Pearl Spends the Night...

Saturday night Pearl spent the night with the kids. Mom and I went out shopping in the afternoon and picked up Pearl on the way home. The kids didn't know she was coming over, so it was a total surprise to them. They all played in the basement for awhile and then we had dinner. While sitting at the table, I asked Pearl if she was going to let me do her hair (she always says no...hahah), but I told her I would braid it like Grace's if she wanted to. We could do our hair and nails while watching a movie. She was game and I was excited to be able to do her hair...LOL After dinner, we got our pajamas on and washed up some and headed downstairs for a movie. Pearl picked the movie (National Treasure 2) and we started our nails (well, theirs anyway..hahaha). Then it was time to braid hair.

Then the girls decided that since there was play makeup in the bag, I needed a makeover...hahaha. I felt bad for Seth, because he was getting bored, so I told him to go get the camera and he became our professional photog.

The girls were loving it, playing models.

He was so funny, he put on hat and was really getting into playing the part. I snuck upstairs and got the point and shoot camera and took this picture of him...

Here is his picture!!!

HILARIOUS!!!!

Watch out McPeek-Smith Photography, you might have some competition in a few years...LMAO!!!

Week 3 of Family Game Night...

Tonight was week three for family game night. Seth came home early from school with a 100.8 fever and has been eating toast all day but feeling just fine. He was antsy because I made him stay in my room all day until everyone was gone. (Freddy and Ben were here) After dinner, everyone was feeling fine, so we decided to proceed with the game. Tonight was Sequence for Kids. Grace over powered everyone with her stradegies and won the game!!! Give it up Daddy!!!

Family Game Night...

I stole this idea from Luke and Tiffani. Tiffani was telling me about this trophy that they have for family game night that she made at Pottery Hollow and whoever wins the game that week gets to keep the trophy in their room for the week until the next game is played. One Tuesday after the kids were at school, I decided to go and make one for our family. Last week was our first game night and we played Sorry Sliders and Seth was the champion. He has had the trophy in his room all week and today was the "rematch".

This week we played TossAcross. The kids got a real kick out of this game. We have lots of games for the kids to choose from. Tonight, it was Richie's turn to claim the prize!!!

Who will win next week?!?!?!?!

What is this world coming to...

when you are 6 and 4 years old and have never had a TWINKIE. We were sitting at the table for dinner and I asked Seth if he ate all of his lunch at school. He said yes, but he gave Nina his chips. Richie and I were talking to him about when we were kids we would trade kids for snacks and Richie mentioned that he would trade his brownie for someones Twinkie. Seth looked at Richie dead serious and said, "What is a Twinkie?". WHAT?!?! I then realized that my kids really don't eat a lot of sweets and would probably pick a yogurt over a sweet (7 out of 10 times). I looked and Richie and asked if he was going to get a Twinkie for the kids to try. So, after dinner we cleaned up and got ready for bed and Richie went to the gas station and bought 2 packages of them. Each of them had one, and there was one left over, so Seth took it to school the next day. He was very proud of his Twinkie, he even told Nina about it when she saw him at lunch!!

Donuts with Dad...

Grace's school added a new day to the school year, because they didn't want to leave the Dads out of loop. They do a Grandparents Day and a Mother's Day, but since Father's Day is in June, they decided to do Donuts with Dad in January. It was very exciting for Grace, because Richie was actually off work the day it was scheduled...

Grace was so excited Daddy was there she spilled two cups of apple juice for him to clean up...LOL

After snack, all of the dads sat down with their kids and read them books. It was so cool to see all the dads sitting there reading.

Grace loves books and felt like she was on top of the world with Daddy there with her!!1

Steinberg Skating Rink...

This weekend was a 3 day weekend for the kids, so Aimee and I decided to take the kids to do something VERY new to them. Ice skating...Now it has been YEARS since I or Aimee have been on any type of skates, much less ice skates. We were waiting for a nice "warm" day to go, since it has been so fridged out lately. Monday was a perfect day, even for someone like myself that can't handle the cold very well. It was in the 40's. When we decided to go, I remembered my cousin, Taylor, had already been to the outdoor rink in St. Louis, so I emailed her for information and asked if she would want to meet us out there.

Hayden and Seth got right out there and were bound and determined to figure it out, since it is much different than roller skating. Grace was of course fearless and headed out with some help. I about peed my pants laughing at her trying this out. When she wasn't on the ice, it was a whole other story, she walked around like a pro on the rubber mats.

Carson had a little more difficulty but tried his best. He always had a smile on his face!!!

Grace would get bored with skating so she would walk over to the firepit and warm up...

Taylor came to skate with us, and as soon as she got there they called an intermission so they could smooth out the ice again with the Zamboni. The kids got a kick out of this.

Aimee and I took turns getting out on the ice so that one of us was with Grace and Carson because they got tired and hungry and wanted their shoes back on...

Seth, on the other hand, is another story. I think the only time he came off the ice was while the Zamboni was out there. He has found a new hobby, i think. This could be scary or nice. I haven't firgure it out yet. He was the last one to get his shoes on for the day. I had the hardest time getting him to leave.

Taylor was a great sport about coming out with us crazy moms with their kids to rink. LOL

Here he goes for one more last trip before leaving.

And Hayden and Carson waiting for him....LOL

We had a blast!!! This will definitely be something we will do again. Thank you Aimee, Hayden, Carson and Taylor for spending the day with us.

Happy Anniversary!!!

On January 16, we celebrated 11 years of marriage. We have two beautiful kids, Richie has a job that keeps us all busy and allows me to stay at home with the kids (at least until Grace goes to Kindergarten). We had planned on just going to dinner and a movie, but Richie made other plans. We had reservations at the Lemp Mansion. It was a murder mystery dinner. We have done something like this before, but we weren't sure how this one was going to play out!!!

We didn't know if the characters were going to be played by actors and we just have to guess or if we had to play a part. Well, all our questions were answered as soon as we were given these tags to tell us about our characters. The mystery this night was "Murder in Mayberry"...I was Beulah Tucker, the town divorce'. I had been married 5 times to all the Tucker brothers and when asked if I would marry again, my line was to say, "NO, I am all tuckered out!!" LOL Richie was Virgil Vigil and he made the best Moonshine around.

We sat at a table with another couple that was from MO. However, this was not their cup of tea. They left right before the main course was served.

This is Aunt D. She is actually one of the actors that works at the Lemp Mansion. Both actors that were working that night were amazing. There was a lot of improve on their part to keep everyone guessing and laughing...

Once the "murder" was committed, Andy came out and said he had evidence and finger prints of all the suspects. Richie just happen to be a suspect, so towards the end of the show, he had to plea his case to everyone that was attending.

We had a great time. I would recommend this to everyone!!!

Basketball Practice...

Seth started basketball last weekend in Fairview Heights and the games are held at the Junior High my brothers and I attended...Here they are getting started with some stretching...

He always has time to wave and say HI to his family!!!

The first two weeks are practice and then they have a practice game before braving the real games.

Grace has found the class pictures of all the graduating classes at Pontiac Junior High and finds the need to show everyone that comes to the games the pictures of Luke, Pete and me when we attended the school...The kids think they are hilarious!!!

First Snow Fall of the Year!!!

We finally got some snow for the kids, however it was sooooo cold outside we couldn't stay out for more than 15 minutes.



The two boys I babysit on Thursdays were at the house that day, so Richie and I spent 15 mintues bundling them up. This is Ben; it was his first time playing in the snow this year. He had a blast!!

The boys playing in the snow. The snow was to fluffy to make snowballs or snowmen, but that didn't stop them from throwing the snow at each other...