Galveston Mardi Gras!

 A few weekends ago, the Butler, Bromley and Knott families went to Mardi Gras in Galveston.  After the Sugarland concert, Kevin, the kids and I headed straight down to the Butler's beach house.  We were there all day Friday with just the four of us.  While I ran to get groceries, Kevin and the kids enjoyed playing at the beach.  The weather was REALLY foggy that day, but warm enough to play in swim suits.  The water was still very cold, but Cooper wasn't scared to get wet...even if it was by accident.

After a few hours at the beach, we had a picnic lunch (per Addison's request) in the "crazy trees."  We have been to the beach house now a few times and she remembered from another time we were there, they have an area in the neighborhood with great climbing trees.



The tree climbers



It's hard to tell how big these trees really are, but look at the top of the picture below compared to where Addison is standing...I think we have a monkey in our family!

Early Saturday morning, bad weather came in and it rained like crazy!  By the morning, the ditches were filled to the top, the temp was colder, the wind was crazy, and it was still raining.  The rest of the families arrived early that morning - but with this weather, we weren't even sure we would be able to do any parades or other Mardi Gras activities.  Luckily, the weather got a little better late afternoon and we planned to go to the parade. 

One family that we met up with had experienced Mardi Gras in Galveston a few times, so they knew just where to go and just where to park.  It worked out perfectly - we only had to walk a block or two and we had a great area to keep track of all 8 kids with us!  We didn't go into the Strand area for the parade - I am sure that would be a little less family friendly.  We were on a street with houses and most of the houses were decorated and having a party.  They were playing some fun music that kept us all entertained before and during the parade.

We didn't really know what to expect from the parade.  We were hoping that it wasn't too wild since we had the kids with us.  It was GREAT!  The kids all LOVED it and had the best time seeing the floats, costumes, and catching beads.  Both of the kids surprised me at how well they could catch the beads - especially Miss Addison.  She caught the most beads by far.  It probably helped that she was on Daddy's shoulders the majority of the time!  ;)



All the boys got glow in the dark swords!



I don't know why I didn't think to get pictures of the kids with all the beads - these were before the parade even started.

All the girls got light up butterflies!

 The next day, we went to the Pet Parade on the Seawall, which was fun too.  Unfortunately, didn't get any pics of that and the kids were so worn out by then, we left right after it finished. 

We had so much fun and look forward to many more Mardi Gras celebrations in the future!!!  Thanks for the invite and letting us stay at your beach house, Butler's!

It's Rodeo time!

 A few months ago, we decided it would be great to see Sugarland in concert with the kids.  We all have fun jamming to their music - and it's kid-friendly for sure.  I found out they were coming to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in March and decided we had to get tickets.  Kevin and I haven't been to a concert at the rodeo in probably 5 years at least, but saw this as a great opportunity and good family fun!\

I bought tickets from a friend of mine at work who always has lots of tickets since she has been on the rodeo committee forever.  We left work at 3:30 on that Thursday of the concert and headed over to Reliant.  The kids were super excited!



The kids are ready to go!  Yeehaw!

We walked around the carnival for a while, ate some dinner, and headed in to the concert.  Our tickets said 6:45pm so we were at our seats just before that.  Come to find out, the rodeo started at that time...not the actual concert!  It was entertaining to watch some of the events like the bull riding, calf roping, mutton bustin', barrel racing, but we didn't realize that Sugarland wouldn't be on stage until 8:55pm!  That is late for our kids! 

Our cowgirl was so excited to see the concert!

The concert lasted an hour and the kids loved it!  We had fun singing and hearing some of our favorite Sugarland songs. 



Handsome little cowboy!

A little bit of poor planning on our part for the timing of the concert, but luckily all of the events kept all of us entertained!  Not sure if we will get to go back and see all the animals and go to the petting zoo before the rodeo is done for this year, but it was a fun night at the concert and the kids did really well considering it was 2 hours past their bedtime!

