Birthday and BABY!

My mom, affectionately known as Nana, celebrated her birthday on February 8th - along with her twin - my Aunt Joy (Happy BELATED Birthday!!!). We gathered at a local Mexican restaurant for a delis birthday dinner! (Missing Uncle Bryan and Alyssa, though!)
Uncle Steve suggested that Aunt Jackie, Nana and I should get a picture. We did and right before he snapped the pic, he shares some news - Jackie is PREGNANT!!! Steve has that picture, but I did manage to get one of Nana and Jackie!
I thought I would get a quick snapshot of soon-to-be-big brother, Henry and Jackie!
We would have celebrated with cake, but anyone who knows Nana realizes that she isn't a fan of that sweet treat, but prefers pie! Thanks to Jackie who made one of Nana's faves - lemon meringue and bought a chocolate one for the men!
Nana sure looks like she really enjoyed this dinner - AND drink!!! (Nana doesn't typically do this - I set her up to, but thanks to my mom for doing it so I could get the pic!)
A great picture of Nana and her 4 grandsons! Just think - for her next birthday there will be another baby in the picture (and hopefully Alyssa Jade too!!!) Notice the green flower in her hair - it was taken from the bouquet that the boys sent Nana to work!
Happy Birthday, Nana! We love you!

SNOW Much Fun in February!

As it is now already March and I'm just now blogging about February, you all know how much snow was dumped on us - we even had 3 snow days in a row!!! Crazy!!!

On one of those particular snow/ice days, Dan and the boys were all outside while I was holding down the fort indoors - I LOVE that job - anything to keep me from heading out in the COLD! Anyhow, we saw something that we had never seen before - the mailman got stuck!
Good thing there were so many men in the neighborhood off work to help push him out! He was out in no time!
The boys also had fun making a fort - to match the neighbor's fort across the street - they had good intentions of having a snow ball fight - unfortunately the darn cul-de-sac was a bit too big of a distance to throw a snowball at each other!!!

The work in progress!!! Too bad I didn't get a "finished" picture!!! :(

We did have SNOW much fun in February, but I'm SUPER excited that Spring is right around the corner!

You Won WHAT???

I love listening to music - especially when I'm in the shower! The radio is always blasting and typically it is tuned to Y98 - a station that is "safe" for the boys to hear and plays all the songs that the boys know!

Anyhow, I was getting ready to go to the Blues games (see below!) when the DJ says to be the 12th caller to win! I figured I'd try since it was a Saturday afternoon and I didn't think too many people would be dialing a radio station. I guess I was right because I was the first caller and then the WINNER! After confirming my information and such with the DJ, I ran downstairs to share my good news with Dan and the boys! I was SO excited when I announced to them that yes, I had WON tickets to see ELMO LIVE! Dan looked deflated - thinking that I had won tickets to the Superbowl and Jack looks me straight in the eyes and says, "I don't have to go, do I???" I assured him I had only won two tickets so I would be taking Luke - who was thrilled!!!

Dan thankfully drove down the the radio station to pick up the vouchers and then went to the venue to get the tickets! I was so surprised when he called me and said that I had really won 4 tickets!!! Jackpot! I honestly think that I was the only one excited about my windfall! Anyhow, I dialed up my friend Jenn and invited her and her daughter, Kate to the show!

Here is Luke standing by Elmo - while we were waiting for Jenn and Kate he convinced me to buy him a toy - he chose Zoe!!!
For free seats, these weren't too shabby!
Aunt Jackie, Uncle Steve and Henry were there too - so during intermission, we ventured off to see them! For some reason, Luke was not cracking a smile!!!
His mood changed a bit here though when he posed with me! :)
Kate, on the other hand, was not much of a fan of the show. Poor thing, she was glued to Jennifer the entire time!!!
Her mood changed for the better though when we headed down to Soulard to a fantastic little pizza place! What a great Saturday morning out!

B-U-N-C-O

Our family had been talking for a while about having a BUNCO party...

...and my cousin Sandy (and her hubby Duane) were the ones who finally put it all together!
After a quick meal of pizza and salad...(here are Kelli, Nick, and Kari!)
...the little boys were the first to play - and they actually got the game and TONS of prizes that Sandy and the rest of the fam brought for them!
I have played BUNCO a few times before, but never with the added bonus of a mustache! Sandy decided to add a few more aspects to the dice game! One being that everyone had to wear a mustache until they rolled a BUNCO, at which time they could remove it! Here are Luke and Kari!
Uncle Steve opted to have his mustache act more like one really long side burn, but he was rocking the tiara he got to wear since he rolled a BUNCO! Not sure what exactly, my Uncle Jim has on his head! :)
We had 3 tables going with 12 players...

while I acted as the "hostess!" I did manage to snap one quick pic of me with my Grandma - affectionately known as GiGi! I, of course, say "yell HOLLA!" notice I was the only one who did!!!
It was such a FUN night!!! Can't wait to get together with the fam again!

You WIN Some, You LOSE Some!

It has become somewhat of a tradition for Dan and I to attend the Blues - Rangers hockey game with our great friends Robb and Jenn! This year was no different, although there were a few differences to this game. First of all we were actually close to the ice! Okay, not rink side or anything, but not nose bleed either! Our view was amazing!
Second, and most importantly for the men, was that the Rangers WON! Last year the Rangers were defeated so it's good that we are now all tied up! Robb and Dan were celebrating the Rangers 2 - 1 lead!
Jenn and I, as always, talked the entire game away, but had a great time!
After the game it was off to find some after game drinks on Washington Ave - and thanks to our cool St. Louis friends, we found some amazing "hidden" parking that we will have to use the next time we venture out that way!

Ringing in the New Year!

We decided to ring in the New Year in St. Louis with our fab friends at the Lemp Ballroom. It was a very cool venue with people from all walks of life - and age ranges! We had some silver haired tux wearing gentlemen dancing around by your typical run of the mill East Coast Guidos! Here are Dan and I all dressed up and ready to dance!!!
Angie and I were enjoying these little drinks - cheers to an open bar!
I captured Dan's "Happy New Year!"

And here was my favorite part of the night - the balloon drop - all these colorful balloons fell to the dance floor - and were filled with prizes! Dan and I managed to snag a free dinner at the Lemp Mansion!We all arrived home safe and sound to our boys who were sleeping safe and sound!

Happy New Year!