Two and A Half Monkeys

1st day of school

2010-08-23T15:00:00.005-05:00

Getting ready to leave for school!

Today was Ben's 1st day of 2nd grade and Emma's 1st day of KINDERGARTEN!! I can't believe how big they are getting! They both had awesome first days of school!

Ben 2nd GradeEmma Kindergarten

PARTY TIME: Ginny's 2nd Birthday!

2010-07-18T23:09:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated Miss Ginny's 2nd Birthday with an ELMO themed Party! She LOVES Elmo!! We had so much fun celebrating with our Family and Special Friends at GaGa & PaPa's house. We opened presents, and Miss GiGi made out like a bandit! ;) Then we had cake/cupcakes (made by yours truly) and ice cream! Then we went swimming!! What a fun time we had!
Here are some pics of our fun:

Our 9 Year Anniversary

2010-07-14T12:37:00.007-05:00

*picture courtesy of narci d Photography

Today is Chris & I's 9 year Anniversary, I can't believe it's been 9 years already! These have truly been the best years of my life! I am so blessed to be loved by such an amazing man! I LOVE our life together, our beautiful children and all of the memories we're creating! I am so in love with you Chris and I could not imagine my life without you! Thanks for the wonderful times!!

On our way out the door for dinner at Maggiano's :)

Ginny's 2nd Birthday!

2010-07-13T22:30:00.003-05:00

Happy 2nd Birthday my sweet Dolly! I can't believe you're 2, I love you so very much! You truly complete our wonderful family! :)
Ginny Grace you are loving, sweet, a bit stubborn ;) and just pure joy to be around! You love your family & friends so much! You are getting to be such a big girl, you actually say "yes" more than "no" :) and it warms my heart when you say " I Lobe you too" :) It cracks me up to hear you tell your dolly's & friends "No Ma'am"~I wonder where you heard that one hee hee ;)
You are so very precious to me!
Here are some pics from her day:

Family Pics at The Arboretum

2010-03-28T19:55:00.015-05:00

Today we had our pictures taken at the Arboretum by a long-time friend of the family and very talented photographer Narci. Here's a link to her website:
http://narcidphotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/sweet-family.html

She did such a wonderful job of engaging the kids and getting them to actually all look at the camera with sweet smiles AT THE SAME TIME!!! I don't know how she does it!
Narci created such beautiful memories that we will cherish forever!!
Here are some of my FAVORITES:

Western Day

2010-03-25T10:15:00.002-05:00

Today was Western Day at Emma's Preschool, here's our little Cowgirl:

Spring Break: The ZOO

2010-03-19T18:35:00.007-05:00

Today Daddy took the day off from work and we took the kids to the Fort Worth Zoo! It was such a great way to end Spring Break!! GaGa & PaPa met us there and we all had such a fun time!! Ginny LOVED the Giraffes and all the kids loved the little meerkats! Ben loved the sharks and the birds and Emma loved all of it especially the meerkats & elephants! We also got to ride on the train! After a fun-filled warm morning, we headed to lunch at Cracker Barrel and then back home.
Here are some pics of the fun:

HAPPY St. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

2010-03-17T09:06:00.004-05:00

Here are my sweet little Leprechauns!!!

Ben's Art Show

2010-03-05T09:14:00.005-06:00

Tonight we got to go see Ben's Artwork in an Art Show that the district holds each year at Central Office. This is his 2nd year to have a piece featured, we are so very proud of our sweet Artist! Here are some pics of his CraZy CaCtus:

Emma You're a STAR

2010-02-23T11:00:00.007-06:00

This week at Preschool, Miss Emma Kate was the STAR Student. She was SO excited to get to bring the star bag filled with some of her favorite things to show her friends: Barbies, books, and her stuffed Ariel & Aurora! She also had a special bulletin board that showed some of her favorite things and a sweet picture of my sweet girl.
On Thursday she got to bring the estimation jar, she decided to bring Hershey's kisses to share with her friends, she had such a great week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T23:07:00.000-06:00

This year we had another lovely Family dinner on Saturday night, with barbecue chicken, twice baked potatoes and cheesy broccoli. We ate out in the dining room with our "nice" plates & cups, we even got the kids sparkling grape juice. I made a special Heart shaped cookie cake for my valentines, it was super yummy! My Sweetheart surprised me with chocolates and some pretty roses! :) Then on Sunday we went to my parents and had a Valentines celebration with the whole family. What a sweet weekend we had!

More fun in the SNOW

2010-02-12T14:00:00.001-06:00

We had SO much fun playing in the snow, even Daddy got to join in on the fun Friday! He made the BEST Snowman!! Miss Ginny liked it SO much better the 2nd time around! ;)
It was just so magical to get to play in the snow, it reminded me of my childhood~we had a blast!
Here are some pics of our fun:

NOW this is what I call SNOW!!!

2010-02-11T22:00:00.000-06:00

We woke up this morning to snow falling!! And I mean the REAL stuff this time~REAL LIVE snow that I can remember playing in when I was growing up back in Ohio. It snowed ALL day long, in fact I think it's still going at least a little bit! ;) The kiddos had school today, but after school I bundled them all up and we went out in the backyard to play in THE SNOW!!! They had SOO much fun! I made a snowman~yea it's not the best, but I didn't have a lot of help ;) Ben & I had a snowball fight. Ben & Emma made snow angels and went down the slide and fell into the snow, they had a blast! They also decided they might as well see what it was like being a cow~As in they laid out on their tummy's in the grass/snow and ate snow~they were COVERED in it! Miss Ginny wasn't very sure at first, but she really liked it after awhile~EXCEPT when she fell over~then she wanted Mommy to hold her(which also made the snowman building kinda hard ;) ). We all had such a fun time, and the best part is that Ben doesn't have school tomorrow! **I just read on our news webpage that today's snowfall broke the all-time record.** How COOL is that?!?! I'm SO glad that my kiddos got to see it and enjoy it! And just so ya know it is STILL snowing!!! =)
I LOVE THE SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben's School Dance

2010-01-29T22:00:00.005-06:00

Tonight was Ben's school dance, I was so lucky to have 2 of the cutest and sweetest dates!! Ben, Emma & I went and Daddy stayed home with Miss Ginny. The first thing we did when we got there was check out the snacks!! Yum~ Then we went into the Gym, where the music was blastin' and started to dance around. Ben went up on the special stage and danced, Miss Em decided she wanted to stay with Mom. Plus she kept saying it was TOO loud~and covering her ears (silly girl)! Then Emma & I got a front row seat to watch the first graders dance~it was TOO cute!! We had SO much fun and we can't wait til next year!

Emma's Art Show

2010-01-14T11:00:00.001-06:00

Today at Emma's Preschool they had a little art show for the kiddos. Emma did such an amazing job, I'm so proud of my little Artist!

