Thursday, May 31, 2012

Save your receipts

I was at Walmart today (by the way- no public restroom experiences while there!) exchanging something for Jase and we did not have a receipt. We've always said "Walmart will take back anything!" so no problem, right?

I handed the lady my driver's license and she completed the transaction and gave me an in-store credit gift card. Then she told me this is my 2nd return without a receipt and I could only have 1 more within the next year!!! (Jase received a couple of duplicate gifts, so we have been to Walmart twice this month to exchange them for a different one.) So I can only have 1 more return without a receipt until next May!

Not that I plan on returning things to Walmart without a receipt, but I had no idea of this policy. I thought you could have 3-4 every 6 months or so. I know from experience that Target and Babies R Us have very strict return policies, but this is news to me with Walmart.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Milk & Oreos

Tonight after dinner I gave the kids some oreos and milk for a snack . . . they were super excited! Ally was already stripped down from dinner time, so she was ready to go for dessert.  She made a royal mess, but she LOVED every minute of it!! Oh and that's not a new mole on top of her lip! ;-)

Gearing up for Summer!!

I am ready for some fun in the SUN!! I have been keeping my eyes open for local summer activities to do with the kids, either free or cheap preferably! ;-)  Here are some I found and thought I'd share:

FREE Vacation Bible School at Central Baptist Church - June 3rd - 6th from 6:00 - 8:30 pm for children who have completed Kindergarten - 5th grade.  Sign up HERE!!

Summer Movie Clubhouse begins on June 12th - $1 G/PG rated films for the kids every Tuesday and Wednesday at your local Cinemark Movie Theater.

La Porte City Pools open up on June 2nd - We love to be in the water!

Deer Park City Pool opens up on June 2nd - I can't remember if the water slides are new this year or last year; we didn't visit this pool last summer . . . maybe we will have to check it out!

Deer Park Library Craft Program (Free) - Mondays: Ages 5-8 at 1:30 pm and ages 9-12 at 3:30 pm

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Normal Routine

This morning we were back to our normal routine: Legos! Jase opened up his new set last night and built all the men. This morning after breakfast we started building the Hoth Echo Base. Jase does pretty good on his own, but he likes for you to be right there with him on new construction! Of course Ally had to join the Lego fun as well.




We ended up finishing 3 of the 5 Lego bags this afternoon and I'm sure Jase and Daddy will get close to wrapping it up tonight.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Birthday Money

After Jase saved and donated a portion of his birthday money, he still had a pretty penny to spend. He brought half of it to Disney World, but with Mommy and Daddy (and Nanny) there, he didn't take out his wallet! :) He was really eyeing some Lego sets there, but we told him that we would go and look at them when we got back home.

So, today was the day! We went to Toys R Us and he was in heaven. He walked up and down the Lego aisle a few times and I explained how much money he had and what sets he could buy. After deliberating, he decided on the Hoth Echo Base set. This set has 8 figurines plus a Taun Taun for Han to ride on . . . the more figurines, the better!




Saturday, May 26, 2012

Is it that time already?

I can't believe that we have already spent 6 days in the theme parks and will be headed home tomorrow.

Yesterday we had originally planned to return back to Magic Kingdom, but since Allyson did not care for the main show in front of the castle, I did not want to return and traumatize her even more. She kept telling me "the castle is popping." Poor baby girl. So we decided to go back to Animal Kingdom for the morning. Shawn had a golf tee time at 3:00, so we knew it was going to be a short morning at the park. We got to go on the the Kilimanjaro Safari Expedition again; we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We also got Baloo's signature, from Jungle Book. Kind of a big deal at my house since we are big Jungle Book fans! :)

I ended up getting reservations for lunch at the Tusker House, which is an African/American buffet character dining. Meeting the characters had to be high on Allyson's to do list; she absolutely loves it!! Here is a short clip of her meeting Safari Daisy!


And today was a long, but great day. We spent the day at Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekend. We started the day off in the park at 8:20 am and didn't leave until 9:20 pm . . . 13 hours in the park and Jase still didn't want to leave!! Since we were just there on Wed, we were devoting most of our time to Star Wars today. Jase took his picture with a ton of characters today and got their autograph too. Here is a picture of Jase this morning in Darth's Mall.



