Boycotting School Photos!

School pictures are a racket! (in my opinion)  I can't stand paying for photos of my kids before I can even see them, sending them to school looking picture perfect but not knowing what they'll look like by the time their class finally gets to see the photographer, and then dealing with the inevitable "picture retake day."  No thanks!

Because of my school picture hangup, I've really dropped the ball the last couple of years.  So...a couple weeks ago, after getting home from church, we took the kids to our very own backyard and snapped some quick pics.  To my surprise, they actually turned out pretty cute.

Mason - 12 years old, 7th grade

Logan - 10 years old, 5th grade

Brady - 7 years old, 2nd grade

Claire - 4 years old, pre-k

I love these cute little monkeys!  How did I get so lucky?

Halloween 2013

I just love Halloween!  I love how excited the kids get, decorating for the season and helping the kids get all dressed up.  This year, Claire was a ladybug (complete with a cute little dress I found for $2 at Goodwill), Brady was an army guy (2/3 of his costume can be reused for everyday wear), Logan was a ninja (with a $6 set of accessories) and Mason was a "windy guy" (the cost...exactly zero dollars!).  Gotta love cheap costumes!

To make things even better, it was 75 degrees that day.  Perfect weather for trick-or-treating.

Scott did an amazing job on our pumpkin this year.  When he puts his mind to something, he gives it 110%.  Sorry for the picture quality...I uploaded it from instagram.  

Scott and I throw a Halloween party every year.  The first couple times, we invited tons of people and it just felt really crazy and impersonal.  In more recent years, we've scaled it down and just invited some of our closest friends.  This is the first year we didn't do a couple's costume....

Scott went as Walter White from Breaking Bad (a show I don't watch) and I opted for something a little more "punny."  I was a Dunkin' Donut!  The crazy thing is that I wore Mason's clothes and shoes.  When did my baby get so big???

I usually do a sit-down dinner, but this year I decided to simplify things....everyone brought something to share and we ended up having PLENTY of food!

I hope you all had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN too!

Easter 2013

Mason 12 - Logan 9 - Brady 7 - Claire 4

The Big Man Turns 7!

Well, it's official....Brady is 7.  Oh, how the time flies (cue "Sunrise, Sunset").  Brady is such a fun, funny and loving kid.  He brings so much light and laughter to our family....and occasionally some inappropriate humor.  It's hard to believe that our once grumpy, hard-to-please, crying-all-the-time baby (Sorry Brady, just being honest!) has grown up to be such a fun, easy kid.  He makes us all laugh everyday and his teachers have even told us what a great sense of humor he has.  He's rarely serious, but when he is, you'll know it.  Every once in awhile, he'll just walk up and say, "I have to give you something."  He'll then proceed to give us a kiss or a hug and tell us he loves us.  I don't know how many times he's told me I'm the best mom in the world (especially on days we all know I'm not)....maybe he's using a little reverse psychology.  That sounds like something he'd do!  There's never a dull moment with this kid and we're so glad he's in our family!  We love you Brady!!!

Cute little guy!

A new REDS shirt courtesy of Grandma Weez & Papa D.  Thanks, guys!  He loves it!

When we asked Brady to pose for a picture with his siblings, he informed us that he felt like the Lincoln Memorial in that chair....hence the serious pose.  Part of us thought that was really weird and the other part thought it was pretty smart.  We were surprised he even knew what the Lincoln Memorial was!

It's so hard to get a normal picture out of this kid!

See what I mean?

There we go!  How can you not love that little face???

Brady always seems to get the short end of the stick when it comes to birthday parties, so we decided to throw him a real one this year.  He opted for a party at the movie theater (we didn't even know they did that).  On a side note, I've decided I don't like hosting birthday parties for kids under 10 in my own house.  It's just too crazy, too messy and too stressful.  It's so nice to go somewhere and have someone else do all the work.  The kids had a great time and a lot of fun!  What more can you ask for? 

We can officially call Project Birthday Party....a SUCCESS!

Another Blog....

So, I've been thinking about starting a food blog for awhile now.  I have a weird fascination with taking pictures of what I eat and thought a blog would be a fun way to keep a food diary of sorts.  It's not much right now, but feel free to head on over and check it out.  http://foodsi8.blogspot.com/

Playing Catch-Up...

The end and beginning of each year always seem a little crazy.  Needless to say, I've fallen behind on my blog posts.  Here's a little update....

Christmas was fun!  Everyone was healthy this year {until the day after when I came down with the plague...ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.}  Whatever it was, it wasn't fun.  Here's a cute pic of the kids in front of the tree.  I can't believe how big they're all getting.

Next on the list of exciting events....Mason's 12th birthday {and maybe even more noteworthy - We celebrated one whole year of no diapers in this house!!!!}

Mason's brothers definitely made him feel loved on his special day!

He had a few friends over for pizza and video games.  Easiest. Party. Ever!!!

The next weekend, Grandma Weez and Papa D came for a visit and for Mason's ordination.

It was such a special day.

We also got to celebrate Scott and Grandma Weez's birthdays!  January is quite the birthday month around here!

We had a great time with Scott's parents and were so sad to see them leave.  They helped out with so many little projects {and must have been tidying up all the time because our house is way messier now that they're gone.} 

Brady also played in his very first basketball game....

If you are unfamiliar with his personality, these pictures are a pretty good representation.  :) 

Christmas Town @ Busch Gardens

After a first failed attempt to enjoy the festivities at Christmas Town, we decided to try again.  We tried to go a couple weekends ago, but got turned away when we were just seven cars from the gate.  Apparently, the park was filled to capacity and there were no more parking spaces.  I've never heard of an amusement park running out of parking, but it was just our luck.  

We invited my mom to go with us this time and had no trouble getting in....it probably had something to do with the fact that it was FREEZING and WINDY!  We came prepared with hats, scarves & gloves and were excited to see what all the fuss was about.

The kids were a bit naughty, so we stuck them in the pillory....

I think they learned their lesson.  ;-)

The decorations were amazing, and each country was decorated with different colors/types of lights.  My phone camera doesn't quite do it justice.

Here we are in Germany, celebrating our family heritage.....

The lights were so amazing!

The kids rode some rides and loved it.  Their tolerance for the cold was substantially higher than ours. 

Here are some of the lights in Italy.  It was truly amazing....every branch was lit!

I wish the pictures of these lights captured how spectacular they were in person.

This was Pompeii.  I can't imagine how long it must have taken to put all these lights up.

Here's Logan getting a ride from Dad.  His hip (torn hip flexor) was bothering him from all the walking.

Here are some of the kids just being silly.  They loved the giant candy canes.  We were go grateful Logan wore that crazy hat.  It made it a lot easier to keep an eye on him.

One of the highlights of the evening was Scott surprising us with funnel cakes.  And not just your ordinary funnel cakes....these were topped with ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream.  Yum!

We had a great time!  What a fun way to start Christmas break!