Summer Surprise Visit!

We had some wonderful last minute guests this week: Grandma, Aunt Liz and Aunt JuJu came to visit us!!!

When we got the news on Saturday, we told KK and AJ. KK immediately started jumping up and down, screaming with joy (literally screaming). She was so so so so so excited, she looked over to her little brother who wasn't moving and said "Grandma Liz and JUJU ARE COMING"... AJ took a moment to soak it all in then announced in a loud voice: "And STEEEEEVEEEE!" (sorry little man, Uncle Steve will come soon). It was so cute how he started screaming Steve's name and jumping like a wild man. Trust me, the girls coming was just as much fun for him, he had plenty to be jumping for! It seems just as JuJu and KK have an extra special relationship, so do Steve and AJ (we just didn't know about it until this moment).

Here is a picture of everyone (minus me, trust me I am in plenty others):



And just to show you how very happy and excited we were to share our home, toys, pool and fun with our family - here is a picture that pretty much sums up how we all felt about the visit:



So its 100+ degrees out - so after hugs and greetings, we got busy and headed to the pool to cool down and splash around. There were still many a hug as we couldn't believe they were actually here with us and getting to swim in our pools.





Above: Yes, Grandma and KK were going a little gangsta on us at the pool and making signs... Below, JuJu has a water gun and is on the move. This picture had us all laughing out loud when we saw it later. What is JuJu doing alone in the water with AJ's water gun?... watch out! I hear the theme music to Jaws when I look at this picture - I love it! And I am sure JuJu loves that I put this up for everyone to see - but its funny (to me anyway).



Grandma and AJ having some laughs and hugs:


We had pizza lunch and played until we were worn out. We went home to nap/watch a movie and rest up so we could come back and play again that night. Again, the kids (and the adults) had so much fun being together.

The next morning, Daddy headed to work and the girls (plus AJ) went to the museum to play and escape the heat.



We kept super busy... AJ played trains, Grandma and Liz built some towers - we danced, we played! We did crafts. It was greatness. I think pictures speak volumes:

KK wasn't going to let either of her aunts out of her sight:

The kids and I found some musical instruments and decided to start a band... a dancing band... This second picture speaks volumes. First - my calling as a lion tamer at the circus is apparent for all to see. Second - AJ looks concerned and who can blame him, his mom and sister are going crazy for all to see.


After playing in the Children's Museum, we went on to KK's favorite place: the Craft room. We decided to all make some party hats and then we had some fun with the camera to document the occasion.



Our final products: Party HATS! Brilliant JuJu came up with a string to hold the hats to our heads. Liz went for a Rapunzel look while KK made a big star with her name on it.



A cute picture of the girls in their final hats:


AJ was so excited about his hat (he is a big boy, he did it all by himself with some help from Mommy):


All of us with our hats - note the kids aren't cheesing it up. AJ was mad he was told to stop playing blocks for the picture, and KK was confused if the pictures were done. Oh well, at least our Aunts are smiling it up!



Grandma decided to be more creative and made super sweet flags for KK and AJ to keep that said Grandma Loves them.. so cute and very creative - bonus points to Grandma for thinking outside the box!



While the kids had a quick picnic lunch, our Aunts entertained us with a hula hoop contest. It was all fun and games until a couple small children were taken out (just kidding, the kids were scratch free).



We ended the visit with some time in the "wind" room as I call it. AJ and Grandma worked together to make paper cups fly in the wind tunnel, while KK and the Aunts built paper airplanes and launched them. All around a great day together with lots of fun and laughs!

The next day, Mommy and Daddy went to work and everyone else stayed home to have some fun. Its hard to document the fun the kids had that day and every day Grandma and Liz and JuJu were here. Basically, they had three people doting on them, loving them, and playing with them nonstop.... while I can't really expand on it, it warms my heart that for a few days, their little hearts were full and they were spending time with very special people. Getting to show them how big they have grown since the last time they were together and sharing in some special fun that they will remember until we can get together again. As KK and AJ get bigger, we see just how hard it is for all of us to be so far apart from one another. To have family closer, to share more of our day to day lives would be such a blessing - but for now, we try to cherish the time we do have together and do our best to see one another as much as possible. Here are some pictures that we can have until the next time we get to be together. Note that some of these are from what I call the "liz cam":





Saying goodbye was very hard. KK's little chin wobbled as their car turned the corner to head home (AJ was a little more relaxed about the send off, running inside to the train table to finish organizing his trains just so and a little oblivious about what was going down). KK was so sweet as she hugged me and said how much she loved Grandma, Aunt Liz and Aunt JuJu. I must have looked a little sad, as she told me in her brave little voice "It's okay Mommy, we will see them very soon, right?".... Of course baby girl! Until next time...



