West Coast is Still the Best Coast

Even though football season can be long (and cold), this year we had a trip to Tampa to play University of South Florida.  I gladly turned this Friday night game into an extended weekend in the sun.  But then Hurricane Irma happened.  Luckily, Irma chilled out before she got to Tampa. 

For me, the week before the game was definitely filled with anxious energy because I either had four days of Florida sunshine or a cancelled trip which meant a weekend in Champaign.  Not that it's a hard choice, but if you know anything about Champaign, you'd also rather be in Tampa. 

Brian ended up staying in Tampa with me through Sunday.  Since the game was on Friday night, we had all day of Saturday to just relax.  

First, we went to one of our favorite grocery stores, Publix.  It sounds odd, but Publix makes THE BEST sub sandwiches in this entire world.  Brian introduced me to Publix on our trip to Fort Lauderdale back in May and I will never go to Florida again without eating Publix sandwiches. 

Then we ate a late breakfast in Clearwater before heading to the beach for the entire day...armed with our sandwiches, a good book, and sunscreen that we didn't use.

I did learn a lesson the hard way on this trip...I definitely should have packed gear that had NOTHING to do with Illinois football...especially when the guy you're with clearly looks like he has something to do with the football life.  The Chicago Bears were playing the Tampa Bay Bucs that same weekend so all kinds of Illinois/Chicago Bears fans had flocked to Tampa and they ALL had something to say to Brian.  

(Brian, I promise I'll go more incognito next time!)

I had been to the east coast of Florida twice before this trip to Tampa (the west coast), one trip in college and one trip with Brian.  While it's all beautiful, the east coast of Florida is a little too uppity or superficial for me.  However...that west coast life is straight up midwest living on the beach.  The people around us were definitely good eaters (if you get what I'm saying), rich rednecks there for a good time, and overall just laid back people. 

So maybe we took a bottle of Tito's with us too.  And maybe that bottle had something to do with forgetting to use the sunscreen.  And maybe it led us to a bar on the beach where we drank fruity drinks and ate everything on the menu.  Either way, the west coast of Florida definitely won me over. 

August Birthday Celebrations

Brian's birthday is only 4 days before Hattie and Drake's birthday and since we couldn't all be together on their birthdays (thank you football season!), we celebrated with cakes, candles, and extra presents when my parents and the kids came for Labor Day weekend.  

On our trip to Tulsa to go to the Pioneer Woman's Mercantile store and lodge, Hattie had the latest edition of the Pioneer Woman magazine to read in the car.  In the magazine, they had highlighted a birthday cake in the shape of a number with sprinkles all over it.  Hattie and Drake literally told me immediately that THAT was the birthday cake they wanted this year.

I thought ok, simple enough...I'll take the homemade cake and substitute with a box cake mix, cut it into the number seven and dump sprinkles everywhere...easy enough, right?  Well, it was easy, until I had a mess of cake scraps and sprinkles all over the floor.  

(Thank you, Brian, for choosing just a plain angel food cake for your birthday cake!)

 We sang three Happy Birthday songs, because in my family (which is loaded on twins and even triplets) we sing a song for each person and each person gets their own cake.  Works out well for us because Hattie would starve before she ate chocolate and Drake wouldn't eat a cake unless it was chocolate. 

Drake had been asking for baseball cards and this gift was right up Brian's alley.  He couldn't wait to buy the set of cards, sort them, and help Drake organize them.  I can't tell you how many times Drake thanked us for his cards.  He even stopped me one night as he was watching tv and I was picking up and said, "No, Mom, really...thank you for the baseball cards".  

Next up was opening weekend of Illinois Football!  Hattie finally fits into her cheerleading uniform, she had a matching bow, and her favorite silver pom poms.  It was hot, but we won and everyone survived the heat.  I also introduced both my parents and the kids to their first tailgating.  We had a breakfast spread with biscuits and gravy, yogurt, fruit, juice, smoothies, and of course...beer and vodka.

