Big jumps

Happy girl

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A few key points to note:

1. While we were gone, Pops stayed home with Carson. It was awesome to have solo Alex time. While we were at the mall, my cell phone rings and it's Pops. He says, "I am calling to inform you that we have a situation on our hands. Did you know Carson can climb out of his pack-n-play? I was sitting at my desk and all the sudden I saw a blur running by the door." AHH! He's such a two year old toot. I love it!

2. Um yeah, I was NOT okay after the Spider Jump! I was soooo sore. They said jumping was the equivalent of a 2 hour cardio session. My abs and arms were killing me the next day. I am not 18 anymore (and yes Deb, I am leaving that part of the story out. When you dish on the pup I will share my story. HA!)

Back at home, Pops enjoyed time with his princess while Deb & I had a GNO.

This is their happy place. Can't tell who is having more fun...

Alex makes Pops smile in a way that I've never seen. It's beautiful. It reminds me so so much of my Boompa.

After a long night of Alex boot camp, Pops is a fried puppy. Sweet Alex tucked him in with her lovies and gankie.

Deb & I are dressed and ready for a night out (this was my thank you gift for watching the kids in Atlanta.) We went to Bravo for dinner and saw The King's Speech. FUN! Dinner was perfection.

Darby women represent

Doesn't she look so grown up here? I can't believe she is about to be 6! 6 going on 16!

Alex was incredibly independent and well minded on this trip. She spent hours in DeDe's office on the computer and doing arts and crafts.

Score! USA Pizza makes gluten free love. Yes!!!

DeDe and Alex at lunch

The girls at lunch
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After lunch, we braved it and decided to head to Chuck E. Cheese. As sad or crazy as this sounds, Carson had never been before (I think he went once as a baby) but this was his first "real" time to experience the Chuck. He was in awe. Flashing lights, spinning toys and numbers everywhere = heaven for our special little guy.

Alex tried hard to earn tickets. I hit 100 tickets on a game and that made me "super cool" in Alex's eyes. I felt honored.

Alex is all about using the assets she has. Whatever it takes!

Sweet Carson was overwhelmed but loved riding the rides. He is almost 2 1/2 years old.

Carson scoping out the ticket grabbing machine

I don't know if he was a "record breaker" at Chuck E. Cheese as his t-shirt suggests, but he certainly is a heart breaker. Cuteness!

We had so much fun as always. Sigh, can we come back again soon? Thanks for making what could have been a lonely and hard weekend a super fun one with memories galore!