Price Household

Kids Christmas Parties

2010-12-24T14:19:00.001-08:00

Both the kids had parties this year at pre-school. Vivian’s was early in the morning and then Austin’s was later in the afternoon. I am homeroom mommy for Vivian’s class this year. They decorated cookies, make an ornament and then had a book exchange. She was extremely shy at her party. I guess maybe she was a little over stimulated??

The parties were very convenient because Vivian’s party was on a day she doesn’t attend so her and I had about 1 1/2 hours to spare before returning back to the school. I decided to rush home to work on putting together a Christmas gift for their great-grandmother. I pulled into the garage and then got out of the car to get Vivian. I had locked her in the car! After I panicked from realizing that our extra pair of keys were lost, the fire department came and rescued my baby girl. We were then ready for round 3….Austin’s party.

Vivian had a ton of fun at this party. She stood next to Austin and he shared his food, etc with her. The kids had a Happy Birthday Jesus party and had candles to blow out. Pretty cool idea. The school also gave us our own cake mix and icing to take home to have our own Happy Birthday Jesus party. I will post pictures of that later. They had a book exchange and then unwrapped 1 present 17 times and then had lots of candy for the kiddos. Pretty neat activity. We have been so blessed to have our kiddos at PALS the past 2 years. They love our kiddos and truly make a difference in their lives. Teachers are so great! Austin got in the car after the party and opened his gift from his teachers. He said, “Awe, my teachers are beautiful”. I loved it.

Christmas Parties

2010-12-24T14:03:00.001-08:00

How many Christmas parties did you attend this year? It seemed like we got a lot more invites this year for some reason. We weren’t able to attend all of them but I hosted the Thirty-One party at my house so I was able to attend, lol. My local team is fairly small so my director and I did a party for just our teams. I have been so blessed by this company this year. I really wasn’t looking for a job of any kind other than staying at home with Austin and Vivian but God put Thirty-One in my life at just the right time. I am able to stay at home with my babies but also contribute financially while having fun and meeting new friends. Here are some pictures from our get together. I also walked away with a gift from another exchange…Hobby Lobby gift card!! Just perfect.

Bunko Babes Christmas Party

2010-12-24T13:52:00.001-08:00

Every December my girlfriends and I wear our pj’s to Bunko and have a gift exchange. We definitely may not be “babes” in these pictures, lol but we had a lot of fun. We brought things that smell good and did a gift exchange. I left with some nice peppermint lotion and hand soap! I love my Bunko girls and wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011!!!

2010-12-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

post signature

Pretty neat video

2010-12-20T21:22:00.000-08:00

Not sure if you facebook or not, but thought I would share this video with you. It is a video of what Joseph's facebook page might have looked like during Jesus' birth.

Click here to see it

Vivian

2010-12-19T14:35:00.000-08:00

My mom’s mom passed away 4 years ago. We called her Red Granny because she had red hair. She always bought us girls fancy fufu dressed for the holiday’s. My aunt has made sure Vivian has one because that is how Red Grandma would have wanted it. Here are some pictures I took of her before church today. I believe she still has some breakfast on her face but we do the best we can

Vivian Marie 20 months

Dentist Advice :(

2010-12-14T14:24:00.001-08:00

Both kids had their dental check up today. It was Vivian’s first visit to the dentist and Austin has become quite the pro with going. It isn’t like it was when I was little…white boring walls, no toys, no music, no t.v. to watch, no play room, no Wii to play, etc. It is quite the play date going to the dentist now days. The only bad part is when they tell you your kid has 4 cavities!!! I always had mouth “issues” growing up so I’m not surprised I guess. The option is 2 office visits to try to fill all 4 or go to the surgery center and knock him out. I wasn’t quite ready to make this decision today. I don’t want him to be traumatized by his dentist visit but don’t really want him to be put under either. Any suggestions from a parent who has gone through this?

First phone call with a “girl”

2010-12-05T16:49:00.001-08:00

Austin wanted to call his “girl” friend from pre-school tonight. He missed 2 days of school last week and just wanted to call and talk. She lives in our cul-de-sac in our neighborhood too.

Here is what I heard from my end of the call. Of course I stayed close because I was curious what 4 year olds talk about on the phone…..

Austin: “I am all better. I will be at school tomorrow. I am here with my mommy. My sister is growing up. She has light up shoes. My dog farts. My dog doesn’t talk. My mom farts. Ryan (friend) said he was going to beat me up. Your funny, you’re a goofball. You want to come to my house and see my race car shirt and Christmas tree?” He mentioned farts a few other times. He ended up hanging up on her by accident. (not sure what McKenzie’s response was to any of this) We really need to have a talk about not discussing farts with girls.

I just had to document this somewhere. I’m sure there are going to be more phone calls to girls in his future.

Girls are too fun!!!!

2010-12-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

I used to French braid back in the day so I tried it out today and it actually turned out ok. I’m gonna try pig tail braids next. Unfortunately she has her moms fine, thin hair.

Slumber Party

2010-11-29T17:34:00.001-08:00

Austin had one of his best buds over tonight to stay the night. Nick is still out of town and I am sure Austin is tired of play with me and his sis every night. Here are some pictures of them while they are watching their movie and eating some popcorn. This is one of my favorite things to do in the Winter…snuggle up to a good movie with some hot chocolate or wassail with the fire going. I would prefer something other than Batman though.

Ryan & Austin

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T19:37:00.001-08:00

The Price Household has so many things to be thankful for. I am sure Nick is really realizing this during his visit to India this week. Nick you were definitely missed! I am so thankful for all of our friends and family. Thanks for always being there!

We had Thanksgiving at my parents house this year. My mom always hosts Thanksgiving. We usually alternate spending the holiday with Nick’s family and then mine the next. Nick was out of the country this year so we were at my parents. We had all the traditional dishes but this year and we had 10 pies!!! I think that was close to about half a pie for every person.

It was really cold so the kids mainly stayed inside playing the Wii. I wasn’t feeling well and then Vivi woke up from her nap with a 101 fever and screaming her head off. We had plans to take to her to checked out…everyone was closed and then she crashed in the car and woke up just fine!!!! It was a miraculous recovery thank goodness.

Here are some pictures from our day.

Movies and Papa’s House

2010-11-24T18:58:00.001-08:00

We went to see the new Disney movie, Tangled this afternoon. I highly recommend it! I laughed and worked up a few tears. Austin and I went with his cousin Aiden and his mom, Shea and newborn baby brother. I guess I had never read the story of Rapine. I finally heard about it when I was a nanny in college. Anyways, I was 30 years old before I ever knew the fairy tale story of Rapine. I guess she just wasn’t my favorite princess growing up???

After the movie we headed over to Nick’s dads house for some fun. Austin loves to run in his huge back yard. I would love to have a bigger backyard but Nick and I don’t like the yard work! Papa got a new four wheeler so he took Austin and Aiden for a ride…I was a little nervous but he went pretty slow. Austin loves time with his Papa Ken.

Vivian fell asleep in the car yesterday which rarely happens…had to post this pic. So beautiful! Love those lashes.

At the grandparents

2010-11-23T13:03:00.001-08:00

We arrived to my parents today after what seemed like a 10 hour drive (only 2 hours). I immediately unloaded the car and got Vivian down for her afternoon nap. I thought I had the monitor turned all the way up in case she didn’t fall asleep but it was definitely turned down. I went in to check on her and this is what I found. The diapers were in a package on top of the pink bag. She had pooped and I guess she was trying to get the diapers herself. She never took a nap so we went shopping at Kohl’s instead. She is a high maintenance napper and needs blackout drapes. I may have to go and get some for her room at my parents.

Meanwhile, Austin and papa had fun on the tractor. I used to ride my grandpas enormous tractor when I was little girl. Love it! Wasn’t quite like the movie Can’t By Me Love with Patrick Dempsey but was fun.

How does “Chef Austin” make a turkey?

2010-11-22T19:39:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Feast on the Mayflower

2010-11-22T15:12:00.001-08:00

I had lunch with both kiddos at school today. Vivian dressed up as an Indian and Austin was a pilgrim. The director rented one of those Mayflower trailers and we ate lunch on it.

I enjoyed my one on one time with each kid. I don’t get much one on one time with them. Austin calls our alone time a date. So cute. Here are some pictures of our day on the Mayflower.

Austin is the top row, far right

Sunday Funday...what the kids r up to

2010-11-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

So I was able to take a few pictures of the kiddos today before church. As you can see they are growing like weeds.

As you can also see, Vivian has learned to smile when I tell her to say cheese. The only thing is she thinks she needs to close her eyes.

Maybe I will go back to just playing peek a boo with the camera because I love those brown eyes and definitely want to see them. She has also learned how to throw a fit when she doesn't get her way. But she is more independent than Austin was at this age. She likes to do things her way. She refuses to let us feed her. Below is a pic from today after she fed herself mashed potatoes.

We are starting to tell her "no" more often and she says "no" to everything. She is defintely sweet but not the angel she once was. Two's are just around the corner...terrific twos, right.

I made these traceable worksheets for Austin about a year in a half ago. They include his numbers, letters, and his name to trace. He has gotten pretty good at them and recently will do about 5 worksheets at a time. I so don't mind it, I would rather him be doing worksheets than playing the Wii or with cars anyday.

He is also really into reading his poetry book that they made at school. Each week they get a new sheet with 3 sentences (with pictures next to them) that go with that weeks letter. I think this is brilliant. Just two months ago he started pre-k not wanting to read and now he is reading his poetry book. It is definitely a self confidence issue for Austin. If he thinks he can't do it he won't try or will want help, but once he does it he wants to do it over and over and over.

Here is an example of one of the pages.

