Silly Before Bedtime

Sometimes it's crazy at bedtime!  Two sweet and excited little boys got all cleaned up and a found their second wind.  Orange traffic cones were the object of choice for being silly.  First, they had horns and made silly faces.

After wearing the cones as horns, the boys needed to turn their horns to strange eye glasses/telescopes/binoculars.  Whatever! 

Love two sweet brothers being silly after they are all cleaned up and ready for bed.  These two guys have the best time together, and they always make us laugh. 

Weekend Recap

Sleep In Saturday . . . everyone was on board with that but Beau.  He's been exploring a lot in the morning before everyone else wakes up.  On Saturday morning, he tried to eat a frozen breakfast sandwich from the freezer, sprayed the kitchen table and chairs with Windex and used a giant roll of paper towels to clean, cut open multiple string cheese sticks, and eventually located his favorite chocolate ice cream treats to eat with the ice cream scoop.  Interesting morning!!!  We hit up the club pool with Nana and Pops in the early afternoon and everyone had fun swimming.  A surprise trip to Fort Worth happened for dinner on Saturday night.  Rodeo Goat burgers . . . awesome!  My whole world sitting across from me - these three guys make life the best!

We waited semi-patiently for dinner, and it didn't disappoint.  The boys had cheeseburgers, fries, and ketchup, which they loved.  Mommy and Daddy shared the monster Cheese Fries Surprise that was super delish!  Daddy also had the Mustard Relish Burger, and Mommy had the Whiskey Bacon Cheese burger.  So much yummy!!! 

Rodeo Goat has a few ring toss games, and the boys were sure that they needed to play.  After burgers, they headed inside to play.  This is a hard game!! 

Since Saturday night was a late one, we slept in on Sunday.  Well, Beau had a few antics and didn't get the memo about sleeping in.  Mommy heard his first attempt to wake Lincoln and begin some mischief at 8:30.  Beau was escorted back to his room quickly with instructions to stay put.  He totally didn't mind!  Daddy discovered a lot of Beau's bits in the kitchen a little later.  Apparently, Beau had decided to search the drawers for measuring cups to pour cranberry juice back and forth . . . talk about a sticky mess on the floor and cabinets.  At least he didn't attempt to eat a frozen breakfast sandwich again.  Lesson learned!  After lunch, we met up with the best ever Indoor Soccer team ever!  We finished our season undefeated, and how cool is that!  Team pic after the last game, even though we were missing a few.  

Coach Rob ordered the best trophies for the kiddos . . . 2014 Indoor Soccer Champions!   Obviously, we are the champions of the league because we went undefeated.  Yes, we kept score secretly, but we mostly loved the boys loving to play soccer . . . and we won every game.  Awesome soccer season!!

The soccer team met at Bahama Bucks for some celebratory shaved ice and fun after the last game.  So much fun with our teammates, and it's nice that they love Beau too!   For the record, Daddy and Beau had lime, Lincoln had Blue Raspberry, and Mommy had Cherry Lime.  Most delicious shaved ice ever!

Lincoln was thrilled that they had the ring game from the previous night, and he loved trying to get the circle on the hook.  So much fun when he scored!!!  That is the most proud blue lips and teeth smile ever! 

So it is really hot and really hot and really hot.  That means we needed to head back to the pool to cool off.  While getting ready to go swim, our house had a crazy hard rain shower.  When we got to the club, the lifeguards told us that we had a little wait due to lightning and thunder in the area.  All of the kiddos were counting down like crazy to get in the pool.  Love the anticipation of swimming.  That last 60 seconds was hard!!! 

Daddy played golf with Pops while we were swimming, and we had a great family dinner afterwards in the club.  Just for fun, the boys got to stop back at the pool to have an ice cream treat.  Great way to end the super busy weekend. 

Fantastic Friday

Super busy Friday!  We hit up the Richardson Library in the morning to return our books and check out 6 new ones.  We really took our time picking out new books and even played a bit in the library.  It wasn't too hot yet at noon, so we had a picnic in the little garden section just outside of the kids section of the library.  We had turkey and cheese wraps, Pringles, apple slices, and pink lemonade.  Perfect picnic!!!

The boy s got haircuts from Mr. Danny, and they were looking sharp!!!  A car wash at Big Lou's was a favorite thing to do, then we went over to Canyon Creek to have a sweet treat at Sweet Firefly!  Chocolate ice cream on the patio was perfect for a 104 degree day!!! 

After dinner with Nana and Pops at Anamia's, we stopped at the club to see the live music on the patio.  Beau got a little confused when we said there might be a band.  He kept looking around for a parade that would have a marching band . . . not so much!  It was a very low-key singer playing his own instruments, and he was awesome.  Well, he was awesome to everyone but Beau because he had set his expectations really high!!!!!  After the boys ran around on the practice greens for a while, they asked Daddy to take them through the course on the golf cart.  Love this picture of my three favorite guys together! 

It was the busiest and hottest day EVER!!!!  Let's have a more relaxed Saturday, OK?  We have swimming and golf on the agenda, and we are ready for a day of fun!

Night Owls

The boys have always been on a very strict bedtime schedule for their entire lives!  This summer we have been letting Lincoln stay up after bathtime on weekend nights to do a little more Lego-ing or watch a few Road Runner videos on the computer.  The more we got into the relaxed days of summer, the more Lincoln got to stay up.  Beau figured this out recently, and bedtime has been quite long lately.  On this night, the boys took early baths (8:00) so they could watch a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle episode on the laptop.  When that was over, Beau had to go to bed and Lincoln (secretly) got to look at Lego projects with Mommy on the computer.  Beau heard the commotion and came out to participate.  We checked out a few things then the boys went to their rooms . . . but not for long.  Mommy decided to watch a show on Tivo and was interrupted by two little boys who couldn't help but come out repeatedly to give hugs.  At about 10:30 we were having a spirited conversation about a vacation they are planning to go on.  They will do anything to stay up just a little bit later!  These late summer nights are the best, but reality is about to set in.  We will have super strict school bedtimes soon, so it seems we are all taking advantage of the last days of summer.  Who wouldn't want to have a late night discussion with these two cuties?!?!  It might just be the best part of the day!

Just for Fun - Costumes!

Sometimes Beau and Lincoln need to take a break from their awesome selves . . . and they dress up!!!  Minnie sent them some fun costumes that they have really enjoyed.  A regular Monday night (or regular Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Saturday night, etc.) is extra special when costumes are involved.  Beau loves to be Captain America, even though the costume is still a bit big.  Still deciding if it needs to be hemmed or just let him grow into it.  Either way, he loves being Captain America and saving the world from the playroom!  Too cute!

When Beau is done super-hero-ing, he acts like Thomas the Train.  To be honest, we have never really gotten into the whole Thomas the Train thing.  (Thankfully!)  They are aware of it and enjoy it without us having to actually watch it or buy the stuff.  Beau is a super cute train though! 

Lincoln's first costume choice was Buzz Lightyear, and he was an awesome astronaut!  He shouts out, "To infinity and beyond" over and over!!   

Lincoln's other costume was a Lightning McQueen Pit Crew suit, and he accessorized that with a Scully (from Monsters, Inc) mask.  Whatever!!!! 

While the Lego obsession still reigns for Lincoln, and Beau's blocks are still the best, it's nice to take a break to play pretend.  These two have the wildest imaginations EVER!!!!!!!  So fun to see them interact with their different characters.  Again, never a dull moment! 

Fun-Filled Weekend

Busiest week ever!!!!  After the adjustment to the new school, we have had a fun weekend that started on Friday at the Love Field Flight Museum.  (Mommy went there once for a work event, but that was years ago.  The boys have never been.)  Nana and Pops took the boys on Friday morning, and they loved it!!  Beau's main concern was to see a Chinook helicopter with two spinners (that part was very important) or a rocket ship.  Everyone had a great time checking all of the aircraft on display. 

The boys got to watch take offs and landings at Love Field while at the museum . . . the most important take-away was that planes are loud!   

Beau decided later in the day that he wanted to be an airplane pilot when he grows up.  His journey of deciding his dream job has taken quite the amazing route, and it was probably like most little boys at his stage of life.  First, he wanted to be a trash truck driver.  He somehow determined that a trash truck driver couldn't go to the country club (????), so he switched to a mail man.  After wearing his fire fighter suit and putting our fires all over the house for a few days, he changed his aspirations to be a fire fighter.  The Flight Museum made him reconsider his plan, and now he's going to be a pilot.  What a face - flying his gift shop plane, but his little eyes are imagining he's up in the sky flying it so high. 

