Happy Mardi Gras!

a few weeks ago was Mardi Gras in Galveston and we decided to take the boys to the Sunday parade!  It was a fun time, but we couldn't help but think how much fun it would have been to make the trip to New Orleans and show these boys what Mardi Gras is all about!!!  maybe next year...

MeMe was able to go to NOLA for the big parades and brought the boys back lots of goodies...and a king cake!  That is certainly a weakness for me...I love those darn cakes!!!  Ever tried one?  

weekend fun!

finally a weekend that wasn't full of rain, so we took advantage and stayed outside most of the weekend!

the boys riding the four-wheeler!

I took Jake to baseball practice right after getting home from running my first 10K,

 whew I was looking lovely!  ha!  15,000 runners at this event, so it was definitely a lot of fun!!

a birthday party at putt-putt fun house and this little man liked the karaoke stage...

uh oh, he might like to sing  like his Momma!!!!

 bumper boats in the 50 degree, windy and rainy weather...nothing stops these boys!

good vs. not-so-good

now, you all know that I love these boys "to the moon and back" but their eating habits are so different and the little man's diet has been driving me CRAZY lately

Allow me to explain:

on a dinner plate Jake goes straight for protein, veggies and fruit, especially veggies!  

Loves salad, edamame, broccoli, zucchini and more.  He asks for smoothies and anything healthy that my husband and I are eating.  Makes us so proud!

Always asks what's healthy and not healthy and what will give him big muscles...Ha!

and here we have little man, Justin...
he will NOT touch a fruit or vegetable and if we can talk him into tasting it, he'll gag and start shaking his entire body as if he's dying...I'm serious!  
He LOVES milk, cheese, bread, peanut butter, fish and barely any meat but does like Daddy's grilled chicken.  He's all about the processed snacks...anything that's in a box, he loves!  Yikes is right!
How am I helping to expand his diet? 
I REFUSE to make him special food.
What we have for dinner is what goes on his plate.
I am hoping that one day he'll understand the nutrition and healthy benefits of the good foods that I prepare and he'll come around???  Oh my goodness, I sure hope so!  Ha!!!

a fun day!

I think these pictures show just how much fun these boys had today!

I think they all loved the SHARKS! 

We just enjoyed the fact that they loved learning about all of the creatures 

AND there was NO whining, NO fighting and we all had a GREAT time!

Daddy's helper...

our boys LOVE to help us around the house.  Sometimes it's taking out the trash, helping with dinner but their favorite thing to do is help Daddy with yard work!  Today it was helping fix up our landscaping at the new house while big brother was at school and he actually did a really good job sweeping, trimming, laying the rock and more!  

I was able to snap a picture of him "driving" Daddy's truck at the rock yard picking up the rock and mulch!

this boy thought he was TOO cool!!

  ah, he looks like such a big boy here doesn't he?  where did my baby go??

the play-by-play

Our Valentine's Day was packed full and we're tired just thinking about all of the things that we did today!

Our day started off with Jake's school party, which I arrived to help out as one of the room mom's, I hear the teacher say, "Jake's down on the playground...looks like they were running and he collided with another kid!"  Oh great, so I get to my boy and this is what I see...

 he sure knows how to turn on the charm, the teachers were all over him, 

hugging him and making sure he was alright!  He was fine, but his face was a little black and blue!!

then it was time to decorate ice cream with sprinkles, chocolate and whipped cream...

oh my goodness, who doesn't love ice cream at 10am?!!  

then it was off to the house with little brother to spend time working in the yard...well, we actually WATCHED Daddy work in the yard and helped him when he needed it :-)

After we picked up Jake from school, Mommy came home to these from Daddy!  Awe!

He sure is sweet!  He's my husband, my best friend and the best Daddy ever!!

...and oh my, what's THIS coming down the street??

 Yep, it's my boys in our neighbor's golf cart!  How cool is this??!  He was in the parade with his kids last weekend and gave me and my boys a ride today, and he'll be in another parade on Sunday!  FUN! 

 he even gave the boys some beads!  Happy Mardi Gras!!!