Cousin Charlie's FIRST Birthday!

2010-01-10T12:35:00.005-06:00

Friday the 8th, my nephew Charlie turned ONE, we celebrated his birthday at my parents house on Sunday! I made him a special Monkey cake and of course a little smash cake. He was not very sure about it, I don't think he likes getting messy yet!! ;) We had so much fun helping to celebrate this sweet boy's birthday! I can't believe he's ONE!!!

Another SNOW DAY!?!?!

2009-12-29T17:00:00.005-06:00

Well this Winter has definitely been VERY strange around here!! We had yet ANOTHER Snow Day the week after Christmas. Ben & Emma LOVED getting to play out in the snow. Emma ate as much snow as she possibly could and Ben made a little snowman. Even Ginny tried a taste of snow~she was not too impressed!! ;)
Here are some pics of the fun:

Family Christmas Pictures

2009-12-27T13:50:00.003-06:00

Here are some wonderful Family Pics that My Uncle Greg took for us when he came down to visit this Christmas: It was SO wonderful to have him here with us!

Christmas at GaGa & PaPa's

2009-12-25T23:30:00.001-06:00

After we played for a bit at our house, we packed up the car and headed to my parents house (GaGa & PaPa). There we were greeted by a mound of presents!! We opened all of our gifts, we got so many nice things~ Emma was SO excited that she got the Barbie Camper. Ben got a really cool microscope kit and Miss Ginny got Elmo Live~which she ADORES!!! Chris & I got beautiful new lamps for our Family Room~The first new lamps we've ever had in this house!! :) Then we all played and hung out with the family including my brother and sis in law and my sweet nephew Charlie. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and truly enjoyed our day with our family.
Here are some pics from the festivities:

Christmas Morning!

2009-12-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

Christmas Morning we woke up and got the kiddos ready to go and check to see if Santa came. They were SO excited and surprised when they saw their gifts! Ginny got a new babydoll and stroller, Emma got a pink Leapster and Ben got a Star Wars AT-TE vehicle. Then we opened gifts and had a yummy coffeecake breakfast. After breakfast the kids played with their new things for a bit before we got ready to head to GaGa & PaPa's house.
Here are some pics from our Christmas at home:

Christmas Eve Celebration

2009-12-24T23:10:00.003-06:00

Every Christmas Eve we celebrate with Chris's side of the family. We all meet at someone's house and this year his sister Sarah hosted, so after Mass we headed their way. The theme this year was Mexican and we had some totally delicious food! We had such a fun time seeing all of our family and Ben, Emma & Ginny LOVED seeing their cousins!! It was so special to me that we could be there to help celebrate Baby Wyatt's first Christmas! What a sweetie pie he is!
After our yummy dinner, it was time to open presents!!! The kiddos were SO excited and they got so many wonderful gifts! Then we got the kids changed into their new PJ's (a brand new family tradition :)) and packed up the car. We S L O W L Y headed home as it had been snowing all day and the roads were SUPER Icy ~Yes, I did just say it snowed and was icy on Christmas Eve IN TEXAS!!! After we got home, we put out egg nog and cookies for Santa and reindeer food and tucked the kids into bed. What a fabulous night we had with wonderful family!

A Ben & Emma Christmas Special

2009-12-23T16:41:00.008-06:00

This is a special video that Ben & Emma made for the Grandparents this Christmas and we just had to share it!! They are just too adorable (Yeah I know I'm a little biased!! ;)
*Be sure to listen closely to Miss Emma Kate's lyrics on Joy to the World!!* ;)
Here it is:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Birthday Tea Party & Special Babydoll

2009-12-19T16:00:00.006-06:00

Today Grandma Ann & Miss Lori took Emma and I to an adorable tea room in downtown Plano called Into My Garden Tearoom. This was Emma's Birthday present from them. We started off having a delicious lunch compete with real china and Emma got her very own birthday princess place setting with her own tea pot & cup/saucer. She LOVED getting to be such a big girl! For lunch she had a flower shaped PB& J Sandwich along with fruit, chocolate chip muffins and pink "tea". For dessert she got to have Ice cream with sprinkles! I had a wonderful Chicken Caesar Salad and a delicious piece of chocolate cake.

After lunch Aunt Mary met us to go and choose Emma's new Baby. They have a special Lee Middleton Newborn Nursery set up in the front of the Tearoom. Emma got to look at all of the babies in the nursery. The "Nurse" asked Emma some questions to make sure she would be a good mommy. Em passed with flying colors and got to choose her baby. She chose the 2nd dolly that she held and named her "Baby Emma". She is too adorable and Emma had the BEST time ever as she would say :) This was seriously one of the CUTEST places I have ever seen, Thank you Grandma Ann, Miss Lori & Aunt Mary for such a fun and special day!

Now my only question is: Does this mean I'm technically a Grandma now? ;)

Emma's 5th Birthday

2009-12-06T21:30:00.004-06:00

WOW, How is my girl already 5? I CANNOT believe that she is 5 already, I can still remember being pregnant with her (and feeling sick as a dog most of the time ;) )
She is turning in to such a sweet little girl, very helpful with her baby sister and ALWAYS thinking of others. Emma Kate you are so very precious to me and I love you so very much!

We celebrated Miss Emma's Birthday with an Italian Dinner with all of the family and pink cake/cupcakes! We had so much fun with everyone!

The Following Saturday we celebrated with some of Emma's friends at a Gymnastics place, the kids had SO much fun on the Trampolines, Zip line, Bounce Houses, Balance Beams and trapeze!

The rest of NOVEMBER

2009-11-30T09:02:00.000-06:00

The rest of November consisted of Mommy getting really sick ~for pretty much the entire month :(
AND
Ben Losing his FIRST Tooth at school on Wed. the 11th, he was wiggling it during PE and then he pulled it out. He was SOOO excited when I picked him up from
school!!

The other exciting thing to happen this month was that Miss Emma got a Sassy new haircut. She and Mommy spent the Tuesday before Thanksgiving together and we went to Mommy's Salon and got our hair done. We had so much fun!!We also had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving with all of our family, I am so thankful for all of the wonderful and special people in my life!!

Ben's 7th Birthday!

2009-11-03T20:58:00.001-06:00

WOW, I can't believe my boy is SEVEN today!! He is such an inquisitive and sweet little man!! He's reading like a pro and LOVES anything related to Star Wars!! ;) Here are some pics from his Birthday celebrations- we had one with just our little family on his actual birthday and then one with the whole family that following Saturday.