Birthdays and celebrations!

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post...actually, I can.  But the main reason is that I haven't moved all my pictures to my computer.  And the computer that I will be loading is not online...so we need to go buy a router for wireless internet.  Until then, I will have to beg, borrow, and steal other people's pictures to show what we have been up to or use the not-so-great pictures from my I-phone.

We moved at the end of January to Spring and we are living with my parents for a while.  Kevin and I are so thankful to have such amazing parents - my parents for letting us stay with them and for my in-laws helping us with the actual move!  Neither one is an easy task!  Living in Spring has been nice - we are back near some old friends, the house is perfect, and it's fun to have family around.  The hard part is the COMMUTE - it is long!  We know it's only temporary, but the sooner we can build the house, the better!

Cooperman had his 3rd birthday recently and I will do a whole post on that alone soon! He LOVED, LOVED, LOVED his party at the Little Gym and he was glowing the entire time.

 We went to Austin last weekend to celebrate Kevin's mom, Karen, who was a recipient of a "Top Ten teacher in Texas" award! What a huge accomplishment and it is well deserved. We were happy to be there to support her and see her acceptance speech (which she did fantastic on!).

While we were in Austin, we also had an early birthday celebration for Gordon.  We ate at a really cute restaurant called Chez-zee.  Although, it didn't quite live up to last year's Vegas birthday, it was still a good time!  Happy birthday, Gordon / Dad / G-pa!!!

For a late Valentine's day celebration (and just because it was MUCH needed), Kevin and I stayed another night in Austin with just the two of us.  We went to the Duchman winery, had dinner at the Oasis on Lake Travis, and stayed at a little bed & breakfast, and enjoyed this... 

I have to say, it was SO nice just to be with my husband - we don't have enough time to do that as often as we would like.  Thanks to my parents for planning a fun filled weekend with our kids while we were away!

Welcome to 2011!!!

It’s really hard to believe that 2010 has already come and gone and in so many ways, I am glad to be into a new year! We are ready for 2011 – it’s going to be a fun, exciting, and stressful year, but we are ready for it.


As many people know, we are moving in one week! We have been packing, planning, getting repairs done in the house, cleaning out closets/drawers/rooms, arranging for movers, booking storage, and Kevin has been VERY busy with all things related to the house we are going to build. Because of all that, I haven’t even loaded all my Christmas pictures onto my computer yet…hence why there won’t be pictures on this post, unless it’s from my I-phone. That can be done soon…after we get settled into our new temporary home.

My parents have invited us to live with them temporarily…at first, we thought it was a crazy idea, but then decided it was worth it. I just hope they don’t regret making the offer…  We are putting 99% of our belongings into storage and taking only what we need over the next several months. Two of our precious “belongings,” Cameron and Bailee, will be living somewhere temporarily. Kevin’s parents were nice enough to take in one of their granddogs, Cameron, while we are living with my parents. We are still looking for a temporary home for Bailee – she is an outside dog most of the time, unlike Cameron. She loves to be outside, preferably with other dogs or people, running and playing. We have a few leads and I hope that one of them will work out. Anyone want an adorable, playful, fully potty trained 7 year old dog for about 5 months???

The kids are doing well. We have started a “Responsibility chart” for them. They each have 3 goals for the week. Addison has done very well on her goals so far…only one day where she didn’t get a smiley face for every one of them. Her goals this week are: 1. Make bed 2. Get dressed 3.Clean up room/toys. Cooper is doing OK too, but he really needs to work on one particular goal – STOP WHINING! Unfortunately, he has not received a smiley face on that one yet, but he is doing well with “Sharing” and “picking up toys.” We have to keep in mind that he’s not even 3 yet, but we have a hard time dealing with the amount of whining and crying he does. The teacher even mentioned it at school the other day too.  I am sure it is a phase, but I sure wish he would move on to the next phase pretty quick!!!

The Storybook Cottage birthday party!

