Mother's Day

Of course the girls wouldn't cooperate for a pre-dinner photo.

What a mother's day! I love my husband and children and we had a great relaxing, uneventful day....until dinner. It was interesting to say the least. We went to Benijana for dinner with both children in tow...got there 5 minutes early to find out that we were going to have to WAIT an extra 30 minutes to get to our table. OK, SO THE 6:30 RESERVATION DOESN'T STAND? DON'T YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE HUNGRY CHILDREN THAT NEED TO EAT NOW. NOW. NOW - WHEN IS MY DINNER READY - WHERE IS THE FOOD - CAN I HAVE MORE? WHAT IS FOR DESSERT? KIND OF KIDS?!?!?!?

Killing me Benijana. Killing me.

By the time we got to the table, Avery had already put away a large handful of broccoli, a handful of nilla wafers and was starting to gnaw away on the chopsticks.

So I had what I thought would be my secret weapon - the DVD player.

Well, it backfired...big time.

Avery only wanted to play with the buttons ON the DVD player and could have cared less about the D-d-d-d-dora episode that was playing. Seriously?! We ended up creating a little "play area" on the floor for her next to the wall and she climbed and cried and laughed and ate God-only-knows how many disgusting crushed goldfish crackers off of the floor.

I ate as quickly as I could an just prayed that we'd make it through dinner. I got to peer at my new baby nephew that I'd never gotten to meet before and I shuffle one kid to the bathroom, then the other for a diaper change. Mother's day....gotta love it! Luckily I had a wonderfully peaceful nap earlier in the day to help me survive.

Poor Mike - he had the BEST intentions. And I love him for it!

1st Baseball Game - in a LONG time!

Mike did a silent auction at a fundraiser and won tickets to an Astros game so we got to take Kendall (4) to her very first Astros game! It was very exciting. She was pumped and ready to go 2 days before. We wore the size 5/6 jersey we got for her last year - all in all it was a great time and she had a blast - as did we. We haven't been in FOREVER and I really miss the games. We used to have season tickets - back in the old PK days (pre-kid) when we could jet there right after work. Oh how we used to complain about the crowds, the traffic...ahhh...the good 'ole days. Now we just complain - at home...about them losing. Ah well...they lost this game but we had a great time. The "club level" seats weren't too shabby either. Perfect weather...a great array of foods to choose from...it was a perfect night for a baseball game!!!













Hangin' with the best of the BEST - we love you Big Puma!!! (aka Lance Berkman)

Stellar

I had to google that word before I could do this post...

I'm frustrated...and it is showing. I feel like I'm spreading myself too thin. I struggle between what I NEED to do and what my heart desires. Work vs. hobbies. I need to find an middle ground.

I want to be stellar at photography. NOW. But I suck. I feel like I'm really just not getting it and I'm frustrated because I want to be swimming in the sea of knowledge that is photography, but I don't have a minute to do it! AND I DEFINITELY DONT HAVE THE MONEY. I have about 5 spare minutes a day and then I waste it checking stupid FaceBook. What a black hole it is....and I DON'T EVEN SPEND THAT MUCH TIME ON IT!

Lately when I'm on the computer I feel A.D.D. Urgh, that's another post for another day...

I'm frustrated with myself. I am a jack of all trades but I'm not really GOOD at any one thing. So I try to do everything and end up with 10 yards of unused fabrics, tidbits, scrapbooking paper, unfinished projects out the wazoo.

But then reality hits and if this is my biggest complaint in life - awesome.

But I'm still frustrated. :)

are you HER?

You know that woman? The one who loves to talk and rant and go on and on regardless of the fact that she has to see that you've obviously lost interest, are picking at your nails or have just said "uh-huh" for the 107th time in a row?

I think that she's the one who created blogging.

And sometimes I feel like I'm her.

Sa-weet!!!

Somehow I was able to dupe Adobe and get a 2nd free trial of Lightroom (photo editing software) woohoo!!! From what I remember 6 months ago I loved it but can I really fork out the $300 for it?! My sweet hubby got me Corel and it works but depsite hours of training I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. And my first Lightroom experience was dreamy. So I'll use my 30 day trial and start saving my pennies...maybe someday I'll get it.

In the meantime here are some pictures I took at my best friend's little sister's baby shower. It was fun! Nice time - no kids...need I say more? But somehow I was still ready for a nap afterwards. ??? Must have been the champagne punch and massive amounts of food. I can definitely see myself doing "party shoots" in the future but I'll have to get my "bossiness" confidence level up. So far I'm excellent at telling food to "hold still and smile" as you will see in the pics but people...I just feel like I'm intruding. Gotta get over that.

And not that these party pics are that great, but I do enjoy taking picures...that's all I'm saying. OH and hello, the main reason for me posting these pictures is to give some props to The Purple Pug who did the "S" centerpiece and cupcake toppers. Kristy does them herself and is unbelieveable. It just adds so much I think! She made some for my daughter's 4 birthday and now I'm just looking for excuses to use her! Check out her stuff - it's ridiculously awesome.

I'm battling a neck spasm (going on one full week) so I'll end and leave some pictures. Hopefully soon I'll have pictures of sweet baby Stella herself!!!! Her mommy has dutifully signed her up to be a free model for the "Kate cause."

Mommy-to-be...um hello...can you even tell she is pregnant here?

Sue (step-mother), Kate (mom-to-be), Sarah (my BFF), and Mother-in-law (I didn't catch her name!!!! )

Food - looks good, don't it!? Cupcakes made my the Cupcake Connisseur, Sarah Moss.

Just Avery....

Anybody seen my sunglasses?!

That's right - I'm a biker chick. Unca Dave I need a new bike - or at least a new paint job.

Bein' a fancy Nancy...

TY!!!! Come and get me! I want to be out there with you!!!!

Easter

Ahhh Easter. I love this holiday and all that it represents. If only Jesus' death and resurrection was the only part of this holiday. Oh no. Some money grubbing person out there had to add a bunny, chocolate, eggs...am I the only mom that feels overwhelmed by these holidays?

So much to do, to buy, am I buying too much? too little? I honestly try not to get too bogged down and buy into the hype. Anyway, that being said, my guilty admission is that I took more than half of the pre-filled eggs that Kendall got from her school egg hunt and set them aside so that I'd have less to do later.

So there.

Here are some pictures! We had a great day. Mike's family came over for a great beer can chicken, smothered green beans, salad, roll, baked twice potatoes. We've finally fixed up the backyard with some new landscaping and the girls are LOVING spending time out there. On Easter we had a little baseball game going.

Mmmm...I love to eat dirt and grass...and bubbles. Give me more of those bubbles! Who needs chocolate and jelly beans? Okay, just kidding - I love jelly beans too.

Kendall has been begging for an egg hunt for WEEKS. She even planned her own Easter Party about 3 different times. I think she loved it more than Christmas - seriously.

This is what happens with I put my camera on the manual setting - OVEREXPOSURE. Oh well! I was able to add edit in a little color...would have been a cuter photo with less light.

But she's still cute, ain't she?
This isn't the best picture of Kendall but I love it because of Avery. She just took off - as usual...

Batter up!

Aunt Becca playing catcher with Kendall's Fancy Nancy hat.