School Shopping!!

I'm trying not to think about how fast this summer has flown by...but it's already time for some Back to School Shopping!! Here are some great sites for your back to school shopping needs...

Shoebuy.com is a GREAT site for your shoe needs! I am addicted to buying from them! They offer free shipping and free returns on all orders. There is also currently a coupon for 15% off your purchase if you use FIFTEEN at checkout.

If you know anything about me, you know that I love Disney! And Disneystore.com is by far my favorite site for all things Disney. They have even added a section for Disney Park merchandise so that you can order things like personalized Mickey ears or other items before your trip! I had fun buying things from here and leaving them in the resort room for the kids to find when we returned from the parks- they loved it!! Check out everything that they have to offer for back to school from clothes to backpacks and lunchboxes!

If you are looking for a unique bag for back to school or any other reason, you might be able to find something at Bagsbuy.com. They have a very large selection to choose from!

If you are looking for uniforms, you might have good luck with Aeropostale.com. They have quite a few sales going on through their site right now that you should check out!

Maybe not necessarily for Back to School, but definitely a favorite website for so many things: Drugstore.com. They carry beauty supplies, first aid, cleaning supplies and so much more. If you purchase more than $49, you'll receive free shipping. You also earn 5% of every purchase to use on a future transaction!

I recently explored the site of Polka Dot Stationary Co and was very impressed with their offerings. They have some great designs for every occassion! Until August 31st, you can get 10% off of your purchase with code AFF0810.

If you have a family member or friend going off to college for the first time this Fall, you might consider sending them a little treat to help ease the transition!! Here are some great sites that offer yummy goodies sure to please anyone!

Cheryl and Co use code XK for 15% off your order

Popcorn Factory has lots of gift tins for any occassion


Happy Shopping!!

Our summer has been super busy with Disney, hospitals, bike rides, swimming and so much more! I promise to update very soon! Hope everyone is having a great summer!!

Botanical Gardens

I have been wanting to go to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens for awhile and a few weeks ago I just decided to go! The kids and I had an awesome time!! The gardens were beautiful and it was so relaxing! The kids had a fun time running around and playing and worked up a good appetite before we picked up their Daddy for a nice lunch. I think that I was able to get some nice shots and thought I would share a few :-)

I can't believe that it is already the 2nd week of May!!! May is always one of our busiest months and it looks like this year won't disappoint! We have a trip to Disney, Daniel's birthday, our Anniversary, last day of school and family birthdays all in a span of 2 weeks!! And of course I have lots I need to do to get us ready for everything!!! Have a great May!!

A few more pictures...

I finally have a minute to update with a few pictures from the last month!

First up are the Easter pictures. We had so much fun with the kids!

There was lots of egg decorating and some cookie baking:

I made the kids chocolate eggs- one Jack Skellington and one Potato Head. And I also made giant chocolate bunnies that the kids loved! Then the kids were off on a scavenger hunt to find what the Easter Bunny had left for them.

Then of course there was an all out hunt for eggs and goodies!

When I heard that Disney on Ice was coming to town, I knew we had to take the kids! Daniel really enjoyed it the last time and I knew they would both love it! The week before the show, we met Tony for lunch downtown and we stopped at the Convention Center to buy tickets. I distracted Daniel long enough that he didn't know what the tickets were for! Tony asked what kind of discounts there were and somehow he scored some good seats with a discount! The day of the show, we headed downtown for lunch. We kept telling Daniel that Tony had to go to work and he was so disappointed. After lunch, we took a walk downtown and stopped in the bookstore to browse. Then we headed towards the Convention Center. As he saw more and more people there, he started asking what was going on and where we were going. Tony kept saying "I don't know what's going on- let's go see". When we were right outside, it clicked- he might have seen a sign or something. He started jumping up and down yelling that we were going to the Disney Ice show. It was great!! As we were walking in, Daniel spotted Jack Skellington on the program and flipped out! We actually didn't realize Jack was in the show- it was a nice surprise. We all really loved the show! It was a lot better than the one last year and so much fun! We can't wait for the next show!!

The next weekend, Tony's brother, wife and daughter were in Texas for a few days. Our Niece's 2nd birthday fell during their trip and a party was held at Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had fun, but I will just say that Chuck E Cheese is not for Tony and I!

It has been a busy month and it isn't quite over yet!! And May is going to be even busier with a trip to Disney, Daniel's 6th birthday and our 15th Anniversary along with a lot of other things!!

More from March...

