The weekend round up

Michael's birthday was Saturday and we celebrated the day at home. When he got home from work I made tacos, at his request, and baked him a cake. Just call me Betty Crocker! We also gave him our gift. He knew what it was before he even opened it. I believe the conversation went a little like this when he got home:

Austin - "Guess what Daddy? We got you a birthday present."

Michael - "You did? What did you get me?

Austin - "We got you a present, it's a new wallet."

He was correct, we got him a new wallet and a new police badge. Austin broke his original badge a while ago and we hadn't replaced it yet. It's a good thing I kept his gift under wraps with Austin until his actual birthday, he would have known days ahead of time what he was getting!

When the kids headed to bed early we watched a couple movies. We watched Dan in Real Life, which was really funny and a not so good movie with Jessica Simpson in it.

Earlier in the day, the kids and I headed to Wal-Mart to exchange the baby gate we bought on Thursday. We had to purchase a gate to put up at night because Austin was getting a little mischievous in the middle of the night and early in the mornings. One morning I awoke to a drawing on my chair in permanent marker and on the wall. You probably saw the wall art in this picture. Another morning I awoke at 2:45 am to find all the lights on in the house and that he had drawn gloves on his hands, in permanent marker. The original gate I bought wasn't tall enough, he could unlatch it to remove it from the wall. We exchanged it for a taller one and it's worked great the last couple of nights. We've been putting it up at the end of the hallway so he can navigate between our rooms, but he can't get out into the living room or kitchen. Needless to say, Austin is not to happy about being "trapped" as he calls it.

How do you know what you sound like as a parent? Apparently your kids are the best at imitating you. Abigail sure is picking up on it. Her newest word is, "Hey!" I love at the end of the video how she's pointing and telling Austin what to do. Well, her version at least!

The gate also comes in handy when Austin wants to play outside. I usually leave the door open while I'm in the kitchen so I can hear him, but that means Abigail can escape out the door and head down the driveway. I trapped her in with me so I could clean up the kitchen and not have to chase after her too!

She's a hillbilly

Usually kids don't like the feel of grass under their bare feet. Not Abigail, she was walking across our dead grass without any shoes on.

Sitting in her Minnie Mouse chair Grandma Great bought her last year. She's finally big enough to get in and out of it herself. She must have been resting her feet from all the walking she did around the yard!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We love you!

Destination - vacation

We just booked our tickets for a vacation! A childless vacation! Grandma Ringman jumped at the chance has volunteered to come stay with the kids in May while Michael & I attend our friend Kyle's wedding in Myrtle Beach. Michael is in the wedding so we're flying out on Thursday and returning on Monday. This will be the first time we have gone out of town by ourselves since we had our kids. I know I'll miss the kids terribly but I'm looking forward to getting some good sleep and spending some quality time with my husband.

(I'm teasing about Grandma Ringman. We asked her if she would like to come take care of the kids and she accepted. We're so lucky to have a family like we do!)

Just plain cute!

Abigail snoozing in the car on the way home from Les & Reagan's house. Must have been a rough weekend!

The kids outside the grocery store on Saturday. I love HEB's carts because both kids can sit in the basket next to each other!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

The kids got up this morning and got their Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny. It was so cute to watch them get so excited.

Yesterday we had people over for an Easter egg hunt. The girls from my work and another couple Michael knows came over with their kids. One of the girls I work with dressed up as a bunny and helped the kids find their eggs and gave them special treats. The kids had no clue! They were really cute. After the egg hunt we BBQ'd and hung out. The kids had a great time.

You can view all of our Easter pictures by clicking here.

The Easter Bunny - Version 2008

Not the greatest picture, because unlike last year, Abigail knew what was going on! They only got two pictures taken before she totally freaked out. This was the best one, enjoy!

It was also before Austin got his haircut!