We love you Grandma, Aunt Liz and Aunt JuJu! Thank you so much for driving that drive to spend a few special days with us! We loved every minute and cannot wait to see you all again (KK said during TCU football in the fall and as she appears to be the authority on these things, we will hold you to that)! HUGS!!!

Bye Bye Beach Bum

So today we said goodbye to sweet AJ's long locks of hair! Until this afternoon, our theme song when brushing AJ's hair was Justin Bieber's classic "Oh Baby Baby Baby Oh"... and AJ sings along with us. Here is the final shot of my beautiful, blue-eyed baby boy - looking way way way too big all of a sudden:



Isn't he the most adorable little boy on the planet? the universe? I am biased, but this little man is going to make girl's hearts skip a beat (I mean mine already does when he enters the room).

So why did we do it? Maybe it was the summer heat... we aren't sure, but suddenly we asked little man if he wanted hair that looked like Daddy. He immediately agreed, and went so far to say he wanted to look like Dylan too (the friend he looks up to at daycare and loves so much). Here is our "before" picture taken a few weeks ago - long locks and all...



So before I could chicken out, as I love our Bieber look on him so much... love running my fingers through his hair... love watching him put in bows and ask for a ponytail some mornings (he is a little kid, its cute for now). We did it! AJ was pumped - and all smiles. Here are some pictures and a video of the event.




Ignore my talking on the video -- the women cutting KK's hair was trying to sell me some expensive shampoo as I was taping... irritating. KK and I played beauty parlor during naptime today and she put some "extra" leave in conditioner in her hair to make her pretty. I had no idea it would lead to a lecture but it did. Anyway - ignore and focus on the little man and all that hair falling off wow! I promise - my kiddos bathe and shampoo deeply each night :-)



KK & AJ after their haircuts:



KK cut hers shorter too - she wanted an even shorter "do" so she looks even more like Ramona (Ramona & Beezus is our absolute fav movie ever right now - her and her cousin play for hours pretending to be Ramona & Beezus...). She looks so beautiful with her hair. More pictures coming later, she preferred to wait and dress up a little bit and have some jewelry before she took more pictures (sigh, I love that little girl ~ always looking for a chance to dress it up and put on some glamour hehe).



His favorite part of the day after his new "do" was showing Daddy. We teased him all night, who are you and where is AJ? He laughed and said "I AJ"... sweet boy.



You are more handsome than I even thought possible, but could you please please please just stop getting so big on me so fast? Love, Mommy

Mommy's Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! I don't write this post to brag about myself, but rather to brag about my sweet husband and two sweet kiddos that make days like this so very special. After work and school, we met up at home to have a simple celebration: pizza and brownies.

Before we ate, Mommy did request some pictures to remember the evening:

I am holding AJ's head down in the last picture there - he kept cheesing so hard and putting his chin all the way up in the air in his excitement. Aren't they cute? Adorable? Perfect? Hehe!

As we ate our pizza, AJ and KK begged to open presents next. Who can argue with that? We tore into them. They got me a pretty summer dress and several books for me to read. Just what I wanted! After inspecting each card and present with care, and handing out kisses and hugs with my thank yous, we got ready and went to play together at the spray park.

All in all, a great evening spent with my family! It was hard to make a wish when I have so many blessings to be thankful for!

Monsters... An Interview

So while we were celebrating our cousin's fifth birthday, AJ noticed a rather large Batman bounce house. He immediately started talking.

AJ: Mommy, dat man is Batman. (pointing up excitedly while I am holding him)

Mommy: Yes, he is a good guy isn't is... really tall there too, huh?

AJ: NO! Batman is a BAD guy (extra emphasis on bad there). He MEAN!

Mommy: Are you sure? Why is he mean?

AJ: He is a MONSTER.... (long pause). He in my closet.

Mommy: A monster? in your closet? No way (faking shock and surprise for little man's benefit).

AJ: (big smile on his face as he reels me in) YEAH! He a monster in my closet! I no like him.

Mommy: (Smiles and laughing - gives AJ big kisses before he takes off to rumble with Daddy in another bounce house.)

I thought we were done with the conversation, and mentally reminded myself to share this with our babysitter as she would get a kick out of this revelation. Little did I know that I would find myself snuggling with AJ after his nap that afternoon and he wanted to talk about it all over again.

This is where I learn a valuable lesson so please pay close attention: it is impossible to interview a two year old on camera. As the final (last of four attempts) version below is proof, the witness (in this case AJ), cannot sit still, rolls around the bed like a wild man and frequently needs to have sips of water to quench his thirst. But I did catch some of the humor I had with him earlier in the day at the bounce house... I just had to remember this silly time, where monsters are real but not too scary, and how AJ is talking so big for being so little...

