Valentines Day-The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good:
Camden really liked Valentines day-mainly because it is another holiday that you get candy. He made Paul and I the cutest Valentine-it's the quintessential 1st grade looking valentine-see for yourself:

I especially like the Rainbow-I'm sure my mom could find a card that I made her with the same one :)

We also made Valentine cookies, because who doesn't like sweets!

Then there was a great deal at CVS on Madagascar 2, so with my coupons, ECB's and the sale, I got $20 of Proctor and Gamble products and the movie for $13. So I think I did pretty well ;) On Friday night, we all watched the movie together while we ate pink frosted cookies.

The Bad

So, Paul and I find ourselves amusing, and thought that instead of doing your typical Valentines night out, we would go out, have some fun and make a bit of a mockery of the "Hallmark Valentine date." So, the plan was to head to Sonic, where Paul was going to splurge and let me pick anything off the .99 menu I wanted, then head to Garner for some Go-Kart racing, And then after watching my hunky lovebunny race cars, go cool down at the DQ. We were calling it our "redneck" Valentines date. The fun of it was to see what kind of people actually took their dates to these activities on a Valentines Day. But....

The Ugly:

Our babysitter never showed up!!! Later on we learned that her daughter had gotten sick, so she and her husband headed to Greensboro and ended up taking her to the hospital as the pneumonia worsened and she'd been kept overnight. Unfortunately, she did not bring our phone number and apparently didn't know about 411. So, we waited, and waited. I thought "Maybe I told her the wrong time? Maybe there's a wreck?" She was supposed to come at 6:00, so by 7:15, we were pretty sure she wasn't going to show. So....I ran and picked up some food for us, and we ended up watching "Mama Mia" on pay per view. I didn't even try to find another sitter cuz I thought it would be pointless. The movie was alright, but I think it would be much more enjoyable on stage. Luckily, we go on date nights regularly, so while disappointing that we didn't go out on our 10th anniversary/Valentines weekend-it's all right. Besides, we have the awesome cruise to look forward to!!! And that's better then any date night :D

Anniversary Mystery

Last night I hear Paul printing and cutting and playing on the computer in his office. "Don't come in!" he tells me. "I'm working on your anniversary present." I'm thinking, really?? What is he doing? Well, this morning I found out. He leaves for work, telling me, "Have fun playing with your present!" So I get out of bed and come downstairs to find:
Oh my. I had to solve the clues to get the combination to open the box.

So, here was the first clue:
Camden was very excited to help me, and the first task was just up his alley. In fact, he actually did it or me ;) "Banker" is one of his favorite games. He likes to trade money, asking if he can have 4 quarters for his dollar or a $1 bill for his.

Well, we got this one pretty easy and were ready for clue #2:
The URL is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuHfql-d0MM
Haha very funny. Paul got Wrestlemania I-V over the summer and this is his and Camdens favorite match. And the number is pretty obvious :)

So, now we were ready for clue #3:
This one threw me. I totally forgot how to play this-in fact, I had to google for directions. And then I redid it several ways (in the game do you include the M.A.S.H. in the count? and on the spirals, do you count 3? or all 5? Anyway, since there were only 4 numbers, I figured if one didn't work I could try another one :)

So, after a walk down memory lane (who didn't play this on the playground in 3rd grade?) I was ready for clue #4:
Again, had to use google. Without the internet, I would have been hopeless. But the answer didn't seem right! Whose jersey number is 00? So I took some time to make sure that was true, and what do you know, that was his number!

So, clue #5:
I do like sudoku, but it took me a few minutes to get this one. It's still pretty early ;) Camden was hovering around me looking over my shoulder while I did it...which made it hard to concentrate :) He must have picked a medium one because it wasn't easy, but I was able to figure it all out.

So, now the final clue, clue #6:
So I put this in my CD player and the player stopped at song #7...what was I to do? Then I thought, well, I've used my computer so far for most of the answers, so I'll use that (thinking that the songs would show up and I could cheat...) But, since he had compiled the CD, there were no titles. I listened to them all long enough to figure out the title and finally, at track 18, there was the song (well, he kept saying "One..." so I assumed this was the title:D I'm sure I was supposed to listen to the hour and a half CD throughout the day, but I don't have that much patience!

