happy weekend . . .

we are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend . . .
with beautiful weather!

i'm a sucker for a good deal . . .

so i just couldn't resist getting these super cute shorts for brown eyes. they have 25% off and free shipping thru tonight . . . so it made my total a whopping $11.25!

no words . . .

can explain how completely adorable it was to see and hear this little brown eyed girl parade around the living room singing twinkle, twinkle little star with all her heart.

moments like this . . .

are very far and few between lately.

(by the time i put the camera down . . . they had already started arguing with each other!)

the final hoorah . . .

the big girls had their last cheerleading competition in biloxi, ms last month. it was a lot of fun . . . their nana was able to come and it was the first time she had seem them at competition! of course we had a little bit of beach time before we went home . . . and we got to eat at little miss' favorite restaurant before heading back to the big easy.

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too fast . . .

it seems like yesterday . . .
we were blessed with a sweet little buddy

it just doesn't seem possible for that little tiny baby to already be 6 months young! (well 6 months, 1 week, and 3 days to be exact. remember i am little behind on posting here!)

it just doesn't seem possible for him to be able to sit in a big high chair!

not to mention . . . his first tooth has just broken thru his gums!

it someone knows a way to slow down the clock . . . please tell me because he is growing way too fast!

the long overdue post . . .

stay tuned for more long overdue posts.

amazing discoveries . . .

our little buddy has discovered his tongue . . .

and the girls love that they can actually get away with sticking their tongue out when they do it with him!

"he's coming . . . he's coming . . . "

we really like the ice cream man!

i was tired this morning . . .

and i wanted to take a nap.

but i had the urge to be creative . . .

i'm so glad i didn't take a nap . . .

because now i have a new piece of
artwork
to hang in our house!

funky cute for a heartbreaking cause . . .

the moment i read this . . . i went here . . . and bought this. yesterday . . . the box i have been anxiously waiting for arrived . . .

my little shrimp hasn't taken the headband off since!

she looks like a mom now . . .

according to my little brown eyes . . .
earrings make you look like a mom!

she has been wanting to get her ears pierced for a while now . . . and we finally let her do it. i showed her the pictures from the big girls getting their ears pierced. even the crying ones . . . and told her it was going to hurt. she still wanted to do it . . . so we took her saturday to get sparkly ears. she loves them and has to show every one that she has earrings now!

if you are wondering what is all over her arms . . . it's paint. we let the girls create masterpieces this weekend. i have pics to share of that too . . . and i haven't forgotten about mardi gras pictures either. just isn't enough time in a day!

everyone needs one of these . . .

a little buddy!

little buddy has become the little guy's second name around here . . .
so little buddy will be his name on here too!

lots of mardi gras pics coming soon!

because two weeks just isn't enough . . .

little miss and her daddy started playing mardi gras the minute we got home from the last parade!

mardi gras is over for us and i can't wait to take a nap!

rex says . . .

"happy mardi gras!"

happy friday . . .

it's another fun filled weekend for us . . . an extra long weekend! between now and tuesday it's nothing but parades . . . parades . . . and more parades! oh . . . and a better than ezra concert (without the kids!) at house of blues!

kinda wordless wednesday . . .

this is my first time playing wordless wednesday . . . but i plan to make it a weekly thing! i'm not sure of the rules . . . other than obvious which i am already breaking . . . but i couldn't just pick one photo of my brown eyes. she's just too darn cute!

i just can't pass up a good deal . . .

especially when it's totally cute boxers for my little man that were 50% off . . . and free shipping! get the coupon code and details here. see all the cuteness here.

from the mouth of a 3 year old . . .

little miss (to shrimp): "since when did you become the mother?" (repeating exactly as i asked her 2 days ago!)

little shrimp: "8 weeks ago!"

me: "there's only 1 mother girls . . . "

little shrimp: "no . . . actually there are a lot of mothers. dylan's mother . . . your mother . . . daddy's mother . . . "

*********

me (to shrimp): "that sure is a big bite in your mouth."

little shrimp: "daddy . . . why don't you have a big bite in your mouth?"

daddy: "because it is easier to eat when you take small bites. you should try it sometime!"