Happy Birthday America

As a dear friend ever-so-gently reminded me that I haven't blogged in a while (if only I could be as together as she is with the blogging, sigh) ~ I decided to back up to our wonderful 4th of July weekend and share how we celebrated it together.



First I will share my favorite photo op of the weekend - with my handsome hubby and two sweet little kiddos... the kids were decked out for the 4th, wearing their colors proudly like the flags they were studying in school. And they were so happy, as it was Movie Monday and it was the first time that Daddy got to come with us and share in our weekly Monday fun. (Despicable Me was the movie).



Now to start off our weekend, back up to Friday. The kids and I love going to the carousel at the mall and walking through the Disney store... somehow, despite how I brace myself, I always end up caving and purchasing something princess and something cars... This trip was even more special as our cousins got to join us! The first place we had to swing by was Legoland and see what all the fuss was about. While we didn't splurge and buy any tickets, we did check out for free the shopping area and found the coolest Lego ever: Buzz Lightyear! Can I say photo op?

Of course after that brief moment, it was a race to the carousel for not one but three spins around and around and around... The teacups at Disneyworld used to be tame when I was young - whew times have changed. But we did manage to catch a lot of smiles:





And yes, we did leave the Disney store with a treat (or two opps)... but in my defense, they were on sale? It seems the kids have inherited the shopping bug - we might be in trouble.

Aside from shopping, our absolute favorite summer adventure is playing at the pool. And when playing, its always more fun to invite friends along. We loved having one of our best friends to check out all the pools with us. Batman definitely had fun with us too ~ he and AJ did the slides at least 100 times in a row together, giggling the whole time. The night was complete with pizza and snacks at the pool. Here is the only shot I was allowed before we took off to play.



So that was Day 1 of our weekend... two more days to go and we weren't going to slow down. Saturday we just couldn't wait any longer ~ we had to see CARS 2! Ca-Chow! Poor AJ would ask every day if we were going to the movies for McQueen... we had to take him before he found a way to go without us! I'm not going to lie, I was just as excited to see the movie as they were... after packing our pillows, a blanket and some snacks, we were off to the movies:



Can you see the excitement in the pictures? AJ ate his popcorn without taking his eyes off the screen for the first 30 minutes (quite a feat for a two year old). KK said she loved the movie too, even though there wasn't a princess in it :-) We pretty much haven't stopped hearing about McQueen and Mater since!


After the movie, Daddy treated us all to pizza on a rooftop with live entertainment! Pizza, dancing and entertaining the crowd, getting called adorable despite ignoring Mommy and Daddy's rule to stay in your seat? What could end the day better?

Day 3 started out much slower ~ sleeping in and snuggling weren't in the cards, but after church and naps for all, we were ready to hit the pool once again. Daddy wanted to do a few push ups to look ready for the pool, but the kids thought he needed to work a little more for it... the picture says it all (poor Daddy only did two before collapsing):



After a fun swim, somehow these two talked us into some frozen yogurt... I think the smug smiles spell it all out for us (totally my kids, the need for sweets is the giveaway)...



Finally it was fourth of July:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!
We did sing Happy Birthday as we dressed in our red white and blue. Well AJ decided last minute that he prefered his "soccer" shirt and only his soccer shirt... he can be so adorable yet stubborn, but I cannot complain as I only have to look in the mirror to see where he gets it from. I really thought he would be a bit more chill like his Daddy, since KK is also a wee bit persistent/relentless about certain things and acting more like me every day (Mom, is now a good time to beg forgiveness and say sorry for when I was four? Because there are days I walk into the closet and either laugh or cry about how much she is like me with her flair for drama, her stubborn little attitude... please, just let her have Daddy's height and metabolism?). I do get to see her and AJ's sensitive side, and her loving heart for her family and for others, more than the other stuff... she is precious and "beautifully and wonderfully made"... I thank God every day for giving me just as many good moments as I have bad, with both of them!

Like I mentioned (sorry its late, I get sidetracked easily), it was Movie Monday and we got to share it with our Daddy for the first time ever. It just so happened we also got to share the morning with wonderful friends who also brought their Daddy to the movies. So we got to have lunch and a cookie together ~ this weekend was full of last minute treats for us.



We ended our long weekend together with a BBQ at our cousins house, surrounded by family and extended "family", celebrating the 4th and enjoying time with one another, counting our many many blessings. I leave you with one last picture I just have to share - two of my biggest blessings, cheesing it up for the camera.... G'night!