Aa
A is for alligator...picture of an alligator
A is for ants. (picture of an ant)
A is for apples on my pants (picture of a pair of pants)

post signature

School Fall Carnival

2010-10-29T13:52:00.001-07:00

The kids had their school carnival yesterday at school. They had all kinds of games set up for the kids to play. As Vivian’s homeroom mommy I set up the tattoo booth and the fishing booth. I worked the tattoo booth and that will be the only experience I get with giving others tattoos. My mother in law takes vacation every Halloween and visits to see the kids all dressed up. She was able to come which was a big help!!! Now only 2 more times to dress up!

Here are some pictures of our fun day!

Hallozooweening 2010

2010-10-29T13:30:00.001-07:00

We went to our first Hallozooing last night. It is at the zoo and there are different companies there with their booths handing out candy. It was a little chilly but we had a good time and came home with lots of yummy candy and coupons. This was technically Vivian’s first time to trick or treat and ride a carousel…I love seeing her first everything! There were a few things that I thought were too scary for Austin but he wanted to see and do everything. We did by pass the haunted house though.

The Ghostbusters were probably my favorite part.

Parenting is your Highest Calling

2010-10-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

I am not big on posting inspirational stuff but felt like I needed to share what was on my mind this afternoon. Our youth minister at church sent out an e-mail advertising a book and teleconference today. I think I may have to get to the bookstore TONIGHT and get the book. My eyes are totally opened right now and I am glad our minister sent this to me. Leslie Layland's book, Parenting is your Highest Calling and 8 other myths that trap us in worry and guilt.

My children have enriched my life so much these past 4 years but at times I have been hard on myself. I worry and have guilt when I go to work instead of staying home, go get a pedicure, didn't talk to them as nice as I should have, didn't play with them enough, etc. As moms we are hard our on ourselves and strive to be the best mom, Christian, friend, wife, you name it. Listening to some of Leslie's videos this afternoon reminded me that our children are here to fulfill the purposes of God. We get to be a part of helping shape their lives. That is so cool. Parenting is challenging but is so worth it. God formed and created our kiddos and they are here to serve Him, not to make me happy!!!!! Okay, I am headed to get this book when Vivian gets up from her nap. It just might be the first book I read after having Vivian. :)

post signature

Dirty Carpets!!! :(

2010-10-19T05:56:00.001-07:00

So I agreed to have this carpet cleaning company come and do a free cleaning on one room in my home. They came yesterday and boy did I love it! First they got all the dirt out of my carpet, which I was so embarrassed by. I have my carpets professionally shampooed twice a year and I vacuum at least twice a week. I vacuumed prior to the rep coming so I thought I had them pretty clean when he arrived so he could clean them. Well, boy was I wrong!

This is only 4 of the 9 dirt cloths he got out. That is only for one room. He used a Kirby Sentria that vacuums, shampoos, vacuums on hard surfaces, spot cleans upholstery, vacuums baseboards and more! We did my lamp shades and the top of Austin’s mattress and I was appalled at what we found. This housewife was definitely impressed so I thought I would pass it along to my other mommy friends. He is in Tulsa for this week scheduling free cleaning for 1 room. His business is in Moore, OK so if you live around there he can hook you up when he gets back. Even if your not ready to buy a new vacuum, I would at least take him up on the FREE cleaning. He is definitely a sales dude but the cleaning was worth it. Randy 918-978-6786

Heath Bar Cake

2010-10-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted any recipes in awhile so I thought why the heck not. I haven’t really baked much lately and I usually get more into the baking mode in the Fall/Winter months. Nick is a huge Heath fan and we had this cake earlier this summer at a friends house. I just got around to making it for our life group at church today. I highly recommend it. Its super easy and as one of my favorite cooks says, yum-o!

Heath Bar Cake

1 box German chocolate cake mix

I can sweetened condensed Eagle Brand milk

1 jar butterscotch caramel ice cream topping

1 lg. container Cool Whip

1/2 bag Heath Bar chips

Cook cake as directed, then punch holes in cake with toothpick. Pour Eagle Brand milk over cake while warm, then pour butterscotch caramel ice cream topping over cake. After cooling (totally) put Cool Whip on top, then top it off with Heath Bar chips.

Fair Fun

2010-10-08T19:15:00.001-07:00

So we finally made it to the Tulsa Fair today. It was the last weekend for the fair and we never miss it. Nick works half days on Fridays so we headed there right after he got off. Austin had to take a picture of this cool looking truck while we were walking in.

We definitely did what was most important at the fair first…..ATE!

Spud spiral thingies

Nick recently started grilling corn on the cob so he was a little offended when I bought some.

Eating Nitrate Ice cream…pretty good stuff!

Austin’s first funnel cake. Loved it! Nick had a fried snickers but the battery on my camera died. I was a little grossed out by it anyways.

His second pony ride. He made me hold on to his leg the entire time My mother in law has always wanted a picture of Austin on a motorcycle. We ran into this little photo session and decided to do it. Now all he needs is the girl on the back of the bike….I can wait for that!

The kids LOVED the petting zoo. Vivi was too little to know what was really going on last year but this year she digged it. She starred at this turtle forever!!!!!!

He fed this goat nearly all the food.!

Three of us crashed when we got home. I guess the fair is pretty exhausting and fattening. Better fit in a workout soon.

Until next year…

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-07T21:33:00.001-07:00

So we have made it a tradition to visit a pumpkin patch every Fall. Austin’s Pre-K class went on a field trip so Vivian and I tagged along. The place we went to was super organized, and you know I like being organized! They broke his class up into 4 groups…..crafts, story time, maze scavenger hunt, and pumpkin finding. All in all I was very impressed. We also went to the park for lunch and some play time and then the school van had to stop by Sonic on the way back to school. We never got to go to Sonic on our school field trips when I was in school. That would have been the best. Wishing you all a Happy Fall Yall!!

San Diego Day 7 & 8

2010-09-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

So Day 7 we had a low key/chill day. It was no nice. We got to sleep in…as much as you can with two kiddos (did I mention that Vivian slept in a pack-n-play in Nick’ and I’s bathroom)? We played and laid at the pool and had a cookout that night. I didn’t even lug the camera around so I have nothing exciting to share.

Day 8 was travel back to Tulsa day. We got up at 4:15 to get to the airport in time. I was a little nervous about getting the kids up so early but all was good. God definitely watched over us during this trip. He kept us safe and blessed us with so many great memories.

They do look a little tired

in these pics!

San Diego Day 6

2010-09-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

LEGOLAND!!!! I showed Austin the website of Legoland about a month ago. He didn’t quite get that we had to wait another 4 weeks to get there. Once we got to CA he had to wait another 4 days until we went to Legoland. I think it was everything he had hoped it would be and more. As for Vivian, she got to ride about one ride and just watched Austin from the sidelines. There are definitely some talented people who work at Legoland and make all the fascinating models. Who knows it could be anyone’s kiddos making those models someday. For any of you who want to visit Legoland, there is a new Hilton directly behind the park that has all kinds of all things Legos.

View Full Album

San Diego Day 5

2010-09-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

We made it to the beach finally. The water was so cold we didn’t even take our swimsuits. As you can see, that didn’t stop the kids from getting a little wet. Austin made his first sand castle and he let me bury him in the sand. Vivian absolutely loved the water. I just knew the kiddos would get sick after their mother of the year let them in freezing cold water! We got lucky and they were just fine. We loved our relaxing day at the beach. Nick grilled out for us that night and it was yum-o!

San Diego Day 4

2010-09-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

So Tuesday we headed out to Sea World to see Shamu and Coco (baby dolphin). Our friend hooked us up to do a meet and greet with the dolphins. We had our very own dolphin trainer and got to give Coco all kinds of commands. Sea World is mainly for kiddos but I can say it was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done.

View Full Album

San Diego Day 3

2010-09-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Today we toured our resort...just Nick and I. We were asked at check in if we wanted to so we said sure. Well it was definitely a sales pitch and we were quite the suckers. We are now timeshare owners. It was quite a deal and we are looking forward to great memories traveling the world with our parents, kids and grand kids and maybe a few trips just the two of us. It definitely wasn't planned but some of the greatest blessings in my life came from me not planning them.

Here are a few pictures of the resort room and our day at the pool and splash park. I'm hoping for a little laying out time before the week is over.

Pic from our balcony

Pics of the rooms

Pics at the pool

post signature

San Diego Day 2

2010-09-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

We decided to head to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. It is owned by the San Diego Zoo and since we got lucky with free tickets we thought we would give it a try. Let's just say it was quite an experience. We walked and walked and for the first 40 minutes didn't see any four legged animals. We finally made it to the Safari tour which was educational but wasn't a ton of fun. At lunch Austin flipped backwards out of his chair and hit is head on the ground and then I guess the honey bees are really bad here because while I was trying to console him we were attached by the bees. They were loving our Sprite, raisins and something in Vivian's backpack. No one was stung but we were annoyed enough to leave our lunch and run away. We definitely enjoyed our time together as a family. If you come to San Diego I would definitely bypass this park and just head to the zoo!

Family pic

I failed to mentioned that Nick's mom is on this trip with us. She has been so much help traveling with two kiddos and they love their nana.

Nick's aunt and uncle live close by so they met us at our resort and joined us at the park.

Me and Vivi...and two big gorillas behind us.

This is my favorite new picture of my boys. They look so happy!

Not quite as big as a gorilla

Austin on Rhino

Vivian on the rhino

post signature

San Diego Day 1

2010-09-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

So we were up early to head on our first family vacation...okay maybe 2nd but this was our first time to fly as a family. Our day started at 4am and we pretty much had a low key day once we arrived. Overall the flight went really well. Vivian got a little restless towards the end but thankfully we had a really nice grandma (some stranger that sat by us) that she cuddled up to and rested. She will just go to anyone who is over 60 that looks like a loving grandma I guess. It was kinda weird at first but really helped us out. We had lots of snacks...dum dums, gum, candy, pretty much lots of junk, crafts, movies, games, anything to keep them busy. We prayed as we took off and are thankful that God watched over our family and made our travels easy...now I'm hoping our week goes smoothly.

post signature

Heading out

2010-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00
Hello all! I thought I would take a break from packing up my entire house and blog. Literally, I feel like I am packing up the entire house for our trip to CA. I admit I am pretty anxious about flying with two kiddos. Nick will feel like he has three kids because I get sick every time I fly. Please pray for safe travel and no getting sick (on and off the plane).

