Birthday boy

I can't believe my little man is 2! Hes growing into quite the little boy. He's got such a huge personality and even though he keeps me on my toes, he warms my heart daily with his huge heart and hilarious disposition. Such a happy kid, it's impossible to wake up in the morning without beaming right back at that smiling face. Happy birthday, my little buddy. I feel truly blessed to have such happy children who remind me every day for all I have to be thankful for.  

Today he put this hat on in the car and I just had to snap a pic.

Drawing

Sofia's drawing skills are improving quickly.  Started with just smiley faces and recently she started adding the bodies.  This is a picture from her magnadoodle . She says it's her and Gabe with their balls.

Soccer

Sofia is getting more into soccer these days, which makes Mike pretty excited.  It's definitely cute to watch and fun because the kids really are improving. 

Somehow she has also already perfected the art of fake soccer injuries hahaha. She did this 'fall' about three different times 

Here is how Gabe kept himself busy during soccer.  He actually ran a couple drills too :)

Best part was the silly string war at the end !

Donkeys

That was the craft today for the kids at Bible study.  They learned the story about Jesus riding into town on a donkey and so, naturally, they made donkeys.  So funny. . . only a matter of time before they become weapons. ha.  But, it was really sweet, when I walked into Sofia's class, the only little boy who was there today was dressed as Jesus and all the rest of the kids were waving palm branches and acting out the story.  Pretty adorable.  I walked up to the classroom and my friend said "I have to wait here, because Ryan is being Jesus right now."  Pretty hilarious and so cute, I wish I had taken a pic of that!  I did get a few pics of the kids walking out on their donkeys :)

Open house 2014

Sofia's school had their open house last night and boy was Sofia pumped up about it! She could not wait and it was definitely sweet to see what she does in class and how she interacts with her friends, teachers, and activities.  Their most recent and showcased project was self portraits.  They did a side by side comparison from September until now.  It really is pretty interesting how all the kids' first ones were very short but the ones from this week were very wordy! Definitely is a correct assessment because Sofia never stops talking. Ever. ... Ever. Sometimes I have to ask her for a mental break because I can't keep up with her questions much less answer them to her satisfaction! Here are the pictures of her self portraits and then a picture with her teachers who I absolutely adore, Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Quinn.  A fun family evening for sure. 

In September she said she was flying to Milwaukee! Tear! 

And this is pretty much exactly how she talks with no breath in between thoughts :)

Cute Videos

Here is the video of when we presented them with their birthday present, a new (to them) swingset.  We found a great deal on craigslist . . . special thanks to my brother Matt for helping to put this together.  Mike definitely could not have done it without him. As you can see, Sof and Gabe were pretty pumped.  I have been pretty pumped about it as well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYOebOLp0NY&feature=youtu.be

Here is a video of most of the little girls from the party singing along with the Let It Go scene.  I mean . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5jnU3WE4Gs&feature=youtu.be

Happy Fourth Birthday, Sweet Sofia!

Seriously how has it been four years?  How is my baby girl growing up so fast?  I know I'm not the first parent to feel this way but my heart aches and swells at the same time as I watch her grow. On one hand, she is such a little person now and I love that she and I can just "hang out" and have conversations.  On the other hand, I miss being able to cradle her to sleep in my arms and all the other baby things I sometimes miss.  Let's be honest, I still try to cradle her in my arms.  The great thing is, she still lets me :) Oh, and the things she says. . . today she was looking at wedding pictures and asked "Mom, who babysitted me when you and Daddy got married?" I mean . . .she's just such a joy to be around.  I feel truly blessed.

So, this year we wavered on throwing her a party.  It's just been a crazy year but we've realized that's probably how it's going to be from here on out so we said what the heck.  And since it's the first year she's truly CARED about having a party, we decided kind of last minute to go for it. She has been talking about her birthday party for like the past two months so we kind of had to do it! She's obsessed with the movie Frozen (as am I) so it was a no-brainer.  We kind of had to home grow this party because all the Frozen "stuff" at the store is totally sold out.  It turned out great and I know she had a great time having all her little friends over.  Every time a new friend would arrive she would yell "It's my birthday, and I'm Elsa!" (We made her a dress to look just like Elsa from the movie that she obviously loved.)

It was a super crazy busy day!  Luckily we had help all weekend from my mom, Roxanne and Martine with party prep!  The day of the party, I took the kids to church so Mike could get the yard ready.  Then, I dropped the kids off at my parents' house (so they could hang out with their BFF Martine one more time) while I got the cake and balloons.  We then sped home to feed the kids lunch, get Sofia to soccer practice and Gabe down for a nap. . . whew.  Then 4:00 came way too soon and it was party time.  I'd say a successful party overall, we all had a great time.  Not only was it great for the kids to have all these friends here, but fun for us to see our friends too.  Although, it's never enough time to catch up with everyone!

A close up of some of the "party table"

 My favorite decoration, ha :) 

 Her cake

Queen Elsa

 The swingset we got the kids for both of their birthdays (since Gabe's is only three weeks away)

 Sof and some of her friends hanging out watching Frozen

Mike made snowflakes :) and I bought some

 Pin the nose on Olaf

 I love this picture for some reason.  Look at that happy smile :)

 Singing Happy Birthday

 Cake time

 Mike and I were slightly worried about judgement from other parents about our non parenting of Gabe during the party!  We pretty much did not watch Gabe at all b/c we were both so busy . . . and he loved it.  He walked around barefooted and a hot mess the entire time and I've never seen him happier.  This pictures below pretty much tells the story.  

 After everyone left, we opened presents  as a family.  Luckily Grandma thought to give Gabe a gift for when Sofia was opening.  He got tons of new matchbox cars that have kept him busy ever since. 

Brenham

This past weekend we had family in town.  Well, my mom did but same thing :)  Our cousins from NY (my mom's first cousin, Roxanne, and her daughter Martine) came to see us and we had a really great time with them.  My kids absolutely adored Martine and will miss her tremendously!  She really is like the kid whisperer! If only she lived here - she would be an amazing babysitter! They got in late Thursday and on Friday we took them to Brenham to see some of Texas and of course the Blue Bell Creamery.  YUM.  We had to make a quick obligatory stop in a bluebonnet patch for a few pics.  I wish I had stopped on the way there b/c there was a HUGE lush field on the other side of the highway but we were at risk of missing the last tour.  But we made it and came back home with two exhausted children and even (happily) capped off the evening with a great family dinner and ritas at Lupe Tortilla - a definite favorite Mexican restaurant.

The crew before our tour.  I'm the one who made us all look like geeks - we had to wear the hats!

 Trying to get a pic of these two in front of the Blue Bell mural. HA

 On the way home

 Before they fell asleep . .. 

An insane yet perfect weekend.  So much fun.  We topped it off with a Frozen birthday party - post to come soon! 

Gabe the Starfish

Gabe got promoted to the next level of swim class this weekend!  So proud of my little guy :)  It will still be parent/child but it's the last level before he starts going "alone".  I of course had to take a picture immediately upon receiving the award despite the fact that poor little guy was freezing cold. Terrible mom, all for a picture. haha.  He actually laughed right after this, he likes to ham it up.