OCTOBER

2009-10-31T21:43:00.002-05:00

Our October consisted of going to Ben's Soccer games every Saturday and of course Halloween. We had a trunk or treat with our MOMs club and Emma, Ginny & I went to the Senior Center with our friends to trick or treat as well.
Here are some pics from Ben's soccer games:

Here are some Halloween Pics:

SEPTEMBER

2009-09-30T07:19:00.001-05:00

Well since I'm tryin' to play catch-up, I decided to condense the month of September into one post. The major events in September were Emma starting preschool on the 10th (and getting to meet her teachers on the 3rd) and going to the Balloon Festival (on the 19th).

On Emma's meet the teacher night, we got to visit her classroom and she decorated her special folder. She was SO Super excited to meet her teachers and some of her classmates.

Here are the pics from her 1st day of Preschool, she had such a great day and I was SO very proud of what a BIG girl she was!!

Then on Saturday the 19th Uncle Colin joined us and we all went to the Balloon Festival. We got up at the crack of dawn and went to watch the balloons take off. It was SO amazing, we had so much fun! Then we went to The Original Pancake House after for breakfast-YUMMY!! :)

The BIG 3-0

2009-08-29T23:30:00.001-05:00

Well it's happened, today I turned the BIG 3-0!!! It really doesn't bother me all that much, it's just really really weird ;) I think back on when I was a teen and used to think 30 sounded SO old, now not so much ;)
It's crazy, growing up I thought I MIGHT get married by the time I was 30 THEN start having kids after that,or that I might not get married at all and look at me now. Thankfully I found my soul-mate (who FINALLY came to his senses) and I have been blessed with my 3 kiddos. I wouldn't change any of it!!
Here are some pics from my birthday party at my parents house:

1st day of FIRST Grade

2009-08-24T10:25:00.001-05:00

Today my Ben started FIRST grade, I can't believe it! I know that he will have a great year and he was SO excited for school to start! I even got his famous double thumbs-up from the car as he was walking into the building!!

SAN ANTONIO TRIP

2009-08-16T23:30:00.001-05:00

Chris and I decided to take a trip to San Antonio to celebrate out Anniversary and my 30th birthday. Ben, Emma & Ginny stayed with GaGa & PaPa while we were gone and had so much fun with them! We left Thursday evening and went down to Austin to see my younger brother, Colin and check out his new digs. Of course my wonderful husband took me to my very favorite place for dinner,Cracker Barrel in Waco-on the way down. We got to Austin and went and hung out at Colin's apartment for quite awhile catching up and then we went back to our hotel. The next morning, we decided to check out a winery that I had found online on our way to SA. We had a little trouble finding it, but it was well worth it!
The Winery was The Mandola Estate Winery (http://mandolaestatewinery.com/) in Driftwood, TX. We ate lunch at the on-site restaurant Trattoria Lisina. It was a truly fabulous lunch, I had some of the best Italian food I have ever had (which means a LOT coming from me~seeing as how much I LOVE Italian food) and of course some wonderful wine. After lunch we did a wine tasting and looked around the grounds. It was truly so beautiful, there were gorgeous flowers and HUGE butterflies, we also saw a couple of hummingbirds!! :) It was the perfect start to our special trip. After our wonderful lunch, we were on our way to SAN ANTONIO!
We arrived at our hotel, the beautiful Westin on the Riverwalk and checked in and got settled. Then we changed for dinner and to stroll on the riverwalk. We decided to eat dinner at the Rio Rio Cantina, where Chris had a Horni Margarita ;) Dinner was great, then we decided to stroll around the riverwalk before going back to our hotel.
Saturday, we slept in and then decided to go to lunch at a place I had found on the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives website (Come on now- I KNOW Y'all watch that show!) called the Tip Top Cafe. It was SOO Yummy, I had a chicken fried steak sandwich and Chris had a cheeseburger~they were both SO good!! Then my sweet Hubby offered to take me to Starbucks as I hadn't had my coffee for the day yet. :) Then we went to the cute cupcake place I found online and brought some cupcakes back to the hotel for an afternoon snack.
Then we explored the shops at La Villita and went to the Riverwalk Mall for a bit. Then back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Rosario's, which was super good! After dinner we met up with some awesome friends (Molly & Don) and went to this super fun Piano bar called Howl at the Moon. The music was AWESOME and we had so much fun!!
Sunday we woke up and packed our stuff to head back home, on the way out of town we decided to pick up a couple of 3 1/2 POUND Cinnamon Rolls from this yummy bakery called LuLu's Bakery & Cafe that we had seen featured on an episode of Man vs. Food~We decided to save them for snack later in the day and went to breakfast at a place called the
Magnolia Pancake Haus. We had some of THE BEST pancakes I have ever had, when we were good and stuffed we headed on towards home. We had such a truly fantastic trip and I can't wait to get-away with my wonderful Hubby again soon!

Museum of Nature & Science

2009-08-06T22:33:00.000-05:00

Today we took the kiddos to the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas. It was a bit of an adventure (to use a nice term) getting there & getting home due to the DART system, but other than that we had tons of fun! We checked out all of the fossils, minerals & gems and other animals whose natural habitat is Texas. The kids also got to dig for fossils and go through a secrets of spying exhibit. We had such a good time and we can't wait to go back!

Ginny's 1st Birthday PARTY

2009-07-18T22:33:00.009-05:00

What a fun party we had for our big ONE year old girl. We had subs and cake at GaGa & PaPa's with family and friends. We had so much fun!!
Here are some pics of her opening her gifts:

Here are some pics of her enjoying her cake:

Here's the video of her eating her smash cake that mommy made for her:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy 8th Anniversary, My Love

2009-07-14T21:00:00.001-05:00

Today is Chris & I's 8th Anniversary, I can't believe it's been 8 years! Some days it seems like we have been together for such a long time and others I can still remember our special day like it was yesterday! I can't believe all of the changes we have gone through as a couple and a family over these past 8 years. I am so blessed to be married to the man of my dreams!

Chris,
Thank you for blessing me with our 3 wonderful children. You are my heart and I love you more than words can say! The words to our first song still hold true even now, My Love:

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY GINNY!!

2009-07-13T21:00:00.011-05:00

Happy 1st Birthday Miss Ginny Grace, you have been such a wonderful addition to our family!! You make our family complete!!
I can still remember vividly the day you came into our lives last year: http://twoandahalfmonkeys.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-girl.html

You are such a happy girl, smiling and laughing!! You LOVE your bubba and Sissy SO much!! You are a crazy fast crawler and not quite ready to walk yet~we're workin' on it though! ;) You love playing with your little people and your stuffed animals that you call baby.

