Memorial Day (late!!)

Spring really is beautiful in Texas. The weather is mild and there are so many flowers. On Memorial Day, the kids and I went to one of our favorite places....the Grapevine Arboreteum. Many people make the trek down to the Dallas Arboreteum, but I don't have time for that!!! This little park is small and so quaint. It has rugged trails behind all the flowers that the boys love to explore. So we headed out for a couple of hours of fun!
This suspension bridge is the crossover into the woods......
The other thing I love about this garden is that it has a play area which the kids loved. Check out this spider web.....I had never seen something like this!
As you can see, Brooke LOVED the flower gardens :)

And finally.......what we all came for...a picnic!! The weather was great, we found a perfect spot, and it was a fun day to be a mom :)

Enjoy...

Fun Pics!

These boys LOVE their sister!! One of the things I was surprised about when I had Brooke was how the boys responded to her. They absolutely adore her.....and in different ways. Drew is such a jokester and loves to make her laugh, sing funny songs, and kiss and hug her a lot. We have had to have some talks about personal space with him because he loves to be in her face :) Jackson, on the other hand, has become a caregiver. He wants to hold her, help her if she's crying, and just cuddle with her. He's very gentle with her. Both boys are great big brothers and when they walk in the room, her face lights up!
We just had to shoot a couple of pictures with her this weekend when my parents were visiting.....
Here's my mom with her..
I didn't get a good shot because the cat was moving too fast, but Brooke has discovered the animals and she loves them. She thinks they are so funny and will just belly laugh and get all excited if they just walk by. Her eyes follow them wherever they go....it is so cute.

Funny Farm

Drew got an any farm for Christmas and has been waiting to get his ants. So, we finally sent off for them and they came in the mail yesterday.
Here he is carefully opening the tube that they came in. He almost wouldn't do it because there was a big sign on the tube that said "Caution: Ants will bite!" I talked him into opening it and pouring them in.
I don't know why this picture is here!!
Safe and sound in their little habitat, the boys have been checking them out all day long!! Soon, they will make little tunnels all around their habitat. Today, it looked like we might have some goners and the other ants have put them in a pile. It is so weirdly fascinating to watch them.
So, this picture has nothing to do with the ant farm, but I just thought I'd throw a recent one of Brooke in there. This is last weekend when we went back home for my sister's bridal shower.

Random moments in April....

I haven't taken many pictures this month--I'm not sure why, but here are some random ones from last week. Jackson took these as we were getting ready to take a walk. I think Brooke needs her own shades....she liked having his on!

As you can see, Jackson lost a front tooth. Actually, he had to have it pulled. Here he is proudly displaying his new look!

Do you know your mom?

Here are some questions that have been floating around facebook that you are supposed to ask your kids to see how well they know you.........here it is!

1. What is something your mom always says to you?
J: You lose computer today.
D: I love you

2. What makes your mom happy?
J: When I help you
D: Doing stuff for you

3. What makes mom sad?
J: When I don't behave
D: If you lose something.

4. What was your mom like as a child?
J: You liked horses
D: A kid or a human

5. How old is your mom?
J: 36
D: 65

6. What is her favorite thing to watch on tv?
J: I don't know
D: The news or Today show

7. What does your mom do when you're not around?
J: go shopping
D: check emails

8. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
J: Being a cheerleader
D: For being cool

9. What is your mom good at?
J: Cooking!
D: playing games like marbles

10. What is your mom not good at?
J: baseball
D: balancing balls

11. What does your mom do for a job?
J: You're a mom and you help us and get food for us and kind of babysit us!
D: Be a mom

12. What makes you proud of your mom?
J: When Brooke is crying, you help her not cry
D: I'll just say "making lunches"

13. What do you and your mom do together?
J: go on vacations
D: watch Food Network together

14. How are you and your mom the same?
J: We're both humans
D: We both like games like marbles

15. How are you and your mom different?
J: I'm a boy and you're a girl and you like to shop and buy food and clothes.
D: By our hair and I don't wear earrings or lipstick

16. What does your mom like about your dad?
J: That he makes money for us
D: That he's cute!

17. What is your mom's favorite place to go?
J: any eating place
D: PeiWei

18. How do you know your mom loves you?
J: Because you buy stuff for us so we don't go naked
D: Because I'm still your baby

Easter 2009

We traveled to KC for Easter this year. The weather was super cold and we were not prepared, but had a great time in spite of the chill...
The kids decorated eggs with their cousins and here they are lining up for the hunt...youngest to oldest with a count of 10 in between.
Jackson was all business as he scaled a tree to get an egg!!
Finally, here we are at church. We were right on time and the place was packed, so we ended up sitting in the coffee shop in the church and watched the service on a big screen. Not exactly the way we planned it, but just as well......we had a great message while sipping on coffee. All was well!

