We have a tooth!

 Check out the pearly white!

 Haha, I love Porter's expression in this one!

6 1/2 months old!

2nd Grade Musical

 Lana had her 2nd Grade Musical on Thursday.  Unfortunately Paul had to be in McAllen for a meeting so I bravely went by myself.  Sadly by the time we got to the auditorium, all the seats were taken and we ended up on a cafeteria table.  I was able to see Lana a bit, but she couldn't see us.

 Tanner wasn't too happy about not being able to see but he was happy playing on the iphone.

Lana's class were all dressed up as monkeys.  They were so cute and did such a great job.  I am super impressed with their music teacher.  Lana has been singing their program songs every day for the last few months.  I could pretty much sing a long with the whole program.  :)

Weekend Getaway

 Paul and I asked Tutu if she would come watch the kids for a couple of days while we (mostly I) got a much needed break from the kiddos.  We drove up to Conroe (about 2 hours north of our house) and stayed at La Torretta.  It is so pretty up there!  I thought all of Texas was brown and ugly but apparently it's just Houston and the coastal areas.  We had an awesome view from our room.

 Along with a suspicious van parked on the beach.

We went and ate at the Salt Grass Steak House.  Holy Cow.  Our appetizer was amazing!  Fried onions, crab meat, pico de gallo and avocados served with tortilla chips.  For dessert, a skillet baked chocolate chip cookie, topped with a brownie, topped with a scoop of vanilla icecream, drizzled with salted caramel.  It was awesome!

 Thank you Tutu for coming!!  We love you and miss you already!!!

Daddy's Home!

 Paul made it home just in time for Easter weekend.  We were all incredibly happy!

The kids loved dying easter eggs.  We tried dying them with Kool Aid instead of the vinegar mixture (I can't stand the vinegar smell!).  And it worked!  We didn't have purple or yellow but it smelled great!

For FHE on Monday we played "Life".  I thought it might be too much for the kids, especially since it can be kind of a long game.  But they loved it!  All Tanner wanted was a kid and he never did get one.  Lana kept suing him for all his money.  Paul lost his career and got a low paying job and pretty much went bankrupt.  I pretty much cleaned house, and I was trying to lose!  :)

The Boys

 One afternoon while we were waiting until it was time to go to the bus stop, I started taking pictures of Porter hanging out on our bed.

 Then Tanner jumped into the pictures.

 Then he started getting crazy.

 He makes the best silly faces.

 Ever.

 I love that Porter is just looking so innocent in all of them.  He has no idea.  I love these two boys!

Later that afternoon my 50 lb 5 year old decided to sit in this very small box.  It took a little effort but he did eventually manage to dislodge himself from it while I took a picture and laughed.

Spring Break 2013

With 9 days of no-break-from-the-kids looming over my head and Paul still in New York, I put on a brave face and took the kids to the zoo one day.  My first big outing by myself (to a place I've never been before) with all 3 kids.  And they were all fantastic! 

 We hit the sea lion exhibit just as they were feeding them.

 It started out a little chilly but it warmed up fast.  Perfect day to be outside.

 Bald Eagle

 Massive Beasts

 We ate an early lunch, which was a good thing because we grabbed the last table available and didn't have to wait. 

 Afterwards we treated ourselves to some ice cream and people watched for a bit.

 Then we hopped on the train for a ride.

 And there we learned that the train makes stops at the parking lots.  And we could have ridden it in for free.  Or if I hadn't left the stroller at the station we could've gotten off right across the street from our car.  But the kids enjoyed the extra long train ride and it was good to stretch our legs afterward.

 One of our crafts we did was paper plate ping pong.  However the kids mostly just played who can keep their balloon in the air the longest.

 Then we got a surprise package in the mail from our friends The Powell's who moved to Utah in December.  We miss them so much!!

 Another craft we did was Popsicle stick airplanes.  The kids enjoyed coloring them and flying them around outside.

 Next came q-tip painting.  Which turned into finger painting.  Which then turned into hand painting.

 On Friday I dropped the kids off at our friend's house while Rachel and I went to the spa for massages, pedicures and manicures.  Paul's birthday present to me.  It was fantastic! Afterwards we caught lunch at Cafe Express and of course stopped at Pinkberry for some amazing frozen yogurt.  I will be so sad when we move and there will be no Pinkberry.  Love, love, love their new Salted Caramel flavor!

That night Tanner got to go with his friend Roscoe to a Rocket's game.  They got there early and got watches and t-shirts.  They had tons of fun playing and watching the game.  I'm a little jealous since we haven't been to a game yet!  :)

February in a nutshell

 We celebrated Valentine's day with a surprise delivery from dad all the way from Brooklyn, NY!  Surprises are so fun!

 The flowers were so beautiful and lasted until past my birthday.

 We celebrated Porter's 5th month of life.  I need time to slow down to enjoy this baby!  He loves tummy time especially when Lana and Tanner are around to entertain him.  He loves eating solid foods, unfortunately his intestines think otherwise.  He either gets blocked up or (tmi warning) too runny.  His sleep habits are all over the place, maybe if we weren't running here and there during different times of every day maybe he would get into a routine but he is at least sleeping 7 hour blocks at night. (about 8pm to 4am)  He loves his blue blankie in the picture and he likes the paci, but I don't think he's addicted to it. 

 Our friend Roscoe had a Glo-Golf birthday part which the kids loved.  Unfortunately Tanner wore all dark clothes and wasn't glowing at all.

 Paul came home for a quick weekend visit right before my birthday.  He found this roll of white paper and traced the kids.  They had a ton of fun making life size portraits of themselves.

 Miss Lana is finally allowed to carry Porter around the house.  She is a wonderful big sister and loves to take care of Porter, but I wanted to make sure he was sturdy enough to endure it.  :)

 Another surprise delivery from Brooklyn, NY (well, made here locally).  It was a delicious chocolate cake, I even saved half of it so we could share some of it's deliciousness with Paul when he came home for good.  Celebrating #31 without Paul was a little on the sad side.  My first birthday in 12 years that we haven't celebrated it together.  But thanks to my friend Rachel, I wasn't alone.  She came, brought her kids, pizza and my favorite chocolate dipped oreos and we celebrated together.  So thankful for great friends!