I hope this kids look this happy on vacation.....

Human Trafficking

2010-09-12T22:29:00.001-07:00
We attended the church in OKC today where we grew up. During worship they shared with us about a couple who plans on moving to Africa to be missionaries to stop human trafficking. The man, Ken, actually decided to walk all the way from OKC to Houston to help the awareness of human trafficking. I thought what this couple has committed to is amazing. Not only giving up their luxury life here in Oklahoma to move to Africa but to put all their trust in God to get him to Houston safe and sound. This must be physically draining and I can't imagine being the wife at home waiting to hear from her husband to see how is he holding up. I was dying to check out their blog when we got home today. It looks like there are plenty of angels watching over Ken. If you want to read about this journey you can check out Ken and Kathy's story here. Please keep this couple in your prayers.

First day of Pre-K and Mother's Day Out :)

2010-09-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

The kids started pre-school this week! Austin is attending Pre-K at the pre-school he attended last year 3 days a week. We enrolled Vivian in Mother's Day out one day a week at the same school. Monday was bitter sweet because I was pretty nervous about sending Vivian but excited about getting 4 1/2 hours to myself. Its amazing how much you can get done in a short amount of time without the kiddos. I ran all kinds of errands, got a pedicure and even had time to be at the house alone for about 1 hour. Vivian cried for all about 2 seconds! All in all the first week of school went pretty good. Austin got to be the flag holder and came home every day and said he learned nothing. lol We are working on learning his phone number...it continues to be a work in progress, he will usually say 911!!!

Of course she was stylin with her Thirty-One fashionable and functional bags.

Children's Museum

2010-08-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

I am back! Our computer crashed and put everything in the Price Household into chaos. I was lost for awhile! We were able to restore all of our files but I lost my e-mail contacts. So all in all things are back to normal. Now I have to play catch up!

We had our last play date of the summer a few weeks ago. We went to Kalidescope, a local children's museum here. The kids seemed to have such a good time. Normally when we go for play dates Austin just comes home and doesn't talk about it. He was telling Nick about it at dinner and kept saying he wanted to go back with Gabe and Gavin. He could have played there all day if I let him. They had a pretend grocery store, post office, hair salon, CSI lab, jail, dress up area, play house, black light room, and a big play area for them to play in. For $6 it was definitely worth it and that included lunch! We will be going back. My only reservation is I always wonder how well they clean the toys at the end of the day!!!

$4.00 well spent

2010-08-18T14:25:00.000-07:00
I went to An Affair of the Heart (craft show) and I always feel like I need to come back with something for both Vivian and Austin. If you have ever been to An Affair of the Heart, they have nothing for little boys. I found this Grow Your Own Lizard for 4 bucks!! They also had snakes, frogs, etc. It was quite the entertainment for 10days. You put the lizard in your bath tub and it grows and grows. The kids went in every night to pet him. He was pretty slimy and felt real. Anyways, if you ever see one of these they are definitely worth the $4!

Taken the first day in the tub and then taken on the last day.

Play dates

2010-07-15T14:58:00.001-07:00
We have play date every Thursday. Today was a visit to the farm to ride horses. We have attempted numerous times for Austin to ride ponies and horses but he always gets spooked at the last minute. He finally rode today! It took a second time and seeing other friends do it who were brave, but he did it! Vivian was happier as ever in her stroller having a snack. Maybe the next play date will be more for her age?

I watched our neighbor Gabe a few days ago and the boys played Twister. Definitely a good stretching exercise and teaches left from right. :) As you can see, Vivian has a new move she does all day long and Austin is now doing it too!!!

Independence Day

2010-07-14T14:32:00.000-07:00
So, I'm a little behind on blogging. I am now a part-time working mommy so I don't have near the time I did before. We spend July 4th weekend in OKC with family. We missed Rockets over Rhema this year. Rockets is a community Christian concert in Broken Arrow that has an awesome fireworks display. Austin and I did however watch the fireworks from afar. We had a date just the two of us. Vivian is in bed every night by at least 7:30 but I'm hoping that next year she can join in on the fun!

The works...we bought these last year and they were still good!

Before dark

Miss Independence

Date Night

2010-06-28T05:30:00.000-07:00
Nick and I have been pretty good at planning regular date nights. I think being a nanny helped me see how important it is for young parents to make the time for each other. It can get a little expensive since we don't have family here but it is well worth hiring a sitter to have a night out. Austin was in OKC so Vivian had the sitter all to herself. We saw Knight and Day....I LOVED it, highly recommend going to see it, went to dinner, had dessert at the Melting Pot (bananas foster is our fav) and then listened to a pretty good band on the River walk. It was a fun nite out!

Can you guess which pics were taken with my crappy camera on my phone?

Vivian with her sitter from church

I painted Vivian's toes for the first time today. I just put her in her high chair with a snack and tried my best. Her little toes are so tiny. I know its definitely not salon perfection but those are some pretty cute toes!

GNO Game night

2010-06-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

We had GNO (Girls Nite Out) at church on Friday night. All ladies in the church were invited...women of all ages were invited. There ended up being girls from the young families class and about 5 ladies who were 50 and older. If you had asked me ten years ago if I thought I'd be playing games on a Friday night with women who could be my grandma I would have said, "heck no". As a matter of fact, I had so much fun. We all brought different games...I brought Twister but couldn't get anyone to play :) and we ended up playing one game of Cranium and then we were all tuckered out because it was definitely a game of thinking. I found out I stink at unscrambling letters to make a word but I am pretty good at figuring out songs when they are hummed to me. We used to hum songs in the car on road trips with my mom so I guess I've had some practice. Here are some pics I took of us thinking, drawing with our eyes closed, playing puppets, etc and eating lots of junk food!

Story time in the park

2010-06-24T20:54:00.001-07:00

Today our play group met for story time in the park. Austin has never really taken to story time at the library. I guess he just can't sit still that long? Vivian seemed to enjoy it some but for the most part they just wanted to drink and eat the snacks I brought.

I have always got made fun of when I drink from a bottle...I think he gets this from me.

The park had a pretty neat play ground and water area for the kids to play. I didn't bring Vivi's swim suit because she's not walking yet and I thought it was going to be an actual splash park. They had the cutest area with about 2 inch deep water for the babies to crawl around. Needless to say, we will be going back because we had a blast! I just wish it was closer to our house. We got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the way home and Austin about had an accident in the car. I just might take my friend Kim's advice and start carrying a potty chair in the back of the car!!!

Pool Play date

2010-06-22T13:55:00.001-07:00
My turn to host play date....neighborhood pool and ordered pizza. Easy and fun! So much easier to go to the pool when you have an extra pair of eyes to help watch the kiddos.

Father's Day

2010-06-21T01:22:00.000-07:00
We celebrated Father's Day at home this weekend. As much as we would like to drive to be with our dads, traveling with 2 kiddos is a lot of work so we can't make it for every celebration.

We took Nick to dinner on Saturday night at El Chico (Nick's employeer during college) and then cooked him breakfast Father's Day morning. We didn't serve him in bed since he is such an early riser these days.

Nick thought it would be funny to get a picture of me at the stove on a Sunday morning....this rarely happens because we are doing good to feed the kids cereal and get out of the door on time.

Definitely not laughing at him here

Definitely don't feed Vivian in her church clothes!

Love that smile

Guess who picked this card out

I foresee some good cookin out in our future :)

Farewell Party

2010-06-19T18:23:00.000-07:00
We had a farewell party last night for some dear friends from church. We celebrated Mexican style and The Lawrence's hosted for us. Cara and Jared....you will be missed. We love you guys and best of luck with your new journey!

The boys are playing with the doll house below!!

The Corn Popper

2010-06-18T10:12:00.001-07:00
Every Thursday we have a play date with friends from church. I put the calendar together this year and we finally got to visit The Corn Popper yesterday. The kids were able to see the staff make popcorn and then try several flavors. This is the owner that gave us our tour.

They had over 30 flavors of popcorn to purchase. I forget about this place when buying gifts for people but they have the cutest tins to put the popcorn in. We got jalapeno cheddar and regular cheddar for papa for Father's Day. The kids got confetti popcorn and cotton candy!! Definitely spoiled their lunch.

THE KIDS

THE MOMS

Aunt April

2010-06-17T20:52:00.000-07:00
I just love being an aunt! I didn't have much time to spoil my nephew before I had kids of my own. It has been nice having a nephew so close in age to Austin. They really are best buds. My brother was in San Diego this week so I got to keep Aiden. I love when Aiden visits because it gives me more of an excuse to do fun things every day. Here are some pics I took running around with the kids this week. Let's just say, I had lots of fun but I am good with two kids :)

Bass Pro has a summer camp this week....free fishing, shooting and crafts! They are pretending they are camping out here. We managed to grab a Father's Day present too!

Went to the pool with all three kids by myself. It was really fun...I only got in a panic once when I couldn't see one of the kids.

It took me forever to wake them up after swimming! They were dead to the world.

After church, we tried a new yogurt bar by our house called Cherry Berry. It was Berry good!

I really feel for those of you have that have three kids or more. My mom asked me to get a picture of all three kids and this is the best I could get.

