Beat the Heat!

It is HOT in Texas!!! Jackson has been playing on a baseball team that has been playing tournaments every weekend and so on our weekend off, we had to beat the heat! So, we went ice skating........

 At the beginning of the summer, I asked the boys for a couple of things that they wanted to do this summer and one of Jacksons was to go ice skating. His buddies, Will and Tate, were up for the adventure as well!

When we got out of the car, they were bundled up in their sweatshirts and jeans....I'm sure people thought they were crazy walking around like that.
As far as their skating skills go, I have to say that they should stick with baseball and basketball :) There was a layer of water on the ice and let's just say that all of their sweatshirts were soaking wet!

Chillin' in the massage chairs with milkshakes after their ice capade! I'm glad they let me tag along....it was fun! Now, back to the heat this weekend.........

End of the Year Festivities!

We now have a 2nd and a 4th grader....I cannot believe it! I'm so proud of the boys and the wonderful years that they've had. They were both looking forward to their end of the year parties and so Brooke and I checked things out.........

 Drew's party was a Hawaiin theme....look at this sweet soon to be second grader!

 Drew was so blessed to have Ms.Giebel this year. She was a first year teacher and she was amazing. She was up for teacher of the year...her first year! Drew enjoyed his first grade year and Ms. Giebel made learning so fun! She will be teaching 4th grade next year, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for Jackson.....

 On to Jacksons class.....he had Mrs. Glass this year and this is the first year he has really had to "try." I know that sounds terrible, but it's true! In the end, I'm thankful because it was a great learning lesson for him and it was time for him to really apply his natural giftedness.

 This party was a "Survivor" theme. The class was divided into two tribes and they played Minute to Win It games against each other...their tribe was MogoMogoMagi......who knows??

 Here is Jackson carefully balancing 3 dice on a popsicle stick in his mouth before he can pass the dice on to his team member.....

 Was Brooke enjoying the parties? Well, she would run from the computer where she was doing her "work" to her brothers desk for food.......back and forth, back and forth.......

Jackson's tribe won the competition and they got cups that said "I survived 3rd grade!" I think the parents should get something because they survived as well :)

Mothers Day

We ventured to the Ft. Worth Japanese Gardens for Mother's Day.
It was super hot, but we had a great time.
Brooke and Drew took off running along the outside of the Zen Garden!
They were making so much noise, I don't think it was very Zen....

 Time for a breather.....



This pond with stepping stones was a big hit...we stayed here for about 20 minutes and the kids walked it over and over again. I kept waiting for someone to fall in, but they didn't!



Jackson giving it a try....

Drew looking confident!

 You can see that Brooke did NOT want Jason to carry her across the rocks....she wanted to do it "all by myself" She is practically wriggling out of his arms at this point...........

 So.....he let her go on the last rock and she did it "all by herself!" Then, she got back in line and wanted to do it again.......

 On one of the many bridges over the water......

Afterwards, we went to Smash Burger and had burgers and shakes.
We were so hot and sweaty! Brooke and I shared a root beer float...yum!

It was a great mothers day! Just being with my family is when I am the happiest!

American Pride~

Our home group from church decided to go and greet the troops that were arriving at DFW airport after serving overseas. They were arriving here for r and r, so we set out to make them feel welcome!

We all got together the night before for a pizza and sign making party....here are some of the results!

 It was incredibly humid that morning, so my camera kept fogging up! Here is Jackson handing a soldier some gum and mints.....must have fresh breath when returning to USA!! The kids really got into it and the soldiers were so gracious.

 Some of the soldiers just wanted to get out of there, but most took the time to take what the kids had and we were able to tell them thank you.

 Here is most of the gang.....we had a few that had to leave...we were there for a long time and we got there at 9 in the morning. It was a fun experience for the all of our families and I'm so glad we got to honor the troops in our own little way!

I didn't do it...........

Spring Sports Wrap Up!

This is the first year of "kid pitch" for Jackson's age group so it was fun to see all the kids show off their skills this season!

 His arm looks abnormally far back!

 Good form!

 Drew finished his second season with the Liverpool academy team. He loved it and seems to have a love for all sports.

Here he is making his move...about to steal the ball!
If you would have told me in high school that I was going to love watching my sons play sports, I would have laughed! Now, I totally get into the games and love every minute of it. I especially love it because they do :)

Hippity-Hoppity

Easter in KC this year....it was a cold one. We had to break out some winter gear, but we got to celebrate with our cousins!

 The sun came out just long enough to send the kids outside to eat!