And of course, our annual family pic in the weight room.  Drake hugging Brian basically makes my heart beat out of my chest.  Those two are trouble together.

7 Years of Hattie and Drake

I'm behind, once again life gets busy.  But over the last couple months I feel like I'm getting life a little more on track.  I've got some personal business settled, found a routine that will last through at least the next two months/football season, and most importantly...I've started to find some extra time for blogging and scrapbooking.  

If I'm being 100% honest, I think my lack of blogging has been attributed to so much of my personal life being up in the air...like divorce, visiting schedules with kids, moving, etc.  But guess what?  Life is pretty fantastic now, it has been for a while but I've had to come out of a fog to see the light. Scrapbooking and looking back on memories, whether on the blog or in a scrapbook, really reminds me that these little memories fall into the back of your mind and it's so nice to look at years passed on a blog and have all these memories come to life again.

I'm also 5 years behind in scrapbooking so if I'm being REALLY honest, the blog also helps me keep track of what happened in these pictures 5 years ago.

With all of that being said, I will start my new blogging adventures with Hattie and Drake turning 7 back in August!

Hattie and Drake's birthday happened to fall on a weekend that was my weekend this year.  In the past, we have split up the day for the birthday, it changed every year, and the language was complicated and usually led to fights.  However, this year (and with the new parenting agreement) the birthday weekend was mine, all mine, to celebrate with my monsters.  

Hattie and Drake were supposed to be born in October but instead suprised the world 8 weeks early in a very emergency situation.  When all was settled right after my c-section, I remember the only thought I had that didn't scare me to death about having 8 week premature twins was that August birthdays are (in my opinion) more fun that October birthdays.  Keep in mind I have a January birthday which has never provided for a fun pool party.

Because I wanted to take full advantage of the August sunshine, I thought our first stop of the weekend would be White Water, a water park I hadn't been to in over a decade.  The kids had also never been so it was an adventure for all of us.

I was surprised at their brave attitudes when some rides made my heart drop.  There was one ride that basically drops you straight down before you pop out the end of a slide.  I'm not even exaggerating when I say a trap door opens and you drop.  We got part way up the stairs for the ride and I said, "Oh, hell no.  This mom does NOT drop straight down out of anything."  But Drake couldn't wait to ride this one.  I'd like to tell you I became braver because of him, but I really just stopped in my tracks and watched him go up the stairs, wait in line, and drop out of that door.  He was all smiles afterwards.

 The next stop was one of my favorite places to go, Dixie Stampede.  This a dinner show with all finger food, no silverware, and a show about the North vs South.  The kids have been here a million times and know exactly what to expect and have even been asked to participate in some of the games a couple of times.  Drake was asked to stand up and learn how to use a lasso but he declined this time...he's way too shy now, just like me.

The mother next to me gave me the ultimate compliment.  And any mother knows the ultimate compliment is someone saying her children are well behaved.  This turned into her randomly, in the middle of dinner, asking me when she should start potty training.  Uhh...how long have I known you?  

The last stop of the night was Drake's number 1 request...mini golf.  I really thought it would be kind of a circus, I'd easily beat them, maybe we shouldn't even keep score...but that monster in the orange killed me! He had a couple hole in ones and straight up won.  

I'm pretty sure this one of the only pictures he's not making a silly face in...I assume because he wanted to rub in that he won.  Hattie however...I'm not really sure what she's doing with that expensive doll upside down and her finger in her mouth...

No matter what, these two bring sunshine to me every day.  They are blessings that I didn't even know could exist until I had them.  They push boundaries in life everyday and I mean that in a good way.  Drake is smart as can be and Hattie has an imagination that makes me jealous.  I couldn't imagine not hearing them say "Hi, Mom!" everyday.  I know I've said it to them, but I will love them through every single thing they do.  Good or bad, this mom's love will never fade away.

