Shrine Circus

Grammy and Grampy treated the kids (& me) to a trip to the Circus while we were visiting. I think we were the first ones in the doors! Seriously.
The first thing we did was ride the ponies. Lane was very excited to ride a horse, he is a cowboy you know. Marlee was excited because brother was excited. She got right on!

My little cowgirl.Next the kids got their faces painted. Marlee got a sparkly butterfly.Lane got a green lizard.Grammy and Grampy insisted the kids needed these light swords.And then we asked Lane if he wanted to ride the elephant. He told Grampy he didn't think he was big enough, they weren't big enough for the ponies so they had to have an adult with them - that must have been where Lane got his response. So I asked if he wanted to ride the elephant with Grammy and he jumped at the chance.They got on the elephant with lots of room to spare.And then they added a bunch of girls and Lane was packed in up there like a little sardine.After the elephant ride we ran into some clowns. Marlee did not want to sit with them for a picture.Lane and the clowns chatted a bit.

And posed for a picture.Marlee and the clown compared the fluff on the tops of their heads.We settled into our seats before the show began. Lane and Marlee loved their light up toys.I think they either whacked or almost whacked everyone sitting around us.Marlee fell asleep before intermission and took a nice little nap.Lane ate lots of popcorn while sister slept.During Intermission Lane and Grammy walked around and ran into this monkey. I saw them from our seats and hustled over to get some pictures.Lane was so excited to meet a life sized monkey.Only in Oklahoma - Native American Indians perform as a part of the circus.We had the best time at the Circus! Grammy and Grampy are sooo good to us! We had a great morning!!!

I had to add this picture. I love Marlee's little hand out asking Lane for more popcorn.

Serious Shoppin

We are in Allen for Clint to do a basketball tournament. The kids and I are here tonight and then we'll be in B'ville for a few days with the Grand P's while Clint is working the tournament. Tonight Clint got to MC the tournament banquet so the kids and I hit the outlet mall.

What did you notice about that picture? Two purses!! One for Lane and one for Marlee. The kids love to play in our master closet and Sunday night they found my purse stash. I never carry a purse now but I have tons of them from my purse carrying days. I think Lane loves his purse more than Marlee. Much to Clint's chagrin Lane wants to carry it everywhere, and talks about it loudly! To Lane's credit he keeps a ball and some change in it. You never know when you are going to need a ball to play with.We had a fun meal at the outlet outside beside a little fountain. Lane and Marlee were so good! They both ate well and were great company.There were mechanical rides about every 10 feet. Laners loves Cat in the Hat and was so excited to see him.Lane stopped and said "Mommy I need to take a picture of you and Marlee". This was it!Lane found a two seat ride for he and Marlee. Lane got tired of walking so Marlee let him have a turn in her stroller. Marlee did really well walking with us. She would hang back every once in a while and Lane would hop out of the stroller to speed her up a bit.The kids got some clothes on our shopping trip but Lane's favorite purchase? A silicone basting brush! Of course!

EE's Three!

This cute guy turned three today! We reminded Lane yesterday that his birthday would be Sunday and Lane remembered! This morning when I was barely awake I heard Clint get onto Lane for something. I heard Lane reply "but it's EE's birthday". Smart kid, everyone knows the rules don't apply on your birthday.We had our birthday celebration after dinner. The kids donned their birthday hats and got ready to sing to EE.We let Lane and Marlee both blow out a candle for EE. Lane was all over it, Marlee blew but not toward the candle. Lane helped her out.The kids loved their cupcakes! And EE did too! I do have to tell you when I woke Lane up from his nap this afternoon I told him we would have EE's cupcakes after dinner. Lane, holding EE, looked up at me and said "but EE's not real". One minute Lane's carrying on a conversation with EE and the next he's not real.I love his little mind!Marlee really got her cheeks into her cupcake.

And after our treats Lane helped EE open his birthday present. EE got a banana, a bag of chewy runts - the bananas are his favorite, and a Mater activity book to do with Lane.Marlee grabbed EE's banana and got down to business.

And Lane and EE picked matching stickers out of their new activity book to wear.Happy Birthday EE!

Dad Time/ Mom Time

Clint had to be at the ballpark bright and early Saturday morning for a baseball game. He offered to take Lane for the morning, so I happily agreed that Lane could go! Lane loves the ballpark and he loves to be in the control room with his Daddy. The first thing they did was put on the chicken head and feet. Laner makes a pretty cute chicken!
And then they got down to business. Lane got a stepstool to use as a chair and settled in to watch the game from the counter Clint works from. Dad looks pretty proud of his boy.

