Happy Monday!

Captiva Island 2010

Our Spring Break Trip to Captiva Island...I have LOTs of pictures, so I will just capture things for you in a nutshell :)

Auntie A and Uncle Ben secretly set up an "Amazing Race" on the island for us. We picked teams and we were off! Here is one of our challenges....going to one of our favorite restaurants, The Mucky Duck, and hooking a ring on the ring toss game that they have out on the beach. Here's my dad trying his hand at it.




Roadblock!! We had to go to another restaurant and find a certain waitress who brought us a dozen peel and eat shrimp that we had to eat before we got the next clue. That's my mom and I...we were the "Hot Mamas" team!



I couldn't get many pictures because I was busy trying to win the race (which we did not!) But, here are the winners!! Jason and Drew!! Their prize was floating in the pool....trophies! We have them proudly displayed in our house :)



Auntie A and Drew looking cute at The Bubble Room.



Me and the kiddos in the "Tunnel of Love" at The Bubble Room.



Another day, we hopped a boat and set off to Gasparilla Island. We left at 10 in the morning and it seems someone conned their Aunt and Uncle into a little ice cream for breakfast....notice Brooke in the background in zipped up in my dad's sweatshirt. It was cold!!

Jason and Jackson working on their brackets.....

Nana and Papa fussing over Brooke. Whatever she needs, she gets!

Hangin' with the ice cream providers....wait until they have kids!

Brooke was sick during this vacation. We even ended up taking her to the er one night because I thought she may have pneumonia. Luckily, I had brought by nebulizer so here we are in the kitchen of some restaurant giving her a breathing treatment after lunch!

First time in the pool!

Auntie A ready to catch her!

The morning of our fishing trip....ready to catch a shark!

OK, maybe not a shark, but here's Drew with his Sheephead. He caught the biggest one!

Jackson with the biggest redfish....

Back on the dock watching the captain filet our fish!

At the only bar on the island that has KU on TV. The boys at their first bar....so exciting.

On a hike thru a nature preserve, we saw these signs. We did end up seeing one alligator at the waters edge. It was kinda freaky.

On our way to the beach......Brooke and her bodyguard!

She loved the sand! We would've stayed longer if the wind wasn't blowing so hard. She was getting into it.

Cutest cousins

My cousin and his wife came over for dinner the other night. Here is his little boy, Kyle, who Brooke was following around. Look at her gaze at him.....she thinks he is so cool! And he is!

They thought they were so big to be able to sit on the barstools! What you don't see is Jenifer on the floor behind them holding them up so they won't fall. Look at those cuties!!

Art Girls

Last night, a group of us went to the ArtHouse for an art and wine night. I was told we were each going to create our own original masterpiece......well, I was skeptical about that, but I knew there would be friends, food, and wine, so I knew I couldn't go wrong!







Here are Kim, Linda, and I putting the final details on our masterpieces. Check out the concentration.....



















Our hostess and planner of the event, Kari......look at her hospitality skills. She's the best!
















Finally, our finished products!! We all were instructed by our teacher, but we were all amazed how different everyone's turned out. From far away, everyone's paintings look great :) Don't look too closely...at least at mine!

The Maupin Brothers

I just have to write this down, so I will remember this conversation at the breakfast table.

J: Mom, can you get a master's degree in basketball?
Me: No.
J: Yes! I don't have to go to college very long!
D: Why?
J: Because I'm going to play basketball for my job.
D: Who are you gonna play for?
J: Whoever will draft me.
D: Well, I will play for whoever you play for because we're going to be like the Morris brothers (brothers that play for KU).....the Maupin brothers!
J: Well, you need to work on your dribbling.
D: I will, but Jackson......remember, we're going to live together in the same house until we get married.
J: I know, we will.

It looks like they have their life planned out!

Two Man Bobsled

We have been really into the Olympics. The boys scramble to be dressed and ready for bed by 7:00, so they can watch the Olympics until 8:00. They've been having races in their socks around the wood floors acting like the speed skaters, but this morning.....two man bobsled!
It was Drew's idea. He had this box that he's been hoarding in his room that he draws on, puts stuff in, who knows what.....anyways, he went and got it and we cut out the top. They got their bike helmets, and they were off! Well, not really.....just in their imagination. I did push Drew around tonight when it was just him and I was working up a sweat!


We had to give Brooke a try. She had a fever and was very grumpy all day, but this was one of the few times we got a smile. The baby bobsled!!
We're sad the Olympics are over :( Another two years seems like a long time....especially when I think that my kids will be 3,8, and 10!!! Wow!

