New Hair

I've been ready for a change for a bit now.  My awesome friend Tracy has her own little salon in her house and does an amazing job. She always does our hair, and Courtney's for special occasions etc. Let me know if your in our area and need a new stylist, she is awesome. 

So I called her and said, I need a change. We made arrangement for the next day. I said I want a dye, highlights, low lights and a cut. Just make sure I look nice in the end :) 

Well, of course, she killed it! Love the length. we went back to my natural dark brown color, added some red low lights, and blond highlight and chopped a good few inches off. 

LOVE! Even Mike likes it... and he could care less most of the time! 

Build a Bear

 Colin has ALWAYS wanted to go to Build a bear. Have you ever been there? It's insanely expensive...and the kids want one of everything. So, the week before Easter, they came out with the Autism Awareness Bear, and a portion of the $ went to Autism Speaks. Since we are on the spectrum and encourage all the awareness possible, Of course, I pre ordered two of them. Well, that great Easter bunny, put them in the boys Easter baskets, and each got as well $40 in gift cards! Wahoo. So last weekend, we went to "build" our bears :) The boys has a lot of Fun. I didn't get a finished picture of Caden's. I'll have to get it later. 

Here they are wishing on their hearts before they go inside. 

Before the stuffing. 

Here's Colin's afterward. His name is Blue Puzzle Piece, and he likes to fish. He's really adorable. He has a lullabye tune in one hand, and a cotton candy scent in the other. I love checking on Colin before bed, he always smells like sweet cotton candy :-) 

Caden's has Carly Rae's song, Call me Maybe in one hand and Bubble gum scent in the other (smells like the old bazooka joe bubble gum!) 

Here they are with their new creations at the mall before going home! 

They are BOTH already talking about going back to get more clothes/sleeping bags/accessories etc. 

School Pictures

I might be a little prejudice since they are my kiddos and all, but they sure do take the cutest pictures!! 

These are their spring school pictures. Which of course, cost a million dollars to buy..... so we don't. 

 Colin... he is just beyond photo genetic. I've never seen a not good picture of this handsome man. 

Selfies

Apparently the "thing" to do as a teen these days, is to take pictures of yourself and post them on whatever social networking site is out there at the moment... SO, yesterday, I walk in the living room to find Courtney and Colin, Taking selfies... and then posting them.. Too funny. 

Please ignore my picture quality, these are all taken with my cell phone! 

April Fools Day 2013

About 4 years ago, we were really good friends with a couple who we hung out with often. Mike and the husband had the same crazy personaility and were ALWAYS playing jokes on each other. That April Fools Day, was super nice outside, probably in the 60's, and I remember going out for lunch, and stopping at home to grab shaving cream and toilet paper on my way back to the office. I said to my boss who was with me, I am going to, for the first time ever, get Mike and he'll have NO idea it's me. We did too. We had a ton of fun, got him good. I am sure there is a post on it in here somewhere. The best part was, he really had no idea it was me. He DID think it was Dave. It was perfect timing. 

We'll since then, I've made it my goal, to continue the tradition every April 1st. The only year I missed was last year and that was only because it fell on a Sunday, and there wasn't much I could do with him when he was WITH me!

So this year... I didn't have a Key for the new car, nor was he giving one up prior to April 1st. he even said a couple times that he was going to hide his car. Since i Couldn't get inside to do what I had planned, I had to settle for the outside. Brown craft paper, lots of packing tape and some silly string, do wonders :) It took me forever to do this though. It was FREEZING outside and super windy. I was all alone, and the wind was whipping like crazy, it even snowed a couple times on me. I had to hold the paper to keep it from blowing away. Hold the tape and scissors in my pocket and keep the wind from getting under the paper to rip it off! Whew. I even had to run to the store once because I ran out of tape! 

And here is the end result:

Mike got a wrapped car. I ran out of paper so I couldn't do the whole thing, but the parts he would see pulling in where done. Then I made the Got Ya sign for the hood. 

