The Best $8 We've Spent In A Loooooooong Time!

The first time I went over to our friends, the Bryan's house, their kids were playing with plastic party cups. I thought it was so odd but after awhile, even I wanted to stack them and knock them down.

So last Saturday, I ran into Sam's club for a few things and whaddya know, I walked past the brightly colored plastic cups. They were a little under $8 for a pack of 140 cups and I almost didn't buy them but I remembered how much fun we had at the Bryans', so I made the $8 investment into what Quinton has called "the best toys EVER!"

Exhibit A:

And we ALL knew exactly who would have the most fun knocking our pyramids down!

We affectionately call him, "Sawyer the Destroyer!"
Tadaaaaaa!

First thing Sunday morning, Matt and Quinton got down to business before Sawyer woke up...
Amazing, isn't it?

And on Monday....

I love this action shot!

So save yourself some serious money and buys plastic cups for the kids! I guarantee it'll be hours of build 'em up and knock 'em down fun!!!

One Year Young...

Happy 1st birthday to our happy little boy!

Photo by Sarah Severson Photography

A year seems to go by so fast these days! Now that our sweet little Sawyer is one, I feel like time is just racing by!

It's amazing to think what has happened in the past year and how much Sawyer has blessed our lives. He is such a delightful little boy and has so much personality to share with everyone he meets!
It's pretty often that Sawyer hears he looks a lot like his brother and it's true...they were made from very similar molds but they are also so very different. I am a lucky mom, though, because both of my boys seem to be as easygoing as me and Matt!
Sawyer literally DOVE right into his cake during the photo shoot!
As far as stats go, I'm behind in taking Sawyer to his 1 year appointment. The day I had it scheduled, he woke up not feeling well. Little did I realize, until a few days later, that it was a MOLAR coming in that was causing him to be uncharacteristically crabby so I'm glad I postponed his shots so he wasn't battling two hardships at once!
Sawyer LOVED his birthday party! We invited some neighborhood friends as well as some of the families of Matt's co-workers...all people Sawyer enjoys!
We had a "monster" themed birthday party complete with moster pinata, monster cupcakes & a monster cake for the birthday boy!

A masterpiece, eh?

One of Sawyer's favorite babysitters, Miss Ashley.
We love Miss A because she and her mom FIGHT over who gets to hold Sawyer! It is so nice to have such sweet friends when we live so far away from our families!

Sawyer could barely make it rhough the happy birthday song before attacking his cake...

And after all that partying and playing, what's a birthday boy to do?

Why play in his birthday suit, of course!

Happy birthday to Sawyer the Warrior!
I can't wait to see you grow but I don't want you to get any bigger...

What the ????

Funny, thing...if I was in Chicago, I don't think I'd be so behind in my blogging but because the weather is so nice here, it's hard to justify sitting in front of the computer on such beautiful days! Not to mention my boys keep me busy and by the time we put them to bed at night, I'm ready to lay down myself!

In an attempt to play catch up, here are a random few of my favorite photos from the past couple of weeks.

At the beginning of March, Quinton was more than ready for us to take off his training wheels. I was tempted to take them off before Matt finally did it one sunny Sunday afternoon but I wanted Matt to be there to do the honors and watch Quinton take off...and that he did! Quinton looks like he's been doing it forever! He LOVES just jumping on his bike and FLYING down the street. Too bad Sawyer wishes he could go, too!

We planted a little raised bed garden!

We saw a great kit at Sam's club for the raised bed and a garden kit and voila! We have a "salsa" garden and a veggie garden...wait till you see more recent pics! We are already picking green beans, cilantro & basil from the garden!
Can you tell Q needed a haircut?
Here he is before Matt gave him a little trim.

Here is Quinton's after picture...I know it's not very dramatic but it looked a lot cleaner after Matt gave him the trim. Quinton is adamant about not wanting a MUCH shorter summer cut...I like the shaggy-on-top look he's sporting these days.


Sawyer was lucky enough to have his first EVER trim, too!

This was just clean up, too, and he did really well!

Sawyer and Quinton again. This picture is a little out of order and should be up a little more but oh well! Sawyer has discovered how to clap and loves to go around clapping at everything like the world is ever-praiseworthy!

Sawyer LOVES Q's four-wheeler and would love it if he could drive it all by himself. Trust me, he's tried!