We hit up the club on Friday evening for some swimming and Daddy golf.  Strangely, the first day of August had a high of 77 degrees?!?!  This summer has been the craziest with too many cool days.  The water was cold, and the boys barely wanted to go in.  

We had a snack at the pool and avoided the cold water, and Daddy showed up on his golf cart to offer to take us golfing.  Much better idea!!!!   

Soccer Saturday for the Texas Tornadoes!!!!  (And a little brother!)  Still undefeated and closing out the season next weekend!

Daddy and some soccer team dads had a golf date at the club on Sunday afternoon, and the rest of the Katsoulis family joined us at the pool.  It was a blast!!!!   Linc and Nick had the best time wrestling around and squealing like crazy.  Beau and Ellie played with lots of pool toys, and the Mommies got to spend a few fun hours together.   

Snack time!!!!  (Ellie was off in search of a band aid in this pic.)

Lincoln announced while eating his pretzel snack that his 2nd loose tooth would fall out after dinner.  Ok, buddy.  Minutes after getting back into the pool, he just reached into his mouth and pulled it out.  We were all so excited!!!!  We immediately took a picture to text to Daddy on the golf course , and then send it all grandparents!!  Nick was super happy too and told everyone else at the pool about Lincoln pulling his tooth!  So exciting!  

We bagged the tooth to save for the tooth fairy and continued with our swimming.  It wasn't long before the dads were finishing up with golf, so the kiddos spent some time running around the practice putting green.  We ordered dinner on the patio and grabbed a Popsicle treat.  Again Ellie missed the pic!  We had so much fun hanging with our T-Ball and Soccer team friends. 

Such a fun weekend!  We had fun on Friday morning at the Flight Museum and a great time golfing on Friday night.  Saturday was busy with tons of "stuff" and soccer, and Sunday afternoon/evening was a blast with Nick's family.  Love a fun-filled weekend!

The Story of a New Temporary School . . .and Daddy is back!!!

In the spirit of "never a dull moment," we've had a real whopper of a curve ball thrown at us.  The director of pre-school called late on Wednesday night to tell me that there had been a flood at school, and they wouldn't be able to open on Thursday.  Luckily, Nana was off and the boys had so much fun playing (see the earlier post).  During Beau's swimming lesson on Thursday evening, an email came with a detailed report of the flooding . . . and a shocking declaration that the center would be closed for approximately 6 weeks!!!!  What?!?!  Where are Lincoln and Beau going to go for the next few weeks?  We all have full time jobs, and this is super scary and crazy!   Our child care center owns several other centers in the DFW area, and they offered to take in as many kids as they could.  I got on the phone immediately and secured a spot for both Lincoln and Beau at the three closest centers.  After our Perot Museum trip, we loaded up in the car with Minnie and went to check out the new schools.  None of them are even close to my office or our house, but we had to pick one and make the best of the situation.  The one we chose is the most out of the way, but they were the sweetest to accommodate us.  It is a small center with just one room per age, but they combined their 3s and 4s to open a room for 20 Medical City kids ages 3 and 4.  Lincoln got grandfathered in because he's about to leave for Kindergarten, and he could be the teacher's helper.  So we bought new nap mats and were ready to use our new backpacks on Monday at our new school!  The boys were super excited about their new school and spending the day together.  Cheese!!!!! There is no way to explain the anxiety about which center to send the kids to.  Our three choices were so different, and it was stressful to text and email other school Moms to see what they were planning so we could make a decision together.  Beau's best buddy is at our same place after I assured his Mommy that it was the best choice for us.  One of my work friends was in Mexico on vacation, so I visited a center to report to her because she was freaking out!  In the end, we chose the place with the most familiar faces, and the boys have not been bothered about the change in location. 

Lincoln was not allowed to come out and play after bath and bedtime, but he did some super special crafting in his room and needed a picture.  He made a hat, shirt, and wristband out of paper and tape.  He loves to tape things!  Such a cutie! 