Ballpark Tour, Part 1

Sports have always been a bit of drama in our relationship.  Neither of us are really into the other's favorite sport.  He likes football (obviously, he's a coach) and I really just go to football games to people watch, play with other coach's kids, and wave at him from the stands.  On the flip side, I love baseball...and he's thinks professional baseball is a snooze fest.  Luckily, we both love college basketball, whew! 

With that bit of background...now I introduce you to a changed man! He said he'd try to get more into baseball this summer.  Originally I bet him that he'd only last until June before he was bored...but then we found White Sox games.  We only live a couple hours from Chicago so hopefully this becomes a summer weekend get away.  

PS - I'm a Cardinals fan until the day I die, so there will be no enjoying myself at a Cubs game...it's just too soon. 

It was just about the most beautiful day for a baseball game...in Chicago...in April.  We couldn't have been luckier.

Being the best travel planner around, I shouldn't have been surprised that Brian found us seats SO close to the field.  I've never sat that close at a professional baseball game and I was 100% freaking out about being that close to some players that I've followed for several years.

 And what's a baseball game without trying all the food?  My first choice was a foot long Chicago style hot dog.  It was everything I dreamed of!  We wrapped up our food tour with churros. Random, I know, but churros at games is kind of our thing.

We also went to the Brookfield Zoo and it was a REALLY good zoo.  Very well laid out, lots of people but not crowded feeling...and they sold beer.  

This polar bear was super close to us and we got to watch him (or maybe her?) play around for a while.

I thought the penguins might be a little more active, but they were cute nonetheless.

Maybe the parrot was a little boring, but he sure was pretty.  

This dolphin show though...this show was legit.  I think it only costs like $3 extra with your zoo admission ticket and it was hands down the best dolphin show I've seen.  I took Hattie and Drake to show at Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago recently and it pales in comparison to this one.

Chicago has ended up being our weekend home as there's only so much Champaign we can handle.  Next trip? Cincinnati Reds game!

Boys will be boys

OMG. I'm not a good blogger like I intended to be.  But I will say that I've jumped back on my scrapbooking habit and having blogging memories right at my fingertips has reminded me how much I love writing down all of our memories.  

I've also noticed that I tend to forget things (like in my short term memory) really easily these days.  Now I'm all paranoid that I'm going to lose my mind at an early age...but if you ask Muscle Man he'll tell you I can remember anything and everything. 

Back to where I left off on Christmas!  One night I was stressing over the number of presents I had for each kid and it ended up that Drake was one short and that ONE gift needed to be something big.  It didn't have to be big in dollars (thankfully my kids don't know much about dollars yet) but it needed to be one of the main highlights of his gifts and large in size since Hattie had a large gift.  Does anyone else operate this way with their kids? Or am I nuts?   

After Brian reminded me how crazy I was, he was delegated the responsibility of going to pick out Drake's last gift.  I should have known better.  You can't send a grown up child out to buy a child's Christmas gift.  Not realizing the extent of the inner child in Muscle Man is where I made my biggest mistake.  

He came back with not one, but two large remote control cars.

TWO OF THEM.

One for Drake.

One for him.

(and two more dolls for Hattie sending my gift equality into another tailspin)

But as you can see from this boy's face, he loved his remote control car.  

And you can see from this (very large) boy's face how much he also enjoyed his new car.

I'm not sure what happened when I took this picture because I had to stay on the porch to avoid the boys ramming their cars into my ankles, but all I can think is that Drake somehow defeated Brian and he's trying to blame the loss on his precious car.

Just to add to the attacks by boys...my mom also got them all marshmallow guns to add to the Nerf guns.  They set up on top of hay bales, drew me and my paparazzi camera in with their cuteness...

...and then shot me.

And they gave me the code name of Mama Moose.  Excuse me? 

Needless to say, the girls were equal in numbers to the boys, but they got us this time. 

It's That Day Again...

I'm such a sap for Valentine's Day!  Literally my second favorite holiday, after New Year's.  So this quick little thing is just another way to get out all of my cheesiness. 