On my birthday, I took the boys to the Mobile Exploreum. Quinton has been asking to go for months since they've had a giant insect exhibit and I finally took the boys there on my special day. Quinton and Sawer loved the bugs!

The entire Exploreum could have fit in the lobby of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, but what was nice here was that the parking was free and it didn't take forever! So sometimes, good things do come in smaller packages!

I couldn't resist!

Sawyer's hair is long enough to do firecracker pigtails so instead of actually putting his hair up, Quinton and I enjoying giving Sawyer fun hairdos in the tub!

Quinton enjoying our new sprinkler.

And there you have it! Random pictures of some of my favorite people in the world!

We Rolled With the Good Times!

All I can say is WOW!

This picture was taken after our first two parades. Since snapping this picture, our mardi gras stash has quadrupled! It's so crazy!

The actual Mardi Gras day was fun but I have to say that the parades leading up to Fat Tuesday's mardi gras parades were more enjoyable. When the boys and I showed up for the festivities on Tuesday, I knew the crowds would be bigger but I honestly I had no idea they would be THAT HUGE! We pulled into our secret parking space and people had tents, BBQs, smokers, canopies, couches, pack n'plays (travel crib for babies) and so much more lined up for the big day! Quinton wondered what everyone was doing!

Another thing about the crowds...I'm not sure how to say this nicely but let's just say the 'quality' of parade goers was not as savory as it had been previously. I was almost in between a Mom vs. Mom brawl when their kids started arguing over a prime standing spot - it wasn't pretty!

You can see by the picture below that it was crowded!

Plus, people were a bit more agressive during this parade making for a not-as-fun but still festive Fat Tuesday. During one of the parade breaks, we snuck over to a fun place my friend, a native Mobilian, Tonya, suggested. It's called Three Georges and it looks just like Willy Wonka's inside! This picture is literally a great illustration of "a kid in a candy store!"

I figured, what the heck and bought Quinton some really fun candies. He even wanted those waxy bottles that you bite the wax off the top and the bottle has a little fruit juice inside. I totally remember those as kids so I thought it would be fun to be old school with Quinton. Um, the waxy part still isn't very good, though.

I thought I should say a bit about a funny aspect of the parades. I think between all the parades, every high school marching band in hundred mile radius must perform in about two or three parades during mardi gras season. Apparently between all of the little towns surrounding us and in Mobile, there are about 30+ parades during the mardi gras season.

Needless to say, Matt and I were a little suprised at first by some of the outfits we saw on the dancers/flag ladies.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

This is a cool building we stood next to for one of the parades. It has that fun southern veranda, perfect for mardi gras.

Quinton modeling one of his favorite throws he managed to catch. What boy wouldn't love a sword!

And last but not least, my poor Sawyer super tuckered out after a full morning/afternoon of mardi gras parades. He was such a trooper and look at my tired smile, too. I think we all need a nap after last week's fun.

See y'all next year for the good times!

Laissez Les Bonne Temps Roulet!

When we found out that we might be moving to Mobile, Alabama for a job offer, I went to Wikipedia to find out more about the city we could potentially be calling home. One of the first things I remember reading about Mobile is that it hosted the first ever Mardi Gras...yes, Mobile originated Mardi Gras in the U.S., not New Orleans... who knew?

I didn't know much about Mardi Gras except the drunken salacious images I'd seen in various movies depicting the New Orleans version of Mardi Gras. So to say I was sceptical of our participation in any kind of Mardi Gras celebrations would be an understatement. I did notice, however, that on Wikipedia, Mobile touted itself as the 'family friendly' Mardi Gras destination.

Two Saturdays ago, we ventured out to our first Mardi Gras parade and it has been love at first beads ever since! Our first parade was in downtown Mobile and we were a little worried about parking, the crowds and well, everything else! As it turns out, parking was easy (and FREE - take that Chicago) and the crowds were super nice!

It didn't take Quinton very long to discover that this was a very different kind of parade we'd ever been to because the swag was so awesome!

Sawyer was a little nonplussed with the whole parade thing at first but he warmed up to it pretty fast...except in the last picture in this blog post.
Now, Matt may strike some as the mild-mannered corporate type but let me assure you, he whooped it up at the Mardi Gras parade with the best of 'em!
This is only a fraction of Matt's new jewelry collection!
After the downtown parade on Saturday, we went to an evening parade in Fairhope, a cute little town just east of Mobile - across the causeway (a really long bridgeway across Mobile bay).

