The Cutest Kids I Know

No real rhyme or reason for this one... just want to share some super cute little Stu pictures.


They have such a fun-filled life, when they pass out, they pass out hard! And they do look like perfect angels, don't they?

On the ride home from Lion Country Safari

Stus have a tough time waking up for school

Rea passed out on the floor in her room one night while waiting for Daddy to get home

Asleep at 5:30pm because he didn't nap during the day

Playful & very awake Stus

Ri looks absolutely adorable in giant headphones

LOVES schoolbuses!

Rea wanted to know how Grandpa was able to suck up an entire mouse.... check out the dustball - it took me a few minutes to see what she was talking about

Rea's yoga class - She LOVES it!

Another Ri meltdown. Have I ever told you how much I love age 2?

Rea plays the Sims 3 almost everyday. Here she is multi-tasking: dinner & a computer game.

Ri loves to help Mommy at Publix... if I will let him drive

Trauma Hawk landed in our neighborhood the other day. Half of the neighborhood came out to watch. 

Ri & Rea talked about it constantly for the next few days. 

It's amazing how technologically skilled the munchkins are... Ri plays on the iPad all the time.

It's All for Jack

I know I have said it before, but today it bears repeating.

I began writing this blog over a year ago because my sister Jack refused to have a Facebook page. Even though I tried to pressure her into it, she wouldn't. So I thought the blog would be a fun way to catalog our events, share silly stories, and give Jack access to view the pictures that I would have (and sometimes still do) put up on my Facebook account.

So, a few months ago, I was looking at someone's page. I think it was one of Jack's friends (I am "Facebook friends" with a handful of her actual friends). Anyway, I saw on a photo tag that Jack's name appeared. Naturally I was curious why her friend would tag her if she didn't exist on the social site. So I clicked on her name. And one of those ultra-private Facebook pages came up. You know the one, you can see NOTHING on their page, not even the profile picture. And then I clicked on the "Friend Request" button. I still wasn't sure if it was a real page.

After a while of no response I gave up and forgot about it. And kept writing/posting my blog because I didn't want Jack to miss anything happening with my Crew.

This morning, I went on Facebook, as so many of us do in the morning. And I was very surprised to see that my friendship request had been accepted by Jack. Hmmmm.... First, let me tell you, it has been MONTHS since I requested friendship. Second, this blog exists BECAUSE Jack DOESN'T have a Facebook account.

So I did what any good older sister would do. I called and gave her a piece of my mind. =)

Now, for those of you who are horrified that I chewed my sister out for this, let me assure you that I love her. And that I will still continue to write the StuCrew blog. And that I think this situation is simply hysterical.

And for Jack, let me tell you that I am going to go through my thousands of Facebook pics and tag you in ALL of them! HAHAHAHA! And I might post on your wall every single day (at least for a little while). Love you!!

Some (belated) Spring Break Fun

Public schools are on spring break this week. But Rea had it last week. I had a wonderful time hanging out with my munchkins. Shane and I tried to slow down our work as much as we could for a few days. Sometimes it feels like I never see my awesome babies, unless I am dropping them off somewhere.

The last day of school before a week off, TBS had "Crazy Hat Day". The kids could wear any kind of hat... I took Rea with me on a business trip the day before Crazy Hat Day and while we were away, we stopped in Disney to pick out the perfect hat.

The festivities continued that Sunday when our church had its Friends & Family Day. We do it right with a bounce-house, cotton candy & snow cone machines!

I told Rea she could have one afternoon of undivided Mommy-time. Even though I feared what she would choose, I told her she could decide how we spent that afternoon too. She chose simple and inexpensive: scrapbooking & the beach.

So that's just what we did.

Ri had fun too. He was with us at the baseball game and zoo (but those have their own blog entries)... as well as most of the rest of the week. But Ri is in that stage right now where he would rather not have his picture taken. When he sees the camera (or phone) he runs up to take it away. He prefers to be the photographer, not the photographed.

I loved hanging out with my monsters. They are the cutest, sweetest, silliest munchkins I know. Shane and I thank God everyday for them.

Lion Country Safari

This morning we went to Lion Country Safari with Jules, J & Meg (the kids call her Maggie). I had never been there before. Rea went once ("when she was 3") with Grammie. Rea was super excited to go back... Ri just wanted to see Maggie. In fact, it was the promise of seeing Maggie that got Ri dressed and out the door this morning.

We paid (a LOT) and drove through the safari. It is expensive, but it is pretty awesome.

 The lions were actually awake! It was pretty cool to see them up and moving since they sleep for almost 20 hours each day. They were the only animals that had a separation fence between them and us... this upset Rea who wanted to see them up close and personal.

The ostriches were feeling frisky. These two were playing a game of tag.

Zebras! There were "like a million" according to Rea.

The rhinos are HUGE! And they wander in and out of cars like we aren't even there. It was cool!

And the safari ends with my personal faves: GIRAFFES!!! YAY!

Look at that tall one! 16 feet!! He makes the others look so small.

After the drive-thru safari, we parked and went in the amusement park.

Ril would have ridden the train all day if we had let him.

 The kids got to feed some sheep. Then Maggie took them into the petting zoo.

 The highlight of Rea's morning was riding a camel. She talked about it for most of the safari and asked incessantly for it until we finally made it over there.

The camel's name is Sam.

It was totally impossible to get the 3 munchkins together for a photo. Oh well. 

Merry-Go-Rounds are always a crowd pleaser! 

 The last thing we did was the ferris wheel. Only 4 peeps to each gondola, so our group was split up.

Thanks Jules, J & Maggie for a really fun day! We LOVED it!