God Bless Texas {Bluebonnets}

Every spring, I look forward to plopping my babies' into a patch of weeds bluebonnets and taking their pictures. It's like a right of passage in the Lone Star State, one of which I've only been made aware of since having kids. Call me a follower, but I really buy in to the whole bluebonnet thing. My Texas pride swells up in my chest when bluebonnet season rolls around. I spend a fair amount of {what's left of} my brain power pondering what they will wear, where we will go and then I promise myself not to overgram my kids and fill up your news feeds.

Lucky for us, the greatest bluebonnet patch was about a 4 minute drive away from our house. On a beautiful Saturday morning, the boys woke up way too early - in my opinion, anyway - so we loaded them up and headed off to take pictures.

I'm really pleased with how the pictures turned out. I dressed Connor in pants this year, since last year he was in shorts and hated the tall grass rubbing against his legs. And since Parker has rolls on rolls on rolls, it was a no brainer to put him in overalls. And of course we didn't leave the house without M&M's and fruit snacks to bribe Connor to smile. Whatever works, right?

He is 2 years and 5 months old (exactly) here. 

I love that when we told Connor to get close to Parker, he had to be head to head. He loves his baby!

Look at all of those chins!

They're perfect! Can't even!!! Gah!

Happy Spring to everyone!

Our Easter

Easter is probably my favorite holiday. I like it even more than Christmas. There, I said it. I've probably lost a few readers now. But to me, Christmas has become so rushed, commercialized and overbooked that it's just too much freaking work. For Easter, I don't have to decorate a tree, buy presents for everyone that interacts with me or my kids, and go to parties. My radio stations aren't hijacked for six weeks with holiday music, and I don't have to be politically correct when wishing folks a Happy Easter. And don't get me started about that Elf on the Shelf. Easter is simple, and on behalf of all the moms who don't live next door to Hobby Lobby -- let's keep it that way. 

Now, where was I? Oh yes, Easter. 

Connor had an egg hunt at school on Thursday. He is so methodical about egg hunting, and it cracks me up. He picks up an egg, opens it, surveys (or eats) the candy, hands me the egg and then moves on. In the time Connor hunted 4 eggs, the older kids had already collected their 12 allotted eggs and had moved on. 

Connor's class. E-tee (Ethan), Tess Mer Clr (Mary Claire) and their teacher, Ms. Chely

Pondering what he thinks about the jelly beans in the egg...

On Saturday, our neighborhood had an Easter Egg hunt that was a blast. We have 50 kids in our little neighborhood, many that are right around the ages of Connor and Parker. The dads went and hid all of the eggs at 8:30 and then at 9:00 the kids were free to hunt. The 0-3 year olds hunted eggs on the opposite side of the street than our house and this time, Connor got more in to it. We practiced picking up eggs, putting them in his basket and then opening all of them at the end. He caught on and would run to each egg and say, "Oh my egg!" So cute! After the egg hunt, there was an appearance by the Easter Bunny (one of the dads on the street was suckered in to wearing the costume). Connor wasn't sure at first, but then he finally wanted to take a picture with him and kept giving him high-fives!

That's Connor's cheese face!

After the neighborhood egg hunt, we spent the rest of our day out in Deer Park with Grammy and Paw Paw. My mom put together an over the top Easter basket for Connor. I wish I had a picture of it before Connor tore in to it. Mom puts a lot of effort in to the presentation of gifts and I love it. His basket was adorable and filled to the brim with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, books, Veggietales, and an ambulance and firetruck that both make noise (thanks, Mom!). He had a blast hunting for his eggs in their backyard and playing with his new bubble gun. Then while Parker napped, we took him to the park to play. It was fun for us to just do something with Connor and give him our undivided attention!

Hunting his eggs to put in his choo-choo basket!

He loved shooting Paw Paw with the bubble gun!

We had a blast with him at the park!

Parker was there, too! Parker Man...you'll get to run around with big brother and hunt eggs next year!

On Easter Sunday, we ended up at Urgent Care with Parker and missed church. This was heartbreaking for me, as this was my first Easter morning to not spend at church. There were tears. But, Parker was okay and that's all that matters. We had lunch with my family at Lupe Tortilla and then went to Tiki for a crawfish boil. Connor did his first crawfish races and went on a boat ride with Uncle Pete.

We had a great Easter weekend celebrating Jesus and celebrating our family. 

He is risen, indeed.

Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta

I love pasta as much (or maybe more) than the next person, so its no surprise it shows up on our menu at least once a week. This week, I had a big craving for pesto, so I used this recipe and modified it to work for my family. This is a really simple weeknight dish to throw together.

Ingredients

• 1 box of spaghetti
• 1/2 cup of prepared pesto
• Grilled chicken (I buy the frozen, pre-cooked kind...it's the weeknight, don't judge)
• 1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes (optional...but why would you opt no?)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

Cook spaghetti in 4 cups of boiled, salted water (the salt helps your pasta not stick together). While water is boiling, heat the chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once your spaghetti is cooked and drained, return it to the pot you boiled it in. Add the pesto and stir until well blended. Then add in the sun dried tomatoes. By now, your chicken should be heated, so go ahead and add that to your pot and stir it all together. Sprinkle in the parmesan cheese so it melts in to the pasta, and enjoy!