 I also sprayed the whole car with silly string, oh, and i taped a tube of peanut butter cups to be nice :)

Courtney, Caden and I drove to penske when he was on the way home to see his reaction. When we got there, he was already in the fuel line! SO we hid behind a truck, but he saw us peaking around :( before he saw us though, he sent me a text that read:

LMAO, You got me again! 

He, he, I love it. It never gets old. 

Caden had fun tearing the paper off so they could move it out of the way so he could pull the truck inside the spot. 

He's always saying he'll get me someday, but I don't know... 4 years and counting. 

And here is our April Fools Day trick from Mother Nature.... MORE freaking snow and cold temps. *sigh* Spring, hurry up!

Colin's Graduation Picture

This boy is just so gorgeous. Really. He is going to break quite a few hearts when he gets older. 

So here is his Kindergarten graduation picture - Which, I DIDN'T even know he was getting taken! I was surprised yesterday when he brought this proof home to me! Excited though. I asked him when he did this, he said on picture day mom?! Well, yes, Colin, your are right. Doh mom! 

Love the picture. It's a picture of a picture of course though :-) Obviously credit must go to Inter-State Studio designs for it. 

Winter in Buffalo

Remember that picture in January that was 60 something degrees? Yea, apparently March and January were confused. This is what We got to drive home in yesterday  And this isn't all of it. This was just the beginning  Traffic was horrendous by the time Mike drove home. And the roads were a slippery mess. We accumulated enough to have to shovel the driveway. Well Caden did anyway :) 

I am hoping Spring isn't too far away. I don't mind it being in the 40's right now... But 30's & Snow? My sinus's are KILLING me thank you Mother Nature. You can be kind now. 

Random Strangeness

We are odd people in our house. Got home from work/school one night and as I am putting the boys bags away, I turn around to see Colin doing this:

While saying in a creaky old voice, Iam an ollllldddddd Mannnnnn. LMAO - Seriously. He has his fathers personality ALL THE WAY. Lord help me. 

Here's a picture of our second Easter bunny visit to Wegmans this past Sunday. Colin wrote him a nice letter and even shared his pencils with the Easter bunny. That boy is so very giving. 

Father Barney AKA Mike. Mike occasionally like to dress up in random outfits and go out in the neighbor and freak out neighbors. This evening, he was Father Barney. As it was snow hailing outside, we walked down to our neighbor's and Mike continued to Pray and Bless Mr Bobby and Ms Donna. :-) Poor Robbie though... Was SCARED to death of Mike. Even after he took off the hair and hood, he still wasn't sure of it. He's going to be scarred for life. 

Mya caught in a rare playing moment. She thought it was fun to eat my foot :-) And I actually got a picture of her where she didn't look like a huge blob of black! 

And Caden.... Oh Caden.... It was snowing. but not enough to leave much behind. Well, it accumulated enough on the grass for him to shovel  So, that is what he did. He shoveled the grass :-) Any heavy work and he's happy. And really, who am I, to tell him no, you can't go create your own therapy? He likes it, and he's safe, Go for it! 

The Wizard of Oz

Courtney for the first time ever, participated in the School Musical this year! It was the Wizard of Oz and they did the most amazing job ever! As always of course. I've always said I enjoy high school musicals, almost as much as Broadway shows. The tickets are much cheaper, the venue is closer and not nearly as crowded and the kids do amazing, and most importantly, the money goes to the school! In this case though, the money was donated, which made it even more special. IN the last 2 weeks of rehearsal  one of the girls in the play, Mary, her house burnt down :( She was at rehearsal when it happened, and the police came to school to get her and inform her. In the end, they lost almost everything, no house is left and the family dog passes away in the fire :-( They are currently staying with her grandmother who lives in Buffalo while looking for a house to rent in the meantime. Mary also has a younger brother who is 10. So, the school, as awesome as they are, donated all funds from the concessions etc to the family. How awesome is this??? Of course, LOTS of people, us included, donated more then what our concession cost came too. I am so grateful to live in a district that cares enough about the students and families to give back. 

Mike & I saw the show twice, Friday evening with no kids and Saturday with the kids. 

here is Caden with the Wicked Witch, played by Anna. She made T.H.E best witch ever! She had the perfect cackle and really did amazing playing the part. Colin won't go anywhere near her, I guess I can't blame him!

