Taco Monday!

Surprise . . . there is photographic evidence that Minnie and Bubbles were here this past weekend!  A forgotten picture was on the fancy camera.  This picture shows the majority of the time spent with Minnie and Bubbles.  They love to have people with dedicated game playing time.  They probably played every single game we have! 

It's no secret that we are Lego Movie obsessed!  Actually, we are obsessed with anything Lego-related, but we are watching the movie a lot lately.  One of the things that Lincoln and Beau love the most from the movie is Taco Tuesday.  (It is technically TAKOS Tuesday, and Lord Business is using the acronym to trick the residents of the city into thinking that they get free tacos instead of getting sprayed by the TAKOS machine with the frightening KRAGLE, which is really KRAzyGLuE.  If you haven't seen it, you wouldn't understand.  But it's super important around here!)  Believe it or not, the boys have never had tacos.  That's pretty crazy since we eat Mexican food every week!  They just always have chicken quesadillas or fajitas.  Anyway because they were so interested in Taco Tuesday, we decided to have our own Taco Tuesday.  Something came up for Tuesday night, so we are having Taco Monday!  Lincoln was so excited that he made a few signs for his room.  This one is a picture of him declaring it "Taco Monday" and holding a taco.  He also drew each of us smiling because we all were going to be happy about Taco Monday.  So creative! 

After all of this buildup, the tacos had to be super yummy!  The chicken breasts cooked in the Crock Pot all day in water and salsa.  The cooked and shredded chicken spent a little time in the skillet with more salsa, taco seasoning, and a spoonful of sour cream before being loaded into taco shells and topped with cheese.  After 10 minutes in the oven, it was taco time!!!!  Mommy and Daddy added a few veggie toppings, and it was the most photogenic and delicious meal ever!!!!  The boys actually ate a lot of their taco, even though it fell apart a bit.  They loved the flavor, the chicken, and the taco shell - it was just hard for them to keep it together.  Taco night for the win!!! (This really is my plate, and I didn't steal the photo from the Internet.  Hard to believe it looked this perfect!)

What better way to end our evening than with fancy banana splits?!?!  Two little guys LOVED their dessert! 

Lincoln  just can't get calmed down to go to bed these days.  He's always so busy in his room when he is supposed to be sleeping!  At 11:00 he was finally finished crafting his latest banner.  He drew a picture and wrote the first initial of so many people.  The order (I think) is Mommy, Beau, Lincoln, Daddy, Pops, Nana, Bubbles, Minnie, Allyson, Auntie, Patsy, Lincoln splashing in a puddle, Lincoln and Beau riding in the parade, and a heart.  That's pretty much the best banner ever!!!   

The takeaway from Monday:  we like tacos, we like banana splits, and Lincoln likes to make banners.  That's a pretty great Monday!  Oh, and Lincoln's teacher called to say she loved that Lincoln shared a joke with the class that was super hilarious.  Popsicle sticks with jokes on them are awesome, and he was happy to share the joke he got on Sunday evening. 

Q: What does a parrot say on the 4th of July?

A: Polly want a firecracker!

We are planning to take a big box of joke Popsicles to school for afternoon snack on Thursday.  Lincoln and his friends can take turns sharing their jokes after they eat their cool treat.  School can be so fun! 

Minnie and Bubbles Visit this Weekend (But no pictures of them!)

Saturday and Sunday were filled with fun . . . but Mommy didn't do the best job taking pictures . . . she was enjoying the fun!  Minnie and Bubbles came over when we woke up on Saturday morning (after driving to Dallas super late on Friday evening), and the boys were so excited!  They played every single board game in the playroom in the morning.  We love that Minnie and Bubbles like to play games!  After so many game, lunch, and a short rest, we took them to the club for the afternoon/evening.  We had a couple of hours relaxing and playing at the pool, and it was a nice breezy and not hot afternoon.  Lincoln got changed and invited Bubbles to watch him play golf with Daddy.  Linc has been really looking forward to showing Bubbles his golf skills.  They all had fun playing a few holes and riding around on the golf cart.  Bubbles took a few videos and pictures.  He was definitely impressed with Linc's efforts!  (Occasionally 5 year olds have a swing and a miss, but they always try again!)

They officially played three holes together 7, 8, and 9.  Lincoln requested that his score should be recorded at 7 strokes, 8 stokes, and 9 strokes, respectively.  That totally makes sense for a 5 year old!  He did a great job and had fun with Bubbles and Daddy!