Houston Rodeo

To say that Connor had fun at the rodeo would be a gigantic understatement. He had a blast! It was one of my favorite days I've ever had with Connor, and I loved that my mom came along to share in the fun with us (and let's be honest...I needed all the help I could get with both boys in tow).

When we got there, Connor said he wanted to "ride horse"...but knowing him, I knew we would get up to the pony rides and he would refuse to do it. WRONG. He was game for it! He even let the worker pick him up and put him on the horse. All I could think was, "he is going to lose it at any moment!". But, he never did. He had the best time and kept smiling and saying, "My ride horse!' and petting the horse. And he also asked me where his cowboy hat was...sorry, buddy. I don't even have a cute rodeo shirt to put you in like baby brother. Next year, I'll be more prepared!

The Houston Rodeo does such a great job catering to little ones. We had fun wandering through their farmer's market, pretending to ride the tractor, and petting all of the animals at the petting zoo. Connor did this adorable squeal when he would pet one of the animals. He wasn't timid at all. He would get in their face and greet the animals. "Hi, goat, hi" he would say. This kid of mine is hilarious! The best part was when he was saying hi to the llama, he went ahead and gave it a kiss. Are   you kidding me? My mom and I about lost it!

Parker came with us, too, and was a champ. He stayed in his stroller most of the time and loved just looking around. This little one does not like to be bored, so he enjoyed being out and about. I love this picture below. Connor at his first rodeo in 2012 and Parker at his first rodeo. How cute is this outfit? (Parker had already kicked off his boots before the picture was snapped).

What a fun day with my boys! Can't wait to do it again in 2016!

Spring Break

This sums up our Spring Break so far.

Little man has had a fever for FIVE days. Basically since the clock struck "Spring Break" on Friday, he has had a fever of at least 102. The fever has slowed him down some, and he's also got what I call a day care cold - runny nose and cough. I'm hopeful that this week will end with two healthy babies.

Parker got his first ear infection last week (at four months old). He never ran a fever, just stopped sleeping well. Luckily some meds cleared his infection right up.

And all of the family - in laws included - have shared a tummy bug for the past few days. So, yes, our Spring Break can only go up from here!

Before you feel too sorry for us, we've had a fun Spring Break despite all of the ailments. We are in Baton Rouge and we went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Ya'll - this was an absolute blast! People in Louisiana make everything into a party, and I love it! We were at the family-friendly part of the parade and it was full of music (mostly "Uptown Funk"), beads, balls (see Connor's new football, pictured above), candy, cups and toys. Connor had a blast with his cousins. He also loved seeing the "march bands" going by - he's obsessed with marching bands! This was such a fun outing and I hope it wasn't our last St. Patrick's Day Parade in BR!

So, here's hoping the rest of our Spring Break is filled with more sleep, fewer "nose yucks" and lots of fun with my boys!

Mom Motivation

To me, this quote speaks volumes. It's hanging prominently in my craft room and is on repeat in my head daily. When I glance at it, I am reminded to make the most of these years with my babies. To listen to them; to get down on their level and look at them face to face; to play peek a boo for the 100th time; to try to figure out what the heck they are saying with their two year old vocabulary; to get up and shake it during the "Hot Dog Dance"; to celebrate even the smallest milestones with them; and most importantly, to just put aside my grown up agenda (and if I'm being honest, my iPhone) and play. That's what I want them to remember. That I was never too busy or too distracted to just be their mom. These days are numbered and I hope to make every one of them count.

So, here's to being the mom's we want them to remember!

Mexican Taco Monday!

At the end of a dreadful Monday, I always need a good meal to look forward to. Am I right?

I found this recipe a few weeks ago when reading a magazine, made a few changes to make it work for us, and now we have a new easy weeknight dinner. Ole!

The secret to this recipe is in the beans. Seriously! They're packed with flavor and add a perfect kick to the meal.

Chicken Fajita Tacos

What you need for the beans-

1 can of black beans (or 2 if you're making a larger batch; which we have been doing)

1/4 cup cilantro

4 slices of deli sliced jalepeno peppers

Sprinkle of salt and pepper

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons water

1 tsp. cumin 

1 tsp. garlic powder

All of your ingredients for the beans.

Put all of the ingredients into your food processor and press go! After the beans are mixed, simply transfer them to a pot and warm them on the stove.

Next, cook a chicken breast. Then cut it into strips, dice it or shred it (however you like it)! Or you can take the easy route, which I prefer to do on a weeknight every night, and use a pre-cooked chicken like this one:

This is really delicious and takes just three minutes in the microwave! #winning

Grab your tortilla, spread a generous amount of beans on it, add your chicken and any other desired toppings (I added salsa and cheese) and dinner is done. BOOM.

The picture really doesn't do it justice. This meal is delicious!

It's a really quick weeknight meal. To save time you can prepare the beans over the weekend and keep them in the fridge. When you are ready to eat, just heat them up.

I also love this because you can do several variations. The first night I made it, we had shredded chicken tostadas. Lately, we've been doing fajita tacos. You can also substitute the chicken for beef, make quesadillas, or a taco salad. Again, the flavor in this recipe comes from the beans. It's all about the beans!

And did I mention that if you dip the taco in queso it's absolute perfection? Because every Monday deserves some queso.