Sunday, October 30, 2011

There's a first time for everything...

This past Saturday, Thea invited us to a rodeo sponsored by the Botars of the American Royal.  It was Sophia and Joseph's first rodeo...and mine too!  What a fun experience for all of us!!! Thank you, Thea, for the special Saturday treat.

Before the rodeo began... we were treated to a real cowboy lunch with hamburgers and hot dogs, and we even got to see a balloon man make custom-designed balloons for us!!  Sophia chose a giraffe and a heart!


J chose a fish...perfect for his attire that day.  We could not find our old cowboy hats before leaving home...so J insisted on wearing another of his favorite hats...not quite a rodeo hat...but he looks cute in it nonetheless!


The kids also got to lasso a "pretend" horse with the help of a "real" cowboy, and they got to practice milking a pretend cow.





Oh and yes... I tried to tell S that she looked a bit like Steve Erkel in these pictures...she kept complaining about her new jeans, so she pulled them up to the sky and tucked her shirt in...too funny!!!  Boden to the rescue today....we found some more comfy ones that won't look so "unstylish!" HA!


Because we attended the matinee, it wasn't too crowded in the arena...so we got pretty good seats!  J of course loved this John Deere tractor, and wow...even a truck on the dirt:)


Here's the gang before the show!


Yee-Haw...oh my goodness.... I don't know how these cowboys don't break their backs....the way those horses move.... and throw them around....Glad it is not me up there!



It was pretty hard to get pictures as the animals were sooo fast!  S and J loved to watch, and S especially had a ball dancing to the music.  The half-time motorcycle entertainment from the rodeo clown was pretty exciting too!


J was pretty tired...but he didn't really lose interest...especially when he got to get some popcorn!



And since we were downtown....we stopped by Pappou's office (yep...he was working LATE on a Saturday....he needs to take about 3 months off after this trial!!!!!)  We rarely get to see Pappou at work, so what a treat for S and J...and to ride the elevator up to the 18th floor.....can't get better than that.... unless you get to get a snack from the break room:)



Sophia also finished her soccer season with a bang this weekend!  We are incredibly proud of her!!!  A busy and FAST weekend....and tomorrow we will get to Trick-or Treat!  Sophia has the day off again...so I'm trying to come up with some fun Halloween games to pass the time before the big night of fun!!!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Parties and Parades

It has been a busy week at our house this week...one filled with Halloween parties, parades, parent teacher conferences, etc.  

The week began with a Halloween party in Sophia's dance class.  She chose to wear her "Mary had a little lamb" costume.  Thankfully I took this picture before her little performance b/c... in trying to carry Mr. Sammy and keep J under control... I must have dropped my camera phone on the seat in the car and wasn't able to take pictures of the actual performance:( 


Poor little Willie finally had his surgery on Wednesday morning to remove the mass that has been growing on his back.  They had to make a much larger incision than we anticipated...poor little Willie....It is definitely a nasty battle wound.


Here he is right when he came home...still groggy...and his poor fur is messy, messy.... He also got his teeth cleaned which explains his matted face:(


Sophia also had her Halloween party at school on Wednesday.  I didn't think I would be able to go...but Yiayia spent her birthday helping me out the day of Willie's surgery...thank you...thank you....and she and Thea stayed in the afternoon so I could go to the party without the boys.... It was supposed to be an "All Saints Day" party....students were not allowed to dress up in Halloween costumes...but the parent helpers did..hmmmm.... This mother was pretty scary looking with her scary contacts.....I tried to get a picture of Sophia peering inside her "cauldron" where the students had to find plastic body parts (ears, feet, etc) among macaroni and other things... YUCK.    Making the mummy out of the juice box was much more up my alley.


Sam was making his own fun with the vacuum cleaner the other night and I tried to get some pictures of his smiles...  I'm sure he will be best friends with the vacuum soon since it pretty much runs non-stop at our house.  Have I ever mentioned that my boys are slightly messy eaters????



And I ALWAYS love the smiles I get from this little guy... even if they are mischievous ones....:)


And here is sweet Willie bear on day two.... we put one of Brett's old t-shirts on him so he wouldn't want to try to scratch the incision site.  He has been such a trooper...still doesn't want to miss a beat....still wags his tail even when he is hurting and tired.  We are praying for good results when we get the biopsy results back early next week.


