Park Before Dark

We've had some great weather lately, so the kids have been outside as much as humanly possible. Yesterday we went to the park right after we picked up Ayden from school and I actually had my camera!

BTE

I took Josh to see Better Than Ezra in concert at the Varsity last Friday night. He took me to see them for my 17th birthday at the UNO Lakefront Arena, so I decided to return the favor. We put the kids to bed at 8pm and Robin came to babysit while we relived our youth for a night. We were both wondering how the concert would go, since BTE has been around for a while and the band members are a little past their prime. NOT SO!! They put on a show, let me tell you. We were in the "mosh pit" only three people back from the stage. It was so awesome. The lead singer would stop in the middle of their songs and talk to the crowd and crack jokes-funny jokes-then start right back into the song with crazy bluesy scatting and falsetto voice play. He was hilarious. The bassist is actually Josh's supervisor's husband, so it was neat to watch him do his thing. In the end, we felt like a couple of lovestruck teenagers again. I'm so glad we broke away from our parental routine and did something out of the ordinary for one night. Happy birthday again, Josh.
Love,
Stacy

*They played one of our favorites, "A Lifetime". Talk about a blast from the past. Oh, how I miss the innocence. ROCK ON BTE!!! It's neat that they formed while attending LSU. Some local boys with a lot of PIZAZZ.

Who Is That?

Who is that? Who is that? Who is that person saying that they will beat those Saints? Who is that?!

Okay, seriously. This state is going to be CRAZY for the next two weeks and beyond. I just tried going to Academy Sports after the game but like a thousand other people had the same idea. My bro-in-law, Matt was with me so we decided to just drive by slowly to see and hear the crowd. Everyone was yelling "who dat!" This is so much fun.

A Well Resting Baby=A Well Rested Mom (Finally)

For the past two weeks Afton has been sleeping so well. Until now, she has been the worst sleeper of my three. Ayden was our first child, so I didn't have anything to compare him to, but I think he was a decent sleeper. Ian spoiled us by sleeping all night from the beginning. I think he was only a few days old when he started sleeping 6-8 hours, then he found his thumb and would sleep all night. Afton was sleeping well at 5-6 months (8 hours) until we left for Florida, then Tennessee and messed up her routine. Finally, I got her back in her crib and sleeping 8 hours for a few days, then she extended her sleeping to a little over 12 hours!! I put her to bed around 8pm and I don't hear anything from her until 8 or 9 in the morning.The first night this happened I thought the baby monitor was broken and maybe she cried hysterically until she passed out with exhaustion. False! The baby monitor works just fine. This morning I finally went and checked on her after 9 because she still wasn't making a sound. These pictures are what I was greeted with. I think she wakes up and just hangs out in her crib. I hope she keeps this up.

WHO DAT?!

Happy Birthday To My Hubby!!

Today is Josh's birthday. He's working tonight and I'm home with the kids, trying to feed them, get Ayden to do his homework, etc... so I can't do a big tribute to him right now. Please send him some Happy Birthday wishes! Josh, I love you to the moon and back! You are such an awesome guy in so many ways!!!!!!!!!! Now I have to stop Ian from raiding the pantry. LOVE YOU!!!

From Treasure Hunt To Trash To Treasure

Subject #1: Treasure Hunt

It's a rare occasion that you see me on this blog. My big sister in Colorado wanted me to send her a picture of myself in my new boots and "buffalo plaid" shirt that I bought for myself for Christmas, so here it is. It's the best I could do with the self timer and dark wood floors. Look below for a better view of the boots (that I LOVE and wear almost every day even though Josh makes smart remarks relating to Hitler & Nazis). Quick info. about me. I am a sale seeker. I never buy anything full price. I will search the internet and tour the town or even wait MONTHS for things to be marked down before I buy them. It's fun for me and I feel like I've outsmarted corporate America! SO, I had this style of boots on my "not going to happen" Christmas list because the cheapest I saw anywhere were at least $200. My one big rule was that they had to be genuine leather, hence the cost. Welllll, on our way home from TN we stopped in Hattiesburg to shop at Hudson's Treasure Hunt. There on a high shelf and the ONLY pair of its kind in MY SIZE and for only $30 were my dream boots. The Heaven's opened, I could hear Angels singing and a mysterious spotlight gleamed down on my discovery! Just kidding, but that's how excited I was. I must give thanks to whichever store suffered whatever tragedy that caused my boots to be sent to Hudson's at just the right time for me to find them. Can I get an Amen?! Oh, and to prove my thriftiness, the shirt is from the Gap and was 40% extra off of the clearance price and my jeans are from the Gap and cost me $12.99.

Subject #2 Trash To Treasure

My parents will be so proud of this. Last night I saw this jumpy toy out on the side of our street ready for garbage pick up. I've been wanting one of these things for Afton, but since she's the last child, I couldn't justify spending $70+. This toy was dirty and a part of it was "broken", but I fixed it and cleaned it up and Voila! a place to put a happy Afton for more than just 5 minutes. Hooray for free time!

A Very Belated Thanksgiving Report

The Holidays were so jam packed, I never got around to correcting the red eyes in these pictures until now. We went to Orlando (yes, again) to spend TG with Meredith and Andrew. I only managed to take pictures of our day/night at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. We had three families which totaled 6 adults, 4 kids and 3 newborns, so try to imagine the mayhem involved with that crew, lots of rain, missing poles for tents which resulted in poor Andrew shopping for a new tent and then setting it up in the dark, Brent bbqing burgers and hot dogs with an umbrella, etc... Although the weather tried its best to make our visit a living "Hell---o operator" we built some great memories together. The older 4 kids, myself and eventually a fully clothed Brent went swimming in the best pool EVER with a huge twisty slide, a sprinkler park and hot tub. We would warm up in the hot tub, then go freeze in the other areas over and over again. Later there was a movie playing in an outdoor theater with marshmallows to roast. That's when I finally got out the camera...

Below is cousin Peyton being a big helper with Ian (check out the soaked pants).

This is the morning after our crazy night! We were all five in the tent (Josh slept on the floor), and Robin, Brent, Meredith, Andrew, and the other 4 kids shared the other one. I know, we got a little lucky there. Poor Robin and Brent's air mattress kept deflating on them too.

My crazy husband

We piled the kids in the van while we broke camp because they were making things go a lot slower.

Here we are getting soaked.

The boys loved every minute of it!

We rested and attempted drying off at the Wilderness Lodge.

Below is Brent and his little Annie!

Andrew's profile, Meredith and little Brady hangin' out.

The kids loved the bus rides too!

After all of that, we had an excellent TG day with some great food.
We had some great hosts, and some exhaustingly good times! Seriously, I'm just now recovering from our Holiday adventures to Orlando then Knoxville only two weeks later. It was all worth it to spend time with family!

Nothing much to report. I haven't taken a single picture yet this year!
Here's one to hold you over...