The Dream Team

Sienna has a new baseball league this year. It's called the Dream Team & it's for children ages 5 to 15 who have special needs.
And Addy is playing in it! 

She is on the Cardinals and her first game was on Saturday, March 2nd.

Here she is with Nick looking super cute in her uniform before the game.

And enjoying the sunshine

Her team play outfield first.

Here she is running for the ball.

And her team batted in the second inning.

Here she is batting

And running home.

Besides the fact that it was cold & the wind was RIDICULOUS, we had a great time! Addy loved playing & can't wait to have her next game. I'm so grateful to SPYBL for creating this league & giving Addy the opportunity to play.

Happy Birthday Alex

It's hard to believe but today my sweet little boy turned 4 years old!

I threw him a birthday party on Saturday with all our family & he's having another party on Wednesday with his friends. So today we just celebrated with him after dinner with some brownies & ice cream.

I've seen these birthday questionnaires on Pinterest & thought they are a cute idea. So I made one up for Alex. 

Here are his thoughts on his 4th birthday....

Are here are a few other things about my boy...

He is an absolute sweetheart. 

And so incredibly stubborn.

He's funny.

He  loves his family & is a great brother.

He loves Transformers & My Little Ponies.

He's a smart boy & can write his name & a few other words.

He loves croutons, fruit snacks & ranch dressing. (Not together though)

He loves to play outside.

He gives great kisses & group hugs. 

He loves to take a bath but not to wash his hair.

He is the best son that I could ever imagine & I thank God for him each & every day!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Alex

I'm sure you've all heard of Kids Say the Darnest Things. Well Alex is a kid & he definitely says some of the darnest things! So sometimes, when he really makes me laugh, I jot down what he said, & now I'm putting them all together in this post.

So here of some of Alex's darnest things...

Playing in the mud in the backyard....

Alex: "Look how dirty my foot is."

Me: "Oohh yuck "

Alex: "It's not gross, it's just from the bayou!"

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My garden gnome was lying on the back porch with a piece of his hat broken off. It looked as if someone had dropped him....

Alex "Look at your gnome mommy. It's broken."

Me: "Oh no. I wonder who broke it."

Alex: "It was probably just a woodpecker!"
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Alex: "Mommy, can I wear that bow so I can be pretty like Addy?"

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Alex tells a joke & then says "Now that's a funny joke!"

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Me: "We need to go get Addy from school."

Alex: "Can you go pick her up in 5 weeks?"

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Trying to get something of the shelf in the pantry....

Alex: "Mommy, can you help me? I can't reach that with my beautiful hands!"

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Trying to get Alex to sit down for dinner...

Me: "Go sit by Addy."

Alex: "No, I can see her from the playroom with my really great eyesight."
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While I was looking on Amazon for nativity sets, Alex saw this one & told me he wanted it. I asked him if he knew what it was & he said "Yea, it's a hoedown!"

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Alex tooted...
Alex: "What was that noise? Oh yea, it was just my rooter tooter machine!"

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While shopping at Target, Alex stops & grabs a pair of velvet green pumps. 

He puts them on & says "These are just my style." 

He couldn't walk in them though, so he took them off & grabbed another pair.
He said "Well, they have a bow & they're flat, so they'll work."
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One day Alex asked me if I remember that parade we went to. I couldn't remember ever bringing him to a parade & could not figure out what he was talking about. So I asked him some questions about it.

Me: "What was the parade for?"

Alex: "A celebration!"

Me: "What were we celebrating?"

Alex: "Kwanzaa"

After several more questions, it turns out it was the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event at Reliant Park, which to a 3 year old could totally seem like a parade. (And apparently a Kwanzaa celebration too!)
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Nick was out of town last week. Alex grabbed a notebook & marker & said
"I'm on the case of the missing daddy."
He then proceeded to interview me to solve his case...
Alex: "When was the last time you saw Daddy?"
Me: "Yesterday."
Alex: "What was he doing when you last saw him?"
Me: " Getting in his car & driving away."
Alex: "What did he say?"
Me: "I love you & I'll see you tomorrow."
Alex: "Hmmm. I think I see a clue."
Then he jotted some stuff down in his notebook & went & grabbed one of Nick's ties from the closet. That was the clue.

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Alex ran out of my room like this & said "Mommy, I'm a jewelry pirate!"

As you can tell, Alex is one silly little boy who keeps me very entertained. I sure am lucky to be his mom!

Monthly Update

I know it's been awhile since I posted an update. My only excuse is that I've been slacking. But I'm back now & here is what we have been doing...

The weekend before Valentine's Day, we took the kids to Galveston. First we ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. (And just about every week since then Addy has been asking to go back. That place is so up her alley!)

And then we went to Moody Gardens. 

The plan was to go to a Special Needs Mardi Gras event that was at Moody Gardens. I thought it was going to be a fun arts & crafts type of event for kids but when we got there it was really more of a dance/prom type of event for older people with special needs. They had a live band playing & it was just way too loud for both Addy & Alex. So instead, we went in the Rainforest Pyramid. Of course, Addy loved seeing all the animals & we all had a great day on the island!

We celebrated Nick's 37th birthday! Boy that's a lot of candles, lol!

Addy had her Valentine's Day celebration at school. She had to decorate a bag for her cards & of course she chose to decorate it like a tiger.

(She had a little help from mom on this one.)

During her party the kids made ice cream sundaes 

(which of course Addy did not eat, but Alex did!)

and they played Pin the Cupid on the Heart. 