I think I am still hearing the Star Wars theme song in my head!! I can't wait to download all my pictures and complete their autograph books! :)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The adventure continues

Boy oh boy! We just finished up our 4th day at the parks and man have we had some full days!!  Yesterday we spent the morning having breakfast with the Princesses at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and the rest of the day we walked around Epcot.  Epcot was pretty neat, but absolutely ZERO shade!!  Yesterday was probably the first day where I felt completely spent at the parks.  We ended up leaving the park by 3:00, after being out there at 8:00 am (and we parked on the front row!!). Allyson enjoyed meeting all the princesses inside the park, but she is definitely more into the characters in costume.  She was all business at Epcot and we rarely got a smile from her.  One thing was for sure: she did NOT want to take off her princess dress.  I brought her a change of clothes and we asked her several times, but she didn't want to take it off!


Oh and in one of the pictures above (bottom right) where she is holding her cheeks . . . Snow White kissed her and she was in complete awe.  It was so sweet!!!  Later on Mulan kissed her on the forehead and she was beside herself then as well!!

While yesterday was definitely geared more towards our little girl, today was Jase's day to shine!! We got to the park early with Extra Magic Hours and we made good use of the time.  Jase and I headed straight to sign him up for the Jedi Training Academy.  This was a definite goal of mine for Hollywood Studios . . . I've seen some of these on YouTube and I knew he would LOVE it!!  When we got to the sign-in around 8:25, they were already signing up for the 12:40 show, and they started at 9:40 and were every 30 minutes or so.  Success . . . we got signed up for the 2:20 show (we had lunch reservations at 12:05, so I had to choose a later show.  No biggie, we stayed plenty busy with the Star Tours ride (Jase rode back to back this morning), Toy Story Mania ride, Little Mermaid show, and the Disney Junior Live on Stage show.


Here is a 5 minute clip, and it starts off with Jase fighting Darth Vader and ends with Jase receiving his award and running to us!!  It was so awesome if I do say so myself.  All I gotta say is if you ever want to do this, take your child with you to the sign-up first thing when the park opens!  After we checked in for our show, we hung out until it was Jase's turn and I saw several parents come in and ask if they could sign up . . . poor people did not have a clue what was going on.  Thank goodness for the Internet!! :-)


We stayed at the park until after 5:00 pm, which was plenty late for us. We have not made it see fireworks or a light show at night yet; maybe on Friday evening, we'll see.

Monday, May 21, 2012

A Magical Time

Well, we've been to 2 parks so far: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.  Yesterday morning we started off our morning at Chef Mickey's . . . what a great way to start off our vacation!! The kids absolutely LOVED LOVED it!! They were so infatuated (especially Ally) with the characters and the breakfast wasn't bad either.  They had the cutest and yummiest Mickey waffles there!


Here is a short video clip of Ally at Chef Mickey's! She was sssoooo giddy about meeting everyone.  Some of the other guests around us could not get over how excited she was and thought she was too cute!!  Of course, we did as well!!  ;-)



The Meet and Greets with the Characters continued at Magic Kingdom.  I'm not sure who enjoys it more: the kids or me!! Haha!  The signature books I created really give them (and me) something to accomplish and Jase is really into the signatures.  I think it is going to be a great book once we get back home and add our pictures to it! Allyson is LOVING meeting the characters!! When we met Daisy, she had to check her out, from her beak to her shoes! And before that, we were waiting to meet Daisy and she walked away to "go change shoes" and when she came back Allyson asked if she was wearing purple now since she had on pink previously . . . this 2 1/2 year old doesn't miss a beat!!



Magic Kingdom was great . . . until the my kids caught the end of the big show outside of the castle.  We couldn't even see the characters, but could hear everything.  One of the mean stepmothers (villain) was talking evil and the next thing you know gun smoke appeared and it sounded like shots went off.  Both Allyson and Jase freaked.  And I mean poor Ally lost it; she did the same thing about a month ago when we went to the San Jacinto Battleground reenactment.  She would not stop covering her eyes and crying and saying "Daddy's truck!"  Poor baby.  We were able to go to a different area of the park for a few hours, but later when we were heading towards the exit and back on Main Street we caught the end of it again.  :(  Poor thing is now traumatized anytime you say the word Kingdom!

