Justin's 3-0 in Waco!

BIG weekend! BIG weekend! Huge in fact... and OLD if that can work to describe a weekend... which in this case I think it can! Justin turns 30 today! Happy Birthday Justin (LOTS MORE BIRTHDAY POSTING TO COME)... but we went to Waco to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend alongside his 30th birthday with his family. We had a GREAT time and had lots of fun surprises up our sleeves for Justin's big day. 30! Have I said that enough yet? 30! 300000000! 30! THIRTY! He's 30! 

(I only have a few months to be the younger woman... so I need to live it up, you know?!)

Of course, I am excited to be 30... and Justin...well not so much. I think he just likes being a bit dramatic about things... :) Because if I were him... I'd be feeling pretty good about myself at 30 with all that he's accomplished! And have y'all seen him lately? 30 is lookin' pretty good on him if I do say so myself! :) He's red... BLUSHING... a maybe, cursing me under his breath as he reads this! And I love it... turns out I have a flair for the dramatic arts too! :)

Okay... back to our weekend! We drove up Saturday morning just in time for the boys to head out to golf and for the girls to sit around and gab... and pull Kleenexes out of a box is 5.2 seconds...

Well, darn if my pics aren't all out of order again... I am still trying to figure out this new blogger upload stuff... call me 30, okay?! So the boys played golf... pictures later... and then they came home and we all got "READY FOR DINNER" which really meant... a SCAVENGER HUNT... all around the great place of Waco!! Cori came up with everything for the hunt... and split us up into teams... Boys against the girls... for now we are an even split until Baby Agnew comes in September! :)

So the RACE was on! And by race I mean that we only drove a few miles over the speed limit and checked our mirrors LOTS as we zoomed around town crossing off clue after clue. The boys, naturally were talking a big game and thinking that us girls had NO PRAYER of beating them. The hunt ended at George's which led them to believe they would be TWO Big O's down before we ever showed up!

Well, let me just say... it was minutes... just minutes people! We almost did it and we were proud! I don't think I've ever been so proud of losing before in my life... and I don't think I've ever gotten so many compliments and congratulations for losing before either! The boys were certainly impressed by our strategy, efficiency and all around go-get-'em-ness! :) And let me tell you... I have burned feet and a big bruise on my shin to prove it! We gave it our ALL!

Here are a few of the places we stopped along the way...

Midway Middle School... Nana took the first one!

Me in front of Collins... moment of silence please...

Cori in front of the vacant lot that was Justin's house his senior year of college... God rest its DISGUSTING, DIRTY AND SOILED soul...

Ree Ree on a swing...

Nana at the Bear Pit

Ree Ree at Ninfas!

Floyd Casey... Sic 'em Bears!

We also made stops at Judge Baylor where I hoisted myself up in his lap in a dress... hence the shin bruise... :) Just call me "Grace!" Then we threw a package of tortillas off of the suspension bridge... hence the burned feet... the flip flops were slowing me down... turns out asphalt is HOT even in May... you can thank me for that pearl of wisdom later!

It was FUN!! We laughed so hard we cried... we sweat! Or at least I did! And we had an all around GREAT time! We had the best time rehashing the hairy details ALL WEEKEND!

On Sunday... the boys played golf AGAIN, and I was having way too much fun taking a walk down memory lane...looking at pictures! And I found this gem... this is the FIRST picture Justin and I ever took together. This was Fall of our Senior year of high school! It is our oldest pic... tear! My how we've changed! I sent this to my mom and she noticed that Justin was rocking an awesome pager... I didn't even notice it... HILARIOUS! Dr. Cox in the house!! And no we were not each other's dates... :)

After Kaki woke up from her morning nap we headed to the pool! And ate a snack mid-way through our time there... of course!

This is a sweet little pic from Monday morning... I heard the kids through the monitor making some seriously funny squealing noises... but it was 6 and I wasn't quite ready to get up until the noises started sounded suspicious and I looked at the monitor and saw Caden in the pack n play with Kaki... so it was time to bust up that party before the whole house woke up... they were pretty cute though! :) And LOUD... apparently they were having a great time being bad! :)

A pic of Lou Lou in her pink before lunch on Monday...

