Missing Teeth

We had quite a rite of passage at our house this weekend. Ryan has had two loose teeth for several weeks but they just didn't want to come out. Finally on Friday evening, when he couldn't eat his Dilly Bar because it hurt too bad, he decided he wanted it out. So Jim got the pliers out and pulled it out. What a brave boy!!

Then Saturday after basketball, the second tooth was pulled as well. It is amazing how much it changes his little face. It makes him look so much older. Oh, how time flies!

I also need to thank Donna, Jenny, and Carlo and my sisters for the wonderful birthday gifts and cards. Thanks for making my birthday special!

Birthday Thanks

Thank you to everyone who made my 34th birthday such a special day. I got so many well wishes and good mail I would feel terrible if I didn't thank them properly.

My friend Julie gave me some of my favorite items from one of my favorite stores in town.

Jim's dad and stepmom gave me these great items. Love them!

My friend Tammy is letting me indulge in my chia spice lattes I love.

My parents got me this great sweater.

Kacey sent me these great calling cards with their own beautiful case. 

Thanks Donna for this great card. It made me laugh out loud. So true!!

Jim bought this Coach purse for me in Vegas. Thanks babe!

Jill made me my own personalized notecards. Thanks Jill!!!

My sister Erin sent me this great bag. It was perfect for the plane.

I feel so very humbled to receive so many wonderful things. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated. Have a great day!

Vegas, baby!

Where do I start? We had such a spectacular time in Las Vegas.  It was fun to get away for a few days with my hubby and our friends. They were so easy to be with and we feel so lucky that are our friends.

Friday

*We arrived in Vegas around 9:30 am. It was so nice to get there and have the entire day ahead of us. We were able to check in early to our room at the Wynn, which was so nice. Our friends had gotten there an hour earlier so they came to our room. We had a few drinks (it's five o'clock somewhere) and then went downtown where we had lunch and played video poker. We went back to our rooms late afternoon to take a nap and clean up for dinner and the show.  We went to a great restaurant called Rosemary's and then to the show Zumanity, which was good but completely different than expected.

Here we come Vegas!

Our self portrait!

Dinner at Rosemary's

After the show

Saturday

We had planned on sleeping in but our annnoying loud neighbors woke us up at 5:30 am. Not fun! We got up and had breakfast  at the amazing buffet at the Wynn. Not usually a big buffet fan, but this one was amazing. We played a little video poker and then went to the outlet mall where I got a new Coach purse for my birthday, some jeans, and shoes for my dress that I was wearing that night. We then headed to Bally's to go to The Price Is Right show. I think this was our favorite activity. It is a smaller version of the real show, complete with real Price is Right set from an anniversary show they did. They had Plinko, Hole in One, the little man who climbs up the mountain, and the spinning wheel. The crowd was great and we had such a great time. None of the 4 of us got told to "come on down", but it was so much fun. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas. 

That night we ate a new place called Company American Bistro. It is in the Luxor and is owned by some celebrities such as Nicky Hilton, Nick Lachey, and Wilmer Valderrama. Wow!! It is so yummy!! A must try on a Vegas trip. We then went to the LAX nightclub. It was a once in a lifetime experience. We don't have anything like that in Nebraska. :) We even saw Nick Lachey, Vanessa Minello, and Cris Angel. I am a closet celebrity stalker, so this made me very happy. :)

We got to bed about 2:30 am and had to get up at 7 am for our flight. So tired, but we had such a fantastic time. Thanks Troy and Tammy for a great weekend, and thanks Jim for making the trip possible. 

All dressed up and ready to go!

Jim and I with our friends Troy and Tammy

All of us at LAX Las Vegas

I know, terrible picture, but the guy in white is Nick Lachey

Thanks for all of my birthday wishes. I will be posting about my birthday good mail soon and catching up on all of your blogs. I am watching my one year old niece this week, so things are a little crazy around here. :)

From Sesame Street to the Strip

On Wednesday, Alex and I had a girls' day out and went to a performance of "Sesame Street Live- When Elmo Grows Up". We had such a great time! The characters were great- straight out of the tv show. Alex doesn't watch a whole lot of Sesame Street any more, but she still loves Elmo and was always worried whenever he left the stage. She also liked Abby Kadabby (sp?). She is still afraid of an "mascot" type things, so she freaked a little when they left the stage to go see the children. Thank goodness we were a couple rows up and they stayed on the floor. We might have had to leave, the poor thing. 

Alex showing off her blue slushie lips

Elmo's World, complete with Dorothy and Computer

Abby Kadabby

Jim and I are spending the evening packing for our trip to Vegas. We are leaving early in the morning, so we are trying to get a much done now so we don't have to get up an earlier than necessary. We are very excited!!! It will be a short (Friday-Sunday), but sweet trip. We are going with another couple, our friends, the Kluthe's. We really haven't been on a trip before with friends, so we are really looking forward to it. I know a lot of people think all there is to do in Vegas is gamble and drink. But there are so many more fabulous things to do. First, there are so amazing, award winning restaurants. I love going to nice, grown-up  places and having long, leisurely meals. We have reservations at Rosemary's and Company American Bistro. Can't wait!! There are also a ton of wonderful shows to choose from and great shopping. We are staying at the beautiful Wynn hotel, which makes it that more enjoyable.  This is kind of my birthday present so I plan on making the most of it. :) Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will catch up with you all when I get back.

Sad Day

Before

After

I hate taking down my Christmas cards. :(   But I do save them all in a photo album so I can look at them whenever I please.

Quiet Time Needed

I posted this picture of my children to remind myself just how sweet and cute my children are and how I need to stop being such a witch to them. For some reason, for the last few days, my nerves have been shot. Every little, tiny thing they do is bugging the crap out of me. From where they leave their coats and shoes (on the floor), to their arguing (constanly), to the way they cough (I know, I'm a bad, bad mom). I think we have had a lot of family togetherness this break. I feel bad, but I am ready for school to start. My children and I thrive off routines and long breaks throw us off. How do you all with more than 2 children do it? Sorry to those of you reading this that don't drink, but I am ready for a glass of wine (and a hot bath). I have already put my children to bed so I can't be crabby to them any longer today. Hopefully venting will make our day better tomorrow. :)

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year! (from our rocker friend Steve) :)

Hope everyone enjoyed their January 1st. I literally stayed in my PJ's all day. It was great! We were busy in the morning cleaning the entire house because we had a New Year's Eve party at our house. We didn't have a babysitter and neither did some of our friends, so Jim and I decided to host a party at our home, children included. We had a great time! The kids watched HSM 2 in the theater room and played nicely together in the playroom. They did somehow manage to get popcorn everywhere, but that was easy to clean up. The adults ate, drank, played "I Love the 80's", Wii sports, and Guitar Hero.  The little ones crashed around 10pm but the bigger ones made it till 1:00am. Ryan has NEVER stayed up that late before. He was so excited! He thought he was so grown up. At about 11:30, some of our other friends (who were lucky enough to have babysitters), came over to ring in the New Year with us. They had been at a Rocker party (hence their outfits). They ended up staying till 3 am!! Needless to say, we were a bit tired today. The kids slept till 8:30. I was hoping for later, but I will take what I can get. Both kids did take a 2 hour nap (so did I). We spent the rest of the day doing a 500 piece puzzle and watching football. All in all, it was a great start to the New Year. Hope you all had a nice day! 

**I still can't get blogger to allow me to cut and paste my pictures when using my Mac. Does anyone use a Mac computer and know how to move the pictures around how you wamt?