Happy Birthday/Graduation K-Kate!

My sister, Kate, was here in Dallas for a visit this weekend so we finally got a chance to celebrate her birthday and her graduation (from Harvard's School of Public Health, woohoo!). The boys adore their aunt K-Kate and were all very excited to see her.

We had an all-out party, complete with hats, streamers, balloons and blowers. Much fun was had by all. :)


And then there was cake. I mean Kate. Cake for Kate. Kate with a cake. Yeah, that.


I'm not sure how much of the cake actually went IN Luke's tummy, but plenty ended up ON it. :)


No more pictures, Mama! It's embarrassing!

Hey Luke, I think you have a little something....right there....

Happy Birthday and Happy Graduation Kate! We love you!

Cody's First/Last Days of School

Cody had his last day of school yesterday. He has really enjoyed every aspect of school this year: he adored his teachers, made some good friends and learned a lot. If you click on the comparison above, you can see a bigger version...the one on the left is from the first day of school back in August, and I took the one on the right yesterday morning.

And just because he was so proud of his spiky hair and the weather was beautiful, I took a few more shots of my handsome little guy outside. It's hard to believe he only has one more year of preschool!

Go Dodgers!

Jacks is on his first baseball team with a couple of friends from his class at school. He seems to really enjoy hitting and has quite an arm, but catching is presenting something of a challenge. All the kids seem to be on about the same level, though, so it's a good learning experience.

He looks pretty good in his uniform, doesn't he? (ignore the little spot of light on his forehead...he still has the reflective MLB sticker on the inside of his hat) :)

SpongeBob Sprinkler

It was so beautiful out today, so Luke, Cody and I decided to break out our new SpongeBob Sprinkler. It was also the first time Luke tried on his new bathing suit. I don't think he liked it very much. (*Warning*: Nekkid baby hiney ahead!)

Bathing Suit Removal Operation, Phase I: Waddle around until plumber bootie is at its utmost visibility.


Phase II: Wiggle, shove, push, tug, wrestle and yank suit as needed.


Phase III: Offer discarded suit to poor, unsuspecting SpongeBob. That guy's such a sucker.


Phase IV: Revel in your newfound freedom!


Meanwhile, Cody couldn't contain his glee at being put in charge of sprinkler controls.


His first "shower" in the surprisingly cold water.


This is totally and completely awesome!!!!


Doing the Running Man.


Doing the Squatting Man. (a picture sure to make him swell with pride at his rehearsal dinner)


"Is my bootie wet yet?"


And finally, Luke's plan to make a million. What woman wouldn't pay a pretty penny to see a cute, naked man washing her car? :)

Going...Going...Gone!

Luke fell asleep at the table during lunch today. Poor little guy was worn out! Of course, if he was THAT worn out, you'd think he'd sleep longer than 30 minutes (#$%@#), but that's one of those mysteries of life, I guess. Awww, isn't he cute?

(@#$%@#%)

Lego Store Opening

A couple of weeks ago, Jackson received a postcard in the mail announcing the opening of the new Lego store at Stonebriar Mall this weekend. It promised all sorts of exciting activities along with a free collectible R2D2 brick for participating. So we headed out there after school on Friday afternoon, hoping to avoid the weekend crowds.

Well, the crowds were still bonkers, but we were not deterred! First, Jackson worked at a table with a lot of other kids to build a big Lego brick, as seen below.

Then we went over to the Master Builder (the guy in the red jacket) who was busy collecting the bricks to use to build his 8 ft. tall R2D2. That little one you see in the picture is just a tiny sample of what it was going to look like when finished. Jacks traded in the brick he had made for a $5 off coupon for the new store.

Jacks and Cody both picked a Lego set at the store and we waited in line for 30 minutes (the store was packed wall-to-wall, and the AC wasn't worked terribly well so we were very ready to be done by the time we go out) to pay. The boys also got certificates saying they had participated in the Master Builder Lego event. And finally, they each made a guess as to how many Legos had to been used to build the Indiana Jones that Jacks was standing next to in the first picture.

It was a pretty cool afternoon, and Jackson especially loved every second of it. There's going to be a store opening at NorthPark before too long, and maybe we'll try a different time of day to see if we can avoid some of the crowds. Or we might just help the Master Builder there and skip the store visit until another day after opening weekend...seeing the Master Builder and building bricks for him was their favorite part. Now we just have to go back and see that completed R2D2!!

Jackson's 1st Grade Picture