Dino-MIte!!

This past Saturday we had Seth's 3rd birthday party and it was a blast! Love is not a strong enough word for how he feels about dinosaurs, so needless to say...we had a dino party! My super talented chef extraordinaire mother-in-law made a volcano cake and my super creative sister-in-law decorated the cake! Thank goodness, because originally I thought for some strange reason that I could pull it off (having never made a cake like that in my life)...I guess it looked doable because Sandra Lee from the Food Network made it seem effortless ;) I must start reminding myself that those people are professionals! Anyway, the cake was complete with "smoke" via Micah, rubber gloves, & dry ice; it was spectacular!! (Pics are below, of course!) We also braved the infamous pinata, which made us all nervous as 2-4 year olds swung aimlessly with bat in hand!! Luckily, no one was injured and when big boy Micah had his turn with the pinata, everyone scrambled to grab the goods!
Seth did an amazing job sharing all of his toys and taking turns with everyone except...his brother...go figure ;) I can't believe he is 3 already...where does the time go? I am so lucky to have such a wonderful, exciting, full-of-life Sethers and he is such a blessing to us all!

Much thanks goes to my momma for supplying all the fun dino party favors and all who helped me scramble around at the last minute to get everything ready! And a super super thanks to Mrs. Kari Perritte who is the master of invitations! I will see if I can post a copy of one later (i'm too tired to figure it out right now ;) )

One of THOSE Days...

I had "One of THOSE" days today...and by that I mean, not a good one :( You know, one of those days you definitely wake up on the wrong side of the bed and then everything seems on the wrong side after that?!?! Those days that you wish would start over...a million times?? Those days when your only sanity comes from the grace and mercy of the Lord sneaking in and calming your soul??! You know....those days??

Both the boys woke up cranky today, and oh man...did it continue! Everything was a larger than life issue today, with meltdown after meltdown over the most ridiculous things...like blocks being the wrong color and cars not going down the track fast enough! So of course, the big issues of sharing and being nice, were off the charts today!! I seriously started to question my parenting abilities when ROUND 4 of time outs happened before 10am!! It was CRAZY today...neither one of them would even be still long enough to listen to "instruction" let alone obey it!! AHHHHHGHGHGHG! By the time I finally got one semi-seated in time out, the other one was into some sort of mischief and by the time I dealt with that, the "time-outed" one was up and into something else!! Poor Micah, he was sick & trying to rest in the midst of screaming, crying, and the constant sound of my stern voice! I think I even stuck my head in the bedroom once on the verge of some major tears and said, "I am a TERRIBLE mother!!" Of course, he sweetly encouraged me and assured me that I wasn't...but it didn't matter at that point, ya know? My children wouldn't heed to one word I said and couldn't be reasoned with in any form or fashion! I even had to "drag" them to time out (most of the time, they reluctantly go, but at least they go!) Anyway, I felt like a complete failure as a mom and disciplinarian today...big bummer! One bright spot of the day- I kept my friend's little girl today and she was absolutely wonderful and well behaved! Now that I think about it, maybe she was just in shock from all the hooplah with the boys...she was probably scared to death!! Sorry little one!! Oh well- tomorrow is a new day! Right???


Could you imagine these 2 could ever act in such a way?!?!

Happy Birthday To Me....Can I Please Have a CHI!! (sing title with birthday tune ;) )

I don't usually consider myself one that has to have all the "top" brands in hair care and actually I tend to error on the opposite side of that end getting whichever brand is on sale! Anyway, I have naturally curly hair, so if I want it straight I have to do all the work to get it that way :( Some of you are in the same boat with me!! Since I started using a flat iron to straighten my hair, I just picked one of the mid price range irons, which worked perfectly fine until....my hair stylist used the real deal and my hair looked pliable and shiny rather than dry and brittle! It's kinda like settling for Mr. Pibb or Dr. Thunder until you drink Dr. Pepper and are suddenly enlightened to the greatest thing on earth! Ok- maybe not the GREATEST...but pretty close! Anyway, from then on, I was severly frustrated and disappointed that I could not get the same results with my own flat iron and knew I had to have a CHI. However, I also knew that they were slightly outrageous in price, so I jokingly hinted here and there to Micah that it would be a great present for birthday or Christmas. I thought I might have a shot in the dark at scoring it for a Christmas present, but figured my chances were next to none getting it for my birthday.

On Thursday, I picked the boys up from Kid's Day Out, and stopped back by our house so Micah could tell the boys good-bye. When I walked in the door to grab a few things there was a wrapped box on the table from Micah. Honestly, I am not even sure what he said, I was so excited to open it! I "think" I may have glanced at him for a nod of approval to open, then I ripped into the package. I started on the wrong end, so as I shredded the paper, I wasn't completely positive, but..yep...it was a CHI!!! I definitely did not think it would happen for my birthday because they are so expensive, but I should have known better! Micah tends to be sneaky like that, pulling things off without me knowing anything (sometime I will have to write about our engagement story)! But, certainly he did pull it off and now my hair routine has been revolutionized!!! I don't know if you've thought about upgrading, but it is TOTALLY worth it!!

Thanks Babe...I love you! (Not just because you got me a CHI, I would love you just as much if you hadn't, but it sure adds to my motivation...hehehee).

Counting in Spanish & Naming Dinosaurs

Here's my first try of video posting! Aiden is counting in Spanish & Seth is naming dinosaurs ;)

Movie Night

Usually, because Micah travels so much on weekends, we try to have "date night" once a week. I am blessed to have wonderful in-laws and the amazing Trujillo family who keep the boys for us, making date night possible! Anyway, a few weeks ago we were ALL tired, so we decided to have a family date night! We have been doing this a lot more often and I have loved it! So, we ate dinner at home, unrushed (which is rare) and then we "let" the boys pick out a movie. Really it was more of Micah and I convincing the boys which movie they wanted (anyone ever do that?) ! While we were at the store getting the movie, the boys got to pick one treat each to have for the movie...I got to pick one too- thanks babe!! I just knew that both the boys would pick something chocolate, but Micah wanted G-2 so we went to that aisle first. Seth saw the Capri Suns and immediately began making his request known...of course Aiden chimed in because if big brother wants it, he must need it too!! We told them that if they chose the juice boxes, they couldn't get anything else, which I figured would be huge battle when we got to the candy aisle. Seth did pick out a candy bar, but I must say that I was quite surprised when the boys remained faithful to their juice box selection when given the "ultimatum" of one or the other! Seth was so cute, because he insisted that HE get to carry the Capri Sun box to the cashier and he did a pretty good job, minus a few drops...those things are heavy!!! Anyway, we got home, made some popcorn, broke out the juice boxes and settled in for our movie ;) It was such a treat! Here's a pic of all my boys on the couch enjoying the flick!!

Poster Child

Aiden, unlike his older brother, will eat just about anything you put in front of him! Micah and I have actually dubbed him "Rusty" from Brad Pitt's character in the Oceans movies, because almost every time you see "Rusty" in the movie, he is eating something...such is the same for our sweet Aiden! Again, also UNLIKE his older brother, Aiden throws caution to the wind when it comes to staying clean and actually has quite the knack for creating a mess! So, anyway, I recently discovered that Aiden loves the Chef-Boyardee "noodles" as he calls them. I think Marinara Explosion In A Can is a much more suitable name, but no one really consulted me before they made the final decision...oh well!!! Needless to say, we did have a marinara explosion at our dinner table the other night and I think Aiden should definitely be the "new face" of Chef-Boyardee!






No mess here! Nice and neat....noodles only!