Friday, February 28, 2014

February Favorite Things

1. she just did an hour kids' yoga session. she rocks.
2. my brother-in-law Scott kickin' cancer's ass

3. his & hers
4. father daughter red dress dash

5. princess candyland with a sprinkling of star wars
6. "I feel like you sink Nahrows is a moar betta soccah playa than me"

7. girls sleep over for Amelia Jo's sixth birthday
8. leaving las vegas

9. on wednesdays we drink soda & pop & wine
10. don't mind pumpkin while he destroys all the things

11. just call her rapunzel
12. "I got a thing for cops"

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Basketball Superstars (or something like that)

For the past couple months we've been waking up at dawn on Saturdays, racing time to get everyone dressed & fed & basketball bags packed & water bottles filled & kids pepped & everyone loaded into the SUV to make the 25 minute drive across town to watch Em play basketball at 9am and Narls play basketball at 10am.
 
 
I'm dramatic and making it sound much more awful than it is, because honestly, watching them play is way more entertaining than I thought it would be.  Like, I 'm not one of those crazed sports moms who make sparkly signs for their 7 year olds but I'll shout the shit out of some sideline cheers whenever one of them makes a basket. Which neither has done yet, but still. I'm ready with the megaphone.

 
Em has perfected the art of traveling; homegirl will get the ball and RUN, forget all that dribbling stuff.  And Narls? Well, he's Narls and he plays like Narls, and despite Clays' best advice: "GET IN THE GAME NARLS", "These kids. When we get home, I'm going to line them up and just fire balls at them. There's no reason to be scared of the ball", "YOU'RE ON DEFENSE NARLS", and "I can't even watch this anymore", Narls still plays how he wants to play. You really got to admire the kid's tenacity.

 
They're improving though, which is cool to see. And they have fun, which is the very best part.

 
My mind is continually blown at all the grandparents in the stands.  Don't they have more important things to do and longstanding grudges to uphold? No? Who knew.
 
 
Em and I will forever be mad at Clay for signing her up for basketball as opposed to cheerleading, but seriously, look at her in those shorts. Side note: I memorize all the cheerleaders' chants and then teach them to her at home. Who loves you, baby girl?
 
 
These two.
Love them.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Britney and Vegas

 
My husband and I just got back from a whirlwind Vegas trip.

 
Sunshine, complete & utter debauchery, and Britney Spears.
So, basically, the time of my life.


 
Britney's iconic costumes are displayed all throughout the Planet Hollywood concert lounge.

 
Even the elevators are fierce.
 
And Brit? She put on one HELL of a show.
 
Our seats were incredible, the vibe was intense, the venue & theatrics were simply amazing.
You cannot be a Britney fan and not see her Vegas show. 

 






 
My *fifth* Britney Spears concert; my *fifth* Britney Spears concert tee.
No shame.


The rest of the trip was awesome, too. We met up with our good friend Andy and his friend Shelly (who became my new bestfriend. Love that chick!). We woke early and played slots while drinking mimosas at 9am. We laid by the pool and soaked up sunshine.  We spent a lot of time on Freemont Street, something we've never done before. We hung out in this incredible bar called The Griffin and I played Black Jack for the first time ever, winning about $150 (that my husband subsequently lost but whatevs).  We drank a lot of fireball. It was perfect.
 
And we saw Britney Spears! Gah!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Happy Valentines Day



 
 
 
 

 
Good lord, I love Valentine's Day.
A whole dedicated to hearts and love and red & pink and romance? Yes, please. 
 
And this one was especially good. 
Wholesome & family-oriented during the day, dirty & inappropriate at night.
Just as it should be.

♥ ♥ ♥

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Most Expensive Free Kitten

 
(Click that link if you're in need of some major cute. Because I mean really.)
 
We've had him a few months now and he's rooted himself pretty firmly in this family's dynamics of two meh parents and two over-attentive kids and two other super odd pets and basically he thinks he's the king of the house.  So when he spent a whole day sleeping and seeming ... sad, as opposed to shredding rolls of toilet paper and repeatedly jumping on the kitchen table and purring incessantly at our feet, we knew something was up.
 
We took him to our vet and it was $700 worth of somethings.
 
Blocked urinary tract, kitty catheters, surgery and a 2-day stay at the vet, then three medicines and a $45 bag of prescription cat food.
 
 
That was super fun.
 
 
Ah, Pumpkin Pie.
Who knew free kittens would be so expensive?

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Homemade Valentines: The Frozen Edition

 
Have you seen Frozen yet? If not, you probably should. Because it's good. Good like the first time you watched Aladdin or The Little Mermaid. Even if you don't have kids or daughters or whatever, it's still worth seeing. I've personally watched it twice and cried each time. The music is on steady rotation in our house and in the car.  I'm not kidding- it's that good. 
 
Anyway, my daughter is quite obsessed with the movie, so a friend emailed me a valentine she found online of Olaf the snowman and some Hersey hugs and thus an idea was born. Instead of "warm hugs" we went with "do you want to build a snowman", and I made the cards on photoshop.  We printed them out, stuffed tiny clear bags with marshmallows & chocolate chips & pretzels & candy corn, and my girl signed each one.
 
Sometimes she ended her name with an M instead of an N or completely forgot a letter, and that pesky S was backwards a lot, and that was completely ok.



 
It was perfect, in fact.
 
Past Homemade Valentines:
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Homemade Valentines: The Minecraft Edition

 
In case you couldn't tell from my son's Minecraft birthday party, he's a bit enamored with this simple game.  So when I showed him these Valentine cards, he was pretty stoked to give them to his classmates.
 
I tweaked a couple of them, making them a bit more first-grade appropriate, and then we printed them out, wrapped up tiny Hersey bars, and got to work signing them.



 
So cute!
 
Past Valentine Cards: