He said WHAT!!!!

Max visited Matt at work yesterday and had lunch with him.

While in the lunchroom (lunch is catered everyday), Max noticed all the women working there.

He said, "Daddy, there are a lot girls who work here!"

Matt said, "Yep."

Max then responded, "Why aren't they home with their children?"

Uh, oh....have we created a male chauvinist by having me stay at home with them?

14 of 52 - Hats

I admit, this isn't the greatest picture of me, but Cate just loves wearing these mixing bowls as hats and so I joined along in her fun! When I asked if I could take her picture, she said "Sit, Mommy". So, Matt took the camera and captured this silly mommy/daughter moment!

For more "Mommy in the picture" moments, click the button above. Thanks Carin for hosting!

WordFUL Wednesday - Spinning

This was taken at my in-laws house on our recent trip up there. We were in the basement and heard shrieks and laughter and came up the stairs to find this! Two siblings having great fun playing WITH each other. Hopefully, they will love playing with the newest one someday, too!

For more Wordful Wednesdays, visit Angie by clicking on the button above.

Just one more slice of pie!

Forget the calories.

Forget the weight gain (even though there might be some).

Sometimes, life just gives you a reason to indulge in just one more slice of pie!

As for me...I am ready for that sweet indulgence.

As many of you regular readers know...my little slice of heaven is a reference to my kids (if you are new to my blog click on the tab at the top "Pie and Ice Cream Moments").

So.......did you guess yet?

Yep, I am pregnant with baby #3!

We are so overjoyed.

We have known since just before Father's Day, but have waited until now to let all of you know.

So...I am about 10 weeks along and due at the end of February!

We obviously don't know what it is, but will most likely find out. We were surprised with Max, but found out with Cate in order to make it easier for Max to relate to his new brother/sister with a name, gender, etc! So, that reasoning will probably hold true for finding out this time. Plus, Max is convinced that it is a boy...since that is what he prayed for! Oh, golly, I would rather be able to have 3 months or so to prepare him if in fact it is a little sister!

This is also the reason for my delayed postings of late. I have had horrible nausea, morning sickness, and when I am not sick, I can hardly get the energy to do much of anything. So, please excuse my absence in the future...it is most likely one of the aforementioned symptoms!

Now, without further ado, your first glimpse at the baby!

Vacation Fun 2009 - Part 3

After a long drive back to NJ, we enjoyed a nice home cooked meal at Matt's parent's house. The weather was beautiful. It was much more pleasant than the TX heat. We did some laundry and repacked a smaller bag to take up with us to Lake George. Matt's parents have a house up in the Adirondacks that we hadn't been to since before Cate was born. Since this particular visit was long enough to warrant a short stay up there, we decided to go up there for a relaxing 2 days.

So we got up Monday morning and drove up there.

Max was anxious to get on Pop-Pop's boat, especially after our fun lake trip with friends a couple of weeks earlier. The weather was a lot cooler than we had planned for. We knew it wouldn't be as hot as TX, but slightly warmer than it was. Plus, it was a little overcast. We packed a picnic lunch and anchored in a small cove to eat. It began to sprinkle on us as we were eating, but we still had a great time. The kids had planned to get on the tube in the back, but it was just too cold!
It cleared up a little that evening, so we were able to have a nice dinner out on the porch!
Later that night, after the kids were in bed, we played Trivial Pursuit with his parents and enjoyed some lively competition between the guys and gals.


After our leisurely and fun trip up to Lake George, we were headed back to NJ.

But first we wanted to stop into Bolton Landing and eat at one of our favorite places, which coincidentally shares a name (spelling and all) with Cate.

The rest of our time there in NJ was spent visiting with friends, visiting more favorite restaurants and last but not least...date night with Matt to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But most of all, we just relaxed!

On our next to last night there, our dear friends had us over for a bbq. They also invited several friends that we hadn't seen since we moved away a little over 2 years ago. It was great to catch up and see our kids play together.

On our last day there, we took the train into NYC to meet up with one of my oldest friends.

She is also Max's Godmother. We met at a new local spot that is in the bottom of the NY Times building. It is called Schnippers. It was a fresh and modern take on diner food. The kids enjoyed the very special Mac and Cheese and I had a wonderful burger and cheese fries...yummy. They even had a sign up in the place stating that they will be featured on the July 29th episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" on Food Network. I can't wait to watch it!