Today was Animal Kingdom and we were excited! You just could not say that we were going to Animal Kingdom, so she thinks we went to the Animal Zoo . . . there is something about the word Kingdom now!! All 5 us loved the Kilimanjaro Safaris® Expedition.  We got up close and personal with a tower of giraffes!!  We had to stop our vehicle so they could cross the road right in front of us and next to us.  Pretty cool!!  I haven't downloaded any of the pictures from my camera from today, so I don't have much to share picture wise.  Jase also really liked Camp Minnie-Mickey; there were several character meet and greets there.  We ended up going there twice today for pictures and autographs.  Ally was asleep the first go-around, but was awake to meet Safari Mickey later on.  Jase got to meet Chip 'N Dale, Safari Goofy and Safari Donald Duck the first time.  Even though the characters do not talk to the kids, they really get into character with their motions, it was great!!  Here is a short video of when Jase met Safari Goofy!!


Great day at Animal Kingdom for sure.  When we got home all of us except me, went to the pool for a quick swim.  Shawn and Nanny said that the kids enjoyed the water slide here at the resort.  After we got cleaned up, we headed over to Fort Wilderness Resort and Campgrounds for dinner at Trail's End Restaurant.  It was a home cookin' buffet . . . really tasty.  I would definitely recommend eating there, very relaxed atmosphere there, kind of reminded me of Cracker Barrel.  After dinner we went to a different section of the campgrounds and the kids saw Chip 'N Dale again and danced a little with them.  What two great days this has been.  The kids have been so tired, that they have just passed out at the end of the day!

In the morning we are having a Princess Storybook Dining breakfast experience at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall inside Epcot.  Ally will be wearing a little Cinderella dress and I hope she absolutely LOVES it!!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

1st Day at Walt Disney World

We arrived this afternoon at 4:30 and the kids did great traveling here. We unloaded at the resort and headed down to take a boat ride to Downtown Disney (DD). Can you say "hello crowds?" A ton of people! A ton of shops at DD and some places to eat as well. We ate dinner at Earl of Sandwich and it as pretty good. We walked around for a bit, visited the Lego store, and had a sweet treat at Ghirardelli!

First family picture on Disney World property - Port Orleans Resort - Riverside

Ally was in love with the statues of Minnie and Daisy!! I can't wait for her to see them in person tomorrow!! :)

Allyson giving Daisy sugar!




Friday, May 18, 2012

First Harvest

Today while watering the garden we were able to pick our first squash and tomato!! Both were a decent size and Shawn and I are both pumped that they came from our garden! We are about to have yellow squash coming out of our ears!! Who needs HEB?!? ;)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Getting ready to go!

Today me and the kids ran errands, getting ready for our big trip!!  I think we went to 6 different places, so that meant I got them in and out of the car 12 times today . . . I am tired just thinking about it!! I finally finished putting together their autograph books and today we had them bound.  They were no surprise to them and actually Jase and Allyson watched me and helped pick out pictures for the PowerPoint presentation of all the characters for their pages.  But when we picked up the books, they studied them and studied them until it was time to get out at the next store.  They LOVED it!  I created one autograph book for each of them and made Jase a special Star Wars Weekend book for Disney's Hollywood Studios.  So he has 2 and Allyson has 1.


When getting the books back from the kids before we went in to the next store, I noticed that Ally's had a few pages sticking out.  I asked her if she had already tore hers and she said no. I got Jase's and inspected his, but his were fine.  I was about to write it off as her being 2 1/2 years old and that she probably ripped it, but after looking a little closer the place messed up on 6 pages and they punched holes up at the top and punched holes again, so those 2 sets of holes were combined and nothing was keeping it bound to the coils.  Ugh!!  I called the place and told them what happened and asked if I could reprint those 6 pages and bring the book back in and have it rebound for free and they said yes.  So, that is on the "to do list" for in the morning.  Always something, right?  I'm just glad that I saw it when I did because there is no way those pages would have held up at Disney since they were already not attached for more than half the length of the book.

I had 2 inches cut off the top before they bound the books and the plan is to take another inch off the top once we get home and 1/4" off of each side.  That would make the pages 8x8 and perfect for a mini scrapbook.  We'll see if that really happens.  I might end up taping a photo of the character on the back of the top page and call it done!  ;-)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Pre-K Graduation

Last night was Jase's Open House/Pre-K graduation at school.  I can't believe that he is in his last week of 4 year old preschool.  Sniff, sniff! His performance last night was so awesome.  They sang about 5-6 songs and they were all so cute.  My favorite song was "You are so beautiful" by Ray Charles and they did sign language to it as well.  I cried the whole way through it!! I looked over and Daddy was even shedding a tear or two. ;-)  Last night after his bath I asked him what his favorite song was and he said it was that one and I told him it was mine too.  Then I told him that it was perfect because he is so beautiful to me!

