Happy Birthday Blake

Blakes birthday was the 25th and we have been celebrating for about two weeks now. We started by having pizza and cake with Sophia, who also turned 4 on the 25th. Blake and Sophia have been celebrating their birthdays together since they were two. I don't think they would know how to celebrate by themselves at this point. For Blakes birthday, Darren and I bought he and Darren tickets to the Indy race in Homestead (Miami). They left early Saturday morning and spent the majority of the day at the race. Blake saw his first concert, Three Doors Down, and rocked out for the first two songs, then told Darren the music was to loud and put his hands over his ears. He gets that from his mother!! I hate loud concerts, thus, I really don't like concerts. They had rides at the race and Blake rode a lot of them. The race started at 8:00 pm and Darren said the Blake was a tropper. He loved the race cars and can't wait to go again next year. Here are the pictures.

Easter

This post is a little late but that is better than never. My parents came into town to help celebrate Easter this year and we had a great time. My mom spent a lot of the time sewing things for the kids. She made some wonderful hooded towels for them both and then made an adorable outfit for Kayce. I wish that I had an ounce of her talent. On Saturday, we all went to the church easter egg hunt. The kids loved hunting for eggs and Blake was thrilled to have candy. Unfortunately, that night we all realized that he had too much candy when he threw up all over his bed and Darren. The good thing about that is that he will tell you today that he can't eat to much candy because he will spit up if he does. Then Easter morning, Kayce woke up sick so we opted to stay home just in case she had something that was contagious. Turns out it was a double ear infection and she is just fine now.

Weekend full of fun!!

As much as I complain about the hot weather in Florida, I do know how lucky we are to be able to enjoy the outdoors as much as we do. The weather was perfect here this weekend and we spent the majority of the weekend outside. We started by going to the 12 hours of Sebring race on Saturday. One of the guys that Darren works with gave us two tickets and invited us to spend the day with them at there RV in the infield. Blake loved watching the cars go by and Kayce just enjoyed hanging out. Then Sunday we spent the afternoon with our great friends, Melanie, Jimmy, Sophia and Ella. The kids swam and played in the pool and Kayce seemed to really like it. We all walked up to the beach and Kayce really enjoyed that. This was the first time we have taken her since she was an infant and we really did not know if she would like it. She surprised us and loved it. She did not mind the freezing water but preferred to just crab crawl in the sand. I know where I will be taking the kids during the summer!!!

Things I can't live without

This post is not about the kids or happenings in our lives. I love to read about products that other people use and love. I hate going to the store and buying things on a whim because more often than not I get it home and hate it. I am a consumer reports girl. Before most purchases, I will spend a lot of time looking up reviews and ratings on that particular item. Call me crazy!! So this is a list of some things that I love and can't live without.

1. Bare Minerals Make-up - Hand down this is the best make-up out there (in my opinion, of course). Yes, there are a lot of little containers of loose make-up and yes, it does get on the sink and counter top, but nothing that does not clean-up in a second. Despite those down falls, this make-up is the bomb. I can't stand to have anything on my face or to have anyone touch my face. I used to cringe when I put on the liquid or pressed foundation because I knew that I was in for a night of feeling my make-up sitting on my face. If I knew that I would be sweating, I would not even waste my time putting make-up on. I tried foundations across the board from the drug stores to the clinique counter. I never really loved anything. Then I was told about Bare Minerals. I was a little hesitant to try it at first due to the price and the fact that you have to buy brushes. But I am so glad that I did. I bought the start-up kit and got everything I needed to get started. This make-up is so light, that I can't even tell I am wearing make-up until I look in the mirror and see an shine free face. I can apply once in the morning and never have to touch up again. Even if I sweat, this stuff will stay put. I absolutely recommend trying it.

2. Gap Long and Lean jeans-- Well worth the price!! They are flattering on most body styles and you can buy them deeply discounted in a Gap outlet.

3. This one is related to Blake. If you have a son, then you must get him a GeoTrax set. I am in love with toys that help Blake play independently. Don't get me wrong, I love to play with him but there are times that it is nice to not have to play by a three year olds rules. This train set is built for his hands. He can easily lock the track in place in any configuration he wants. He has four of the remote control trains that he puts on the track and controls them with the remotes. The trains come with people which encourages him to role play. It does take up a lot of room but I bought a plastic tub and Blake keeps all the trains and accessories in this tub when he is not playing with them. This set keeps him busy for hours. I must have for the boys in your life.

Life is a beach!!

It is not often that Darren and I get to have a night out without kids. We would love to do it more often but it just never works out. This morning Darren called from work and asked me to work on getting a babysitter so that we could have a date. I called our beloved sitter and asked if she could come around six. She showed up and off we went. We had dinner at a little hole in the wall Cuban restaurant which we love. Dinner was wonderful and we really just sat and ate and enjoyed the quiet. Usually we are the center of attention on most restaurants thanks to our loud children so it is nice to not be noticed. We then tried to decide what we wanted to next. We talked about a movie but realized that we were both so tired we could have gone to bed, so we passed on sitting in a dark room with no children to keep us awake. We finally decided to go over to the Vero Beach Club and Resort on the beach and listen to the band. This resort was actually featured in this months Souther Living and we had never been inside so we wanted to see what it was all about. It was very nice and very ritzy but the outside bar was not open so we left and went to one of our favorites. As we were sitting there on the beach, we realized how we really take the fact that we live right on the beach for granted and most people pay to get to sit on the beach at night. We really enjoyed just sitting and talking and listening to the waves. We had a wonderful date and I can't wait to do it again.

Our new game!!!

Blake and Kayce have a new game. We bought Kayce a cheap (10 dollars) babydoll stroller for her birthday this year. She is able to walk behind it and she loves to push it around. This morning I came around the corner to Blake holding Kayce and putting her in the stroller. I hid around the corner because I wanted to see what was going on but did not want them to see me. He was very careful and even strapped her in. Then they were off. She was laughing hysterically and he was zooming her around the house as fast as he could. It was the funniest thing I have seen in awhile.

Kayce is still refusing to walk. Really wants no part of it. As long as she has something to hold on to, she will try and walk but don't even think about letting go of her hands. She has a new spot in the house that she likes to play on. It is the box that holds Blakes geotrax cars. If I can not find her, I can pretty much bet that she will be on top of the box.

That is what is going on in this house these days. Life is an adventure!!!