Here are a few more pictures of the kids from March. Everytime I look at these pictures I realize how big they both are getting! The time really does fly when you are having fun!

I love how close they are and that they love being together so much! Hopefully it's a bond that they will always share! Both of these kids just melt my heart!

Catching up...

Seems like it has been awhile since I last posted! Things have been busy around here for sure. I had a few weeks where I had a lot of cakes which kept me pretty busy when added on top of everything else! Instead of posting the cake pictures individually, I'll post a link to my photobucket account and you can look at them if you like.

Since I haven't posted pictures of the kids since March, let's just start there! Daniel is just growing up into such a great young man! He loves to help around the house as well as play, play play! After it had been so long that I had forgotten about it, he lost his first tooth one night. He was initially a little scared, but got over that quickly and thought it was super cool! For days, he would go around smiling at me so I would see it and smile. He is quite the character!



Arianna's personality continues to bloom-she is a character like her brother! She takes after her big brother in a lot of respects. She is so sweet. She's my little kissing bandit- she just randomly goes to one of us and kisses us on the leg, arm, face, head- whatever is easiest to reach. She still likes to copy everything we do which can be funny at times!

Although we don't seem to have much of a "spring" here in Texas, it is nice when we can get outside and play!

We hadn't been to the zoo in awhile and I had planned to go the next week...until Tony reminded me that it was Spring Break! I was glad that I scratched those plans when I started seeing reports from the Zoo and Museum on Facebook about their record attendance. I didn't want any part of that! So, we made some alternate plans that week and went to the zoo the next week. We had great weather and practically had the whole place to ourselves. We got to check out the new Museum of Living Art (MOLA) exhibit. It is very well done and well all enjoyed it. The only thing Daniel did not like about it was the HUGE tarantula...but everything else was good!

Then we headed off in our usual direction and saw some of our favorites. We had great views of two Cheetahs which can be a rare thing. The Penguins were being fed so there was a lot of activity there- just not in the water. Daniel said he was happy that I got to see the Giraffes since they are one of my favorites!

The train wasn't working, but we had the carousel all to ourselves. The kids had a great time riding and the guy working it actually left us on there for quite awhile. I think I was starting to get a little dizzy near the end. After the zoo, we headed downtown for a nice lunch with Tony.

Daniel's school had their Easter party on a Friday and since Tony works from home that day, I decided to go help out in his class. The teacher asked me if I could pick up the pizzas which was no problem. A couple of the kids told me repeatedly that they liked my pizza ;-). Another Mom and I "hid" the eggs before the hunt...yeah, there really wasn't much hiding. It was more like just throw the eggs out there and hope they didn't pop open when they landed. The yard was definitely covered in eggs! The kids had a blast running around and getting eggs. If you haven't heard the stories, there are about 5 girls in his class who "like" him. Some of them may or may not be in the pictures below ;-). He's friends with all of them, but does seem to like one more than the others. I am, however, sworn to secrecy on that! The pizza was a hit as well as the cupcakes. Really, could the icing BE any brighter???

The next day, we went to our neighborhood Festival at the nearby High School. It was an extremely windy day! Arianna had the right idea when it was her turn for egg hunting- she had Daniel go with her and carry her basket for her! What a great big brother! Arianna picked up a few and was done with it whereas Daniel was all about the quantity! We played some games and even got to see the Easter Bunny! The photographer tried to take her from me and she was having none of that. But she had no problems with the Easter Bunny.

That gets us to the end of March...next up the beginning of April!

Shopping,coupons and such...

Do you have someone that is fun, but hard to buy presents for? Do you need a unique gift to send to someone? Then you need to check this out! Send a Ball is an awesome idea! You can personalize the ball for a birthday, anniversary or whatever you like! The balls come in the US Mail with postage right on the ball. How fun would it be to receive one of these in the mail??? I know that this is on my list to send to the kids soon- they will LOVE it!! Daniel has been asking just about everyday if there is mail for him, so he will get a real kick out of this! (I am a tad curious how the postal workers will feel about these though lol).

If you are in need of a T-shirt, but haven't found quite what you are looking for, check out Cafe Press. They have tons of fun shirts already designed, or you can design your own. The quality of the shirts and printing is really good! I recently got Tony a shirt that says "I'm not trying to be difficult...it comes naturally". And if you know Tony, you know that's a very fitting shirt ;-) They have a lot of styles for St. Patrick's Day right now- but just do a search and you are bound to find what you are looking for!

