Life with the LeRouax's

AGGIE FOOTBALL

2012-01-22T14:07:00.004-06:00

If you know me then you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Aggie Football!! This was suppose to be our year. The year of the AGGIES!! Well anyone who watched our season knew after the 4th game that clearly it was NOT going to the be the year for the Aggies! Oh well, its not like Aggie fans hadn't lived through a disappointing season before. But, as bad as our season was we did still manage to make it to a bowl game and as luck would have it they ended up at the Mieneke Car Care Bowl of Texas which is played in Houston, TX at Reliant Stadium. I teetered back and forth about whether or not to buy tickets to the game (I mean come on they were practically playing right in my back yard how could I not go?) So of course in true Emily style I waited till the day before the game and finally decided that yes, I think I will buy tickets to the game. So I bought 3 tickets, 1 for myself, 1 for my brother Joshua and 1 for Mason. Now, this was exciting!! This would be Mason's very first Aggie game and what a way to experience it by getting to go to Reliant Stadium to watch it. He had the BEST time and it was a great game with a great outcome!! It was exactly what the Aggie's needed to take us into the SEC next season!!

Mason taking in Relant

Mason and Uncle Joshua

The Fightin Texas Aggie Band!

Thanks and Gig 'em!!

Fiesta Texas

2012-01-19T15:05:00.006-06:00

On December 28th we (my whole family incl. parents, sisters, nieces, nephews, brothers) went to Fiesta Texas. It was something different for us to do over the holidays and the kids had a blast!! My children are absolute ride junkies!! Its a good thing that I am into them too b/c Derrek gets motion sick riding them and I am the only one they have that can ride with them. The park was all decorated for the holidays and it wasn't nearly as busy as it is in the peak season of summer. Mason could ride almost all the kid rides by himself and Samantha about half of them with an adult. Let me just tell you that it is not a pretty sight when brother can ride one that she cant. Oh lordy!

Here we are on the tea cups

Mason and I on the 8 ball ride

Gotta love the old faithful carousel

The swings. This was one that he could ride on his own and Samantha had to ride with an adult. Given the size of the swings Mason had to sit by himself and he was an absolute trooper about it.

Between Kemah and this I think we have definitely had our fill of amusement park rides for a while, but the kids sure are looking forward to the day that we get to go back and do this all again. :)

Christmas Eve and Christmas

2012-01-17T12:33:00.008-06:00

Yes, I realize how late I am with this post so I will let the pictures do the talking. Hope everyone had a great holiday. I know we sure did!!

Christmas Eve

Making Santa's cookies

Best Family Picture we got from the night. I know it is blasphemous that we did not get dressed up on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve the kids get to open all their gifts from aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc..We currently reserve Christmas Day for nothing but SANTA. I figure they only believe in him for so long so I am going to hold on to that for as long as I can. :)

Christmas Day

The discovery of the loot

This picture cracks me up b/c she was jumping up and down and her curls are in full flight

Tearing into all of it

The gift of the YEAR!!!

This is one of the many angelic face shots we got of our sweet girl that morning

Ofcourse after it was all open we had to play with EVERYTHING!!

Both my kids jamming out!

As you can see we had some serious holiday success over here. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Our first Gingerbread House

2012-01-07T08:23:00.004-06:00

I admit that I am a bad mommy and have never made a gingerbread house with my kids. I always thought it was way to messy to do and just didn't want to mess with all of it. :) Well, on December 23rd we went to have dinner with Derrek's Aunt LeeAnn and her kids (Ashley, Daniel and Travis). It was so great to see them!! It had been so long they had actually never met Samantha before and she is 2. :) Well, the kids were so excited to find out that they had gone out and gotten them a Gingerbread house to build. Daniel and Travis handled the structure part and then the kids got to decorate it. It actually went much more smoothly then I thought it would and a big thanks to Travis for decorating it with the kids.

Uncle Travis patiently watching the kids decorate the house

Helping Samantha with her decorating

Our house in progress

Samantha tasting as she goes

Our finished product

The kids eating the rest of the treats that didnt go on the house

Thank you Kozak Family for such a fun evening. We should absolutely do it more often. :)

Samantha's program/The christmas train/A playdate

2012-01-05T12:35:00.005-06:00

Since I have fallen behind I am having to lump a bunch of our December activities together. Oh well, at least it is all still getting blogged right? :)

Before school let out for the holidays Samantha's class had a parent luncheon/program. All the kids were so cute but I have to admit (and I probably wouldn't be the only one to say it) but Samantha stole the show. She stood next to the teacher and did the hand motions and sang all the songs. Every time the music started this child was dancing. It was adorable!! I wish I knew how to put videos on here so that I could show you all just how great she did, but regular pics will just have to cut it though. :)

Samantha and one of her favorite friends Madeline waiting for the music to start

In full dance and sing mode

Singing to her hearts content

In mid clap for herself (you can tell she just finished dancing too)

The night after the singing and dancing debut of the great Samantha we made a last minute trip to ride the Christmas Train at Victory Camp in Alvin. This was the second year that we took this little adventure with the Smith family and it was just as fun as it was the year before. The kids loved riding the train and seeing all the light displays.

My kids waiting for their turn to ride the train

All the kids together waiting to ride the train

The boys on the train

Samantha with her daddy on the train

The next week on the 22nd we had a Christmas Pajama Playdate with the Smiths and the Burkharts. The kids wore their pj's and we put on christmas movies and had some breakfast. We also decorated cookies.

Here they all are watching their show and eating breakfast

After breakfast and some crazy play time it was cookie decorating time!!

All the kids had a blast and it was a great way to start off Christmas weekend festivities.

The Kemah Boardwalk

2011-12-29T22:27:00.005-06:00

Earlier in the month Exxon Mobile hosted their family friendly Christmas Party at the Kemah Boardwalk. How lucky for us (me and the kids) that Mamie works for Exxon and we got tickets to go to this super fun event. Exxon thought of everything! They paid for the parking, they provided lunch, gave us all day ride passes for all the rides on the boardwalk and gave us game vouchers to play the games along the boardwalk. SO.MUCH.FUN!! Mason was tall enough to ride almost everything. I say almost because the one ride he wasn't tall enough for was the big roller coaster and believe it or not he asked to ride it and was completely DEVASTATED that he was 4.5 inches to short. :( It broke my heart!! Samantha didnt get to take as much advantage of the rides as brother but she still had a good time and got her face painted. Let me just tell you that my kids are absolute ride riding junkies. They LOVE it!! We also ended up coming home with about 10 stuffed animals after playing all the games. After tallying it all up a day that would have cost just over $200 (for 4 people for 5 hours) was absolutely free!! Thank you Exxon and Thank you Mamie!!!

We started out simple on the Carousel. Mason on his ostrich

Mamie with Samantha on her Sea Horse

Me and Samantha on the Ferris Wheel

Me and Mason (with his pirate eye haha) on the train

Samantha's awesome face painting. I was shocked when I saw her and couldn't believe she actually sat long enough to let them paint this on her face.

The three of us on the airplanes

My sweet babies loving each other

The three of us in the balloons

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-20T14:58:00.003-06:00

This is the first time in 5 years that we have had a REAL christmas tree. I am so excited that both of my kids are finally at an age where we can go back having a real tree. They were so excited to go and pick one out (really it was an hour of me inspecting multiple trees while they ran around the lot with Derrek chasing them haha). Yes, thats right, we spent an hour in the tree lot. Considering the importance of the decision that had to be made (did I mention it has been over 5 years since we had a real tree) it had to be the most perfect tree I could find. And let me just tell you that I found myself a winner. This tree is so perfectly shaped that it actually looks FAKE. haha!! Anyways, we are happy to have us a real tree this year and for many years to come.

Here is our car looking all mountainy with our tree on top of it

The kids with my perfectly shaped christmas tree. :)

Happy Holidays!!

The Duke

2011-12-12T06:57:00.003-06:00

Eerily similar dont you think?

haha!! Derrek LOVES John Wayne!! We came across this huge picture of him on our weekend trip to Yorktown, TX with the Smith family and of course had to get a picture. I wont lie though, I admit that my hubs has slightly turned me on to The Duke and I am a fan of a few of his films myself. :)

Backyard Campout

2011-11-28T19:06:00.004-06:00

Derrek has been wanting to take Mason camping for some time now. Because of his overly busy schedule we decided that the best chance he would get to actually have this camp out was going to be in our very own backyard. Mason was so excited to get to have his backyard campout.

Here is daddy putting up the tent

The kids checking out the inside of the tent

The finished set up

Well the day passed and it was finally night time. We changed Mason into his jammies and grabbed his reveille (his favorite sleeping buddy) and the guys were ready to go. Derrek also stashed some chocolate away so that they could have a secret surprise when they got into the tent.

Here they are ready to go

My two guys climbing into their tent

Here they are in the tent ready for their night time campout.

I am proud to say that Mason slept out there the WHOLE night. I wasn't sure if he would or not but I was so proud of him for being such a brave boy. What a great experience for both daddy and son. I am pretty sure that after that fun event there will be many more a backyard campout in the future.

Happy Halloween 2011!!

2011-11-13T21:26:00.004-06:00

I'm about 2 weeks late with this post but oh well. :) As usual we had a super fun Halloween. I will admit it was a wee bit difficult this year b/c Halloween fell on a Monday and Derrek is in class those nights so I was a solo show for the night. But we pushed on and made it through the night with success!! We started our night out at a party with some friends. The kids played and we ate yummy food then we headed out trick or treating.

The best pic I got of all the kids

All the sweet little girls in the group

Laila- this little sweetie is so petite that this is the exact same costume she wore last year for halloween. So adorable!!

My two little trick or treaters ready to go

Heading out to get some candy in luxury

After making it about 1 block with our friends we decided to head back to our own house for some trick or treating fun and to hand out our candy.

Here are the kids with our neighbor Ian. This was his first halloween. Doesn't he look adorable in his outfit?

The kids had a great time and Samantha picked up super quickly on the whole trick or treat thing at the door. We hope everyone had a fun filled and safe Halloween!!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-02T21:46:00.003-05:00

We took the kids to the pumpkin Patch at their school to pick out a few pumpkins for the porch. We fully intended to carve one for Halloween but it never actually happened. Oh well! They had fun looking around and playing in all the pumpkins and that is what really counts anyways. On the plus side, I now have pumpkins on my porch as decoration for Thanksgiving!

Flashlight Candy Hunt

2011-10-26T15:13:00.003-05:00

Back in September when I was going nuts registering the kids for all their activities through the Pearland Parks and Rec I also signed them up for the Flashlight Candy Hunt that they were going to host in mid October. Well about a week and a half ago we attended our flashlight candy hunt with our BFF's the Smith Family. The kids got to wear their halloween costumes for the first time this halloween season and they were so excited!!

Optimus Prime and the Blossom Fairy

When we got there they had bags for the kids to decorate, some sweet treats and they played a few games before the hunt. When it was time for the hunt they separated the kids by age (luckily all 4 of the kids fell into the same grouping). Since it isn't getting dark outside as early as the event took place they put the candy in a room and turned the lights out so the kids could use their flashlights to look for the candy. In general it was a little cheesetastic but the kids had fun and that is what counts.

These little bff's even chose the same halloween costume this year. They were so funny to watch too b/c they loved that they were both dressed the same.

All of the kids under the giant werewolf blowup

Hope everyone has a safe and happy halloween!!!

