An evening with Grandpa

Last weekend the kids spent a couple of hours with Joey's dad. Although the kids love Grandpa and Lynda, I have to say, the highlight of going to Grandpa's house is playing with the dogs.

I'm not sure the dogs would agree.

Here are the kids trying to DRAG the dogs out of their igloo completely against their will.

My children are not quitters and have more than rocks in those cute little heads of theirs. If the dogs won't come out, they will go in.

Yes, here are my two beautiful children inside the dog house WITH the dog.

They'll teach you, you stubborn little dog!

And this was just too cute not to post. A rare occasion of sibling love. At least that's what I choose to believe.

I swore to Grandpa and Lynda that there was no way they would go to sleep, but sure enough, we showed up a little before 10 o'clock and they were both out like a light!

Such fun to be had at Grandpa and Lynda's... what have you gotten yourself into??

A brave new blogging world...

So I was checking in over at SITS this morning since Blogalicious Designs is the Friday Feature - we're giving away another Bodacious Make-over... what are you waiting for?? Go sign up!! - and I came across this on my blog buddy Heather's blog this morning.

Seriously, you have to read it. I'll wait.

Now, when you're through peeing your pants and have cleaned up the ridiculous mess you've made, go on in and remove that evil word verification!

I promise the robots will NOT attack!!

BOO!

My blog buddy Shanan Boo-ed me yesterday, so I'm out to spread the Boo's!

This is how the Blogging Boo will work. Go to as many friends as you want and tell them they've been "Boo-ed". Have them link back to your blog to pick up their Halloween Treat (picture) and tell them to "Boo" their friends. Simple, huh?

Here goes... BOO!!

Hello Blogland! I've missed you!!

Oh blog buddies, how I've missed you. It's been too long.

I've been busy, but that's no excuse to neglect you.

Here's a few random thoughts to catch you up....

It's been 45 degrees here every morning this week! Some of you may want to move in with me to keep warm, but hey, I've busted out my winter coat and I plan on wearing it!! This is frost-bite weather for South Texas!!

I was off work on Monday and got a taste of "a day in the life of a stay at home mom." Boy, you all deserve a metal! There was certainly no staying at home for me! From doctor's appointments, to grocery stores, to carpools, to hunting down Halloween costumes... sheesh! I needed a nap! But there was no time for that either. I was trying to win that metal by coking dinner for the hubby on his first day of his new job. Let's just say by Tuesday morning I was ready to go back to work :) lol

I guess that'll do ya for now. I'll try not to be so MIA...

"My Husband Rocks" Friday

I had to wait until later in the day to post my MHR installment. Not because he hasn't rocked all day peeps, but because I wanted to make sure everything feel into place before I posted about it on the World Wide Web! lol

My husband... where do I start? I'm just so proud of him. He has worked his butt off for our family ever since we got married. Always providing for us, always doing his very best and excelling where ever he was. He's in sales, and I know you've heard people say "he could sell ice to an Eskimo" or whatever.

No, seriously. Joey really could sell ice to an Eskimo. He would make them lose sight of all the ice around and soon they would be paying millions for the ice in Joey's hands. How he does this, I don't know. But I catch him trying to "sell" me all the time - trying to get what he wants!! Using his little tricks...

Anyway, my whole point is that Joey was basically tracked down by a company here in town who heard of him in the field, had lost business to him, and decided they had to have him. So now they do. He accepted a great new position and I'm so proud of him. He completely deserves it.

I love you baby! Congratulations!!

And I thought I wasn't sentimental...

Ok, if any of you have been reading my blog for a few months, you might remember this tragedy.

I'll wait. Go ahead and read it. I said was... it turned out good in the end.

Are you back? Ok.

I've never considered myself a sentimental person. I mean, I throw away everything that isn't tied down. Just last night Joey yelled from the kitchen "what in the world do their teachers expect us to do with all these crafts that they send home everyday?"

You have to admit, 5 or 6 crafts everyday is excessive even for the mom who insists on keeping everything her precious children's hands ever touch!

My response? Wait until the children aren't looking and throw them away.

