so long Matt...football season is here

don't let their happy "airplane" faces deceive you, once they realize they won't be seeing much of Daddy during the 4 month football season...their smiles will surely turn to frowns as they realize that only Mommy is around.

I rested up again on Friday to try and shake my cold and also to get ready for the Chris Isaak!! concert that night at the Fred. Mike from across the street was given these two tickets and didn't really want to go. I mean c'mon it's Chris Isaak...you know...Wicked Game?! But actually he put on a really REALLY good show. He did a lot of entertaining, in addition to just singing his songs. Sharon Little opened for him and I liked her voice and style so I bought her CD. Here's one of her songs she sang, "Follow That Sound." If you want to hear more come visit me and we'll groove to her album.

Here are the kids playing double back horse-y with Daddy before the baby-sitter arrived.

We had a busy day on Saturday. First we had Lauren's swim lessons. She's taking the Pike class at the YMCA. She did better during this class than the last but she was still pretty nervous. She may be taking the Pike class for a few more sessions...we'll see. After her class Matt and Tyler had a Daddy and Me class. Tyler had a blast. He loved jumping in from the side of the pool, blowing bubbles and doing the hokey pokey in the water.

After swim lessons we had a quick lunch and then got ready for a birthday party Lauren was invited to. One of our community group member's daughter was celebrating her 4th birthday and was throwing a Princess Birthday Party. Lauren got all dolled up in her princess t-shirt, a princess skirt and a boa and tiara thingy. She also requested princess braids. I did my best but keep in mind this was my first attempt at double french braids....

Here are four of the fairy princesses at the party. The brunette is the birthday girl.

The birthday girl's mom made a beautiful (home-made!) castle birthday cake that I really wish I'd gotten a picture of. She also made the pinata the kids got to break open. And best of all, during the party there was a sudden thunder storm and rain shower. I believe all the party-goers were jumping around in the puddles, in the pouring down rain at one point or another. Combine all that and you have a FaNtAsTiC Fiesta.

After the party I went grocery shopping for the week and Matt made BLT sandwiches. (for the recipe just e-mail my brother Brian) They were delish and we paired them with left-over Corn Chowder.

Today, Sunday, we went to Rooms To Go Kids to find Lauren a new bedroom set. She's getting too big for her toddler bed and we (her Mom) decided it was time to upgrade. The quote of the day was from Matt while we were driving to the children's furniture store. He said, "You know, I bet if women didn't exist than half of the stores that are open now today wouldn't either." What's he trying to say??? But despite Matt's initial bad attitude [wink] we were able to find something for her. You can check it out here. She got the bed frame, mattress, end table, dresser and mirror. Unfortunately it won't be delivered until the end of the month.

Back at home, Matt went over to Mr. Mike's house (neighbor who generously gave us the Chris Isaak tickets) to watch football while his daughter Tera came over to play with Lauren and Tyler. The kids had fun playing together and I got to round up a bunch of garage sale items in preparation of our big sale this weekend. Tell all your friends about it.

For dinner we had Cuban Black-Bean Stew with Rice. To me, this was a bit bland. It didn't shout CUBAN in my face like I would have preferred. (not like with the embargo I would know what a Cuban shout sounded like.) Matt said it made a world of difference by adding some fresh squeezed lime juice. You'll have to try it and let me know what you think. It was super easy to make.

Now that the kids are in bed, I'm watching Big Brother and Matt is watching football during the commercials. Yeah! Guess who owns the flat screen tv?!?!