Samantha's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-10-20T12:01:00.005-05:00

If you know me personally then you know how difficult it was for me to throw this birthday party (especially after last years). Between school starting up, me taking on a new gig and planning a 10 day vacation at the beginning of the month that her birthday falls in, I just did not have the time to devote to it like I did the year before. So Jump N Jungle it was! If you know Samantha then you know the child LOVES to jump so I knew she would have a great time no matter what. At the end of the day that is what truly matters anyways. :) All in all I think it was a great success and everyone in attendance had a great time. Here are a few shots from that day.

The kids all ready to go

Derrek only had to go with her a few times before she managed it on her own

Dr. Rog is the best wrestling buddy ever

Cutie Patootie Savannah (Mason's secret school crush heehee)

Little Miss Ella

Aubrey headed down the slide. She wanted nothing to do with any of teh bounce houses when she arrived and by the end of the party we had converted her. :)

Issac and his mommy Erin

Getting in some daddy play time (she loves hanging upside down)

Our attempts at getting a group picture. haha

After our hour and fifteen minutes of play time we headed into our party room for pizza and cake

My birthday girl enjoying her pizza

And of course and this point in her life no birthday party would have been complete without a DORA cake

Samantha licking her finger after sticking it in the corner of the cake

I cant believe that my baby girl is already 2 (she is definitely letting us know it too) haha. Time flies when you are having fun and we are definitely having fun with this little princess of ours.

Thanks to everyone who made it out to her party and made this day super special for her.

Happy 2nd Birthday Samantha!!!

2011-09-29T13:15:00.007-05:00

I can not believe how quickly two years has passed with our little Samantha. I remember so vividly waking up the morning of my c-section and getting dressed to go to the hospital to have my baby. It was the most bizarre thing in the world. I remember telling the nurses at the check in desk that I didn't feel like I was about to HAVE a baby I felt like I was there to PICK out a baby. HAHA!

Although it has only been two short years it is hard to remember a time without her. Did we really only have one child at some point? Though she is the child that Derrek and I have both decided will be the one to give us grey hair early or drive us into the looney bin she really is AMESOME!! It truly has been amazing to witness the so called "maturity" difference between boys and girls. She is so much more vocal then Mason ever was at this age and it blows my mind the way she can understand us so well.

She really is a funny little thing too. The expressions that she makes when she is talking to us are just hilarious, yet they are so impressive b/c we cant believe she knew just what to do to capture our hearts while saying it. Example: Yesterday she was playing with Mason and she is laughing and laughing, then, she comes up to Derrek cocks her head over to her shoulder smiles this big smile and says "Brother so silly." We laughed histerically then later that night thought, man she is going to be trouble. She also loves to ask you a question and then when you give her the answer she repeats it with this high pitched inflection like she is so surprised by the answer. Again it cracks us up! Her little personality is starting to show and she is becoming her own little person with her own likes and dislikes, and trust me, you will know when she doesn't like something. As sweet as she can be (or at least make you think she can be haha) she can also be quite the stinker and her AT-TI-TUDE!! Whew its a doozey! Girlfriend can create some serious DRAMA!! HAHA!!

No matter how difficult she can be sometimes though we are truly blessed to have her and we wouldn't have it any other way. :) She is an answer to a prayer that this mommy has had since she (I) was a little girl. I am very much looking forward to the years that we have ahead of us with her. Mommy, Daddy and brother love you sweet girl. Happy Birthday!!!

Here is a quick look back at her first two years.

Newly born

2 months

4 months

6 months

8 months

11 months

1 year

14 months

18 months

23 months

2 years-Notice that the shirt she is wearing in this picture is the dress that she wore at her 1 yr party. heehee :)

Air Travel and cockpit fun

2011-09-18T09:35:00.004-05:00

At the beginning of the month we went on vacation to Red River, NM (there will be another post about this trip soon) and the kids and I and my mother in law Amy flew while Derrek and his brother drove. This is the first time that Mason has flown where he has been old enough to actually have a memory of it. He was so excited!! He had been talking about flying in an airplane for a full 2 months before the event was going to take place. Samantha was excited too but obviously doesn't have the understanding about the situation like Mason does. Anywho, the morning of our departure finally arrived and he was so excited. It all started with a ride in a big shuttle bus that we had pick us up so we wouldn't have to leave a car at the airport.

Mason and Mamie

Samantha

After dragging in the car seats and the 1 bag we needed to check we made it through security very easily (thank goodness) and were on our way into the main part of the AIRPORT!!! Oh the excitement that this spurred in my children.

Here we are on the escalator walk that they LOVED!

Of course getting to see all the airplanes was HUGE excitement! They basically ran passed all the windows yelling " Airplanes, look at the airplanes." So we set up camp next to a window and what do you know there was a plane parked at the gate. This was so fun because the pilots of this plane were already in the cockpit and they were waving at my kids in the window. Thank you kind pilots for making my kids morning!!

When the time finally arrived for us to get on our plane they were so excited that we had to capture the moment before entering

When we walked in I took Samantha back to choose some seats and Mamie asked the flight attendant if Mason could just peak into the cockpit. They did him one better and let the child IN TO the cockpit and IN TO one of the pilots seats!!!

HOW AWESOME IS THAT??

Here is the pilot explaining all the cool gadgets to him.

A GIANT THANK YOU to the crew of that Southwest Airlines flight!!! They made my son's flying experience so incredible. Mason and Samantha were both champs on the flight and did beautifully. When we landed I made sure to tell Mason that it may be a bit bumpy because we were touching down on the concrete. I then made the mistake of putting my arm in front of him upon landing so he wouldn't lurch forward to much in his seat. He promptly moved my arm away and said "No mom, I am wearing my seatbelt." haha!

Stay tuned soon for a full write up of our vacation in Red River.

Dance Class

2011-09-16T09:59:00.003-05:00

Samantha has started dance!! Hooray!!! Actually her first day was a complete disaster bless her heart. I enrolled her in a creative dance class through the parks and rec here in Pearland b/c they accept 2 yr olds (most actual dance studios dont take them until they are 3). So being the gung-ho mommy that I am I put her in it. I had been telling her about it all week and she was all excited to start.

Here she is before we left for class

I told her to put her hands up like she was dancing and this is what she did. haha :)

It started okay with her sitting with all the girls.

She then proceeded to cry for 20 minutes (the class is only 30 minutes long). The mommies were not allowed in there and I know that contributed to her being upset (we have a bit of an attachment issue we are working through) haha. Eventually the teacher came out and said "Samantha's mommy would you like to come and sit in here" HA! She calmed down and did what she was suppose to after I got in there. Oh well!! Hopefully next week will be better. :)

Happy dancing everyone!!

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-22T18:44:00.003-05:00

Well the day has finally arrived where BOTH of my kids are now going to school. Mason is in Prek-4 three days a week and Samantha is attending MDO two days a week. I now officially have 11 hours a week TO MYSELF!! Holy moly what am I going to do? Well actually I have a long list of things that I need to do so all that time has now been sucked away by a ginormous to do list. haha! Oh, I also forgot that Derrek had a first day of school today too. He is attending the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston so that in three short years he can graduate with his MBA. He will be gone 2 nights a week so this is also going to be quite the transition for us. Unfortunately I have no pictures of D on his first day (he gets up way to early) but here are my little lovies before heading out for their first day of school.

My new page picture

My little man

My princess (she is so not as innocent as she looks)

Both of them together. They are getting so big.

Hope everyone had a great first day of school!

Apology

2011-08-18T14:56:00.002-05:00

Sorry I have been such a slacker poster lately!! Hopefully I will be able to get my act together soon as there are many things coming up that are definitely blog worthy.

Playtime at the LeRouax house

2011-08-14T18:59:00.002-05:00

Enough said!

My first solo fibi & clo show

2011-07-13T13:11:00.004-05:00

Some of you may not know that I recently became an independent fashion agent with fibi & clo. fibi & clo are sandals and jewelry exclusively sold in trunk shows. These shoes will make you believe in love at first sight b/c they are so cute. They are sandals that bling up casual and I am officially up and running as the one and only Houston area fibi & clo independent fashion agent (at least for the time being). I am really excited about selling this line of awesome sandals and have really been getting into it. I hosted my first solo show on July 9th and it was so much fun. I do have to give a HUGE shout out and thanks to my friend Robyn who helped me get the shoes to people to try on while I was checking others out. We always joke that if Robyn ever moves (and this could be happening in the next year) that I will not be able to function without her and my family will just have to move as well. haha!! Well this night certainly did prove that I am not sure what I would do without her. THANKS ROBYN!!!

The show was a success and I think that everyone who attended had a great time and definitely loved the shoes. If you would like to check them out for yourself please visit www.fibiandclo.com. If you would like to order you can do so online (make sure you put Emily L in the referred by area) or you can email me at fibiandclo.em@gmail.com. If you live in Houston or the surrounding areas and would like to host a show (there are fun hostess perks) again please email me at fibiandclo.em@gmail.com.

My display shoes

The jelwelry

The shoes

Our biggest seller, Smoke Cascade

The Love knot

Figure 8's (these were a big hit too)

M newest favorite, the Bright Star

These sandals can be worn in the day time, at night, to the beach, on vacation, basically anywhere and everywhere. They are jewelry for your feet and I am pretty sure you are going to love them!!

4th of July

2011-07-11T13:04:00.006-05:00

We had a very busy 4th of July weekend. It started on the 1st with a bbq with our neighbors and some friends here at the house. I was a little bit of a procrastinator about it but it turned out to be great and I think that all involved had a fun time.

I got the flags on the left for all the kids then forgot to give them to them. Even the fish got to be patriotic.

A close up of the red white and blue flowers I got at HEB

Our festive table

A close up of my last minute pin wheel center piece

Other pin wheels that I hung from the tent

My kids sporting their 4th of july shirts

Samantha's crazy 'cheese' face. I made her shirt and her bow :)

On Saturday the 2nd we went out to Derrek's dad's house and had lunch with them and hung out for a few hours. I dont have any picture from that day except for this one.

Is that not the craziest thing ever? The blue jay is on my father in law's wrist and Samantha is feeding it. If i knew how to upload video I would b/c I got some of both kids getting a chance to feed them.

On Sunday we met Derrek's mom at Studio Movie Grill in the Memorial area and took the kids to see Cars 2. Again I have no pictures :( Then on the actual day of 4th of July we went over to my friend Katie's house and had a a family pool playdate.

LeRouax's on the right and the Roll's on the left

The Stone Family

The Roll's and the Stones taking a break

The Boessling's and half of the Kurien family also hung out with us that afternoon. We had a great fun filled patriotic weekend with a bunch of friends and family. Thanks for a great weekend friends!!!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th!!

Summer Buzz

2011-06-30T18:50:00.003-05:00

Every summer we buzz Mason's hair and this summer was no different. The only out of ordinary thing about this summer was that Samantha wanted her turn too. UH NO!!! haha :)

Here is Derrek starting the cut

Mason asking if he can do it himself

Mason giving it a go

Derrek finishing the job

Finished product.

It's amazing how shaving off his hair can give me flashes of what he will look like as a teenager. Then I start to imagine all the little girls calling my house and me having to tell them they have the wrong number haha :) I might be biased but my goodness he is a handsome kid.

Happy Summer time everyone!!