Don't hate. I do look at them and "ooo" and "ahh" over how cute they are. And I do keep the occasional exceptional art project. But I don't live in a mansion that can hold everything that comes home from school!

Anyway, back to my story. Taylor has had his favorite blanket since he was a newborn. We never used another one. Always the same one. It was given to us by a friend and he just took a liking to it and would never let it go. As he grew older he wasn't clingy to it other than when he slept, but when he slept, he wanted that blanket!

Last weekend, it went missing and I don't think it's coming back.

Luckily I'm the only one who seems to be having a hard time with it. I think he's pretty much over it, but I guess to me it was the last little thing that kept him being "my baby."

Ok, can someone tell me why tears just started gushing down my face?? Seriously...

Sad. I guess I was just expecting to be able to fold it and keep it in the closet.

It's just a blanket, right?

Just Another Blogalicious Design

Check this out. Seriously cute stuff.

This client is totally in love with her two Chihuahuas, but also wanted something bright and fun, with a touch of animal print. So we tossed in some zebra for good measure!

(No zebras were killed in the making of this blog. At least not by us.)

Seriously cute, huh??

BTW, all of our pre-designed templates are 35% off. Gotta make room for the '09's. Check 'em out! What are you waiting for??

"My Husband Rocks" Friday

In past MHR posts I've been funny, loving, and sappy.

This is not one of those posts. In fact it's down-right shallow.

But that's ok. It's my post. And it's my husband, right?

This week my hubby rocks because of this...

this...

and definitely this...

I can never resist that smile.

**Edited to add: Pictures were taken by Amanda Spencer of Amanda Spencer Photography.

We got BOO-ED!!

I think this is the cutest thing ever!! We never use our front door (which, yes, is why it looks like it hasn't been seen in years... because it hasn't) but Ashton happened to notice that there was something outside the door when they pulled up from school.

We opened the front door to find that we got BOO-ED!

Have any of you been BOO-ED?

Are you all wondering what in the world I'm talking about? It's a new thing going around where you leave a Halloween goody bag at a neighbors front door (anonymously) with a cute little poem and a sign that says "You've been BOO-ED!!" Once you get BOO-ED, then you're supposed to do the same thing to two other unsuspecting neighbors who have yet to be BOO-ED.

Fun, huh? The kids really enjoyed going through the basket, so tonight we're off to get our own little BOO baskets!

*Edited to add: Get your free BOO printables here.

Weekend Wrap-up

I know, you all thought I gave up on blogging. But fear not! I'm here!

I had to take Monday off work to grieve the Cowboys loss. I mean, they played like a bunch of middle school girls... it's hard to believe they lost, right? Don't get me started...

So, on to our jam-packed, fun-filled weekend. It, of course, started with Ashton's volleyball game. (On a side note, you should know that Taylor is becoming quite the photographer - which works out well to keep him occupied during the 3 fifteen minute games Ashton plays. It also provides me with a plethora of pics to choose from for my blog. Most of them, however, show Ashton either yawning, playing with her hair, or doing the splits. So this is the best you get. At least she appears to be interested.) She's in the black right in the middle. :)

And lest I give you the complete impression that she's not enjoying volleyball, she did make 5 straight points serving that ball!! And if the "Y" didn't have a rule that after 5 points you have to switch sides to give the other team a chance, she would have made more, I'm certain!

From there, we headed straight to Taylor's soccer game. I have to say, I am really impressed with how well he is playing. I mean, other than all the water breaks he insists on taking, he seems to be really excited about the game. He runs after the ball and makes an effort to kick it away from the other team and in the right direction. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's my little man running through the line giving his dad a high-five.

After the games, we took the kids for pizza. Ashton has been begging to ride the bumper cars for quite some time, so I finally gave in, took out a small loan, and let her ride. She had a blast!

Monday, Ashton was out of school, so Joey and I took the day off. As part of the "8 Days of Stephanie" Ashton gave me a gift certificate for the twos of us to have some girl time and get our nails done. I had a pedicure while Ashton got her nails painted.

