The New Village People

Pumpkin....CAKE??

I tried a new recipe tonight. Pumpkin pie is one of the boys' favorite desserts (especially Jake). I came across a recipe for pumpkin cake and thought we'd give it a try. Jake and Brady gave it two thumbs up! Being that this is the first time I made it, I think I left it in the oven a little too long. The recipe said it is supposed to be a little "gooey" inside, but I was afraid it was underdone, so I left it in a while longer. I think next time I will take my chances and remove it from the oven a little sooner. This is a very sweet cake and the recipe suggests serving it with whipped cream. We didn't have whipped cream, so we ate ours with a little vanilla ice cream. Yum! From the looks of these empty plates, there will definitely be a next time!

Driveway Art

Today was a beautiful day. After school, the boys and I came home and spent some time outside with some sidewalk chalk. Daddy loved the artwork he found in his "parking space" when he surprised us with a visit during his break from work!

Brady writing his name

Great job B!

Jake writing his name

Brady making sure all visitors feel welcome

Jake wanted to include the whole family

Even Cousin Mike was included!

Brady's guy with his big tongue sticking out

Jake's guy with his little pink tongue sticking out

The boys discussing Jake's artwork

Tuesday Night Supper

You can always count on Grandma's cupboards to be filled with sweet treats!

There's nothing better than a good cuddle after a yummy meal!

Plenty of the other kind of "sugar" from Grandma too!

Thank you for dinner last night, Poppy and Ma! We enjoyed the food almost as much as the company!

Needles and Lollipops

We took the boys for their yearly exams today at Dr. D's. Those little dudes don't have a fear of the doctor's office, even though they should. We are there so infrequently, that just about every time we go it's just for some kind of vaccination. Jake got lucky today and only had to get poked once in the finger, once in the arm, and one in the leg. Brady got one in the finger, two in the right leg, and two in the left leg. He's a stoic character usually but even superheros have limits. His was about halfway through the second shot to his right leg. Jake didn't flinch and half-cry until after the nurse had already finished giving him the shot. He started laughing at himself, and Brady was laughing even harder. Lollipop time.

I am pleased to report that they are healthy (not so) little guys still. Brady is 40.5 lbs and 40.9 inches tall. Jake is 64lbs and 46 inches tall. I can't believe my petite bride gave birth to these two meatballs.

After the doc, we took them to the new park by our house. The boys had a blast climbing, running and jumping all over the place. Watching them horse around and giggle with each other was the highlight of my weekend.

This picture will cause one or both of them to throw a punch at me sometime around the year 2018.

"Listen lady, no disrespect, but I hate you."

Jake's first pee cup. Filled it up to the brim I tells ya.
(It's empty in the picture.)

Brady doing his best to freak his mother out.

Can he do it?

Yes he can.

The King of his castle.

Jake doing his best to freak his mother out.

A new normal

So yeah. New job. New schedule. New everything. It's taking some getting used to, but truthfully, I am lucky all the way around. There's a lot of stuff I miss out on during the week, but that just makes the weekends that much sweeter. Complaints? Nah, nothing to really complain about. Besides, I can think of about 4000 people who would gladly trade places with me right now. My family is happy and healthy and not one of has to wonder if anyone loves them. We just might be the luckiest four people on the face of the Earth.

Mini Pizzas and Chocolate Cake

Daddy started a new job this week, and the boys and I have been adjusting to not having him around as much as he used to be. We are so happy for him and proud of him! Since it is just the three of us for dinner, we decided to do something fun tonight to kick off our 3-day weekend. We made our own mini pizzas, and for dessert...a yummy chocolate cake! I recently found a recipe for an easy one-bowl chocolate cake, so we decided to try it out and it was delicious. The boys and I have so much fun in the kitchen together. I have wonderful memories of cooking/baking with my mom growing up, and I am so happy to be making these memories with my own children. Although we miss having Daddy around as much as he used to be, I am truly enjoying the additional "one-on two" time with my boys. Daddy, thank you for taking this new path in your life. We know you do it for us and we love you very much. We are looking forward to our LONG weekend together.

Happy 3rd Birthday Mak!

I know it's a little late, but Sunday we celebrated cousin Makayla's birthday. Jake and Brady had lots of fun playing with all of their cousins and eating lots of pizza and cake. There was plenty of pink involved, which we don't get a lot in this family! The "My Little Pony" party was lots of fun. Happy birthday, Mak...we love you!!

Brady and Makayla playing with sand.

Jake and Oscar kicking the ball around.

The boy cousins enjoying some pizza together...don't you just love all these boys??

The pretty girls sitting together (who needs those crazy boys?)

Makayla blowing out her candle...3 years old!!

An Evening With Poppy and Ma

We always enjoy our time with Poppy and Ma. No matter what we do or where we are, the boys are always smiling and laughing. Friday night we went to T.G.I Friday's with Poppy and Ma (thank you for a yummy meal!) and then back to the house so Jake and Brady could challenge them at the Wii. Fun was had by all, and once again Brady dominated in bowling, while Jake knocked everyone out at boxing (although Poppy actually went three rounds with him). These are some highlights from another wonderful evening with two incredible grandparents (and parents)!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

53 is just another way of saying you have been alive 19,345 days. Wait, that sounds bad...how about just a hair over 5 (decades). Ugh...this isn't getting me anywhere. How about some quotes from famous people born in 1955?

The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life you are given a test that teaches you a lesson.