We hadn't been gone 2 minutes when we found this in the back seat... he was so tired!! BIG weekend!!

Okay... now back to Georges... the end of our scavenger hunt... 

Around the table we go...

I look scary and sweaty!! Phew!

Kaki was the odd ball at the end...

WOAH! Funny little face!!

Sweet budding family...

The twinkies... so sweet!

After Georges we came home for cake and presents for Daddy! BLACK BALLOONS!! OVER THE HILL... duh, duh, duh...

Sunday night Justin's grandparents came over from Belton for dinner... we all planned on wearing black to surprise Justin yet again... it was hilarious as everyone came out from getting ready... one by one... in their black... Poppa was completely decked out!! It was great! And sweet Justin... what color is he in... PINK of course! It was awesome!

Later than evening we played in the backyard... we were getting SUPER SILLY by the time we made it to Bocce Ball... some action shots...

Monday Nana wanted us to snap a few pics before we all left...

I think it is safe to say that Nana and Bop's quiver is looking pretty full these days! And I know they do not take one ounce of it for granted!

Here are those golf pics...

Boy was it hot that day... Cade-man needed a snack in the cart! :)

They boys said he RAN... for an entire 9 holes... he loves him some golf with the boys!! :)

Oh yes... and Caden cannot come to Waco without a trip to the pond with Bop and Uncle Tag... LOOK... they caught some fish! 4 total... and almost got themselves a turtle! :) 

What a great weekend to celebrate Justin and of course Memorial Day! We acknowledge that without the sacrifice of so many men and women that weekends like this would not happen here on this earth and we are thankful that they do and that we live in a place that celebrates the the men and women who have paid and continue to pay the price for our freedom!

Happy Birthday Justin!! Thank you Ree Ree, Tag, Nana and Bop for loving Justin so well! He had a great weekend... we are so thankful for each of you! Love y'all!

More birthday posts to come... the surprises just keep coming...

Recappin' Life: IPhone Dump

We've been up to lots lately... and then not a lot lately... all at the same time. How does that work exactly you ask? Well, I'm not really sure, but it does... you'll just have to trust me on that! :)

So here we go!! In no particular order... seriously... so random... but I'll narrate...aren't you glad?!

First stop, Caden's end of year party at MDO... whoo hoo! Lil sister was still be bit under the weather but you couldn't tell it with that face!! :)

Duck races...

Pizza lunch...

LET ME OUTTA HERE ALREADY!!!

Next up... it's a bird... it's a plane... it's Baylor's SUPER(est) FAN!!! Thanks Aunt Ree Ree and Uncle Tag for the COOLEST CAPE EVER! WE love it! Poor Justin who is going to have to remember the cape, the helmet, the BU Hat, the pom pom, the megaphone, the football and the BU backpack for EACH game this year... phew! It's quite an ordeal being a SUPER FAN! 

Looks like someone has been watching big bro playin' a little ball... I think she's a natural!

While the kiddos were both nursing a serious cold a few weeks ago we did lots of these things...

Block building... sunglass stealing...

Under the kitchen table tent playing...

Crazy apartment messing upping... (this was a photo I snapped to prove to Justin that we do in fact clean up before he gets home... wanted to him to see the before so he'd know how hard Caden works!) :)  

First ice cream cone... at Burger King... Later in the week we did Dairy Queen who intelligently has a kid-sized cone and did MUCH better! Gotta be a fast licker to handle the BK cone!

Kaki and her walking coach... he's the best!

Especially when he says, "Okay... you're turn!" and lets GO! And she's down!

Caden and I had a GREAT baseball game going one morning while Kaki napped. All of our animal friends came to watch...

We spent lots of time on Mother's Day gifts for Nana and KK... they were supposed to be fancy garden balls... but I had a craft catastrophe with the grout... so they became un-grouted indoor balls aka stick them in the back of a closet somewhere and tell Caden that a HUGE bird came into the garden one night and picked up the balls and carried them to Ireland... never to be seen again... 

It's the thought that counts right?!

Some of us are crafty... and some of us aren't... I'll let you decided which category I fall into!