End of Season Baseball party

2011-06-19T19:05:00.006-05:00

So the Cardinals had an AWESOME season. We ended up finishing 1st in ITB. At the end of our season we had a team party at Las Rosas (a local mexican food restaurant here in Pearland) so that the boys could get their trophies (everyone in ITB gets one). They all had a blast playing on the giant blow up that Las Rosas had and they were all thrilled with their new trophies as well.

Way to go Cardinals!!!!

Center pieces I made and the cake we got for the boys

Mason's baseball on the cake

The trophies

All the boys gathering and waiting for their trophies

Mason and his coach

Spring ITB Cardinals!!

Samantha's First Day of School

2011-06-09T20:25:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday May 31st Samantha started school (a MDO program). She is attending Heritage Christian Academy (HCA) which is the same school that Mason goes too and the same one she will continue to attend in the fall when school starts again. On the first day she did pretty good at drop off but I think that is only because she didnt really realize she was getting left. I learned at the end of the day that she cried on and off all day long. Her second and third days she was crying when we got there and when I left. Poor baby!! It broke my heart. Today (her fourth day) I actually got out of there with only a frowny face. This to me is progress :) I think she is slowly getting use to the teachers and at pick up today they said that she had had a great day. By the time school starts in August she is definitely going to be an old pro. Here are some shots of her on her first day

A big thank you to my mother in law Amy for whipping up her nap mat in a weekend. It looks amazing and we love it!!

Fibi & Clo comes to Houston

2011-06-01T11:01:00.002-05:00

If you live in the Houston or surrounding areas it time to GET EXCITED!!!! Fibi & Clo is launching in Houston later this month. These shoes are only sold in trunk shows so if you are interested in having a party message me and we can get it set up.

Click the link above to checkout their website. You will love what you see.

Pre-K3 Graduation

2011-05-29T09:55:00.003-05:00

About two weeks ago Mason has his end of year program (a.k.a pre-k3 graduation). It was on a tuesday so we went to t-ball practice for about 45 minutes then rushed back to the school for his program. I had to change him at the school in the bathroom haha. Anyways, I wish I knew how to post videos to this thing b/c he did so good. He is one of those kids that is put front and cneter b/c he sings the songs and does all the arm motions and everything. It is so cute and so funny all at the same time. They sang 4 songs then got their certificates.

Daddy and Samantha

Mason walking up to his teacher when his name was called and getting his certificate

Mason and his diplomma. Yay for pre-k3 succcess!!!

What an amazing year he had. he really did learn so much from his wonderful teacher Mrs. Marsh. I cant believe that he is going into Pre-K next year. We are officially only 1 school year away from "real" school. My baby is growing up so fast :(

New Orleans, LA-SmitheRouax style

2011-05-26T20:51:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago Derrek and I and our good friends the Smith's took a nice long weekend vacation to New Orleans, LA. This was a fabulous, adult only, no kids allowed trip. We left on a Friday and came home on a Monday and let me just say that I LOVE my children but our trip was AWESOME!!! Our first night there we went to dinner at Mothers (which comes highly recommended and didn't disappoint). Then we went and walked down Bourbon to people watch.

Derrek and I on Bourbon. With frosty beverages in hand :)

Saturday morning we got up and went to eat at Cafe Du Monde. Oh boy were we in Beignet Heaven!! Can I just say GOD BLESS THE INVENTOR OF THE BEIGNET!!!

Robyn and I in front of the restaurant.

Derrek and I in front of the restaurant.

Good Morning from Cafe Du Monde.

After breakfast we jumped on the St. Charles Trolley and headed towards Audobon Park. The houses on St. Charles Street are BEAUTIFUL and Robyn and I were enthralled looking at them and could have ridden that thing all day just looking at them. Anywho, we ended up getting off and heading towards Magazine street to have lunch. We ate at the Bull Dog bar b/c the guys wanted beer (heehee) and before we got there we came across the Breaux Mart. Robyn and I thought this was hilarious and made the guys pose for a picture under the sign.

The Breaux's (haha)

One of the neatest things about this bar was the tap fountain on the patio. Isn't that so cool? And I am not even a beer drinker :)

After lunch we continued to walk and came across this yummy little dessert place (I dont remember the name but I know Robyn will) everything looked so pretty that of course I had to take a picture :)

This was a caramel icing filled cupcake. DELISH!!!

At around 2ish we headed back for a nap b/c that night we had a big fancy dinner planned at the Commander's Palace. This is one place that I definitely recommend eating at if you get the chance to. SO SO GOOD! And in true NOLA fashion even the desserts were decorated appropriately

Gotta love the Flor de lis

Sunday morning we had a reservation at The Court of Two Sisters for their fabulous buffet brunch. (as you can tell we did A LOT of eating on this trip haha) brunch was awesome and it brought about our biggest laugh of the trip.

Derrek and I at brunch

Here is our laugh :) The chairs we sat in were very poorly designed and if you look at the guy in the background of this picture it looks like he is wearing a thong b/c he is backed up so far in the chair. TOO FUNNY!! Poor guy, but we did get a really big laugh out of it. :)

After brunch we strolled through the french quarter and shopped for the kids and just enjoyed the city.

Robyn and I with our ice cream daquiri's. (thats right I said ICE CREAM DAQUIRI) again this was SO DELISH!!

A nice photo op in front of Margaritaville. Heehee!

This guy was the most impressive human statue we came across. I cant imagine how uncomfortable it must be to stand like that for more then 3 seconds :)

That night we went to Frenchman street for food and music. We came across a neat little group at the Spotted Cat that we really enjoyed then walked back to our hotel so that we could make one last stroll down Bourbon Street to people watch.

Monday morning we got up and of course went to eat at Cafe Du Monde again before heading home to see our babies. We stayed the perfect number of days and had an amazing time.

Thank you New Orleans for such a wonderful time!

Playing with shoes

2011-05-18T11:45:00.004-05:00

I always thought that it would be my shoes that Samantha would want to get into and put on.

I guess I was wrong. Haha!!

As a side note, look at that crazy hair she is sporting these days. heehee!

The lesson of sharing

2011-05-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

As a parent you hope that what you are teaching your children is actually sinking in and they are really learning some of the life lessons you are trying to teach them. In my opinion, learning how to share is one of the hardest lessons to learn. I mean lets face it, even as adults there are times when we still dont want to share. I am happy to announce that even though there are times my son does NOT want to share I officially have proof that he absolutely 100% understands the concept. Hooray he is actually listening to us!!!

The story: Derrek was playing on my iphone and Mason was playing on his leapster. About 20 minutes later I come out of the bedroom and Derrek is now playing the leapster and Mason is playing my iphone. The conversation that lead up to the switch went something like this

Mason: Daddy what are you doing?

Derrek: I am playing mommy's iphone.

Mason: Well friends share daddy. Friends share.

And thus the game switch. HAHAHA!! Nice to know we are doing something right :)

Happy Easter

2011-05-10T15:55:00.008-05:00

Sorry to be so late with this post but better late then never right? :) For easter the kids and I went to Corpus Christi. Derrek didn't go with us b/c he was studying for the GMAT but more on that later. So Saturday the 23rd after Mason's t-ball game we hit the road. Our weekend started with a big family bar-b-que at my mom's house on Saturday night. This was great because I got to see all my cousins and my aunts and uncles and my grandparents. This shindig lasted later then my kids are use to so Easter morning they ended up sleeping in. Once they got up they immediately got into their easter baskets that the easter bunny left for them. a big thank you to my friend Valerie at Sew Fun for embroidering their names onto their basket liners.

Mason's Basket

Samantha's Basket

Both baskets together

Hooray for bubbles

and giant egg spinners

After digging into their baskets we ate some breakfast and took baths so that we could change into our nice clothes to take easter pictures.

The one and only picture I got of Samantha and it turned out beautiful!

The best I got of Mason

Both Of my kids together. I have to admit I am really happy with how this one turned out.

A few shots of almost all the cousins. We were missing the oldest Nicholas and the newly born Eva.

After our somewhat successful photo shoot we again changed clothes for the first of two easter egg hunts. The first hunt was in my sisters back yard and this was the plastic egg hunt. Luckily we got some practice hunting in earlier in the week at our friend Brock's house so both my kids were ready to go :)

Samantha and Nathan leading the way

her first discovery

Mason on the hunt

His loot

Egg hunt fun!

And as if one egg hunt wasn't enough we then headed over to an empty field across the street to hunt cascarones (confetti filled eggs). We LOVE cascarones and have been hunting them since we (my siblings and I) were little. Hopefully as all of our kids get older they too will learn to love the cascarones egg hunt too.

Mason hunting the eggs

Samantha finding an egg

Mason trying to crack the egg on his own head. This was sort of the theme of this hunt. When I told him that you crack these eggs on peoples heads he took me very literally and cracked them on his own head.

PoPoNe not making Mason work to crack an egg on his head

After all this egg hunting fun we packed up our stuff and headed back to Pearland. It was a quick Easter trip but we had a BLAST!!!

Hope everyone had a very enjoyable Easter weekend.

A 30th to remember post 2 of 2

2011-05-02T20:36:00.011-05:00

(warning that this post is severely picture happy)

As you all know from post #1 of my 30th birthday festivities the night started out with dinner and a trip to the chocolate bar with some family and friends. Well for about a month or so my mommy bff Robyn had been telling me about how on that same night her hubby who we adoringly call Dr Rog (he is a surgical resident) had a meet and greet with the new residents at Lucky Strike bowling. Well while at the chocolate bar at around 8ish she gets a call from him saying that he left his wallet in her purse. I distinctly remember her being overly loud and saying "What your wallet is in my purse?" and digging through and pulling it out and giving me a look that said "ugh I am so annoyed with him" haha. She asks if its okay if we (me, jenny and her) go by the lucky strike real quick to take it to him before heading home. Me in my buzzed state says "Yeah lets take it to him and mingle with some residents, maybe they will let us bowl a round or two." So we go ahead and head out to Lucky Strike.

Everyone waiting for me to get there

As we walk into the bowling alley I see Dr. Rog first (he was standing in front of everyone as a decoy) and I run up the stairs all excited to see him and as I start to yell " Hey Dr. Rog" everyone starts yelling at me. haha I turn to play along and it literally takes me about 5 seconds to realize that 1. I know all these people and 2. non of them are medical residents. It was all my family and friends yelling a big fat "Surprise!"

This is before the realization

After the realization

Crying hugs for the hubby

Derrek had put together a slide show of pictures that they had playing on the screens at the end of our lanes. I could not believe the work he put into this party. It was so amazing. I found out later that it was open bar for our friends and he had pre ordered food for everyone to snack on.

This is me watching the slide show

He even bought bowling pins to give to the highest scorer and the lowest scorer. He also bought one for me and he got one for Robyn for putting in so much hard work and helping him plan this awesome event.

Here he is showing me the pins that he was going to give away. Mine is the wood grain one that he is holding in the picture.

This is the one that he presented to Robyn.

The popular drink of the night was the fish bowl.

Let the fun begin

After changing my clothes (b/c lets face it I couldn't bowl in a dress) it was time TO BOWL!!!

Dr. Rog taking his game very seriously.

My preggo friend Kim (we actually had 4 preggos at the party that night heehee)

I might look like I know what I am doing but I am the WORST bowler ever. I honestly really should have bumpers on the sides :)

This is my happy dance that I performed every time I bowled a good one. i think that only happened twice in the whole night.

This must have been after my second strike of the night

Thats right I am the BOMB

I also have to chronicle Robyn's many adventures through her fish bowl (which has now lovingly become her new nickname) I have a bad habit of teasing my dear friend over never finishing any of her adult beverages. Love you Robyn!!! But on this particular evening she came through with flying colors.