After his performance he walked us to his classroom and we picked up his journal he worked in all year long and he usually wrote in it everyday.  We even looked at it again tonight at the kitchen table, page by page.  At the beginning of the school year he was 44 inches tall and weighed 40 lbs.  Now he is 45 3/4 inches tall and weighs 45 lbs.  He is my growing boy!



Monday, May 14, 2012

5U Astros Party

This evening we had our last practice scheduled.  After talking it through, we decided this was a perfect time to do an end of the year party for the boys.  200 water balloons and a slip-n-slide . . . the boys LOVED it!  What a great season we had.  While I wish we could have won more games, the boys had fun and they have definitely progressed from the first practice we had back in February to now for sure.


We kept the food pretty basic with pizza, popcorn, Cracker Jacks, and cupcakes!  I was trying to keep it someone baseball centered by having in the popcorn and Cracker Jacks.  I wanted to buy peanuts and a few other things, but you have to stop somewhere! I was very surprised at the amount of pizza my kids ate.  When events like this are going on, they are usually so preoccupied that they don't eat, but that wasn't the case tonight.  I think Jase ate 3 pieces of pizza!  Maybe he is having a growth spurt.

Below are the cupcakes I made for the party.  I really like how much the cupcake toppers add to the cupcake and make it pop visually.


Last night after coming home from my mom's, I got out the the cake mixes and other ingredients to make the cupcakes.  I start looking for my cupcake pan and realize that I do not have one!!  I had a pampered chef stone one, but it broke not that long ago and I guess I have never had a metal one.  Off to Walmart I go.  Then today I go to ice the cupcakes and the piping bag I have has a hole in it and the opening is too big for the tip and plastic coupling.  SUPER!  No piping bag, no problem though!  Just 3 household items and I am back in business: sandwich baggie, press'n seal and masking tape!! Definitely not the prettiest thing, but it worked, until I got the chocolate batch and it was a royal mess to say the least!  I actually stopped and thought what my best friend (who makes and sells cakes/cupcakes) and my sister (who has been into making cupcakes lately) would think.  I'm not sure if they would be proud or laugh! ;-)  At the end of the day, it got the job done!

Mother's Day Pictures

Yesterday was Mother's Day and we spent the afternoon at my mom's house.  She whipped up the yummiest home-cooked meal: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, white gravy, green beans, corn on the cob, and rolls.  Everything was so good!! Thank you Mom!

Before going over there we stopped by the house so we could change and grab a couple of things.  Since we were still in our church clothes I asked Shawn to take some pictures of me and the kiddos on Mother's Day.  We decided to take them in the front yard, in front of the bushes.  As we are getting ready to take our first picture, our neighbor across the street walks outside with several of his family members (like 6-8 of them).  Jase immediately starts yelling the little boy's name that lives there, so of course all eyes are on us.  I am not one for attention!! Shawn takes a couple of me and the kids and we start walking back in.  Jase is still yelling the boy's name!!


As we are walking up the driveway, I thought I should get a quick of me and Finn on Mother's Day.  And I don't think I have really "posed" for a pregnancy shot with him, so I thought why not.  Not wanting to go back to the front of the house I tell Shawn just to take one of me against the brick on the side of the house.  He says no, we need one with the greenery in the back.  Back to the front yard we go.  I am standing in front of the bushes and telling Shawn to snap the picture already.  Jase and Ally are now both yelling for the little boy, so I'm sure they are all looking at us.  The wind is blowing my hair in my face and I ask Shawn to take the picture from a different angle so I can turn my head.  The next thing I know is I hear the neighbor across the street (the same one that called me Big Momma) yell "Smiiilllle"!!  I wanted to crawl in a hole, not joking!  I did not dare look over there, I was so embarrassed!!  Shawn is laughing under his breath and I am trying not to look humiliated.  We make a b-line to our back door and Shawn loses it and tells me how awesome that was!! I told him that is exactly what I did NOT want to happen!!  We ended up getting a couple of good pics, so it was worth it! :-)

28 weeks!

Saturday Splash Day

Another event-filled weekend at the French household.  Is there any other way?!?  ;-)  Shawn and the kids went over to his parents for an hour or so on Saturday and they had a cool water slide there for the kids to play on.  Shawn said that Jase had a blast!!