While they were out golfing, Minnie helped Beau get cleaned up from the pool.  He wanted to golf too, and Nana and Pops arrived in their golf cart at the right time.  We all went for a little driving range practice, and Beau had lots of fun.  Still need to work on the appropriate level of voice for golfing . . . he did some super loud cheering for himself when he had a good connection with the ball!  The older man near us wasn't bothered and said it was good to hear a young one getting excited about golf.   

 

Golf practice can only last for so long when raking the sand trap is another option.  Beau climbed up on the hill side this time.  He kept saying he didn't know why no one had raked that part yet, but he would take care of it.  Such a hard worker! 

We all met back at the restaurant to have dinner, and everyone's selections were delicious!  I am hating that I didn't take pictures, but I'll list what we had just for fun.  Pops had Chicken Oscar with Tomato Bisque, Bubbles had the Pork Chop with Mashed Potatoes, Nana had the Scallops with Pasta, Minnie had the Filet Wedge Salad, Daddy had the Club Burger, Mommy had the BBQ Chicken Flatbread, and the boys shared a burger, chicken strips, fries, ketchup and fruit.  Everyone loved their dinner!  It was pretty late when we finished up at the club, so we went home for baths and bed. 

 

Minnie and Bubbles promised the boys that they would come back on Sunday morning, and they did!  They did lots of playing while Mommy and Daddy ran some errands.  Lincoln's indoor soccer game was in the afternoon, and it was a good one!  Getting a good action picture has eluded Mommy for the first two games, but the most perfect shot ever happened in the second half.  With a little editing on the way home, this is the best soccer picture ever!!!!!  Lincoln was really hustling and getting in so many kicks.  Love it!

After soccer, Minnie and Bubbles headed back to Arkansas.  We headed to the pool for a little more swimming to end the weekend.  Beau totally beasted around with his water shooter!  The only rule at swimming is to not shoot people.  That is surprisingly way harder than it sounds, but all of us moms are on the same page.  Beau is always ready with his water shooter! 

After we swam, we changed up and met with Daddy (who played a few holes) and Nana and Pops for dinner.  We all agreed to try something new from the new menu, and everyone loved dinner for the second night in a row!  Daddy, Pops, and Nana had the Reuben and Mommy had the Pork Tenderloin.  (The boys repeated their half burger and chicken strip with fruit from the night before.)  We haven't had a bad meal yet, and there are so many menu items to try!  (I think I'm up for the crab cake next followed by pulled pork sliders, but the Filet salad is screaming my name!)  The boys wanted to walk around with Nana and Pops after dinner, so Mommy and Daddy grabbed a cart and rode the back nine.  So nice to ride along in the peace and quiet with a nice breeze.  If "selfies" had existed in 2000, it would be fun to compare us riding on a golf cart now at Canyon Creek and us riding on a golf cart 14 years ago at Stonebridge in Fayetteville.   

So sorry that we have no pictures with Minnie and Bubbles from the weekend, but they were here and it was all fun.  At bedtime, we asked Beau what was his favorite thing he did today.  He said the time that Minnie and Bubbles were here.  Then he said his not favorite time today was finishing his cookie and having to take a bath and go to bed.  Real thoughts from a three year old!  So come back soon, Minnie and Bubbles.  We'll take your picture next time!

Our Friday

Time for Friday!  The boys were excited for a park morning, and they had the most fun in the tunnel slide. 

Lincoln went first, and Beau came down soon after.  All smiles! 

That's a lot of Kuhlman arms and legs and silliness at the bottom of the slide! 

We had a picnic lunch at the park after we played.  As soon as we got our food out, a pesky squirrel ran over to join us.  This was the most determined squirrel EVER!!!!!  He must get lots of picnic action, and he was scoping us out and running around us waiting for food.  Mommy got a little freaked out and flashed back to the worst squirrel 'stuck in the garage door and attempted squirrel murder by car then frightening the squirrel to death by screaming' experience ever (almost a year and a half ago)!  The boys thought it was hilarious that Mommy would clap and stomp and chase the squirrel away from our picnic.  So much fun to eat and laugh at Mommy! 

Mommy finally tossed the little fella an apple slice, and he was happy to run over to his tree and dine on his treasure.  That little guy ate his apple slice in 3 minutes flat, and the boys had fun tossing him a few more before we left!   

We had haircuts with Mr. Danny after our picnic lunch, and the boys were so nice and well-behaved while they got trimmed up.  Since they had been on their best behavior, we stopped for ice cream cones on the way home.  We need to work on the speed at which ice cream cones need to be eaten in warm weather . . . they got runny in the 5 minutes it took us to get home.  Beau was crazy sad that his was melting and getting all over his hands.  Super sad face!

