Aquarium with Scotty!

 The end of March my BFF Marla came to Houston to visit her sis-in-law Steph (also Tony's cousin -- confusing I know). We were able to get together a couple of times and on of those times we went to the Aquarium. My kids had a blast but were most excited to get to be with their 'cousins'! Tae opted out of the Aquarium. She got to spend the day at the Houston Rodeo with her BFF Kaylee (she got spoiled rotten)!

 Scotty, Blake, Aliya and Keller

 Camille, Scotty, Aliya, Keller and Kai

Blake is obsessed with this scuba guy statue. He had so much fun trying to put his face in the scuba guys mask.

Houston Fair

March is the best time of the year to visit Houston: its the annual Houston Rodeo & Fair. It is something you have to experience at least once in your live. So far we've enjoyed it 2 years and plan to participate every year we live here. Essentially there is almost 3 weeks of a rodeo followed by a concert. I expected the concerts to be dumb acts that no one has ever heard of. Nope! These are big named bands that come to perform. Last year we saw Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson, this year we got to go see Janet, Ms Jackson if you're Nasty. It was awesome! It was hard to decided between her and Black Eyed Peas but I have to admit, Janet is waayyy cooler than Fergie with her lady lumps! (If you don't know their music, the last two sentences might be a bit confusing).

 While we love the rodeo/concert part, there is also the fair/expo part that the kids love as well. This year we pulled the girls out of school and let them explore!

 Blakers was thrilled to drive his own car!

 Kai wasn't too sure about riding in a pink flying elephant!

 There was a terrific 'experience' that allowed the kids to learn about where their food comes from. The boys had the most fun planing the seeds then harvesting their crop.

 Blake of course was obsessed with all the monster machines. Any machine he could climb in and drive he did!

 There is also a couple different petting zoos. The boys weren't too sure!

This llama had no fear of Tony ... he kept trying to steal the food out of Tony's hand!

 Aliya thought it was pretty cool to 'milk' the cow

Thanks for the fun memories Houston Rodeo... we'll be back next year!

I dont get it

 Explain to me how a 3 year old, a skinny, 32 pound 3 year old, can make such a HUGE mess. Seriously, his room was clean when I put him in quiet time. I go into get him and find this! I don't understand how he was able to move his mattress and box springs to the other side of the room. That headboard is heavy ... its a good 7 feet from where it should be. I am still amazed at Blakes strength/tenacity/determination/naughtiness etc!

Aliya's 6th Birthday!

How can this kid be 6? I swear, she is growing up WAAYYY too fast! She wanted a cake decorating party. The girls loved it and it was a ton of fun! I am one of those parents that let my kids plan their entire party. I figure they know what they think is fun so why not?!?

Before the decorating began they enjoyed a little dance party!

L-R: Lily (her bestest friend), Nikki (her best friend from preschool), Aliya, Lauren (friend from school), Faith (best friend from girl scouts) and Kylie (friend from church).

Each girl got to pick out what color they wanted their cake. I knew there would be a couple that wanted pink but I was surprised at the other colors: turquoise, orange and mauve. Really, mauve? I had no idea how to make mauve but we mad it work ... somewhat!

Before cake decorating we made hair flowers. They loved it!

Aliya got the biggest kick out of this card. Who doesn't love a bulldog with cheese puffs on its face?

Aliya is one of those kiddos that you know exactly what she thinks about her gifts.

Her biggest surprise was new bedding. Blake had spilled paint all over her other set so she was psyched to get new bedding (Tae was quite jealous ... especially because it had peace signs in it).

We love you Aliya-loo. You bring so much joy, happiness, noise and fun to our house. We love your laugh and your smile and are thankful you are ours!

New addition!

 We have a new family member, and thank heavens I am not preggers! One Saturday morning I went to get my hair done, leaving our brood of 4 in the capable, loving care of their father. I returned to find a fuzzy little rat (well, a guinea pig but equally as gross) had been adopted into our family. The girls have given her the name of Coconut Grace Dickamore. We are pretty sure she is a she but often gets referred to as a he. The girls take GREAT care of her. The boys love her but are not quite as soft or as gentle as the girls. The boys love to feed her carrots through the slots in her cage. Tony has found a new cuddle buddy in Coconut. There have been numerous nights when I've found him with Coco cuddle up on his chest. Poor guy wants a baby, cat or dog so bad. Mean wife that I am wont let him ... I'm allergic!

Where's Blake?

Each afternoon I send Blakers up to his room for quiet time. He doesn't have to sleep but he does have to stay in his room until I come get him. More often than not he falls asleep. This afternoon I had gone up to wake him up and couldn't find him anywhere. I searched his room (really, there is no where to hide but couldn't find him). I opened up his closet door (spoiled thing has a walk in), couldn't see anything, went to shut the door then heard a quiet little snore. Little grunt had pulled every sheet of paper out of one of Tony's boxes, climbed in, then fell asleep. Doesn't look too comfortable to me ...  cute but not comfy! How on earth he fell asleep here I'll never know. Needless to say he was rather grumpy when I woke him up! 

Side note: All the crap you see in these pictures is my dear, darling husbands. He's the biggest pack rat I know. Up until 4 years ago he had everyone of his baby teeth (I finally convinced him it was time to let them go). Seriously, who saves their baby teeth? He also has every paper he's ever written, in addition to every test he took. Also, there is every letter he sent, and received, while on his mission. Keep a few, sure, but toss the rest. For YEARS I've been saying I'll do it, and for years he's been rejecting my pleas. I'm tempted to give him one more year before I toss EVERYTHING. Most of those boxes haven't been opened in years (well, until Blake got into them). Sorry for the rant ... my own personal 'too much crap' issue!