The beginning of the fish bowl

And then the progression of the disappearing fish bowl

Thats right suck it up girlfriend

The proud moment of completion. Go Robyn, Go Robyn, Go Robyn!!!!

So proud of her!!!

As the night continues i find out that it is time for cake. WHAT? He got me a cake too?? I was so impressed that he thought of every little detail. How lucky can one girl be I ask?

And here it is in all of its glory. My 30th Birthday cake!!! It was beautiful and tasted AMAZING!

A more close up view.

Is that not one gorgeous cake??

What an amazing night we all had. After it was all over Derrek told me that he had reserved a room for us at the Four Seasons (oh la la) and that we had a late checkout time so we were able to just lounge and relax the whole next day.

Here are some shots of me and some party goers.

Me, Johnna, Kim, Amanda and Colette (colette was preggo #2)

Me with my sisters and my brother Michael

me and my cousins

Me with my high school bff Iliana and her boyfriend Steven

The Karlsen's, The Burkharts (she is preggo #3) and Dr. Rog

My neighbor (and preggo #4 who delivered her son days later) Danette

Me and various bff's from my life

At the end of the night Steven got the highest scoring pin (he was in some serious competition with my dad haha) and my sister Ronnie got the lowest scoring pin :) It was everything I could have hoped for and more in a birthday party. Turning the big 3-0 turned out to be fantastic!! Thank you to Robyn and Jenny for helping with the details. Again i am one lucky girl to have such amazing friends and a HUGE thank you to my wonderful husband for giving me what I always wanted on my 30th birthday, A PARTY!!! You are so amazing and I love you so very much!!!

Now that I have kicked my 30's off in rock star fashion I have a feeling this is going to be a great decade!

A 30th to remember post 1 of 2

2011-04-26T17:43:00.004-05:00

Well I turned the big 3-0 on April 6th. And since I knew having a party was out of the question (little did I know huh) I decided that the next best thing would be to go out to dinner with some family and friends. Little did I know that this dinner was just a decoy for the real fun to happen on April 9th. Anywho, I was all excited that my birthday dinner was set for the evening of April 9th. The plan was to hit up Mi Luna (for tapas) in Rice village then to continue on to the Chocolate Bar. The best thing about this weekend was that my sister was going to have my niece's birthday party on the 10th so all of my family was coming into town and my sisters and mom got to make it to dinner too.

All the girls at dinner (sans my friend Rini who had to leave early BUT I was super glad that she made it out that night)

Me, Jenny and Robyn (these sneaky ladies were the brains behind the decoy dinner)

Me and my sisters and my cousin Jessica

Me and my mommy

At the chocolate bar with Robyn, Ashley and Sandi

We really did have a great time. Funny thing is I was the only one wearing a dress and everyone else had a good reason why they weren't :) Jenny started with "Well I was going to wear a skirt but I didnt like the way anything looked on my belly (she is preggo)" Then Robyn told me "I was going to wear one of my dresses but I haven't shaved my legs" hahaha! Truthfully I dont remember what Robyn told me but it could have been that :) Anyways in post #2 you will find out why everyone else was wearing pants. This "decoy" dinner was the perfect start to a ROCK STAR night so thanks to everyone who made it out. Lots of love to you all!!

A spoiler for an upcoming post

2011-04-25T15:25:00.002-05:00

So I know I have been a slacker blogger lately and I apologize but I do have a super long post coming up soon. I just need to put the pics on my computer so that I can blog it. Most of you know that I just turned 30 and to my (big) surprise my hubby threw me the most amazing surprise 30th birthday party. That is what my next post will be about so keep an eye out to see all the crazy silly pics from the night. :)

I have been published!!!

2011-04-04T11:40:00.001-05:00

Well at least in my own head I feel that way (really its more that I have been featured) and all before I turn 30 (haha). My Candyland Party was posted by Not Just a Housewife's Stacy on her birthday blog.

I am so excited to be a apart of this blog so go here to see my party.

Thanks so much Stacy!!

Happy 4th Birthday Mason!!

2011-04-01T20:37:00.008-05:00

Three short days ago our big boy turned 4!! I can't believe that my baby is 4 already but I am pretty sure I will say this every year until I am no longer on this earth :)

Anyway, this year Mason wanted his birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Luckily Pearland just recently got a brand new Chuck E Cheese so we didnt have to go far for this birthday extravaganza. We had his party ON his actual birthday this year. This was the very first time that we were able to do this. His birthday fell on a Tuesday but this turned out to be PERFECT. Here is why:

1. He has never had a party on his ACTUAL birthday so that was super special

2. Chuck E Cheese on a weekday is FABULOUS b/c no one and I mean NO ONE is there.

3. None of his friends are in school on Tuesdays so everyone was able to come :)

4. Having a planned weekday activity is GOLD for any stay at home mom :)

His birthday day was full of fun activity's. For activity #1 we started our morning with some of my mom's group friends at Shipley's Donuts.

As you can see he was very excited to be there.

Activity #2 for the day was his birthday party at CEC.

My birthday boy

All his guests

A bunch of the boys getting rowdy

Mason calling out the big guy himself

And here is Chuck E crowning King Mason

Time for cake and the Happy Birthday song

I love this picture b/c he looks so happy

After cake he got a special birthday medal

Here he is admiring his bling

My super handsome birthday boy

Our family picture with the big man himself sans Samantha. She was not a big fan of CEC.

After blowign out candles and singing Mason was prepped to get into the ticket blaster

I was worried this would scare him but he did awesome and was not scared at all.

By the time we got home he was super excited to see his stash. A big Thanks to everyone who came out to make Mason's party so wonderful!

Activity #3 was cupcakes with his baseball team after practice but in all my excitement I forgot to get a picture of it so on to activity #4.

Dinner at Chic Fil A! Second only to CEC is "chic a lay" (as mason calls it). So to finish out his super fun birthday day we took him there for dinner after his baseball practice.

With this whole day said and done I think it is safe to say that my not so baby boy had an AMAZING 4th birthday. Not quite sure how we will de any better next year but I guess the challenge is on :)

Happy Birthday Mason Tuck!!! Your daddy and I love you more then you know.

"T" the bionic beta

2011-03-28T15:57:00.002-05:00

Almost two years ago (when I was expecting Samantha) Mason and I went to the pet store to get him a fish. I wanted him to have his "baby" when mommy had her baby. The fish would be his responsibility just like the baby would be mommy's responsibility. Genius right? Yeah...not so much! When we first got the fish I asked Mason what he wanted to name it. Mason, not being the most verbal child at the young age of 2 years old said "T". So "T" it was :) Well needless to say since the day we brought "T" home he has basically been MY responsibility. haha!

Anyways, this beta of ours has lived almost 2 years here in our home. Poor guy has been left for long weekends and occasionally just forgotten about and yet he still lives and thrives on. I dont even have a proper fish net for him when I change his water. Poor dude gets scooped up in a ladle. Every time someone comes over they say "WOW, I cant believe that fish is still alive?" WTH is that about I ask? hahaha!!! I have to admit that I will be sad when the day comes that I have to flush the little guy into fish heaven but, on the plus side, I wont have to explain his death to the kids b/c they pretty much have no clue that he is even there (sad I know).

But, for the rest of the world out there meet "T" our bionic beta!

May he live a long and prosperous life here with us!

Sea World!!

2011-03-21T12:22:00.012-05:00

About a week and a half ago Derrek and I took the kids to Sea World San Antonio! We went with our friends the Smiths and my friend Courtney and her kids met us there too. This marked our 2nd annual SmitheRouax family vacation (last year we went to Port O Connor). With two consecutive years of vacationing under our belt it has now officially become a tradition :)

Walking in from the parking lot.

Anywho, back to our trip. We went the Thursday before Spring break and it was WONDERFUL. The park was not crowded at all. Parking was awesome and there were absolutely NO lines for any of the rides. This was the absolute best way for all the kids to experience Sea World for the first time and they all had a BLAST!!

The entrance

The LeRouax clan

As we came into the park we headed over to see the dolphins. The kids were so excited to find out that they could feed the dolphins. So we bought some fish and let them do it.

Here are the boys leaning over the side checking them all out and getting ready to feed them.

Mason and his dolphin

We then headed over to see the sharks and the coral reef exhibit. We saw stingrays, sharks and all sorts of fish in the tanks. This was a huge hit (which was not a big surprise) b/c Mason LOVES looking at aquariums and this did not disappoint.

After the sharks we headed over to our first show of the day. The Sea Lion Show. Mason LOVED this show and was hootin and hollerin the whole time.

Mason and the Smith Family caught up in watching all the action :)

This silly sea lion spit water out at the crowd. We made it a point to not sit in any of the wet zones :)

The culprit was discovered at the end of the show. Mr. Walrus!

After the show we headed over to the kid friendly section with all the small rides for the kids. The big boys wanted to ride everything! Robyn and I were the good sports that got on everything with them.

The Ferris wheel with egg shaped pods. haha

Us waving at the Smiths from our egg :)

This one lifted and dropped multiple times and surprisingly enough I thought my tummy was feeling a bit woozy after it :)

The third ride Derrek wasn't so sure the boys would be up for but they proved him wrong and it was among the top 2 that they liked. It went back and forth and spun in large circles.

Ms. Robyn getting brave :)

We also rode the carousel and the Shamu roller coaster. Roller coaster definitely was #1 on the boys list of rides. We ended up riding it like 4 times :)

Mason, Robyn and Barrett

Dr Rog and Hunter

Courtney and Claire

Me and Mason on the roller coaster

A shot of me and Robyn. The kids had to sit on the inside so we never got a good picture of them on it.

After we did all the kid rides Robyn and I decided (after lunch of all times) that it was our turn to have some grown up fun.

Here we are right before getting on the steel eel

A shot of the highest point on that ride

And here we are two tough mama's after the ride

Both big coasters were super fun and the boys did ask if they could go on them haha. Luckily (from a mommy perspective at least) they are not quite tall enough for that big time fun yet :) After all of our roller coaster fun we headed over to the big daddy show of them all SHAMU!!!

Here we all are waiting for the show to start

This really was an amazing show, and the whales are just beautiful. For the 30 or so minutes that you are watching you completely forget that they can be dangerous animals. The kids were completely enthralled by this show and watched the entire performance.

Overall we had an amazing time. The park was only open until 5pm that day but that was perfectly long enough for us. By the end of the day the kids and us parents were pooped. We were so glad that we went though and sharing it with friends made it all the better.

We hope that everyone had an enjoyable spring break.

Opening Day!

2011-03-09T14:33:00.004-06:00

March 5th 2011, the day we had been waiting for since signing Mason up for t-ball in December. OPENING DAY!! We were so excited for this day to get here and we were so proud of Mason. He did such an awesome job! We got to the park at 8 am for the parade of teams at 9am. The forecast for the day was not pleasant, cloudy with a 40% chance of rain. :( We were pretty bummed about this but we headed out to the park anyways. The day started out cloudy and sprinkling and a cold front blew in as well. All of the poor kids on the team were pretty miserable by about 8:30am but they hung in there.