"Mom, don't take my picture when I'm so sad about my ice cream melting all over me!"

Older brother wasn't crying, and he had eaten way more of his ice cream.  It was still melting all over him, but he was happy!

We took a short rest to watch the Lego Movie, and then it was pool time! 

So glad to end the afternoon with these crazies at the pool!  Squinty eyes Beau and karate chop Lincoln made for a great picture!!!   

Instead of staying for dinner at the pool, we met up with the Friday night dinner crew . . . Nana and Pops, Marte and Scooter and their guests.  It was delicious of course!  Daddy and Lincoln hit up the PGA Superstore after dinner, and Beau went home with Mommy to play.  After baths, things got a little interesting.  Lincoln gets to stay up after regular bedtime on weekend nights because of his advanced age of 5!  Beau is just catching onto this.  We did our normal songs and prayers, and he went to bed as usual.  He suspected that Lincoln was up working on a Lego set and came out to investigate after about 30 minutes in his room.  The result:  he got to watch the end of the Rangers game with Daddy in the office, he pooped and ran through the house without his pj pants, he hid out in Lincoln's room coloring and reading books, and then he crashed out in Lincoln's bed waiting on big brother to be done with Legos.  Lincoln had no idea Beau was up to so many antics, and he was super surprised when he found a trespasser in his bed!!!  He laughed forever about it!  Silly little brother! 

Beau was carried to his bed and tucked in, and Lincoln proceeded to stay up for another hour (!) bookmarking pages in a Taste of Home cookbook.  Seriously, we have a lot of food to cook if we make all of the things he tagged.  It was one of the best Fridays ever, and we are excited for Saturday and Sunday too.  Lots of fun is planned - a visit from Minnie and Bubbles, swimming and golf at the club, and a soccer game.  Let's all get a good night of sleep!

 

Sweet and Spicy Beau

Beau has been super silly this week!  He is always sweet, and he is always a little sassy with his personality.  He grabbed the xylophone and offered to play us some music after dinner one night.  We enjoyed a lovely concert from Beau!  We loved just a few innocent moments from Beau because he's usually not interested in sweet concerts.  He is usually busy with activities that involve his brother and lots of crashing/destroying/mess-making/havoc-wreaking . . . but isn't he the cutest?!?!

After dinner another night, he grabbed a play paint roller and tied to sneak in a little painting on the walls.  (He also has on his other hand a plastic beer boot/glass from one of Daddy's promotions . . . whatever!)  

When he heard the click of the camera and was caught on his super quiet painting mission, he bolted!  But not before another picture was snapped! 

Beau is the funniest little guy ever.  He loves to get into mischief, either real or pretend.  He can pretend with the best of them, and he always amazes us with how incredible his imagination can be.  He hangs on Lincoln's every word and always tries to play at the five year old level with his big brother.  We love our little/big Beau and all of the "spicy" that he brings to our family.  Mommy, Daddy, Sweet Lincoln, and Spicy Beau . . . one complete unit . . . my whole world. 

Wednesay Evening

After such a busy weekend, we got right into our normal week day activities.  The boys summer school program this week has been about exercising, and they have loved the yoga lessons and dancing fun.  On Wednesday evening, we had a delicious dinner and headed outside to blow bubbles and splash in the rain puddles left over from our after rain showers.  Our sidewalk was pretty clear of rain, so we just blew bubbles. 

Down the street we go to find some puddles to splash in . . .we aren't wearing rain boots for nothing! 

We live at the top of the tiniest not even a hill ever, so there weren't many puddles to splash in . . . well, we can just invade other alleys and streets to splash!  The alley just a half block north of us had lots of puddles to splash in!

Seriously, this was our most fun puddle.  Unfortunately, the lady we encountered some alley traffic.  The drivers were confused as to why we were strangers playing in their alley.  I convinced them that were just a nice family that lived across the street with two little boys who needed to splash in the rain puddles . . . luckily the boys are cute! 

As we made our way down the street just north of our house, we ran into the Hendrix family playing baseball in their front yard.  Fun to visit with them and steal their bug spray!  They are a super dedicated sports family, and so are we!  See y'all at the indoor soccer game on Sunday!  The boys found an awesome puddle at the east end of the street, and they waded through it happily . . . and Lincoln did some multi-tasking and blew some bubbles! 

So much fun playing outside after the rain, but it was time to go have dessert and get ready for bed.  The boys got to choose their favorite fruits to dip in white chocolate .  