We then walked around the city while Cate napped in her stroller. We visited St. Patrick's Catedral (where Matt proposed), Times Square, and then the World of Disney NYC.


After that we headed to Matt's brother's apartment in the financial district. We planned to have dinner with them. My in-laws were coming in to join us and then take the kids and I back to NJ. Matt was scheduled to fly back to TX that night.

After dinner, we drove back to NJ and packed up for our flight back to TX. Thunderstorms began and we later heard from Matt that his flight was delayed indefinitely and may be cancelled, so he ended up getting a ticket on our flight back and got a cab back to his twin's place for the night!

It was a wonderful trip, but we were also glad to get back to our beds!

Vacation Fun 2009 - Part 2

After our visit outside of DC, we headed out to Shenandoah National Park in Western Virginia. We were meeting many of Matt's distant cousins for a day of family reunion fun. We had a pavilion inside the park where we grilled burgers and all the fixins. At the end of lunch, it began to downpour, so we loaded up as quickly as we could and headed back to our hotel.

After we checked in to our hotel and rested a couple of minutes, we joined Becca and Shannon at the Skyline Caverns for an hour long guided tour. The kids really seemed to love it. Only toward the end did we have to carry Cate. It was a bit cooler in the caverns, which I was unfortunately not prepared for, but it didn't seem to bother them too much!

Once we were done with the tour, we went back to the cabin that several of the cousins had rented to have a good old Italian meal! We were so glad to get the opportunity to catch up with those distant relatives that we don't see very often.

We got back to the hotel and the kids fell instantly asleep. They had worn themselves out playing with all the kiddos and our mile and a half walk through the caverns. As Cate fell asleep, she reached toward Max and rested her hand on his shoulder....priceless! A definite pie and ice cream moment!

After a restful night's sleep, we got up and headed for New Jersey!

Vacation Fun 2009 - Part 1

Ok...so now I am back and back for real. We got home almost a week ago, but with all the kids activities, playdates, friends having babies, appointments, and laundry, I have barely had time to sit down to the computer and get the pictures uploaded...much less edited and posted!

So, here we go.

On July 8th, the kids and I flew to Virginia sans Matt (he was joining us on Friday due to work). We go there with no problems, I rented a car and drove to his cousin's house with the help of the GPS. I have to admit...I got a little spoiled with the GPS. The kids thought it was funny to hear that lady's voice, especially with her British accent! The first time she called out a direction, Max asked who was talking! Very cute.

Anyway, while we were in Virginia, we played with the cousins, went to the pool, watched movies and just had a great time catching up.

They recently had a baby and this was our first time meeting her.

The day after we arrived, I drove up to meet my bloggy friend, Jen@OurDailyBigTop. It was our first time meeting face to face. After a recent trip to our cousins over the holidays, she had mentioned that we were in her neck of the woods. So, when we decided to come for the summer, I thought it only fitting to ask if we could meet in person. She graciously hosted my daughter and I for lunch. In a random twist, one of my dearest friends growing up just happened to move to the same town as Jen just a week before. So, I also got the chance to reconnect with her, too. Jen even asked me to have her come along. I was so exicted to have such wonderful and fun lunch catching up with an old friend while making a new one at the same time. Cate also enjoyed getting to play with Jen's daughter. MG dressed Cate up in all kinds of princess outfits. They, too, became fast friends. After an afternoon like that, I can't help but know that I am truly blessed with such wonderful people in my life!


On our last evening with the cousins before the big family reunion that weekend, Becca and I went to her monthly Bunco night! It was fun to be included and I even won one of the prizes that night! Late that night, I went to pick up Matt so that we could head to the Shenandoah National Park for his family reunion the next day!

Swaptastic Gifts

Just before we left (and I mean hours) for vacation, I received my swap goodies from my swap partner in Mamarazzi's Red, White and Blue Swap.

It was all Disney goodness! Thanks, Holly @ I like it frantic!

Thanks, also, Mamarazzi for hosting this fun swap. Looking forward to the next one. Sorry for the delay in posting my goodies, but we just got back from an extended vacation!

We Are Back!!!!

We are home from our wonderful 10 days of family and fun! I'll post more...hopefully, later today, but I must get to that ginormous pile of laundry!

Originally posted March 20,2009

This past Monday before leaving for Spring Break at my parents' house, we went to the Dallas Arboretum to see all the beautiful tulips. They were breathtaking. I was pleased with my pictures, but they still don't do them justice.

