The Boy

Dakota had such a great time at Brick Fair!  I picked him up and chatted with Dave and Craig for a few minutes about the day.  I'm pretty sure the dads had fun, too :)  Once on the road back home, Dakota talked nonstop about everything they saw, built, touched, joked about, tasted...he was pumped!  When we got home, he showed me all of the pieces he bought, describing in depth about which gun would go best with which minifig, and played and played with his Legos for another two and a half hours. 

Dad and Rosie got him the DeLorean Lego kit for Christmas and we started putting it together last night.  We got about halfway finished and stopped so we could watch Back to the Future. He'll finish that up today.  It's looking pretty good and I really enjoy doing projects like that with him. 

Here are some other Lego projects he's been working on.  They are inspired by Dr. Who and Venturian Tale.  He's quite proud of them, wanting them photographed so I would put the pictures on FB and the blog :)

Me and The Boy

While Brit was gone with Emily the other night, Dakota and I made up some non-Newtonian Fluid.  It's just cornstarch and water but equals lots of fun for someone who loves touching slimy, gross things:) 

His hands ended up being stained this greenish grey color.  Dead flesh color.  Nice.  After he was finished playing with that, we played a card game.  It's an Addams Family game that we used to love to play together, but it got stored away in the garage somehow.  We discovered it again while pulling things out for the yard sale.  He won.  Again.  I never can find that darn Uncle Fester card!

Before bed, we pulled out books trying to decide on something to read together, but ended up with a search and find book.  We joked around and laughed and had lots of good conversation.  I do enjoy some one on one time :)

Britney's eyeballs & Toys R Us

Britney and I had eye exams last week.  I just needed a check up, it's been about 4 years since my last one and I stopped wearing my glasses 2 years ago.  Turns out, my eyes are stronger now that they were.  I'm still getting glasses to use while I'm reading.

Britney's exam was for contacts.  FINALLY!  :)  That kid has been wearing glasses since she was 7 or so and has wanted contacts for years. 

Her trial pair came in over the weekend and we were originally going to wait to get them when my glasses were there too.  One trip to Huntsville and all, but yesterday Bobby and I decided to surprise her and go ahead and pick them up.

We had to schedule her a little class to learn how to put them in and take them out, care for them, etc.  She had some difficulty getting them in, but finally did...just as the lady told her she had to take one back out.  Brit was like "Noooo!"
 

Both contacts in!  Just look at that smile!

                                       
She was SO happy!  I mean, smiling like a fool, giggling, spinning around, jumping up and down, running to the windows to look outside happy!  It was very cool for her because she could see things better than she can with glasses.  It was like she was seeing the world for the first time.  It was awesome!  I told her I can't wait to take her camping and hike to some amazing overlook for her to see.

Her contacts are $$$!  But we'll find a way to make it happen.  I did tell her when she gets a job, she'll have to start paying for them :)

When we were finished there, we headed over to Toys R Us.  Dakota got a gift card for his birthday.  We had a blast!  Brit's eyes were HUGE as she looked at everything.  She had a permanent smile on her face :)  We looked at nearly everything...twice.  We were in there a long time going back and forth from LEGOs to DS games to movies to Poptropica and Adventure Time figurines back to LEGOs...

Dakota bought himself a blind pack LEGO minifig and a Nintendo DS game.  I bought a new Candy Land game.  Don't judge!  We still play Candy Land, but we don't even have the box anymore, just the board and some of the pieces.  It was on sale and with a coupon, I picked that sucker up for $1.99.  We played it four times last night :)  Brit came home with some new My Little Ponies that she was geeked about finding.  Oh and a new charger for her DS lite.

Then we sort of spontaneously decided to go to Tennessee and pick up lottery tickets and hit Moe's on the way home.  YUM!

Awesome day :)

Father of the Bride & Dakota's birthday party!

Yesterday, we all went to watch Father of the Bride.  Dad and Rosie joined us.  Plus, Matt brought Chan up there, the Amos family was there, and Karen...I think we knew 90% of the audience :)

The show went really well!  Brit was very worried about some things, but I think they all pulled it off beautifully.  I love her character.  She's one sassy maid!  The play was quite funny!

I love, love, LOVE this picture.  Britney and Keilee's characters have a bit of a spat.  Brit looks like she's going to knock her out!

During intermission, they had set up a 'reception' area in another room with cakes and drinks and had live music playing.  I think that was an awesome touch.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

Taking her bow!

 

 

After the play, we swapped Chan for Ben and went to eat with Dad and Rosie.  We ended up at Five Guys after trying to eat at two other restaurants that were closed.  What's up with places being closed on a beautiful Saturday afternoon...the day before St. Patrick's Day?  At any rate, the food was great and everyone had a wonderful time.

