Killing time at the Aquarium.  They love this place.

These boys are too cute.  Having a little ride on the merry-go-round.

Checking out the fish

Sending some love to Daddy...

Back to Business

Dylan left today for a work conference in Austin.  Why do work trips never seem like there is a lot of working going on???  I guess it's all about your perspective, right?

In my hard working husbands defense...I really am so proud of him and the business he has successfully created from the ground up.  From corporate America to having the confidence to do it all on his own.  He works long hours and sometimes on the weekends.  It's hard to be understanding ALL the time, which I could get better at but he handles me well and deep down I know it's all for the greater good of our family, even when I'm complaining.  ;o)  I have to keep him on his toes.

This year is only going to get better for him as his hard work pays off.  He brought on 3 partners, and additional office location,  and between the 4 of them they have hired 3 associates.  Redwood Financial is growing stronger everyday and I don't give him nearly enough credit or encouragement as I should.

So, incase it wasn't clear.  I am so very very proud of your work Dylan and couldn't ask for a better partner and provider for our sweet little family.  Your hard work doesn't go unnoticed and we love and appreciate you more than you know.

His set up at the conference...before it started, of course.

Looking quite Pro-fesh-inal if I do say so myself.

Birthday Bash

I started out my day running a 5k with my Mom.  I actually finished 3rd.  I was very surprised.  Not bad for a birthday surprise.

After that I rushed home to get Tatum and take her to a birthday party at Main Event.  She bowled, played a million games, and ate pizza and lots of cake.  The perfect party!

As you can see the theme was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The cakes alone were amazing!

Loved these cake pops too!

Not having any fun at all.

Beating the drums...this game didn't even work but they loved it.

 Pretty girl having fun.  Thank God to whoever came up with party favors.  That is the ONLY way I get her out of any party.  We call them Leave presents and she only gets them when we leave.  I have avoided MANY fits thanks to these little gems.  Not looking forward to the first party we attend that doesn't have them.  Ahhh, lifes little lessons.

Beauty Salon before bed

This guy does it all.

Playing beauty salon with his pretty princess.

When porcupines attack!

This is my SIL's poor dog.  She sent this picture and said it was the third time this has happened.  You'd think he would learn!

The last two times they were able to pull the needles out on their own but this time she took him to the vet.  Yikes!

Western Day

Today was Western Day at school.  This little cowgirl is turning out to be a true Texan.

Petting the bunnies

Going for a pony ride.  She HAD to have the one with the pink hair.  I actually think this is the exact same horse she HAD to ride at Holley Colley in December.

Checking out the sheep

Yikes...get your hand out of your mouth girl!!!  YUCK!

Birthdays

We celebrated Dylan and I/My (not sure which is correct) birthday this weekend with Mom, Vicki, and the boys.  Dylan's favorite meal, that my Mom cooks, is Chinese Noodles.  It's a LOT of work so we get it about once a year.  But it's well worth the wait.  We enjoyed dinner with the family and some birthday treats to go with it.

Nothing like a Kincaids burger after church. 

FIRE!

Our first fire of the year...Probably our last since I set off the fire alarm (rookie move, I know) but at least I can now say we used it. 

All I'm saying is thank god it's gas so I could immediately turn it off and avoid evacuating the house since Dylan wasn't home and it was COLD outside.

Random pics of the day

The Dr. is in the house

Sometimes I'm reminded that they do really love each other.

Weekend is here!

Watching Daddy cook breakfast.

Sunday...Lazy Sunday...

Tatum got a kite for Christmas.  The wind was perfect today so we took it to the park for a spin.  Both kids loved it.

Birthday Fun

My good friend Andrea's son Jake had a birthday party at Little Gym last night.  I only brought Tatum because I like her better.  Not really, but it would have been a lot of work for me so I let Druzy Boy (yes, that is what we call him) hang out with Grandma for a couple hours so I could play with my girl.  I took a ton of pictures but she was just a big blur in them all so this is the best that I had. 

 Bear crawling around...

Sitting next to the birthday boy.

I'm still amazed that nobody got hurt on this.  The kids had a blast!

Dylan's cousin Bridget was also in town interviewing for grad school at Southwest Medical.  Good Luck Bridge!  It was fun hanging out with you for a couple days.

Just a Mom and her Boy

Tatum's school has a "Discovery Day" program where you can send the kids to school every other Friday and they do science projects and things like that. I signed her up for the rest of the year and today was her first day.  So, that meant Druz and I got to spend some quality time together.

Being a second child, you definitely don't get as much one on one time so I was excited for our day together.

 

We started our morning with a little breakfast treat.

 After running a few errands we headed over for his first REAL hair cut.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to cut it all off or just trim it up but in the end we cut most off the back, getting rid of his sweet baby curls.  Sad Mommy moment.  He had fun so it was only traumatic for one of us.

 

My little baby looking all grown up.

I really enjoyed spending time with him.  He is such a sweet kid when you don't have the yelling, pulling hair, biting, or hitting going on with his sister.  ;o)  I'm looking forward to many more Mommy/Son Fridays in the future.

Loving her first issue of Disney Princess magazine that Aunt Lulu and Uncle Matt gave her for Christmas.

Make new friends but keep the old...

One is silver and the others gold... isn't this the Brownies or Girl Scout motto???

Obviously a screen shot from Instagram, but it deserves a mention.  I have been friends with some of these people since 4th grade.  I went to elementary school with most of them and middle school or high school with the rest, except two who were lucky enough to marry into our circle.  ;o)

Some how we all managed to get together and have a great dinner and catch up.  These are the times I will remember for years to come. 

Our newest toy from Gam-E and G-Pop.  We have been talking about getting one of these for a while and Santa ended up bringing it instead.  The kids love it and so do we.

There is a park a couple miles away that the kids love to go to and this will make it so easy!

Lunch with the Girls

Hate that as we get older we see our friends less and less.  Had a fun lunch with the girls before some went back to work after the holidays.

Committment Day

Alison some how persuaded me to get up early on New Years Day and run a 5k in Dallas.

I'm glad I did it and feel good about starting the year off right.

I'd also like to add that it was the first 5k that I finished before her.  Does it matter that she is pregnant and has to walk based on her heart rate???  I still finished first, right?  Still counts.  ;o)

*Disclaimer...please don't judge the appearance.

New Year's Eve

We went back and forth on going our for New Year's.

Ron and Liza were in town to hang out with us (by us, I mean the kids) so we had a sitter but in the end we just wanted to hang out.  The holidays sure do take a lot out of you!

We got the kids to bed (by we, I mean Liza)  and just relaxed.  We watched the ball drop and had some champagne and just enjoyed the company. No worries about getting home safe or if we had too much to drink.  Now that is my kind of New Years...Man, we are getting OLD!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!