Soundtrack to cook to: Pharrell Williams' G.I.R.L. It's a GREAT R&B album with lots of fun dance songs, including one of my favorite jams at the moment "Happy."
Woo hoo! Thank goodness for Spring! I know it wasn't officially spring at the time, (early March), but I figured, why not decorate the house for spring in hopes of bringing spring-like weather?
My sister Kristen got an idea to get the boys' hand prints and foot prints to make "flowers" out of them. While I was furiously packing for an upcoming trip, Kristen took on the task of getting the hand prints and foot prints from the boys. They had so much fun doing this! Thanks Kristen! Our house is quite springy now. :)
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| Kristen getting William's hand prints for the flower portion. Then, she did the boys' foot prints in green paint for the stem portion of the flower. |
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| William enjoyed this arts and crafts activity. |
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| Our happy little boy. Thanks Weez! :) |
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| Liz, Alex the fire chief, William the pirate, and Peter, playing in the kitchen. |
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| "Aaaahhhhh!!!" I think Peter was a little overwhelmed at that moment, what with being "sprayed" with water from the fire chief, and chopped by our little pirate. Joseph enjoyed taking this all in from the side lines. |
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Chop up the following and place in a Dutch oven over medium heat:
and let it cook for 15 minutes (until the vegetables are tender). |
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In a medium sauce pan, combine the following:
Then, gradually whisk in 2 cups of lowfat milk and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Continually whisk this gooey and cheesy mixture for 5-7 minutes on low heat until it has thickened. |
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| Then, take the cover off of the Dutch oven and pour in the cheesy broth mixture into the vegetables. Stir everything together until just combined. |
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| Oh.my.heavens. A creamy soup that you do NOT have to feel guilty about eating! It satisfies that creamy and cheesy craving while also serving you a giant bowl of vegetable goodness. This one was another huge success in the Franses household. So good that everybody had seconds and there were no leftovers! |
So, I packed our bags, prepped as many snacks, books, and stuffed animals as my carry-on would allow. I was so tired of missing out on all of my friends' weddings, so I said a little prayer, gave Joseph a hug and a kiss, dropped off Oscar at the trainer's, and set my sights on Vegas, baby!!
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| I called a taxi and the boys and I ventured on our first taxi ride together to the airport. Part 1 of the trip was a success!! Nikki - 1 Scary trip - 0 |
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| The incredible staff on our 6 hour Delta flight allowed us to have an entire row to ourselves!! They were incredibly accommodating and sweet to us. They even took Alex up into the cockpit to show him around! He was so excited! Nikki - 2 Scary trip - 0 I was feeling invincible! |
As soon as we got up in the air, I gave Alex our tablet and let him watch movies for the entire trip. He was SO well-behaved, sweet, and polite. Alex did a wonderful job and I was so proud of him.
William on the other hand was another story. Every hour of the six hour flight was filled with 20 solid minutes of screaming and thrashing like a wild animal. I felt so bad for him, because obviously something was bothering him and absolutely nothing in my bag of tricks would soothe him. Not even lollipops or a movie! I held him, sang to him, told him everything was going to be okay, and tried my darndest to make him feel better. I gave him Tylenol, made sure that he was well fed, and he hadn't even napped much that afternoon. The poor guy didn't sleep at all on the flight. Thankfully, everyone around us on the flight was very supportive and sweet, and the staff on the flight tried their best to help me as well.
I couldn't WAIT to see Las Vegas, and of course, just as we were descending, William decided that that was a good time to fall asleep.
William on the other hand was another story. Every hour of the six hour flight was filled with 20 solid minutes of screaming and thrashing like a wild animal. I felt so bad for him, because obviously something was bothering him and absolutely nothing in my bag of tricks would soothe him. Not even lollipops or a movie! I held him, sang to him, told him everything was going to be okay, and tried my darndest to make him feel better. I gave him Tylenol, made sure that he was well fed, and he hadn't even napped much that afternoon. The poor guy didn't sleep at all on the flight. Thankfully, everyone around us on the flight was very supportive and sweet, and the staff on the flight tried their best to help me as well.