Here's  the boys with the good witch :) 

Courtney, played a flower and OZ{ian} in emerald City. As the flower, she is in this picture, the middle section  pink flower back row, on the end. She's the tallest one, I am SURE you can find her :) 

Here's Courtney with some good friends of her. Michaela, who we drove to practice daily and her family drove home. It worked really well, since practice went until after 10pm most nights, and the boys were in bed already, some night so were we! And Amy to her right. 

And here are the munchkins. I wish I had a way to get better pictures, but it's hard when your not in the front row. They looked adorable!

ALL of the kids did an amazing job. Too bad I didn't have a picture of the lion, tin man and scarecrow. The lion was amazing. best cowardly lion I've ever ever seen it the wizard of oz. These kids really worked hard, long hours and days. Practice 5 days a week, and even some Saturdays  All while having to keep up with school work, sports, homework and stuff outside of school including religion and getting ready to make her confirmation in a few weeks. All the hard work paid off though, because I know I've said it before, but they are amazing!  Can't wait to see what next years play is! 

The Pinewood Derby Car

Caden's first year in Cub Scouts. I had a ton of fun with this project. Must be because of my arts background? I don't know, but I enjoy the design element. Well.. Caden wanted his car to be a dog bone. Unfortunately  because of where the axles lay, that dog bone, turned out looking pretty funny. The more I looked at it (this was before the hole on the end) the more it looked like a wrench to me. So we went with that design and I think it turned out amazing! 

Caden with the unfinished car

Our Wrench

Helping daddy sand the rough edges

The car

Here's Caden winning his Judges award for the best design and the car that stood out to them the most! :) How awesome! 

His Certificate

So, in the end, although we didn't win any races, it was a fun family project. Mike and I worked well with it together and everyone worked hard on the car. Colin was most upset that he didn't have a car to make and race. Next year will be lots of fun having both boys racing!! 

We also learned lessons from our first derby. We for sure need more weight. We added to this, but not nearly enough. We need something flat to put on the top or bottom for next year. Colin next years wants to make a watermelon car. LOL Not sure what Caden's plans are :) 

Randomness

I figure if nothing else, I can at least get pictures on here, so I have SOMETHING to look back on. This past weekend, we had Caden's first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, We went to see the Easter bunny at Chocoloco, after we took a chocolate factory tour and make our Easter bunnies and Robin Nests, then went to see the Easter Bunny AGAIN at Wegmans. Needless to say, it was a pretty productive weekend! 

Courtney is going to be 16 in less then a week, OMG!!

Caden with the Easter Bunny 

Here is Caden's Pinewood Derby Car. He didn't win any races, BUT he DID win the judges award, for the most creative car, that stood out the most. I was pretty excited :) Caden originally wanted a dog bone, but because of where the axles were, it turned out weird, and the more i looked at it, the more it looked like a wrench, so, we went with it, and a wrench it was :) Yay for using our imaginations on that one! 

These were the cute little race car snacks I made for the derby :) 2 hours of pure detail, but the end result was worth it! 

Colin with the bunny - Gosh this kid is going to be a heart breaker

We NEVER shop at tops, wegmans is our place, BUT sometimes, Tops has great BOGO deals, so we stopped there yesterday, Colin loved pushing his own cart! He looked so cute

Here's all 40 of the mini racers. 

We recently re-did the living room, I need to get better pictures, but we ripped out the carpet and laid a laminate floor. Love

Colin had his 3 day hospital stay for his follow up seizure activity of EEG and EKG. He is said now to have a seizure disorder and chances of having another one are more likely. He can not be left alone, in or near water... ever.  

More of the new floor. That is the not the carpet for that room, it was just the temporary one till the new one came. it's here now.

The floor as soon as we completed it! Go US! We worked out butts off, and it was worth it! 

Here are the boys camping on Grandpa's new cot in the TV room last weekend. They never ended up sleeping in bed, just slept at opposite ends of this all night long, they loved it! Fun times with Grandpa.