Sushi, S'mores, and More

I was born on Mother's Day, so my birthday always falls within a few days of it every year.  That makes the second weekend of May my favorite weekend out of the year! 

Originally we wanted to head out of town to Fredericksburg for a bed and breakfast getaway.  It was raining all over Texas, though, so we decided to stay local.  Sarah and Adam were brave enough to watch the kids so Brian and I could have time to ourselves.

Brian took off of work on Friday to spend the day with me.  We started out at the gym (I didn't want to feel guilty about having birthday dessert!) Friday morning.  We then had pedicures at a local nail salon.  Brian has had a pedicure before, but this was his first time at a typical Vietnamese owned salon.  He really enjoyed it.  He loved the massage chair, the foot jets, and the hot stone massage.  There were several other men there so Brian didn't feel too out of place.

Brian is pretending to not like the pedicure.  :)

poor lady had her work cut out

I sat next to him and texted him pictures

We then headed to Perry's for lunch for their porkchop special.  It was fabulous.  Later that evening we had dinner at Vintage Park and then went to a painting class at Vino Artino.  This was Brian's first painting class and he had a great time.  I've been several times and love it. 

painting a picture called "Wine Mixer"

We ended the night at Papa's on the lake with Nik and Crystal.  We listened to Josh Fuller and Dirt and Diesel play. 

Crystal and I at Papas on the Lake

The next day we watched Halle at her swim meet where she kicked butt!  She got first place on three of her five events.  The other two she came in a very close second.

Brian then took me to the mall for a shopping spree! I racked up some clothes, shoes, purses, and accessories. 

That night we had friends over for a get-together.  We rolled our own sushi and drank Skinny Margaritas.  Crystal Light makes a skinny margarita mix.  Just add tequila and some salt, and voila!  70 calories for a skinny rita is much better than the 300 plus calories in a traditional margarita.  We had a lot of fun rolling the sushi!  It makes for a fun adult party. 

Nik talking in his Japanese man voice as he's rolling.

The Sushi Spread.  Everything you need for a Shaggy Dog Roll or NYC roll or your own specialty roll!



the Bobbie Roll
 

We made kid sushi too!  They also had octopus.

PBJ sushi, Ham and cheese sushi, and string cheese and hotdog octopus
 

Since we had freakishly cool weather for May, we hung out around the fire pit and roasted marshmallows for s'mores!

Mother's Day was the next day.  My husband took care of the kids and let me sleep until noon!  Having uniterrupted sleep is the best Mother's Day present I could ask for.  He then brought me coffee and brunch in bed.  I'm lucky to have such a great hubby.

That evening I took a trip to see my mom, and then the girls and I enjoyed frozen yogurt at Berri Swirl. 

I got some great cards from Brian and the kids, along with some really awesome presents from my friends.  It was a fantastic weekend.  With the exception of getting older, I wish it was my birthday every weekend!


Spring Break

We didn't have big plans for spring break, but that didn't keep us from staying busy.  It was a super gorgeous week.  No rain and the temperature was perfect.  If we weren't away from home, the kids were playing in the sandbox.

That sandbox has hands down been the best thing we have ever done for the kids.  They LOVE it and will play for hours.  All three of them.  This means freedom for me!  I was able to sit back and read a book in the backyard while they played.  Sure there's sand on my floors, in the bathtub, and in the washing machine.  I don't care, though.  It's nothing compared to the great time that they're having.  I think Halle has built a thousand tunnels and Arden has built a thousand and one castles.  Jack just eats the sand.  His poop now comes out gritty.  Seriously.

The first Saturday we went to Myleigh's Frosty the Snowman Party.

Arden dressed in toilet paper as Frosty

Myleigh has been begging Crystal for two years now to have a Frosty party.  Seeing that her birthday is in March, Crystal shot her down.  Crystal relented this year and Myleigh got her wish.  It was such a cute party! I forgot to pack diapers for Jack in his diaper bag, so poor kid had to wear Delaney's size 2 diapers!  (he's in a size 5)  They were Brazilian cut on him, ha!  We then all stayed the night as Crystal's house while I was on call.  I got called in around 10 pm so the party was over for me.  Brian and the kids stayed and hung out.  I didn't sleep at all that night, and went to retrieve my family from the Green's around 7 am.

On Sunday evening (after I slept all day)  Mike and Christy came over for a small birthday celebration for Jack.  Ryan, Christy's son, was in town and also came to visit.  He now lives in Georgia for work, so we don't get to see him very often.  It was nice to catch up with Ryan while we watched Jack open and play with his gifts.

 Halle was so cute on Monday.  She had mapped out an itenerary for the entire day:
9:00-12:00  arts and crafts - make puppets
12-12:15 puppet show
12:15-2:00 do something from Pinterest (I kid you not, that's what it said)
2:00-2:30 play outside
..... and so on...... She didn't exactly stick to the itenerary seeing how she rolled out of bed at noon, but she tried, lol.