I couldn't WAIT to see Las Vegas, and of course, just as we were descending, William decided that that was a good time to fall asleep.
Nikki - 2 Scary trip - 1
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| Here's the boys in my parents' van once we arrived at their home. Alex was OUT and William was wide awake and cranky, understandably. |
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| Alex and my dad checking out the fish. |
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| Dad, Alex, and a Komodo Dragon. It was HUGE! |
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| Dad and William checking out some very large fish. |
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| Alex about to be greeted by a large catfish. YIKES! |
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| The boys were being educated about piranhas. |
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| The wall was a little high in the touch tank for Alex to touch the sting rays and horse shoe crabs. So, my dad just held Alex up on the ledge and they had an overview of the tank. |
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| Alex just played with the water. :) |
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| Alex loved looking at the lionfish. |
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| And the jellyfish were simply mesmerizing. |
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| "Hi friends! It's me, Alex." Yep, our kid is that cute because he said that. He's hilarious. |
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| Alex, giving a goober smile, at Shark Reef with the sharks behind him. :) |
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| William at Shark Reef. |
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| Dad and William, after William decided to make himself comfortable. |
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| Mom wanted to get in on the snuggle action as well. |
As we started eating our soup, William insisted that he be able to use the soup spoon to eat everything. However, eating the food with a soup spoon proved to be difficult for him, so I handed him Alex's toddler fork. Then, William went straight to work and the little man started feeding himself with a fork like a champ!! We were all so proud of him!
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| William, finishing up the remainder of my miso soup. |
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| And there he goes!! Eating with a fork like a champ at the age of 16 months. So proud of him! |
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| He was so focused and there was absolutely NO separating him from that fork for the rest of the night. Another milestone! :) |
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| Alex and William were in awe of one of the circus acts. |
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| Then, before we rode the rides, we headed over to the food court to have a quick lunch. "Look mommy! I have a mustache just like Grandpa and Nono!!" You might as well call our kid a hipster, because he's totally into mustaches. :) |
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| My dad didn't want William to be left out, so here's William with a mustache as well. :) |
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| Alex and Mommy bonding time on a bumper car. I forgot how hard those things hit! |
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| Alex loved riding the rides and having some one-on-one time with me. It was great. |
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| Our happy little guy :) |
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| Alex was very excited about riding on the dragon! :) |
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| We had a lovely morning together. Thanks for watching William, Dad!!! |
Our big boy eating with a fork!
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| He was so proud of himself! He even started doing the baby sign- language for "more!" |
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| Love :) |
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| Our beautiful boys :) |
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| William, getting ready to take yet another bite! |
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| Look at our, not so little, boy go! |
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| Awwwww! Pure happiness! |
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| William, playing around with my mom. |
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| Here ya go! |
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| Alex, wearing his finest in formal attire. :) As you can tell, we like tuxedo t-shirts in our household. |
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| Stacey and Alex. Stacey has an adorable little boy named Cooper who is about Alex's age, so while William was being difficult, she took Alex and played lots of games with him. Thanks so much, Stacey, for being an amazing "Aunty" to Alex and William!!! |
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| Me and Stacey, ready to take on Las Vegas! |
I was SO excited to be there with one of my best friends from college, and also to see my friends from Vegas!! We were all teachers together at the same school and used to hang out ALL of the time! If there was a happy hour or karaoke, then we would be there. I refer to these people as my "second Vegas family." We had SO much fun that evening, and it was so great to see everyone again!