Here's her first attempt at eating a cupcake, YUMMY!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

4th of JULY

2009-07-04T22:59:00.005-05:00

What a wonderful 4th of July we had, we went to my parents and had a yummy cookout and then met our good friends to watch the fireworks. Ben LOVED the fireworks this year, Emma thought they were pretty, but TOO loud! And Ginny really liked them :)
Here are some pics of our patriotic cuties:

Peach Picking

2009-07-03T22:34:00.005-05:00

Today Ben and Emma got to go Peach Picking at a cute orchard near Gainesville with GaGa, PaPa and Daddy. They had so much fun and picked lots of yummy peaches. Emma said they picked bright and juicy peaches, not the green ones!! ;) And they got to eat a couple of peaches while they were picking and got to have some homemade peach ice cream-YUM!!

After that, they went to the Fried Pie Co & Restaurant for brunch, Emma had french toast and Ben had a tunafish sandwich! They got to try a couple of different kinds of pie, apple, cherry & chocolate, they said the fried pies were great!!

Little Miss THING

2009-06-25T22:50:00.001-05:00

Here's a short video of Miss Ginny's first attempt at using her Walker, she did a really good job! Though at one point she moved toward the camera and put her hand over it~I think she was sayin"No More Papparazi!!" ;) Hope you enjoy it!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Erin's 26th Birthday

2009-06-14T23:41:00.001-05:00

Today we celebrated my Little Sister Erin's birthday~Though I guess when you turn 26 you probably don't want to be called little anymore ;)!
We all went out to eat at Abuelo's ~YUMMY and had a great Birthday Fiesta!

11 Months Old

2009-06-13T21:05:00.001-05:00

My Miss Ginny Grace is 11 months old today,
I just can't believe it!!! My GiGi :)
Cute Stuff!

Last day of Kindergarten

2009-06-04T17:44:00.003-05:00

Today was Ben's LAST day of Kindergarten, Nana came up to watch the girls so I could go and celebrate with Ben & his class!! They had a little party with juice and yummy cake! Then Mrs. Festa gave each kiddo a special award (voted on by the class). Ben's award was for: Wonderful Writer~This is SO true, his writing has really blossomed this year-he's always been a great story-teller, now he can write about them too!! :) I CAN'T believe I have a 1st GRADER!!!!
Here are some pics:

Ben's Kinder Graduation

2009-06-03T17:23:00.001-05:00

WOW how time flies, I can remember signing My Ben up for Kindergarten and now it's over!! Today Me, Chris, Emma, Ginny, Gaga, Nana,Uncle Shaun & Aunt Mandi & Charlie & Mimi all went to Ben's Kindergarten Graduation, it was SO cute!! They all sang some sweet songs (of course Mommy cried!! ;) ) and then they got little certificates from the Principal. After the celebration, we all went to Baskin-Robbins for Ice Cream!

Swim Lessons 2009

2009-05-22T22:34:00.001-05:00

Both Ben & Emma took swim lessons through the High School Natatorium this year for the first time! The classes were 2 kids to 1 instructor, and they both did fabulously! Miss Emma lucked out and had her instructor all to herself and she did great. She used the kickboard and went under like a pro. And boy was she EXCITED about jumping off the diving board!!
Ben did great, I thought for sure he wouldn't go under til the last day of class~so imagine my surprise when he went under the very first day!! He was great! He was not as excited about the diving board and we had to kinda bribe him to do it ;) By the end of the week, Ben was a little under the weather, so Mommy & Emma got to go out to dinner after the last class (by ourselves). We went to Roadhouse and had steak!! It was SO fun!! Now Mr. Ben is a super swimmer I am so proud of how well he is doing!! Here are some pics of my cute swimmers:

Emma's Last Dance class

2009-05-20T16:29:00.001-05:00

Here's a video of Miss Emma Kate's last dance class, she had so much fun!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Moms Tea & RJE Carnival

2009-05-08T22:15:00.007-05:00

What a fun day we had, Ben's school had their Kindergarten Moms Tea for Mother's Day and the Carnival that night. I got to spend some time with Ben by myself at the Moms Day Tea (BIG thanks to Daddy for coming home to stay with the girls!!) and we enjoyed lemonade & cookies together. Then we took all the kiddos to McDonald's for dinner before the school Carnival. Ben & Emma had TONS of fun. They played games, went in a couple of bounce houses, and got to pet and feed a bunch of sweet animals in the petting zoo.
Best of all, they got to have cotton candy for dessert!! ;)

T-Ball and THE GAME Ball

2009-05-04T21:00:00.003-05:00

Well this T-Ball season has been a crazy one so far, lots of rain-outs and VERY windy games, but finally tonight was a great night! A little chilly, but wonderful and the boys played great! Ben was in top shape, and he got 2 hits off of the coach!! :) He also got a really great hit off the Tee. He really brought his A-game tonight! He also made a great play at 2nd base. And of course the most exciting thing was that he got the GAME BALL!!
He was so super excited and proud as were we!! :)

Chris's Birthday Party

2009-04-18T22:09:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful time celebrating Chris's 31st birthday, we had a little party over at my parents with the Fam! The evening started out a bit rough though with Emma "baptizing" our poor van by tossing her cookies on the way to my parents. So after a quick trip back home to be bathed and changed we were back on our way to the party. Boy that was fun! ;)
Other than that, we had a great time and Chris got some wonderful gifts!! We got him an iPhone (which her LOVES)!! And of course no birthday would be complete without a cake made by yours truly. ;)

9 Months old!

2009-04-13T10:26:00.002-05:00

I can't believe Miss Ginny is 9 months today!
She is such a sweet, loving and easy-going baby!!

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T19:30:00.002-05:00

What a fantastic Easter we had, we started off with a fun Easter Egg Hunt at church on Saturday morning. Ben & Emma founds tons of eggs!! The sweetest thing happened when a little boy came up and was crying because he didn't have any eggs and both Ben & Emma gave him some of theirs~ All on their own~ Mommy & Daddy were SO super proud!! Then Sunday morning the kiddos got to see what the Easter Bunny brought them and we hunted for eggs in the house. Then we had a nice breakfast and got ready for Mass. After church we came home and rested for a bit then headed to my parents for Easter dinner where the kiddos got even more goodies!! It was such a wonderful day!

New Cousin

2009-04-08T16:00:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday April 7th, Chris's little sister had her first baby. My new nephew Wyatt was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 19.5" long. What a precious new addition to the family! Ben is SO excited to have another boy around!!

THE Dancer

2009-04-01T15:24:00.002-05:00

Miss Emma Kate started Dance class on April Fool's Day (as Ben kept telling her)!! She is taking a combo Ballet, Tap & Tumbling class and she is LOVING it!!
Here are some pics of my little Dancer:

Ben THE Artist

2009-03-26T21:06:00.000-05:00

Ben has loved art and drawing for as long as I can remember, so when one of his art projects was picked to be a part of the MISD Art show at Central Office, he was SO super excited!! He made a gorgeous Oil Pastel of a flower (see pic below), we're so proud of him and he was so happy to get to show us his work!! His art Teacher was there and was also so proud of him!
Then, we all went to Braums for an Ice cream treat!

