Wicked...Wicked...Wicked

We could finally afford a baby sitter last night so a date was in order!

Holt fell asleep...BUT I loved Wicked! 

I recommend this for any Wizard of Oz fans....awesome twist.. but 1/2 way through it, I too was reminded that I'm not a lover of musicals.

Still ...it was fun.  Reminded me of my fantastic "date" with my Auntie T to see Mama Mia!

We saw Connie and her gang there... too bad we couldn't all sit together but trying to seat 16 people is tough!

Thanks for the night of fun Alyssa... glad you and Mr. T had fun... he's gotta thing for blondes... God help me!

I am serving in church today with the little ones and then we are off to James and Sue's for a BBQ. Nothing better than a relaxing weekend with friends who are more like family. Can't wait and again, more pics to come!

Now, I'm off to find a way to start a tradition with Tristan. I want him to understand this holiday isn't just for BBQ's and pool time... we need to honor our soldiers and be thankful for our freedom!!

Don't forget to check YouTube

Lots of new (and some old) videos posted!  More to come this weekend!!

Some randomness...

Well, We put Tristan's pool up from Grandpa... and he wasn't so sure at first but THEN...

he LOVED it!

Sooo, here's some pics of the cute little man

"blinded by the light..."

Can anyone guess what this is?

You got it... Tristan NOT getting his way... does that remind you of anyone?  tee, hee, hee

Me I'm sure....

Well, Tristan's crib was recalled... so he had to sleep in his Pack-and-Play for a week

Poor little Nugg...

So 1/2 of his stuff came for his new room.  His crib is in...AND Uncle Mike made Nicholas a toy box and they shipped it here for Tristan and it's arrived!  I have always wanted to have something of my Uncle Mike's (he's an awesome wood worker) so now, we are going to maybe stain it to match T's room or just keep it the way it is.

So, more pics to come.. his room isn't as cute as I would like because it's small and hard to get it all in there.  Once we have a larger room for him, it'll be awesome!

More weekend fun and pics to come soon!

I have to post any pic I can with me in it (even when I take them) because there aren't many!

Like my spray tan?  Hee, hee, hee

T's first funeral

Well, Holt's Aunt Martha died and we headed off to Tyler for the viewing (wake) and funeral.  He just haaaaaaad to say hi to everyone under the sun and of course couldn't find his inside voice SOOOOO - we missed the wake and sat in the car and listened to country tunes. 

I was sad not to hear all the great things that were said about her but I was happy to be there.

Here is the little man all decked out... I hope  you enjoy because he won't be dressed like this much :)

Check out the horns - too funny!

and his new profile pic that you saw....

He couldn't be cuter!

It was sad to be at a funeral but Holt and I have decided that it's important for him to see death and understand that it's painful but joyful also when we KNOW that they have gone to a better place.  I lost a lot of animals as a kid so I know the sting around death but I think that it made me appreciate life even more.  So we will have to find creative ways to share with him as he gets older so he can understand but not be broken by it.  I saw a show last night and the mom had died...and the dad knew he was about to and he said to his daughter "well, just so you know you have had to deal with all of the hard stuff at once... so... don't grow up being a scared person.  You have faced the bad stuff already so now, you have nothing to fear".  It broke my heart to watch (and it's just Hollywood) but isn't that true in life?  When we face this stuff, it prepares us for life and allows us to cope easier each time.  We survived X, Y & Z.... that makes this a walk in the park.  God help us with this one!!!

Anyway, on a happier note:

We spent lots of time just hangin' at the lake, it was nice and relaxing... a MUCH needed break from life

This thing is like Zim Zam... remember that Dad?  I LOVED that game and didn't think they made it anymore!!!

Holt in his favorite spot (but the boat died so it wasn't his favorite boat moment for sure)

Poor Mali...she needs some work!  Anyone need a new house so we can afford to fix her? 

In his favorite place when he's tired... with his Da Da!!

Pooped!

Sunday was my favorite family day we have ever had .... so more on that ... soon....

The crib recall

Well, I'm sad to say, Tristan's crib was recalled the other day. Ugh...

Sooooo, Holt and I looked and looked on-line, then we finally gave up and he went into the store and found one at Babies-R-Us. We wanted to make sure it was a 4-in-1 so it could transition into Tristan's toddler bed and then into a full size-bed for his room.

Here is our new one that will be in next week:

Well, this of course got me chatting with Connie and I've decided to change up his bedding!!

Which do you like better??  They both have some green in them and that's the color I want to keep his walls (regardless of where we live)

OR - my personal favorite... I wonder why....

It's hard to decide but I REALLY like the sports one...It has a ton of colors so decorating will be fun but I hate to assume he'll like sports but he's my kid... he has to... RIGHT!!?? 

All I can tell you is - he has a fantastic arm and he can dribble a soccer ball like you wouldn't believe!

SOMEDAY... I want this for him

or this....

Holy cuteness!!!!

Charlotte fun - Happy Mother's Day to me!

Well before we left for Charlotte, Tristan's Nanny Lisa helped him make me a card.  How cute is this???

Yeah, I'm saving that forever!!

Then I opened my card from my Mommy.... it was PERFECT!!  Thank you Mom!!

She got me a gift too... I just don't know what it is yet because I still have to go treat myself to something - I think a new beach bag is in order!