After the puppet show we made an impromptu trip to the park with Crystal and the kids, so the schedule was soon forgotten.

Monday and Tuesday was filled with playing in the backyard and at the park with the Green kids.  Crystal and I also practiced making cake pops for Arden's party.  I usually do a trial run on my cakes a few weeks before the party to make sure it's not a total disaster.  I also do it because I enjoy making and baking.  Jessica also comes over and helps out with the cake decorating and we have a great time doing it.  My kitchen turns into one big powdered sugar/marshmallowy/chocolately mess.  And my family loves practice cakes...  because somebody has to eat it of course!

Wednesday Halle had her friend, Jenna, over.  We went to the park, had lunch, and then went to Chuck e Cheese.  The girls kept hitting the jackpots on the games, so they won lots and lots of tickets.

At Chuck e Cheese Jack kept sucking his toes.  Ewww!

Thursday was spent at the zoo with Jess and the kids.  Besides me getting lost on the way there, and Jess getting lost on the way back, it was pretty uneventful.  I swear they moved the zoo; it wasn't in that location the last time I visited ;) Trying to keep up with 5 kids was both fun and tiring.  This was Jack's first trip to the zoo, but he was too tired and still too young to enjoy it. 

On Friday we attempted to see a movie at the drive-in with the Greens.  The closest drive-in theatre is thirty minutes from our house.  We've been there several times and it has never been very busy.  With the perfect weather and spring break it was a different story, though.  We got there forty-five minutes before the movie started to get tickets and hopefully get a primo spot.  When we got there, though, the line was already a quarter-mile deep.  The cars were lined up down the shoulder of 2920.  After twenty minutes of inching forward we were able to see a sign that said the movie we wanted to watch was sold out.  With dejected and hungry kids (we had planned on eating at the drive-in) we made our way back home and came up with plan B.  We set up the tent in the backyard and let them watch a movie inside the tent on the laptop.  They had a blast doing that, and Gracie stayed the night.

Saturday the kids ran around in what Arden called "sprinkles"  Brian turned on the waterhose and let them play in the driveway.  They then constructed bows and arrow out of hula hoops pieces, stick, leaves, and thumbtacks.  They had a good time shooting the arrows.  Halle is a good shot; she may might be the next Katniss.



Sunday we went to a crawfish boil with our Sunday School group.  Halle perfected her crawfish peeling skills.  Our Sunday School teacher came up to me and told me that my daughter (Arden) had gotten into something and had white stuff all over her face.  She found someone else's sunscreen.  Needless to say she didn't get a sunburn that day.

Well that's all she wrote!  That sums up our Spring Break!

Jack's First Birthday- Puppy Party

I had fun planning this party. I got the idea to do a puppy-themed party a long time ago when Halle attended one as a three year old. I decided Jack's first birthday would be a great opportunity to plan one!   

Invitation

I was a GORGEOUS day for an outdoor party!  I was thrilled.  The weather was perfect!

My kid has become the most laid back little guy.  Every time I pick him up from childcare at church or the gym, the staff ooohs and ahhhs over how happy and good he is.  Not at his party though.  He was in a foul mood, lol!  But I didn't mind.  There were plenty of adults to pass him off to.  ;)

Our birthday gift to Jack was a sandbox.  Brian spent the entire day before the party building it.  It's 4 ft by 8 ft and is awesome!  He did a great job building it.  Arden and Halle both helped with the project and were super excited to have a sandbox.

I originally asked him to build a sandbox by the party-date so kids could dig for "bones".  Funny how I completely forgot about that part by the time the day rolled around.  Awww crap.  Reminds me that I also forgot to do the Barking Contest.  Oh well.  This sandbox was the highlight of the party.  At one point I think 17 kids were packed in there having a great time.   

For lunch we had Pup-peroni pizza and the kiddos ate out of doggy bowls :)

Other items on the menu were Toilet Bowl Punch, Pupcorn, Fetch Sticks, Puppy Chow, Ruffage, and Pupcakes!

We had a doggie "photo booth" set up.  Honestly I didn't think the kids would care to dress up and take pictures, but they stood in line and begged for their turn.  Colton (on the left) especially liked pretending to be a dog!

The boy doggies

Princess Puppies

The kids played some doggie games too.
"Feed the Pup" was the favorite game among the kids and even some of the adults.  The kids took turns throwing dog biscuits into the pup's mouth.

This next game didn't quite go as planned.  It was a relay race and there were two teams.  Each player was to go on all fours down to the end, fetch a newspaper with his/her mouth and return.  Except the preschoolers didn't understand that they were to wait their turn! Or go only once!

There were watercolor pictures to paint as well.  Mostly the girls enjoyed this.

Bingo is a dog, so we played his game.  Almost everyone bingo'd at the same time!  Worked out great so we only played one round.   