Girls weekend

2010-06-16T19:38:00.000-07:00
Vivian and I had a girls weekend this past weekend. We went to OKC first. I had Thirty-One party. For those of you that don't know yet I became a consultant for Thirty-One last month. 31 has super cute totes, bags and gifts that can be personalized. For more info visit my website at www.mythirtyone.com/APrice

Our first stop was of course shopping! I just can't go to Dallas without shopping! We had lunch at Babes, which if you haven't been you really need to go!

Then there was the pool. I however didn't get to swim cuz I watched Vivian during her nap and then had to head to the store for some baby items. My mom and Nick's mom went with us so they enjoyed some time with Vivian in the pool. I bought this swim suit for her for our trip to San Diego in September thinking she would need a "bigger" swim suit...as you can see it fits just fine now.

I met up with my old college roomie Erin later that night. We had dinner and sang really loud!

On Sunday we went to church with Nick's cousins. His cousin, Heather is expecting a baby boy and that is the main reason we went to Dallas in the first place. Her baby shower was so nice and I had the most amazing almond tea that I'm planning on making next week!

The Price girls

Vivian with her cousin Charlotte

I'm starting to really like these girls trips! I have a feeling Vivian will start liking them even more when she joins in on the shopping! :)

Swim School

2010-06-11T11:04:00.001-07:00

Every summer Austin has taken swim school. This was the first year that he actually understood that he was trying to learn to swim. We went Mon-Thurs for 2 weeks and it was really exhausting for all of us. Austin and I are up by 7 every day but Vivian likes to sleep in. Vivian practiced walking with my assistance during swim school. I had hoped that either she would be walking on her own or that he would be swimming on his own. No such luck. Austin did complete his level and will be moving on to the next level. He finally propelled on his own this Wednesday. Woo hoo!
Here are some pics I took during the observation window.

I failed to mention that in addition to Vivian practicing walking she snacked the entire time....I mean the entire time. All the other parents thought it was so funny! I swear, I really do feed her.

Memorial Day weekend

2010-06-01T15:05:00.000-07:00
We went to OKC for a quick but fun filled Memorial Day weekend. We had a cookout at Nick's dad's on Friday night, stayed the night with Nick's mom and then headed to my parents on Saturday for a cookout. Nick's dad took the kids on a tractor ride and Shannon took Austin crusin in her new Camaro. I tagged along with them and Austin held on to the seat belt strap for dear life! It was a nice feeling to see that he wanted to be all grown up and go in the race car but that he still wanted his mom to go with him.

We were invited to my friend Candice's house on Sunday night after church for another cookout and swimming. We had our own family of 4 cookout on Monday and Vivian enjoyed her first watermelon. She can't be my kid if she isn't a fan of watermelon.

We were so busy with all the water play and cookouts that I almost forgot what Memorial Day was all about. It is hard to visit all the grandparents graves since they are all over the state but it is nice to remember the good times we had with them. Hopefully when the kids are older it will be easier to make our rounds to the cemeteries and tell them great stories about their great-grandparents.

On a lighter note, here are some fun pics from our weekend. If you notice a pic of Austin's ear, it is supposed to be in the collage. He got his first freckle this weekend on his ear. He named it Comet?? Needless to say, he was really excited about it. Funny thing is Nick has a freckle on his ear in the same spot....weird.

2010 Pre-school Graduation

2010-05-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Austin graduated from his 3 year old class last week.
I didn't think the graduation program would amount to much but it was really a nice surprise. They made a 30 minute video of all the kids, sang songs and had awards for every kid...best hugger, most athletic, best manners, etc. Austin got best smile. Didn't surprise me. He is always cheesin it up for pictures. Nick was a little disappointed that he didn't get most athletic but what dad doesn't want that? His teachers sent home a scrapbook and a personalized video that they made for each kid. I was very impressed! I taught 3 year olds last year I quickly realized that I sucked as a teacher. I did no scrapbook, no video...I guess that is why I'm not teaching this year. Here are some pictures I managed to take while Vivian was crawling underneath the pews because the program was only an hour in a half!!!

This is an actual picture of the slide show picture of him

Pretending to strum his guitar

You know how there is always that one kid who is singing louder than everyone else? Yeap...that was Austin. And he was right behind the mic.

Just Smile

PRE-K or BUST!

OK Storms!

2010-05-26T17:51:00.000-07:00
Don't you just hate them? I remember my Red Granny (wore a red wig) was terrified of bad weather. She would always put things off because it might rain!!! I think I have a little of what she had. I hate to drive in it and if the sirens go off, I will be in the bathroom in no time! Nick on the other hand goes outside to look at the wall clouds and stays in front of the t.v. until he absolutely must join us. We stayed in the bathroom for some time last week. I will have a storm shelter some day!!!

This is what it looks like when you have no idea a tornado is coming your way!!

I may look relaxed here but my happy face was all for the kids.

8 Years

2010-05-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yeap...we have already been hitched 8 years. Seems like forever...I mean just yesterday :) We celebrated this weekend since we knew there would be no celebrating on a Monday night. My parents came to babysit and we went to dinner and stayed overnight in a Bed and Breakfast which is our traditional date on our anniversary. The Bed and Breakfast was pretty nice...wasn't my favorite however. The innkeeper barged into our room the morning we were going to check out. Good thing we were just watching a movie and nothing else!!!! Ha ha. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. Marriage is such a blessing and I am so grateful to have such a husband who loves me for who I am. Ok, I won't get too mooshy gooshy with you on here.

We took these ourselves...

Pizza and Rockband

2010-05-17T18:21:00.000-07:00
We love having couples over to eat pizza and play Rockband. Rockband really wasn't planned for last night but a few of Nick's friends hadn't ever played so we pulled out all the equipment from our bedroom since we never get to play anymore. I'm not all that great at it but enjoy playing every now and then. Austin and I even played some by ourselves after our company left. I don't really plug in the drums for him because the band would fail in like 2 seconds with him playing...lol

This picture cracks me up. Three guys playing and the three fans admiring them :) Nevermind the messy living room.

Looking forward to many more Rockband parties and cookouts this summer. If you're lucky, you just might get to attend one. Just kidding.

Up most of the night...

2010-05-14T09:29:00.000-07:00
Have you ever heard bad news late at night and not been able to sleep? It might be about a close friend or family member, someone from your past, or someone you don't even know. I was on Facebook last night and I saw that a girl I knew in high school passed away on Monday after having her first child. Her and her husband had tried for years to have a baby. She didn't feel well her entire pregnancy and after having the baby the Dr's said she needed her gall bladder taken out. Her heart stopped twice during surgery and was later diagnosed with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy or PPCM (weakened heart condition). Becky was in a coma for 2 weeks before passing away this week. She was able to spend 5 precious days with her son. I didn't know her that well, but I just couldn't stop thinking about her poor husband and son. She wanted so badly to bring a child into this world and she did just that. He just won't ever know how wonderful his mommies heart truly was.

Vivian woke up at 1:30 and I was more than happy to go grab her and rock her over and over. Never take anything for granted. Go hug your kiddos!
Please pray for Becky Reynold's family.

Between 4 and 6

2010-05-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

Most stay at home moms know that the hardest part of the day is from 4ish to 6ish. Since the weather is nice now, you will usually find us in our little backyard pretend mowing, playing tee-ball and bouncing in the jumparoo. We change it up a bit and go to the parks near by too. It is a nice break for me too. I can cut coupons, water my flowers or play some tee-ball.

Sometimes the girls stay inside and keep cool. Austin has done good so far playing in the back alone. I know I had posted my worries about that not too long ago. I'm definitely not looking forward to the cool weather because then that leaves t.v., video games and crafts which I'm awful at!!!

Mother's Day Twenty10

2010-05-10T14:18:00.000-07:00
Being a mom is one of God's most dearest gifts. My kiddos are such a blessing. Being a mom is the most important job I will ever have and the most rewarding!

We stayed in town this Mother's Day. Went to church, went out to eat and then our life groups met. I got to spend the day with my kiddos and enjoyed it so much. Austin got me a beach towel for when we go to the beach in September. It was the first time he picked out my present.

I got all of these cards for Mother's Day. My mom sent me a card everyday this week. At first I thought she had just found a second card she liked but also thought, "Did she forget she already sent me a card"? I realized on day 3 that what she was doing. The other 2 cards are from Nick and the kids.

We had a Mother's tea at school today.

The teachers had asked each child 5 questions and these were the questions and answers that Austin gave. I loved that he thinks I weigh 14 pounds. I wasn't sure if I liked that he thinks I spend my spare time playing with only Vivian, but it was definitely better than some of the other answers that other kids gave. I'll take it!

Craft

Rooster Day

2010-05-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

Every Mother's Day weekend we go to Rooster Days in Broken Arrow. It is a festival that has rides for the kiddos, a petting zoo and yummy food. Austin gets braver every year but there is always a ride that he goes on that he is terrified the entire time. This year it was the dragon roller coaster and then after that he wanted to ride the helicopters but then said he didn't. What did his mommy do? I made him get on the helicopter! It wasn't near as fast and scary as the dragon. I think last year I would have just said okay, lets get out of the line that we waited 10 minutes in but he is a big 4 year old now.

Vivian just ate the entire time. The only way we can keep her quiet in her stroller is to keep her munching on something. Its amazing I can't get her past 18 pounds to move to her big girl carseat! She thouroughly enjoyed her funnel cake and dip n dots!

Happy Couponing!

2010-04-26T09:40:00.000-07:00
I attended a coupon workshop a few weeks ago with a friend. The instructor's name is Sarah Roe and she is founder of 918couponqueen which is now moneysavingqueen. I was definitely on brain overload after sitting there for 3 hours learning all her tips and tricks. I left all excited and motivated to start saving money on my grocery bill. Check out Shannon's money saving blog too. It is full of fun savings!

