Happy Birthday Benny!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

As you know I have three brothers, who I love very much.

But Benny.....

Benny is special.

Very...

VERY

Special.

I was 10 when Ben was born.  And I can not tell a lie.  I wanted a Sister.  More than anything.  I wanted someone I could play dress up with, and hang out with and be silly with.  I had two brothers and felt that was good enough.

Well....

Mom came home with Benjamin and I decided to make the best of it. 

He was the sister I never had.

I wish I had pictures of him letting me dress him up in my clothes, and party-ing it up with my friends  when I had slumber parties. He was always a hit with my girlfriends.  In fact...he still is.

He is hilarious and fun and I love the guy. 

So much. 

 I wouldn't trade him for a sister for all the money in the  world.  And coincidentally, the sister I prayed and prayed for as a child...... was in my future....just not my immediate future, and that baby boy that came home back in 1987 is the same boy that would someday grant me my wish.

Ben is set to Marry one of my Best Friends in March of 2012.  And I will finally have that sister I always wanted.

Everyone loves Ben.

I have similarities with all of my brothers, but out of the the three Ben and I are the most alike.  He's the life of the party, a performer, the center of attention.  He loves to cook, and dance and drink Beer.  He's caring and sweet, and family is very important to him.

He loves my kids...

And they love him.

He is also very close with my significant other...

they tend to be

Inseparable 

at times....

Ben and I have a *unique* relationship....

Which I love.....

Because no matter what

He'll always be my baby brother.

Love you Benny!

My bet is this will be your best year yet!

There's a Gadget for that!

Lately Gadgets have become my Best Friend.

Dilemma#1-

My Children will not brush their teeth.  

They will put the tooth brush in, move it around until the toothpaste disappears and call it good.

I needed to find a way to make brushing fun, and fun-ctional

This weekend at Target
 (I love Target) 

I found these:

Spiderman and Barbie

You push the red button and they start to flash for one minute.  When they stop flashing, you stop brushing.

Jack thought this was the coolest thing he had ever seen.

So he brushed.

 For one minute straight.

Hooray!

Madeline on the other hand....

Is still a work in progress...

Dilemma # 2

I have an escape artist

Every night we would kiss Jack goodnight, shut his door and wait.

It was just a matter of time before we would hear little footsteps from one end of the second floor to the other.  We would catch him in my office, in our bathroom, in my closet.....

Clay and I would alternate going up to catch him in the act. 

It got to the point were Clay would just hide next to his door and try catch him as soon as he set foot into the hallway.

The last straw came when we found him one morning, with Clay's Ipad, which was dead.  The T.V. was on the cartoon network, the Playstation was on and he was dead asleep next to a half empty bag of Cheetos(which he KNOWS he's not allowed to eat).

I felt like the worst parent on the planet.  

How long had he been up?  How could we not have heard him?  What are we going to do?  

After many, many calls to my girlfriends, mothers, co-workers and Best Friends we found a solution.

A Door Alarm.

$16.95

From Home Depot.

It has two settings.

One setting sounds like you have just entered a 7/11

The second setting sounds like you are killing a very large bird.

Both scare the crap out of him.

We explained to him that this door alarm was just a reminder for when he forgets that it's bedtime and accidentally gets up too soon.

After we closed the door and headed downstairs it was about 3 minutes before we heard the chime for the first time.

Clay and I looked at each other and smiled.

We went back upstairs and explained again, how important it is that he listen to us and stay in bed.

And he has since.

Double Hooray!

Two battles down.

1,345,678 to go....

Mom Saves the day! (and week)

Remember when I said we left our Saturday night early to tend to Madeline.....

Well...

Guess who caught her little "bug"

That's right....

Yours truly.

Thank God My Mom was in town this week.

Monday night it hit me. 

 Hard.

Tuesday Morning I was on the phone with Mom crying to please come help me.

There is nothing worse than being sick....

Except maybe, being a sick Mom with a sick child.

It took everything in me to get up with Maddie on Tuesday Morning.  And even more to make her breakfast.  She felt terrible.  I felt terrible.  And all we wanted were our Mom's.

Mom came to my rescue at 9am....and has been here ever since.  

I'm not exaggerating when I say I would not have made it without her. 

Here we are at our worst:

(so nice of Mom to grab the camera when we are completely defenseless)

Poor Maddie fell asleep in her lunch

We both

were a mess.

Thank god we are finally on the road to recovery

So thank you Mom.

Thank you for all you did.

The meals you made.

The mess you cleaned.

The laundry you folded.