Spring Break-FINALLY

2009-03-20T17:29:00.000-05:00

FINALLY I'm updating this thing ;) I've been having technical difficulties with my pics. Well for Spring Break, Chris took one of the days off and we decided to take the kids to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison. It was SO fun! There were so many cool panes. One of the Hangars even had a tank, Ben LOVED it!! They both got such a kick out of seeing all of the different planes. After that we went to lunch at BJ's Brewhouse~YUMMY!! :) The kids ate wonderfully and had such a fun time!! Here are some pics of the awesome Museum:

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!

2009-03-17T22:18:00.002-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We had such a wonderful day, we played and hung out at the house. And of course we had to make our Shamrock cookies (it's tradition~don't ya know) ;) Ben & Emma were such great helpers!! And I decided to let Miss Ginny try a little taste~she LOVED them!! Hope Y'all had a wonderful day! I'll leave you with an Irish Blessing:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Miss Ginny's 8 Months Old

2009-03-13T21:52:00.001-05:00

Today my precious baby girl is 8 months old!! I can NOT believe it, these months have flown by so fast! She smiles and laughs more each and every day. She's so close to saying "DaDa", she's got "MaMa, BuBu, BaBa, Ema,Gaga & Papa"!! She is SO close to crawling frontwards, she still rolls all over the place and kind of pulls herself around!! Oh Yeah, and PaPa Gilligan taught her how to pull up ~She LOVES doing that! She pulls up on me or the chair and thinks she's all that! ;)
Here are some more pics of my sweet Lambie.

Precious Charlie

2009-03-02T09:10:00.005-06:00

My Brother, Sister-in-law and their Baby came up from Austin for a visit this weekend. We went over to my parents yesterday for dinner and We were all SUPER excited to get to see Baby Charlie!! He has grown so much since we saw him back in January (he's getting so tall)!! At dinner my Dad (PaPa) was holding him and talking to him and he was SMILING back at my Dad~Did I mention he's not even 2 months old yet!!! What a smart little guy!
Here are a couple of pics we took of the little darling:

Tired Girl

2009-02-28T08:35:00.003-06:00

I was fixing breakfast this morning and Didn't hear Miss Ginny playing in the family room anymore, so I went in to check it out and this is what I saw:
I think she played too hard!! ;)

Ginny's Giggle

2009-02-27T09:18:00.006-06:00

I decided I would try and upload a video we took using our camera of Miss Ginny Laughing while Ben & Emma were playing cars the other night. AS you can tell, I'm not a professional.
Hope it works!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ginny's 1st walk

2009-02-25T11:06:00.000-06:00

Emma, Ginny & I went for a walk today. It was Miss Ginny's first time in her stroller like a big girl. She wasn't too sure of the hat I put on her, she kept tryin' to take it off!! But she ended up really having a good time! Miss Emma Kate LOVED being the leader!! Here's a pick of Miss Ginny in her stroller:

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T22:24:00.005-06:00

What a wonderful Valentine's Day we had, we stayed home together as a family. We had a nice breakfast, played together and then Chris & I made a nice meal for dinner together for the Fam. Steak with Red Wine sauce and Parmesan crusted mashed potatoes, we even ate in the dining room. Which Ben & Emma really got a kick out of! Here are some pics of my little valentines.

7 Months Old!!!

2009-02-13T08:54:00.003-06:00

Miss Ginny Grace is 7 months old today, I can't believe it!! Time really does fly. She is LOVING all of her Baby foods and she is laughing a lot~especially at Ben & Emma!! :) She's also starting to get up on all fours and rock~I think she may start crawling in the next few weeks~yikes! She still loves rolling all across the floor and thinks she's such a big girl!!

100th Day of School

2009-02-09T19:40:00.003-06:00

Today was Ben's 100th day of school. He had such a fun time with all the special snacks and activities they did today. This weekend Ben & I got to make a special shirt for him to wear today, it had 100 puffballs on it. :)

HOORAY for CARROTS!

2009-02-02T10:53:00.002-06:00

Miss Ginny Grace LOVED her carrots yesterday!! Yea, first food she ate without giving me a weird look!! :)

Ben's 1st School Dance

2009-02-02T09:32:00.006-06:00

Friday Ben, Emma, Chris & I went to Ben's first school dance. Miss Ginny stayed home with Aunt Mary. ~Thanks Mar for watching her, I know she had fun!! ;)
It was so much fun, the gym had tons of cool lights and a DJ. Ben was such a sweet big brother, he introduced Emma to all of his friends. And he danced with her all night!! It was too cute!! Each grade had their own dance to perform in front of the audience. Kindergarten danced to "Hard Knock Life" from Annie, it was so cute seeing the little kiddos dancing around. Ben thought it was SO cool that I knew most of the songs that were played all night. ;) They also had glow necklaces a spotlight dance stage, and snacks in the cafeteria. Ben danced his little heart out, it was super cute. We all had such a great time!!

Yummy Cupcake

2009-01-28T21:00:00.000-06:00

Miss Emma's Choco mustache:

Ben's School work

2009-01-27T11:26:00.002-06:00

I guess the word of the week last week at school was "NO", check out what my lovely son wrote....

At least he told me later that it wasn't true, it was just fiction!!!! What a toot!!!

Green Beans?

2009-01-26T09:57:00.000-06:00

Ginny tried Green Beans for the first time Sunday, needless to say she was NOT impressed!!

Chris & I had a hard time not laughing the whole time we were trying to feed her!!

My New Nephew-Austin Road Trip

2009-01-19T08:53:00.006-06:00

My Older Brother and his wife had their first baby on January 8th, my first Nephew!! So since Ben had a 4-day weekend the following week we had to go down and meet Charlie! We packed up the car Friday morning and headed to Austin, we weren't even out of Dallas when Ben said "I have to go potty"~It never ceases to amaze me how long road trips can take with kiddos!! ;) We ate lunch at my favorite place in Waco (Cracker Barrel) then back on the road we went. We got to Austin around 4 and went straight over to see Mr. Charlie. What a cutie!! Ben & Emma thought he was just So cute!! Then we went out to dinner at a fun little restaurant, Hills Cafe, with my younger brother and a family friend. The place had a band playing in the bar area and Ben was SOOO excited (Ginny was not as thrilled)!! I guess he's learning all those drinking songs a little early. ;) After that we headed back to our hotel for the night.