And while the boys were away Miss Marlee and I got to spend the morning together! We went to breakfast. While we were waiting to order Marlee met a stranger, she put her arms out for the stranger to take her and snuggled in!!! I had no idea what I should do so I let her snuggle with the stranger for what felt like hours, but was probably a minute, and then tried to gracefully pry Marlee away. Truly the woman was very nice and friendly so it was awkward, but it could have been much worse!

After our breakfast we did some shopping. Marlee found some hot pink boots and wouldn't let go. I took that as a sign that she wanted them.

When we all went for dinner Saturday night Marlee wore her hot pink boots and was happy as a clam.

Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's day this year. We started our day with our usual errands, we checked our mail on our way out and Lane and Marlee got some Valentine stickers in the mail from Grammy and Grampy. I let them have them in the car and by the time we made it to our first stop they were both covered in stickers!
When we got home from our errands Lane and Marlee's friend Bella from across the street came over to bring Lane his Valentine, a box of chocolates and a heart she colored. Lane left us at the door and ran into the kitchen. I went to check on him after a couple of minutes and he had devoured his box of candy!

So, as any good Mom would do, I continued the load the kids up on sugar. We made chocolate chip cookies to have for dessert after dinner. Marlee wants to do anything and everything Lane does. Lane loves to help me measure and mix so Marlee does too! I think she may even be a little neater when she helps me measure and pour.This is what they were both waiting for. Delicious cookie dough! After our baking fun I put the kids down for their naps, while they slept I got everything ready for our Valentine's family dinner. When Lane and Marlee woke up Marlee spoted the balloons on both of their plates in the dining room right away.

But before she could enjoy them Clint took the kids to deliver some of the cookies we made to our neighbors.Love these little cuties!And finally it was time for our Valentines party! Dessert! I made chocolate covered ice cream cookies. Lane and Marlee loved them!

Superbowl!

We had the best night tonight! This is the first year we have stayed home for the Superbowl since Lane was born. It's fun to go to parties, but we had so much fun hanging out! I made nachos and guacamole for dinner. Lane helped me juice the lime and put the top half of the juiced lime on a half of a tomato and said "look Mommy an acorn". You can see by his face he thought he was pretty smart.The kids are really starting to have fun dancing together. The got up and boogied during Madonna's half time show.Marlee got up on the couch with Clint during the second half to chill out. It's not something we see very often! All her dancing must have worn her out.Marlee started bopping her head and bouncing to the music about month ago. Tonight she threw in some marching action. We didn't get it on video but the rate she's going we'll have lots of new moves to video.

And all I can say for Lane is ... Out of Control!!! He was hilarious tonight. Watch out girls!

The Latest

I haven't posted in over a week and found a good little collection of pictures from the past week. Before we left OK my family went to dinner for Clint's birthday. Clint picked a Hibachi place and Lane and Marlee we very entertained. Marlee had fun with the dishes while our guy cooked.She did stop to watch some of the show. We thought she was adorable with her little chin on her hands. Lane and Unc Tyler had fun with their copsticks.Lane has gotten so that he likes to make funny faces when we take his picture. He thought this one was pretty cute when we showed it to him.My Mom insisted on taking a picture of me and Clint. We took some regular ones but we could resist taking a "Lane" picture.We love Auntie Sarah!Monday was Clint's birthday. He got to open his presents as soon as he got home from work. And then we went downtown to a fun restaurant near the capital.Lane and Marlee LOVE their Daddy!Clint is announcing Basketball games at the High School down the street. Lane loves to sit at the scorers with Clint while he announces. He found a pen that he clipped to EE's tail. He turned around several times so I could take pictures of them.When we got home from the game Lane and Marlee got to open the gifts Aunt Sarah & Unc Tyler sent for them for Valentines. You can see the bag of candy I'm holding in front of the camera. Marlee wouldn't take her eyes off that bag when she found it in her box.Aunt Sarah put stickers in each of their boxes. Marlee wanted one on her hand and they both ended up with stickers up and down their arms.Marlee loved it! She would have added more if I hadn't hidden her sticker book from her.And now for videos! Grammy's Favorite!!
Lane did a great job singing Happy Birthday to Clint.

This one's for Aunt Sarah & Unc Tyler. The kids were sooo excited to open their packages.

And this one's my favorite! Lane loves to tell everyone goodnight after the basketball games. Clint announces on Tuesday and Friday nights, and we usually go with him. Lane gets to say "goodnight everybody" after each game. It's the highlight of his night!