Memorial Day Weekend 2012

As usual, we went over to my parents' house for Memorial Day Weekend. It was HOT! We were actually supposed to go to a birthday party, but we had all been really sick and were still trying to get over the sniffles, so I thought it would be best if we didn't spread the love. So, we just relaxed and played (and ate), and had a good time!

My dad had done some shopping, and got the boys their first real baseball caps!

The neighbors' peach trees were overflowing, and they said we were welcome to come over and pick some if we wanted to. We got two huge bowls full (although I'm not sure what we're going to do with them all!).

There were TONS of butterflies all over the trees!

After the peach-picking, we went back into the air conditioning and the kids painted some suncatchers. I actually painted one, too. :)

Time for swimming!! The kids could hardly wait to get into the pool! Grammy and Granddad always let them have popsicles while they're in the water, which is a bonus.

That was all on Saturday. Then, on Monday (Memorial Day), we went back over there for Round Two!

Anna was helping Grammy in the kitchen.

Dad's brisket, about to go back into the fire for many hours!

There was more swimming, of course, and some baseball!

Such concentration.

Brisket's done! Nicky's trying to sneak some pieces before it's all cut up.

This might have been one of the best Dad has ever made. We gave him a standing ovation when he entered the kitchen.

Anna went crazy with that corn on the cob!

This was at about 5:00, when it was already starting to cool off for the evening. I'm pretty sure we broke 100 degrees.

It was a good weekend to help recover from our mini-vacation the week before and from being really sick. It's always fun to spend time with my family!

Zoe's Third Birthday!

As of March 1, I have a three year-old little girl. How in the world did that happen?! Anyway...

On Sunday, we celebrated with family and friends. And food (of course - did you forget who I am?). There was also a cake. An evil, evil cake. A cake that haunts my dreams and makes my eye twitch uncontrollably.

Moving on.

My sweet Zoe.

 

We all gathered at my parents' house to celebrate, Disney princess style. Well, just ONE princess, more specifically.

 

 

I made a bunch of food (and a stupid, evil cake) for lunch, and we all spent some time chewing the proverbial fat (and the real fat).

The real fun, however, is in the blowing out of candles and the opening of presents, right? Well, let's get there!

In every Disney movie, there exists a villain. Here's mine.

Zoe loved it, and that's the only thing that matters.

(This cake had to be reconstructed three times. I don't want to talk about it.)

Making sure the candle is perfectly straight.

 Happy Birthday!!

Make a wish!!

Boy, did I enjoy hacking that thing to pieces! And it was goooood. Might have been the best cake I've ever made. Mmmm.

 

Then Zoe got to open her presents!

She was really excited about her Hello Kitty backpack.

A real Snow White dress!

She was in a state of bliss.

The other kids were fun to watch. Anna enjoyed playing with the other babies: Judah, who is a couple weeks younger than she is, and her cousin Christopher, who is 19 months old.

They were having a conference, I believe.

Anna wanted to make sure Christopher's ear was working properly.

 Micah, cousin Bailey, and Zoe.

 Ethan, our budding photographer.

 

Nicholas, trying his hand at taking portraits.

 

This is serious business.

We had fun! More importantly, Zoe had fun. :) It was a great birthday!

Sometimes we do fun things.

Sometimes it's hard to have fun at our house. Life just gets in the way, as do my obligations as a stay-at-home wife and mommy. The laundry beckons, there are meals to be cooked, and that dirty bathroom isn't going to clean itself. On occasion, though, we do get some time to do fun things.

A few days ago, I thought it would be fun to make a fruit pizza. It's not hard, and I knew the kids would enjoy decorating it. They LOVE fruit. Needless to say, it was a huge hit.

 They were very meticulous about placing the fruit on the pizza.

It was actually really good!

Then, on Wednesday, we went to the store to check out the Halloween clearance section. I told the kids that we could try to find some costumes for them and start a "dress-up" wardrobe for them at our house. They were really excited. Huge bummer. There were TWO toddler-sized costumes in the entire Wal-Mart, and they were both for girls. They were also way too small for the boys. The only size they had was a child's small (which is about a size 6, and both the boys are in 4's right now). I managed to find capes and masks, though, and they were really happy with those. Zoe got a pink and black witch costume, which she loves.

The best part was when they decided to dress Anna in their costumes, which she thought was hilarious! They were taking the masks on and off, and she didn't mind a bit!

Zoe contributed her witch's hat for this picture.

The terrible trio.

Superhero brothers.

The day that we got the costumes, we also found some super huge coloring sheets with the Looney Tunes characters on them. The kids really had fun with them.

 If you stick your tongue out, it helps you stay within the lines.