Later that afternoon we had plans to go to a Sunday School get together.  They were boiling crawfish and there was a pool for the kids to swim in.  Jase and Allyson had fun in the pool with all their friends.  I was a little leery of putting Ally in swim lessons this summer because she is not 3 yet, but after seeing her in the pool I think I am going to give it a shot, if they have any openings left.


And yes, she LOVES corn on the cob!! :-)

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party

So, let me just start off this post with telling you that I really had fun planning this party.  By no means have I ever been into Star Wars (SW) prior to Jase liking it.  And a year ago I would have told you Star Wars, Smar Wars; I just was not a fan.  Last fall, we started checking out EVERY Star Wars easy reader at the library and from there our SW knowledge took off! Shawn has been a fan since he was kid, so when Jase got interested he got excited; I think he enjoys reliving that era of his life!

Jase was right there with me, helping me plan the party from day 1.  I made an invitation in Picasa and was proud of myself, it had a Lego Yoda on it and at the top said "Invited You Are".  I thought it was catchy and cute.  The next morning I showed it to Jase and asked if he liked it and he said NO!  I couldn't believe it.  He told me that he wanted more characters on it!  Shawn said, "just use that one and don't worry about it."  It's his birthday and I wanted him to love it though.  So, the next day I made two more "options" for him to choose from.  When I showed him all 3 options he said "what is the 4th one?"  Can I blame him for knowing what he wants? ;-)  He ended up going with option 3.


For Ally's party I had a table of food set-up in our playroom, so I created this banner above the table for decoration.


Well, it has just stayed up since her party.  For Jase's party I wasn't going to have anything in the playroom, so I wasn't going to mess with it.  Mr. Jase had other plans.  Like 2 days before the party he tells me that we need to change the banner with his name and the number 5.  Off to Hobby Lobby we went!! I got out the cricut to cut paper and letters for his name and put it together.  I even thought about cutting out Finn's name, but I have over a year for that! ;-)


Ah the food and drinks . . . probably my favorite part of the party!! Shawn, Jase and I had fun coming up with the names for the food and drinks.  Some of them I found on the Internet and others we made up.


I found a Lego Star Wars figure on-line that corresponded with every item that we had.  I created a word document and formatted it to print on an Avery label (5163).  I downloaded the Star Jedi Rounded font free on-line and added the description next to the Lego picture.  I put the labels on some black card stock I had and just had to trim one side after folding the signs in half.  Here are the food items and descriptions we went with:

Padme Pizza - Domino's Pizza
Yoda Soda - Lime Sherbet with Sprite Punch
Jedi Juice - Capri Suns
Wampa Water - Bottled water
Stormtrooper Sweet Tea
Luke Skywalker Lemonade
Princess Lays - Lays potato chips (plain & wavy)
Jedi Jase French Onion Dip - French Onion Dip (my favorite one)
Vader Veggies - Veggie tray
Battle Droid Dip - Ranch dip
Edible Ewoks - Sour Patch kids
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sweet & Salty Sabers - Pretzel rods dipped in almond bark
Jango Fett Fruit Tray
C-3PO Cheese & Crackers
Star Wars Snacks - HEB brand Star Wars fruit snacks
Han Solo Rolos
Hoth Ice - Ice for tea and lemonade
Yodamole - Guacamole
Sandtrooper Scoops - Tostito Scoops
Use the Fork, Luke - Plastic ware




Now to keep all the kiddos entertained, I decided on a few things that I thought they would enjoy.  And again, Jase was right there with me looking on the Internet, watching YouTube videos and giving suggestions left and right.  I enjoyed this time together with him and it was a project for us to do together. :-)

When the kids first arrived we had a Lego Star Wars DVD playing for about 10-15 minutes until everyone arrived.  This was a great idea I found on-line and it kept all the kids in one place and let us get everything set-up for the events that were to come.

Shawn telling the kids what they were about to do next
Next, the kids went outside and lined up for an obstacle course that Shawn put together.  It was designed around our playset and we tried to keep it very basic for the kids. Jase started the kids off on the course and had a bit of a rough start, but he did great and finished it up!


After they finished the obstacle course they ended up at a table where they were "robed" and given a light saber.  The robes I made were very simple, no sewing involved and perfect for us.  I bought 3 different shades of brown fabric and made 3 different sizes: one for our toddlers, another for Jase's size, and one for the older kids.  The majority of the ones I made were for Jase's size.  I kept the fabric folded in half and cut them at 24 inches (I believe) wide.  Then I folded them in half, with the fold still at the top and cut a triangle out at the neck to give the robes a v-neck look.  After all of the robes were cut, extra material was used for the belts (2" wide strips).  The belts really helped gather the sides and made up for not sewing the sides in my opinion.  A special thanks to Michelle, Alisha and my mom for helping me with this!

