Shoes!

For anyone interested, around this time of year Target stores put out all the years shoes that have not sold and put them on major clearance. You can find plenty of shoes for sometimes 3 or 4 dollars. :) I have found many great pairs this way. The only thing I have trouble with is restraint! I tend to go..."hmm... these shoes would look great on so-and-so! And hey, they're only 4 dollars." Whenever Charlie sees me coming home with a big bag of shoes he just smiles and rolls his eyes because he knows that I found a bargain and got some for my friends while I was at it. It is so great that he is so understanding of me and my silly ways. So anyway, if you are interested I encourage you to visit your local Target.

The pictures are for those of you who would rather see my children than learn about some shoe sale!

Here you have Connor. He is asleep in a laundry basket. Silly boy.

And here we have the other silly boy, Nicholas. He is 'shooting' me with this toy. Such a boy. :)

Home Sweet Home

After a month away, we're back in California! The boys were very good on the flight home. They slept most of the way. They were very excited to see Daddy after so long. :) Connor was trying to run as fast as he could to get to the baggage claim to find Daddy. He was actually going faster than his little legs could carry him and he fell twice. Then on the car ride home, both Connor and Nicholas were busy telling Daddy all about the fun they had in Texas. We finally took the boys to see Wall-E. It is a very good thing that most people that cared have already seen the movie, because Nicholas was SO loud in the theater. He was very excited to see the movie, but just could not keep his comments to himself. Thankfully, there were only five other people in the theater and they seemed to understand our predicament. Anyway, the boys enjoyed finally seeing the movie and were glad to share it with Daddy.
We are all glad to be home. :)
Here you have some pictures of the boys playing on their structure in the backyard.

Getting Better

Well, Connor is doing better. He has no more fever and his voice is returning to normal. We ended up also having to take Nicholas to the emergency room. He was a bit worse off than Connor though. He had Bronchitis/beginnings of Pneumonia PLUS Croup! Poor guy! He needed a breathing treatment and a shot to bring his lungs down to normal size. He is on meds now and doing better. All the while we were at the hospital, everyone kept remarking that he didn't look sick at all. He was demanding to walk up and down the halls and talking to everyone he met along the way.

Anyway, below are some pictures of the kids before bed.






Here Nicholas is very proud of himself for finding the remote control. Below, I'm not sure what he dropped but he dropped something!

And last but not least, we celebrated my parent's 33rd wedding anniversary with them on Monday. It was actually on Saturday, but with all the goings-on we could not celebrate until then. Here is a photo from their actual wedding day. Aren't they cute?

More party fun

Here is Connor's first ride on the bumper cars. He had such a great time! Even though he spent most of the time looking at himself driving in the mirror than actually bumping anyone around him.


Nicholas is counting his birthday money. Below you see what he decided to do... throw it up in the air and 'swim' in it.

Birthday Fun

Every summer in Texas, we celebrate the boys' birthdays. We do this for all the family over here who does not get to see them on their actual birthdays. We also have their party at a pizza place that has a ton of games and such. This year's party was Wall-E themed... since they remain obsessed with that movie. :)

Here Nicholas is very excited to have two candies. Imagine that-- one for each hand!

Here Connor is explaining to his cousin Avigale that we did not have a lighter to light the candles so he was unable to really blow them out. Apparently all the party goers were so healthy that there was not one smoker in the bunch! :)

Almost but not quite

It seems that every summer when we visit Grandma and Grandpa, we end up making a trip to the emergency room for at least on of us. I was really thinking this time would go by without incident, but alas it was not the case. Today I had to take my little Connor to the emergency room because he had two days of high fever. Turns out he has an infection in his throat. He is on meds now and says he is almost better. While we waited to see the doctor, Connor was talkative and playful; whenever a nurse or staff member came in though, he took a sudden turn for the worse. He very dramtically exlaimed that he was in great pain. Once they were gone, he was back to normal. Despite the dramatics, he was feeling really down and crummy these last two days. Thankfully, the poor guy is starting to feel much better.

Today was also my Grandmother's 82nd birthday. We took her to Tony Roma's for lunch yesterday to celebrate. Nicholas brought his dirt cup home to eat and below you see the aftermath of that dirt cup!

You can't really tell from the picture, but they are wearing matching pj's. Thanks Grandma!

These last two pictures are pre-sickness.... or at least pre-symptoms.

Passing time

Here you see Nicholas and Connor passing the time at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Nicholas has decided the bowls at Grandma and Grandpa's house are better hats than food containers.

Connor is talking to Daddy on my cell phone before bed.

Nicholas waiting for his turn on the cell phone.

Oh, and by the by, I'm getting used to my hair. :)