Four and Counting

I can't believe Little Pope just turned 4 a few weeks ago.  It seems like time is quickly passing.  Here are a few highlights from his birthday party!

A few weeks before his birthday he got to take cupcakes to celebrate his birthday at school.  He decided he needed to make sure the cupcakes were ok the night before by sampling one!

We rented a super fun bounce house that took up a good chunk of our backyard!  The kids had so much fun and some of the big kids got in as well.

We had a super cool greeter hanging from the second floor balcony!

Little Pope loves birthday parties and presents especially when they are his own!

They may look cute, but looks can be deceiving!  These two are the definition of trouble-makers!

Exhibit A...Camo was caught trying to feed the dog chocolate since she was not allowed at the party.  And for the record I am not a mean person.  The Team Leader has had a few relapses with her knees and counter-surfing for food so I decided this was the safest place for her.  Camo actually crawled in with her at one point and requested a pillow and a blanket from my mom.

Not too much longer before I won't be able to pick up this birthday boy!

Family pics are more of a hope-for-the-best-after-20-shots style.

Still looks like a mini adult version of the Nutrition Nazi, with more hair of course!

One of his favorite parts, and his new friend in the background!

Presents are probably Little Pope's favorite part!  His neighbor friend helped him open and play with all his presents!  

Grandma supervised so I could write down what he got for thank you notes!  And for those of you with really sharp vision that is a baby I am holding that belongs to a friend of ours.  He is so sweet and I get to give him back! 

This year Little Pope wanted a piñata so I bought the kind that you can pull the strings instead of hitting with a stick.  My new house was super appreciative that I did not give bats to toddlers to swing uncontrollably!

It was a really big hit!

And then the pandemonium started once it broke open with all the kids trying to get as many goodies as possible.

Some of our new neighborhood friends needed a little help since they are not as seasoned at the older kids!

I was super on my game this year - ha!  I bought a 'stick the emblem on batman game' and of course it was little girl that won!

This is how my child posed when his friend's mom wanted to get a pic on their way out!  Once a Pope always a Pope when it comes to being an attention whore!  I love that he already has a few friends in our awesome neighborhood!

Happy 4th Birthday Little Pope!

Time Keeps on Slippin into the Future

For those of you now stuck with the Steve Miller Band song stuck in your head after reading the title, I am somewhat sorry, but it was what came to mind.  I did not mean to stretch out my posts to three months, but it has been C.R.A.Z.Y. at the Pope house.  I am hoping that going forward my posts will be a little more frequent!  Here is our first quarter of 2016 in review.

We finally sold our house in Sienna.  Everything always works out just as it was supposed to be, though the road is often uncertain.

It took 2 large moving trucks and a trailer to move us and all of our stuff to Katy.  It was definitely different with the kids this time, but our wonderful family helped watch them so that we could pack and move with minimal disruption to the Little Popes and Team Leader.  We love being closer to the Nutrition Nazi now!

This sweet little monkey turned 2 in February.  We somehow managed to have a wonderful party with our family and friends in the middle of packing!  The rule was everyone had to pack two boxes before they could have cake!  Just kidding I'm too Type A to let someone else pack my stuff!

I seriously don't know where the time is going and can't believe how big he is getting.

There is still no denying who this kid belongs to! 

He learned how to open gifts from his big brother, and with a little help from our friends ripped through them in no time!

Every year I try to get a pic of me holding them to show how they've grown, and this may be the last year for that.  He is so tall his legs will probably be at my knees next year!

Of course there is the camera switch and NN gets in on his own pic! 

Shortly after we moved into the new house there was a brutal ninja sword fight that NN got caught up in.  Just kidding!  He was playing with the Little Popes when Camo's teeth caught his forehead.  Ouch! 

The kids settled in nicely in Katy.  They love the parks!

They especially love to chase each other up the slide!

The Team Leader is loving our new patio!

The beginning of March brought us another trip to the Rodeo, and we actually went to the show this year.  Beforehand Camo had to sample some of the food in the midway!

Of course they loved the rides!  This was Camo's first year of eligibility in carnival rides!  Luckily he had Little Pope close by to ease his fears.