I assigned the light saber construction to Shawn!  I picked up the thinner pool noodles (from Walmart and Academy) and they were cut in half.  Shawn bought PVC pipe and hot glued about 12-18 inches inside the pool noodle, leaving about 6-8 inches on the outside for the handle.  Shawn covered the PVC pipe on the outside with AC aluminum foil duct tape and it really gave it that shiny pop.  He did an awesome job on them!!  A special thanks to Jay and Joseph for lending a hand and their SW expertise on the light sabers.

The kiddos lined up against the fence and they were given their next assignment. They were each given a balloon and they had to balance the balloon on their light saber for Light Saber Training.  The wind was blowing pretty good that day (I'm not complaining because it was warm outside) so it made it a little tough to keep the balloons from flying away, but the kids had fun.  After they balanced it for a minute they had to Rescue Princess Leia.  Every balloon had a Lego Star Wars figure in it that I printed on card stock.  The kids had to pop their balloon to see if they had Princess Leia.  It was a fast game, but they they had fun searching for her.  And Jase's balloon ended up having the Princess! :-)


Lastly, their next mission was the Destroy the Death Star.  Shawn spray painted two sports pinatas and decorated them like the Death Star.  This was a good ole fashion, bash the pinata with a baseball bat activity.  I gave the kids small gift bags to collect their candy in.  They could also use this as a bag to put their robe and belt in if they wanted to take it off.



Here's a short clip of Jase and Allyson attempting to Destroy the Death Star.



Allyson was my little Princess Leia for the day! I made her a shirt with Princess Leia's face on it and I think it turned out too cute.  I printed a simple coloring page of Princess Leia and cut out the hair and face separately.  I then pinned the two different patterns (hair and face) to fabric I had on-hand and cut them out. I ironed on heat and bond, but it did not stick very well to the shirt.  I sewed on the face, then the hair and hand stitched the eyes and lips. Of course I didn't get a good picture of her in it the day of the party!


After the Death Star, the kids had to stay strong in The Force with food and drink! Next, we went inside for presents and cupcakes!

Most of the Jedi Knights!

After looking at cakes and cupcakes, I decided to go with cupcakes.  I found these super cute Star Wars cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma and had to get them.  My sister made the cupcakes, icing and cookies and did a fabulous job!! They were a big hit! I made the cupcake toppers for the cupcakes without cookies on them to bring in the Lego part of the Lego Star Wars theme.


Jase and his friends had a blast with the theme.  The kids enjoyed dressing up and pretending to be Jedi Knights.  Allyson did not take her robe off until it was bath time that evening!!



Here are some of the websites I used for inspiration:

http://www.tipjunkie.com/star-wars-birthday-party-ideas/

http://brassyapple.blogspot.com/2010/06/boys-birthdaystar-wars.html

http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2011/05/lots-of-star-wars-party-ideas.html

http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-collection-of-star-wars-party-food.html

Friday, May 11, 2012

Field Day 2012

On Wednesday morning Jase had his field day at school! He had a blast competing with all of his school friends.  We had a nice breeze, so it wasn't bad at all . . . last year I remember baking out there!



This kids had to run backwards on this next race and Jase really liked it! One of the moms next to me said that Jase looked like he was dancing.  I told her that he has practiced that enough!


Ahh, Tug of War . . . my all-time favorite!! Whether I was participating or teaching, this has always been my favorite event!  When I was teaching I remember strategizing with my kids beforehand on what to do: use your legs and walk backwards!! I was right there with them cheering (maybe a little screaming) them on!! You could say that I love competition!! :-)


And the last event was a race between all the boys.  Jase ran his hardest, but if we're being honest, he will not be a track star . . . sorry kiddo, neither of your parents have the gift of speed! ;-)

Thursday, May 10, 2012

What a game!

Tonight we had our second game of the week. On Tuesday we played a team and tied 20-20. We hit the ball great, but just could not put any outs together to stop them. This evening we played a team that has beat us twice, so this was our final chance against them this season. And if you're not into baseball details, this may not be your favorite post!! But I am currently ate up with t-ball, so I have to share! :-)

We were visitors and up at bat first. The opposing team made some great plays and ended up getting 3 outs on us before we could get our 5 runs in. That is exactly how you win in this age group: stopping the other team from getting 5 runs each inning and out scoring them when you're at bat. I was bummed that they had stopped us in the first, I started feeling defeated already.

