Maddie Visits

My cousin Maddie came to visit for a week.  We were thrilled to have her and I think she was just thrilled to be off work for a week.  The boys pulled a little prank and acted like their fort was her room for the week.

  She was so awesome with the boys and such fun company for me.  One afternoon she gave the boys blanket rides down the hallway forever.  Then Vance did his best to give her a ride.

We played plenty of games and had lots of laughs.

Maddie also loves photography so one afternoon we went to the arboretum and had fun photographing the beautiful flowers.

 The boys had so much fun playing with her.  She didn't get much personal space and every meal they argued over who got to sit next to Maddie.

 We had fun playing games outside and watching the boys play.

 One afternoon we played tennis with my mom.  The weather was so beautiful...it was perfect for tennis!

 Maddie likes to cook and loves steak so while she was here we made a fancy dinner.  We made ribeye with a marsala wine and shallot sauce with a side of homemade gnocchi with brown butter and butternut squash.  It was delicious!!!

 The boys' last request was for Maddie to come eat lunch with them at school.  They absolutely love lunch visitors and were over the moon that we came to eat with them.

 We love you Mads and miss you already!

Go Knights Go!

For Christmas a bunch of us got tickets to go to the Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights hockey game.  Well game day finally arrived!!!

 I found some great seats and not too bad of a price.  It was nice to be so close and feel like you were really in the action.

Vance and Chad went to the game 1 1/2 hours early in hope of getting a signature or something.  Vance as one of the first people to gather near the tunnel where the Knights players would enter.  He got to see all of the players up close and personal.  Unfortunately only one player signed anything but Vance didn't walk away empty-handed.  Fleury (the boys' favorite player and an amazing goalie) reached his glove up to Vance and gave him the puck he was holding.  Vance was thrilled for the puck and thrilled to touch Fleury's glove.  He was giddy with excitement.

It is a pretty cool puck!

 I enjoyed the game so much more in person than on TV.  I could actually follow the puck!  

 Vance (and me) were hoping for a good fight and a great one broke out right in front of us.  It made my night ;)

 I loved our Vegas Born shirts.

 The Knights won 2-1 which made the night even better.   

 It was a great night and an unforgettable one for Vance.  I'm so glad we are able to create those kinds of memories and even more grateful for a dad like Chad...a guy who goes to a game 1 1/2 hours early because his son wants to.  Chad said I needed to give myself credit to because I came up with the idea, designed/ordered the shirts and sings, and bought the tickets.  This parenting thing is definitely a team effort!

Way to go Knights!

Bubble Bath

The boys took it upon themselves to take a bubble bath.  They used WAY too many bubbles but they had a blast and cleaned up the mess afterwards.  

 

Their little floating heads in a sea of bubbles cracks me up!

Spring Break

I absolutely love spring break.  I am always ready for a break from the routine and a week is the perfect amount of time.  This year we didn't make any huge plans but we filled each day with fun.

On Monday we went to Nickelrama Arcade.  The boys had fun playing the different games and agonized over how to spend their tickets.  We met up with another one of our good friends so I had fun visiting while the boys ran around.  It was a fun afternoon!

 We had lots of friends over which is my favorite way to keep the boys busy.  They play so much less electronics and get along so much better when they have a friend over.  They played lots of board games, jumped on the trampoline, and giggled for hours.

 We also set up the boys' fort and Keller and Sutton's friends had fun playing in that.  They play ice cream shop, pizza store, and even pretend to nap.  They set up a "backyard" outside the fort too.

 They have had lots of late nights which has meant a few naps during the day too.  They like to stay up but haven't caught the vision of sleeping in.  Unfortunately that means they are a little grumpy until I can convince them to sit still long enough to fall asleep.

 Keller got to go to a trampoline park with a friend.   He thought it was pretty awesome.

 Of course spring break isn't complete without a sleepover at Grandma's and donuts for breakfast.  All of the boys love to hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Aunt Jennie and Uncle Rob had the boys over for a sleepover.  They could barely wait for Wednesday to come.  The festivities began by making pizzas for dinner.

 That was followed by donuts for breakfast in the morning.  By the way when spring break was all done Sutton said his favorite part of the entire week was his Captain Crunch donut. Haha!

 Jennie had bought some Ding Dongs and the boys made some signs to ding-dong-ditch people.  Keller especially thought it was pretty fun and I love his kid-handwriting and question marks.

 They finished up their stay by going to a movie.  Does Aunt Jennie rock or what?!

 Friday of spring break we took an impromptu trip to the Silos in Waco with Jennie, Kelsie, and my mom.  They have a big spring event so there were tons of people.  

The boys' favorite part is just playing on the lawn.  I hung out with them while everyone else shopped.  The weather was beautiful and it felt great to be outside after lots of rain.

 

 I'm so grateful for my flexible job that lets me create fun memories with the boys during their breaks.

 I snapped a few pictures thanks to portrait mode on my phone.  I just love pretty flowers!

 Grandma is ALWAYS the treat buyer.  The boys picked out this cookie dough food truck.  Sutton ate so much cookie dough I cannot believe he didn't puke.

It was a wonderful week and I'm already looking forward to summer!