And there it was! All 6 numbers! So I opened it up...and there was a piece of paper?!?!
Paul has planned a cruise for us for our 10th anniversary to the Eastern Caribbean. We'll be sailing out on June 1st. And the best part? I think that this will be the first vacation that we have ever gone on that I haven't planned! Not that I don't enjoy planning, I just have never been "taken" on a vacation :) I am so excited to take a week long vacation with my husband! (although Camden immediately asked when he would get to go on a cruise...) So, time to renew those passports and Bon Voyage! And Paul, love ya babe!!! It's been a great 10 years!!!

I was doing so well...

I was blogging so well at the beginning of the year, but it was easier because we had Christmas and Camden was tracked out. Well, Camden is back in school, and I'm back to my routine!
Camden had a bit of a rough transition after 6 weeks with his awesome mom, but is doing much better now that they are doing an earth science unit :) Camden now wants to be a geologist when he grows up. He spends his recess time collecting rocks and is amassing quite a collection! He has made a "museum" in his room-I'll have to get a picture of that to post! I also might have to find a rock tumbler for him to use since he has some cool rocks from doing gem mining a couple of times. He also wants to be in the science fair, so we are busy thinking of cool ideas. he wants to race his cars and see which one goes farther ;) So any ideas for a first grader, let us know!
Parker also had a rough transition back to school after Christmas break, and hopefully this week will be better. I think he might have had a bit of a cold, but he has just been very uncooperative lately! It's challenging when there is really no way to reward or punish him for his behavior...if he could just tell us what he wanted, life would be much easier!
Paul is still loving his job, and still has one, thank goodness! Things are getting scary out there! He really enjoys the work he does and the feeling that each day he is genuinely helping people. He had a fun 33rd birthday going to the Miami/Duke game that went into overtime. We went to Ginza, a japanese hibachi steakhouse for dinner, which was a lot of fun. Camden loved all of the fire :)
I am back to going to the gym, working every once in a while (like tomorrow) and getting this house back in shape (seems like I'm always doing that!) I've also been on facebook, getting slowly sucked in :) I often update my status, so you can see what I am up to ;) I'm enjoying the warmer weather, it seems to make people want to do social things :)
Well, I promise to post pictures too, just thought I'd give a little update for everyone!

Bestest buds

Camden's friend came over to play the other day, and I cracked up when I saw the shirt he was wearing. Camden and Michael always have so much fun together, and they are hilarious to listen to! To hear how they negotiate what to play makes me so proud. I love to hear them work out their different ideas to come up with what to play-they are just getting so grown up-but they are still so cute! I didn't have any real childhood friends that I "grew up" with as I was constantly changing schools, I hope these 2 will stay friends from preschool to their missions and beyond :)

Star Wars viewing

There's nothing better then curling up and watching "Star Wars!"


This is from Clark's visit. They were so excited to watch the movie. When the opening music came on and "Star Wars" flashed on the screen, this was their reaction.

What Parker thinks is funny...

I've been slowly transferring my pics and videos over to my new computer and came across this cute video of the boys about 3 years ago. This is when we discovered that Parker loves when things fall down-including us! We think that if one of us collapsed from a heart attack, it would be to the sound of Parker giggling up a storm...what a way to go :)

SNOW FUN!!!

Camden has been waiting and waiting for snow...so he was ESTATIC to wake up to 4 inches of snow this morning! It has been 2 years since snow stuck to the ground here. Although, when it did happen, he asked, "Why didn't it snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas? That would have made a lot more sense!" Of course, I was scheduled to work today (and I only work TWO days this month!), so Paul got to stay home with the kids for their snow day. It worked out well because the bank ended up having a delayed opening, and all of his appointments cancelled on him (the snow was really coming down hard!) I opened the pharamacy for the 10 people who braved the weather to come pick up their prescriptions.

Paul and the boys ended up having a lot of fun outside, and also had lots of fun eating tons of snacks and drinking hot cocoa by the fire inside. Camden learned to shovel the driveway, and Parker had fun out in the stroller in the snow and loved seeing the snow falling from the sky. So, while it would have been easier on a day I wasn't working, Paul got to enjoy a day off that he would have never taken! Here are some fun pics:
Paul playing with the boys in our back yard

Camden out enjoying the snow and learning how to shovel the driveway (never to young to learn!)
Parker and I enjoying the picturesque scenery!

Haircut time!

Well, since Paul was playing barber today, he decided that not only would he cut Parker and Camden's hair, but would also cut Clark's as well. They all have a LOT of hair! Thick and fast growing-it must be a Haines gene (well, we know who it comes from-their granddad!!!!)