 The next morning, the kids dyed eggs with Nana and Papa....

 Nana and Papa with their 4 grandchildren!! What a great picture!

 We went to church the night before Easter because we had to head back to TX on Easter, so here we are on our way to church.

 Easter morning....the Easter bunny came and hid eggs in the basement! Brooke is so excited!

 Jackson is especially lucky because he got an egg with a $20 bill inside of it!

Cooper was full of excitement about Easter, can't you tell?

 Drew and his gold coins....

 The fearless four!

 At Easter brunch, on our way to the airport...Brooke gives one last Easter hug to Nana and Papa.

My Sweet Nephew, Cooper!

Wow!! What a day! I got to see my first nephew come into the world on April 12! My sister did awesome and he is such a sweetie. This is right after he arrived!

 Just a little pre-baby snapshot.....things are going smoothly and life is good (after the epidural!)

 What a beautiful new mom....Cooper is so lucky to have her as his mom! I love you Cooper!

BIG NIGHT!

Drew got the hit to win the game...5-4!!! He got the game ball and a free pizza which we all enjoyed tonight! So proud of him!

Let's Play Ball!

Opening Day for......

Flower Mound Longhorns

and the

Flower Mound Yankees!!

A week of Fun!

Every year, spring break gets better and better. I don't know if it's because my kids are getting older and we can do more things or if I'm just getting older and appreciate things more! At any rate, we had a great week on Captiva Island and here are the pictures to prove it!
Our first morning....eating breakfast on the screened porch.....just happy :)

Throw something on and we're off to the beach....
Brooke is not so sure what to think of the beach.
Because our house is like 100 steps from the beach, I went in my pj's....who cares, I'm on vacay, but not without my coffee!!!!
Just soooooo cute! Look how calm the water is....it was awesome.
We go to eat at The Bubble Room every year and the boys climb this tree while we're waiting. Here's on of the little monkeys....
The next day, on the fishing boat....Jackson's first catch of the day!
A little while into the trip, Drew sees a fin come out of the water and shortly after that feels a strong tug on his line. Sure enough.......a shark!! Now, he is a member of the "shark club" which includes Jason, Auntie A, Jackson, and now Drew!
The shark was so strong, it took Drew 2 times around the boat trying to get away. Drew was so happy!
One of my favorite things to do is take a day trip to Useppa Island. It is a private island....no cars, just a few golf carts and they have 110 residents. It is such a quiet and beautiful island. Here are Papa and Brooke in front of the hotel.
They have a huge croquet lawn....no one was out there, so Brooke tried her hand at pushing the ball around. She did this for 20 minutes in the hot sun....who knew?!?!
There was also a giant sized chess set that the boys checked out with Jason.
Here we are meandering on the trail back to our boat. The residents want the tourists OFF the island so they can come out of their houses :)
One night, we went to crab races, but they were delayed in starting so Chris got on the ground and let all the kids tackle him. It took up 15 minutes of waiting time......anything to keep the kids entertained!
Here is Jackson picking his crab and naming him "Romo" For the rest of the races, we could take pictures and the guy was serious about it!! Kinda ridiculous if you ask me, but we all had a great time although none of us won. We'll go back again.
We kayaked thru the mangroves one morning and I am obviously sitting in the back of the boat with my mom and Brooke. It was so nice being back there with the birds and watching Brooke enjoy it. The boys were behind in a boat with Papa. Mom and I started first and ended up coming in last....what's up with that?
We found these boogie boards in the closet of our house so the boys are heading to the beach to try them out. I was taking a picture of the boys and told them to smile and Brooke ran over and said "Me smile too!"
Both of my cousins, Chris and Kyle, and their families were just 3 houses down from us which made the trip even more fun. Here are all the kids we had on the trip....6 boys and 1 girl!
My Aunt Paula had us play her version of "Minute to Win It" one night. Soooo much fun. Here is Drew telling everyone he already knows the rules to a certain game because he had seen it on tv. He and Papa were a team. I was on a team with Brooke (so, basically on my own) and Jackson was with Nana.
And the winning team was.....The Crabcatchers!! Nana and Jackson. They are so competitive.
We went parasailing one day and Drew was tall enough to do it, so off we went! Drew and I were the first to go up!
There go Papa and Jackson!
The little cousins buried Jackson and Drew on the sand.
Aunt Paula hid a treasure on the island for her grandsons to find....of course, there was enough Pirate loot to go around and here are all the pirates...we had a great time. Now, I'm going thru re-entry depression...back to reality....until next year!