Just like mommy!

Lately, Brooke has been imitating things she sees us do. It's so fun to watch her and realize that she is observing and watching us all the time!
So, she got her hands on my turbo twist (which I love!!) and she put it on her head. I fixed it the right way on her and she just loved it!














Just going about her business......


















She also loves to put on shoes and will bring me her shoes to put on around the house. She will find things on the floor and walk over to the trash can to throw away. I always look in there first when I'm missing something! She loves to get an old makeup brush and brush her whole face. She also loves to get lotion on her hands and rub them together. I love it! This next year will be loads of fun :)

An All-Star Weekend

Jason and Jackson were fortunate to have tickets to the All-Star game this past weekend in Dallas! They started out Friday night at the "Fan Jam" Since Drew, Brooke, and I were out of town, Jackson got to take his friend Will. They had such a fun time. Here they are doing an obstacle course....









The boys got to participate in a mini-clinic taught be an all-star. OK, I can't remember the guys name, but he's famous. Anyways, the boys got these HUGE all-star shirts which they can wear for a lifetime! I don't think they were thinking about kids sizes when they made these!














The boys in front of their favorite Dallas player....Dirk!!


















On Sunday night, they went to the All-Star game.
They made history in the Guiness Book of
World Records for largest crowd at a game!!
















Proof that they were there!















In front of the Cowboys Stadium....a once in a lifetime event. It was such a great memory for Jason and Jackson :)

What a day!! SNOW!!

What is happening?? I cannot believe we live in Texas--this is so weird! This morning we woke up to it snowing heavily and it has not stopped all day! Of course, school was closed and the boys were outside by 7:15. I had to take Brooke out too, so here they all are bundled up and ready to go.














First order of business....snowmen. The snow was great for that. They just had to start a little ball and roll it around the yard. Here is Jackson's. He used 2 decorative lemons for the eyes, carrot for the nose, and little tomatoes for the mouth. It was all I had in the fridge :)















Check out Drew's!! Much bigger! He did have some help from Jackson, but after Jackson moved on to another activity (trying to slide down the driveway in our recycling bin), Drew stuck with it. Brooke and I were watching from the inside and he rolled the snow and pushed it and tried to lift it with all his might. He looked so small out there trying so hard with all the snow just falling on him. Finally, he was done and was very proud!

Super SuperBowl Party!

We had our wonderful friends, The Pottorffs, over for the Super Bowl. They have 4 kids and Susan and Greg have always been an inspiration to Jason and I because of the way they parent.....we love to watch and learn :)Here are Susan, Katie, and Drew ready to party!
I also love it when we hang out with them because one of their kids is always holding or entertaining our kids which gives us a break. Abbie carried Brooke around and she loved being carried around everywhere.
Here is our "pre-game" The kids had a ring toss onto Charlies goalposts which he has on his head. There was a big prize involved so the competition was fierce.
It ended up that Charlie won the prize! The SuperBowl glasses with one lens missing.......you can see why everyone wanted to win. What a prize!
Back to the real entertainment.....Brooke! She planted herself right in front of the tv and all the kids gathered around her so she could do some silly things like put on the superbowl glasses, roll the ball, and play with Abbie's phone. She was more entertaining than the game (to some people)!!!
Will getting creative with the ring toss game pieces....he reminds me of that Dr. Suess book where that dog puts on all those hats. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Finally...the moment we'd all been waiting for....the chocolate fountain!! Jackson had been begging for the chocolate fountain since BEFORE the Pottorffs even got here, so we finally broke it out after the 1st quarter. Look at those smiling faces.....we had a great time with great friends!

a SERIOUS haircut

Well, I thought it was time for Brooke to get a little haircut. I wasn't sure what to do about girl's hair because I want it to grow long, but it was uneven in some places and in her face, so I took her to get a trim.

This is pretty much the face that she had the whole time!! She was sooooo serious! I thought she'd love sitting in the pink car and watching the t.v, but she wanted nothing to do with it.

She didn't throw a fit or anything, but she let us know that she was not enjoying this experience with her powerful looks. I was kind of embarrassed because the lady was trying to talk to her and normally she is such a happy baby, but no one would believe that today!

OK, the blow drying just sent her over the edge. She turned the dryer on for like 2 seconds and no more! It looks like we were torturing her....poor girl!

Now it's over.....I thought we'd for sure get a smile because the ordeal was over, but she sat there frozen. It was really funny. The minute we got in the car, she started jabbering away like nothing had happened.
After all that, I am glad I took her. Now, if that fine hair will just grow......