B-A-Y-L-O-R Baylor Bears Fight!!

That was the battle cry last Friday and Sunday night as we watched our men's Baylor basketball team in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games.  It was awesome.  We went with friends on Friday night and Matt wanted to come along so bad.  So we told him that if they won we would take him to the game on Sunday.  So off we went Sunday night all geared up....

The ride down there was wild.  Doug and I were so excited about the game and we were just sure the kids would be uncontrollable and we wouldn't see a thing.  As soon as we stepped into the arena it's as if they were in awe.  They were perfect for the entire game.  They cheered and had fun eating cotton candy.  We had so much fun even though our team lost.  They played well though and the game was very exciting....those guys should be proud of themselves. 

The kids are excited about Easter.  We took them to the mall to see the bunny and even Matt was scared.  I can't blame them...that thing had huge eyes and teeth and didn't talk.  It took some coaxing, and I found out later a bribe from Dad in the form of green paper, but we managed to get a picture of them sitting next to the bunny looking at him out of the corner of their eyes and trying to smile.  We decorated Easter eggs so we are ready for our Easter egg hunt! 

Both kids are at such wonderful stages.  Baseball season seems to put Matt in a continous state of happiness.  He is so helpful with his sister and they are getting along so well....at the moment.  After spending the month of February in the bathroom (I forget how much time you actually spend in the bathroom while potty training) Marlie is doing great.  She has been so cuddly and loveable.  She is the little girl I have always dreamt of having.  She is a bit stubborn and feisty but she is sweet and funny and just beautiful. 

Happy Easter to everyone! 

Cowboy Up

What a great weekend. Saturday was Matt's first T-Ball game of the season. He has been waiting for this since the end of last season! This year we are the Yankees (yes with Astros hats), other than that we have the same kids, same parents, so same really cool team. And you could tell these boys had the routine down. They all hit and fielded the ball great. For being the first game I was more than impressed. Bring out the scouts!!! I did a horrible job taking pictures. Matt gave me a megaphone as we were walking out the door and asked me to cheer for him really loud. So I was too busy cheering and well catching up with all the parents. What fun this is! We are so blessed to know so many awesome families!

And it's rodeo time here in Houston. And we have a great rodeo! As always our first thing is always a pony ride. They ride like they do it every day.

Then we checked out the animals in the petting zoo. Marlie was not afraid at all. Matt was a little and then tried so hard to be brave!

Then we watched the pig races and rode some rides.  It's great how neither kid is scared at all.  They went on a little roller coaster with Dad and I rode the "Goliath Slide" with Marlie and I screamed all the way down!  Matt insisted he was going down the slide by himself. 

We had a blast!  Matt said he's ready to try the "Mutten Bustin" next year.  Doug actually convinced him to try it, but by the time he agreed the slots were full.  So we will definitely do that next year for a good laugh!!  Thanks Dad for taking us to the rodeo!

Grandma Krug

This post is long overdue for many reasons. This year has gotten off to a crazy start. We've been sick and working like crazy! And mostly, I wanted to dedicate this posting my Grandma Krug who passed away on Christmas day. The Maziur family jumped on a plane last minute to head to Wisconsin. It was a beautiful funeral and the most wonderful part was when my Grandfather sang a song that he had written for her. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. To say it was beautiful is a complete understatement. We were all so fascinated that no one got it on video. I was hoping to have the words at least to post but don't have them yet. But I promise you they will come. Here is a picture of me and my Grandma at our wedding.

Grandma Krug had suffered from Parkinson's disease for many years so we all felt it was a blessing that now she is in heaven and pain free. It was a wonderful celebration and we all had so much fun visiting with family. We were hoping to take the kids tubing while we were there but it was less than 20 degrees most days and sometimes in the single digits. So we played outside instead and had just as much fun. Matt and Marlie made snow angels and thought that was super cool!

Here are a few pics of the kids with Great Grandpa...

Thank you to Great Grandpa and my aunt and uncles for taking such good care of Grandma these last few years. And to my cousins for helping her to continue to communicate. She was very blessed to have you all in her life. And thank you to my Grandma for making our summer trips to Wisconsin every year so memorable. I love you tons!

Granny's 92 Birthday Party

The day after Christmas we loaded up and headed south to Laredo for the big event...Granny's 92nd Birthday Party! Let me tell you this...I now know where I learned to party like a rock star...from my Granny! This 92 year old woman was having the time of her life on the dance floor. My Uncle Pole at one point offered to take her back to her seat and she said "no, I'm dancing"! The smile on her face was priceless.

We all had such a good time. The kids were the first on the dance floor and the last off at 11:30pm!! Matt, Marlie, Abby and Kati danced like rock stars too. Matt LOVED the mariachis. On their way out he chased after them asking for a CD, but he had no luck. How funny that he liked them SO much! Marlie was stuck like glue to her godparents. At one point the only person who could hold her was Uncle Tony or she'd throw a good fit! The night ended with Abby on the mic singing "all the single ladies" and Matt singing "and tonight's gonna be a good night".

There are so many good pics. I'll attach a few here and you can see the rest in the slideshow!

Merry CHRISTmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you had as much fun as we did! The holidays were pretty crazy for us with lots of traveling, but the kids do SO well and I'm so proud of them. We clocked so many driving miles and even snuck in a plane ride to Chicago last minute. More on those details later.

We started our celebration in SA with our families. Matt asked Santa for "Yankees" apparel for Christmas. It all started when he asked Uncle Jay to tell him a story one day....well Uncle Jay only knows baseball stories so that's the one Matt heard. Ever since then he's been talking Yankees nonstop! Well guess what Gram had? A Yankees jersey. But not any Yankees jersey....this was an old jersey Doug wore when he played baseball. Matt loved it and we couldn't get it off him. It was pretty darn cute! Thus, the Yankees jersey all Christmas! Thank you Gram - you are like a magician at times with the things you come up with for these kids!

The kids were so lucky to receive so many nice presents. The kids had a blast with their cousins! Matt and Maggie always find each other and have a blast being silly!

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Let the Festivities Begin!

And we're off! The festivities have begun! We had some friends over the other night. The kids had fun making stockings, cookies and...funny faces!

The next evening we celebrated Christmas with Nene, Uncle Jay, Lynette and Jordan. Jordan got a trip to Disney for Christmas so they are already there having a great time. The kids had so much fun giving and getting gifts! Matt said his favorite gift were a pair of UnderArmour baseball cleats Dad purchased for next season. And Marlie liked anything! Each time someone gave her a gift she said "for me?". She would have been happy with just one thing!

Matt had a Christmas program at school. The boys dressed up as Joseph and the girls as Mary. They sang some really great songs...our favorite was of course "take me out the stable" in the same tune as "take me out to the ball game". It was too cute!
Then of course we had a blast at our Christmas parties at school. Matt's class had a party to celebrate the birth of Christ! Marlie's class attempted a few Christmas carols but I think 1, maybe 2 of the kids actually knew the words. Marlie was too busy just being silly!
We wish everyone a blessed and wonderful Christmas!

San Diego Pics - Part II

So we got our pictures back from our photo shoot in San Diego. There are a few really good ones. But the best are of course of Matt. The session started out great and after about 30 minutes everyone kind of fell apart. While we were trying to calm Marlie down (after a wave snuck up on her and she fell in the cold water...white shirt now brown) the photographer captured Matt being Matt...silly and having fun on his own. I love these pics! We got a few good family ones too. The next one is by far the best shot of Marlie. My little Princess! You can see more in the slideshow!