Dipping fruit in pure sugar kind of makes little guys crazy!  They made the sillies poses when Mommy said, "Say Cheese!"  Lincoln decided that the strawberries were the best fruit to dip in the white chocolate, and Beau said the pineapple slices were the best fruit to dip in the white chocolate.  They both rated the banana their least favorite . . . I guess we'll leave the bananas for banana splits! 

What an unexpected fun evening after a rain shower.  Why shouldn't we splash in puddles and dip fruit in chocolate?!?!

Rainy then Sunny (but always fun) Sunday

We started Sunday morning at church.  Lincoln hasn't been to big church in a while, since he's loving Sunday School so much.  It was fun for us all to be in the congregation together.  The boys went down to Children's Time, and Beau caused a few laughs . . . he "robot-ed" to the steps of the altar then "robot-ed" back to the nearest pew to watch from the sides.  Weird!  Lincoln was feeling some serious spiritual connection and praising the Lord during the last song!  Church is fun! 

The weather was definitely strange for a Sunday morning in June - kind of cool with lots of rain.  It rained at our house from about 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.  Never a heavy rain, but rain none the less.  So glad for the rain, but it did dampen our plans a bit.    

So we went to church in the rain, we shopped at Tom Tom in the rain, we hit up Central Market in the rain . . . all before lunch!  It was time to get dry at home for a while.  We ate lunch and made patriotic-themed cupcakes.  The boys LOVE making cupcake, icing cupcakes, decorating cupcakes, and eating cupcakes.  (They only don't like the 19 minutes it takes for the cupcakes to bake in the oven!)   Our cupcakes were super cute and delicious!  We played with Legos and watched the new Lego movie while it rained in the afternoon. 

The sky cleared up, and we needed to get out of the house.  We met Nana and Pops at the club for some golf and tennis.  (The pool was closed from all of the rain earlier.)  Lincoln and Pops looked so official with their golf bags!  They went to the driving range for a while. 

Beau did a little more tennis practice then needed to try his hand at the driving range too.  He was very intense about putting the ball on the tee and tapping it off onto the grass.  Serious golfing! 

Lincoln had a nice little golf practice but was ready to move on to tennis.  He was trying his best to return the serve.  He told Nana that after he goes to tennis lessons he will be better because after he went to swimming lessons he got better at that.  Smart logic!!!  Love this action shot!! 

Another check on Beau in the golfing area . . . he's raking the sand trap!  He has decided that he would like to rake the sand trap as a profession.  I'm not sure if that is better than being a "trash truck", which is what he most recently decided would be his profession.  Are we hanging out at the wrong places?  Should I be sneaking him into a really important Fortune 500 company board meeting or something?  I guess whatever makes him happy, right? 

While all of the fun tennis and golfing (and sand raking) was going on, Mommy was sneaking glances at the USA-Portugal World Cup game.  Not a bad view from the patio!  The clouds had finally moved on and the sun was shining for the last hour before we went in for dinner. 

We all had dinner together and enjoyed watching the rest of the soccer game . . . until Portugal scored to tie in the overtime/injury/extra minutes.  Whatever that extra time thing is, well it sucks!  A busy rainy day was actually a fun day.  We covered up with our fun umbrellas on our errands, and then splashed in the puddles and had fun when the sun came out.  Back to reality though - the laundry has been washed and put away, the dishes have been washed and put away, the floors have been swept and vacuumed, the school bags have been packed, and the lunches are ready.  Monday, here we come!

Friday and Saturday - Super Busy and Fun

Time for the weekend!!!!  The boys had so much fun with Nana and Pops on Friday, and there are 22 pictures to prove it.  Somehow I forgot to email them to myself, so they aren't included with this post.  (Look . . . it's midnight and I'm not starting over.)  Daddy took us to the club for the evening, and the boys had fun swimming and playing ping pong.  I don't think we've spent enough time at the ping pong table to improve our skills yet.  Perhaps by the end of the summer!  They sure have fun though.

After some more swimming, Daddy and Lincoln went to have a little golf practice.  Love that they share special time together.

Beau and I finished up swimming and got him changed to do some "golfing"!  He waited anxiously on the putting green for them to let him play . . . or he just danced a crazy jig with his requisite sunglasses!  Such a funny guy!

We stayed for dinner at the newly opened restaurant, Press Sixty Three.  It was delicious for sure!!!  Beau dined in his shades, of course! 

Saturday morning was a 3 mile run with the boys in the stroller, and they laughed for so long about a pair of squirrels that were fighting along the trail.  After lunch, we went for another swim.  We made a few new friends in the kiddie pool, and then moved on to the big pool.  Lincoln worked on the breaststroke, and his frog kicks are coming along great.  Ms. Becky will be proud at his next swimming lesson! 