-Tom Bodett. (Yeah, that Motel 6 guy)

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

-Steve Jobs (Ahem, the Apple guy)

I love it when someone insults me. That means I don't have to be nice anymore.

-Billy Idol ( Yes, the Billy Idol)


When I turned 2 I was really anxious because I'd doubled my age in a year. I thought, if this keeps up, by the time I'm 6 I'll be 90.

-Steven Wright ( That comic that talks in a monotone)

Oops!

The thing about bad haircuts is, if it starts off bad, it's probably gonna end bad. Especially when you use clippers exclusively. I'm usually a pretty good barber. I can do a fade like no body's business. Which is good, because it's all the boys ever get. A high and tight with a nice fade.

Tonight though, I got way ahead of myself. The bad quickly turned to worse. For some reason what I thought was the proper attachment for the top of the head, was more of a side of the head kinda deal. As soon as I started taking hair off the top of B's head, I knew I had screwed the pooch...royally. Good thing he is who he is. He laughed the whole time and was completely taken with the his new bald self in the mirror.

Being that they are such good buddies, I figured Jake should get the same haircut too...even if it cost me a night on the couch (which it didn't, thanks babe). Jake was less than enthusiastic about it, but really didn't mind. Thanks buddy. If it makes you feel better, I shaved my noggin too, even though I don't have all that much hair up there anyway. So, there's that.

The best part of it all was that we took before pictures with the intention of taking after pictures to show how different they both look after a haircut. I had no idea they would sooo different. What the heck though. You only live once, and hair grows back right?

Brady & The Ball

What can I say, the boy likes to take a running start and belly roll over a giant baseball.

Deep dark secrets

I am sitting here eating baby carrots and tunafish for lunch. That's not weird in and of itself. What's weird is why I am eating it. I am eating it because when I was a kid I watched Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) eating a tunafish sandwich and baby carrots right before he raided one of Al Capone's warehouses in the movie The Untouchables. From that moment on, there was no cooler meal than some tuna and carrots. Only, there is no raid to go on, no mobsters to take down...just some dirty dishes to wash. Whatever though, I am pumped up. And Weird.

The smartest thing a liberal has ever said...

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

It Doesn't Get Any Easier

Today the boys and I had to head back to school after our wonderful 2 week winter break. Jake and Brady were excited to go back to school and see their teachers and friends. I, however, whined like a little girl last night (to my very supportive husband), telling him how much I didn't want to go back. On my way to work early this morning, I remembered that it would be the first day back for a teacher friend of mine who had her first baby in October. I started to think back to each time I had to leave my boys for the first time since they had been born....and I realized, not much had changed. On my first day back to work six weeks after Jake was born, I remember being teary-eyed trying to pull myself together at work as each person asked me "how it felt to be back." Ugh. One of my co-workers empathized with me about it and then told me, "I know this is hard, but it will get easier." It is over 5 years later, and I am here to tell you...it has never gotten any easier for me. Don't get me wrong, I am very blessed to have always had loving family to care for my babies while I was at work, but each and every day I leave them in the morning, my stomach hurts and I begin missing them immediately. Boys, I cherish each and every moment I have with you and I miss you terribly each minute I have to be away. I don't understand the moms and dads who "can't wait for school to start again so the kids will be out of the house," or the stay-at-home parents who take that blessing for granted. I know how lucky I am to be your Mommy and I promise I will never take one moment with you for granted. You truly make my life complete.

p.s. Thank you to my WONDERFUL husband for the beautiful flowers today. You made a very hard day a little easier. And I can't forget to thank my sweet friend, Karly, for thinking of me today.

Happy Birthday O

56 is old, dude. Not that old but still. Time to start looking ahead to the near future. I found an awesome nursing home that has ESPN gameplan in each room, so you'll never miss an LSU game in your golden years. Plus they have a tapioca delivery call button so you're all set.

I kid because I love.

Thanks for giving me life and then sticking around afterwards. Yeah it's a lot more involved than that, but like you always say "showing up is half the battle". Not only do you show up, but you throw seven different kinds of smoke, at least 90% of the time. The other 10% you are a whining democrat, but I am willing to forgive your shortcomings as you have forgiven me mine.

Happy Birthday my man. I love you.

LATE Night Sleepover

We had a family slumber party last night. After a nice afternoon nap yesterday, we went to cousin Mike's game (great game, Mike!) and then we had a late dinner and did a little grocery shopping. When they take a good nap, the boys just aren't very tired at bed time, so in honor of our last chance to stay up late before we go back to school, we had our family sleepover that I promised Jake. We stayed up playing the Wii for a while and then we headed upstairs for a "Midnight Movie bath." When the boys were little, I would spice up their bath with something special here and there; colored water, new paints/crayons/foam for the bath, music, and candles. Jake started calling our baths by candlelight a "movie bath." There are no movies involved, just a dimly lit room that reminded the little man of a movie theater. Anyway, last night we had our movie bath at midnight (I had to turn the flash on for the pictures, so you can't tell that it is dark)! After a quick relaxing bath, we headed downstairs. We decided to have our sleepover in the family room this time, so the boys slept on the blow-up bed and Daddy and I took the couches. When the TV finally turned off and the "goodnights" and "I love yous" were said, I just sat there and smiled as I heard my two boys giggling and whispering to each other before they finally fell asleep. They are not just brothers, they are best friends. It makes my heart so happy and I will forever cherish moments like these.