Going into the 2nd inning, the other team was up 5-4. We scored 5 runs that inning and it was their time up at the plate. They scored one run then our pitcher, Wyatt, beat a runner home and got a force out for the first out. They scored another run and either had the bases loaded or had runners on 1st and 2nd. The next batter up hit a line drive to Jase at 1st base and he caught it!!! Then without instruction, he turned and ran to his base and stepped on it for a double play!! Making that the 3rd out of the evening and only holding them to 2 runs. So, we were up 9-7 at the end of the 2nd. (In the car ride home and at dinner we had several conversations about the double play and he finally realized that he got 2 people with one play. You should have seen the look on his face and his giggle! Priceless!!)

It felt great to be up, but we needed 5 runs in the 3rd for insurance. The boys hit the ball great and sure enough we got 5 runs. Woohoo!!! We took the field and the first play of the inning, they hit the ball to short stop, where Jase was playing and he fielded it and threw it to first. Wyatt scooped up the ball for the first out of the inning!!! They got a couple of runners on and then one of their batters struck out, so we had 2 outs on them. They hit the ball through our infield and it went into the outfield. We ended up relaying it home and our catcher got the ball, but it was too late, the runner had already crossed home plate. Our catcher went ahead and put the tag on him and the next thing you know the umpire calls the runner out: he didn't touch home!! 3 outs! Then the umpire says "ball game". We still had a few minutes left before time expired and I wondered why we didn't start the 4th inning. Then I found out that the other team was mathematically eliminated since it was 14-7, so there was no reason to start the 4th!! Not only a win, but we stopped them twice!

Awesome game boys!! After the game Shawn was talking to the boys and told them how proud he was of them and that they have improved so much this season. It was really sweet and I found myself tearing up!! Must be the pregnancy! ;)





Today after lunch Allyson requested Oreos because Jase had them in his lunchable.  She didn't know that I had some in-stock and she was definitely a fan!!



I received a special delivery today and it was a surprise for sure! I love having fresh flowers in the house and I am looking forward to enjoying them for the next week! Thank you Shawn for thinking of me.  I have to say while the flowers are awesome, spending time with you and the kiddos is the best gift you could give me! :-)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Baby Boy Update

It's been a while since I've posted about the baby, so I thought I'd share some updates with you today.  Let me start off with . . . can you say indigestion?!?  I remember having it with Jase and Allyson and I guess you just forget all about it because it goes away the moment you deliver the baby, but man 'o man!! I thought I had it figured out and it was all types of sugar (both natural and artificial) that was giving me indigestion, but it seems no matter what I eat I usually get that feeling, and it is mainly in the evenings.  Tums is my new favorite candy.  :/  I told Shawn last night that I am going to eat whatever I want if I am going to get it anyway.  I was partially joking, but when I was at Wal-mart earlier this afternoon I put a package of Oreos in my basket . . . I cannot tell you the last time I've bought them, like I'm talking years and I can probably count on one hand the number times I've bought them.  Anyway, I just ate 5 of them (without even thinking about it) and super tasty! Could be trouble!  ;-)

This Friday I'll be 28 weeks, so I'm sliding right into my 3rd trimester!  Hard to believe already!!  I've definitely had more pressure with this one and he already feels like he is sitting in the birth canal . . . no lie! I'm sure I had braxton hicks with the first two, but I really do not remember feeling them at all. I've already had a couple of rounds of those here lately and it was an eye opener.  I told my doctor and he didn't seem alarmed, so I shouldn't be right?  I took my glucose test last Wednesday and I passed! Woohoo!!  They also said that my iron was fine as well, which was nice to hear because it was low with the other two.  I will go back next Wednesday for a check-up before we head out of town on the big trip!!

A few weeks ago we finally picked out a name for our little man.  I don't know what it is, but girl names are so much easier to pick out than boy names.  Finn Michael French is what we have decided on and both Shawn and I love it.  I found the name Finn on a list while searching and searching for names and it caught my eye.  After telling Shawn about it, he really liked it too.  Our first pick early on in the pregnancy was Tate, but this poor kid will already get French Fry, so the last thing I wanted was Tater Tot French Fry!! And my luck he will be built like a tater tot, so I just couldn't do it.  Then it was Tuck and I really liked this, but wasn't a fan of it rhyming with a bad word.  :/  So Finn it is!  :-)  And Michael is Shawn's middle name, so that works.  We can't wait to meet you little Finn!