We met up with some new friends from church and had another fantastic time at the parades!
Matt snapped this picture of me pandering in an oh-so-lady-like fashion for beads, stuffed animals, moon pies, frisbees and whatever else the krewe had to throw.

Now, I can't get enough of parades!
I dragged Matt and the boys to another parade Tuesday night. I about peed my pants when I took a closer look at Sawyer in this picture - I hope I don't offend anyone! That kid...
I have to tell you that I am SUPER pumped about the parades tomorrow and the Fat Tuesday parades the day after tomorrow and then, sadly, the season will be over. BUT, that is not where the fun ends because I will now be campaigning for all of our favorite friends and family members to make plans for visiting us next year during mardi Gras season!
Get ready!

Sawyer's First Superbowl Party!

Matt's boss' wife had originally planned to have everyone over for a superbowl party on Sunday but then I received a text from Matt on Friday that she had the flu and they were canceling the party. By then, I'd had my heart set on spending Sunday afternoon with lots of fun people and yummy munchies, so I told Matt we'd just move it to our house!

Saturday, I put Matt and the boys to work cleaning the house and finishing up last-minute projects from moving in what...three months ago...maybe 4?

We had a great time and there was so much yummy food! It was also fun to see the Packers win since they're so close to Chicago and we know a couple of die-hard Packer fans.

Here is Sawyer getting ready for his own tackle...

The party gave me a GREAT excuse to try out a new recipe I saw on this fun website!

These were white cake cupcakes with HUGS inside and marshmallow buttercream frosting on top. Boy, were these a hit!

One more picture in case the last picture didn't make you salivate!
We also made Hawaiian bread sliders...super delish and the kids enjoyed burgers THEIR size!
Another kid favorite...cocktail weenies in a blanket!
You're salivating now, aren't you???

And last but not least, Matt made a homemade pizza that was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

His dough recipe called for beer but Matt didn't feel comfortable buying beer so he bought O'Douls! Funny, I know!

This was a bacon and pineapple pizza but by the time it was done, most of us were way too stuffed to eat it! Thank heavens for half-time!!!

Unfortunately, I was lulled into a food-induced coma and that's all the pictures I have of the rest of the evening!

What Snow???

Throughout the week, we've been hearing and reading on Facebook and other friends' blogs about snow...Snowmaggedon, blah, blah, blah, snowpocalypse, blah, blah, no school snow days, yadda, yadda, you get the point.

Quinton keeps asking when we're going to get snow and happily, I reply, "It doesn't snow in MOBILE!" I have found MY silver lining in this not-so-cloudy town!

So for all of you snowed-in, spring-feverish friends out there, I give you pictures of a little outing from last weekend when the temps here were in the 70s...yeah, you heard me!

We took the opportunity for such a nice day to go to Dauphin Island, about 30 minutes south of our place. It is a small island where a bunch of the houses are on stilts. We did a little photo shoot for some family pictures.
Here is our little family!
Luckily, a nice woman sitting nearby came and took some pictures for us since it's hard to get Sawyer's attention with the 'timer' feature on the camera.

Matt and Sawyer love this game of throwing Sawyer up into the air!

My dad made the comment that Sawyer looks like a kite in this picture!

Quinton and me...I am THOROUGHLY enjoying wearing sunglasses and not my eyeglasses anymore! We LOVED playing in the sand and just enjoying our new surroundings!

I think Sawyer was winking at me, what do you think?

This isn't a close up, it's him winking at me again!

This is at one end of the Island at Fort Conde. It was pretty cool to check out and to the left of where this picture was taken, there is a ferry that takes cars and people to the other side of Mobile Bay. I'm hoping one of our next excursions is taking the ferry...I think the boys would LOVE it!

Although the water was too cold to swim, it was still a perfect day of playing in the sand, having a picnic and going for a bike ride.

For several reasons, I don't exactly love our new town yet, but spending the day at the beach with all three of my boys in JANUARY was wonderful and makes me like this place just a little more than I did before. Of course, after this week's blizzard across the midwest, I like this place a lot more!

P.S. To all our frozen friends: We have space if you want to come thaw out!