UH OH!!!  Look what Justin did....

to end our busy day, we found Justin looking like THIS after a long day working in the yard!  Yikes!  Daddy was not happy with his muddy backyard after these boys were finished with it...

ah, boys will DEFINITELY be boys!!!  My bathtub sure was nasty after bathing these two boys tonight!!

xoxo

just wanted to wish all of you a very Happy Valentine's Day 

and may this day be spent with the people that you love the most!!!  

enjoy today and may it be filled with lots of love and laughter!!!!

-marissa and family

shh, baby is sleeping!

first of all, it is so hard for me to believe that our littlest man will be turning 3 very soon.  seems like time has gone by so quickly, but no matter what he's still my baby boy...

he's a sweet, Mommy's boy who loves to snuggle.

he looks up to his daddy and big brother more than words.

he loves to give kisses and always says, i love you.

he's very smart, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mommy.

he loves to dance and listen to music.

he likes to be outside.

he loves animals.

he loves to make people smile.

he looks like his daddy and has gorgeous blue eyes.

he loves monster trucks.

he doesn't wanna potty like a big boy!!

and he helps remind us each and every day, what life is all about.

and when he sleeps so peacefully, he still reminds me of this baby boy!

even though he's this boy today...

(he fell asleep today on daddy's pillow....so sweet!)

our week in pictures

It started off by snugglin' these two, handsome fellas!

and then it was off to Jake's first baseball practice...although he had FOUR seasons of city tball, it was time to move on up to Little League and he did great!  Hit the ball, paid attention, enjoyed the stretching and running bases and especially liked playing catch with a teammate, he's definitely growing up!  And yep, he had to wear jeans to first practice because it was COLD and because his poor baseball pants were way too short for practice!  But don't worry, we bought him two pair today and he'll be wearing them on Saturday :)

Look at those grass stains on his knees!!!

and because these boys are SPOILED ROTTEN, tonight they enjoyed some Valentine candy from MeMe and Aunt Paulette...a chocolate lollipop, some chocolate candies AND a sugar cookie with red sprinkles! 

Don't worry, they enjoyed every bite!!! 

Told ya they enjoyed it!

fun weekend

our weekend started out with Daddy and Jake going to a hunting banquet and having a good time...

now you can clearly see where Jake gets those dimples!!

This was a reality check for me knowing that we have two, Daddy's boys and they'll probably be leaving Mommy at home for their hunting adventures very soon :-(  

Oh I love these handsome boys!

so, while they were gone my Dad had come in for a visit 

and offered to take Justin and I to dinner at Saltgrass!  Yummy! 

 I think this was my first and only time going to dinner with only my littlest man :)

and we had a great time at the Mud Hole for Super Bowl as you can see...

Look at Jake passed out in his rain boots...

yea, it was pretty muddy and cold but of course the kids didn't mind!  I dressed them in layers with their jersey's and allowed them to pick which one!  Jake picked Texans and Justin picked the Saints!  

I think Momma needs a jersey, I was feeling left out!!!  

a fun day in Galveston!

The boys didn't have school Thursday or Friday, 

so we knew we had to go have some fun with these four, crazy boys!!

We started off with lunch at Rainforest Cafe and the boys had a blast and most of the time the food isn't that great, but my salad was AWESOME and Justin thought the dinosaur chicken nuggets were the coolest!  Ha!  But the best part is that Jake hated it as a little one...

he would scream, throw a fit and tremble at the sight of all of the "fake" animals!  

Then we decided to go and ride the River Adventure ride at Rainforest and the kids LOVE it!  Very cool!

My little man and I riding the ride!  He wasn't too sure about it at first but he said he loved it!

And no day in Galveston is complete without a trip to La King's...for some yummy ice cream!

Mmm, that ice cream sure looks TASTY!

and finally we ended the trip by stopping off and getting Daddy's race packet for his second half marathon which takes place at 7:30 tomorrow!!!  We are making signs to cheer on Daddy right now!  Complete with purple, green and gold masks and Fleur Di lis....since it is a Mardi Gras half marathon!!!