HAPPY MONDAY!!

Captiva Island 2009

We went with my parents and my sister and her fiancee', Ben to Captiva Island again for spring break this year. As usual, it was so beautiful and we had a wonderful time. On this years deep sea fishing trip, 2 sharks were caught!! One by Jason and the other one by Jackson!! Here is Jackson after they cut the head off (I know, gross....). They fileted it for us and we ate it the next night. Don't ask me how it tasted because I didn't eat it!!
The shark with his head on....apparently, he was snapping all over the place, so the fishing guide had to hold his head. Yikes!
Jason't little shark...I say that because everyone was in awe of his shark and then one minute later, Jackson caught his!
Drew has been working on catching 100 fish for about 2 years now. Well, he came to the island with 97 and here he is with his 100th! That night, we went out for a big celebration dinner and he was awarded a fishing trophy in the restaurant (that my dad had made up and brought with him)....very exciting!!
Here's the whole gang before they left that morning...

Tea Party

This weekend, Brooke and I got to go to High Tea at the Adolphus Hotel to celebrate some friends birthdays. It was so fun!
Here is our first course.....there were four of them and by the end, we were stuffed with little sandwiches, desserts, and lots of tea! I almost asked for coffee because I'm not a tea person but I figured that would not be proper tea etiquette :)
So, these are the birthday girls!! There were supposed to be 6 of us, but 2 girls got sick, so I was the only one there NOT celebrating their birthday. Look how cute these girls are--I love them!
We shut down the tea room! We were the last ones there and we were getting a little silly...too much tea, too much fun!!

Par for the Course

The boys were out back with their golf clubs enjoying the gorgeous weather. I noticed they kept coming thru the house gathering various items, so I went out to investigate. They were digging little holes all over the yard! Why? They reported that they were making their own golf course. I have to admit--they did a pretty good job. The sun was going down so I didn't get good pictures, but I'm thinking they'll be out there in the morning for a round on their new golf course!

This and That.....

It seems I've had a blog drought lately. Not much going on, but here are some random pics!!Jason talking to the Mavericks basketball team at the team party.....notice Drew front and center and he's not even on the team!
Jackson and Jason went to a Mavericks camp and afterwards, they got to tour the locker room. Here is Jackson sitting in Dirk Nowitzki's chair..it's so huge!

Jackson took this shot of us hanging out....
Grandpa and Brooke on their last visit here!

Little Valentine

Here is Miss Brooke.....I tried to rotate the photos, but no success, so you will just have to turn your head to see the cuteness!!
We just got back from Drew's Valentine party and she was sporting all hearts :)

Finally!!!

Finally......the boys finished this lego set that Jackson got for Christmas!
It had almost 1200 pieces and it was very tricky. I am so glad because now my dining room table will be clear again--until the next lego mission.
Finally....Jackson lost his first tooth! He was late to get his teeth, so he was late to lose them. This one hadn't been loose for very long and just fell out when he was playing with some friends. He was very excited and the tooth fairy left him money to buy some baseball cards :)

Here she is......

We rounded out our busy season of life events with Jackson turning 7!! We started back in Nov. with Drew's surgery, Drew's birthday, Brooke's birth, Christmas, New Years, and now Jackson's birthday. I can officially rest (as much as you can with 3 kids) until next year!!
We had Jackson's birthday at Main Event, which is a bowling alley, arcade, pizza place. We had 19 boys and it was crazy! Of course, it was a Clone Wars theme and here he is getting ready to blow out the candles.
Drew does not think he is younger than any of these boys. He knows all their names and sometimes they look at him like "Who are you?" He loves hanging out with the "big boys" and loves cake too!
You can see that Brooke was super excited to be at the Clone Wars birthday party :)
Here is sweet Jackson. He wants Brooke to lay in his bed with him at night while we read and he holds her. He is so sweet and gentle with her--he will be a great father. But, before that, he needs to have many, many more birthdays!! We love you Jackson!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Years with Jason parents! Look at this party girl!
Kathy got crazy hats, blowers, noise makers.....the works!
It's hard to get a good picture of the boys...all they want to do is make funny faces :)
Whenever Brooke is awake, the boys are all over her. What is she doing? Did she spit up? She's making a funny face! It goes on and on....Brooke loves them hanging around.
Here are the boys toasting with our neighbor, Timmy. Happy New Years Everyone!