Texas Trip

Where do I begin!?

The kids and I had a fabulous week in Texas with our beautiful family. Josiah and Lydia LOVED the plane ride, and were so excited. All the kids were amazing on the plane, I couldn't have asked for more. Except that as soon as we took off I got a massive headache! bummer! So, I guess it was even better that they were so well behaved. 

Josiah's first plane ride!

Grandma and Lydia

Mommy and Benjamin

Both kids could fit in one seat comfortably! haha. Here's a little veggietales time, which didn't last long.

Josiah and Lydia had adorable little backpacks from Grandma for their carry-ons...boy were they cute walking around the airport dragging those. You should've heard all the "Awwww"s we got ;o)

Josiah and Lucy were SO happy to see eachother, that he ran and hugged her at the airport and they giggled the entire ride home. Then, they giggled all through dinner. In the car, Josiah said, "My heart is laughing!" which, I think means "I'm so full of joy I could just explode!" in 4 year old speak. ;o)

                                              The moment Josiah saw Lucy he went running!
                              Here he is about to slam her with a big hug upon their first meeting. So sweet.
               During the week I said to Josiah and Lucy, "Hey, are you guys best friends or cousins? or both?"
                                Josiah said "Umm... both!" and Lucy said, "We're BEST FRIENDS!!!" haha




We got to spend Father's Day celebrating Andrew which was a blast. He's very worth celebrating ;) We went to Mass and then to the stockyards for a bit, and then had a great lunch at Joe T's... which I'm VERY glad I got to experience. It's like a little tropical oasis in the middle of the dessert- with fabulous food! I fully understand now why Laura loves it so much!

                                Happy Father's Day Andrew- a ring pop and a beer.... niiiiice ;o)

We learned Lydia loves guacamole. She hogged the plate we were all supposed to be sharing!

Early in the week... Monday night? (we did so much I can't remember the exact order of things, but who really cares?) :) Anyway, Andrew took me for a ride on his motorcycle. It was FUN... FAST... I won't tell you how fast he went... ;) haha. He took me down a great little back road and showed me a beautiful marina. Sorry I didn't have my camera for that view! The sun was setting over this lake and it was amazing. It was a lot of fun.

Here's Benjamin being his usual charming self...

On Tuesday we went to the store, and took 5 small children with us. Boy, were we a sight!

Imagine this, and me, nursing in a sling. Ha Ha!

Yes, we turned just a few heads. All the kiddos were good though.

I have a LOT of pictures and a thousand great memories I could share. We had such a great time! Here's just a tiny bit. I'll keep posting some more throughout the week.

Texas or Bust!

Well folks, we leave TOMORROW for Texas!!! We are so excited! We can't even express our excitement and joy at getting to see and spend time with Andrew, Laura and our gorgeous goddaughters Lucy and Molly!

Josiah has a one-track mind. He is so excited he is literally counting down the days. He keeps asking, "Is today the day we fly on the plane and go see Lucy?" Yesterday we were playing in the sandbox... and our little neighbor Niya came by. She's 8 years old. Their adorable conversation went something like this...

Niya:  Hi Josiah!
Josiah:  Hi Niya.
Niya:  Hey, you got a hair cut.
Josiah:  Yeah, it's a buzz cut. 'Cause it's REALLY hot in Texas!
Niya: (Looking confused, with no knowledge or our trip...) "oh... ok"
Josiah: Yeah we're going to Texas in 2 more days!
Niya: Who are you going to see?
Josiah: Lucy, of course! And Molly Pops. And Aunt Laura and Uncle Andrew. But Lydia calls him "Anndooo".


Umm... okay there was much more,  but, I don't remember it all.

When Grandma asked him yesterday, "Why don't we just walk to Texas?"
Josiah responded, "Because it's too far away Grandma! We can't walk there it would take like 48 days!"

LOL

Oh my, I just can't WAIT to be there. We'll be back in a little over a week with lots of pictures and stories to share. Stay tuned! :)

Josiah the Artist!

Josiah's favorite thing to do (currently) is draw and color, write words and "sound out" sentences.

Thanks to our (wonderful) friends, Josiah received a drawing book for his birthday. He quickly enjoyed flipping through and learning all the ways to create new drawings.

Here are some of his latest pictures over the past couple weeks...

"Josiah's Map"

Josiah drawing an Alligator over top of his crab...

Oh my goodness...

Wow, ok, things here are crazy.

So, we all have a virus. The doctor said that it'd last 3-5 days and we're just hoping that it's ALL BETTER by Saturday morning and that we do NOT bring germs on our trip!

The big day is this Saturday- we head to Texas for a little over a week--- Yeehaw!!! :) We are so excited it's not even funny. Of course, now we're all sick and just praying that it'll be GONE by then.

The good news is, it really isn't that bad. Josiah and myself (and Ben) seem to have a mild case of the virus and it just kinda is in the background and we're still functioning fine. Lydia has been a mess though, and apparently has "multiple ulcers on her tonsils" which is why she keeps saying, "neck... hurt!" :( Poor little thing. The doctor said it's a common virus but it can present itself stronger if it's the FIRST time you get it, so it's probably the first time she's caught this virus and to just let it run it's course.

*sigh*

Well, hope you are all healthy!! And we'll see you when we get BACK and will have LOTS of fun pictures and stories to share! :)

Pieces of my Heart

So on Wednesday night Michael laid on the floor to talk to Benjamin, and then Josiah climbs on top of him. And then Lydia climbed on top of Josiah... and I was, of course, oblivious to the situation until I hear, "Honey... you might want to get a picture of this..."

Oh goodness.... they crack me up.
Here they are ladies and gentlemen... the pieces of my heart.

Photo Highlights from our weekend

Well, apparently all my family had a wonderful time without me this past Saturday... ha ha ha...just kidding everyone. But anyway, here's some cute pictures from the B&O Railroad Museum! Josiah and Grampy had a great time I think, can you tell?

Josiah and Nana riding the train! Love how he always SMILES at the camera and looks the other way.

serious train conductor!

Wow, next to that wheel he looks tiny!

We all had a great weekend visiting with family. On Sunday we had a cookout and got to see Uncle Ken and Aunt Emily too...

Aunt Emily teaching Lydia how to pop a snapple cap, what fun! :)

Nana gave Josiah a "build your own birdhouse" and apparently my son can paint as well as he can draw! Here's the very cool birdhouse that Josiah painted and (we) put together.

DO YOU LOVE COOKIES?

Who doesn't love cookies!?

You must try these sugar cookies. These sugar cookies are not only incredibly cute and perfect for any occasion, but they are irresistably tasty! They are so addicting that once you try one you'll eat the whole batch, and then have to order more! And trust me, it's worth it.

Check out See Jane Bake today and pick out your favorite cookie shape and place an order! :)
http://www.seejaneliving.com/

Photo Op!

Out on the patio the other day... Big Brother wanted to hold baby brother, so of course sister wanted to join the party... aka- photo Op for Mommy! :)