Thursday, Sophia got to take a trip with her Brownie Troop to a Bakery.... and J and I got to tag along!  Soooo much fun for me to watch the bakers in action and ask them questions!!! They were incredibly sweet and even made a home-made tossed pizza for the kids to see....and of course sample!! Yum!  We also had Sophia's parent teacher conference that afternoon.....  She, of course, received a super report from her teacher.  We are so proud of her.  I don't think I've ever met a 7 1/2 year-old (it was her half birthday today:) with such determination and dedication.  Now if only she could share some of that with her younger brother...Oh my... I'm thinking J's conferences might be a bit different when he gets to second grade.....What we have to look forward to...  HA!

And finally.... we made it to Friday.  Sophia had the day off again...but J had preschool and his special Halloween parade and party.  He wore his race car driver costume and proudly waved and showed it off during the parade!!  I just don't think he can get any cuter.





I loved the costumes his friends wore.  One little girl was a darling pink flamingo...and another was an adorable Madeline.  Her mother and I chatted about how we would so much rather our little girls learn French in school....so they could be just like sweet Madeline.  Thea got Sophia onto those books and cartoons and we just adore that Madeline!!!!


And J's teacher was a perfect "Cat in the Hat!"




Of course I was running a bit behind this morning when I realized Sammy actually needed a warm coat this morning (the parade was outside).  I quickly ran to his closet and found a jacket his GodMommy gave him....it was a 2T....but I was desperate...and guess what...it fit!!!!! Hooray!!! I love this little boy more and more each day...not sure how that is possible...but it is.  He goes for his 9 month well visit next week....already missing those newborn days:(


Miss S and I had just a little bit of time to ourselves without the boys between the parade and Halloween party....so she helped me package some Halloween cookies and we sure had fun delivering them later in the day!



So....it's Friday night....I feel a little bit of relief that this week is almost over!  Just two more soccer games and a fun trip to the rodeo tomorrow....
Happy Happy Weekend!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Pre-Halloween Festivities

It's not quite here yet...but we already had a weekend full of Halloween festivities.  Sophia had the day off Friday while J had preschool for a few hours in the AM.  Thank you Yiayia for coming over early so Sophia and I could have some time together.  We had a ball hitting Barnes and Noble...finding her favorite new Rainbow Magic Fairy series and heading to the American Girl store to start making our wish list for Santa....

Friday night was Trunk or Treat at Sophia's school...and even though Sammy was still not feeling 100%, we dressed him in his costume anyway....and what a trooper he was.  Sweet little lamb....to go with Mary of course!



I was running a bit behind even though I had helpers with me this year....so I really didn't focus too much on the pictures....we can try to do that on the actual Halloween night.  It's sooo hard to get a picture of all three looking at the camera AND looking happy!



So here they are....Mary, her lamb, and Raceman...of course!


Sammy with his Godmommy...



Once we got to Trunk or Treat...he was pretty content just chewing on his bell...



He looks like a REAL race car driver!!!



Sophia never has much interest in the candy...but J sure loves his.... especially those lollipops!


We had sooo many trick or treaters and maybe a few taking too many handfuls...b/c we ran out of candy before the end of the night!  Here, J is telling a trick or treater..."Sorry...we're all out!" He was even giving his own candy away!


Such beautiful weather here... I decided to take the kids to Louisburg again (since Sophia was in school on our first trip there).  We had cider donuts...watched the apples being washed and went through the pumpkin patch to find yet more pumpkins....we had to search high and low for a few good ones, while being careful not to get stung by the numerous bumble bees.


I only had my camera phone but here are some of the other quick pictures I snapped!





Love how J is looking at Sophia down below...





I had my camera outside today trying to take pics of the kids for a little book I am wanting to make for Sam....and we got a few cute pictures of him sitting in the grass and riding in the car.  He loves to be outside and especially loves the swings.  He is still tugging on that ear...but seems to be recovering for the most part from that nasty ear infection/virus.



He has been sticking his tongue out so much lately....think growing those toothers...just really really hurts...ouch!!


Brett got a few pictures of me with Sam.....a rarity.  But I absolutely love this one below....



And so after this weekend.... we now have a front porch FULL Of pumpkins....  and a busy week ahead.  I think between Sophia and Joseph we might just have a Halloween party of some kind just about every day this week... and we will try again for Willie's surgery this Wednesday.