Saturday morning, we went over to my younger brother Colin's house and got to meet 9 little puppies. They were too adorable, Ben and Emma thought that was the best thing they'd ever seen!! They were really cute, Chris was happy I didn't ask to bring one home (even though I did fall in love with one of them!!). Then Ginny & I went over to Shaun & Mandi's apartment to hang out with Charlie, my Mom & Mandi. Ginny got such a kick out of their dog, George. He would come over and lick her hand and she would laugh so hard!! It was so cute! And Chris & Colin took Ben & Emma to Zilker Park where they got to play on the playset, an old-fashioned Firetruck and ride a train~ They had a BLAST!! Then they took them to the Austin Children's Museum, they loved it and can't wait to go back. Next time Mommy wants to go too!! :) Then Colin, Chris & I and the kiddos went to a little pizza place over by his house for dinner then brought him back home. As we were heading back to our hotel my Mom called and invited us over to her hotel for dessert, the kids LOVED getting to check out her hotel and have popcorn and ice cream!!

Sunday we went over to Shaun & Mandi's before we left to say bye to them and the baby (cuz I had to snuggle him one more time!!) And on the way out of town we stopped at Colin's and said bye to him & the puppies. We had such a fun time, but we were so glad to be back home Sunday evening!!!

Look at Me Mom

2009-01-09T11:39:00.004-06:00

Ginny has been rolling over for a little while now, but just this past week she's learned how to continuously roll to get around....

Check out Miss Ginny Grace's new trick:

Thank goodness for diaper tushy or she'd be totally under the couch!! What a Goofball! ;)

Emma's 4th Birthday

2008-12-06T23:05:00.000-06:00

Emma Kate turned the big 4 today, I just can't believe it! Well I guess I can by the way she talks ~seeing as how she talks like she's already 5 or 6 ;) Gotta love her!! Here are 4 things Miss Emma loves:
1. Her Family
2. Barbies
3. Squealing
4. Carbs

Here are some pics from her birthday celebration:

Tribute to (Great) Gram Hopper

2008-11-24T21:26:00.001-06:00

On Monday November 24th, Chris's Grandmother passed away, she was such a huge part of our family and she will be greatly missed. We can take comfort in knowing she lived a long and happy life. She was always there for Chris & his Sisters while they were growing up and every time I saw her she would remind me to "take care of her boy". Ben & Emma loved going to visit Great Gram "Popper" as Emma called her. They enjoyed visiting her cottage and seeing the fish in the pond outside. We are so sad that she is no longer with us, but we are happy that she is no longer in any pain.

Obituary:

Elizabeth M. (Liz) Hopper
Hopper, Elizabeth M. (Liz) On November 24, 2008 Elizabeth M. Hopper joined the Church Triumphant. She was born on July 4, 1914 in Coleman, Texas to Armistead F. and Madge Martin. The eldest of four children, Liz grew up in numerous towns in Texas. She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she met and on August 21, 1935 married the Reverend Hubert H. Hopper. Liz enjoyed the life of wife, mother and community volunteer. She was active in her church, her daughters' schools, the Girl Scouts and PEO. After the death of her husband in 1976 Liz moved to Grace Presbyterian Village where she lived for thirty years in Cottage 50. She served on the Board of Directors of the Village, and volunteered many hours assisting fellow residents. She also edited the Village newsletter for many years. Liz experienced wonderful travels with her sister and brother-in-law, Jean and John Bardgette, and was a devoted mother and a grandmother extraordinaire. Liz is survived by her sister, Jean (John) Bardgette; daughters Mary (Ned) Benson and Ann Scheurer; grandchildren Jean (Scott) Miksch, Amye (Brian) Webster, Kelley (Chris) Stratton, Chris (Katie) Scheurer, Sarah (Wes) Burton, Mary Scheurer; and eight great-grandchildren.

1st time in Exersaucer

2008-11-05T15:28:00.002-06:00

This was Ginny's first time in her Exersaucer, as you can see she wasn't quite sure at first what to think! But Ben & Emma certainly loved showing her all of the fun music.

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

2008-11-03T13:19:00.005-06:00

WOW, I can't believe my first-born is already 6 years old~time sure does fly by!! Benny is such a smart, sweet boy!! Here are 6 special things about Mr. Ben:
1. He's Mr. Curious, ALWAYS asking questions & trying to figure things out
2. He LOVES building things and seeing how things work (a future Engineer perhaps?)
3. He is such a sweetheart to his sisters
4. His love of reading
5. His answer to "how are you today Ben?" is ALWAYS "I'm doing great"! Such a positive little person!! :)
6. His drawing abilities~ he is a "professional" already!! ;)

Here are some pics from his 6 year birthday celebrations:

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T08:01:00.001-05:00

What a fun Halloween we had, the festivities started on Wednesday morning when Emma, Ginny & I went to our MOMS club annual parade at the Senior Center. We had tons of fun and Emma got a big kick out of parading around the indoor swimming pool!! Then Thursday night we went to Ben's school's Fall Festival, the kids did a cake walk , went through a haunted house and played putt putt. Of course they also went trick-or-treating through the halls of the school and got tons of candy, what fun!
Friday, GaGa & PaPa and NaNa came up to spend Halloween with us and to watch Miss Ginny and pass out candy while Chris & I took Ben & Em trick-or-treating. They made out like bandits!! Ben was So funny this year, he was just SO excited!! He was also the BEST big brother, helping princess Emma down the stairs at the houses and helping her hold her VERY heavy candy bag! We had such a wonderful Halloween!!

It's been awhile...

2008-10-17T20:04:00.018-05:00

Charles Martin Gilligan (PaPa, Great Grandpa) (1927-2008)

I have been trying to find the words to type to describe my feelings and there really aren't any...
Those of you who know me really well, know that things have been a little nutty around here the past few months. My Grandfather passed away the end of August, I still can't even believe he's gone :( I feel like I'm in limbo or something (that time is just kinda standing still) He's one of those people that always made you smile and the world is definitely a sadder place now that he's gone. He's the best person to just get to sit on a couch with and hug. He's THE Irish Gentleman, always had a twinkle in his eye and always a BIG Flirt ;) (Ya know the whole kissin' the Blarney Stone thing ;) )He is thought of daily and missed SO much!!! I'm just so grateful that Ben & Emma got to know him and I am totally saddened that Ginny never go the chance to meet him.

Obituary:
When Charles "Chuck" M. Gilligan, 81, of Columbus, died Saturday, August 23, 2008, the world lost some of its humor. This Irish gentleman was known for flirting, telling jokes and having a broad smile. He lived life to its fullest. He was born in Toronto, Ohio and was the oldest of two children of George and Mary Gilligan. He graduated from Toronto High School in 1945 and served briefly in the Navy at the end of World War II. He moved to Columbus to take accounting classes. On April 1, 1952, he began working as bookkeeper for Reis Bros. Trucking Company, where he was employed until mid-February 2008. He now joins his beloved wife of 38 years, Virginia, who preceded him in death, to continue their love and companionship and to watch over the family they love.
He is survived by his five sons (and spouses/companion), Michael (Liz) of Plano, Texas, Patrick (David Bishop) of Columbus, Gregory of Richmond, Va., Daniel (Lesli) of Pickerington and Mark (Barbara) of Pickerington; eight grandchildren, Shaun (Mandi), Erin and Colin Gilligan and Katie (Chris) Scheurer, all of Texas, Matthew, Ashleigh, Michael and Owen Gilligan, all of Pickerington; three great-grandchildren, Benjamin, Emma and Virginia Scheurer, all of Texas; a sister, Rosemary Onia of Crown Point, Ind.; four sisters-in-law; two brothers-in-law; and 17 nephews and nieces; and special friend, Betty Campton of Grove City.