They also had different "Storybook Playhouses" for the children to play in. Each one was sponsored by a company and was fashioned after a different storybook.

This one was for "Eragon" and was my personal favorite!

This was the Jolly Roger pirate ship for "Peter Pan" and you guessed it, Max's favorite.


This one was a Russian storybook and unfortunately, I forgot the name. Cate really liked this one.

Then, we went over to a petting area for the kids. Max and Cate both went in, but only Max would brush or pet the animals. He spent about 15 minutes in there.

It was a beautiful day after a week of rain. The sunshine, gentle breezes and gorgeous flowers made for a day full of fun for the kids.

Happy Spring!

Dogs and Ducks and Diapers, Oh My!

Originally posted November 2, 2008

Well, here are the kiddos all ready for some Halloween fun! We had two fun evenings starting with the Trunk or Treat put on by my MOMS group at church on Thursday evening and then Friday night we went around our neighborhood. Last year, Cate was so little that she didn't really get the whole concept. I wasn't sure if she would get it this year either...well, I was wrong. She saw what Max was doing and was running to the doors just as fast as her little legs would take her. In fact, at one of the last houses we went to, she ran so fast that she tripped a little and did a face plant right on the walkway. Good thing for "Daisy's bill"! She walked away without a scratch...crisis averted. Max really got into it, too. At one point, he was carrying his treat bag in his mouth since that is how DOGS carry things. All around good fun!

So...we have covered Dogs (Pluto) and Ducks (Daisy), now onto the Diapers! Now you may be wondering how that fits into it all...well, it doesn't exactly, but it was too funny to leave it out.

Cate's new thing to do is removing her shoes, her socks, her pants and YES, her diaper!!! Now, over the course of a week, she has done this probably 20 times!

She will come around the corner...NAKED.

She will come down the stairs...NAKED.

I'll go get her in her crib after naptime...NAKED.

Now she is not quite 2 years old, but this week - PULL UPS!

Game On!

Originally posted February 22, 2009

Last night, we had a great evening/late night with 7 other couples! And the best part, NO KIDS!

We hosted everyone over here for our highly requested game night. This was the third time we have done it. We have munchies and BYOB. The party got started around 7pm and after some socializing, we got down to business. We played the ever popular "Salad Bowl". It is a blast and gets everyone involved.

Would you like to know how to play it?

Everyone writes down the name of 4 to 5 celebrities, real-life or fictional character (ie, George Washington, Julia Roberts, James Bond, Mickey Mouse), on slips of paper. Fold them up and put them in a salad bowl (hence the name).

Break up into teams (at least 2-3 people per team).

Round 1 - one person from a team goes up to the front with the salad bowl and draws a name and tries to get the other team members to guess it by using as many words to describe that celebrity without saying the name on the paper. There is no passing. You try to get as many names from the salad bowl as you can in one minute. The ones that are guessed...hold on to those slips of paper (DO NOT put them back in the bowl). Then the next team goes for one minute, then the next team goes...until all the slips of paper have been guessed. Some teams may go up more than once. Then tally your score on how many celebrities were guessed. NOW...you fold up the pieces of paper and put them back in the salad bowl!

Round 2 - you do the same thing as before, but this round instead of speaking freely you can use only ONE WORD. There is still no passing, so after you choose this word, if it isn't getting your team anywhere, you are STUCK with it and cannot move on to another word or name in the bowl. You cannot use initials or numbers, only one word! Do you see that the key is to remember the names from the first round, even if they weren't the names that your team guessed! Now, tally the score from this round and again, put the names back in the bowl!

Round 3 - this round is charades! Same rules, no passing, no mouthing, etc. After this round is done, tally the score and add up the three rounds. The highest score wins!

It is an extremely fun game in our book, but we like to play games. When deciding on your guest list, remember to invite people who would be high energy and enjoy doing this. Sometimes, more reserved people or people that don't like to "make a fool out of themselves" would not enjoy this at all!

Game On!!!

Is This A Pattern?

Originally posted December 10, 2008

It all started with Max getting into my inkpads one afternoon in Feb 2005....

...then, into the Desitin in Feb 2006...

...now, Cate decided to continue this pattern with my body lotion in Oct 2008!

I promise, I do supervise these children! I guess just not enough!