Cheryl & Co is still one of my favorite places for sending cookies! I just realized that I'm out of my freezer stash of cookies and had to place an order. If you use coupon code XK you will get 15% off your order. They also have quite a few selections with free shipping. They have cute Shamrock cookies for St. Patty's Day!

The Popcorn Factory also has a lot of neat treats for St. Patty's Day or any ocassion. I ordered something for our Family Game Night and can't wait to get it!

I also found that on QVC.com, they sell both Cheryl & Co cookies and Mrs. Prindables apples and caramels at a little bit of a discount. I know that the apples do not come in the usual Mrs. Prindables gift boxes, but if you are doing this for a school party or something like that, it wouldn't matter as much. If you want to try these out for a little bit cheaper, this would be a good option! Right now, they have a Mrs. Prindables 16 piece sampler for under $30! They also have 14 individual (smaller) apples for just under $30. The shipping through QVC also seems to be a little cheaper which makes it a little easier to handle! The apples are out of this world!!!

Well, that's what I've mostly ordered lately. I'm needing to print some pictures, so I'll pass along any coupons I find for those soon! Have a great day!

Cooking Blog

If you haven't noticed it yet, I started a cooking blog this year. There is a link to it on the upper right side of this blog or by clicking here. A couple more blogs in the works as well... stay tuned!

I haven't been too good about posting these lately, but here are the monthly pictures of the kids! I was just thinking that we have done this monthly for the last 5 1/2 years. Wow- where has the time gone??


Daniel is my entertainer- he LOVES to sing and dance. He can memorize a song in no time- and I'm not talking about kid songs either. We love hearing him sing in the back seat of the car. He is REALLY and I mean REALLY into Disney's Nightmare Before Christmas and he sings the songs very well. I'll have to post some video later. He is also very sweet and compassionate and very full of energy! He loves school and is learning so much every day. His smile gets me every time! He loves Disney and can't wait to go back. We're currently trying to plan something for his birthday and our anniversary. I can't wait to wake him up the morning of to go to the airport- you've never seen a kid so happy and alert at 5am!



Arianna is a little busy body- full of energy and curiosity! She mimics everything that her big brother does. At least for now, he thinks it's funny and sees what he can make her do. She loves her big brother and misses him when he's gone. I love seeing her run to him with a hug and kiss after school. I think her goal in life right now is just to drive her Daddy crazy- she does pretty well too! She can be sooooo sweet though- I love getting random hugs and kisses from her. And her smile can instantly melt away any bad feelings that I might have. Her vocabulary expands every day and even includes some not so good words (like for shirt, she misses the "r"). She isn't up to the singing yet, but she can dance right along with her big brother. She also entertains me while I work out- she mimics my workout which is hilarious at times!

Two peas in a pod for sure! They are at a great age for playing together and expending some of that energy. A nightly ritual has become a game of Tag and everyone has to participate. If one of us tries to sit down, Arianna will pull us and get us back in the game. It usually ends with lots of tickles and then bed. They play very well together and have lots of fun. I love seeing Daniel's compassion for her when she is upset- he's an awesome big brother.

We've consistently had Family Night this year and we all love it. We usually all help prepare dinner and then play games or watch a movie. Game night can be quite noisy, but tons of fun! Somehow movie night always ends up with a kid movie...just kidding- we love the movies too and wouldn't have it any other way!

Since it has been so cold lately, we've spent a lot of time entertaining ourselves in the house. This seems to be a favorite of the kids right now.... so exactly why do we have all of these other toys??? ;-) And if you are wondering, I am the one that gave them the instruments. People have always joked that they would buy my kids "noisy" toys to drive me crazy. I just say bring it on because I always buy them noisy things myself! We had to take a brief break here for a phone call from his school cancelling school the next day for the snow. There was lots of celebrating after that call!

We didn't do anything big for Valentine's Day- we're of the thinking that we don't need a Hallmark holiday to make us do what we already do. But I did get a few little things for the kids and Tony. That morning Tony brought me breakfast and roses after his 6 mile run- that was a sweet treat! I made these cookies for Daniel

Now, I know you are thinking that those aren't "Valentine's" cookies... and you're right. But when you have a kid obsessed with Nightmare Before Christmas, what can you do?? And look at this face when he saw them...

Well, that's our update for now! We have to get the house cleaned today and start our weekend off right! We love having Tony work from home on Fridays and try to get everything out of the way before then...so off to clean! Have a great weekend!

