Flowers in Bloom

We recently took a trip to Gilmer. The main reason for our trip was to visit with my Grandmother, NaNee, who is ill. She has Colon Cancer that has now spread to her liver. She has good days and bad days, but we had a good visit with her.

It was a sunny weekend and on our drive to Gilmer we passed some beautiful patches of flowers including Blue Bonnets. I have always wanted to take pictures of the kids in a blue bonnet patch, but we have never made the drive out to Brenham as many of our friends have. When we arrived in Gilmer the flowers were in full bloom. These are the Azalea's in front of Gee's house.

Keaton, Cort and Gee

What do you think they are up to?

Silly kids

A flower for you Mommy

You can't take pictures of us in here....we are hiding

In the field behind my parent's house, there was a beautiful patch of wild flowers and Mark took some pics of the kids.

And this was my view on the way home. My two beautiful children. You would never guess the drama that played out once we got home. Cort became so violently ill I took him to the ER. It ended up being some nasty stomach virus. All is well now.

Easter at the Creek

We spent Easter weekend at the creek. The weather wasn't the best, but we still had a great time with our cousins Kayla and Ryan.

We went on a boat ride....and it was cold

We fished....Keaton caught this Red Fish with Uncle Adam's help

A couple of crabs even tried to take our bait.




We had an Easter Egg Hunt as Grandmother and Grandfather watched


Nana bought us this really cool Roller. We all took turns rolling down the hill.

So, I can remember when the boys were around 12-18 months old, a bucket of water could be at least 30 minutes of fun on a summer day. Well, when they are

4-7 years old, ADD FISH....instant fun!

Cort running with his fish in his hand. He had to show Papa and Daddy.

We even caught a squid in the cast net. That was a first!

A GREAT EASTER WEEKEND

SPRING BREAK!

I know it took me a while to get these pictures on the blog, but hopefully it was worth the wait. It is a Picture Packed Post.

We had a great time over Spring Break. I pulled both the boys out of daycare for the entire week. The daycare will give you 2 vacation weeks a year in which you do not have to pay tuition. That saved us 260.00 that we used to enjoy some Spring Break outings.

Aunt Kerrie spent the night Sunday and watched the kids for me on Monday. Nana took the kids on Tuesday to the YMCA and Pump It Up. I took vacation days Wed-Fri to spend some time with them.

On Wednesday we met Kerrie at Kings Orchard in Plantersville. I had never been there before, but heard about it through friends. It is a Pick Your Own Orchard and Strawberries were in season. We love Strawberries. We ended up with 3lbs even though the pickings were slim. They had been hit hard Monday and Tuesday with a lot of Spring Breakers. We arrived early, one of the first people there, despite the hour drive. And the early birds get the ....strawberries in this case. As we were checking out, they were turning people away. I'm glad I didn't drive an hour for nothing. Lesson learned though, always call ahead of time for fruit availability.

After we left the orchard, we went to Kerrie's house to spend the afternoon. We had lunch and then went to the park to play and feed the ducks. Keaton and Cort always love going to see their Aunt Kerrie.

Thursday we had a play date with Levi and Ella at our house. The kids played silly string, which Ella didn't care for too much, rode bikes, ate lunch outside, and even decorated a Gingerbread Cookie for dessert. Thursday night, Mark and I braved Chuck E Cheese.

Friday we were supposed to get ready and leave for camping, but ended up postponing our departure time until Saturday morning. I spent most of Friday getting an oil change and running errands with the boys.

We met up with our small group Saturday morning at Brazos Bend State Park, Home of the American Alligator. We set up camp and watched the kids play, mostly riding their bikes and scooters. The kids enjoyed sleeping in the tent and being with their friends. I didn't see any Alligators, except the babies in the Science Center, but Racoons did enjoy some of our food. I even thought they might come in and bunk down with us at one point.

One of their favorite things was riding on the bike with Mr. Justin.

Camera??

I can't believe Kindergarten is almost over. It has gone by so fast. I look back and see there were many opportunities I missed to take pictures and record the events of this year. So this blog entry is in effort to remember our first experience as Kindergarten parents.

As a parent of a Kindergartner, we have looked inward and found our creative expression. Mark is the more creative parent so I assigned him most of the homework projects. (There are many more to come dear!) With each new unit the teachers sent home a cutout doll to decorate. There were, to name a few, the Gingerbread Man, the Nursery Rhyme Character, the Thanksgiving Turkey, the Santa, and the Insect. Our creations ranged from a Fisherman Gingerbread Man to a Football Santa.

With some units the kids were asked to dress up. As we prepared the first time to dress up as your favorite Nursery Rhyme Character, Mark was afraid I would dress Keaton as Jack be Nimble in a pair of knickers. We decided on the Baker from Pat A Cake. Keaton wore his Baker/Chef hat. Unfortunately I missed out on that photo opportunity simply because I forgot to take a picture as we ran out of the door to school.

Another missed photo op-Go Texan Day. I can't believe I forgot the camera. If I remember correctly, Mark was out of town that day and I got the kids ready by myself and off to school. They looked so cute in their hats, boots, and bandannas!

Last month, Keaton's class had their PE Showcase. It was sooooo cute. They showed off their basketball skills and all their dance moves. They did the Chicken Dance and an awesome version of Singing in the Rain. As I was standing their, just proud that Mark and I both made it there on our lunch hour, I could not believe I didn't bring my camera...... What kind of mother am I?! At the end they had the parents join in and we danced to Singing in the Rain. If you could see Mark and I with our tongues sticking out and shaking our bottoms.....oh yeah, I forgot the camera!

Then it was dress up as your favorite Dr. Seuss Character. I honestly thought all week about what Keaton could dress up as. I even had a few conversations with Mark about it, but we never came to a decision. It seemed as if this one would be the time Keaton would not participate. But how could that be...(we even dressed up for wacky day by wearing two different socks) we had to dress up. So at 6:30 in the morning, I gave Mark instructions of Keaton's outfit. I guessed I dreamed it up as the alarmed snoozed. Keaton's favorite Dr. Seuss character is The Grinch as he told us all week. We just couldn't see ourselves painting him green and sending him off to school. So, Mark constructed at the last minute the Grinch's Santa hat......and yes he went through all the boxes in the attic to find the Santa's hat...at 6:30 in the morning (What a great dad....he must really love you Keaton!) Yes it is just a simple design of green construction paper, a Santa's hat, White Tshirt, Red Sweatshirt and blue jeans, but the best part......I remembered the camera! So here is Keaton the Grinch with his Grinch