Some evenings you can find us inside playing in the coolness of our home (it's SUPER HOT here these days) and our newest and most favorite game is Caleb's Nerf Tag! It's hysterical! As you can see, both kids adorn themselves in all of the gear and then they run around the house "tagging" each other. We got the set (Aunt Chelsea's birthday gift to Caleb) that comes with FOUR guns (2 big, 2 little) so all of us could have a gun. I am proud to say that nobody has gotten hurt and EVERYONE seems to really have fun! It's AWESOME! :0)

If we have a "normal" evening at home, we relish in it. So many of our evenings lately have been filled with late swim lessons and me working late, that having time at home to relax hasn't been quite as often as we'd like. What we LOVE to do on "normal" evenings is to hang out in the front yard with our friends. We used to do this almost EVERY night for the past 2 summers and we are looking forward to doing it much more often this month (since lessons are over and VBS is almost over). When we do hang out in the front yard we have water pools, slip-n-slides, sidewalk chalk, ETC. out for all and any kids that come our way. It's a GREAT way to visit with neighbors!



can you believe we got this ADORABLE AND AWESOME little car from a friend for free? It works and the kids LOVE it! We've never had a motorized little car but it sure is fun (and my kids still like to ride their bikes and such too... ((that was my concern and reason we've never gotten one before!)) :0)

One of our recent evenings out found the kiddos playing with sidewalk chalk (as they often do) and turning it into more like a paint (as they almost always do). They LOVE to then smear it all over each other. Well...my van was nearby so suddenly it became a canvas to some ADORABLE hand prints! I loved it! (my friends and Hubby weren't quite as thrilled or comfortable with it). I just let the kids have fun with it and I think it turned out lovely. I truly wished I could leave it on the van for at least a few days but Hubs was worried about what that could do to the paint...
don't you think it's cute though? :0)

Hi! Long time no see! Where have ya' been? ;0)

Our life is wonderful and so very blessed. Although it has taken a new huge turn, one that was never expected, we are enjoying it immensely. The kids and I have a blast on a daily basis and we all are growing in physical, spiritual, or emotional ways (or all 3!).

We haven't done anything huge this past month now that trips and birthdays have passed BUT we have gotten a kick out of some little things. I'll share some of them with you...

One morning when going to load up into the van, we noticed some little baby birds on the ground. They were adorable and although their eyes weren't yet open, they seemed a pretty good size. They were obviously NOT finches (we have multiple families of finches born in our ferns each year). Since we could tell they were very young, we were concerned for their safety. I mean after all it was HOT, there was no shade where they were, and the ground brings all sorts of harmful possibilities such as ants and cats! We looked all around and although they were near a tree, we couldn't find a nest. SO, we made a nest out of: a tupperware container, an old finch nest we had kept on a bookcase, some new and fresh soil straight from the bag, and some grass. We picked up the baby birds and put them in their new "nest". Then I put it in the nearby tree. Well, soon a big ole' dove came over. She looked all over the ground, obviously thinking "Uhhh...where are my babies???" She never looked up into the tree next so her so we walked over, took the "nest" out of the tree, and laid it down. Momma came back! She seemed happy to find her babies and didn't hesitate at all to climb into the "nest" with them! It was adorable! I was still concerned over their safety there on the ground so I picked up the "nest" again (Momma bird flew off) and put it back into the tree. We waited. After a few minutes Momma came back, looked around, and finally found her babies. She climbed right back into that nest! We were thrilled! They became our new little family that we checked on often! They were there for a week until one day the babies were big enough to fly off! SOOOO CUTE! We are thankful God gave us an opportunity to help out those precious birds. :0)







































Ok, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll be back soon. This morning I woke up at 4:30 though and couldn't fall back asleep...giving me time to post! I hope to be back...under different circumstances though! :0)

(remind me to share two more of our "little things"...Georgia getting her nails painted for the first time and Bendaroos!)
(I'm thinkin' maybe I should get rid of the Easter background on here too huh?)

Well... I've been a bit busy. So busy in fact, that I rarely talk to or hang out with my sister any more. BUT that's not what I'm here to tell you about. I wanted to share what all I've been up to.

It's obviously very hard to pick some photos from the trip because we were gone for TWO WEEKS and have LOTS of photos. BUT here are some to show some of the highlights! :0)

Fun at Pat O's! :0)

Caleb prayed that God would protect him from the jelly fish! He did this all on his own and it was ADORABLE! (and it worked)


Caleb became a swimmer on this trip! Went from not even getting into a "big pool" without a ring and vest to SWIMMING in the shallow end and jumping off the diving board (with vest). It was amazing!


love the family traditions.....Caleb always looks forward to riding the tractor with Uncle Chuck!
We found THIRTY-SEVEN hermit crabs! It was a blast and such a huge HIGHLIGHT of the trip!
We went to the Insectarium in New Orleans and it was great...and perfect for Caleb!

