The good, the bad, and the rainy...

The good and the rainy:
Friday night family dinner began with a pizza party on the back porch.  Junior knew that the rain was coming in, but I ignored that fact because it felt SO good outside.  The kids and I enjoyed our pizza as it started to sprinkle. Tyler suggested that we get the umbrella out for the table so we wouldn't get wet. Noone mentioned going inside. haha. It didn't rain for very long, and we ended up staying outside for a while.

The Bad:
Unfortunately, Mr. Tyler had been in trouble at school that week, and was rewarded with some extra homeowrk.  And Ms. Olivia seemed to think that it would be a good idea to play on the monkey bars at the day care with her boot on her broken foot, and fell off and hit her head, so Ms. Olivia got some work too.

Tyler's assignment: copy all of his sight words from the flash cards onto writing paper.  Olivia's assignment: write sentences with Tyler's sight words when he finished with each one.

Leap Day

The kids and I almost always have a lot of fun together, but yesterday, we were a little wilder than usual :)

The afternoon started with a stop by Ingles to get hotdogs after talking to my cousin Stacy about what she was eating. I very rarely make hot dogs, but when I heard her say that's what they were having, it was all I could think of!! We did have a little bit of a problem before we got there. Olivia started crying about her food hurting, and I know she was ready to get her boot off, but I wouldn't take it off of her until we got home, so I asked her if she wanted to see if Daddy was home so she could go take her boot off or if she wanted to go to the store with us.  It was a hard choice for her, but she decided to go... as long as she could ride in the buggy!

And Tyler (that smart little cookie... he reminds me of myself ;)) requested to do his homework while we were in the store so he could play and help daddy when we got home. I got the car buggy so he could sit in the car and prop on the steering wheel to do his homework while Olivia rode in the cart.

We wondered around the store aimlessly while we picked up a few things that we needed along with the hot dogs and buns.  I have a hard time functioning in the grocery store anymore without a list and my book of coupons!!! Meanwhile, Tyler finished his homework, and we discovered that Ingles gives free cookies to kids! They were pretty excited about it :) I was too, and a little jealous.

After the homework and the cookie, Tyler decided to do a little Surfing USA on the car while we headed to the check out line. Yes, I'm that mom that lets her child sit on top of the car. Not the whole time, though, just in the last leg of the event.

When we got home, Tyler was in charge of arranging the tots on the sheet pan while I warmed up the grill and laid out the condiments. And after they were in the oven, he set up camp to watch them cook! lol

That didn't last very long, because when I went out to check the hot dogs, he followed me, which was fine, but then I heard a whacking noise. I looked back to find Tyler "chopping wood." Turns out, his dad gave him a log and a hatchet to chop up small sticks while he has been splitting wood. um... yeah..... I'm not going to say much else about that....

After dinner, Daddy took Tyler to get a hair cut, and Olivia and I had our dessert in the bathtub!!! Well, she was in the tub. I was in the floor beside her.  We chatted about school and reading and our favorite foods while she soaked, and we both enjoyed one of my all time favorite foods..... Ice Cream!!!!!!!!!!

The Love Boat....

Our second anniversary is March 7th. And since we had an instant family when we got married, we ( I ) decided that we should so something every year on our anniversary for just us two. Last year, Vegas, this year, a cruise!! So why am I already blogging about our anniversary cruise when its not March the 7th yet? because it was $200 cheaper to go during the last week of February instead of the first week of March! Annnnnnnnddddddddddddddd............... It just so happened that we were in the Bahamas on my birthday!!! and the Captain's dinner also just happened to fall on my birthday, so I had a rockin' lobster dinner, followed by DOUBLE dessert!!! I couldn't have planned it better myself!!!!!

Here's the cake they brought me (although it wasn't as good as the tiramisu that I'd just eaten).

Our boat is the one on the right.  We stopped here for a while after we got off to watch that boat in the background back in and tie up. It was pretty cool to see :).

And here we are at Senor Frog's waiting for the Catamaran to come get us to take us snorkeling.

We had a wonderful time, and feel so blessed to be able to do things like this together!

That's what you get for jumping on the bed!!

Last weekend, Olivia and Tyler were at their mother's, where they have a lot of fun on their weekends.  Their mom and step dad have 5 kids between them, all there on the same weekends, live with their grandpa, and have their uncle and cousin over most weekends they're there. Undoubtedly, its like a constant party, and I know they love their stepsisters. Sunday afternoon, Olivia and the stepsisters and cousin were cheering and playing on the bed... but one didn't fall off an bump her head. Olivia FLIPPED off and BROKE her FOOT in 3 PLACES!!!!

Junior took her to the doctor and a specialist Monday morning and afternoon, and she is currently out of school for a week, and in a walking boot.  I'm taking her for her follow up Monday afternoon to see where to go from here.

Trains and Automobiles...

Last Saturday morning, after snuggling, watching tv, and cooking breakfast, Tyler was ready to play! Olivia and Daddy were still snuggling on the couch because Olivia didnt' feel good :(, so I was the one who got invited to play :).  Tyler loves to play with cars, and does so on a daily basis, but his Mawmaw Darla gave him a cool train for Christmas that he also wanted to play with.  We reassembled the track and got the train going, but after a few times around the track, Tyler got bored with it. That's when we brought in the cars! (and dinosaurs, spare tires, a helicopter, and I believe, a bracelet). We then proceeded to have the train haul various cars and other small toys. It was pretty fun to see how we could stack them. But the best part was to see Tyler's creativity and reasoning skills kicking in.  He's a pretty smart little cookie!

You snooze, you lose!

Tyler had just gotten some popcorn at the auction last Saturday night when it was time to leave.  We let him take it with him, but unfortunately, when he got settled down in the back seat of the car, he fell asleep :(

When I first looked back, he was asleep with his hand in the bag, but by the time I turned around and got my phone ready to take a picture, Olivia reached in just in time for me to catch her stealing his popcorn! HAHA LOVE IT!!  I guess it's true what they say, "You snooze, you lose!"... Your Popcorn!

The continuing saga of the Orthodontist...

If you have had, or have children who have or have had braces, you know that you will see your orthodontist more than most of your extended family.  Since Olivia is getting her first orthodontic appliance at the ripe ole age of 7, we will be making many visits to the wonderful Dr. Sosebee and his staff. She will have this "lingual arch" until time for her to get braces, then who knows how long it will take until she's done with that.  I figure we're looking at 5-6 years, at least!  So far, I'm very pleased with Dr. Sosebee's office.  One lady, Renee, even recognized me from when I had braces :).

Our visit was relatively easy, we were called back within minutes of arriving, it only took a few minutes to do what needed to be done in Olivia's mouth for that day, and the girl that was fitting the bands on Olivia's teeth was Oh so very patient with a curious little brother.

And in following suit with other doctor visits, your reward for being a brave patient is Ice Cream!!!

And lucky little brother not only got to leave school early and play on my phone in the office (which I rarely let him do), but he also got in on the Brusters Reward!!!!!!! :-)