So here are the 3 unruly boys before their haircut:


Here is Paul working on Clark:


And here they are the 3 young men after their hair cut:

They all think they look like Jedi warriors :) And, as a reward, get to watch "Star Wars: Clone wars" this afternoon.

Oh, and to Scott and Jen, hope you don't mind...surprise?!?! Hopefully this is a favor to you, and if you don't like it, I guess it will grow out!

Slumber party!

My brother and sister in law just had their 3rd baby. I was helping out by picking Grandma up and the airport and driving her down to winston-Salem, and then picking her up for the reverse trip. Camden is tracked out until the 28th, and I thought, we should bring Clark (their oldest) back with us! Clark is the cousin closest in age to Camden, and he is almost exactly 2 years younger. All of the other cousins are 2 or under. I think this is his first sleepover, by himself, away from home, so we weren't sure how he'd do. Well...I think he is just ready to move on in! Camden loves having a "little brother" to really play with, and Clark doesn't seem to mind having an "older brother" too much ;) Our house has been filled with running, playing, battling, and a lot of imagination! (They went "skydiving" by jumping off the last 3 steps of the stairs.)

Here are some pics of the fun so far with an extra boy in the house!


Brawling with their Bakugon


The boys at gymnastics-their favorite part was the trampoline and the foam pit!
"
Here they are getting ready to go to sleep in the fort that they built in the playroom!

They are having a ton of fun! Today we are headed to the children's museum for a change of pace. Lots of boy fun aorund here!

My 3 Men

After 3 attempts, this was the best pic of the three :) Since I have no girls to match with , I like to dress up the boys!



Aren't they just the most dashing young men you've seen?

Christmas redux

Better late then never, right?

We had a really nice Christmas.

Camden, for some reason, was SOOO into Santa this year! Due to his age, I've been dropping hints about where some of the presents come from...you know, so he's not completely crushed when he finds out the truth. But instead, all of the hints just made his resolve stronger (it explained some things...)! So, I played along and he got a personal video email from Santa himself :)

Anyways, we just stayed home for Christmas and had a nice relaxing day. Camden was allowed up at 7am, and at 7am he was crawling into our bed, excitedly showing us the pokemon that Santa left under the little tree in his room (He wrote a letter that he left with the cookies for Santa that asked if he could leave some gifts under his tree.)

We went down to open stockings, and Parker woke up, so he actually enjoyed Christmas morning with us, usually he sleeps past most of it. Camden dumped his stocking and was very excited about its contents (especially the new bakugon.)


We then headed to the living room, where Santa had left a pokemon volcano for Camden and a little bowling set for Parker, and then opened the rest of our presents! Camden got most of what he wanted (including a "knockoff" Wii) and was SOOOOO excited that all his little 6 year old wishes had come true.

We then spent the rest of the day reading new books, playing games, playstation and hanging out! We were in our PJs until like 4:00 in the afternoon, and at that point, Camden decided just to change into some new PJs. I made a brined turkey with our favorite fixin's for an early dinner, and we snacked the rest of the day. Camden went from toy to game to book to toy to game...you get the idea...he couldn't sit still! Parker enjoyed all the attention and having his daddy home all day. So, yay for Christmas!!!

13-0 BABY!!!

We got to watch the game at our friend's house on their awesome HD digital projection system. The TV projection was at least 6' x 9'. It was like we were sitting on the sidelines...without the price or travel :)

We ARE the original BCS Busters! Only 2 more to go...here we come Orange and Rose bowl!

GO UTES!!!

Party like a rock star!

So in honor of my "party like a rock star" birthday/New Years Eve party tonight, I thought I would post some Rockin' pics of the kids in their new jammies from Grandma Haines:




HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bring on the Christmas spirit

My annual picture of the boys in their Christmas sweaters in front of the tree:

Those sweet smiles are wishing you a Merry Christmas.

And here's a little jingle for the holiday season:


We hope that you have a wonderful week and enjoy the holidays and your families!

Santa

The boys have been very good this year and know that there will be some fun presents under the tree! The YMCA had Santa come this year-so we went for the low key event instead of the mall. Definitely a good choice! Parker didn't freak out, and there were lots of fun stations: Christmas cards for the soldiers (Which Camden wrote as Soljers), Ornament making, letter writing, nativity sticker picture making and Santa.