Museum

Daniel was out of school Friday due to weather and then Monday for the holiday- so we had a nice long weekend! I briefly thought about taking the kids to the museum on Monday, but quickly realized that it was likely to be pretty crowded with kids out of school. So, we decided that Tuesday would be a good day for the museum. Actually, it was between the zoo and museum and luckily the museum won out- as it was only in the 30's that morning! At least the museum had heat! But it did prove to be a somewhat busy day at the museum anyway as there were several school field trips with lots of kiddos. But with my quick thinking, we managed to avoid all of the crowds and had a good time.

First up was the Dinosaurs. The kids got to put together a puzzle, measure the bones and look in the microscopes- all fun stuff!

One big hit for the kids is the Children's Museum area- so much fun stuff to do! Arianna is still mesmerized by the bubbles- she continually goes back to those bubbles! Little Gym sponsors an area called Balancing Act which they enjoyed. Arianna followed Daniel around and did everything he did- cute. And what is it with the grocery store? That section was packed and they were out of grocery carts! Arianna walked smack into the metal rail where the carts go. She hit her forehead dead on and put her hand to her head and rubbed it. There were Mom's sitting around that gasped when she hit, but there wasn't a single tear...I tell you, that girl is tough! There was also an area to build your own train and an "emergency" area where Arianna drove the Ambulance-now that's a little scary! Daniel loved building the train track!

There is a section called Energy Blast that is actually a 4D movie about energy sources. Daniel didn't want to see the movie, but we were able to go through the exhibit that you normally see after watching the movie. It was really cool! One room has a model of Fort Worth that looks awesome- we could even see Daddy's building! You go to each station and do what the computer tells you. Each station talks about a different energy source and once you are done, it "powers" some part of Fort Worth- really neat. I could probably have stayed a lot longer just looking at the model- amazing!

We also went through the Cattle Raiser's exhibit and an exhibit about Historic Fort Worth. The kids got to sit on a trolley and ring the bell. There were games and puzzles in the Cattle Raiser's exhibit that they enjoyed.

There were a few exhibits we bypassed due to the crowds and it was about noon anyway and we were picking up Daddy for lunch! So, we headed out after a fun day at the Museum! We picked up Daddy and had a yummy lunch at Qdoba! All in all, it was a fun day and we were all tired!

Snow Days!!

This has certainly been an unusual winter for the United States and Texas is no exception! Last week, we heard that it "might" snow. Well, being from Texas, you know that usually means "don't get your hopes up". I know that people who live up North are sick of the snow and everything that come with it, but it is such a RARE treat here that we jump in with both feet! When I got up Thursday morning, I had a message from Tony telling me he made it in to work, but it still didn't really dawn on me that it snowed until I looked outside. We had snow and it was still coming down! The kids were so excited to look outside and see SNOW! (The pictures were from Thursday morning to Friday night)

Of course they wanted to immediately go outside, but I held them off for a little while- I was pretty sure the snow wasn't going anywhere fast! We ended up with about 11 inches of snow in our backyard- that's crazy for Texas!! I realize for our friend up North, this is nothing and they are sick of the snow, but for us Texans, this was a real treat! Let the fun begin!

Some of you may remember the previous years when Daniel has somehow ended up being hit by a snowball all for the sake of a good picture. Well, whether he remembers or just remembers seeing the pictures.....he's all about revenge!! It is SO fun having snowball fights with him- that was definitely a highlight of our snow days! He's a pretty good shot....maybe it helps that he gets about 2 feet from me before launching his ammunition! Another reason I love my waterproof camera! We all got our share of snowballs this time around! It was a blast!

Arianna was so excited and had such fun in the snow! She was really into the snowball fighting as well! I think Daniel has been secretly teaching her! She did spend a good amount of time on the ground- seems she thought that was easier than trekking through the snow that came up close to her waist in some areas. She was an easy target for her brother, but she was a really good sport about it all. She's sneaky too...one of the times Daniel was making a Snow Angel, she got really close to him like she was going to help him up....them WHAM! She got him right in the face with a snowball...that's my girl!

The kids had so much fun together! Daniel did spend some time rescuing Arianna from the deep snow, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. He is SO awesome with her- love that kid!

Of course one of the things you have to do with snow, is make snowmen (or snow people)! And that we did! The kids and I made one while Daddy was at work- which was later karate chopped by a little boy- so fun!! Then when Daddy came home, he made "Mom" and her two kids... Daniel ran into the house to get Mickey Mouse ears- they HAD to have those!! Then the next day, We made another snow family and I made sure that we had one for everyone- we did try to make a dog, but that didn't work out so well. Tony even made the kids a "chair" and put Mouse ears on it for a custom "Mickey Mouse Chair"- so cute! Even today- almost a week later, we still have those 4 snow people (although they are much, much smaller).