I put together a super cute coupon organizer bought at Target (new Liberty of London line) made out of baseball trading card holders ($5 at Target) and made tabs for all the sections of the grocery store...baking, beverages, boxed/canned, cleaners, frozen, hygiene, kids/pets, paper goods, refrigerated, receipts/rebates, and individual stores such as Target, Walgreen's, Toys R Us, etc. I leave this in the car in case I make a non-planned trip to the store. I just hope to keep this up and its not another new hobby I try for a month and get tired of it! :)

I never understood how I could read a blog and see a picture of a counter full of grocery items that someone spent $10 on. I finally had a similar experience today at Walgreen's. I was there for an entire hour which is time consuming, I realize. It was quite worth it because I made $45.16 in that hour! That was $45.16 in savings. I'm sure Nick will be okay with that. I met a really nice cashier named Edna that helped me out. I will make my trip to Walgreens only when Edna is there because I am still learning and she was very helpful. Below is what I bought.

1st transaction
Spent $61.59 and got $21.50 in register rewards. Those are 6 Hallmark cards I got for 44cents off a piece. Mother's Day, Anniversary, Graduation, I am set on cards! Looks like a lot of razors, I know. $31 worth to be exact. I usually spend about $19 in Nick's refill cartridges and I buy whatever for myself. I got 2 systems and refills. We shave alot, what can I say?

2nd transaction
Spent $6.96, used store coupons and used $17.50 in register rewards (got from transaction #1). Still had $4 in register rewards left to spent when I go back. I went ahead and bought these disposable cameras for our vacation in September.
I don't want to drag our huge camera to all 4 parks!! Ended up being free for the both of them. That's a blue flashlight for Austin if you can't tell. I attended a Red Cross training last week at MOPS and they reccomend leaving a flashlight at your child's bed in case of a fire. Hadn't thought of that!

Randomness

2010-04-22T16:03:00.000-07:00
Just thought I would send an update on things. Nick was able to keep his job at Apache. He is just moving down the hall and changing from oil to gas. Such a blessing! If he hadn't been laid off we would be moving to Midland, TX which would have been so fun...not. Crazy how things work out sometimes. We are very happy.

Vivian got her 7th ear infection today which means....TUBES. I figured it was coming. Dr. said if she could make it through April without an infection she should be good. 8 more days and she would have been clear. Please feel free to give any advice if your kids have had tubes. :)

We needed a lazy day at home yesterday, so we stayed home and played some Baby Rockband! Gotta love Tupperware. This is part of her cabinet that she is allowed to play in. We love to be on the go but it is good to stay home every now and then.

I absolutely love this shirt, and the girl who is wearing it!

Playing today...he is starting to get really jealous but they are finally starting to play together.

Nope, she didn't like the hat.

Memory stones=bad memory

2010-04-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that I am NOT crafty! However, I saw this memory stone kit at Target for $8 and thought it would be a great birthday present to my mom and dad from the kids. It looked simple so I thought I would give it a try. Austin was bored one afternoon so I got it out and gave it a whirl. Let's just say that after it was all said and done the entire kit was in the trash and I slipped a 4 letter word in front of Austin which he can now say! My bad. Bummer, I don't get mother of the year award.

We always lose the shirt during crafts....Austin that is, not me.

He painted these plaster cars instead.

Vivian had no clue what was going on!! Thank goodness.

Supervision of outdoor play

2010-04-13T10:53:00.000-07:00
I've been thinking...at what point and age can kids play in the backyard alone? Austin all of a sudden wants to be outside all the time! I don't mind going out a few times a day but Vivian and I get bored after a while. We literally have nothing in our backyard for him to play with expect toy mowers, baseball stuff and bubbles. I called home the other day and asked Nick what they were doing and he was inside cleaning the closet while Austin was outside playing. I kind of freaked but it doesn't take much for me to freak. Since then I have gone back and forth with the issue. What if there was a snake and he picks it up, or he opens the gate and goes in the front yard? There are lots of what ifs I guess. So far, I have decided that he can be outside in the backyard if I am with him, or if I am in the kitchen and can see him from the window...no sneaking inside the doghouse to pretend he is a puppy and no playing on the side of the house where I can't see him. I am curious as to what other parents have decided about outdoor play and supervision. This is all new for me. :)

Heart Walk

2010-04-10T10:38:00.001-07:00
This year we joined lots of friends at the Tulsa Heart Walk. We have only done the OKC Heart Walk so this one was new and different. We walked in honor of our friends, Gavin & Brody. Austin and Gavin go to church and school together and they now live right across the street from us. What fun! It was an early morning to get up and out of the house, but it was well worth it. We all enjoyed the nice weather and fellowship. We love you Gavin and Brody!

Me and Candi...she is there somewhere :)

PALS teachers

Vivian's cupcake party

2010-03-31T18:26:00.001-07:00

We had Vivi's cupcake party at the house. We invited a few other babies from church and family. Kept it pretty small because I'm sure she will have all kinds of ideas for big, expensive parties in the future. I had a really good time decorating for a girls party. I definitely see myself getting into the party planning business but don't think I would enjoy it as much if it wasn't for my own kiddos. She of course loved her cupcakes...dark purple and hot pink icing was definitely not a smart choice. The purple was supposed to be lavender anyways. She got a nice bath after her cake eating and was all cleaned up to open her presents or shall I say mom open her presents. Austin has played and played with her Little People doll house we got her. He helps them go potty, feeds them, puts them to bed, etc. She enjoys playing with his cars more than the house :) We had to sing happy birthday twice cause the camcorder wasn't on!! Our friend, Jay, made a video of her first year for us. It was sooo awesome! I'm sure I will cry every time I watch it. I included several sappy songs and a few fun, upbeat ones. God has truly blessed us with two amazing, beautiful kids.

A cupcake party must have cupcakes...I ordered these toppers on Etsy, printed them and then cut them with a 2 inch puncher...they turned out so cute!

BEFORE

AFTER

This cupcake play set was a present from Christmas and was a hit with the older kiddos at the party

Austin with his cupcake

The food...the menu consisted of fruit, meatballs, tortilla roll ups, chicken nuggets (Chick fil a), chips and dip, pink m&m's, strawberry lemonade and of course cupcakes!

all cleaned up opening presents

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Vivian!

Austin's party

2010-03-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here it is 4 days later and I am just now getting to sit down and blog about the kids birthday parties. It was a busy day needless to say but I definitely enjoyed seeing the kids enjoy their day. I have to admit I don't think I will ever schedule their parties on the same day again unless it is one big party. Way too much work for the mama. :) Here are some pics from Austin's party. We had it at a Party place in Broken Arrow. It was smaller than most party places so it wasn't chaotic and too noisy. We had the place to ourselves and they were super clean. :)

I swear he had a good time at his party

Party favors...this is as crafty as I get

Papa and Uncle Matt being silly

Nick cut and served the cake...I was pretty shocked when he started doing this

Friends and Fam

Austin is 4!

2010-03-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is four today. He is getting so tall and big. He went from a 24 month to a 4T so fast....barely wore a 3T. We made batman brownies for his school party tomorrow and then he has a Batman party this weekend with friends and family.

He is such a fun loving little boy. And a mamas boy and I love every bit of it. He is all boy for sure. Loves all the super hero stuff and is obsessed with the word fart! A few weeks ago he was finally confident enough to start saying the prayer with our meals. We were so happy. He has been saying he can't do it and finally one day he just did it. So cute and such a great memory to remember.

The above collage I cannot take credit for...our friend did it using Picasa. Austin is so darn photogenic, doesn't get it from me.

Happy Birthday Austin! We love you!

Vivian is One!

2010-03-23T23:23:00.000-07:00
Our baby girl is one!! Vivian has brought such joy and happiness to us this past year. She is such a sweet and happy baby and I can't imagine my life without her.
We didn't have big plans for today other than just having some girl time at the house. Austin was in OKC and Nick had to work. I pretty much just played with her as much as I could and of course sang to her with my beautiful voice, lol. Both kids parties are on Saturday so we are looking forward to that.

I pray everyday that she will know Christ, understand His will for her life, be happy and safe. I know that she will grow into a beautiful woman. It won't be like this for long and I cherish every moment. We love you baby Vivian! XOXO

I really wanted to put her in her birthday tee today but I feared it would get stained before her party...I hate only getting once use out of it but she will look so cute in it on Saturday :) Plus, what female doesn't like a little leopard?

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

2010-03-23T23:08:00.001-07:00
Spring time is here which means lots of trips to the zoo. As mentioned in my prior post, I didn't have my camera to post pics of the zoo trip, so here they are. I always take pictures of the animals but never do anything with them. Not sure why, but I always feel the need to take that picture of the tiger sleeping and then never look at it again. Nick's gotee is getting a little furry but that is all the fur in these pics! Vivian strutted her black bear onesie and Austin had to wear his monkey shirt. He is such a monkey and there have been times where Vivi acted like a bear but not too many. :)

Spring Break Day 4& 5....who was I kidding?

2010-03-19T23:00:00.000-07:00
I knew there was no way that I would actually blog 5 days in a row. Yesterday I was just completely exhausted after I got home from dinner with the girls and today the camera was left in my car and Nick took my car to a March Madness tournament at church! Technically I am blogging today though. No pics which is no fun and boring but I blogged.

We went to the Tulsa Zoo today. Nick took off so he could go! The memberships were $11 off this week so it ends up only being $54 for the whole year! So glad we went early because by the time we left around 12:30 there was a line just to park! I was worried Vivian would be cranky since she missed her morning nap but Austin was the one who threw several fits. All in all we had a good time. We listened to this song yesterday and today on the way to the zoo. The entire CD is awesome. Zoo pics to come next week :)

Going to the zoo by Raffi

Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow
Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Look at all the monkeys swingin' in the trees
Swingin' in the trees, swingin' in the trees
Look at all the monkeys swingin' in the trees
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Look at all the crocodiles swimmin' in the water
Swimmin' in the water, swimmin' in the water
Look at all the crocodiles swimmin' in the water
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Yes, Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow
Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Keeps it surprising I guess. We leave for OKC/Dallas tomorrow. Just going to see some friends and family.

