Purdue Spring Game and Bug Bowl 2014

 Last Saturday it was a B-E-A-YOOOO-tiful day.  Seriously.  Gorgeous.  So we went to the Purdue Spring Foozball game (just like last year only the weather was a little different). 

 Tommy picked out his outfit, obvi.  He's such a trendsetter.  Oh and yes he is wearing his sunglasses upside down. 

 They were adult-sized sunglasses and they didn't fit very well.  He refused to take his hand off them because he didn't want them to fall down.  Too funny.

Down in the end zone, they had a Purdue celebrity cook off.  Mike Alstott is on the right.  Rosevelt Colvin is in black in the back.  Not sure who the other people are though. 

 In other celebrity news, we ran into Mike Hoffman (we remember him from our South Bend days) so Erin and Doug took a picture of him with Flat Charlie. 

Tommy enjoyed running around on the field. 

 Then he enjoyed some lunch in the stands. 

Sister-in-law picture in the stands! Go Boilers! (Totally stole this picture)

 The view from the stands was phenomenal.  Field looks GREAT.

 I tried to convince Tommy to get his picture taken with the Drew Brees bobble head.  Instead I ended up with Tommy taking MY picture. 

Tommy quickly got bored with the foozball game so we headed over to the Bug Bowl and Springfest. 

 We meandered through the tents and saw this poor cow.  She sneezed when I wasn't expecting it and it scared the crap out of me.  Also, we have imitated their pathetic moos since Saturday.  It wasn't so much a "MOOOOOO" but a "UUUHHHHGGGGHHUUUUUOOOOOOOOO". But if you were livestock getting milked by random children all day in a hot tent, you might be complaining too. 

 Then it was time for Tommy's favorite part.... BUGS!!   Gross.  Not my favorite part. 

The blue glowing butterflies were pretty darn cool though. 

 Yes.  This is what you think it is.  Andrew was stopping Tommy from ripping off the lid of the tarantula cage. Bllleeecchhhh.  But he was super excited.

This was some sort of lizard thingy.  Tommy got to pet it.  So did I.  I liked this non-jumpy being a lot better than dead bugs with pins stuck through them.  No clue why.  He was a calm and chill little guy, maybe that's why.

We had a great time yet again! Fun times at our alma mater.

School Picture Proofs

 Well, we got the school picture proofs back this week.  They weren't kidding.  Charlotte was not happy. 

 She couldn't even take a picture by herself.  They brought Tommy in to help and there was nothing he could do besides look adorable. 

 Speaking of looking adorable, Tommy seems to have this school picture thing nailed down, huh?
By the way, what is with the creepy mirror shot?? 

School Picture Day Spring 2014

Today was picture day for the spring semester at school. This is Charlotte's first official school picture day! Tommy is quite the pro now. So here are the before school pics in their outfits... 

Hopefully Tommy smiles for his picture and Charlotte doesn't stick out her tongue. Although it makes for much more fun pictures when that happens! 

Official pictures to come soon! 

Parenting Tips and Tricks

Charlotte was not satisfied to be on the floor while I was getting ready one day.  She was ticked off and not going to take it anymore.  So finally I tried something new. 

Stick the poor girl in the sink with toys and blankets and tada! Makeshift baby seat! She was happy as can be!

Evolution of a Deck

 We needed a new deck... so we got one! Here are some pictures of the old deck back in 2011.  It was getting old and needed resurfacing due to old rotted wood and lack of care (our bad). 

 Look at all those leaves!! Closing in on 3 years ago.  Wow. Crazy how time flies.  We were just figuring out Tommy's food allergies at that time.  Sheesh. 

 So we really like our deck.  We considered adding square footage.  But then we would have to file a permit and spend way more money and blah blah blah... we ended up deciding against it. 

 But we did change the design a little.  We decided to add bench seating instead of a railing and open up the steps a bit.  

 We kept the same structure underneath and built on that. 

Since we didn't expand it, we could keep all the rocks and landscaping around it.  

This is the deck before the bench seating was added.  It already looks way bigger.

 Finished product! (Besides the stain) 

We already absolutely love it.  Tommy is a big fan too! Lots of room for basketball dunking. :)

Funny story: After the deck was done, we had a man from the city stop by our house with a big red violation sticker. 
"Um, sir, we see you built a deck without a permit.  Do you mind if I take a look at your deck?"
Andrew had to explain that we didn't build a brand new deck nor did we expand the existing square footage so we didn't need to file a permit according to the company that built it for us.  So he took a look at it and looked at Andrew's pictures.  Then he went and talked to our deck company.  We were cleared.  Phew! But it sounds like someone told on us.  Grrrr.  Jerks.
Oh well.  We didn't break any laws and we have a beautiful new deck. 

Now... what color to stain it? Brown? Reddish? Natural wood? What do you think?

Visit with Friends

 We had some friends over a few Saturdays ago.  Gorskis and Goldmans came over after we finished our new deck (more pictures to come on that).  Too bad it was too cold to enjoy it. 

 So we stayed inside instead! Tommy and Max had fun watching Frozen on big bouncy balls. 

Seriously.  Could not get enough. 

Charlotte and Reese had fun together too! Playtime! Charlotte's bow looks especially large in that picture for some reason.  Wow. 

 Tummy time!

Now's it's time for a BOWDOWN!! I love the look on Reese's face.  Too cute. 

I didn't get a picture of the Gorski kids.  I was so sad.  Grady and Nolan were there too, I promise. 

Great times with families, y'all.  Thanks for coming over!

After School Photo Shoot

The kids were playing on our bed so I decided to have an impromptu photo shoot. 

 Aww, bro sis love. 

 Bro decides to hide.

Back for more love.   Which makes Charlotte happy. 

Back to playing around.  Where did he go???

And now for some outtakes...

 I have a LOT of pictures like this.  She's still working on sitting up so when it's on an uneven surface with a 3 year old constantly jumping, she would crash right over every 5 minutes. 

 They are such goobers.  Love it. 

I see my future here.  She is a fierce one, huh?? :)

Joey's First Birthday Party

We went to Joey's birthday party this weekend. We haven't been to a one year old's party in awhile!! 

1st birthday cake time! He loved it! 

Quick family pic before he opened gifts. 

Aww, look at Tommy and Joey checking out the book we got him. 

Then Joey had fun putting toys down the back of his shirt. Hilarious!

Charlotte slept through most of the birthday party as she is wont to do. I finally had to wake her up so people could meet her, like Holly Bo Bolly. (Unintended photobomb there)

And Joey!! You know they're only 6 months apart... Do I smell a budding romance? 

Charlotte only attended a short amount of the birthday party but boy did she party! 

Thanks Traci for inviting us to the birthday party! We had tons o' fun! 

A Great Day for a Walk!

We got a double umbrella stroller in anticipation of days like this! It was a little warmer the day before but Charlotte was napping during prime walk time so instead we went today. 

They are ready to go! 

At any moment in the walk, Charlotte was either completely loving it or absolutely hating it. Kind of like how she feels about everything in life these days. Typical baby. :-) 

Kinda reminds me of a typical 3 year old! 

Tommy is always lovin' on his sister. She loves every minute! 

Such cuties together. 

Can't wait until the weather gets nicer so we can do this more often!