So, we've had snowball fights and built snow men...what's left?? Snow Angels of course! Both of the kids LOVED doing this! It was so much fun! Even Mom made one...or was she just resting from all the fun???

More snow ball fights!! Let me tell you, Daddy doesn't mess around with the snow balls! He has no mercy! I think one snowball was bigger than Daniel and he hit him dead on! We had such a BLAST!! Lots of great memories!

On Friday, we decided to head out for lunch after being couped up in the house. A girl can't refuse some good Freebird's Burritos! The food was awesome and the company was even better! Most of the roads were already slushy at this point. But there are some undeveloped areas by our house that hadn't had a lot of traffic. We "off roaded" a little bit and it was so fun! Hearing the kids laughing hysterically was so worth it! Good thing I had a video camera in the car!

I will say that by Saturday afternoon/ Sunday, I was really over the snow and ready for it to all be gone! The nasty slush was soo fun! And I definitely see the need for "mud rooms" up North as it all sure does make a mess! Oh and the additional laundry is fun too! But all in all, it was an awesome time and I'm so glad that we had the snow to play in!

School Open House

Daniel's school had an "open house" last week that we attended. The theme was a "Winter Wonderland". They threw bags upon bags of white packing peanuts on the floor and let the kids run around and crush them up- it was really a neat idea! The only downside was that the peanuts stuck to everything and we carried some home as souvenirs. Both of the kids had a great time though which is what matters most!

Making a marshmallow snowman. Eating it was a joint effort- he ate the marshmallows and she ate the pretzels!

Snowball fight!!


It's snowing!!




See...it sticks to everything! Making popsicle art!


By far, Daniel's favorite activity was making snow angels- he did it over and over and over! Oh, and we loved the "snow boots" he made too!!


It was a fun time to see all of the activities they had worked on and let the kids loose! Oh and the cookies were yummy too! ;-)

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that we are more than halfway through January already!! Things have been busy around here since before the holidays! We had an awesome Christmas- the kids (and us) had so much fun! Things have been so busy that I have neglected my blog lately. Rather than going back, we'll just go forward from here! I'm also going to be working on a couple of other blogs in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for those!!

We started off the new year with a bang (well, more like a THUD)! It started with Arianna...as she was playing chase with the guys in the house, she tripped and fell head first into the wall. She ended with a huge goose egg on her forehead and a pretty good chunk of plaster/ paint missing from my wall! As usual though- she didn't even cry too much. Don't let the cuteness fool you- she's one tough girl (with a hard head apparently). Well, not to be outdone by his little sister, Daniel had to do something good. We took the kids to the park one Saturday afternoon and while on the swing, Daniel "closed his eyes and let go" (still not sure the reasoning behind this) and fell straight down on his back and head. Those few seconds after the fall seemed like an eternity although I am aware that it was mere seconds. We don't think he lost consciousness, but he was in shock for sure. The sound of his fall and the blank look in his eyes will stay with me for awhile. Once he began responding to us, he could answer questions correctly and walk. He had ridden his bike to the park (apparently we should have left the helmet ON at the park) so we carried the kids and pulled the bike the few blocks home. On the walk, Tony was convincing me that he was fine and just needed to rest. He laid down when we got home, but not soon after, the vomitting started. So, we switched gears and were off to the ER. We found that head injuries get you "bumped up" in the system- and I would hate to think where we would have been otherwise. It was a LONG day! The waiting, exams, CT scan, waiting and all took about 7 hours and we were put in a room at 1:30am for observation since he had a concussion. Tony had gone home at some point to get some stuff for his stay and Arianna and I would go home when he returned, but by the time he made it back, we were all asleep in the room so there was really no point. I don't think I slept at all, but at least everyone else got some shut eye. We were finally sprung about 1pm and both kids zonked out on the way home. Daniel was SO brave through it all- exams, IV's, CT scan! I don't think that he ever cried during the whole ordeal- I know hat's what helped me keep it together myself. It took Daniel until about Wednesday to really be himself again- which we were really happy to see! It was a very scary time and we are so thankful that it wasn't worse!

Arianna was very concerned about her big brother and wanted to be close to him.


Finally in a room after a very long day- time to crash!


At this point,he was ready to go home (we all were!).

So, it was a very eventful start to the new year for our family! Although we hope for a very good year in 2010, we'll hope for one without anymore hospital visits!

We wish you and your families a happy and healthy 2010!