Here is my little ball player all suited up

2011 ITB Cardinals

After the parade and the announcements Derrek took Mason back to the car to warm up and I set out to set up the booth that our team was responsible for which was the bean bag toss. Luckily Samantha was left at home with Mamie. This turned out to be a great thing b/c it was cold and sort of gross out and it would have been very difficult to man the booth and keep up with her as well. Thanks Mamie!! Anywho, opening day consisted of lots of fun food, games, raffles, silent auction baskets (which were so awesome) and of course the ball games. It really was a fun time!

After my shift at the booth Derrek and I got Mason some tickets and let him play the games. Since our game was at 1pm we also got lunch and went to the car to eat it and warm up a bit. At 12:30 we headed to our field for our game. I was a little worried that he may not want to go out on the field and play (keep in mind that Mason is the YOUNGEST player on his team by 5 months). There are kids on his team that are about to turn 6 and even though he is close to turning 4 he is still only 3 yrs old. Well my worries were silly b/c he didnt even hesitate to get out there.

Here they are warming up before the game

The first time they took the field Mason was at short stop

How cute is he I ask you? Full on in his little baseball player stance and everything.

Out on the field he did great. He stayed at his position and ran to the ball when it came to him. He got to bat 3 times and hit the ball on the first try every time he got up there and he remembered to drop his bat before running to 1st base.

Here he is on 3rd base with his old man as the 3rd base coach

Here he is running in for the score

He also got to play at the pitchers position

Derrek was worried about him feeling to much pressure at this position but he did amazing! He picked up two grounders and threw both to 1st base like a pro. Had we been keeping score our team definitely would have won BUT the important thing is that all the kids had fun!! We were definitely some super proud parents. He looked like such a big boy out there and he really enjoyed himself and that is what matters.

Here's to an exciting baseball season. GO CARDS!!!

The Houston Rodeo

2011-03-06T12:31:00.004-06:00

Let me start by saying that I am a born and raised Texan. With that being said I have a confession to make that may make some of you gasp so here it is, I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO THE HOUSTON RODEO!!! dun dun dun!! I know I know its shameful BUT I am proud to announce that NOW I HAVE!!! Wahoo!! Some friends and I took our kids for a day trip to the Rodeo last thursday and we LOVED IT!!! Oh what a blast we had. We went to the petting zoo, saw some pig races (loved this!! did you know that pigs eat oreos?? I had no clue and this is what the pigs raced for haha), we saw some muttin bustin (so adorable and when I asked Mason if he wanted to do this next year he quickly answered "NO") and we went and looked at the live stock animals. This is something we will definitely start doing yearly. Maybe next time daddy can go with us.

Here is Mason Petting the pot belly pig

Samantha was not having anything to do with the petting zoo

Not the best shot but here we are waiting for the pig races

The oreo cookie that the pigs race for

Mason got chosen as the team 4 cheerleader for one of the pig race rounds

This nice man let mason touch one of the baby cows in the livestock show

All the kids together. Hunt, Madeline, Brock, Samantha and Mason.

Thank you to my friends for convincing me to go with them. I wasn't 100% sure I could do it alone with the two kids but I am so glad that we did.

First t-ball practice

2011-02-23T15:57:00.005-06:00

I started looking for an activity for Mason back in the fall because he is now getting old enough to play organized sports. Derrek and I went back and forth between soccer and t-ball for a long time. Soccer would be great b/c he loves to run and is getting pretty fast BUT we were worried that he may get upset over not getting to kick the ball. T-ball would be great b/c Derrek use to play baseball and could help him and teach him BUT we were worried he may get bored when he wasn't hitting. Anywho, we went ahead and decided to go with t-ball. I started looking for programs and was very excited to find that he made the age cut off to play in Pearland Little League (yes, that is the same little league that went to the LL world series last year). So we took the plunge and registered him. At registration Derrek came home with 2 boxes of chocolate and raffle tickets to sell. Luckily, we were able to sell all the chocolate and only have 4 more raffle tickets :) February 5th they held the draft and on the 6th we got the call that Mason had been put on the Cardinals. GO CARDS!!

Well we have jumped into this t-ball thing full speed ahead. I have become a co-team mom ( I have to admit I am so excited about it heehee) and practices have started. Mason missed the first 2 b/c we were out of town but he finally got his chance yesterday. HE ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! All those little boys are so cute! Mason is actually the youngest one (by 4 months) but he is about middle upper echelon in talent (which was a huge relief for me) haha :). He had never run bases before and he picked it up quickly. He was so funny when he hit the ball and had to run and he ran to 1st base with the bat. haha! When they huddled up he had no clue where to go and stood outside of it looking around at everyone. By the end of practice though he was an old pro :)

Here he is waiting in line (kid in all grey) for his turn to run the bases

And here he is on the go :)

All the kids have to wear helmets so I have also gotten to put my craftiness to use

Needless to say I will be doing this for all the kids :) I also got to make us some shirts

Now I realize that this is NOT about me, but I am having such FUN and so is Mason! All he can say is that he wants to play baseball with his helmet. I am hoping that this means that we made a good choice. Opening day is March 5th and that will be his first chance to play a real game. We are so excited about this new time in our life and we are looking forward to watching our little all star learn and grow.

Happy baseball season to you all :)

Valentines Day and other activities

2011-02-15T14:23:00.004-06:00

Happy Valentines Day!! I hope everyone had a great one. Ours started out last week with a Valentine's playdate at my friend Jenny's house. Her daughter Bekah is alway the sweetest little hostess and they always have fun activities for us to do.

Here are all the kids decorating their heart shaped cookies

Samantha's cookie

Mason's cookie

This past weekend I rushed to get teacher gifts together b/c I had totally procrastinated getting them done and I came across a cute and quick idea on Lemon Annie's blog. Decorative hand sanitizer bottles. I mean what teacher would not appreciate hand sanitizer in a class with a bunch of little hands that want to touch everything. So my trusty cricut and I went to work and here are the finished products.

I really was very pleased with how they came out. The only thing I will think more about next time is the color of the tops. The orange top completely clashes with the pink and red. Oh well!

This year for Valentine's Day instead of Derrek and I going out to a romantic dinner where we would have both eaten way to much haha we decided to make it a family affair. The Chic Fil A in Pearland (which happens to be the most awesome CFA around) was doing it up romantic family style for this holiday. You could make a reservation online and you would get table side service :) so i made a reservation for 5pm and we headed over to the local CFA for our fancy chicken sandwich dinner.

How fun to have our name reserving our table.

And they even put table cloths and everything

All in all we had a great (and busy) Valentine's Day. I wish I had gotten a picture of us while we were there but oh well, coulda, woulda, shoulda huh?

Happy Love Day Everyone!!

Cupcake Love and my 100th post

2011-02-04T20:25:00.003-06:00

I am happy to share with everyone that this is my 100th blog post. I am sort of shocked actually b/c I just realized that I have been blogging for over a year. Who would have thought that I would stick with it so long? When I first started I wasn't so sure about it but it looked like fun so I jumped right in. I'm really glad I did and I appreciate everyone who reads about Life with the LeRouax's. :)

Now on to the cupcake love. The pictures will explain it all.

Is that not one happy little lady?

Making sure she gets all the chocolate off her fingers too

Loving her cupcake!!

Stay warm and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Etsy shop relaunch

2011-01-19T23:21:00.003-06:00

So I have finally gotten my act together (well sort of) and am in the process of adding things to relaunch my etsy shop. If you are so inclined to take a look please click the link below

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Homemadewithheart

In honor of my relaunch on etsy I am giving a 10% discount on everything that I have available. Just use coupon code RELAUNCH10.

Thanks so much!!

Sushi and Spring Rolls

2011-01-15T21:07:00.003-06:00

About a year ago a friend of mine in my mom's group hosted a cooking night and she was teaching us how to make sushi. I was so excited that I got to attend. It is a bit time consuming but so EASY!! Then, one evening when I was teaching my sisters how to do it they taught me how to make spring rolls. Well about 2 weeks ago I had a hankering for both sushi and spring rolls so that is what I made for dinner.

Here is the proof that I made it myself.

My completed spring rolls in the fridge

My rolled up california rolls

My completed dinner

It turned out so yummy. I have to admit that I was quite proud of myself. I am always willing to do this again so if anyone wants a lesson, call me! heehee :)

Christmas 2010

2011-01-10T20:16:00.006-06:00

Christmas 2010

What an amazing and lazy day we had (just as Christmas day should be). Here is our set up from Santa

That morning Mason came all the way down to our room and didnt even realize all the presents were under the tree. haha Poor kid must have still been a bit woozy from just waking up :) So Derrek and I got up and took him back upstairs to wait for Samantha to wake up. Once she was up and her diaper was changed Mamie (Derrek's mom) go this picture of the kids realizing that Santa had come

So we made our way down the stairs with the two of them (Yes, Samantha has a bow in her hair)

Here are the kids about to enter the den. Dont you love their matching girl/boy santa jammies?

Samantha was so funny b/c she walked right up to the tricycle and just knew it was for her

Here we all are looking at the stash and Samantha is ready to get started

No patience for Mason he was ready to go

Samantha getting into her goodies

Both Kids checking out Mason's new woody doll

And Mason trying out the fit on his new bike helmet

Woody or My little Pony?? Such difficult decisions haha

Here is where things got interesting for us.

Derrek is opening Mason's new Leapster Explorer (by far his most favorite gift from Santa). Once it was set up and ready to play we had to stop opening presents for about 15 minutes for this

Notice Samantha in the background checking out her new ride.So while brother was playing his new game Samantha checked out her favorite present from Santa

Doesn't she look so excited? She loves her new trike! Bonus of all Bonus it is also a rocker

So we tried that out too. While Mason was still playing his game everyone else decided to jump into our stockings and see what other little goodies we had gotten from Santa

Me and Derrek (side note about our stockings, they are all except Samantha's which is under construction needle pointed by my mother in law and they are BEAUTIFUL)

Wesley (derrek's brother)

Samantha

Once we (everyone but Mason) got through our stocking he decided that he was willing to open some more presents

After all the gifts were open we moved on to our big breakfast (this is a tradition from when I was little and I LOVE LOVE LOVE big christmas morning breakfast). We had sausage, bacon, egg, monkey bread, sopapilla cheesecake, milk and eggnog. We then proceeded to stay in jammies and play with toys all day. It really was a great day and the kids had a blast. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas 2010!

Christmas Eve and Cookies for Santa

2011-01-06T20:43:00.005-06:00

Christmas Eve started out as pretty regular feeling day until about 2pm. While the kids were napping Derrek and I started to get ready for church. We were headed to the 4pm children's service at our church. This service is great because it is of course kid friendly and doesn't last nearly as long as a regular service. They even had cake at the end of it in honor of Jesus's Birthday! It was a great service and the kids did a good job staying close and relatively quiet :)

When we got home Derrek's mom and brother had been busy cooking dinner. I have a thing about dressing up for Christmas Eve and everyone was nice enough to humor me. We also ate in the dining room on my Spode China. We dont get fancy very often but it really is so much fun when we do. After eating our fabulous dinner of prime rib (YUM!!) I changed the kids into their jammies and they got to open all their presents from their Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents etc... We do these gifts on Christmas Eve so that we can keep them separate from Santa gifts on Christmas Day. Everyone was also nice enough to humor me with a photo shoot too :)

My gorgeous girl (this dress was so cute b/c it had a little bell attached to the bottom inside and every time she moved it jingled)

Me and my babies

My little family

Derrek, Mason and Wesley (Derrek's brother)

Not sure why I have no pictures of them opening their gifts that night but oh well. After all was said and done and Samantha was in bed, Mason and I got to work on making cookies for Santa.

