January 2013

 

Welcoming in 2013 with our Bocky!

New Year’s Eve in bed with their besties!

The second week in January meant our bi-annual trip to Dallas market.  I took the kiddos for the first time which was interesting.  I drove alone and met my  mom up there.  After our 3 hour trip there I noticed both kids sounded super congested.  As the day wore on fevers emerged and congestion became worse.  I always travel with meds, so I gave tylenol and crossed my fingers.  The next day, I purchased the lights I went for, helped my mom out and we packed up to head home.  Cullen seemed miserable and super cranky.  About 45 minutes away from home he threw up all over the car!  Blah!  We took a trip to the doctor the following day and came home with a strep throat diagnosis x 2!  At least you can treat that with an antibiotic!

Here is our little lady in the hotel room.

My new kitchen pendants I went all the way to Dallas for!!

Daddy had an AWESOME idea to have a family campout in the living room one night.  We roasted hotdogs in the fireplace and followed that up with s’mores!  Best.nights.ever are the ones with the four of us together doing something the kiddos will never forget!

January also meant back to school for us! Homeschool and the routine it has become for our family is what keeps me in my happy place. I LOVE teaching Ellie and I am beyond proud of the progress we have made together. I love it when friends see our classroom for the first time and say, “Whoa…I had no idea it was like THIS!”

Yep, it’s like that…and we LOVE it!  Even with a month off during the holidays and two family trips we are still over a year ahead.  I seriously can NOT believe I am ordering 2nd grade curriculum for my baby girl! 

Speaking of baby…our little, almost three year old man will be starting K4 curriculum in the fall!  We are in the process of redesigning the classroom to accommodate our newest classmate come August! 

100th day of school fun!  Little brother loves special days at school because he always gets to participate!

 

Ellie and Cullen,

WOW!  What a way to start a new year!!  Every week is such an adventure with the two of you.  Some weeks we spend every single day doing school and living life, but some weeks we just go and go on lots of fun outings.  I L.O.V.E. this time with both of you.  I love that you two love each other and stick up for each other (especially, when one of you gets in trouble). 

Ellie, you are a wonderful teacher and example for you little brother.  What a blessing you are my perfect little princess!

Cullen, I love that you make Ellie a little more adventurous than she would typically be!  I think that is good for her, but I’m more thankful that she is usually there with you to remind you when you are about to cross the line!  You need her as much as she needs you and I hope it is always like that with you guys.

Love you both always and forever,

Mommy

March 2013–California!

In March, we joined B on a business trip to California. The most exciting part of this trip is that it was a total surprise to the kiddos!  Ellie knew we were flying somewhere, but she had no clue where.  This is what we gave her at the airport at 7am in the morning:

Daddy had to work for most of the trip, but that didn’t stop this momma from renting a car and driving up and down the coast from LA to Laguna Beach! It was amazing.

On our first day, we took a trip to Long Beach to visit the aquarium. So much fun! Random, but I’ve always wanted to just TRY an In and Out burger, so it was on my checklist of things to do. We aren’t fast food eaters, so it was just ok to me.

On our second day, I took both kiddos to Disneyland…alone! B got to meet up with us around 4 that afternoon for dinner and the parade, but the day was spent as a single mom waiting in line and taking a zillion trips to the bathroom. (b/c Cullen is totally and completely potty trained which is awesome, but it makes trip taking a little interesting) The teacup ride was Ellie’s favorite and Dumbo was Cullen’s! I made some amazing memories with my little babes and the smiles on their faces when we walked in to eat breakfast with the characters brought tears to my eyes.

A little snack and a Dumbo ride with momma!

My little lady on the Teacup ride! 

Just a little worn out!

On Saturday, B was done with work and it just happened to be the weekend of the Oscars, so we took off to L.A. so that Ellie could see the red carpet! She loved it!!! We even got to see the statue! The best was watching the show on Sunday and Ellie yelling, “That is where we were – I saw that!!!” So cool!

On our way to see the stars!

It was SO cool to see the red carpet!

Look very hard and you can see the Hollywood sign in the hills back there!

Dear Ellie and Cullen,

Surprising you with a trip to California was such an amazing experience!  You are both such super kiddos that it really didn’t even seem like I was a single parent for two days!  Well, Cullen, you had some questionable moments, but you are 2 so I’ll cut you some slack! 

Ellie, you BEG us to take you back to California weekly!  Now you say you want to visit San Francisco.  I love planning our family vacations with you and listening to what is important to you.  What a lucky family we are to have the chance to make these memories together!  I am pretty certain that meeting Aurora will go down as one of the best moments in your life to date!

Cullen, you are such a trooper!  Potty trained at two and a half and traveling to a place like Disneyland with no accidents is AWESOME!  I was so proud of you and your behavior for 95% of the trip.  Just when I think you are a handful, a stranger will walk up to our dinner table and compliment how well behaved you are…so, I guess you aren’t THAT bad after all!  I love you little man and I can’t wait for our next adventure!

Love you both always and forever,

Mommy

Cinco de Mayo

Having such amazing friends so close by means we have TONS of Sunday Fun-day’s!  Yesterday, happened to be Cinco de Mayo which just gave us a reason to theme the food for our gathering. 

We are beyond blessed with fab friends and it warms my heart that my kiddos have such amazing friends they can create these memories with.

My flying mermaid!

Little brother will not be outdone!

The boys and their babes

My men!

Our feast at the fiesta

Dear Ellie and Cullen,

I L.O.V.E. that every single Friday night is family movie night.  We start every Friday evening with a dinner at Sweet Tomatoes followed by popcorn and a movie in mom and dad’s bed.  Saturdays are usually packed with parties, but almost every Sunday with nice weather we spend the day together swimming and grilling and usually sharing our day with friends. We are all blessed to have the friendships that we have. 

I hope you always remember to:

Honor one another above yourselves 

Romans 12:10

Love,

Mommy