little shrimp: "i know daddy . . . but i don't know how to cut!"

good music . . . good times . . .

a lot of people think mardi gras is a crazy . . . don't bring your family . . . girls showing their youknowwhats . . . kind of time. well . . . guess what? it's not at all. there is something for everyone at mardi gras. if you want the kind of time that i just described . . . yeah you can find that on bourbon street. but if you want to do things that are good, clean, fun . . . you can find that too!

this was the 3rd year for family gras . . . and it is always so much fun! seriously . . . it doesn't get much better than a weekend full of free concerts!

gavin degraw . . . sarah bareilles . . . zac brown band . . . sheena easton . . . cowboy mouth . . . jesse mc.cartney . . . better than ezra . . .

all in 2 days . . . and it didn't cost a thing!

little man had a great weekend too . . .

he finally got to eat some real food!

now we are looking forward to next weekend . . . the big weekend of mardi gras!

happy . . . happy . . . happy . . .

happy friday the 13th! happy weekend!

and of course . . .

happy valentine's day!

we have full weekend with mardi gras parades . . . soccer . . . and parties! see you next week!

i can see it now . . .

"dinner's ready . . . come play with your food!"

i am so getting some of these . . . when they are available!
aren't they fun?

maybe someday . . .

i will learn that it's a lot easier to buy valentine's . . .

for 53 children . . .

but probably not any time soon . . . because it really is a lot more fun to make them!

hopefully those 53 children will really appreciate their melted heart crayons . . . i did have my oven on for 9 hours today! yes . . . i really did . . . 9 full hours! i will admit to my mistake of only buying 1 silicon heart mold with only 12 hearts . . . at least i did learn something today!

little rascals . . . and a storybook ending . . .

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sunday was an absolutely perfect day! the weather was great and we spent the entire day just having fun. we took the little ones to the little rascals parade and then headed to storyland for some more fun. of course after we were finished at storyland . . . the girls were quite ready to go home. so we went to audubon park and played and played and played some more . . . and that is why there are not any photos from the park!

piggies are lovely . . .

especially first time ever piggies!

a little teaser . . .

the fun is only just beginning!
it's mardi gras time!

happy weekend!

beautiful . . .

it was a super cold morning . . . that turned into a beautiful day. so we went outside and soaked up the sun this afternoon!

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the only thing missing outside was this sweet little guy . . .

but as you can see he was perfectly happy inside with his snuggle!

clickin' moms . . . and a coupon code . . .

i have always loved taking pictures and i have always wanted to be better at taking pictures. since i haven't finished posting christmas pics . . . you wouldn't know that santa was very good to me again this year! so now more than ever i am trying to learn more and more about photography and i found the greatest place!

if you have a camera . . . i recommend you check out clickin' moms! it is a one stop learning place for anyone and everyone with any kind of camera! it really is a great place . . . i have learned so much.

this month they are offering 10% off of your subscription with the code FRIEND! the code is only good for new members. click on any of the buttons or the link . . . and check it out!

the countdown is on . . .

we better think about baby-proofing again . . .
because we are no where close to having a baby-proof house!

there's no doubt . . .

these little girls love their baby brother!
they just cannot get enough of him.

quote of the day and there are still good people out there . . .

"mommy, we are cleaning our room so you will be happy!"

little shrimp

*******

because of this i needed to cancel my merchant account because i will not be able to do the required testing that this new law requires.

when i opened my merchant account . . . i signed a contract for 3 years. well . . . i was just a little more than a year from reaching that 3 years. and the wonderful people at the company that i used for my credit cards waived my $300 early cancellation fee! it doesn't get any better than that! i hope they know how wonderful they are!

competition . . . birthday . . . infections . . .

i don't know if have ever been more ready for a monday or not . . . it has been a non-stop weekend for us!

competition today in baton rouge . . . the girls did so well! my little miss smiled the whole time and shimp is really getting the whole competition thing down now! (they don't actually compete . . . they are in an exhibition category.)

today is this special guy's birthday . . .

he requested this super yummy fruit desert pizza for his cake . . . if it wasn't for him we would be total junk food junkies! this recipe came from one of our old neighbors in missouri . . . and it is so good!