Afternoon rest was a viewing of the new Lego Movie, just out on DVD.  We went as a family to see it when it was out in the theatre, and it's still super awesome.  (Get it? . . . the theme song is "Everything is Awesome!)  The boys wanted to blow bubbles after the movie, so we hung out in the backyard for a while.  They ended up being more concerned with gathering branches and sticks that were in the yard.  Samantha paid us a visit, and Mommy loved that!!! 

Lincoln's soccer game this week was in the late evening on Saturday night, and he didn't let all of the days activities make him tired.  It was a super intense game against a really aggressive and scrappy team!  One of our players cried 4 times (not Lincoln!), one of their players got ejected (not the one that made someone cry), Lincoln didn't cry at all (!!!!), Lincoln got body slammed (by said player that got ejected for body slamming multiple kids), West was a beast, Charlie took a lot of hits but always got up strong, Lincoln got more involved in getting in the "scrum" and trying to move the ball, Lincoln always popped up after falling down with "I'm OK!", the boys ran their little legs off because they were 3 teammates short, and so many more moments that are too many to name.  4-5 year old indoor soccer is wild!  In the end, our team won 10-8.  It was pure heart, honest play, and lots of hustle that got the Tornadoes this win!  So proud of all of our team! 

We had a late dinner with the Kuhlman/Conn group, then the boys were super sure that they should have ice cream sandwiches when we got home at 9:00.  Ok, whatever!!!  Late baths and bedtime, but a super fun day. 

White Sox T-Ball Spring 2014

We began our spring T-Ball season on the White Sox team in late March, and we have had the best time!  The boys are so fun and sweet, and the parents have become great friends.  It doesn't seem like just three months ago our team had their first practice . . . they've come a long way!  For our last game (the third game in just five days!), the boys were trying their hardest to play real baseball!  When the Rangers team put the ball in play, 1st base Lincoln was waving at pitcher Jackson to throw the ball to him to get the out.  So much fun!

When it was our team's turn to bat, Linc was ready to hit and run.  This shot was super cute of him running from second to third after his teammate got a hit.  (Don't they always get a hit . . . it's T-Ball!)  Lincoln is the best at running the bases.  He's come a long way this season on throwing, fielding, and hitting, but he's definitely the most enthusiastic base runner on the team! 

Look at Lincoln scoring a run!!  He beat out the pitcher at the plate by a mile! 

It's hard for little boys to sit still in the dugout while waiting on their turn to bat.  Seriously . . . it's crazy hard!  There is lots of horsing around and way too much buffoonery, and someone always gets hurt or covered with dirt.  Perhaps they will one day learn to watch their team and not play so much!  Linc's still cute though!  (That's because Isaac, Zach, and Ricky weren't around at the moment.  Those boys!!!) 

After the last game, the boys had a wonderful team meeting with Coach.  He was so proud of how much they had grown as players, and he loved their teamwork and efforts at each game and practice.  One last 1,2,3, GO WHITE SOX!!!!!!!!!  Lincoln (#7) loved it!!!! 

Coach gave each kid a trophy for finishing out the season and winning tons of games.  The parents decided Coach needed a trophy and a little gift of his own for leading our boys all season.  Valerie and I collected money, confiscated a trophy (from Nana), engraved a few sweet words on said trophy, sent Kevin to Bob's to buy a gift card, and finally presented our gift after the boys got their trophies.  Coach (and his wife!) truly seemed surprised and a little emotional that we did that.  He really taught the boys so much about baseball and showed so much patience and positive reinforcement.  Our whole team headed to our neighborhood burger place to keep the celebration going.  The dads lined up to order, the moms secured the tables and minded the little brothers/sisters, and the boys took over the Pac-Man game! Lincoln was super excited the have quarters when it was his turn, and the boys helped him navigate the game.  He assured me that he won big!   

The parents had a great time, the kids had a great time, and we all had great food.  Perhaps we should all just meet up for burgers each week for a regular White Sox team reunion!  After Lincoln's second season of T-Ball, he's definitely hooked.  We are a baseball loving family, and it's great that Lincoln is so excited about it.  Beau will get his chance to join a team when he is age-appropriate (either next spring or next fall), and we hope he loves it too.  Until our next baseball season (maybe fall ball with Bowie Kindergartners), we will enjoy soccer and swimming.  But we won't ever forget our three months as a member of the super fun White Sox team!