Happy birthday, Christy!

Jude stayed home with the three little pigs while I went out to dinner with my girlfriends. We celebrated Christy's birthday with fine dining. I love my Thursday friends! When I first moved here, we started a Grey's Anatomy Girl's Night. Every Thursday, *we got babysitters, got together, and watched Grey's. When the season was over, we did dinner out. Soon, we stopped watching Grey's so much, and it was more about visiting with good friends.

*We are the wives of all the guys. A few of our husbands have all been friends for many years. They married girls who all got along and started their own friendships. Us. These girls have friends they brought into the girl group, even playing match maker to one couple, Heather and Eric. The group we have grows and shrinks, depending on what is happening in every one's life at the time. It is made of a core group though, and those are the friends I absolutely LOVE; Christy being one of them. I look forward to Heather's wedding in June and Christy better be following shortly behind. We are not ALL old married hags with children. lol

Here are a few pics from the lovely evening, with me on some Vicodin. I wasn't much company but I DIDN'T SELL OUT!!

Christy about to make a wish

Shannon, Holly (first timer) and Jenn

Christy, Heather, Andrea (not looking myself)

Cheers to another year older!

Our next BIG event, Heartsy's wedding, but the bachelorette party is FIRST. Woo-hoo!

Sick and socializing

I woke up this morning not feeling well. My throat/neck area (middle ear infection) is hurting again and I think I need to visit my PCP. I visited urgent care this past Sunday and I think it is time for a follow up. I have been trying not to take my pain meds because I do not like how they make me feel. Years ago, I liked that dazed feeling. When you have three children at your feet, it is very hard to focus on the needy little ones. That doesn't change the fact that we have plans all day. I decide to tough it out, not take anything, and visit our MF's at Krisitin's house for a two year old (and older) playdate. The boys had a great time visiting with their friends as I sat there, uncomfortable, trying to visit with mine. We stayed for about an hour, and hit the grocery store on the way home. That was an experience. Roman and Aiden fought majority of the time there. At one point, Roman, sitting in the front of the buggy, bit the hell out of Aiden, who was walking. How? I do not know. Aiden screamed bloody murder, hit Roman, who hit Aiden, who hit Roman, you get the point, all while onlookers stared and giggled down the aisle. I was eager to get home where we all took naps. My nap lasted way longer than it should have. Jude was home early and I slept through it. I woke up, took a pill, and debated continuing on with my evening plans. With my girl friends, if you cancel plans, you are a SELL OUT to the fullest. I called three people and convinced myself to stay on board. We went to eat at a fabulous restaurant by the park for Christy's birthday.

The dirt

Yesterday, when we were at the store, Aiden asked for some legos. They were Star Wars legos for thirty dollars. Now, Aiden, thanks to his adorable dad, is addicted to Star Wars. I personally do not get it. But, I wasn't a dork when I was younger, either. Kidding. Kinda. Anyway, Jude and I purchased the boys a Wii for Christmas and it was supposed to be used for family fun. We were ALL going to play together. I have yet to play an entire game with the whole family because there are five of us and four remotes. Yes, Roman HAS to have a remote, too. Well, Jude bought Aiden a Star Wars game for his birthday in March and he wants to play it 24/7. He drives me nuts. He eats, sleeps and breathes this video game. We limit the time he is on it. Jude plays with him when he gets home from work sometimes. Now, Aiden wants to call his dad while he is at work, every day, to talk about this game. It is really unhealthy. So, when he wanted the legos, in the back of my mind, I thought to myself, maybe, just maybe, this will get his attention on something else. I showed him the age range on the Star Wars lego box (ages 7-12) and suggested we buy the non SW's legos. He agreed! BTW, that age limit thing gets me out of buying a LOT of toys. He is very active with these legos and Roman has a new interest in the house; chase the leogs "I can't play with" around. It is very hard keeping a two year old away from a four year old's 200 piece toy set. Aiden asked Roman not to eat them. He is worried Ro will poop them out and they will be useless to him at that point. He has said this in so many words. There have also been a few smack downs take place in the past twenty four hours. Legos really bring out the testosterone!

So my question is this. Do I go crazy refereeing these two over the 200 pieces or do I let Aiden go back to the Wii, hide the legos, and continue how life was?

Ro vacuuming the legos he just threw all over the floor

Cullen got his progress reports today and I must say, I am impressed. His grades are steady going up. I am still waiting for the report in conduct and religion. Those were not included. I am happy he is more focused in school and things are getting better. Now he gets to pick from the jar. The jar is something he wanted to use as a reward system. He even made the pieces of paper with the rewards written on them. Now, every so often, he picks out the jar. Some of the rewards are: $1, a date night with mom, a pack of gum, free computer time, rent a movie, etc. I have also started letting him play after school again with his friends, not just on the weekends, since his grades have gone up.

How will I ever do homework with four??