Spring Break Day 3

2010-03-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

So much for sleep! I was up till my usual bedtime...11-12ish. Vivian got up at 4am and the boys (Austin had a friend stay the night) were up at 5:15.

I just got my week 51 e-mail from babycenter on Monday saying to expect more fussiness and night awakening with Vivian. It said this is mainly due to separation anxiety. She has started clinging on to me more when I drop her off at the gym. I hope this phase doesn't last too long. Austin was always really good when it came to leaving him somewhere but no two kids are the same.

I thought about making some green eggs and ham for St. Patty's Day but opted for green chocolate chip pancakes instead. Looked gross but was pretty good. Reminded me of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Told ya they looked weird

Ryan helping make breakfast

Austin making pancakes

Vivian had her own play date with her mommy's tampons. Why must every baby find and play with tampons? I have never seen a female look so happy with one of these in her hand or should I say mouth?

Nick and I went to dinner, Dave & Busters and a movie(She's Out of Your League) tonight. We hired a babysitter for the kids. Vivian goes to sleep around 7 but she took advantage of a sitter being here and stayed up late. Austin went to a friends to stay the night. I am thinking of skipping the gym in the morning so I can sleep in...I made a childcare reservation for 9...what was I thinking?

Spring Break Day 2

2010-03-16T14:33:00.000-07:00
Day 2 and I am still a bloggin. Doing good so far. Just so you know, I am only blogging Spring Break stuff until Friday. We leave on Saturday for OKC and Dallas. :)I am guessing that tomorrow blog will be uneventful because I am exhausted from today!

This morning we went to the bowling alley with friends. Nick loves Tony's pizza and on the back of the box you can get a coupon for a free game. We spent a total of $2.99 and that was just for shoes. Pretty good deal. It is worth buying the pizza just to get the coupon!

Austin bowled a 92...that was with the help of bumpers of course. Whoever invented bumpers is a genius!

We then went to lunch at McDonald's. I know, eating out for lunch two days in a row is a real treat for us. Like I said, Spring Break is a great reason to do all kinds of things.
Vivian experienced bowling and McDonald's nuggets and fries for the first time on the same day. What a milestone to reach today. I gave her some fruits and veggies tonight after getting spoiled at lunch.

Austin and Ryan

Vivi and Brookelyn

Vivi and Owen...they helped feed each other and raced to see who could grab the food the fastest!

After naps Gabe and Gavin came over for a play date...I got a quick pic of Gavin and Austin wearing their rain boots! Took with my phone so the quality stinks!

Austin had a slumber party tonight with Ryan. Boys are so fun! There is a new family video that has free kids movies :) We rented 5 movies and gummie bears for a little over $2!

I also got 2 movies for me and Nick. I watched Precious this afternoon. Definitely a dark movie, with the F word mentioned a lot but as a social worker I appreciated the storyline. The boys watched much lighter movies like Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I always liked TMNT because there was a chick named April. So cool.

Spring Break Day 1

2010-03-15T11:47:00.000-07:00
I thought I would try...(emphasis on try) to blog everyday this week on our daily outings. Spring Break is always a pretty fun week around here. We try to fit in as much stuff as we possibly can in one week. Places usually have specials so I try to start planning my week ahead of time. Today we just went to the gym, Chick-fil-a and to our neighbors house who has a new playground set. So glad they got a new playground for us to use :)

Austin at Gabe's house

I usually don't go to restaurants with just me and the kids but I thought I would handle Chick-fil-a and they did just great. Vivian had her first experience in a play area. We had the entire place to ourselves since we got there early.

This didn't turn out all that clear, but I just love this pic. Her first time sliding with brother.

Having some lunch

About a year in a half ago he got scared and couldn't figure out how to get out of this play area. I was pregnant, wearing a jean skirt so I had my friends daughter push him down the slide. I think he was terrified of her forever! Now he is all big and doing it on his own.

Cheesin it

Baby Fest

2010-03-07T20:15:00.000-08:00
We went to check out Baby Fest and Family Expo this weekend. I wasn't sure what all to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. It was free to get in and they had booths that had anything and everything to do with families. They had a diaper derby contest where babies crawled on a piece of carpet for 15 feet. I thought, "why not"? So while the boys were playing on the Jupiter Jumps, I encouraged Vivian to give it all she had. She took her time checking out the cool blue carpet and finished in 28 seconds...the winner won with a time of 6 seconds! Maybe softball is her sport, she sure can chunk her pacifier clear across the room.
They also had the cutest baby contest and I again thought, "why not"? We stood before 3 college aged girls while they looked her over. It was the weirdest thing actually. Very uncomfortable for me. Anyways, they said the winner would be announced at 4:45 later that afternoon. I really didn't want to go back but then I thought, "why not, she could win". So I woke up from my lovely afternoon nap to hurry up to get there to find out that she didn't win. There was a lot of other parents that thought their kids was the cutest as well because it was so crowded! Oh btw...before I ever entered her in the contest Nick said, "she isn't going to win, she has been sick". Glad she has support from at least one of her parents. Vivian, I think you are beautiful and I really thought your named was gonna be called!!

I found this photo booth to take our pics in...here is how our pics turned out. Their not the greatest but there wasn't any delete button or re-dos!

Wearing dress clothes=purple race car?

2010-03-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday before church we have a battle with Austin wanting to wear dress clothes. Unless he has Batman, Spiderman or Superman on his shirt, comfy pants and tennis shoes it is an not a pleasant experience for the parent or child. I try to lay his clothes out the night before and let his choose between 3 shirts. That has worked pretty well so far. For the most part he still wears jeans to church and that is fine by me. Well today was Spring pictures at school. I had his clothes ironed and ready to go the day before. I was just dreading getting him dressed today so I showed him his new picture outfit last night and he seemed ok with wearing it, ...however when this morning came around he started to say, "it's too big", "I don't like it". I just wanted things to go smoothly so I told him if he wanted a new race car he needed to wear his cool picture clothes to school. He said, "a purple one"? I said, "sure". Please let me know if you find a purple race car...I need to find one today! I took a pic of him in his new cool picture clothes before we left the house. Good thing because he and his best friend, Ryan, wouldn't take their coats off at school because they didn't have their cool superhero shirts on!!

Happy 11 months Vivian!

2010-03-03T18:20:00.000-08:00

You are 11 months and almost a year old! We can't believe it.

What you are doing these days....
You are exploring all over the house and are very curious about everything! You love to crawl under anything you can get under...your exersaucer, the end tables, train table, desks, you name it. Austin tries to crawl around with you and get under things that only your tiny body can. You pull yourself to stand up but get scared to death when I let you hold on to your walker by yourself. You understand what, "no" means. You wave hi and bye and try to say bye bye and mama but I usually only hear mama when you are eating so you may not be actually saying it.
You have 4 teeth and have a fairly large gap in between your top 2 like your mom did as a kid...braces in the future? You are starting to get a little picky on what you eat. You love all fruits so far and are disliking anything with rice or pasta. You love cheese! You haven't quite figured out how to drink out of your sippy cup yet but enjoy carrying it around like a big girl.
You throw your pacifier clear across the room, or in stores when you are done with it!
Sometimes you poop during your nap...you don't wake up but I sure can smell it from the kitchen!!
Your favorite song is itsy bitsy spider.
You stayed 2 nights with nana this month while mom and dad went on a trip. What a big girl you are.
You are still getting ear infections...mainly in your left ear. We may be seeing an ENT in a few months to get tubes :(
You have recently started to like to be rocked to sleep again and daddy and I are enjoying that. We are preparing for your 1st birthday party in a few weeks!

God has blessed us with a beautiful little girl and trusted us to love you and raise you to walk with Him. Every good gift comes from God and I pray that you will have an understanding of God's love and follow Him always.

We love you!

Update on job searching

2010-03-02T19:03:00.000-08:00
I thought I would update everyone on Nick's job search. He has a position with his current employer until June. He has had several interviews in the last month. He didn't get the one in OKC and we are still waiting to hear back from 3 interviews he had in Tulsa the past few weeks. Two of the interviews were internal recommendations from people we go to church with. Just one of the nice things about having such a loving church family. He has one more interview here in Tulsa lined up and one in Dallas. We have friends and family in Dallas so it would definitely be a place we would want to move. Pleas pray that Nick finds a job that he enjoys and doesn't travel all the time. I do hope that I am able to continue to stay home with the kids but if necessary I will return to work. I at least wanted to stay home until Vivian was one and I have been blessed to be able to do that. Thanks so much for your prayers. I will continue to keep you guys updated.

Turning 30

2010-02-22T14:00:00.000-08:00
To my surprise Nick planned a little getaway for my 30th birthday this weekend. We flew to S. Padre for a relaxing weekend. It was the first time for me to leave Vivi and tears were definitely shed when I walked away from them both at the airport. After throwing up on the plane (motion sickness) and carrying what looked like to be a doggy bag of puke out, I was ready to enjoy a weekend with nothing to do. It wasn't quite hot enough to pull out the swim suits but we made the most out of our trip. We walked along the beach, went to a movie, got couples massages ate, slept, ate, slept, you get the picture.
When we arrived home I was just dying to see the kids. Austin was taking a poop when I got to my mil's and the first thing he yelled from the bathroom was, "mom, you get me a toy"? I can leave to go get milk at the store and be gone 10 minutes and he will run up to me and squeeze my neck acting like he hasn't seen me all day. I leave for 2 days and all he can think about is a cool toy. So silly!

I didn't take my big hoopty camera with us but I managed to get a few with my camera phone.

