The Big 5

Alex turned 5 this past Wednesday! The Big 5! Such a monumental birthday. Being 5 (In Alex's world) means you can go to kindergarten, ride the school bus and climb the rock wall at the gym. I'm sad to see 4 go, because he's been really fun this past year! I'm sure 5 will be just as much fun, if not more. Alex started his birthday out by helping me make cupcakes for his preschool class. In the three years that he's been attending preschool, this is the first time that his birthday has fallen on a school day. Alex told me that he wanted Spiderman and butterfly cupcakes. When I couldn't find any butterfly decorations, he agreed that Princess cupcakes would work out just fine.

After school, Alex came home to a couple presents. I also stopped by Godiva to pick him up a couple truffles. He loves chocolate! The little one there is the present from Roger, Addison and me. The big Cars bag behind it is the gift from my sweet friend. Her father passed away on Monday. In the midst of all of the chaos and grief in her world, she found time to buy Alex a gift and bring it by to him. So kind and thoughtful of her. That's another post for another day.

After a fun afternoon of playing with our new, wet, carwash...I told Alex I would pick him up a cheese pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner, his favorite! Despite it being a school day and Roger not being here to celebrate the BIG 5, I think Alex had a pretty good day.

Now who couldn't love this face? This is his cheese pizza face. When he eats a cheese pizza, he gets the pizza from one side of his face to the other. Nearly ear to ear! Some day I will really miss that face!

Turbo at the Racetrack

Are you wondering which one is Turbo? My family has affectionately nicknamed Alex "Turbo." And he lived up to his name this past weekend. Alex has been begging me to take him to the racetrack (Putt-Putt), so he can drive race cars (go-karts) for months. This Putt-Putt is up in Hurst and you can see it from the freeway as you drive through Hurst. So every time we drive up there (I like the mall up there), he asks me if we can go. So I finally told him we'd go for his birthday. And then I roped my parents into going with me because it's not something I could do on my own without help with Addison. Alex was in turbo heaven! He rode with my mom the first time around. And I think he was a little nervous. When he got off, he told my mom it was a little scary. That didn't stop him from going again though! Honestly, I'm not sure who had more fun, my mom or Alex. Such a fun time to make his birthday wish come true!The second time around, he wanted to ride with Grandma again. I think my Dad was afraid Alex hurt my feelings by not wanting to ride with me. I wasn't hurt at all! I'm just so happy that Alex loves his Grandma and wants to spend time with her. My parents are moving to Chicago soon and I'm happy that he's had this time to spend with them. I can go to the race track with him any time!

I think Alex loved the racetrack. He's already asking me when he can go back again. And this just kicked off a week of celebrating Alex's 5th birthday. More to come soon!

Just Because

I took these pictures last Sunday for no particular reason. Just because.

Just because Addison is getting so big...I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that she is almost two!

Just because Alex is almost 5. The time goes so fast! Kindergarten, Really!!??!!

Just because they grow and change daily!

Just because Roger might be leaving in September for a deployment.

Just because you never know what the future has in store for you.

Just because I never want to forget these little expressions and smiles.

Just because some times I feel the need to take random pictures of my babies.

Rainforest Cafe

On Friday, our last day of spring break, we drove up to Grapevine to the Grapevine Mills Mall. Cadence had received a certificate for a free lunch at Rainforest Cafe from school, so we thought it would be fun to take the kids to eat there. We walked around the mall for a little while then settled in to eat. I think Cadence loved all the animals coming to life...we sat right next to the elephants and we could see the gorillas. So every 15 or 20 minutes the elephants would "wake up"...which entailed some roaring, ears waving back and forth, trunks moving up and down. Addison wasn't so crazy about all the action...she preferred to sit in my lap the whole time. All the animals were pretty vivid! And we managed to beat the crowds, so it wasn't too bad with all the kids. I just hate that when Cadence is out of school, so are all the other school kids. So it's tough to do anything fun because it is so busy and crowded everywhere we go. I think I have my sister convinced to let Cadence play hooky from school one day so we can do some fun things with him, minus the crowds! So excited for that! Despite the crowds, we had fun spending time together during spring break. My sister moves around a lot with her kids because of her husband's job. I never know too far in advance how long my niece and nephew will be around. So when they are here, I try to seize every opportunity to spend time with them. So happy that we spent the time and effort being together this past week!

Luck With Chuck

After our visit to the Fort Worth Science Museum, Tamara and I decided to try our hand at taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese. Since it was Wednesday, I was hoping that everyone living in Tarrant County would be in Fort Worth at the zoo for half price day. As luck would have it, we ventured over to the nearest Chuck E Cheese and had a delightful morning! The boys played every game, the girls enjoyed some of the games, we won tickets, pigged out on pizza and claimed some cheap prizes. The kids had a ball, and Tamara and I enjoyed ourselves too. It's nearly impossible not to enjoy yourself with Chuck. And we had good ol' Irish luck on our side too. It was a fun morning for all!

Fort Worth Science Museum

The first "official" day of spring break, my sister and I decided to brave the Fort Worth Science Museum with our four kids in tow. We were hoping that it might not be quite as crowded on Monday (the first day of spring break)...and we were wrong! It was insanely busy! So busy that we waited in line for nearly 30 minutes just to buy tickets to get into the museum. But those of you with kids know that once you're there, you're committed. So we waited for tickets, waited to see the exhibits and made the best of it. Despite the stress the crowds caused my sister and I, I think the kids had a good time.

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Even Auntie Tamara enjoyed an exhibit here and there. Hopefully we can all go back again some time when it isn't quite so busy. Despite the crowds, it was still a fun place to go and a great way to kick off our spring break!

Spring Break 2010!

I've said this before, but I just love spring break. Even today, with the colder, rainy weather, I still love spring break. I've been trying to figure out why I enjoy spring break so much, and I think it comes down to the promise of longer, warmer, sunnier days! And soon! In the meantime, we kicked off our spring break with a trip to the Star's Game. The season ticket holding fans in my family were rewarded for their loyalty with the opportunity to take a family picture on the Stars bench after the game this past Friday. So although we were extremely tired, we enjoyed going down on the ice and taking a few pictures. Here's a couple of the better ones.