The Stauffers do Texas

Well, for 48 hours anyway.  The Stauffers are good friends of ours that live in KC.   Adam and David were roommates throughout college so when they get together, it's like they are right back in college again...but with wives and multiple kids ;).  They have 2 cute boys, Henry-2 and Charlie-6 months.

 You are looking at Friday night's dinner.  The boys went to the store and cooked up some incredible stuffed pork, original recipe inspiration from John McCormack :).  We had some friends over for dinner/drinks and to let the kids play like crazy.  Cooper and Henry went to bed at 11pm!

The next morning we headed down to The Stockyards, it's our obligatory "Texas must see" for new visitors.  Where else can you see a longhorn cattle drive down Main Street?

We usually stop by the old school candy store and

 ride a couple rides.

A natural ;)

 Boys and their boys.

 Crazy Laney and Sweet Charlie.  This boy was just along for the ride with the 3 wild and older ones.

 One of the main reasons the Stauffers visited this weekend....Kenny Chesney concert!  My incredible baby-sitter brought a friend and they kept the 4 kids from 4 in the afternoon until after midnight, great baby-sitters are priceless!!!

 The concert was at Cowboys Stadium and we had awesome seats.  This was the view straight above us...yikes!  The biggest screen in the world was hovering above us.  Yes, it's a stadium...they opened the roof up for the night, so fun!

We had a blast!  Eric Church was a great opening act, always liked him, but he just might be my new fave.  And who doesn't love Kenny Chesney?  He played for over 2 hours, high energy, full of entertainment.  The crowd also provided quite the entertainment...we saw multiple people arrested, the lady in front of us puked and peed herself, and people passed out in random places!!!  No joke people, it was crazy!

 The next morning was Mother's Day and unfortunately the Stauffers had to catch an early flight (11am is early when the night before is Kenny Chesney ;)).  Cooper and Charlie were ready for pics...we had to chase down and tackle the other two.

 Another awesome weekend of visitors!  Thanks Stauffers for coming down to see us, we loved having you here!  Next visit, Final Four 2014...rock chalk jayhawk!

Eve of the last day of preschool (year 2) and writing

Can you tell I struggled for a title?

Cooper's last day of preschool is tomorrow.  Well, not last day of preschool forever, just until September.  I am sad because it means he's one step closer to Kindergarten and the handcuffs of school schedules/homework, sad because he adores his teachers, classmates, school routine, sad because September will be here all too soon and both my babies will be in preschool.  But...I am oh so happy because he has learned and grown so incredibly much, happy that we officially have no schedule for the next 3 1/2 months!, happy to not be packing lunch 2 days a week and dragging him out of bed to rush out the door.

About that learning so incredibly much...last night we were playing outside after dinner and he found a lone piece of chalk.  He proudly says, I wrote a "D."  So, I told him if he added an A and another D, he would spell Dad.  So he did.  Then he spelled Mom on his own...what?!  Then he decided to write everyone's name in our family and he did!  Adam and I just looked at each other smiling, both of us thinking, 'when did this happen?'

 I love his current E's, they have lots of extra lines ;).

I can only imagine what this time next year will bring?!

Days with Doodles

It's Cooper's last week of preschool which also means it's my last 2 days alone with my Laney Faith.  I have loved my one-on-one time with her on Tuesdays/Thursdays.  We usually got together with friends on Tuesday mornings, didn't run too many errands because she is just not a good shopper ;), played outside whenever we could and always ate lunch just the 2 of us.  

She loves animals, (specifically puppy dogs) so the 2 of us went to the zoo this morning.  After her screaming most of the 30 minute drive...girl does NOT like being in her car seat, we had fun there!  

 It was a beautiful, sunny day!  The zoo was c-r-a-z-y with millions of field trips.  I was quickly reminded of the daily challenges teachers face.  It is such a tough job and I hope you all show your teachers extra love at the end of the school year...it is so deserved, I promise!  