A little more background on our boy names.  Jase's name was picked out long before Shawn and I were even married.  Shawn watched this show called "Duck Commander" (on VHS/DVD) back in high school and maybe even in junior high.  Well, one of the sons on the show was Jase and we both loved the name and it wasn't something you heard all the time.  That family currently has a show on A&E and you may have heard of it "Duck Dynasty".  So Jase's name is from a duck hunting family and Finn is part of a fish!!  I really don't think of myself as a redneck, but maybe I should think this over again!  Haha!!

One little funny.  Last night I put Allyson's hand on my tummy so she could feel baby Finn move and she said "it's a woodpecker!!" It was so hilarious!!  Then she said "it's a giraffe" and I told her "no, it's a baby".  She said "a baby lion" and I said "no, your baby brother is in Mommy's tummy!"

Monday, May 7, 2012

I'm not allowed

This evening after practice we went out to eat, frankly because I didn't feel like cleaning a dish!  I really need to devote one day (probably should be tomorrow) and pick up my house . . . it is past time.  While we were waiting on our food to come out, we were eating rolls (from Kelley's Country Cookin') and Jase asked for more butter (he is MY kid!).  I put some butter on a butter knife and handed it to him to spread on there.  He looked at me and Shawn and immediately said "I cannot have a knife".  I told him "it's ok, Mommy and Daddy are here and are watching you." He repeated "I am not allowed to have a knife."  Shawn explained to him again that it was ok because he is with us and he is getting bigger now, he is 5.  :-(  He took the knife and Shawn helped him spread the butter on the roll.  He was adamant about not being able to use a knife.

Yesterday afternoon we drove out to Katy to fellowship with all of the people (and families) that Shawn went with on his mission trip to El Salvador back in February.  It was a nice time and I'm glad that Shawn got to reconnect with them.  Jase played great with one of the boys, Nolan, who was around 10.  Nolan really took Jase under his wing and kept him busy the whole time.  On the way home we asked Jase what he and Nolan did upstairs (it was Nolan's house) and he started telling us about all his Legos and Wii.  Then he said that Nolan wanted to watch a show, but Jase told him that he was not allowed to watch 2 of them, one of them was Transformers.  Shawn and I smiled and looked at each other and told Jase that we were very proud of him for saying that.  He was not afraid to put himself out there and be honest with Nolan.

As a parent, it is great to hear Jase stand up and not be ashamed to admit that he is not allowed to do somethings.  Even though these were small things like using a butter knife or watching a cartoon, I love the courage and boldness he is displaying at such a young age.  I pray that his boldness continues to grow and he has no fear about telling people about Jesus.  We can learn so much from our children!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Swing Time

Well, we survived the garage sale!! My best friend and sister (and brother-in-law) were a HUGE help! And of course Shawn was key in helping set up and take down. I don't feel like I got rid of anything that I couldn't part with and we got some great spending money for Disney, so I consider it a win-win!

After it was all said and done with yesterday, we were out back with the kiddos playing. I was pushing Ally on the swing and man does she love it. She does a great job of holding on and she really enjoys it. I remember Jase at this age and we would take him to the park and he would not want to get off the swing, and I'm talking after 20-30 minutes of swinging him. I'm glad to see she enjoys it just as much as him, and we can do it in the courtesy of our own backyard (thanks to Nanny and PawPaw!).

I looked over at the garden and realized that I hadn't watered it today, so I left Ally on the swing and headed over to water. Can I tell you how excited I am about our garden?!? Our squash has really taken off and there are several flowers on them, which means the squash will grow right behind the flowers! :-) I also saw a couple of flowers on our cantaloupe plants and the watermelon plant might overtake the garden. This was definitely a learning experience . . . I had no idea that so many of the seeds I planted would take and how big some of these plants would get. Next season I will be sure to spread the rows out more and plant less seeds!

While I'm watering I look over and Jase is pushing Ally. Awe, I just love it!! Normally when he tries to do this, she will tell him no and want me to come back (she can be pretty particular at times), but this time she was content with him pushing her and I could tell he was enjoying helping her. I'm so glad I had my phone on me and snapped some pictures of them. It was really sweet. I hope they continue to grow closer to one another as they get older.