The boys were still excited to go to their new school on Tuesday, and that was a great sign.  They had brought a few teachers from our regular school so the kids had tons of familiar faces.  When we got home from school, we were met by Daddy standing in our front yard with a giant suitcase and a giant backpack . . .he had just arrived home from an 8 day work trip to London and Scotland!!!  He missed all of the school drama, but we were so happy to have him home!  Daddy got to pick dinner, and it was no surprise that we ended up at Jersey Mike's for sandwiches, chips, and fruit.  So glad to be reunited! 

After baths and bedtime, Lincoln crafted an upgraded shirt for his paper wardrobe.  Super smart to leave armholes!!!   

After dinner on Wednesday night, we headed outside to enjoy the temps in the mid-80s.  That's absolutely crazy for July in Texas.  Lincoln was a beast while hitting the ball off the tee in the backyard.  Ready for fall ball!!!! 

Beau watered the grass for a while before he joined Lincoln taking turns at the tee.  Such a cutie!!! 

So it has been a crazy week, and we have been adjusting to a new school and driving schedule.  It's so much better that Daddy is back home, and he was happy with Mommy's temporary school choice.  Whew!  Daddy brought us lots of goodies from London and Scotland, and we have had so much fun sharing stories from our time apart.  A post about Daddy's trip is next up. 

Super Saturday!

Saturday with Minnie started out at NorthPark Mall!!!  Mommy had a few stores to visit (really quickly!) before we hit up the Lego Store!  Lincoln had a plan of which Lego sets he wanted to purchase.  He had $21.00 to buy a Ninja Turtle set, and he was sure that Minnie would buy him the $40.00 Lego Movie Trash Compactor.  They didn't have the Ninja Turtle set, but he found a cool Batman one to suffice, and Minnie came through with the big one.  Beau picked out a little train (for Mommy to put together) that he would drive around on some made-up tracks.  Mission accomplished and a happy group!

We made a little stop at Gap, and backpacks were on sale.  Since it's almost time for Lincoln to start Kindergarten (!!!!!!!!), he needed a big boy upgrade.  He picked a navy and white striped one with a matching insulated lunch bag.  Beau convinced me that he needed a new backpack too, and it wasn't a hard sale.  We might need to get these super fun new backpacks monogrammed to make them extra cute! 

The boys stopped to check out the ducks.  That's their favorite part of visiting NorthPark! Holding hands made it so much sweeter!

A family of turtles were swimming on the other side, and they all posed with Minnie . . . all but the turtles!  They swam away! 

We had lunch at Chick-fil-A and used our cookie credit cards (Thanks, Samantha!) to get an iced cookie and Icee for the ride home.  It was the quietest moments of the day with them slurping on their drinks and licking icing off the cookies!  Lincoln said, "You should have given us these when we got here, and we would have been quiet the whole time!"  So true, little guy!  After some major Lego time at home and a little rest, we headed out to Lincoln's soccer game.  It was fun, and he played hard!  The boys on his team are all super nice and great players.  We are still undefeated . . . go Tornadoes!

So much fun on this Saturday!  Daddy approved of our big boy backpack and maybe even the monogram!  Daddy also would have liked us to bring him a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie from the Mrs. Fields store . . . sorry Daddy . . . maybe we'll remember next time . . . or just come with us next time!!!  So much on the agenda for Sunday, and we need some rest.  Lincoln is being torn away from the Legos to go to bed at 11:00, but he's planning to stay up to make a banner for Minnie to take home.  Such a sweetie!

Thursday and Friday - Extra Fun!

The boys had a surprise Nana Day on Thursday!  They started the day off with donuts and a trip to the book store.  These two love to get new books, and they loved that they could keep them.  They are accustomed to returning books to the library, so this was super cool!

It was a 100 degree day, so they found another inside activity . . . painting pottery!  The boys made their selections, Lincoln chose a frog that he could keep the teeth he looses in (gross!!) and Beau chose an alligator because he could paint it his favorite color (green).  Happy painting guys! 

The rest of Thursday was filled with more playing at Nana's and swimming lessons in the evening.  We all piled in the car on Friday morning for a trip to the Perot Science Museum.  Mommy and Lincoln spent a day there last summer, but Beau had never been and was so excited about this big kid activity.  They posed next to the largest dinosaur leg bone to compare their height.  Giant dinosaur leg in the background, by the way! 