Here we are on the kitchen floor getting it all set up

Separating our cookies (they were actually brownie bites) heehee

Mason was in bed by the time they came out of the oven so I put them on my Spode Cookies for Santa plate and left them out for the big guy. We had a great Christmas Eve with family and hope eveyones was just as good.

Boot Camp Christmas Party and a Train ride in Manvel

2011-01-03T21:47:00.005-06:00

Here I am again running WAY behind on my blogging. Ah well :) This past summer (aka summer 2010) I was invited by my friend Amanda to start working out with some mommies she had met at a playgroup at Womens Hospital. They call it boot camp (and for good reason heehee) and it is done in the garage of one of the mommies. First of all let me just say that I LOVE this group of ladies!! They are so sweet, so easy to get along with and just all around FUN! Since school started I have not been able to attend boot camp very much b/c they start at 8am and Mason has to be at school by 8:30am. However, since I am still considered part of the group I still get invited to all the extra things that they do, thus our Boot Camp Christmas Party. Amanda graciously hosted and even recruited her brother to play Santa. All the kids in this group are Samantha's age so we knew that having Santa in the house was risky but I have to admit it turned out to be the most hilarious moment of the entire party (you will see why in a bit). We even had gifts for Santa to hand out and they still were not having it. Anywho, we had great food, great company and a great party all around.

The favorite toy of the night was the purple ball

Our attempt at trying to get a picture of just the kids haha

All the Boot Camp mommies and their babies. I am the only one with 2 kids but hopefully by the end of 2011 that will no longer be the case :)

Samantha's ruffle butt bloomers are so cute I had to post a picture

Mason with Santa

Samantha with Santa HAHAHAHA!!! This is basically what ALL the kids looked like when they were up there with him. All we (the parents) could do was laugh uncontrollably. I hope we haven't damaged them for life :)

The next day I took the kids out to the Manvel Library b/c they were doing a Polar Express Day. First we went to story time where they read The Polar Express and then they had a little train for the kids to ride out in the parking lot. Our good friends the Smith's met us out there to ride the train and fun was had by all. Well almost all!

Here they all are waiting for their turn

Here is what the little train looked like. I think its pretty cute.

Mason and Samantha in the Caboose of the train. See how Samantha is trying to make a get away? She is the "almost all" in the above fun statement.

Taking their 1st ride

Barrett and Mason taking ride #2.

A big thanks to my moms group for letting us know about this cute little event. We had so many fun things going on this holiday season. It was nice to stay busy and have the month pass quickly to get us to the big day :)

Christmas Train

2010-12-29T21:04:00.004-06:00

My goodness I am so behind on my blogging :) On December 16th Derrek and I took the kids down to Alvin to ride the Christmas Train at Living Stones Church. To make this event even better our good friends The Smith's went with us. Mason was so excited that he was going to get to take a train ride (kid loves riding trains heehee). Anyways, it was a cute and inexpensive christmas activity for us and fun was had by all. When you got there they had snacks that you could purchase and a little ( i do mean little) shop that you could browse through. In the back of the buildign they had Santa's wonderland set up for pictures with Santa.

Here is my attempt to get a picture of the kids with the pretty decorations. Samantha is very hard to photograph these days. Child does not want to stand still.

We went and bought our tickets and waited for our color to be called (all the tickets were color coordinated to specific times that the train ran).

Here is Mason showing me his ticket

Hunter, Mason and Barrett standing in front of a decorative train holding their tickets.

We were the second train ride of the night so once we realized that it was almost our turn we headed outside to wait for our color to be called. It wasn't long after we got outside that we were able to get on the train, but how cute do they all look waiting patiently in their rocking chairs?:)

This is the one and only picture I have once we got on the train b/c my camera died but here they are all excited and ready to go :)

The train ride was about 12 minutes long and it drove us through a bunch of light tunnels and scene set ups of gingerbread homes and nativity scene's. The kids loved all the lights and made it a point to scream out every single thing they saw. haha.

The church has a pizza parlor on site too so after our ride we all went over and had some pizza. It was a great family fun night with great friends. We will definitely be going back next year :)

Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday!!

Attending our first Christmas program

2010-12-14T14:45:00.003-06:00

Now that Mason is in Pre K-3 its a little bit more like real school instead of just mothers day out. So this year his class got to participate in a Christmas program. Wahoo!!! I was finally getting to attend my first program for my son. I was so excited!! Would he sing? Would he cry? Would he pick his nose? haha I was very pleasantly surprised to see that he did sing and he did all the hand motions that went with the songs. They only sang 4 little songs b/c lets face it, when you are trying to get 20 or so 3 year olds to stay still and sing while their parents are watching you gotta make it short and sweet. I have yet to figure out how to get my video camera to transfer to my computer but here are some pictures of the day.

He was actually front and center

Giving a little wave :)

Smiling it up

The best I could get of the two together

My handsome boy. I was bit shocked that he agreed to wear the reindeer sweater but I am glad he did b/c he looked so cute!!

Happy Holidays!!

Our new Winter trend

2010-12-06T21:12:00.004-06:00

Now that it has gotten a little bit chilly outside we have had to cover some little heads. But dont worry it has not stopped me from still putting bows on Samantha's head :) Thus our newest winter trend

Funny thing is that I thought that everybody did this, but we have gone multiple places where people have commented about what a great idea it is to get a hat that you can still attach bows too. Look at me starting a trend that I'm pretty sure already exists. haha :)

Stay warm friends!

Where's Samantha?

2010-12-04T20:53:00.004-06:00

I was sitting at the dinner table talking to my mother in law the other night and we were lost in conversation. Mason was up stairs and I had seen Samantha walk into the den and didnt think much of it. So in the middle of our conversation my mother in law asks "Where's Samantha?" my first response was that I had put her to sleep but then I remembered that I hadn't so we get up b/c it was really quiet in the whole house and I say " I saw her come into the den" and low and behold she was going through my whole wallet and pulling EVERYTHING out.

(i had pictures but you could see on of my Credit cards and my license which is not safe on the internet :) )

But, oh what fun rummaging through mommy's wallet can be :) I kid you not she was perfectly silent for like 15 minutes just going through all of this stuff. I have to admit that it was pretty funny. So if ever want to entertain your child...j/k this is so not my recommendation of how to do it :)

A family photo shoot

2010-12-01T20:27:00.007-06:00

We have never had a family photo shoot (crazy I know) so needless to say it was definitely time. Lucky for me I have two talented friends who were running a holiday special. A full session with Amy Garret of Sweet Pea Photography and a christmas card created by Julie Melancon of Sweet Petite Designs . Both Ladies did an amazing job. I loved them all but here are some of my most favorite shots.

The picture at the top of the blog is also one of my favs. Thank you again Amy and Julie!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-25T21:49:00.004-06:00

What a wonderful day we had. This was our 1st annual GRWL Thanksgiving Celebration. What does GRWL stand for you may be asking yourself? G-gonzalez, R-rapp, W-Woodward, L-LeRouax. All of the families put together :)

We headed over to my sister Ronnie's house at about 11 am to help with the cooking and so the kids could play. We ate our Thanksgiving feast at 2pm and it was so delicious.

Here is the kids table

The adults table

How cute is this turkey? This was the appetizers for the kids

All of the cousins dont get to play together very often so it is always a great time when we can get them all together. They are certainly on their way to being the best of friends :)

Nathan, Samantha and Madison

Mason, Matthew and Zachary

Not the best picture but this is all the kids together

My little family

We did desserts about 2 hours later and my goodness we had some major yumminess. Cheesecakes, cake balls, pecan pie, pumpkin creme caramel, pumpkin pie, chocolate creme pie and the list could still go on and on.

As I type I am finishing my day off by watching the Aggies beat the longhorns (now thats a great ending to a great day if you ask me heehee)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Wedding Weekend Fun

2010-11-17T21:04:00.004-06:00

Two weeks ago my best friend Lynda got married in San Antonio. We had the best time! It was so nice to have a little vacation and to not have to worry about the kids (who stayed with my mother in law for the weekend).

We headed out early Friday to make sure we had time to check into our hotel, rest a little and get to the rehearsal on time. We stayed at The Hotel Indigo at the Alamo. We really really enjoyed the hotel and its location. We could see the Alamo from our window and were literally only about 2 blocks from the Riverwalk. Yes, we totally did the tourist thing and took pictures at both places haha :)

Derrek and I at the rehearsal dinner

Me and the bride (my bestie for 23 years and counting)

Derrek and I did some walking around after the rehearsal. Here we are at the Alamo.

The day of the wedding we got up and got to take our time. We went down to the riverwalk and had a nice leisurely breakfast then came back to the hotel and watched some gameday on ESPN, then we got ready for the wedding.

The Riverwalk. Derrek refused to be in this picture with me.

The bride and groom at the reception

Me and the hubs :)

Lynda and I with our men :)

Another great part about this wedding was that almost all of my family was there too. It was great to get to see them.

Joshua, Ronnie, Me and Michael

4 out of 6 kids with my parents

Overall we had a wonderful weekend. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast. The dress I wore was absolutely flattering and a beautiful color. We got to hang with the family and feel like we were on vacation all in one :)

CONGRATULATIONS CHRIS AND LYNDA!!!

Halloween Weekend (picture overload)

2010-11-03T21:33:00.008-05:00

Holy crazy busyness is all I have to say about our Halloween weekend. But it really was a BLAST!! It started the morning of Friday the 29th. I dropped Mason off at school and then Samantha and I headed off to Zoo Boo with my mom's group. For Zoo Boo she was dressed as a ballerina (this was her back up costume). It was a super cute event and we will definitely be hitting it up every year. Friday evening I dressed Mason up in his Buzz lightyear costume and we headed to my sisters house for Halloween party #1.

Here they are getting ready to go and all dressed up

To infinity and beyond!

Saturday morning we met up with our friends The Smith's and went to the Pumpkin Chunkin Festival at Mason's school. Yes, it really is all about pumpkin chunking. It was so cool to watch the giant trebuche launch those pumpkins. This is festival #1 of the weekend.

Samantha in her Halloween themed outfit. Aren't those baby legs so cute??

A close up of her cuteness

The boys watching the pumpkins fly through the air (from left Hunter, Mason and Barrett)

Mason, Samantha and Mommy on the train

look how cute she looks standing up in the train car

A shot of the whole train

Mason playing some of the games

Then a fire truck pulled up ( the firefighters must have needed some food or something b/c they were not there for very long) so we took the opportunity to go and take a look.

When the excitement of the fire truck wore off it was back to the games and fun activities

And what better way is there to end a morning then getting an ice cream that is practically the size of your face :)

Saturday evening we once again met up with our friends The Smiths and hit up the fall fest (aka festival #2) at FUMC. Mason was again Buzz Lightyear but Samantha was now in her real costume and was Minnie Mouse. At the end of this festival the kids were going to go around to the sunday school rooms to trick or treat and I volunteered to decorate the door to our sunday school classes room.

It really did come out cute and the best part was that I had all of the stuff I used in my house and didnt have to buy anything :)

here are the kids in front of the door

When the Smiths arrived all cuteness took over b/c (and I will shamelessly take all credit for this idea) Hunter (who is betrothed to Samantha) was the Mickey to her Minnie! These photos are going to be 100% priceless one day in a wedding slide show. We got so many compliments about how adorable they were together.

With all the fuss over how adorable Micky and Minnie were we certainly dont want to leave out the other big brother, Barrett. Here he is as Spiderman.