 This elephant put on quite the show for her audience.  She played and played in that water making lots of noises and bringing smiles to so many faces.

 I couldn't walk away!

 The girl loved the black bear!

 I brought the stroller, it did a good job holding my bag ;).  Laney was on a mission.  She would check out each animal for about 7.5 seconds and then she was off.

Oh Laney Faith, I so loved my one-on-one time with you sweet girl!  

Stella & Dot sale and April winner!!!

Get what you really wanted for Mother's Day ;)...good thru tonight at midnight.  No code needed, discount automatically applies.

What would I get?  In bags...this and this.  Bracelets...these in ivory, green, and blue paired with this and love this stacked or alone, here.  These earrings are perfect for summer, my favorite are the aqua.

At the beginning of April, I blogged this post about Autism Awareness month with Stella & Dot.  Many of you purchased the super cute Spirit bracelet to support our cause.  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!  I wrote that everyone who purchased would be put in a raffle to win the hostess rewards (aka free product credit!).  Well, halfway into May I finally did it! 

Watch the video here on YouTube!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was my 4th Mother's Day as a Mom...shouldn't I have more answers by now to things like....cures for a runny nose, how to get a child to use manners 100% of the time, deciding if/when to take child to doctor, how to gracefully maneuver kicking/screaming 20 month old into carseat and ignore her screaming in the car???  Someone please tell me all of these answers and more kick in on my 5 year anniversary of being a Mom!

Adam and I appreciate our parents (especially our patient mothers :)) like crazy, but with each year of parenting, I think our appreciation shoots up another level.  Especially since they both had 4 and all close in age!

Mother's Day this year was perfect.  It was pretty low key, we were busy all weekend with friends in town (more on that later).  We just played and watched cartoons all morning.  Kids took long naps, I caught up on my DVR'ed shows and Us Weekly outside in the beautiful sunshiny weather.

Adam asked if I wanted dinner cooked or to go out. I didn't want to do dishes again today, so we went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory.  Of course Cooper and Laney were perfect angels....HA! Let's pretend that happened.  Instead, Cooper was playing the drums with knives and Laney was screaming to open every butter packet that came with the bread and then put stickers all over the table.  True story, luckily Cheesecake Factory is a loud place.  

 Here's what Cooper came home from school with.  The one about cutting paper...we did lots of cutting letters and paper the day before...other than that we haven't had scissors out in over a month!

There was a wait for dinner so we gave Cooper 2 choices...go run around/play by the water fountains or go to the bookstore...choice is clear.  Adam said, "he is obviously your child."  I am telling you, me and this boy are a lot alike and Laney and her Daddy are a lot alike.  I read book after book to Cooper and Adam chased Doodles around.

Blueberries and cheese sticks while we waited.  Ugh, they are both getting so big!

This is my, Oh crap I haven't got a picture today with the kids, picture.  Can you tell?  All I can see is how pasty my legs are!  Yikes!

I hope you all had the most terrific Mother's Day yet!

Wake-up Call

In my sister's old room at my parents, there are trundle beds.  That's just asking for a sleepover right?  Many nights it was Coop and I in the main bed and Aunt Alli on the pull out bed.  

One morning this is how Cooper woke us up...

Yep, found my phone in bed, got on and blasted some Biebs :).

Family Wedding

The other main reason for our Kansas visit was for my Aunt Lori's wedding!  It was a very low key ceremony in their house...I felt pretty special because other than the kids, I was the only other one allowed!  Not just because I am her favorite ;), but I took some pics for them to document the event.  Then friends and family met up for dinner at Wil Jenny's that evening.  It was a great night!

 Here's the happy couple with arguably their favorite child? :)

 In town visiting all week and this is the only pic I get with grandparents and/or Gunner. :(

 This is classic.  Can you tell who was too busy playing to stop for a picture?

Love this one!  Cheers Lori and Nelson!  Enjoy your trip to NYC!