After seeing so much of the new dinosaur exhibit, they got to do some excavating!  They put on safety goggles and grabbed brushes and digging tools and got to work digging up fossils.  Cutest thing ever! 

After visiting the special dinosaur exhibit, we made our way through the permanent displays over 4 floors of the museum.  It's really amazing!  Our view from the top floor looking down over the regular dinosaur floor.  So cool! 

After we made our way through the solar system/universe part, we hit up the engineering stations.  So much interactive fun!  Lincoln and Beau loved watching how air pressure made paper boxes float at different levels. 

Next up was the Sports Hall, and they waited in a long line to get a video of trying a sport activity.  Lincoln chose to throw a spiral pass . . . it was beautiful!  He enjoyed watching it in slow motion after his turn.  Great form and super spiral! 

Hockey was Beau's choice, and he scored a goal really well.  He loved watching himself on the screen after his turn! 

After we had seen the entire museum, it was time for the Children's Section.  The loved playing in the city area and the camping area, but Beau had the best time in the Farmers Market area.  He shopped the fruits and vegetables, but he mostly loved driving the truck!  That's an amazing expression on his determined little face!  Pops commented that he would be happy to teach (rule-loving and more even-keeled) Lincoln to drive when he turns sixteen, but Beau's driving attitude and personality attributes seem to lean to super aggressive driver that Pops might not want to be a part of.  Agreed!!!!!!! 

We had the best time at the Perot Science Museum!  We had lunch in the Wolfgang Puck dining area and hit up the gift shop for dinosaurs to take home.  Best Friday morning ever!  So much more is going on this weekend, including a Minnie visit, a soccer game, a birthday party, and swimming at the club.  Busy little guys!

Surprise Visit from the 3 Girls from Arkansas!

What a fun surprise to have Arkansas Aunts visit mid-week!!!!  Sarah, Cheryl, and Patsy came in on Tuesday afternoon to play, and we stayed home from work and school on Wednesday to play all day!  Sarah and Cheryl are the best Kindergarten teachers EVER, and they totally love to play with super smart Lincoln and Beau.  They know just how to play, just what games will interest them, and just what questions to ask to get them thinking.  Patsy is one of those super cool Great Aunts (to me) who always knows how to play and be the favorite.  She probably played 100 board games, and the boys loved it!  Sometimes Beau forgot her name, and he referred to her as "the one that plays games with Lincoln"!!!!  Neither child lacked for attention, and we all had so much fun.  They came in on Tuesday afternoon, and we all had a delicious grilled chicken dinner and leftover birthday cake.  We might have stayed up pretty late playing and delaying bathtime because we were having so much fun!  We played outside early on Saturday before it got hot.  Lincoln was super happy to be playing in the backyard without heat or mosquitoes!  Love that little snaggle tooth!

After more Lego building, lots of gaming, plenty of block creations, we took a lunch break.  It was too hot to play outside in the afternoon so we hit up the Richardson Library.  Our neighborhood Dallas Library location is closed for renovations, so Nana and Pops hooked us up with a Richardson library card.  We went to the main library (by our church), and the boys had so much fun!  They played with the little toys, admired the aquarium, and selected the best books to check out. And it was air conditioned and not hot . . . an important requirement for a day in July in Texas! 

We visited the fountain after our library fun.  We pass this fountain each Sunday, but we've never stopped to look at it up close.  Beau asked for a penny to toss in and make a wish.  Linc just wanted to touch the water.   

We headed home to rest a little and introduce our 3 girls to the Lego Movie.  It's really a weird movie the first time you see it, but it gets better after 20 or 30 viewings . . . sadly, Mommy has seen it that many times!  Lincoln told me after the movie that some of our visitors would like to take him to a store to buy a toy.  Patsy was happy to volunteer, as she was happy to volunteer to take me to the store to buy a toy when I was exactly their age!  Surprisingly, they buddied up and held hands on the way into Target.  Too cute!! 

Beau picked a train set and a package of Reece's Cups, and Lincoln got a Ninja Turtles vehicle and two Ninja Turtles to got with it.  So proud of their purchases, but Beau was a little less than happy to pose for a picture with Patsy! 

We had so much fun with our 3 girls, as Lincoln and Beau referred to them!  Thanks for coming to play and entertain us for a day and a half.