insta:ketchup

And by ketchup I mean catch up. And my catch up I mean - a whole lot of pictures from the month of May. All via the trusty phone as per usual.  Enjoy a sneak peek into our week(s):

Bethany totally rocked recital weekend for dance but it sure caught up to her later in the week. She always begs to come up front while we are waiting for Wesley in the pick-up line and I try and be nice and let her, but often I just say no b/c all she does is press buttons and bother me and do strange gymnastic moves in tight spaces. This day she came up front and literally one second later was asleep. It's impressive how fast her train was moving to sleepytown:

 Origami heart made from a dollar. Beware - origami may be my new hobby. You have to be pretty high on my A list to get one of these bad boys, tough:

 My mothers day from Bethany was an adorbs card, but just the envelope wasn't cutting it. So she triple wrapped it. Quadruple wrapped if you count the envelope. I couldn't have asked for more. Every layer I had to unwrap just made me feel fabulous and remember why I love this job:

 Sheppy fell asleep 3 numbers from the end at dance recital. He was a super trooper, but just couldn't stay strong long enough:

 Baseball practice. LOVE it:

 A lot of times they fight. But sometimes - they don't. And that is awesome. And she tries to sound out words - and he listens and thinks she's the queen of the whole world. And I look at them and realize I am the luckiest girl in the world:

 Cheers! (with the yards I brought them from Vegas - which are like 1/3 yards - not even close to a yard). Wesley said - "to life, love, and brotherhood".  He's gonna be a mover and shaker someday. Or at least a damn good leader:

 I wish this dog was in our family. And I also fiercely am glad she is not. I'm so wishy-washy - but being friends with the humane society on FB has been of no help in the matter. There are constantly pictures of cuteness coming at me. And I'm weak for cuteness:

 More of Bethany's wrapping skills. For a friend's bday party. She's got mad skills and she ain't afraid to show it. Show it:

 She also really wants glasses and flipped a wig when we went into Claire's and they had a whole section of "fashion glasses" (without real lenses). She loves wearing these - and does a good job of doing so:

 May Day baskets. The kids loved delivering these to neighbors and teachers. Who doesn' t love to 

ding-dong-ditch?

 On a field trip with Wesley he appeared with this on. It's not exactly "Hutton" - he had no idea the offense he was taking on:

 Another pic from the field trip. God bless America and the school bus full of first graders. Next time I'm opting to meet at the location. At 10am - with my child. What kind of fool am I that I didn't realize this was an option? Or just skip the day? Also a possibility as a great option:

 Wesley at school - so fun to see them in a different environment than I usually see them in. He's pretty cute doing his worksheets like a good boy:

 Bethany after her spring program at school with her two besties. These three are quite the amigos. They have definitely bonded. It's pretty cute:

 Look what's in my backyard. Cute little chairs for our bird and squirrel friends. I know I'm easily amused - but it makes me smile when I see a squirrel in a chair on a tree. Funny and cute. Win-win:

Look who fell asleep again. He tries so hard to keep up with the rest of the crew - but sometimes I think he could just really use a nap. It's hard to resist cuddling with a sleeping babe. Really hard:

Stuff Bethany found in a random basket of fun while I was getting a spray tan. She is such a goof ball - I love it:

 Almost every time Ben's grandparents watch the kids they have a "tea party" - which involves hot cocoa instead of tea. Their patience and ability to really play with the kids amazes me. And the kids clearly love going to their house. They get so mad when I show back up after a few hours and don't usually want to come home! :

Here's to the last week of school and a proper weekend ushering in the summer. I am READY!!!

they really just want a worm.

Dudes. Look what is on the back of our basketball post. A cute little bird nest with 3 cute little eggs. This is a blurry picture Wesley took last saturday when we discovered there were eggs inside:

 Then last night during a rousing game of Risk-IT! I asked Benny boo to lift me up so I could see in there. and LOOK!!! BABIES!!! I had to go get the camera and climb up so get a better look. They are kinda all skin and nasty with their limp necks:

When the basketball hits and shakes them a bit - they think mommy is home. WAAAA! I want a worm!!! Holy amazeballs it's cute. It took a lot of restraint to not just pick them up and take them inside with me:

We tried to find some worms for them, because i thought that would be cool.  Then I wondered if the mama bird eats the worm first and then gives it to them? Game off. We decided perhaps just leaving them alone would be best. I'm wondering if that 3rd egg will hatch? If not I totally blame Shepherd - his grubby hands reached right in last saturday when he was looking at it. I bet that egg got excommunicated. I will certainly go check later though. It makes me giddy seeing those cute little open mouth beaks. WAAAA! :

videos

When I am 80  40 I will be unlikely able to work a single thing in my life. Technology and myself are arch nemeses. It's quite maddening, really.  Anywho - here are two out of three videos. The third is an elusive pain in the rump mess. 66.66% success rate. Fail.  Enjoy anyways:)

tiny dancer

Bethany had her first dance recital this weekend. It wore me out - but she has quadruple the energy I do and was fine. She was completely starstruck watching all the other dancers and looking at all the amazing outfits. 