And Blue from Blue's Clues left some scavenger hunt clues for the kids which led to what he wanted to do at Jack's party.  Some of the kids (the ones not playing in the sandbox) followed Crystal around to search for the hidden clues.  The bigger kids helped the younger ones figure out the clues.  I asked Crystal to be animated like the show.  The older girls cracked me up because they felt awkward playing along.  Blue led them to the birthday cake!

CAKE TIME!!!

I probably could have personally licked all of the Oreos to remove every bit of white frosting, but I don't think the guests would have appreciated that.  

Jack was being a toot because he was cranky.  At first he didn't want the smash-cake and kept trying to push it off of his high chair (middle picture.)  That's before he realized it was cake, though!

He was in a much better mood once he had his cake.

Arden and Cole helped Jack open his presents.  He got lots of toys, clothes, and sippy cups!

For goodie bags, the kids got "doggie bags."  They got a bone cookie, dry dog food (Reese's cereal), and a dog food can filled with plastic toys.  

I always give my sister, Ruby, a hard time for showing up when the party is over.  This time she was only an hour and 15 minutes late!  That's improvement!  Here is my god son, Austin, to prove that they made it, ha!  I love that sweet face.

I personally think the party was a success.  I am usually stressed out during parties, but at this one I was relaxed.  I enjoyed it.  The kids had a great time, which is really all that matters.  I love planning parties for them and giving them memories.

This is two hours AFTER the party ended.  The kids are playing the Feed the Pup game again!

New Years Party

Brian and I had a small New Year's Eve party.  Actually we had two parties: one for the adults and one for the kids.  The Greens and The Collins joined us, and between us three couples our kids almost outnumber us 2:1.  That's right.  Six adults and 11 kids.  Halle was the hostess of the kid party and kept them entertained while we adults played our own games.  The kid activities were suppose to be done outdoors, but with the pouring rain they mostly stayed inside.  Arden and Myleigh didn't care it was raining, though.  They got soaked from swinging.  The kids weren't allowed at our party and we didn't interfere with theirs.  It worked beautifully.... except for them blowing the horns constantly!  

Poor Dalton looks like the culprit here, when in reality Arden was the biggest noise maker of them all!

KID party:

I blew up some balloons and tied them to a string.  Each balloon had a specific time on it.  The kids popped each balloon at the corresponding time because there was a piece of paper on the inside with an activity.  So every thirty minutes they had something new to do.  They played hide and seek, did a New Years themed scavenger hunt, made foil animals, wrapped each other in toilet paper, etc etc.  I made sure all of the games were easy and fun for the big and little kids.  

Jakob and Jackson playing a game on the make-shift ping pong table. 

not sure who Jackson is wrapping.  Halle maybe?

Nope, have no clue who this is either.  

Halle made a bow out of her foil

On to the adult party!  We had a great time.  Well I did at least!  We played cards, played a few games, and ate and ate and ate.  In addition to the chili cheese dogs, Chuy's dip, and drinks, we had a deep-frying party!  Being the end of the year and knowing that we were about to all commit to fitness goals, why not go out with a binge....  I mean, bang?

Look at that talent! Beating Brian and Nik at this pong game and being a dad at the same time ;)

We fried so much junk.  We fried Twix, Snickers, and Oreos.  We even made biscuilt-donuts and topped them with chocolate and glaze.  Mmmmmm!  I made a funnel cake batter that we used as the breading for our fried treats.  Then we made funnel cakes with the leftover batter.  Nik and Brian got good as swirling the batter in the oil for the funnel cakes; they may just need their own booth at the Rodeo this year.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was all so delicious!  I was a little disappointed with the fried Snickers, but the Oreos more than made up for it.    

Brian posing with the Oreos while poking holes into the "donuts"

enlarged to show detail

 Doesn't that look so greasy and bad for you????  Yes it was, but it tasted so good.  Alright I'll stop talking about it now because my mouth is starting to water.  Where's my celery sticks and hummus?  

While we ate like pigs we played the mustache game.  "Cheers!" when the mustache lined up with a person on TV. 

Jenny McCarthy mustache you a question.

My husband's a dork.  This was a lot funnier in the moment.  Not sure who Brian was impersonating here, but he had a British accent and was shaking his finger at everyone.

Right before midnight we prepared for our champagne toast.  These are the kids' glasses of "champagne"  It's sprite poured over cotton candy.  This would have been a lovely looking drink if the cotton candy was the right color.  We couldn't find PINK cotton candy at the store, so we ended up with something that looks like it came out of a sewer plant.

what it was suppose to look like, lol.  

Oh well the kids didn't know the difference

We all missed the New Year by a minute or two, so we did our own belated countdown.  Apparently the boys were very excited about this.

The kids then had fun with lots of sparklers.  

By adjusting the shutter speed and after many outtakes I was able to capture this on my camera !

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!