Once our nails were beautified, we picked up Taylor and headed over to meet my parents for lunch. While we were waiting for Mama, I asked Taylor to take a picture with me.

This is what I got.

Then the kids passed the time by taking pics of each other... (I have no idea what this is....)

What did you do this weekend? There's absolutely no way you packed in as much fun as we did!

Check out this giveaway!

Ok, Hip Mom of Boyz makes THE cutest jewelry and she's having a Halloween giveaway. Unfortunately, for my second entry, I have to tell all of you about it.

I'm selfish, I know. I don't want you entering and diminishing my chances of winning, but I know when you see it, you will surely enter, as I did.

So go forth and enter peeps!

"My Husband Rocks" Friday

Boy does my husband rock this week! Of course, he rocks every week, but this week, I just can't believe what he did! Well I can, because he rocks, but let me fill all of you in...

Earlier this week, Megan over at Wandering DC hosted a giveaway for a Target gift card. I know. I was ALL over it. I registered right away, and of course, for an extra entry, posted about it on my own blog.

Then I prayed about it every night, crossed my fingers, and did everything else I could to increase my chances of winning - which was really nothing except hope for the best.

So imagine my excitement when Megan posted the winner... and it was JOEY! (You have to click on that link...) Joey had entered the giveaway, without me knowing, in hopes that he would win so he could give the gift card to me - because he knows how much I love Target.

Now I know it's just Target, but that has to be the sweetest thing! I can't tell you how big the smile was that came over my face when I read his comment on Megan's blog to enter the giveaway.

Yeah ladies... my husband ROCKS!

Naked Lad and Nude Man

Meet Nude Man. Half of the duo...

Not to be mistaken for BATman... even though he is wearing the cape.

His counterpart, Naked Lad, was actually completely naked when she came running into my room after her evening bath, so there is no picture to share.

The laughter, though, that comes from brother and sister running BUTT naked through our house every night after bath declaring "I'm Naked Lad!" "I'm Nude Man!" is somehow refreshing.

It's amazing what childish laughter does, isn't it?

I love me some Target!

My girl Ms. Megan is having a give-away... and I CAN NOT pass this one up. It's a Target gift card!!

And I love me some Target!

Now whatever you do, don't go to her fabulous blog and register in her give-away, all the while reducing my chances of winning that gift card.

Don't do it!

I'm stocking up on Rogaine

Last week Joey and I were laying in bed watching one of our reagular TV shows, after we had we had put the kids to bed of course, when Joey disappeared to the bathroom.

I decided to use the time to get my usual glass of ice water. I can't sleep unless there's is a completely full glass of ice water on my night stand. After all, what if I get parched in the middle of the night?

Anyway, when Joey didn't return to bed for quite some time, I thought I'd better check on him.

What did I find when I opened the bathroom door? My husband taking digital pictures of the back of his head.

After I composed myself and dried the tears of laughter from my face, I asked my dear, sexy, thick-haired husband, "What in the world are you doing?"

"Checking to see if I'm going bald."

I seriously could not contain myself. This sent me into a laughter that I haven't seen in years. I mean, my hubby has more hair than I do, and mine is down to my shoulders! It was literally the funniest thing he's done in quite some time, and you remember this post, right?

So I told him I would stock up on Rogaine, just to be safe.

Check out my star athletes!

Ashton and Taylor had their first games on Saturday and it was a lot of fun! The down side? They were at the same time so I missed my little man's soccer debut.

But I did get to see my girl serve that volleyball right over the net!

I know, you're all saying, "uh, Steph, that's what she's supposed to do. What's the big deal?"

Well, the big deal, my bloggie buddies, is that she never did that, not even once, until the game! And then when I counted, she nailed it!!

It must have been the cute shorts, perfect hair, and the crazy lady screaming her head off. I'm still wondering who that was...

Here's my soccer star doing a little practice before his game. Joey said he was fabulous and put all of the other little boys to shame.

Ok, so he didn't say that. Maybe he just said he did a great job and had tons of fun.

A mom can dream, right?

"My Husband Rocks" Friday

My hubby rocks today - and everyday - because he is always making me laugh. It doesn't matter what the situation is, he always has a way to lighten the mood and make me laugh. That's one of the reasons I love him so much.