What a great little place this is hidden over in Old Katy! I am so glad that we found it...Addison loved this party and I think her friends had a great time too - even a few boys!



The birthday girl!



The table is set for the big party...



Isabella, Nyla, Kate, and Addison chose their first dress.



Cooper as a pirate-knight-king guy - Wardrobe change #1

Addi chose bright green for her nails!



Showing off their mani's!





Kevin helping the boys get all dressed!

Thanks to Ursula, she totally hooked us up with all the superhero costumes!  The cottage had a few things for the boys so I asked Ursula to bring what she could since she has 2 superhero lovin' boys in her household!  You're the best, Urs!  

Cooper as Spiderman - wardrobe change #2

 


Rylee, Nyla, Isabella, Addison, Anabell, and Kate looking beautiful!




Happy Batman in wardrobe change #3!




2 handsome superheros!  Wardrobe change #4 for Cooper!




Addison and her cousin Emorie Claire




The birthday girl with her mommy




After the fashion show, they all lined up for the papparazzi!  Minus EC :(

 

Happy 5th birthday Addi!

Story time - Fancy Nancy was the book of choice.

Opening gifts and giving hugs to friends for the presents 

Addi and the boys - they were such troopers and I think they had as much fun as the girls!

We added a little something to the boys dress up time - they both loved this!

Happy Birthday to our sweet, beautiful, smart daughter, Addison!

Happy Birthday Addison!

I cannot believe my first born is already 5 years old...time has flown by.  We are so lucky to have such a sweet, loving, fun, adorable, wonderful girl in our family...our lives would not be the same without her. 

On her birthday morning, she wanted to open her presents.  We gave her a James Avery charm bracelet, a few charms, and some clothes. 

Since I took the day off on her birthday, we decided to have a donut birthday party at her school instead of the traditional cupcakes in the afternoon.  The kids all loved that idea! 

She was excited about her two tier donut with 5 candles on the top.

Her friends all made her a Happy Birthday sign!

Kevin was able to take the afternoon off and we asked what special activity she wanted to do with us.  She chose ice skating!  This was her first time and she had a great time.  All of us were laughing so hard at the beginning because of how uncoordinated we all looked.  Addi was slipping around and we were trying not to fall with her.  It was not easy getting used to the ice and holding onto a 40 lb girl that was all over the place!

By the end, she had improved a lot.  She was able to skate with only one of us holding her hands.  And for a very short distance, she would skate by herself.  We had a great time and I have a feeling someone will want to do it again soon!

We also let her choose where we should go for dinner.  She chose Chuck E. Cheese!  Who knew that place was so busy on a Tuesday night in December???  Cooper and Addison both loved it and could have stayed there all night.  But, Addi didn't want anything to do with Chuck E. Cheese...when she saw him come out, she hid under the table!  Cooper wanted to give him high fives...one of the many differences of the kids!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE GIRL!

WE LOVE YOU AS HIGH AS THE SKY AND DEEP AS THE OCEAN!

We look forward to your birthday party with friends and family this weekend!

Photo shoot flop

A few weeks ago, we went to Dallas to visit Kevin's parents and decided to try and get some cute pictures of the kids for our Christmas cards.  We took so many pictures and only came back with a handful of good ones.  Let's just say that taking pictures of a 2 1/2 year old and almost 5 year old is not easy!  At this point, I can't share the good ones, but I figured you might get a good laugh out of the not-so-good ones and the ones that will not show up on our Christmas card!

Don't ask me what Cooper is doing...



Taaaddaaaa!



Cooper is doing wall squats...



Addison is windblown and sleeping and Cooper is looking at the ground.



A bit windy that day...part of the problem...



Cooper's awesome "cheeeeese" smile.



Saw a little of this during the photo shoot...



And a LOT of this...



 Luckily we were able to get a few good ones, but it was tough!  :)

And at least we got to have a fun visit with these two!  Thanks again for a fun visit!
 

More details about the rest of the visit to be continued...