In a nutshell... Charlotte was FANTASTIC!  I don't have many pics because we were literally either in the car checking out neighborhoods or in a park with Tristan.

We checked out as much as we could in two days. 

This is a link for Tega Cay... I'm quite sure it is the community we will end up in:

http://www.tegacaysc.org/

We would actually live in SC (lower taxes - I'll take that any day!!) and the commute is about 20 minutes to my office there.  That would be awesome IF they had a job for me.  Work doesn't know because we don't know WHEN.  Can't very well go in and say "hey I MIGHT move someday" so for now... I think we found the where....

Now it's up to God, we have to sell our house, I have to find a job and THEN we'll see.

On Mother's Day, I woke up and hung out with my two boys and it was fantastic!  They spoiled me of course... and I got a bread maker!  YAHOOO!  The Italian in me celebrated big time!!

Then we headed off to this place.  HOLY AWESOMENESS!! It's $149/year and I'm quite sure we would become members... check it out!  WW Rafting, Rock climbing walls, kayaking, bike trails, hiking, zip lines... um can you say BARBER CLAN!!??

http://www.usnwc.org/

Tristan was a champ... he was in the car for HOURS.... and every couple, we'd stop and head to a park to make him happy.  I think we hit 6 of them!

Here he is trying to get my camera (of course)

So I gave him animal crackers instead... too cute!

Looks like he's saying HOLD ME MAMA... but he's not... he still wants the camera

:)

He is talking like a champ... LOVES animals. He literally SCREAMS with joy when he sees a dog.. I mean he FREAKS and if he can't pet it goes into an absolute fit.  He loves trying out any set of stairs he can find and loooooooooves to push everything. I think Holt has a few videos that I'll upload to YouTube of him at the hotel. Priceless.

So ..he was pooped and took a nap.  I know you can't see his T-shirt but it says

"Dude, your girlfriend keeps checking me out" - I HAD to buy that!

And of course.. Mr. Personality at the airport.  The Continental folks were great and he played on this for a while.  We wore him out and I think he would have passed out on the plane but I made the lovely mistake of giving him a sugary cereal AND Sprite (brilliant, eh?) so instead of a sweet sleepy baby - he yelled and screamed HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII to everyone on the plane.  He laughed... I mean belly laughed, played peek-a-boo laughed some more and yelled HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII and while he was VERY loud, he was VERY funny. So, I'm thankful that we had nice people around us.  Oh and for the first time, no one sat in our row (do you blame them?) and Tristan sat in his own seat and loved it!!

So that's all the news I have for you now.  Other than yesterday - having my skin cancer cut out.. life is uneventful.

Hopefully it will warm up soon and I can get pics of all of us in the pool, in the sand box and enjoying the back yard. 

Tristan is in his ISR lessons but we can't take videos and post them on YouTube and since I can't post on here... what's the point? I'll try and get some pics this Friday though so at least you can see how cute he is in his little swim diaper!

Love you all!!

1 Lake - 2 Lakes - 3 - Lakes - FOUR!

Well, on Friday, we had Bible Study/LifeGroup at our house.  All the kids played in the back yard (even Tristan) and then they all sat in the garage with the sitters and watched a movie while we had group inside.  Tristan was SUCH a big boy.  He just watched all the kiddos and tried to do as they were doing... it was too cute.  I wish I took pictures - I was just so busy running around! 

Saturday morning, we took Tristan and the fur-kids on a walk...they all LOVED it.  The boys love "lake Barber" (this is the water that gathers in our drive-way when it rains... so imagine how they feel about the greenbelt out back.  Tristan LOVES being with the dogs... but we found a kitty (I call him Saturday) and I brought him in to give him milk and food and Tristan (literally) SCREAMED "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, ITTY ITTY...HIIIIIIIII" - it melted my heart.  He would scream and jump up and down. TOO CUTE! I wonder where he gets his love of animals from?  Hmmmmmm

We then left the fur kids and headed to my boss (Robert's) lake house.  Man oh man... his place is fantastic.  I'll have some pics soon from Robert I'm sure.  Tristan spent about 75% of his time with Auntie Connie, Lauren and Megan BUT Kasey and Wendy were able to steal a little of his time.  But, let me tell you - he LOOOOOVES Ed.  When I got to work today, Ed said "What?  You didn't bring in my little buddy?"  Too cute!

Here is a picture of the "outhouse"... yeah, this bathroom is nicer than mine at home :)

behind me is a pond, a fireplace, a grilling area... it's awesome.  We rode 4-wheelers out there and stole some Julie/Holt time while everyone else fought over T.

The evening ended at 7:30pm when we decided to drive - well someone slept...

and head to lake #3...our lake house on Lake Palestine.  Robert's second home is beautiful, it's got everything you could ever need.... BUT ... our lake house is H-O-M-E.  Here is what I looked at while I drank coffee....

It was beautiful.  Then... Mr. Cheeks got up and we played and played and played...

We ... well, Holt... did get some work in...

It was too stinkin' cute!

Friday, we leave for lake # 4... we are off to Charlotte to visit, check out Tega Cay and Lake Wylie.. so wish us luck and don't worry... I'll be on "vacation" and I'll have the camera in hand so you can see what we see.  Wish us luck  - Lake #4 may be where you see us next!

xoxo