Daydreaming

As I sit here contemplating how busy the next few months of my life will be, I am thankful that I have this light at the end of a long and exhausting tunnel!

Disney World!  Seven days with my boys to experience one of the most "magical" places on earth.  Can you tell I'm excited?  Yes, I have to wait two whole months, but those months are so packed with events (both fun and not so fun) that I am sure it will just fly by at the speed of light, and we'll be here before you know it.  Before then though, I have to plan and put together two birthday celebrations for my little men, celebrate Easter with our family, finish a difficult semester of law school and take final exams, take another week's worth of classes in May, and then we are off on a magical adventure.  It is nice to have a "silver lining" in our clouds on days like this!  

A Very Green Family

We enjoyed a nice St. Patrick's Day this weekend.  The weather was beautiful (over 80 degrees) with just a small rain shower in the evening.  We all dressed in our green together and just made some nice happy memories...Brody even decided to start crawling this weekend!

Our Leprechaun.  We really think he should be a leprechaun because of his red hair, his birthday being in March, his small stature, and green being his favorite color!  

One of our lucky kids. 

He's all about being "green."  

Not too sure about the hat. 

Who needs luck when you have this!

So happy!

Big beautiful smiles!

My Mommy is so silly.

Our two leprechauns.  They won't tell us where their pot o' gold is!

Mommy went green too!

Our family went green. 

Sweet baby. 

Mischievous baby. 

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Brody's 1st Trip to Chuck E. Cheese

Does anyone else think this place would be a good torture technique?  I mean, can you imagine any place more mentally exhausting?  Haha!  Evan had never even been to this place until last year when he went to his first birthday party there.  We had managed to avoid the place like the plague.  This weekend, Evan was invited to his second birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese for a little girl in his class so being the good parents that we are, we sacrificed our peaceful Friday night and spent it in this place.  Really, it wasn't so bad, and both Evan and Brody had a blast.  While Daddy and Evan played all the big kid games, Mommy showed Brody all the fun to be had in the little toddler area.  Of course, he'd have nothing to do with it until AFTER his dinner.  That boy doesn't skip a meal!

Brody gets on stage with Chuck.

He wasn't happy until after his dinner was consumed. 

Evan and his school friends enjoying some pizza and meeting Chuck.  Evan was so hungry, he actually ate three pieces of pizza which is a lot for him. 

All that excitement, and Evan was still managing to eat.  That totally isn't typical of him. 

The birthday girl gets crowned. 

Brody rides with the mouse. 

Driving one handed!

Driving the Stuart Little car. 

Playing in the little playhouse. 

He went down the slide with a little help. 

Riding on Clifford!

"Nice doggy!"

Daddy and Evan racing. 

Brody wanted to play the "bam bam" game!

Signs of Growth!

While we have always been amazed at how much bigger Brody is and how fast he is growing, here is a real and visible sign of his growing.

Yes, those are his toes protruding out of his footie pajamas!  His big brother wore these same 9 month pajamas at a year old.  We have since been to the store and purchased him some new pajamas in 12 month size, but I just love those little toes sticking out!  

A Little Romance

My sweet husband planned a wonderful romantic evening for us on Friday night with dinner at a fancy restaurant and a show in uptown.  Our date started when Mommy got home from work and found some beautiful roses waiting for her.  They were some of the prettiest red roses she had ever seen.  After loving the kids and getting them settled in with Grandma for the evening and ordering them some pizza for dinner, Mommy and Daddy got all dressed up for their night on the town.  We haven't had a real date in a very long time so it was nice to get dressed up and enjoy a nice dinner without having to worry about begging kids to eat and cleaning up after them.  After dinner, we headed to the lovely Belk Theater/Blumenthal Performing Arts Center for a showing of "Jersey Boys," the Broadway show about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  Yes, they did sing "Sherry."  It was a late night out and we enjoyed our special time together although we did miss our sweet baby boys. 

Discovery Place & Mummies of the World

We had been promising this trip to Evan for many months since we heard that the Mummies of the World exhibit was coming to Discovery Place in Charlotte.  This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the largest exhibition of mummies ever assembled.  Evan loves watching shows about mummies (both real and fiction) on television.  I'm not kidding.  One of his favorite movies is "The Mummy" which he and Mommy both love (and not for its less than stellar acting either).  We had heard so many people say how awesome this exhibit was and were so excited.  Evan had only been to this museum once when he was less than a year old, and he and Mommy saw the Norman Rockwell exhibit.  This exhibit far surpassed our expectations, and we had a wonderful time.  

The Mummies

This particular exhibit began in 2004 when 20 human mummies were found in a vault at a museum in Germany. The mummy collection that had been purchased by the museum in 1917 from a private collector was thought to have been lost during World War II.  The most interesting and touching part of the exhibit was a little 10 month old baby that was found in Peru.  It is over 6,000 years old, more than 3,000 years older than King Tut.  It is an example of a "natural" mummy.  The most amazing part of seeing this little mummified baby was how closely he resembled my own little 10 month old.  Most of the other mummies were dried out and looked like skin stretched over bone, but this little one still had his sweet baby chub on his little face, hands, and feet.  His sweet little chubby hands were clenched into fists, and you could see his little toenails and his head full of hair.  Even 6,000 years ago, I can imagine the devastation his parents must have felt to have lost this precious child.  Through the various technologies of today, scientists were able to determine the little child probably died of a heart defect.  

Another heartfelt exhibit was of a mother, father, and little one-year old boy who were found in a crypt in Hungary.  Through MRI, CT scanning, and even DNA testing, the scientists were able to determine that the family like many in their town died of the horrible Tuberculosis disease.  

Enjoying the Museum


Evan had to have some ice cream before going in, and of course, Grandma obliged. 



Evan conducts an experiment and watches these balls "float." 



He loved shooting his ball high into the air. 



He made Mommy lie on a bed of nails!  



Grandma enjoyed a fun weekend with her boys.



Evan loved this little rain forest!



And walking on this rope bridge. 



Evan loved the aquariums. 



And Brody loved the pretty fishies!





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Tap Tap..."Hi, fishies!"



"Wake up, fishies!"  



"Hi!"



Saying hello to his bear friends. 



Evan loves his planet!