The attitudes you put up with.

Thank you for being you.

I appreciate you.

and

I Love you

Happy Birthday Justin!

Today is my Brother In Law's Birthday!

Happy 30th Birthday Justin!

Saturday night his adorable Girlfriend Casey threw an 80's bash that would put any leg-warmer wearing, teased hair, Ray Ban sporting person to shame.

She thought of everything....

 Jello Shots

Fun Candy Favors

Cupcakes plated on Vintage Vinyl

Pac-Man inspired edibles

Clay and I came ready to party

As did Brit and Ben

Brit and I put our outfits together in one hour-

(I think we look pretty good for last minute styling)

Casey pulled off the surprise!

I had to try the favors...

Who doesn't love a Ring Pop??

Mr. Kirbyface on the other hand....

Tucked away a treat for later....

Brit and I had to take a little "break"

For my feet....

Personally I think Best Dressed should have gone to Benny....

(and a close second should go to the guy dressed up as John Cusack from Say Anything-complete with Boom Box)

Unfortunately our night had to end early....

Shortly after our arrival we received a phone call from our sitter.  Maddie was sick, and we had to head home.....

The best part of the night....

Watching my husband stop at the well-lit ATM to get cash for the baby-sitter... 

Mohawk, pegged pants, and salmon polo (collar up, of course)

Let me bring it in closer for you to get the full effect....

(He kept the glasses on all night-even at the ATM)

I'll say it again...

Happy, Happy Birthday Justin!

Thank you for being our "on call" Handyman, great Uncle to my children, Fun party companion, loyal brother to my Husband, and there for us whenever we need you.

I love you just as I do my own brothers, no "in law" needed.

I couldn't have hand picked you better myself!

Daddy Does Hair

Madeline finally has enough hair to do something with.

My style of choice for her is usually the standard palm tree.

This weekend she did not want Mom to do her hair.

It had to be Daddy.

So for the first time in his life....

Daddy did his daughters hair

Not bad for his first try!

Such a good Daddy!

M.I.A.

To say life's been busy, would be an understatement.

Between, work and kids, and our home, and weddings and showers.....

It's been crazy.

I'll try and catch up soon.

to keep you coming back....

Here's a sneak peak of current chaos:

My dining room....

and my brother ripping up my old floors....

that go into my living room.....
(that's my Dad-who is The Ultimate Mr. Fix-It, love him)

Remodeling with two small children aint easy....

but we are getting through it.

More to come.

Soon....

I promise.....

Good-bye Old Friend......

Today we had to say good bye to a very good friend.

Tonight our dog Trigger was put down.

He was so sick.

He wouldn't eat.

He wouldn't get up.

He was just not himself.

We took him to the Vet, and she confirmed what we already knew.  He had severe anemia, extremely low red blood cell count, and most likely Cancer.  

We had to make the very difficult decision to put him down.

It must be said.
Trigger was the best dog on the planet. 

He was loyal, and loving, and protective and full of life.

He was a housewarming gift to Clay and Me in 2000.  He was the most adorable puppy you have ever seen. He stole my heart immediately.

and then he chewed up my first pair of Via Spigas I ever bought.

And the love affair ended.

(I'm kidding) 

But it soon became clear that Trigger was definitely Clayton's dog.

They were the best of friends.

If Trig had to pee, he would nudge Clays arm to wake him up.  He wouldn't even attempt my side of the bed.  If I walked in the house he'd wag his tail, and look up.  But if Clay walked through the door, anyone standing in his way would be knocked over by that powerful tail.

Oh the tail.

It was like a bull whip.  So strong, and stung like a bee.

It was forever wagging.

When we first got Trigger, Clay's Mom called him wiggle butt.  When he wagged his tail, his entire rear end moved.

I have spent many, many nights alone without Clay home, and never worried because I knew Trig would protect me.  He had the most ferocious bark, but wouldn't hurt a fly.

He loved to stand in the kitchen when I cooked, because he knew there would be "treats" in his future.

He loved to swim.  He could even climb the ladder of our in laws pool.

He was so good to our kids.  He would let them jump and pull and tug on him, and wouldn't flinch.

Jack quickly became his second Best Friend.

Trigger and I had a silent love.  My time with him was when it was just us.  I would share my popcorn with him while I watched late night TV.  Or purposely through him a bite while I cooked dinner.  He always came up to check on me if I slept in too long.....Just to make sure I was still there.

He was the greatest.

and I will miss him.

very, very much.

Good Bye Trig.
We will always love you

September 17, 2000-February 10, 2011