Brandon ate meal worm salsa and the kids and I ate chocolate chip and cricket cookies!

We all went to the aquarium together too and it was so much fun. Caleb LOVED petting the sting rays and "baby shark" (I'll find those photos soon)!

Seeing friends was one of the BEST parts!

for those that don't know...this is HUGE for Georgia!
Caleb swimming!


The absolute best part though was getting to spend so much time with Dadaw. Just watching the kids play with him was great. :0)

Maybe this will help make up for the fact that I bailed on my Sister today.
See, I was planning on cleaning and getting work done but my Sis called and invited us to hang out.
I would much rather do that than get stuff done!
SO, I made myself at least clean the bathrooms and straighten up, hear from the Hubs, and then head out.
Get gas.
Get lunch.
Finally we were ready.

...
And then the heavens opened up and the storm came down!


My Sis had told us it was "POURING!" there but that didn't concern me. It was THERE afterall, not here.
Driving down 1604 and heading to I10 in torrential rain though with my 3 year old screaming "The rain is tooooo loud!" with her hands over her ears and crying...well that did stop me. I pulled over (people driving 30 miles an hour on the interstate was nerve wracking anyway) and gathered my thoughts.
Then I made the call that upset my wonderful family.

SO...I'm hoping the fact that I am FINALLY POSTING will help my Sis forgive me and maybe even make her grin...slightly. ;0)
then I'll be off to clean and work.


Here is what we have been doing since Easter!
Fiesta time was at the end of April. It was super fun. We had fun at school and then Pops came to town. We had been planning for a YEAR to do the Flambeau Parade. We had bleacher seats and even a hotel room.
It was.....well, disappointing. To all of my San Antonio friends, please don't take it as an insult BUT when you are used to "REAL parades" (as referred to by me) where they throw you goodies...then just watching people drive by is...well...VERY boring. The floats weren't amazing. No amazing costumes. Just people in pretty dresses waving.
Dull.
Very dull.


So, we checked that off of our list of "things we need to do someday" and we won't be doing it again.
But hey, we tried.
We had a blast with Pops regardless. :0)

Then May brought my birthday.
THE BEST BIRTHDAY I HAVE HAD IN A LOOOONG TIME!
It really was.
The first half of the day was with my Hubs and kids. EAting out for brunch and picking up new (and free!...used but nice!) sofas. YEA!
Then I got to head out to the outdoor beautiful mall to do some serious shopping.
I shopped solo for a while and then friends and my Sis starting meeting up with me. We shopped, they watched me do a fashion show from the dressing room of Ann Taylor Loft. They were the perfect audience...filled with "OOOOOh, that's Perfect!" and some "Oh, that looks great. You NEED that!" :0)
Clothes were purchased and I was happy.

Then we walked over to PF Chang's where the rest of the crew met up. We had 12 people total. I was surrounded by new friends, tried and true friends, and of course my Sis. It was absolutely perfect. I was in a state of bliss. We hung out and enjoyed ourselves for almost 3 hours!

THEN... (yes, it wasn't over yet!)
My Sis and I decided we didn't want the fun to end so we went to run an errand to Target.
Which led to ice cream at Marble Slab.
That led to (Sis)= "hmmm....I don't REALLY have to go home yet. Let me call home."
and "Nope. I can stay." and me suggesting "Cool! Wanna go see a movie?"
Yes, it was 10:00 pm by this time on a Sunday night.... but heck, time with my Sis on my birthday...couldn't let it end! :0)
We went and saw "The Soloist".
Great movie.
Perfect, absolutely PERFECT day.
We walked out of the theater at 12:10.
My birthday was officially over and I had enjoyed almost EVERY SINGLE minute of it to the max! :0)

Then we had Mother's Day.
That was great too.
We had Gabriella over two different times and she spent the night with us. It was so wonderful to spend time with her and watch her and Georgia. We have missed her and will miss her dreadfully now. (she's in Germany now) She and Georgia truly do love each other deeply. :0(
Then we've had field trips with Caleb. (also fun!) My favorite part was when one of the teachers asked Caleb "Caleb, do you want to say the prayer?" Caleb said "Yes." and then she put him up on the picnic table where he said the prayer for everyone on the field trip. So adorable. Totally made my heart melt!
and more...
that brings us up to today.
This week will bring plenty more fun stuff with Caleb's "ceremony" at preschool on this Monday, Water DAys at school, then the last day of school.
Then we head out one week from today for our TWO WEEK trip home to Louisiana.

It's a good thing I am posting now because I will have WAY too many photos in the near future!

Thanks for listening.
Thanks for being patient.

:0)