by the end of the night my little shimp was complaining about a headache and a painful ear . . . and i'm complaining about a breast infection. oh the joys of little ones! and i love every second of this crazy life of ours!

happy birthday sean (aka daddy) . . . you mean the world to us!

good times . . .

first soccer game . . .

giving mr. smartypants . . . who guesses every single gift . . . his birthday present a day early . . .

then is was time to head to a birthday party that was from 1-3. except we didn't come home until 9 . . . that has to be a good time!

in 4 short months . . .

this little guy has become the most important thing in these girls lives!

this little guy has completely stolen the hearts of everyone who knows him!

this little guy made his place in our family and we don't remember what it was like without him!

this little guy has grown way too big . . . way too fast!

it worked . . .

having 4 small children in the house . . . i'm sure you imagine the amount of effort it takes to keep it picked up. and i'll be perfectly honest . . . i do not like to clean. so . . . my house more often than not has toys scattered throughout.

so i came up with a great idea. when you open our front door . . . you see the entry hall and that leads to the kitchen. so my great idea was this . . . keep the kitchen and entry hall spotless so when people come to the front door they see a clean house.

the girls were off school today and shrimp had a birthday party to go to. since i always feel guilty bringing the extra kids to the party . . . i asked my wonderful neighbor (who has a daughter in shrimp's class) if she minded if shrimp tagged along with her to the party. of course . . . she didn't mind!

so . . . now back to the point of this story! she just dropped my little shrimp off and when i opened the door she said . . . wow look at your house it looks great!

little did she know that if she looked into the living room it looked like this . . .

disclaimer: we have been moving things around in the house . . . which is actually why it's a complete mess. i don't like cleaning . . . but i do like to keep a clean house.

'twas the night before . . .

my side of the family has lots of christmas traditions . . . and of course we are continuing these wonderful traditions with our little ones.

santa needs cookies . . . and santa needs awesome-ly (yes . . . that's a word in my dictionary) decorated sugar cookies! under normal christmas circumstances we would do homemade sugar cookies . . . but this year time wasn't exactly on our side. before we headed to missouri . . . shrimp came down with a nasty 24 hour stomach bug. and then it wasn't long before it hit every other person in our house. so . . . when we were feeling better and finally made it to missouri we weren't left with a lot of time before the big guy arrived. so this year it was premade sugar cookie dough and just simple white icing and lots and lots of sprinkles!

after the cookies were decorated and santa had a plate waiting for him . . . and the girls were on a super duper sugar high . . . we had some fun taking pictures in their new jammies. if you can't tell by these pics . . . we have our hands full! and i wouldn't have it any other way!

my favorite christmas memory is the story. we would all gather on the couch with my dad and listen as he read the night before christmas. sean read from the same book we grew up with. and as you can see . . . the girls were all ears. ok . . . maybe not . . . but one day they will cherish these memories the same way i do!

the program . . .

the pro . . .

this was our little angel's 2nd christmas program. i think watching little nursery school children sing christmas songs is just about the cutest thing ever!

the newbie . . .

our little shrimp couldn't have been more excited to be in her first school program!

i don't think there were any other children that picked their noses more than ours! we were so proud! not to mention i was so proud when i looked at shrimp and her dress was pulled up and both hands were in here tights scratching her bottom! talk about a proud mommy moment!

after the program . . . since they were dressed to impress . . . i had to get a few photos of them together. i could look at these pictures all day . . . they aren't perfectly posed . . . or smiling in all of them . . . or even looking at the camera for that matter . . . but to me these pictures are perfect! this is our life . . .

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overwhelmed . . .

fortunately the only reason i'm overwhelmed is that i don't even know where to begin catching up! there have been lots of great things since then and now . . .

maybe i should forewarn you that posts might become long . . . and overloaded with photos!

hi, my name is emily . . .

and i used to blog here. remember me?

wow . . . time sure does fly when you're having fun! i think i have lots of catching up to do . . . and i think i will get started on that later tonight!

oh . . . merry christmas and happy new year! i guess i'm a little late on that . . . huh?!