Ben and her danced in a Daddy/Daughter dance as well. It was adorbs and made me get chocked up so many times. Bethany is so lucky to have a daddy that is willing to do that for/with her. She said several times that she loved dancing with daddy the most. Too precious:

 Then she was in a tap number from Blues Brothers:

And a ballet number from Dirty Dancing:

It was fun weekend stepping into a whole new world. I can attest to the fact that there are some crazy dance moms out there. But, luckily, there are many more normal moms there with their cute kids. Whew!  I tried to upload videos about 30 different ways and after over 2 hours of frustration I gave up.  If I do figure it out I will post those later - but for now I don't have another ounce of patience left to deal with that so you'll have to settle with pictures!

Kentucky Derby '13

We went to a Kentucky Derby party last weekend - it was a fundraiser for the pcc. We had a ball - and it was so fun to see all the big hats! We bet on horses, entered raffles, and chatted the time away. It was so fun hanging out with our friends that came. I don't have pictures of all of them - but here are a few:

Maybe next year my horse will win. Maybe next year I will do a little research beforehand. The horse world is foreign to me. But the outfits are fun!

vegas in a nutshell

I took a little trip to Vegas with 10 fabulous women. And it was fun.  The end.

Sike! 

But for real, it was fun, and this week coming back to reality was a bit tough. Because I love my family and kids and life - but I also love not being anything to anybody and being completely selfish and lazy. Yeah - I'm a brat. I know.

Our hotel - It has a fun atmosphere, a few good bars (which we didn't even actually go to . . . bummer), and the rooms are pretty cheap. In my opinion, that's a bonus. Unless you plan on being in the room a ton or want a nice spa. The beds were comfy too. And there's a roller coaster. And Nathan's hot dogs:

We spent most of the whole first day by the pool. We rented a Cabana and laid out. Ate. Laid out more. It was fabulous. I'm a lover of sunshine. And water. And grapefruit/vodkas at 11am. And chatting lots with friends.  I took several more pictures but thought perhaps my friends don't want their pictures posted in their swimming suits. So, too bad for you, this will have to suffice:

I met a couple new friends while I was there too:

Except Chewy and I are no longer friends. He either was spot on with the whiny roar he makes in the movies or had a voice box.  Either way it was kinda impressive. And scary. Then he said "one more picture . . . give me a kiss" And I hesitated. Because . . . it's Chewy. And look at those teeth and lips. And I was thinking "Is this freaky guy under this suit gonna stab me with some needle or something through the mouth?" Anyways - I pretend kissed him for the sake of a funny picture and he lunged and whiny roared at me . . . and I ran away screaming like a baby girl.  Touche Chewy.  You got me:

Group picture.  I sure have cute friends:

Half of us went to Ghostbar at the Palms after dinner one night. It was on the 52nd floor. The view was gorgeous. The music was great. The dancing was fabulous. I danced until my kneecaps just about gave way. And was still feeling it Monday. My poor legs aren't used to dancing. Or heels. But it was well worth it. So fun:

The next day we did A LOT of walking. (perhaps also why my legs were sore monday). We went to the Stratosphere to play around and Amanda jumped off the top. The other rode some rides. And a few of us lame-o's (myself included) just enjoyed the view. The highest point is 1,149ft. - it's a pretty legit view from that high up:

 Here's Amanda ready to jump. And her squirrely friend that was getting her all geared up:

Can you see her? That little speck is her jumping. She's cray-cray. I had bubble gut for her and may have screamed a little:

 Another group picture inside the Venetian:

The last night we went to see the pirate show at Treasure Island and ate at Senor Frogs. It was loud, and hilarious, and there was dancing and balloon animals. Very impressive balloon work, actually. I would definitely go back to Senor Frogs - very fun place:

Then we went to Fremont street, which in my opinion is not worth the time or effort - but was still fun to see. Plus there was a band that played Living on a Prayer. One of my all time favs - so that was probably worth it in and of itself.  Then there was more laying out. More eating. And a bit of gambling.  

I'm so lucky that I have friends that are fun to hang out with. I love you guys!!