Another one of Samantha in all her cuteness as Minnie Mouse

Sunday morning was pretty low key but at 3:30pm th efun began again as we headed to The Rutledge House for Halloween party #2. It was a great shindig and the kids had a blast unfortunately I have no pictures of this fun event though :( Sorry Carey! As 5:15pm rolled around we headed off to Halloween party #3 at the Harris household. This party was being thrown by some lovely mommies that I unfortunately dont get to hang out with very much. I use to work out with them in the mornings before school started up again. Oh how I miss those workouts b/c I am very much needing them. Anyways, they too did an amazing job decorating and throwing a fun filled bash. Here are some group shots of the kids.

When we got there Mason was excited that his friend Hayden (who he goes to school with) was there. Small world but Hayden lives next door to the Harris's. Not sure if you can see it on his wheel chair but Hayden had the wheel of fortune game on the wheels. It was so cute (and creative) he even let Mason spin the wheel. heehee!

The little ones

Our one and only family picture from Halloween.

We were only able to hit about 2 houses with our friends at this party b/c Samantha was getting restless. So, we came home and put her to bed and I took Mason trick or treating in our neighborhood (big thanks to Valerie for the embroidered trick or treat bags).

We were so excited to see so many kids out and about this year. We even got rid of ALL of our candy. Wahoo!!!

On Monday (Nov 1) (thats right the fun is still not over) after picking up Mason at school I dressed them up one last time (at least we got our money's worth) and headed to my mom's group halloween party (aka party #4). I again have no pictures of this one, but it was also a ton of fun with a bounce house, pinata's and crafts.

Well there you have it, a fun filled and extremely busy Halloween weekend. We managed to make it through in one piece and we are anxiously awaiting all the fun festivities that next year may have to offer.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun filled Halloween!!

Bachelorette Party Fun

2010-11-01T19:54:00.006-05:00

So my best friend Lynda is getting married November 6th. I have known this wonderful girl for 23 years! 23 years?? We will literally have a 50 year friend anniversary some day and we are so throwing a party for ourselves when it happens. haha! Anyways, two weeks ago I headed to San Antonio for her bachelorette party. What a blast we had. We started the night at her sister Lisa's house for the lingerie part of the party.

The banner I made for her. It says " Future Mrs Del Valle"

Tasty goodness

The favors that I made for everyone. So CUTE right??

Some of the girls waiting for the bride to show up

The bride has arrived

Me and the bride. BFF's!!

Me and Rubi and Andy

Me and my sisters, Ronnie(on the left) and Venessa (on the right)

All the girls before we headed out to the river walk

The bride on the piano's at Pat O's.

The Aggie girls of the group sawing varsity's horns off :)

We had a great time celebrating Lynda's last party time outing as a bachelorette. The wedding is this weekend and I know she will be a beautiful bride. Fun will definitely be had :)

Buzz Lightyear in the House

2010-10-24T19:51:00.003-05:00

We took Mason to pick out his Halloween costume early in the month. What did he choose? Buzz Lightyear of course :) He is all the rage these days haha j/k. Anyways, he is so cute in his costume and he even poses and everything. With Halloween coming up this next weekend I thought I would show him off a little early.

Haha obviously not his costume. This is the cut out that they had at the store so we took his picture in it :)

Our Buzz with his Buzz

To Infinity and Beyond!

Happy Halloween!! Be safe!!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-18T18:42:00.003-05:00

This is probably the quickest I have ever actually written a blog after doing the event that I am blogging about haha :) This evening we took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch at the church at Mason's school. Mason had a really good time running around in all the pumpkins and they even gave him a wagon to pull around for all of our pumpkins. They even have a picture op area fully set up and decorated.

Daddy and the kids

Mason and Samantha

Mommy and the kids

Our happy little family

Happy Almost Halloween!!!

One big Aggie Family

2010-10-14T15:24:00.004-05:00

This has basically become our weekend wardrobe :) And feel free to be shocked when you see the picture of all 4 of us together. haha! We always seem to forget to take a family picture.

My adorable Aggie babies!

One cute Aggie Family

Mommy Aggie and her aggie babies

Oh goodness!!

Father and Son bonding

2010-10-10T08:22:00.003-05:00

Mason was out riding his bike one day and the plastic piece that covers the chain broke. We weren't very surprised by this b/c it broke at the dinky little spot that held it against the metal frame. Anyways, at this discovery Mason came straight up to his daddy and said "Daddy it broke and we have to fix it". SO CUTE!! So daddy of course pulled out the needed tools and the two of them got straight to work. It took less then 10 minutes to fix but it was a good bonding experience just the same :)

Daddy drilling a hole in the plastic so that he can zip tie it back tot he metal frame

Mason holding it steady during the zip tie pocess

Daddy zip tying it and Mason watching very intently

All done and the bike is good as new (if not better heehee)

A big shout out

2010-10-08T20:16:00.002-05:00

To ROBYN SMITH!!! This lovely lady spent 2.5 hours on one of her two childless mornings of the week with her elbows in chocolate helping me prepare for Samantha's party.

I mentioned everyone but her in my birthday post. SORRY FRIEND!!

Samantha's Candyland Celebration

2010-10-06T10:17:00.012-05:00

So now that you have seen all of the components of the party, lets put them all together shall we :) Here is Samantha's Candyland Celebration!!!

In the front yard as you walked up the drive on the left was The Gingerbread Tree

and Lollipop Lane

Here is the front door entry

A close up of her door sign hanging on the door

As you walked through the front door you got a glimpse of Gum Drop Pass

A close up of the signs I made to label everything

But Upon entry to your immediate left was

The whole buffet

The right side

the center with a sign that I made that says " Thank you for making my day so sweet, dont forget to take some treats"

and the left

After all the oohs and aahs at the buffet you then immediately ran into the face painting station. A HUGE thanks to Derrek's cousin Jennifer (who majored in Art and is an art teacher) for face painting all the kids.She did an awesome job!

My nephew Zachary getting his face painted

Mason getting in on the action. A big shout out to my friend Jenny for making Mason's ADORABLE shirt!! Thanks Jenny it was a huge hit!

The finished look

Even the birthday girl got in on the fun and had a tiara painted on her forehead. Here she is with her Ya-Ya.

Just past the Candy shop and to the left of the face painting station was the drink station

As you passed through Gum drop Pass you came upon the make your own gingerbread table

And behind that was her happy birthday banner. All of her presents got place underneath this area at the bottom of the fire place.

And to the right of Gum drop Pass was the Peppermint Forest Potty.Thats right even the potty got a festive make over for this party. heehee

To the left of Gum drop Pass was our food station. We had rainbow goldfish, pin wheels, Pb&j sandwiches cut in the shape of gingerbreads, a veggie platter and in the far right you can see the chocolate fountain with the fruit to dip in it. The fountain had a sign over it that said Chocolate Swamp Fountain but I dont have a picture of it running or of the sign :( It was really awesome though and worked great!! A big shout out to my sister Ronnie for making me all the adorable table runners!! Thanks sister!!

Just past the food are was the Dessert Table. This was the table I was second most proud of. Doesn't it look so pretty? We had the rainbow frosted cupcakes, Samantha's Smash cake, chocolate covered rice krispy balls, eclairs, cream puffs and white chocolate covered popcorn. DELISH!!! A big thanks to my friend Heather for the giant ice cream cones.

As you headed into the backyard there was King Kandy's Castle and a jumping house to the right of it. This part kills me b/c I have pictures that i took in the back yard BUT I completely forgot to get pictures of my adorable centerpieces and the large candies hanging :( This just makes me want to cry. We also had a beer cooler that had a sign on it that said Adult Liquid Candy on it. haha I crack myself up :)

Now its time for cake. We had to hold her arms down while we sang b/c she wanted to grab the candle. This is also a good shot of her high chair banner that i made her.

At first she wasn't quite sure what to think of it all. I absolutely adore this picture b/c she looks so happy.

She started out slow

and got a little taste

Then I cut a piece of it to make it easier for her

and the girl went to town

But wait I forgot to get a family picture. Hurry do it now in the middle of Samantha chowing down on cake.

As you can see once she figured out that it wasn't going to get taken away from her

She had the best time eating it. Child ate about 1/4 of it by herself before we did have to take it away from her. haha! My girl sure can eat :)

Mommy with the Birthday girl

Thank you to everyone who made my precious girls 1st birthday so wonderful and memorable. We were so glad to get to share it with so many of our family and friends!!!

Components of a Candyland Wonderland

2010-10-02T14:09:00.000-05:00

As you know Samantha just turned 1. I started planning for this celebration 3 months ago. The theme: CANDYLAND!! The second I picked this theme I knew I was in trouble. heehee :) The possibilities for this are ENDLESS!! So I started to google and get ideas. Holy Moly!! Every single party I found with this theme was incredible. I wanted so badly for my party to be just as fantastic for my little princess as the ones I had scene online. So I got to work (literally). I ended up making more then half the stuff I used for the party just to try and cut down on the cost. I think that I did succeed in keeping the cost down too. Don't get me wrong it was still a bit costly BUT it could have been so much worse :) So lets begin shall we

The invitations

I wish I could say this is an original idea but it is not. I did however change things up a bit to make it my own. I got the idea from Divine Party Concepts who got it from Hostess with the Mostess. I searched for 2 weeks to find the perfect striped paper to use and this in turn decided my color theme with was basically the colors of the rainbow and pink (as you can see in my rainbow of invitations picture above heehee). As I continued my online searches I kept coming across candy buffett's, banners, cupcake toppers, water bottle lables etc... I of course wanted to have all of these things for Samantha's party so I went ahead and purchased a download version of Photoshop elements to help me with some of these things and of course my trusty Cricut came in VERY handy as well.

Let's start with the candy buffet. How do you even choose which candy to use I ask? It was very difficult and I still ended up with close to 16 different things I think but it was so cute and totally worth it. First I needed jars. Well I wasn't about to spend $10-15 per jar so I went in search of them at Goodwill and Salvation army stores. This worked out GREAT b/c I didnt spend more then $2.99 on a single one of the jars I used. Pretty good huh? Well now they were going to need labels. So I got right to work on my cricut. Because i had a rainbow theme every label was a different color and then I had the bright idea to do the candy names in multi-color too. This took forever but I am so glad I did it b/c it looked so adorable (if I do say so myself).

The candy buffet slowly coming together

Close up of some of the tags

Yes, I cut out every single letter out of paper and ran them through my xyron sticker maker and stuck them on there by hand. Hello my name is Emily and sometimes I get a bit CRAZY haha :)

The bags that I got for people to put candy in were so cute b/c they literally were candy shop bags. I think I ordered them from Bake it Pretty but of course I cant find them on the site at the moment. I made the scalloped circle on my cricut for the the tags but the sticker that is on the scalloped circle I got from Sweet Petite Designs. She also did my Thank you notes and my return address labels.

A close up of the super cute tags.

Thank you's!

Well now that I had this great Candy buffet coming together I had to have a banner letting all my guests know what it was. I titled it Samantha's Candy Shop and went to work on a banner for her along with a highchair banner and a regular Happy Birthday Banner. I see these adorable banners on etsy all the time and they dont come cheap so I know I saved money by doing it myself. I was very pleased with the way it turned out. You will get to see the other banners in the birthday party post I will do soon :)

Some of the other little details that I ended up making myself were cupcake toppers, water bottle labels, some (though not all) thank you tags for the favors, a door sign and station signs. You will understand the station signs better when I post the pictures of the actual birthday party but here are some pictures of the other items I made.