(I think Mrs. Perfectionist might have cheated a little bit, lol.)

Alex had a Valentine's party too with his playgroup. He even signed some of his cards. Look how great he wrote his name!

Addy of course has been playing with Bailey a lot. She just loves him so much! She reads to him

and makes him play dress up with her! (She made him a lion's mane, lol)

And Alex has been hogging the iPads, lol. Sometimes he even watches the same show on both iPads. He pauses them until he gets them at exactly the same spot. He's such a smart little boy!

Addy took her school pictures. Didn't they turn out great! 

(And how come she never sits & smiles for me when I'm the one taking the picture?)

Nick & I went to San Antonio for a weekend after our cruise was canceled & Addy started playing baseball in a new special needs league here in Sienna. I'll write a separate post on both of those.

Everything else we've been doing is just everyday life. School, work, speech, dance, girl scouts, playgroup, support group, cleaning, working out, & numerous trips to HEB! So I guess that's all for this post. But I'll be back. Soon. I promise.

Sienna Snow Day

Saturday, January 26th, Sienna hosted a snow day. They brought in a ton of snow. They had an area for kids to play and a hill for sledding. They also had a DJ, rock wall & bouncy slides.

It was scheduled from 10 to 12 and we got there around 10:30. And it was already crazy! There were people everywhere. Nick dropped us off to go park the car but he couldn't even find a spot so he just went home. He called & said to call me when we were ready to leave & he would come pick us up. 

The kids played a little in the snow bank areas, Alex made & threw a snowball at me,

they went down the slide one time (after waiting in line for about 20 minutes)

& then we got in line to go sledding. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, Alex said he was hungry & ready to go home. So I called Nick, he came & picked us up & we went to Don Julio's for lunch.

On the way home from the restaurant, we passed back by the area where snow day was. It was now about 12:15 and snow day was over. The people & bouncy houses were all gone but the snow was not! 

After we got home I kept thinking about all that snow just sitting out there begging to be played in. So I asked the kids if they wanted to go back to snow day & of course they said yes. So we grabbed the boogie boards out of the garage & headed back to the snow. (At this point is was actually a cold slushy muddy mess but who cares right, that's the kind of snow we're used to in Texas!)

The kids were able to sled (on the boogie boards) over & over again with no lines.

And don't worry, Nick & I didn't miss out on all the fun!

We also made a snowman using a snowman kit I brought with us.

Addy added the branches for arms & Alex found a hat just lying in the snow. I think our snowman turned out pretty great!

We ended up having an absolute wonderful time! We got dirty & muddy & wet but it was all worth it! And now we know for next year, just skip the crowds & go after it's over.

Weekly Update

Yeah, my laptop is fixed! I really thought I was going to have to buy a new one (which I really didn't want to do) but I finally found a place that was able to replace the screen!
And so now I'm back & it's time for a weekly monthly update.

They both start off in their own beds, but somehow, these 2 kiddos of mine always seem to end up in our bed. Or me in one of theirs.

Playing tetherball at the school playground. 4 feet, 1 shoe, that's how we roll!

I signed both Nick & myself up to run the 1/2 marathon at the Gusher in March. It will our first time to run a half. We won't be running for time, just to finish! (I've asked myself many many times WHY did I do this to us!)

I just love these pictures...

Addy crawled in the front seat while we were waiting to go in the the doctor's office. She flipped open the visor & started making silly faces in the mirror. It was so cute that I just had to take some pictures.

Loving on each other right before their flu vaccines

Alex & I went to Which Wich for lunch & he placed his own order. 

PB&J on white, no crust. He even wrote his name.

Addy helped me make a pizza for dinner last week. 

She made an A for Addy with the pepperonis.

I walked in on Alex licking the top of the salt shaker & he said "Mommy, don't take away my healthy snack." Umm sorry son, I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as a healthy snack!

Look at all my broccoli growing in my backyard. I should have some ready to pick soon.

Last weekend I took the kids to Maddi's birthday party. It was an art party. The kids got to paint & bring home these cute little smocks.

And this weekend, my mom, my aunt Susan & I went to see Temple Grandin speak. She was amazing!

We also went to Sienna Snow Day a couple of weeks ago & I'll be writing a separate post on that soon. 

And that's all folks!

Valentine's Pinterest Party & Bookclub

On January 19th, I hosted our bookclub meeting at my house. Since we had made such great stuff at our last Pinterest party, we decided to make this one a combo bookclub/Valentine's Pinterest party!

Kelci's project was decorating a candle with scrapbook paper & twine.

Brooke's project was a heart wreath made from strips of scrapbook paper.

Molly's craft was a canvas painting. You put stickers on the canvas & then paint over the stickers. When the paint is dry, peel the stickers off & you've got a saying. I didn't let my paint dry long enough & so mine didn't turn out so great :( and therefore, I'm not showing it to you!

Mom's project was a cute red wreath that we decorated with hearts & beads. I made mine very simple since the wreath itself was already pretty flashy! (The white candle in the middle is my candle from Kelci's project.)

And my project was wooden block picture frames made with modge podged scrapbook paper & magnets.

Here we are with all our projects!

After we were done discussing the book, eating & making all our Valentine's crafts, we went outside & let the kids play. Alex insisted on taking Clark for a ride in his car he got for Christmas.

And Hannah went rollerblading.

Next time, Molly will be hosting bookclub & we'll be making spring/Easter crafts.