Here's Camden writing a letter to Santa-he even got a reply!


Camden went and told Santa what he wanted, and I even convinced Parker to sit on his lap! This is only the second time ever that I've gotten a picture with neither boy screaming! I got one 4 years ago, and one has cried every time since then. So, YAY me :)

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful Christmas season! We are pretty mellow here. I had about half of my shopping done before the Christmas season and finished up by the first of the month. We got all of our decorations out Thanksgiving weekend and have pretty much taken it easy. It makes for a much more enjoyable holiday :) I'll be making up friend/neighbor gifts soon which I think are simply going to be some "non beer" beer bread mix with a can of sprite (to make the non-beer beer bread)-if any of you have gone to a Tastefully Simple party and gotten the beer bread, I'm making the copycat mix for it :)

Well, sorry for the slow blogging-with a mellow holiday season, why would that be? Well, between needing a root canal, having the heater break, being sick, then having Parker sick, practicing with the ward choir (playing organ accompaniment on a couple of pieces) and all the other fun stuff that comes with life...it's always an adventure! If you read the blog and haven't gotten a Christmas card, send me your address (although a couple are still on the way....)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Not much going on...but to catch you up..

So there really hasn't been much going on lately! But I realized that I never posted a pic of the kids for Halloween! Se here they are:

Camden with his friend Michael (Jeff Gordon)

Camden wanted to go as Ash, a pokemon trainer. What? You've never heard of Ash? Then you must not have an elementary aged boy :) I had to make the costume since the ONE available was kind of stupid, and expensive, but it turned out fine. Parker was Opimus Prime...as a truck! We went to our Trunk or Treat and then Camden and I went trick or treating on Halloween. Parker stayed home and handed out candy, which he enjoyed.

So, what is it that has been keeping me busy? My new hobby...err..obsession is couponing! During Harris Teeter triple coupons, I got $324 worth of groceries for $66! Here is a pic of some of the stuff that I got (most of the brownie mixes and random stuff came out free...)
Couponing is actually pretty fun-it's like a game. I joined the grocery game and it helps me not obsess about it too much and not spend TOO much of my time couponing :) I still do some scrapbooking as well. I'll have to take a picture of some of my favorite pages for ya'll.

For Thanksgiving, we headed down to Scott and Jen's and had a really nice time. They made a great dinner, we played games and the kids had fun playing as well. We pretty much chilled during the weekend, set up our Christmas stuff and did a little shopping. I did most of my black Friday shopping at 1am online :) I'd rather stay up then get up early in the cold!

More posts to come!

Austin, Texas!

For more pictures, go to my brother (Scot's) blog! He posted in real time while we were there. But here is a recap!

Our trip to Texas was a blast! We had so much fun hanging out with Scot, Becca and Riley! We had just the right amount of activity with relaxation-it was a really great vacation. Riley was so funny! Camden just loved playing with her and making her laugh. Since Riley is so small, Camden loved picking her up and carrying her around. It was pretty funny to watch! She seemed to enjoy him a well.


We got in really late on Wednesday evening. The flight wasn't too bad, although the kids were pretty wasted tired.

On Thursday, we went to San Antonio. We ate a picnic lunch on the temple grounds, and then headed to downtown. We saw the Alamo and then did the river walk boat ride. Camden thought that the Alamo was awesome because it was a fort and there were lots of guns, swords and coins ;) He also liked the movie about the battle. The ride on the river was also fun for everyone. Thank you to my brother for being our personal trip photographer He takes really good pictures!



Friday we headed to the state capitol building, which we learned is slightly taller then the US Capitol building, on purpose :) We then headed to Flip Happy, a restaurant that we learned about on the Food Network when my bro was staying wtih us for the summer. We had AMAZING crepes-savory and sweet :) We were going to head to Zilker park, but it was chilly, so we checked out the Whole Foods headquarters, which was very cool. There were tons of samples and it was just a fun store!


Saturday was game day for the boys! Paul and Scot went to ESPN game day in the morning and then went to the Texas-Missouri game in the evening. Becca and I took the kids to the children's museum in the morning, which was fun. For lunch, we headed to Lockhart for some REAL Texas BBQ. We are talking about a restaurant with fire in the floor, and smoke everywhere. It was very good. It was quite the big Texas experience for Paul!


Sunday we went to church and then headed to the Texas botanical gardens. They were beautiful! It was a lovely afternoon.