Fun with sidewalk chalk

The weather has been really nice lately. When we get home in the afternoon Austin has been getting the chance to play outside before we eat dinner. Friday he got out his sidewalk chalk and we went to town drawing on the driveway. We had so much fun. I think we spent a lot of the time just laughing at each other! Some of the things he was drawing had me cracking up. He has such an imagination lately, I really don't know where he gets it from.

Abigail wasn't interested in the sidewalk chalk. Of course, she probably would have put it in her mouth if she were. She was content to roam around the yard and check things out!

I had Austin lay down on the ground so I could trace him. He thought he should have some eyes, a nose and a mouth when I was all done!

Then it was his turn to trace me. I'm sure that was a sight, me laying on the driveway. At least I look skinny, even if I'm incomplete!

Other things we drew included a king with a crown, a dragon, a frog and Austin & Abigail's names with stick figures next to them!

Weekend get away

Abigail and I just returned from a fabulous visit with Les & Reagan. We took off yesterday afternoon and got there in the evening. When Abigail wasn't sleeping she loved the ride since she was able to face forward in her car seat.

I was a slacker and didn't take any pictures of the girls. Les got a couple so you'll have to check her blog to see if she's posted them.

Even though we talk to each other every day via email or Instant Messaging, it's always nice to get together face to face and catch up. I'm going to miss this the most once we move out of the state of Texas.

While Abigail and I were gone, Michael took Austin to the movie theater to see Horton Hears A Who complete with popcorn and all! It sounds like they had as much fun as we did.

13 Months

Abigail turned 13 months old today! Her personality is really starting to shine. She's so funny to watch how she interacts with us and other people. She loves her babies and loves to talk on the phone. Her hair is really starting to grow. Now if we could just get the front to catch up with the back! And it's looking like it's going to curl, I love it!

She is also loving real food. She's no longer eating baby food and has learned from her brother to go to the pantry when she's hungry for a snack. Her newest favorites are Ritz and goldfish crackers. She's still not ready to give up nursing, but we're working on that. She only requires her milk in the mornings (I'm trying to eliminate this one), when I get home from work, and before she goes to bed.

I can now lay her down in her bed and she'll go right to sleep without so much as a peep. It only took a couple nights of tough love and she got the hang of it.

We still had her rear facing in the car but I turned her car seat around tonight. Her legs were getting too long and were scrunched up while she was riding. Hopefully she'll like her new arrangement!

Classic Abigail, one sock on and one sock off. As soon as her shoes come off in the evenings so do her socks. She can't stand to have anything on her feet!

Seriously, who are you?

I've been in a bit of a blogging slump lately and seems like everyone is asking the question lately. So I'm going to jump on the band wagon and ask my readers to tell me who you are and how you got here.

Not much else is going on here at our house. I'm planning to take the kids to see the Easter Bunny some time this week along with everything else I need to do. The kids are growing like weeds and running around here all the time.

So, leave a comment and let me know you're out there. Who are you and how do you know us? It would make my day!

I'll probably have to take this down later, but aren't they cute????

A good read

My good friend Les posted a link to an article in Glamour Magazine about Gold Star wives from Fort Hood. If you have the time, I would suggest reading it. Click here to read the article.

And, a picture. What would a post be without a picture? Even if it is of a snotty nosed kid!

Snow boots

It's a good thing Austin owns a pair of snow boots. He needed them at our house this morning! I couldn't get him in the car to go to Sole's. He insisted on wearing his boots and kept running around the yard because he was so excited about the snow! Must be that 95 degree weather the other day was a teaser...

Playing together

These pictures are terribly blurry. It's hard to get a good picture when they won't stay still! But as you can see, they were having fun playing together on Abigail's couch. Of course, I think Abigail thinks anything her brother does is funny!

The Ringman brothers

Uncle Ben had to head back to Iraq today after spending over 2 weeks home with his family. Michael and I drove to Dallas to spend some time with him at the airport between flights. We ended up spending over 4 hours with him. It was great to see him and I even got a picture of the two of them. And if you know them, that was a major accomplishment! I got a semi smile out of Ben, but Michael was his usual self.

We ♥ you Uncle Ben