February 28 - He Loves His Stuffed Animals

I just have to share this sweet photo with you guys. Many of you know that Luke loves video games and YouTube, many of you may not know that he also loves stuffed animals. For awhile, he had them tucked all around him in bed (getting him into bed was a process but he had limited room) and now they have their own area in his room. Last week we put him to bed then heard him walking around upstairs. I went up to check on him and he had written all of their names on a piece of paper and then taped it to his wall. So sweet!

February 26 - Chili Cook-Off

Go Texan Day

 Last Friday was Go Texan Day which means....it's rodeo time! As anyone who has spent anytime in Texas knows, the rodeo is a huge deal around here. To celebrate, the kids are invited to dress up in their western wear. In first grade, there is a dad's chili cook-off and dancing in the gym. Luke was so excited for JD to come in and cook with his class, he was up and dressed at 6:30am. They ended up wining 'Most Creative Chili' and JD had fun watching Luke do some square dancing, the hockey pockey and the funky chicken in the cafeteria. 

I realize I've been slacking with the blog lately so here is a quick update on the kiddos:

picture day

Julia
Our 4th grade teachers don't believe in homework this year so Julia has had a lot of time to play after school with her friends (other than Mondays and Tuesdays, she stayed late both of those days for robotics). She is a total tom-boy and all about 'being active.' She loves to run, play soccer, tag, climb trees, anything that involves moving. I 'forced' her to dress up for picture day last week and she was very annoyed that I wanted her hair down and she wasn't wearing active wear (because "how am I supposed to play at recess mom? I cannot run in jeans and this fancy shirt?"). Never fear, after the picture was taken, she immediately changed into shorts and a t-shirt. She is pretty much 'all about her friends' these days but is still a great big sister. She eats a bowl of oatmeal and Cheerios every morning for breakfast, love pb&J for lunch and eats almost everything for dinner (usually 2-3 servings!). She loves swim team and is excited for a track meet next month.

Luke
Our 1st grade teachers do believe in homework. Luke has specific books he has to read every week and gets a list of 20 homework activities at the beginning of the month that are due at the end of the month. He also now has writing homework weekly, which he is not a fan of. He is best friends with Serene, who lives around the corner and they play often, although he still spends a lot of time playing video games. Swimming has been a challenge since December as the indoor high school pool we used to go to is closed for renovations. We've been going to an outdoor pool that is supposedly heated, but it's been a cold winter here and he has only had it through practice twice (he lasts 30min out of 45min). Now that the weather is warming up, hopefully he will be more excited to go to practice. He loves pancakes, chocolate breakfast shakes, oatmeal, turkey and cheese sandwiches and yogurt. He loves ice cream for dessert every night and usually clears his plate simply so he can get dessert afterwards. 

under the sink is FUN

Jillian
Our crazy little baby munchkin is almost 18 months old and so much fun! She's a climber (like Luke was) and gets into everything-the chairs, kitchen table, couch, you name it. She loves to climb into cabinets too. She can run now and is quite fast. She loves to laugh, giggle, eat (she especially loves to sit in our laps and eat) and...eat some more. She loves to open her drawers and pull all the clothes out. Her favorite sayings "Dog!" and "Uh Oh." She is still a wonderful napper and sleeps fantastic at night. She rarely cries and is just one happy little girl. 

Amelia
Amelia is still the furry love of my life. She continues to slow down but she still wants to eat and go for walks, so that's great. She sleeps about 20h a day and is completely deaf now. I think she is also blind in one eye but I'm not certain. 

February 20 - Swim Girls

Jules, Reese & Kennedy

This past weekend was the last short course championship meet until the fall. Julia has been practicing sporadically since 'the constant sickness' started in December and she was very nervous for the meet. No worries though-once she was with her girls, Kennedy and Reese, all worries went out the window. The best part of meet for the girls? Hanging out in the tent. They spent so much time laughing and giggling together, it makes my heart happy that they are so close. And bonus... all of the girls did amazing and both Julia and Kennedy earned personal bests in every race. Incredible! 

Eat My Bubbles! Kiss My Splash! Go Aquastar!

February 17 - Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's boxes

What a whirlwind week, let's dive in. For the first time ever, both kids had to make Valentine's boxes this year for their class parties. Julia was initially was stressed out about this as her class was having a competition for Best Sports Theme, Best Use of Hearts and Best Overall. Being Julia, she 'wanted to win.' I told them they had to do their own boxes and they ended up having fun with them. Julia did an old school I-pod and Luke did a monster. Julia was a very nice big sister and helped Luke a lot with his box. They have had ice cream sundae parties with their classes on actual Valentine's day and it was fun being at school and helping out. 

our littlest Valentine

For Valentine's dinner, I surprised everyone in the family by cooking a nice dinner. 'Wait a second Christine, you don't ever cook nice dinners?' If you consider crock pot meals nice dinners-then yes, I cook a lot of fantastic meals. On this rare occasion, I put together a delicious meal of steak, shrimp and crab cakes. We even had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Yum!!

This weekend is relatively slow weekend for us. I spent the morning picking up cookies with our troop cookie mom and organizing them for each girl. Next step-organize our specific orders, that will take awhile! Julia has a swim meet tomorrow afternoon that should be fun. 

Happy Saturday everyone!! Enjoy these pics from our school fair last weekend.

Julia and fellow GS helping with the chili cookoff

Luke helped me at the Angry Birds booth all day - it was packed all day, he was a huge help!

February 11 - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

love these ladies

Special thanks to everyone-friends and family-for making my fortieth (OMG, how am I 40?!) special. I've received so many calls, texts and Facebook posts, you guys know how to make a girl (middle aged woman?) feel special. 

Last weekend Teresa planned something for me with the GS moms. All she told me was to dress 80's and be ready at 6.45pm, Tammy would be picking me up. I've had an 80s Halloween costume that I've worn several times an wouldn't you know, I just donated it to charity a few months ago. So Julia and I hit up the mall and while I couldn't find anything bright or fluorescent, I found an 80s type rock/pop star outfit that gave off an early Madonna vibe. Julia thought I looked hideous but I can rock an 80s outfit like no other. After getting dressed, adding gold jewelry and lots of hair spray and makeup, it was time!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Tammy picked me up and we were off to...Painting with a Twist! The GS moms were there (along with a few of my other friends) all dressed up in their 80s wonder. We had appetizers, drinks, delicious cake and then we all painted blue bonnet landscapes. It was a ton of fun!! Afterwards, Teresa, Tammy, Catherine and I all went out dancing to a local 80s club. Amazingly, other people there were also dressed up so we didn't stand out. It was a fabulous night!!

Last night, JD and I went out for my birthday dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in Rice Village. This morning, he and the kids brought me breakfast in bed (pancakes, fresh fruit and champagne, mmm) and I spent a wonderful half day in bed reading. It was simply divine!! JD took care of the kids and even started the weekend laundry. I finally came down for lunch and Olympics. Best day ever! 

Thank you to Teresa for planning an amazing party

Painting with a Twist

after-hours dancing