When you're stuck in the house with two sick kiddos there are LOTS of opportunities for self portraits... Caden was particularly thrilled! 

Gray is not a good color for sick girls who can't breathe out of their noses... Ha!

Take that stinkin' kleenexes... rip, tear, shred...Evil laugh!!

A non-napping afternoon with my lil one... Mickey Mouse in the chair... :)

Later we played with our baby... so sweet...

Future babysitter/mama in the making!! :)

One morning we ventured out of the house to get donuts for Caden... it was my way of making up for the fact that I wouldn't let him go to school sick... even if it was Mother's Day tea day... He was so sad!! BUT donuts are always a good consolation prize... 

So when we were getting ready... he came out of the closet with Kaki's boots... insisting that she needed to wear them in the car... so we tried 'em on... :) You know you're in trouble when your older brother starts picking out your clothes... 

So it's no secret that Kaki is a bow snatcher... so I bought some other options at the store... kind of cute huh? She's since learned how to pull these out... little stinker!

Watching brother play soccer at practice this week... I took this picture because I was excited about her outfit... I got it at HEB... for $5... Can you stand the cuteness? 

Well, there you have it.... lots of things and lots of nothing! Either way we always have LOTS to be thankful for!! 


Happy weekend!!

Zone Defense At the Pool!

I have long wondered how it would be taking two kiddos to the pool all by my lonesome... with one... it's no biggie, but I was concerned about my attention span with two... I mean pools are scary... at least they can be... Last summer I had to jump in TWICE to save someone else's child while at the pool... and I was pregnant... like 9 months pregnant... talk about a splash zone! 

Anyway... I've been READY to head to the pool for days now... and today we finally did it! Kaki's snot-nosed be DARNED! :) One of the great things about apartment living is that we are just steps away from the pool. Which made the whole load 'em up and get 'em to the pool thing SO easy! Plus... there was NO ONE there... we had the pool all to ourselves! So Austin friends... come on over and let's swim!! :)

Caden was a little fish today... jumping in the pool from the side without any hesitation at all. Typically he likes to jump to someone... but not today... I guess he needed to get out of the house! :)

I even managed to snap a few pics of my little fishies!! Here's to more days at the pool! 

 She kept her hat on the WHOLE time... victory! I was telling my mom earlier how great it would be for someone to make a sun hat with a teething ring as the chin strap... genius I tell you! Kaki chewed on her strap nearly the entire time we were swimming! :)

 Brother and sister swimming...

One of them kind of looking my way...

All dried off and ready to head back to the apartment for lunch... We did it!!

School Days: A Caden Comparison (And Kaki too!)

Well, it's official... it's summer! Can y'all believe it? Last week was Caden's last week of school. I just don't know what to think about it. I mean it feel like just yesterday we were meeting the teacher... a gem of a teacher I might add. Truly, Mrs. W will always, always hold a special place in our hearts, and perhaps that is why I sobbed like a BABY or a hormonal Mama when I said bye to her last week. She has done so much for Caden... so much to ensure that he had the best year possible... and at times that wasn't an easy job. She communicated so well with Justin and I and worked with us to help Caden through some adjustment/maturity/reality lessons this year. I must say... he's an entirely different kid and has learned so much. I would say that intellectually he had a good year but more than anything Caden's social skills really blossomed. My shy guy isn't quite so anymore... and really it all just boils down to this...

Cade-man is growing up! Plain and simple!

Check him out... FIRST day... the new big brother, ready to tackle a new year...

Still a bit "soft" around the edges!

Baby-faced and fancy free...

And now look at him...

Ready to shower Mrs. W with flowers...

Confident, strong and a bit taller... making all that "soft" a little less so...

Sweet as could be...

And always a clapper!!

Self-control, Caden... hands behind your back. After all he'll be the first to tell you that self control is his favorite "fwoot of the seer-it"

How about a lil sister comparison???!! Think she's changed??

She cooperated much better way back when... she's too busy for me these days! 

I finally caught her front side... Lil snot nosed sister!! She sure is cute!! :)

These kids... they are a growin'... like little weeds... with flowers on the end, of course!

Happy Summer!