I thank Nick for making my 30th birthday not such a dreaded event after all.

Lots of love

2010-02-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

So I have been a slacker when it comes to blogging. Things have been crazy busy around here. Nick is still looking for a new job...no luck yet. Keep praying for us, please.
We did find time to enjoy a week full of all things heart. Austin and I made a heart lunch this week, heart rice krispy treats, heart pancakes and we ordered a heart shaped pizza tonight.
I realize the doritos are not heart shaped...wasn't sure how to pull that one off.

I think the heart shaped pizza is a little pathetic if you ask me but Austin thought it was cool.

Austin also had his Valentine's party at school. We made these cute owls
and decorated cookies.

Teachers Pet

We also had a dinner party celebrating Heart day with our friends at church....thanks to Faith! She put together a cool slide show of pictures of all the couples before they were married and of their wedding day. We also played the newlywed game. Learned a lot about our friends and our spouses. Here are some pics from the beautiful, fun night. I know there are no pics of me and Nick on here. My friend took the couples pictures.
Loved the tables!

The sweets

Me & Meagan

Me and Faith, the party planner....can I ask one more time what happened to your arm? Just kidding.

Candice, Ashley and me

Oh and Cupid was good

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's day!

Heart ya!!

Car Seat Chat

2010-01-28T08:23:00.000-08:00
We are looking at carseats for Vivian...or should I say I am looking at carseats for Vivian. When I had Austin, I only wanted a Britax because I had done the research and they had the best reviews. I know they are pricey but I have been very happy with Austin's Britax. Graco has come out with a new carseat that is quite similar. The prices are definitely a big difference. Has anyone tried either of the two carseats below? They will both fit a child up to 65 pounds, which I like. I am very particular with the carseats I use so any and all advice is appreciated. I of course think Vivian will look just great riding in both carseats as they are both pink and will coordinate with her outfits. :)

Graco My Ride, $159, 4 stars

Britax Lauren, $329 5, stars

Cool handwriting site

2010-01-26T14:46:00.000-08:00
I just thought I would share this pretty neat site that teaches kids to write. You can type in any word or saying it it automatically makes the worksheet for you in either basic print or cursive. You just type in the name you want to practice and the program does the work for you. I haven't found a site that does numbers but let me know if you know of one. Austin is loving writing his name, mama, dada, poop, you name it.

http://handwritingworksheets.com/

And Another One Bites the Dust

2010-01-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

With sympathy on the loss of your 20's Honey. I just wanted to wish Nick a Happy 30th today! We celebrated with some of his friends and family last night. We had dinner at his favorite steak house and then came home and watched some t.v. What partiers we are, I know!

Here are a few pictures of his celebration and of Nick throughout the years.

What a cute baby he was

Already a sooner fan!

At prom..he had a hot date that night :)

Gotta love cookie cake

You can't see half of the table, but oh well.

10 months

2010-01-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Vivian is 10 months! I know I just posted her 9 month post last week but I want to get back on track....lol. She isn't doing much different from last week other than she figured out how to clap which will be good for cheerleading. :) She has had a cold all week so we have stayed in for the most part. I will leave you with a few pictures from this week.

Vivi is 9 months

2010-01-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Our blog can be Vivian's baby book, right? I have done better updating the blog instead of her baby book! Oops. I like to keep record of all the things she is doing so I don't forget. They grow up so fast and life is so crazy and this will help me remember all these great memories.

She is 26 inches and 17lbs.
Laid back personality
Sleeps 12-14 hours at night and takes 2 naps on most days
Wears 6-9 month clothes
Has tiny feet and most shoes will not fit right
She pulls her bows out now and chews on them
Has her two bottom front teeth
Favorite baby food is apples and cherries but eats anything and everything!
Feeds herself finger foods and her bottle although we still hold her and act like she needs to be held and rocked while she gives her bottle to herself.:)
Crawls all over the place. Wanders off with brother to the bathrooms and plays camp out underneath the jumparoo.
Absolutely crazy about Austin
Goes bonkers and starts bouncing up and down when Nick gets home from work
Says mama..Jan 9th
Kicks like crazy during diaper changes
Loves to put her fingers in your mouth...drives me crazy
Pulls herself up, stands holding on to furniture
Enjoys her bath and splashes all over the place
Waves hi
Wants to touch everything...loves phones and has made a call or two
Loves to be praised and clapped for
Is shy around new people and will bury her head in my shoulder
Looks up when she hears her name
Loves her pacifier
Watches Praise Baby videos...zones in on them
Tries to play with Austin's cars

9 months old today!

Those darn shots!

LOVE THOSE LASHES

What we've been up to

2010-01-14T10:57:00.001-08:00
Well we are probably moving...not sure where yet. Nick's job is transferring half of his office to Midland, Texas. We found out before Christmas but with the holidays I tried to focus on the positive and was for the most part in denial. He has an interview in OKC tomorrow. It is with another oil and gas company and we kinda have a connection there (my nephew's mom's, step-dad) is a big wig there. Keep us in your prayers. We know we definitely don't want to go to Midland and so far there is nothing in Tulsa. If you know someone looking for a house ours just might be up for grabs soon! I really don't want to get stuck here with the kids alone trying to sell the house. I know God will take care of us.

We have been having lots of Wii action lately. It is so cold we have just be staying at home more and the Wii is free entertainment. Well, not completely free but you know what I mean. We had our good friends, Jon & Liz, from church over this past weekend and played some Rock band and Just Dance. We definitely got a workout with Just Dance and Nick killed us all believe it or not!

I started something new with Austin yesterday. He is slowly beginning to eat better. We used to have to make him something different at dinner and now he will eat all kinds of things. Especially since Vivian can have a little more he wants to do what she does! I got this idea from another blogger but can't remember the site. She calls it Munchie Muffins but I wanted to do Munchie Mondays but he attends pre-school on Mondays so I'm not sure what we are going to call it yet. Anyways, the idea is do choose a theme to do for lunch. It could be all things heart, all things green, all things cars, all things cold. The idea is to get your kid excited about helping preparing it and then hopefully eating it! We did circles yesterday. I said, "what else is circle"? He said, "marshmallows"!!! So we had marshmallows with our lunch, lol. He did however eat his first entire peanut butter and jelly sandwich and all his fruit. He wasn't so happy about peas so they didn't make it in the muffin tin. Anyways, if you give it a try, let me know how it goes.

Vivian' said Mama this week! Boo ya...she said Mama first!

Cheeseburger Soup

2010-01-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

A few friends asked for this recipe today so I thought I would post it. It is my friends, friends recipe if that makes sense. It is super yummy...definitely not a healthy soup but really good. Austin even loves it. We don't like our potatoes chunky so I usually take my masher and mash them up after they have cooked and are tender.

Cheeseburger Soup

SERVINGS: 8
TIME: Prep: 45 min. Cook: 10 min.

Ingredients:
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1-3/4 pounds)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (8 ounces) process cheese (Velveeta)
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup sour cream
Directions:
In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream. Yield: 8 servings (2-1/4 quarts).

Pantry Challenge

2010-01-06T17:19:00.000-08:00
Nick and I were doing our beginning of the year budget on Sunday night and we discussed getting back into the habit of doing a two week menu. This helps with only going to the store every 2 weeks instead of every few days when I realize I am out of something for a recipe I want to make or try. I talked about going through our pantry and freezer and making meals out of the items we have already bought. I was able to make a menu for 2 weeks out of the ingredients in my pantry and freezer except buying a little produce of course. A few weeks ago one of Austin's friends said, "You have a lot of food". I didn't really take that as a compliment for some reason.

I didn't know there was a specific name to this method until my friend Jay told me about the "pantry challenge" today. I buy stuff all the time because I can't remember if I have it, it's on sale, or because I like to have extras because we use a lot of it. Have you done this challenge before? How long could you eat strictly out of your pantry or freezer if you had to? We are on day 3 so I will let you know how it goes.

Santa came, twice!

2009-12-30T09:53:00.000-08:00
Santa came to Nana's house

Vivian checking out her stroller/walker and baby doll with dad.

Nick with his stocking stuffers...good bathroom reading! Yes, I just typed that.

What a big bow for such a little girl. Nick's aunt makes these!

This means my biking must get serious.

He loved this Batman hoody almost as much as his cool toys

My Aunt Linda picked this dress out for Vivian from Bob....so pretty

She was just a little over stimulated after her first Christmas!

Santa came to our house too! We had to leave the kitchen in Tulsa because we didn't have room with all our stuff we had to pack!

You may or may not have received this card. I got a few that were returned for some kind of error I made! Just in case you didn't receive it...here ya go!

Wishing your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Christmas Eve disaster turned delightful

2009-12-26T09:25:00.000-08:00
So we decided to head to OKC the morning of Christmas Eve to "beat" the bad weather. Instead we got stuck in the blizzard for 4 1/2 hours going to OKC. It was definitely a stressful situation considering I had my two babies in the car. Not that I would have been much calmer had they not been with us but having children changes everything when you are mom. I managed to get a few pictures from inside the car while I was freaking out with my seat warmer on! :)

This face cracks me up! He slept for about 2 hours and then watched a movie the rest of the time.

And Nick Price is now my super hero for getting us to OKC safe and sound. Speaking of sounds...there were lots of crazy sounds in the car on the way there. Nick calling everyone an idiot, me crying, snoring, you name it!

We celebrated that night with Nick's dad and grandma. Papa got Austin this cool chair that I am super excited about but need to find the perfect spot for it in my house.

I forgot to mention the chair swivels...I can see it now, Austin spinning Vivian round and round

I made us some hot wassail

Yeah, we threw this milk out after he went to bed.

Feeding the reindeer...we forgot to pick up the food so it looked like they came...oops

We love to play games! We stayed up late every night we were there. This is Nick's brother Kevin and his girlfriend Stevie.