All of these answers are my version...but I'm trying to convince Muscle Man to also answer.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, he's too busy playing a slot machine game on a tablet while his eyelids droop. 


Who's older? Him...got me by 5 years.

Who was interested first? Definitely me, I chased him for a couple days, hard chased him too.

Married? Nope, maybe someday (Right?)

More sarcastic? Definitely him, and it goes right over my head most of the time.

Who makes the most mess? I'd say him...but I'll make sure to brag on him where I can because he really isn't too messy of a guy.

Who has more tattoos? Nadda single one in this house

Better singer? Gotta be me, I think

Hogs the remote? That's a battle every single day...most of the time he wins until he falls asleep then I snatch it.

Better driver? Ugh...him...but only because he's gotten us out of sticky situations in weather.  I drive like a grandma most of the time.

Smarter? Me, but he's no dummy

Do you have any kids together? Not together, but he's like a kid so does that count?

Did you go to the same school? Thankfully no, I don't think I would have liked him.

Who is the most sensitive? Oh, that would be me.  Waterworks happens about once every two weeks.  Sorry babe!

Where do you eat out most as a couple? We eat a big variety, but some of our usual spots are Houlihan's or Old Chicago.

Where is the furthest you two have ever traveled together? We've driven from Missouri to California, took a week and enjoyed all the scenery.

Who has the worst temper? Him. Him. Him.  99% of the time I'm not sure I even have a temper.

Who is more social? Him for sure, everywhere we go he meets new friends.

Who is the neat freak? Neither of us are neat freaks, but I'd say I'm the closest.

Who is the most stubborn? We are both only children so it really just depends on the day.

Who hogs the bed? Him! I'm blogging from bed right now and if it were appropriate, I'd show you a picture of him across the bed right now.

Who wakes up earlier? Him.  His job is early every day.  I don't do early.

Who has the bigger family? Only children so we are both from small families.

Do you get flowers often? I don't...but I did get 3 dozen roses for Valentine's Day today!

Who's better with the computers? I would say me just because my job is more office work than his.

Who drives when you are together? Him

Who picks where you go to dinner? He does.  He always chooses and I just eat.  I don't have the energy to choose.

Who wears the pants in the relationship? At the end of the day, he does.  I think he hates the saying "at the end of the day"...but he does wear the pants overall. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!! 

My Best Christmas

It's been a while since I enjoyed Christmas, like really truly looked forward to the holiday.  This year was hands down the best Christmas I have had in years.  To be brutally honest, it didn't feel like a chore, it didn't have to be a show, and I wasn't lonely.  Of course I've had my family with me in past years, but this year every single person I needed in that moment was there. 

Brian and I went to MO to spend about 4 days.  Since the kids would be with "the other side" on Christmas day, we did presents early so Hattie and Drake had a chance to play with their toys.  Luckily, there were no Santa questions.  I wouldn't have had an answer but I'm sure Brian's quick wit would have kicked in for some silly story to keep them believing.

Hattie's sweet smile never fails to make my heart skip a beat.  There's just something about a little girl in her pajamas waiting to open presents. 

And then there is the bored face of the boy who is about to think he's too cool for the world.  Where did my snotty nose, chubby cheek baby go?!?

Oh wait...he does get happy at the thought of new toys!

Drake plays both basketball and baseball.  This year his baseball team requires a helmet with a faceguard so I sent Brian out to get one.  You already know he picked out the helmet with the most swag possible! I'm a sucker for matte black helmets too, so no judgement here.

Hattie LOVES baby dolls, literally takes them with us everywhere, but she's getting more into Barbie dolls lately.  For the last three years she has asked for one of those 3 story Barbie houses with an elevator but I wasn't about to splurge on something she was too young for...but this year I caved.  There was the house, new Barbies, clothes and a Barbie car that I swear is half the size of the pretty red convertible I had a kid.

And this gift, ladies and gents, is where my life ended. 

I'll explain the remote control car insanity in the next blog...