**I promise the next post will be on a happier subject!**

Emma's First Haircut

2008-08-27T16:00:00.002-05:00

Miss Emma Kate has been wanting to go to the Salon with Mommy for quite sometime, so we finally decided to take her. We went to Baxter's Salon in downtown Plano (also known as "Miss Mary's Salon"), Emma did great!! She got her hair wetted down and she sat like an Angel while she was getting it cut. Don't worry, we didn't cut off too much, I still have to be able to put it up.
Here are the pics:

First day of Kindergarten!!!

2008-08-25T09:26:00.009-05:00

Today was Ben's first day of Kindergarten, I can't believe my baby is a big boy now and is going to school!!! I know in my heart of hearts he's ready and he will do wonderfully, I just can't believe it!! He was SOOOO excited, and he did great when I dropped him off!! Now I'm gonna go cry in my coffee ;(

*Update*: Ben had a wonderful first day and is LOVING Kindergarten!!! :)

One Month Old!!

2008-08-13T10:38:00.007-05:00

Time sure does fly, Miss Ginny is ONE MONTH old today!!
Here are some pics of our precious girl:

Bathtime

2008-08-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

Miss Ginny had her first bath, she wasn't all that thrilled with it, but she sure was happy once we bundled her up in her towel!! Check out the thumb in the mouth on the last pic ;)

PaPa Scheurer's Birthday & Farm Fun

2008-08-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

Sunday we went over to MiMi & Papa's to celebrate PaPa Scheurer's birthday. We had a yummy lunch and cake and Ben & Emma got to feed the chickens, see Papa's new tractor and run around outside! What a fun time we had!!

Sweet & Sassy and Friends

2008-08-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

Nana took Miss Emma Kate to get her nails done for the first time. She took her to a place called Sweet & Sassy~it was perfect timing since she got them done right before Aunt Sarah's wedding!! Nana also got her an adorable sassy outfit for their fun day out together!! Emma got pretty pink nails with hearts on them and of course they had to glitter her hair up!! She also had really cute purple glitter stars in her cheeks! Emma had such a blast with her Nana!!

And Ben got to have his good friend Andrew over for a playdate, the boys had fun playing legos, cars and talking about star wars and playing Zingo!! What a great day!

More Ginny Pics

2008-08-06T13:22:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics from the last few weeks of our new little darlin' :

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

2008-07-22T16:43:00.012-05:00

INTRODUCING MISS VIRGINIA GRACE!!!

At long last (or so it seemed to me ;) )Miss Ginny is now here!!! I started having really hard contractions Saturday night and then of course they stopped... Then Sunday morning (7/13) about 9:00, they started again, really strong and anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart. So we called PaPa Gilligan to come and stay with Ben & Emma. We called the Dr. around 10am and then my Mom ~So she could meet us at the hospital and away we went.

We got there about 10:50am and got into my room. Of course my contractions though still hard were still not very regular~So the nurse called the Dr. and told her the situation. The Dr. wanted her to start me on pitocin, but the nurse was my AWESOME advocate and asked if she would come in and break my water (since I wanted to have the baby naturally). So the Dr. came at about 12:30 to break my water and Ginny was here at 2:31PM~The Dr. barely made it into the room for the delivery ;) (Ginny was here literally 2 minutes after the Dr. walked in~ The nurse showed Chris on the monitor afterwards.)

The Dr. asked Chris to come over and announce if it was a boy or girl and when he said girl I was ECSTATIC!! Though I was a little surprised ;) She was so bright eyed and alert, it was amazing!!

Here are some pics from the hospital:

The Countdown is on!

2008-07-03T10:09:00.002-05:00

WOW, I TOTALLY can't believe that we are so close to finally meeting our newest little monkey!!
We are tryin' to keep Peanut from coming before July 7th, My Dr. wants me to be at least 37 weeks, as she doesn't think the baby is that big to begin with. So I've been having to take it easy for the last 2 weeks and I have to continue taking it easy til then.
In other wonderfully happy news, I am now an Aunt! Chris's Sister had her first baby yesterday, a daughter and she's beautiful!!! It looks like the cousins may be even closer in age than we would have expected!! ;) I'll make sure and post pics when Peanut makes his or her grand entrance into the world!

Happy Father's Day Chris

2008-06-16T09:36:00.008-05:00

Happy Father's Day to the BEST Daddy in the whole world! We are so lucky to have you in our lives, you are so patient and loving with our kiddos!! I can't wait to see you holding peanut here in a couple of weeks!! :)

We LOVE you SO MUCH!!!

Birthday Weekend

2008-06-16T09:32:00.015-05:00

This weekend we celebrated some very important people's birthdays. Friday we celebrated Chris's Mom's Birthday with dinner at Abuelo's and cake back at our house (made by little 'ol me ;) ). It was wonderful getting to see everyone and celebrate together!

Saturday we celebrated my little Sister's birthday (ok~so she's not so little anymore-since she turned 25!!) We went over to my parents and swam and then had hot dogs & hamburgers. Then we watched Erin open gifts and had Cookie Cake for dessert ~YUMMY!! All in all, we had a fun-filled busy birthday weekend!

Last T-ball Game

2008-05-30T20:40:00.003-05:00

Tonight was Ben's last T-ball game of the season. The boys played great!! Ben hit the ball off the coach once and off the T a couple of times really well!!! Their fielding has also improved quite a lot over this season. Ben was really excited to see GaGa, PaPa & NaNa there as well as MiMi & PaPa, Thanks SO much for coming Y'all!! And a special thanks to my Daddy (PaPa G) for taking over my dugout duties for this game~I REALLY appreciated it!! :)
I know Ben LOVED playing and appreciated all of the coaches! In fact, the Coaches got the Game Ball(s) tonight! We were so lucky to have 4 AWESOME coaches this season, thanks Y'all for EVERYTHING!!!

Colin's Graduation

2008-05-18T19:49:00.001-05:00

We went down to Austin for my younger brother's graduation last Friday and what fun times we had. On the way to Austin Thursday, we got to eat at my FAVORITE place Cracker Barrel (YUMMY) . The kids were so good in the car, then we got there Thursday evening and hung out at the hotel before going to dinner with both my brothers and my sister-in- law. It was great to get to see everyone.