I really need to learn how to do collages with so many pictures to post...Devin can you help with that?

Cookies and Chocolate Milk

2009-12-24T08:59:00.000-08:00
Making Christmas cookies

Icing on noses...I'm sure Austin will get in trouble next week at school because of this

Nick was even a trooper and joined in...he was surprisingly very detailed in his stocking cookie with the initial N on it!

We aren't the best decorators...maybe Vivian will have that talent

Speaking of Vivian, I didn't want to leave her out since she was sleeping during this...

I found these cool chocolate milk sippers at a local gift store. Austin loves his chocolate milk so I thought it was perfect to go with our Christmas cookies.

Christmas Train

2009-12-23T07:32:00.000-08:00
My mom and I headed to Dry Gulch USA last weekend to take Austin and my nephew on the Christmas Train. They were super excited to ride the train. I think they thought it was going to be Polar Express with kids in their pjs, hot chocolate and maybe even Tom Hanks! While riding the train they told the story of Jesus' life. They had billboards with scripture and pictures. People from the church acted out the birth, burial and resurrection as the train drove by. I don't think the kids understood but they enjoyed the ride. After the train ride, we walked around the Old Western Village that was orginally built to shoot an Old West movie. They had gift shops, music, bumper cars, go carts, horse drawn carriages and a huge playground. It was freezing cold needless to say but we had a good time. I am thinking about getting a group from church to go next year.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Mom and Austin

A few pics of the village...doesn't really do it justice...it was way cooler looking

The boys

About to board the train

And of course souvenirs are always a must when you are with grandma!!

Austin's Christmas Party

2009-12-18T14:01:00.000-08:00
Austin had his Christmas party yesterday which means no more school for 2 weeks. I plan to use this time with the kids to just be as lazy as we can! If you know me at all that will be really hard to do. I am home room mommy this year so yesterday morning I spent my time building 15 gingerbread houses. I attempted to make roofs but then realized the kids wouldn't care so I just built little boxes out of graham crackers for them to decorate. We also had games for the kids (two of which I borrowed from our church). I think next year I am just going to be a "helper" so I can enjoy the party more :). Nick came during his lunch hour and of coarse Vivian always tags along for Austin's school stuff.

We pretty much loaded them up on icing, M&M's, candy canes, sprinkles and chocolate chips and then sent them home!!!

Snowball relay race

Some daddy and sister support

This was the ball toss game that he decided to stick his head through

Decorating the gingerbread house

With his best bud, Ryan

Here are a few pictures of the kids I took today....I hope they stay like this forever!

Lots of lights

2009-12-16T19:57:00.001-08:00

We finally made it to see the lights at Rhema Bible college. We have lived here for 3 Christmas' and we have only driven through the campus. We were always afraid of getting Austin out in the cold and just knew he would get sick. I know, we decided to wait till we had another kid and take them both out in the freezing cold...makes perfect sense, I know. We actually went on a night when it was 50 degrees so it wasn't too bad. Austin loved it and we finally were brave enough to get Vivian out of her car seat and let her have a look and she loved it too. Austin ended up with a cough and runny nose the next day but that is all he suffered.

Nick and I actually went to the see the lights in college when we had one of Kappa's banquets in Broken Arrow. Kinda funny because I am wearing a Kappa sweatshirt in these pictures.

Me and the kiddos

Austin wore this same bear cozy sleeper when we took him to see the lights in Chickasha when he was a baby. It was like deja vu.

Austin on the bridge...and a huge scratch on his nose. This is right before he had to go pee. We went inside the church gym and they asked me if I was there for the youth conference. I said, "no" and then the guy told me the restroom was closed that we would have to walk to the other side of the campus to use the porta potty. I really wanted to whisper in Austin's ear to just pee his pants right then and there. Yeah, I wasn't happy. Austin was a big boy and made it all the way home..no thanks to the security guard at the church gym!!

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

2009-12-12T20:02:00.000-08:00
Tonight we attended an ugly Christmas sweater party. Everyone was on a mission to find the most hideous Christmas outfit and prizes were awarded. I managed to find a sweater that made me look eligible to be a Biggest Loser contestant and Nick ended up shaving the bottom of his goatee.

Warning...pictures are disturbing.

Stay away, ladies (won 1st place for ugliest outfit)

Yeah we got 3rd place

The hot ladies

At least our kids are cute

Comparing Santa babies

2009-12-11T06:05:00.000-08:00
We hear a lot that Vivian looks like her brother. I saved all his OU and Christmas clothes. Their birthdays are only a day apart so she can wear all of his gender neutral clothes since they were the same age during the same season. :)

What do you think? Do they look alike?

Vivian

Austin

Bunko Christmas

2009-12-10T12:00:00.000-08:00
December is my favorite time to get together to play Bunko because we wear our pj's, eat, talk and never quite get around to actually playing. I actually tried Wassail for the first time and loved it! I had no clue what it was and quickly figured out it was just a fancy word for Apple Cider. We did an ornament exchange..yeah I got #1 and got to steal anything I wanted that wasn't frozen. I was nice and kept my nice gingerbread ornament.

Shannon, Tara and Heather, you were missed!!!

The whole gang minus a few who were just having babies, etc.

Me and Nikkoli...the best neighbor in the world!

Monica and Meagan

Broken Arrow Parade

2009-12-07T14:35:00.000-08:00
\Watch me grow float....

This past Saturday we went to the Broken Arrow parade for the first time. Austin's pre-school made a float and the 3's and 4's class road on the float. Last year they one first place so we are hoping they win again!!

It was butt cold!!! I said if it was lower than 30 degrees that we would not be going. It was 34 so we bundled ourselves up and went. Nick was out of town for our church men's retreat so both grandmas came up to walk in the parade with us. I hired Vivian's first babysitter and she stayed nice and cozy at home. I have never been in a parade...it was quite fun. Please don't use these pictures for blackmail...they aren't the greatest of me.

Sitting on his teachers lap...teachers pet

Not sure he could feel his legs

The grandmas and me

Yeah, we got our Miss America wave down.

Me and mom

Christmas 09

2009-12-05T22:00:00.000-08:00
We got our Christmas cards out earlier this week! Woo hoo. It feels so good to get them mailed and on their way. Sharon at http://redbuddesigns.blogspot.com/ has designed our card the past two years. She does all kinds of cards, blog designs and invitations. Check her out!

We took the kids to Bass Pro tonight with both grandma's to see Santa. Little did we know, they are taking appointments now. They gave us an appointment time that was 1 1/2 hours away. I sat there with Vivian at the front of the line with a poor, pathetic look on my face until the guy asked me what our appt time was. I looked at him with puppy dog eyes and told him, "8:30". He said, "go ahead but please don't tell anyone". He he...this smallest act of kindness made my night! The color of the picture isn't that great after I scanned it in. Austin made it clear to Santa that he wants a black mustang and he was good!

Be looking for pictures from our ugly sweater Christmas party that we are going to next week!!

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-12-05T13:51:00.000-08:00
I know I suck since I am just now posting about our Thanksgiving.....better late than never! We spent Thanksgiving in OKC with my family and then we hung out on Black Friday with Nick's family. This was the first year I didn't go shopping on Black Friday and I actually enjoyed it! I did end up spending $300 on a new motor for Nick's window on his Jeep...that was all the shopping I did on that day. Maybe I will stick with my tradition next year. I get together with my friend, Karyn, that I grew up in the church with, every Black Friday for breakfast. This year we got together with all the kids and just had donuts at her moms. It was so nice...not quite like our old vacations to South Carolina in our bikinis with out a care in the world but it was still nice :)

I am so thankful for so many people in my life. Love you all!
The food...nuf said

Vivian in her turkey dress

The boys

The girls

Karl torching the ham...yeah it was good

Vivian

My cousin Karissa and Vivi

Austin and Aiden

Karyn, Dom, Austin and Me

Thanksgiving Program

2009-11-23T15:11:00.000-08:00
Austin had his pre-school Fall feast today. His class were Indians...perfect since he is 1/16 Native American...blonde hair and blue eyes! Nick, Vivian and I went to have lunch with him and watch him sing.

One little, two little, three little Indians

The fam

Nick with his two little turkeys...yeah I made the shirts.

Me and my beautiful turkey

Nick and Vivi

Me and my Indian son

Funny Kids

2009-11-09T16:38:00.001-08:00
Well me and the kids are sick! Just colds, I think but they are lasting forever! Vivian, Austin, Nick and my mother in law all got ear infections within the past few weeks. I am starting to feel left out...not really!

I went to bathe Vivian tonight and look what I found when I took her socks off! Gross! She curls her little toes up and I guess they take hold of the sock. Before too long she won't have any socks left!

My feet were cold this afternoon and Austin said, "I will bring you your house shoes". I was feeding Vivian and I thought, "Awesome"! He at first brought me my New Balance sneakers. I told him, "No bring me the pink house shoes", (forgetting that I have 2 pair of pink house shoes).

I am still wearing these on my feet now. It has been almost 2 hours...lol!

Halloween

2009-11-01T21:17:00.000-08:00
This week just about wore me out! We had one Fall activity after another. I don't ever remember dressing up 4 times in one week as a child. Maybe I did. There were school events, church events, sporting events and then Halloween itself. At least they liked their costumes and there was no face painting! I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. I think all the good chocolate is already gone from Austin's bag with 6 adults in the house...all the nerds, sweet tarts, smarties and suckers are still there. He will be hyped up the rest of the week.

Sorry, I wasn't going to wear a batwoman costume...nope!

I never cared much for Batman until this year!

The grandparents came for trick or treating

best buds

At soccer

Sure, batman plays soccer

Vivian and Nana at trunk or treat at our church

She cracks me up here...this is about as excited she got all night during trick or treat...it can only get better. No candy for her this year