Week in Pictures

He likes Michael's work hat and the special surprise from daddy!

Briggs looks so old here.  Sniff, sniff.  He also looks like a hipster.  Daddy, I'm sure, is rolling his eyes at that comment!

 Snow!  It snowed for the first time since living here while the kids were at school.  Piper's teacher let them go outside for five minutes.  I happened to be there helping!  Lots of squealing!

 This is the first time she went through the cafeteria line.  She's been a little shy about it but her yogurt exploded in her lunch this day so she had no other choice.  She said, "That wasn't so scary!  I might go again."  And much to my dismay, she loved the steak sandwich.  Gag, gag, gag!  I'm a slight food snob!

 "I a captain. Arrrrgh."  His words!

 Briggs is into stuffed animals and dressing up right now.  He has a bazillion to choose from so one day it's the puppies, another the bear...

 The kids and I took Grandma & Grandpa to the airport on Saturday.  I left them in their jammies but on the way back we were going by Trader Joe's and I wanted to pick up a couple of things.  So we went in and at the checkout, the cashier asked Piper if she wanted to scan our items!  So fun!  Pj's and all!

 Bad guys watch out!!  Briggs and our neighbor, John, dressed up as Spiderman and Iron Man.  John is a 1 1/2 years older than Briggs and B loves him. They enjoy dressing up.  Boy dress up is so fun! You get a sense of their inner fighter, rescuer, super hero, destroyer, save the day kind of guy!  Love it!

Briggs has attached himself to this bear he received as a newborn.  I remember when Piper began wanting to buckle up her stuffed animals!  It's a fun stage!

And lastly, a sweet Briggs story!  Yesterday we were hanging out together and he said to me, "You my best fwiend."  (He could have asked for anything in that moment and he would have received it because it was that cute!)  Then he said, " You and Daddy best fwiends."  "Yes Briggs.  Who is your best friend?" He responded, "Piper.  My Piper."  Awww, sweet little boy!

Chuck E. Cheese's

Well Michael and I (mostly Michael) decided on a whim to take the family to Chuck E. Cheese's this past Saturday.  I think Michael, maybe, looked forward to becoming a parent because of opportunities like these! I am married to a big kid!  :-) That makes for a fun daddy! I was a bit stressed at the thought of taking them unplanned on a Saturday night at 6:30 but it really turned out well.  Everyone had a fun time!  It's just what we needed after a few stressful weeks of Michael traveling and life happening.  Piper, Briggs, and I have never been before so it was extra exciting!   We ordered pizza and played the games.  I think Tony's frozen pizza tastes better than what is served here but "When in Rome..."  Briggs thought it was tasty.  He ate 3 or 4 slices!  He was super intrigued by the mechanical Chuck E. Cheese singing on stage and finally started waving at it.  I guess he was convinced that rat was real! Piper loved the arcade games and earning tickets.  I think Michael helped pump that excitement level up because he wanted to earn tickets too! Between the four of us we earned about 80 tickets which we were able to cash in for four Halloween sized pieces of candy! WooHoo!  A family night experience for sure!

Stories and such...

 We have this bush in our backyard that Briggs and some of his friends think is a tree.  At least they climb on it like it's a tree and act so proud that they've accomplished such a feat!  Funny!

 Speaking of accomplishing a feat...Briggs has HATED baths for several months until recently.  He would only stand and scream and cry the entire time.  But now, he's realized that the water is fun and is putting his head under even!  Such a little fishy finally which makes bath time so much more bearable!!

 Piper and a couple of her friends had a playdate on a day we did not have school.  They were cracking me up in the car ride because they were discussing who they wanted to marry!  I tried so hard not to laugh or remind them I was sitting there because I wanted to hear every detail!  It began with P saying "Hey Campbell, Nora told me she wants to marry JD."  (giggle, giggle).  N says, "Oh I love him!"  P says "my mom said that you can marry your friend!" I interject, "Yes he can be your friend but he must love Jesus and you girls have to be much older."  (I did tell Piper that she can marry a friend bc she had asked that morning about it!)  C says, "I want to marry Ethan.  He's fast!  I'm fast but he's just a little faster."  Campbell is very athletic!  Then C asks P "who do you want to marry?"  P is all giggly and says "I don't know!"  So C tells her she should marry Reed because he's a big one!  Reed is tall!  Haha!  P says, "Ok!  No.  I want to marry Denton."  Then her shoulders kind of slump and her head tilts to the side like she is in a dreamy state, "Denton is so nice and kind and sweet."  (All these boys are in kindergarten) And then we pulled into the driveway and the conversation was over!  So cute and so funny!.

 Michael works just down the street from the Perot museum.  Briggs and I met him there for an extended lunch break to spend some 2 on 1 time with Briggs.  They were on the engineering floor in this picture.  Who is having more fun??  We decided to renew our membership at the museum and do this more often this year!

 Ok--Briggs had a haircut one afternoon after school.  While waiting P whispers in my ear, "That picture is inappropriate."  She is talking about the picture of the woman above with the dark hair.  What Piper considered inappropriate is that the woman's shoulders are exposed!  Hahaha!  I love it!  I love that she thought it was inappropriate!  And I loved that she used the word inappropriate.  Maybe she is absorbing a few things I'm trying to instill!  I did try hard not to laugh!

And lastly, Michael was out of town last week and the Piper kept asking to go see Grandpa!  So, one afternoon after school we did!  The kids obviously needed some male wrestling time because look at them! Funny!  We are thankful to have Grandma and Grandpa just down the street now!  The kids really love them.  Especially Piper!  The girl loves family and friends and would love it if life was one big social affair! Actually, the other day she said, "Mom, one time I told Daddy that I wished we lived in a big house with our friends or an apartment building with our friends because we'd always get to see them and play with them and you could never say "no"."  Hahahahaha!  She is just like me because I think that sounds pretty fabulous too!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2014

 The dance preparations began last week when Miss Thang and I went on a shopping trip for her dress!  Doesn't she look like a little Diva in her sunnies!

 We settled on this cute little red dress!  Piper was super excited about this night of dinner and dancing with her daddy and with friends.  She kept singing princess songs and talking about the ball!  She wanted her hair curly and her nails painted!

 I think she looked adorable and Daddy cleaned up nice as well!

Michael and Piper took Libby, a friend and classmate of Piper's, to the dance as well!  

 Libby's mom purchased some pretty corsages for the girls and they loved them!

Piper really loved the night.  She was bouncing off the walls excited about the entire night!  I am thankful that Piper and Michael have this fun event to look forward to again!