 

After we finished eating, we said out goodbyes to Dad and Rosie and headed home.  Suzette and Dave were bringing Zachary over after they went out to eat at the new Mellow Mushroom in town.  We were at the house for maybe 10 minutes before they got there.  We hung out of the front porch and chatted for a good bit while the boys immediately started playing Minecraft and Britney flipped around the yard.

The only thing Dakota asked to do for his birthday was to have Ben and Zachary spend the night.  He also mentioned going to the glow in the dark putt putt in the mall.  I tried to call them to set up some sort of birthday...thing, but their phone was disconnected.  When Dakota and I went to fye on his birthday, they were closed.  So I had no idea if it would work out or not.  We asked the boys if they would like to go see and I thought Zachary was going to have a come apart!  He was pumped about going!  We decided that if they were closed, we'd take them bowling.

Happy kiddos!

They were open!  I think they have hours revolving around school hours or something.  I didn't take pictures because of the lighting.  Well, I tried...but failed.  Anyway, it was SO much fun!  They had a blast!!!  Definitely worth the 5 bucks for each player.  The came up with names for themselves - Dakota was DAKODINATOR, Brit was B DAWG, Ben was BENJAMMIN' and Zachary was ZACH ATTACK :) 

Look!  Bobby and I were there too!

 And then we took them out for one more surprise :)

Once we got home, they played and played.  Then they decided to watch Wreck It Ralph and I made them a big pallet in the living room and went to bed.  You'd have to ask them what they did the rest of the night :)

We all got up this morning and I made up three batches of pancakes.  I went to the track and came home long enough to pick Brit up and take her to the thrift store to look for some jeans.  Closed.  On.  Sunday.  Meh.  So we ended up at Walmart for a few minutes and I bought myself a pair of workout/softball practice pants.  By the time we got home, it was time to take them to meet Suzette.  We dropped Brit off too.  She's gone to a concert in Birmingham with Dave, Emily and her youth group.

I dub thee 12th birthday a success!

March 14th!

Today is The Boy Child's 12th birthday!  It was also opening night for Britney's play!  So...yeah...fun, busy day :)

We went to Esther's yesterday and spent the night.  The kids played and played and chatted and laughed to all hours of the morning.  And Bailey and Cooper whined and whined and barked until all hours of the morning.  Hopefully, the Crawfords will forgive them and let me return.  Naughty puppies.

We got up this morning and headed home.  I think Brit and I both took a quick nap.  She had to be up at the church at 4:00 so after Bobby woke up for the day and before I took Brit up there, we had cake!

Dakota chose his cake and frosting ~ chocolate cake with mint chocolate frosting.  He wanted it in the 13x9 pan so we could cut it into squares and the pieces would look like earth cubes from Minecraft.
 

He added sprinkles to his piece so it would look more pixelated.

Then Brit and I were off.  We're all going to the Saturday show with Dad and Rosie.  I can't wait to see the whole thing!

 I came back to the house and picked up Dakota and took him to Chick-Fil-A for a quick bite...

 

And then we were off to the mall and fye.  They swear, my kiddos LOVE that place.  They have items from their favorite shows.  Dakota had some money left on the gift card he got for Christmas.  He used that along with some birthday money to buy two Dr. Who items.  He also tried on Steve's head for size.

When we got home, I was very happy to see a box by the door...his surprise present had arrived!

We got him the LEGO Minecraft!  He's SO excited!  I've been wanting to get him this for over a year, but that sucker was nearly $150 and we just aren't going to spend that much.  Amazon had an AWESOME deal on it just in time for his birthday!  :)

March 14, 2013 pretty much rocked!  And the best part for Dakota, he sill gets his 'party' on Saturday when Ben and Zachary come spend the night!

Early Celebration

Today, we met Dad and Rosie at Olive Garden in Huntsville.  We got our tax refund in and owed them some money so we wanted to take care of that ASAP.  It also turned into bit of an early birthday celebration for Dakota! We had a delicious meal followed up by cake, birthday cards and a gift.

 

 

ToysRUs gift card baby!

 

After we ate, we made a trip with them over to Hobby Lobby.  It's always fun to look around that store.  They bought Britney a Manga drawing book and Dakota some Silly Putty...metallic purple and metallic blue.  They're pretty cool and he's played with it for hours. 

Brit had play practice this evening.

The play is next week!  I think Brit's ready to for it be over with.  She LOVES acting but this play has been stressful for her.  She's planning on taking the summer off which will give her lots of free time to spend with family and friends.  We're hoping to get some camping in very soon plus getting in lots of day trips and hiking.  :)  I can't wait!