The cupcake toppers. This is where photoshop elements came in handy. Sorry the picture is the wrong direction but I have no clue how to rotate it.

Water bottle labels. I even self laminated them and it did sort of work but I think it wasn't 100% successful b/c I cut them to close to the paper and they didnt have enough room to seal properly. oh well :) I got the idea to make these myself from Glorious Treats.

A close up of the label

Door hanger

Extra Thank you tags that I attached to the favors for the kids.

Now that I was all set up with the little inside details it was time to move to the outside. Bring on the big decorations :) Most of these decoration ideas came from seeing them online as well. They really were all so adorable and most of them didn't take long at all. I had lollipops lining my walkway to the door, giant candies hanging from our pergola in the back yard, flat candies just placed randomly in the house, giant plastic ice cream cones courtesy of a friend of mine and the most work intensive of them all was the lollipop topiaries.

Giant lollipops. I got off easy with these b/c my sister let me borrow her wooden christmas colored lollipop that I covered in colored tissue paper and then covered in colored cellophane.

Giant candies that hung from the pergola in the back yard. These are a Martha Stewart idea I think and were very easy to make. Its a paper lantern covered in cellophane and tied on the ends to look like a giant candy. I hung them with fishing line.

Giant plastic ice cream cones! How adorable are these? All I had to do was add the ribbon to them and TADA! I was fortunate enough to get these from a very sweet friend of mine who is a store manager. They did a swet side of summer promotion and hung these in the windows. She was going to throw them out before remembering the theme of my birthday party. How awesome is she I ask? Thanks so much to my friend!!

And last but not least are my lollipop topiaries. SO CUTE!! and such a pain in the patookie to make haha. I was so lucky to find the tin holders that I put them in at Hobby Lobby. They were in the gardening section on clearance and there were 4 of them, a pink, blue, purple and green. It was like they were just waiting for me to come and buy them :) It took 2 large bags from SAMS and 1 regular sized bag of dum dums to make the 4 topiaries. I had two 6" and two 4". They were completely cute though and totally worth the effort of making them. I would do it again in a heart beat.

4" on the left and 6" on the right

The last thing I made for this party was a bow for the birthday girl. I had ordered two types of lollipop ribbon early on so that I would have options when it came to matching her dress. Here is the ribbon I went with

And here is the dress she wore with it

Well there it is :) all the components that make up a CandyLand Wonderland. I did make additional centerpieces but (and this makes me want to cry) I didnt get a single picture of them. I was so busy running around on party day that even though the thought to take the pictures crossed my mind it just never happened. SO SAD but what can ya do?

Stay tuned for the actual party pictures to see all these party components in action :)

The Big ONE

2010-09-29T19:05:00.000-05:00

Well I cant believe that it has actually been a year but SAMANTHA RYAN LEROUAX is ONE! It still feels like yesterday that Derrek and I were walking into the hospital to be prepped for the delivery of our baby girl. Its amazing that it has only been a year and I can barely remember my life without her in it. Being a parent is truly amazing and I am so grateful that god gave Derrek and I this beautiful little miracle. Here is a look back at her first year.

Leaving for the hospital

Our baby girl is here and looking a lot like her brother

Our little flower is 1 month old

two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Five months old

Six months old

Seven months old

Eight months old

nine months old

Ten months old

Eleven months

Twelve months old

As the parent you dont realize how much your child changes in a year until you look back at pictures. Everyone kept telling me how much hair she was getting and I didnt even realize it half the time. This year just flew by in a blink of an eye.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY GORGEOUS GIRL!!! We love you very much!!

P.S.- stay tuned for party prep and party pics coming soon :)

The Curlhawk

2010-09-26T20:06:00.001-05:00

Some kids make a statement with their mowhawks well my daughter has decided to make a statement with her curlhawk. haha!!

Sorry for the slight nakedness but it is always the best after a bath :)

She could give Mr. T a run for his money with this curlhawk of hers :)

not everyone could pull this look off and look cute but I think she does it pretty well.

Have a great week everyone!

Big boy bike

2010-09-22T21:12:00.001-05:00

We had a garage sale a few weeks ago and sold Mason's tricycle. Sounds mean of us I know but he was way to big for it. Poor kid could barely get moving on it b/c his knees were hitting the handle bars. Anyways, since school was about to start at the time we were going to get him a new one we told him that if he did good the first week and didnt cry and was a big boy (since he was starting at a new school) that we would get him a big boy bike. Well since he did great we kept our word. We headed to Walmart to get him a new ride. We put him on the 12" one and it worked great but we were worried he looked to close to growing out of it so we put him on teh 16" one. He has to point his toes a little bit but this was definitely the one for him. He wanted to ride it all over the store but we got him home as soon as we could so that he could show off his skills on his new big boy bike with training wheels.

getting ready to go

on the move

look at him go

All smiles on his new bike

Daddy getting in on the action to help him turn around

Now daddy is getting a workout :)

This was about the time he was yelling " Move over mommy I'm coming through" haha

He is definitely loving his new bike and we are looking forward to the cooler weather so that he can be out on it much much more.

Happy Fall everyone!!

Stickers

2010-09-05T20:49:00.001-05:00

Who doesn't love it when their child who is suppose to be napping comes out of their room looking like this

Gotta love you some stickers! :)

Horns? Antennae? Nope its...

2010-08-27T12:47:00.000-05:00

ITTY BITTY PIGGIES!!! haha!

The other day I got adventurous with Samantha's hair and wanted to see if I could get it into two little piggies. I DID!!! They are tiny and they curl over but I was just so excited that she had enough hair up top to do it with. We will now be able to use a lot more of her bows now :)

A close up of the piggies.

How can you not just smile at this picture?

Mason w/ Samantha and her piggies :)

First Day of School

2010-08-23T11:38:00.000-05:00

Today was Mason's first day of Pre-K 3. I was a little worried about starting this year for a few reasons:

1. He is not attending the school that he has been at for the past two years. I switched him to a new school this year b/c we wanted a 3 day a week program for him.

2. With the switch of a new school means he now has to make all new friends at this new school. The saving grace is that there is one little boy in his class that also switched from his old school so he did have 1 friend already.

3. For the past few weeks he has been saying that he "does not want to go to school." Not a good thing :)

BUT, he did great!! He was a little shy in the beginning (which I expected) but he didn't cry. WAHOO!! He walked in and talked to his teacher, then he gave her the beginning of school gift I made her and she measured him on the wall to see how tall he was. We put his back pack up and he went and started to play. When the time came to say goodbye I think he was surprised that I was still there haha :) I think he will have a great day and an amazing year at his new school.

Hope everyone had as great of a first day morning as we did!!

Here he is all ready for school :)

My goodness he is a handsome boy! Silly, but handsome!

This is the gift that I made his teacher. She mentioned at the meet the teacher that she is allergic to everything. I believe she said that " she loves the little yellow flowers but they dont love her" so I made her some flowers she could enjoy, a paper flower bouquet :)

Then I attached a tag to it that says "Here is to a great school year that will allow you to enjoy all the new blossoms in your room" Then I put Mason's name, the school year and his school days.

" Mommy, I'm Awesome!!"

2010-08-17T08:39:00.000-05:00

Mason has been taking swimming lessons all summer long. He is about to move up from his goldfish class to the dolphin class(beg. of Sept) so he recently had to go through a series of 3 float tests. When float testing the child has to either float for 5 minutes or make their way to the side of the pool and turn over to face the wall while wearing street clothes. I have to admit that these float tests are pretty hard core and as an adult I am not sure I would have passed all three of them. Anyways, before he started his float testing I was talking to him about them and everything that he was going to have to do for them. I told him that after each float test they were going to ring the bell for him at the pool b/c he would have done such a great job and because he is so awesome. Little did I know that the second of those two things was going to stick with him like glue :) .

His first float test he had to wear a short sleeve shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. He kicked his way to the side of the pool relatively quickly in this test and we had no problems. They rang the bell for him and changed him (he had his swim trunks on already) and he continued with his lesson.

The second test he had to wear a light weight pant, short sleeve shirt and tennis shoes. This second test Mason passed and mommy failed! He did not make it over the wall as fast as he did the first time ( I am sure the pants had something to do with that) and there was a point in his test when he went under. Well here I am in the observation area watching my child struggle and go underwater and I FREAKED out. I started yelling at the glass I am looking through "He's sinking, He's sinking, he's sinking!" Keep in mind that there are 2 life guards right next to him so he technically is in no danger but this mommy was ready to jump through the glass to save her baby :) Thank goodness for level headed mommies sitting around me that calmed me down b/c Mason did AMAZINGLY!! he never panicked after going under he just calmly got himself back up to the surface and finished his test. When they brought him out to me to change he came out and yelled " Mommy, I am awesome!!" It was hilarious and I quickly agreed with him. :)

The third and last float test he had to wear blue jeans, a long sleeve shirt, socks and tennis shoes. This test went by drama free (thank goodness) and he did great. It took a bit longer to get to the side (he tends to float in circles) but he made it and they rang the bell for my AWESOME boy! Once again when finished he comes out to get changed and yells " Mommy, I'm awesome!!" I of course quickly agree with him because as him mommy I totally DO think that he is AWESOME!! :) After completing all 3 float tests The swim club gave him a t-shirt and of course (to my excitement) a BELL of his very own to ring :)

He really has learned so much and it is a huge relief to know that in an accident situation he would be able to get himself to safety fully clothed without panic. Thank you HSC for turning my child into a confident floater!!

These are from swim test 3. Sorry they are fuzzy I was shooting through glass :)

The wall finally.

Yay Mason!!

His new bell!

A birthday and Anniversary

2010-07-29T21:37:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we went down to Corpus Christi for two very very important events. The first was for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. 60!!! There are not many couples out there who can boast 60 wonderful years of married bliss. I am incredibly lucky (and thankful) to still have my grandparents in my life. I love that they have gotten to meet and enjoy my children and I love that my children have gotten to meet and enjoy them.

The second reason we were in Corpus was to celebrate my grandpa's 87th birthday. Oh my grandpa! Words can not say how wonderful and amazing this man is. I am so grateful to have had another year with him. We all had a great time at the party and it was good to see my family and extended family (some of which had still not met Samantha). I love that we throw him a family birthday party every year for his birthday but it makes me sad (b/c I am selfish) that he has again gotten 1 year older. I know that it is in God's plan for all of us, but I have to admit that I absolutely fear the day/s that he decides it is my grandparents time. I am not sure how my family will survive it. BUT, this post was not meant to be sad it was meant to tell you about the celebrations we have just had so Happy 60th Anniversary to one amazing couple who I am lucky enough to call my grandparents and Happy 87th Birthday to one of the greatest men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and loving!! :)

Me and my grandpa

Me and my grandma

The cake that my Aunt Connie made them for the celebration

My grandparents together

My family with my grandparents

The gift my mom gave her father. It is his High School Letter from Hebbronville High School. He graduated in 1941. He was the first track athlete from that school to make it to State but he did not get to attend b/c the school district was to poor to send him. My brother Joshua is a cross country runner and his team made it to state this past year. In honor of my grandfather my brother wore the number 13 (my grandpa's number) pinned to his jersey.

My grandparents with all but 1 of their great-grand kids (Nicholas was out of town). They also have an 11th great-grand child on the way. Baby Marks is due in November.