Friday morning we were up bright and early to get to Colin's Graduation. He's graduating with a BBA in Marketing from the McCombs School of Business!! We're SOOO proud of him!! The kiddos did really well during the LONG ceremony~Emma even fell asleep! ;) Ben got a kick out of being able to yell and cheer REALLY loudly for Uncle Colin as he walked across the stage. After pictures, we went to lunch at a really yummy restaurant where we got to eat out on their patio. Then back to the hotel for naps, then swimming. That evening we had a cookout at Colin's house. Ben & Emma got to "rock-out" with all of the instruments that Colin & his roommates have. They had such a blast playing the drums and the piano, and Ben even made up some songs~ one was about T-Ball!! ;)

Saturday, we actually got to sleep in a little bit, then we headed over to the Co-op so that Uncle Colin could get the kids some UT stuff ~Let me tell you that was not an easy thing for Chris & I (us being Aggies and all)~Then we went to this really cute Cupcake stand and got homemade cupcakes. Then back to the hotel for more swimming. That night my Uncle Greg made his famous Spaghetti with Italian Sausage (it's THE BEST!!) and then we went to the Graduation celebration at the Tower. Ben thought it was SOO cool that the tower was lit burnt orange, then they had Fireworks!! The Kids LOVED it!!! Then off to the Hotel for bed FINALLY ;)

Sunday we ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed home, what a fun time we had!!

Ben's Preschool Graduation

2008-05-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

My BIG Boy graduated from Preschool this past Thursday, I can't believe he's going to be starting Kindergarten in the fall. His preschool had an absolutely adorable program for the kiddos. They sand songs and they each got their names called to get their "diplomas". It was too adorable!! My little man was up there singing and dancin' his little heart out. Here are some pics we got, we also took video which we still have to fix up, then I'll post that too.

Kindergarten Registration

2008-05-05T14:51:00.002-05:00

This morning we registered my baby (oops, I mean Ben) for Kindergarten. He is SO excited!! Mommy is too, if she could just stop tearing up!! ;) He can't wait to go to the Round-up and tour his school and meet the teachers~Yippee!! I can't believe my sweetie is starting school in the Fall!!!!

The GAME Ball!!!

2008-05-03T12:28:00.003-05:00

This morning at Ben's T-ball game, he got THE GAME BALL!! He got it for having the best attitude, always cheering on his teammates and for getting a bunch of good stops on the pitchers mound and a couple of great hits!!
Ben was SO SUPER excited!!! Way to Go Ben!!

Western Day

2008-05-01T12:05:00.003-05:00

Today was Western Day at Ben's school, he was SO excited to get to wear his western stuff. He was all decked out in his bandanna, cowboy hat, and awesome belt buckle~courtesy of Dad. Ben's teachers were way impressed with Daddy's creativity!!
Of Course Miss Emma Kate had to wear her pink bandanna today too!!

What a fun day he had eating hot dogs for lunch, having S'mores(hey where was mine? ;) ) and having red, white & Blue Popsicles for snack! All in all, he had a wonderful western day at school!!

Chris's Birthday Party

2008-04-20T21:13:00.004-05:00

Saturday evening, we celebrated Chris's birthday with the Fam (or at least the ones in town ;) ). We had tons of great food ~Hot Dogs & Brats, fruit salad, veggie tray~Yum-O!! And of course a cake made by yours truly ;)
What a great birthday he had!!

Allen Train Station

2008-04-19T14:50:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, we went to the Allen Train Station to see their miniature train displays. The kids were totally enthralled!! Ben LOVED looking at all of the trains and asking questions to the guides that were there. He loved seeing how the tracks were set up and if the trains could move on different parts of the track. He even got to help put the caboose back on the big train. Emma loved looking at the trains and they also had little doll houses that she thought were SO cute! She also got a big kick out of ringing the GIANT bell there!!
Ben told the man that was helping us that he wanted to work there when he grew up. The man said well it's not really a job, it's a club you can join and he gave Ben an application to fill out when he's "older" to join the train club. I think we may have a future engineer on our hands!!
What a GREAT time we had!!

Happy 30th Birthday Chris!!

2008-04-18T08:38:00.024-05:00

Today is my awesome hubby's 30th birthday!!~ Hey I have to rub it in while I still can ;)
I wanted to post some pics of my gorgeous hubby:

Little Chris(5 or 6 yrs. old)

Homecoming 1995

Disney 2007Daddy & Ben

Daddy & Emma

In honor of this, I am going to list 30 things I love about this man (not in any particular order) :

1. His smile
2. His eyes
3. His sense of humor
4. How great of a Daddy he is
5. What a wonderful Husband he is
6. His tush (sorry~Had to say it ;) )
7. His thoughtfulness
8. How hard he works for our family
9. How he worries about me (and peanut) when we're out driving in a storm
10. His voice
11. How unselfish he is
12. The way he still holds the doors open for me
13. How much he loves The Aggies ;)
14. How he patiently explains things to the kids
15. How he calls Emma his Cupcake
16. How he makes sure to take Ben out for Daddy & Benny Time
17. How laid back he is (except when tryin' to choose baby names ;) )
18. How considerate of others he is
19. That he does the dinner dishes for me every night :)
20. His willingness to go to the grocery store
21. His patience with the kiddos
22. His love for his family
23. His positive outlook on life
24. His faith
25. His singing
26. How he reads the kids their bedtime stories every night
27. How he is home in time for dinner almost every night
28. How even after a LONG day at work, he takes the time to play with the kiddos
29. His loyalty
30. That he puts up with me ;)

Honey,
I love you so very much and I am so blessed to have you in my life!! I hope you have a WONDERFUL birthday!!!
All My Love,
Katie

Fun at the Park

2008-04-15T16:38:00.003-05:00

Sunday, we went to a MOMS Club Picnic at this great park we had never been to. There was a great play structure and a huge field ~Which of course made Ben happy since he wanted Daddy to help him fly his Kite!! I think Chris will now be known as the Kite Man~All the kiddos kept following him around and chasing after the kite. Miss Emma was super happy there were swings! What fun we all had!!

Belly Pic~Finally! ;)

2008-04-13T17:10:00.005-05:00

My awesome hubby got us a brand-new digital camera Friday night (since our other one is out of commission). I'm now 25 weeks and Peanut is growing like crazy, and movin' like crazy!

So without further ado, the long-awaited Belly pic:

The NEW Blog

2008-04-12T20:51:00.000-05:00

Howdy All,
We are officially back in Blogland. We have had some rough times with Technology around here lately. Our digital camera stopped working, then our Hard Drive decided to crash. After getting that fixed, I could no longer sign into my old blog for some strange and unknown reason, so we're having to start a new one.....

Welcome to Two and a Half Monkeys!!!