And now I know you're just dying for a few examples, so I won't be the one to let you down.

One Friday night - our regular date night - I was REALLY wanting to see a particular movie and we had tried 3 theaters and it was sold out at all 3. We were on our way to the 4th and final theater and my mood was digressing. We're driving down the highway and all of the sudden Joey jerks his head to look me with the FUNNIEST look ever on his face. We both DIED laughing. I actually think I have a picture of it on my phone... it was so hysterical I made him recreate it.

Last night at dinner - in a rather nice restaurant, I might add - Joey was trying to give me clues about what movie he was taking me to. So he started acting it out at the table. The movie was "Eagle Eye"... so when he proceeded to "caw" like a bird and flap his arms up and down I almost spit my margarita across the table. And still didn't guess the movie.

**Edited to add a snippet from yesterday morning: I always get out of bed before Joey and before I do I roll over and snuggle for a sec. Well, yesterday I was having one of those dreams where I thought I was already really late, so I jumped out of bed and went straight to the shower. After my shower I always wake Joey up. So I go over the bed, lean down to kiss him softly on the forehead, and he slowly opens his eyes and says, "Did you snuggle with me before you got out of bed?" I explained my dream only to get this response - "It's like I don't even know you anymore!" To which we both busted out laughing! The funnier part is that about noon yesterday he called me because he couldn't remember why we had been laughing that morning... but his memory lapses will soon be covered in another post.

This is just a mere sample of my everyday life. And I love it. I love to laugh, so I obviously married the right person!

Yes, my husband rocks. He is the funniest man I know and I love him for it!

Welcome to the craziness of Fall sports

Both the kids have started their Fall sport and the craziness has definitely begun! What were we thinking?? Well, I know what we were thinking. We were thinking that we wanted the kids to participate in what they were excited about. So here we are...

Ashton decided a few months back that she wanted to play volleyball. After we got the DNA tests back and confirmed that she was actually MY daughter and hadn't been switched at birth, I decided to be a good mother and encourage her in every way possible.

So I bought her some cute black shorts and a pink and white volleyball.

Clearly she is showing more and more tendencies of being like her father. I mean, she hates to shop - which has almost caused the need for anti-depressants (for me, of course) on more than one occasion - and now she's playing sports. At least her daddy dresses well and cares about how he looks. She has no hope of bypassing that.

Here's my girl at her first practice... in her cute black shorts and pink tennis shoes. I was the out of control mom in the bleachers cheering every time the ball came within 10 feet of her.

Now onto my other child... the soccer prodigy.

Yes, Taylor will soon be auditioning for the US Olympic Soccer Team.

Auditioning? Is that what you do for sports?

Anyway, he's having a fabulous time playing soccer for the first time and seems to be doing really well. He absolutely loves it, and that's the best part.

Here are some pics of his practice last night.

Reliving the dream

I know it's over, but the "8 Days of Stephanie" was so great, I just can't stop thinking about it. :)

Friday night Joey took me to my favorite restaurant so I could get fat and happy.

And that I did.

Look at how happy I am with that bowl of chicken-alfredo-with-sundried-tomato deliciousness. People, I practically dream of this meal on a regular basis.

I must confess, though, that this is the first time that I made Joey order his own meal. Usually we share it, but I was being extremely selfish with my birthday dinner this year. I don't think he had a problem though... he finished his meal quite nicely.

Here's the kicker peeps... even though Joey had to roll me out of the restaurant, he still forced me to eat Marble Slab cookies-n-cream ice cream BEFORE we saw our movie!

Hello! Was gaining 10 pounds part of the "8 Days of Stephanie"??

But look - aren't we cute??

And just to clarify, I DID NOT eat my normal bag of Sour Patch Kids during the movie. It totally went against everything I believe in to sit through an entire movie and NOT eat Sour Patch Kids, but I honestly thought that if I put even the tiniest of SPK in my mouth I would vomit all over my gorgeous husband.

Pretty sure that wasn't part of the "8 Days of Stephanie" either.