*Insert monkey squeals here

We had a fabulous morning at our favorite monkey hangout. Aiden played with Hannah and Ally most of the time and Roman mingled with his friends his age. I love when he does that! I took a lot of photos with my new camera but I am still working on what setting is best.
You don't want to run into these two in a dark alley

Hannah and Aiden playing

Roman playing with Andrew

Our best silly faces

Working up a sweat

The look of fun

"No, YOU'RE a silly monkey!"

Oh, to be young again

Snack time

The End.

Off of private

To the one it may concern (you know who you are);
I have decided to take my blog off of private.
Please stop reading me!
I use a website that tracks traffic and I am well aware of the time that has been spent on here reading from a Mac computer in NOLA.
If I see that visits are turning into hours at a time, viewing many many pages again, I will put it back to private.
Thank you and have a nice day!

Poor pictures equals new camera

Today we went to the park with our MF's and we had a great day. The only bad part was not having my camera. I chased the kids around with my cell phone and got what would have been great pics in such poor quality. After we left the park, we headed to the store for some household items and we called it a day. As I was looking at my emails this evening, I saw an ad for another Kodak camera on sale. It is a pocket camera. I still need to drop off my camera for repairs (for the third time) but am in need of a camera NOW. I asked Jude if it could be my Mother's Day gift and he agreed. So, I now have a little pocket camera to chase my children around with. I really like it, too. Here are the great poor quality pictures:
Aiden and Roman

Our MF's (Mom Friends)

Silly

Loves his "Darth Vader" boots, as he calls them

Ro and his buddy Alex, pointing to the barge

So freakin' cute!!

Sandbox fun, minus the actual box

Maddie has THE best toys

Our "New Members Play Date" with our MF's was this morning and Martha Stewart Jr. hosted it at her house. We enjoyed playing with our friends. Here is a recap:
Maddie shared all her wonderful toys

Roman and the attention grabbing train table

He took his friends train, Frances, but gave it back to her after the pouty look she gave him

Still working the bottom lip

Roman and his newest friend, Annabelle

Aiden is in the band

Aiden is driving far far away

Maybe it would be better if he let Ro drive far far away

This is my fave. Priceless! Little thief.

*Thanks, Blair, for the pictures. I need a new camera:(

Family day for Jude's work

It is a beautiful Sunday and we just spent it at the park on the bayou eating crawfish. Yummy! Jude's work had their annual family day event and it had a nice turnout. Jude even won "2009 Best Boiler". Yes, my man can boil some crawfish! I am sure it's not just because he is the boss. hehe I brought Aiden this year. Last year it was Cullen. Maybe next year Ro will get a turn. I left there and went to the local after hours/urgent care center because my ear made a weird popping sound Friday when I blew my nose and it has become more and more painful. It turns out I have a middle ear infection. Fluid is built up in there and it is creating pressure. Hurts! I did get a shot, pain meds, and a nasal spray so I should be good to go soon. I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. I am going to lay down.

One of my favorite SNL skits

It's Saturday and I am ready for some R&R. Above is from one of my favorite shows which comes on tonight, Saturday Night Live. Enjoy:)

Obsessed with date night

After all the daytime fun, it was time to do a date night with Jude. Paw Paw came over to babysit the kids and we went to eat at Zea's. After, we saw the movie "Obsessed". It was a good movie. Go see it!

Happy Birthday, Missy!

I have a dear friend who is celebrating her birthday next week and she wanted a girls luncheon as her gift from her hubby today. We really partied it up first class! We all met at her house this morning at 9:30 so we could take a limo to lunch. As soon as we got in the car at 10 a.m., the drinks were pouring. We drank champagne on the hour ride to the restaurant. I only knew a few of the girls out of the ten. I have to say, Missy has some wonderful friends. Everyone was nice and we all got along great. Lunch was absolutely delicious! We went to a restaurant her husband owns that has outstanding ratings on the Northshore. I had a crab meat bisque with tapioca pudding at the bottom, a shrimp pasta (the pasta is homemade) with olives and spices, and we all had yummy birthday cake, a banana rum cake with white chocolate icing. The hostess never stopped pouring the wine. I am not sure how much I drank. Thank goodness Jude was off work today to keep the kids. The place was beautiful and the young chef who cooked it all up was a little hottie. Before we left, we took a small tour of the fresh herb garden and the farm they use in their dishes, back behind the restaurant. On our way home, champagne was served again. Missy is great at serving drinks in motion. That girl has talent! We made one last stop at a school to pick up most of the moms kids so the cuties could go home in style. What a perfect day! Everything was complimentary, I almost felt as if it was my birthday. At 4 PM, it was time to lay down. Hangovers come fast!

Happy birthday, Missy!!
You are a great friend. I cannot think of a time we have gotten together that it wasn't fun.
May all your wishes come true:)

Look familiar?

Poor baby. This is hanging at Aunt Kay's in Texas. lol
That is what I thought about when I was feeding the sweet cattle below.