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| Me with my friend Michelle who was my mentor when I taught 3rd grade. She is now an assistant principal at an elementary school in Vegas. |
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| Stacey, Me, Michelle, Mikie, and Christy. The lovely ladies! |
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| Here comes the bride!! Vanessa looked absolutely beautiful and I totally got teary-eyed as she was walking towards her husband-to-be. So happy! |
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| Me and Stacey in the Neon Boneyard. |
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| Me and my super sassy friend Mikie. She used to teach first grade in the room next to mine. She was very good at helping me discipline my more difficult students, and she always had something witty to say that had me in stitches. She is now a principal at a school in Las Vegas. |
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| Stacey, Me, and Mikie, having fun at Vanessa's reception. |
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| Me amongst some of the signs in the boneyard. It was absolutely beautiful when it was lit up at night. I SO wished Joseph could have been able to be there but was thankful to share the evening with Stacey! :) |
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| Michelle, Vanessa (the bride), and Me having a wonderful time. |
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| Kelly (also a former teacher at the same school) is now an assistant principal in Las Vegas, Me, and Mikie's husband, Bodie. |
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| This was such an awesome evening! Vanessa and Augie (her husband) even provided guests with pashminas to keep us warm once the Vegas sun settled. What a great idea! |
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| Me and Michelle at "Park" |
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| Snuggling with Stacey at the After Party |
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| Mikie giving me a little smooch. We had such a blast! |
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| *sigh* Just like old times :) |
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| Vanessa, Mikie, Michelle, and Me :) |
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| Me and Stacey at the patio |
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| Me and Kelly |
Early that next morning, I dropped off Stacey at the airport, and took a nap late into the morning. (That's the bonus of staying up late at your parents' house. You've got built-in babysitters for the next morning!) Thanks mom and dad!
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| Later that afternoon, my mom and I took the boys out for a walk around the neighborhood. |
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| Here's Alex getting ready to "fish." :) |
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| That next day, we went to a local park and let the boys run around. |
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| Me and Alex at the show |
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| Dad, Me, and Alex getting ready to watch the Tournament of Kings show. Alex got a little scared of the dragon, but other than that, he had a great time. In fact, he's still talking about it a month later! |
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| Dad and Alex giving the "thumbs up" to the Dragon Knight (because we were in the Dragon section). Too bad Alex was terrified of him. :) |
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| Dad and Alex :) |
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| Alex, hanging out on my parents' balcony. |
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| Ok Vegas friends....what in the WORLD are these animals??!! They have the head of a turkey and the body of a goose. These vicious little guys chased me off as I was running in my parents' neighborhood. Terrifying. |
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| The beautiful black swans in my parents' neighborhood are also bullies and carefully guarded the sidewalk (i.e. my running track) and hissed at me as I ran by. |
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| I love running around my parents' neighborhood! It would make my runs that much easier if I had this to look at everyday. |
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| One of the ponds :) |
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| Simply stunning :) |
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| The palm trees leading into my parents' subdivision. |
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| Alex enjoyed climbing the rocks that led to my parents' waterfall in their backyard/ pool area. |
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| Our beautiful boy, enjoying the warm weather. |
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| He's SO big now :( |
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| Alex enjoyed collecting pine cones while we were going on our walks. |
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| There's our William Billiam! Adequately prepared to hydrate in the desert. :) |
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| There's our smiley little boy, once again. |
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| Alex and William, cracking up for an unknown reason. |
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| William enjoyed watching the coots and other water fowl in the ponds. |
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| Alex, who is now into watching Doc McStuffins, named these ducks "Hallie" and "Stuffy" (characters from the show). |
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| Mom, Dad, and the boys getting in one last snuggle before we left. |
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| Gotta love Delta!! Once again, they gave us our own row on the flight back. Thankfully, this trip was only 4 1/2 hours. Alex was great, once again. William was great for the first hour. However, the subsequent hours after that were filled with screaming and thrashing once again. Nikki - 2 Scary trip - 2 Ok, scary trip, we're tied this time. Let's call it a draw and never let this happen again. Thankyouverymuch. Thank GOODNESS, Elias and Linda got up at the crack of dawn and were able to pick us up from the airport. I was so tired and delirious from sleep deprivation (we took a red eye), that I collapsed into their car and let them take over. Thank heavens for family! After we got the boys down that morning (around 6 a.m.), I requested that we open a bottle of wine because I needed a glass. Lol! Instead, we all just went to bed and enjoyed the wine later that evening. |
Love and kisses,
Nikki
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