Surprisingly this sweet face loved the actual rodeo, especially the bull riding.

I love this photo of the amazement on his face.  He was so enamored with the fireworks show before the concert.  The concert was less impressive.

The end of March brought several days of Easter festivities, beginning with a soggy parade at school.

This was how things were going about halfway through all of our events.  Definitely not a good sign.

Camo did at least participate for a few minutes in the egg hunt.

Little Pope was really excited, though, the picture says otherwise!

Thank goodness Little Pope looks like his mama!  Camo is looking at his future in this pic!

At least one of my children was excited about their Easter basket!  She also learned a new trick...blending in with the new rug!

Every year she always has the most fun in the Easter egg hunt, though Camo is starting to jump on her train.

This one used up all his excitement in the days leading up to Easter.

Once they woke up I got a few smiles!

I guess this is Camo's way of telling me no more pics.

And just for grins I threw in this pic of their reaction to seeing me blow a bubble with gum for the first time.  They thought is was the funniest thing ever.  Luckily we 'ran out' of gum or otherwise my jaw would be beyond sore!

Loving the Craziness

It's been a very busy summer and time has flown by.  Since Camo is a little more durable this year we have been able to get out a little more.

One of our outings was to the zoo.  The boys loved the monkeys!  Monkey see, monkey do!

Growing up way too fast! 

We went back to the monkeys at the end they loved them so much!

In my rodeo post several months back Little Pope was not thrilled about the carousel.  At the zoo he was willing to ride, but only if we sat on the stationary bench!

Camo had a hard time making up his mind about adding to his stuffed animal collection while perusing the selection in the zoo gift shop.

I haven't been to the zoo in forever, but you can get really close to the animals now.

Some animals you can even pet, per se.

The boys test drove future Christmas present ideas!  Poor Camo kept getting thrown into the headrest while riding with a 'new driver.'

Camo fell asleep with both of his babies, Arnold and Danny, where he landed one day!

One early morning (3 AM) were lucky enough to get to meet some of our local firemen!  The boys were so excited to see the fire truck show up.  The end result was a smoke detector unit going bad, but we felt better safe than sorry when it comes to fire and carbon monoxide.

This is what you get when you ask for no sirens or lights so that your neighbors can remain asleep!  I think our river house in Lake Jackson was illuminated from these wonderful lights.

Little Pope got to sit in the new fire truck that we are now paying $20 more a month for on our water bill.  He did not want to get out!  The firemen were so nice considering that they were woken up to come check out our smoke detector issue.

We also became the proud owners of this small water park to entertain the Little Popes!  even the Team Leader got in on the fun!

Our next outing was a long windy weekend at the beach.

Little Pope was excited to the point of impatient to go play in the sand.

Because every toddler needs a big stick/small tree limb to play with.  If there is trouble within a five mile radius Camo will find it!

He tried walking over to the Nutrition Nazi and acting like he wasn't causing trouble a few seconds ago!

Someone felt like their old crazy self!

She retrieved her toy for hours which took the sting out of price of her recent surgeries.  She slept well for a few days afterwards.

Speaking of growing up too fast.  He is so sweet, but very reserved!

He is still a Pope under it all so he lets his guard down fairly quick for the chance to say 'cheese money'!

Camo is super crazy (and Pope through and through) and loves to say 'cheese' without any reservations.  If I pickup my phone or camera he thinks I am taking his pic!

In July we went to Jellystone with our good friends and their kids for a couple of days.

Though I had a few reservations about 4 adults and 4 kids in an RV, everything went really smoothly.  My sweet friend Ellen has even thing down perfectly!

The little ones had a blast with all the activities Jellystone has to offer.

Camo had so much fun that he fell asleep on the way home!

We also went to our very first Skeeters game!  The boys had a blast playing on all the different rides and playground equipment.

Little Pope is really into Mascots and loved Swatson, the Skeeters mascot.

There's the occasional selfie snuggle on random lazy days!

We had the occasional date night, thanks to our parents.

And of course celebrating the Nutrition Nazi's birthday!  The boys were so excited to help me make the cake for NN, but refused to take one bite.