Jesse Kitty

Just a few days before we arrived in Texas, my parents had a baby kitten show up in their barn. She made herself at home and my girls are so glad!!! They LOVE her to pieces, and Jesse Kitty is amazingly tolerant!!! I think she might actually like having them all over her. She stuck by their sides whenever they were in the barn. She followed them around, begged for food, and let them carry her everywhere.

My girls were so attached and I was just beginning to consider bringing her home, when she met our Maggie Dog. The meeting DID NOT go well, and I am thankful that kitty came out in one piece. Maggie chased her across the yard, only about an inch from her and I thought she was going to swallow her whole! Jesse thankfully made it up a tree just in time. We had to put Maggie inside and it took some serious coaxing to get the cat down out of the tree. I wasn't sure how that scenario would play out in my living room, so much to the girls' dismay, Jesse Kitty stayed in Texas.

Father's Day

Father's Day was our first day in Texas. We had arrived about 1:00am the night before and the kids ran around like crazy until 2:30am, then Gracyn up at 6:00 for good. I snuck her out to explore the barn, while everyone else slept an extra hour. My poor husband didn't get much extra rest for his special day, but we did have lots of fun. And, he and my dad made up for it with golf the next day.

We started at Babe's Chicken House.....our Texas favorite. We met many of my family members, got a table for 14 and had a great time visiting and eating our favorite southern foods. My girls were so excited to see Baby Brylee and how big she is getting. I think she had a good time watching them. Brylee and Gracyn were super cute at lunch in their side-by-side highchairs. After lunch, we headed back to my Dad's house for a day of water play. We loaded up on water guns, water balloons and a Slip-N-Slide and had a great time. It actually wasn't too miserable outside as long as you stayed in the water or in the shade from the trees.

It was a great, relaxing day catching up with family. Thanks so much for everyone who made the drive out to visit. We had a great time. Thanks to my dad and Tommy for all they do. Happy Father's Day.

Dance Recital, 2010

Last Saturday, the girls had their dance recital. They have been taking tap and ballet all year, and they were excited to show off what they learned. We got up early for lots of hair fixing and make-up. I love playing dress-up with my girly-girls. They did a great job on their dances. They had several friends in the recital as well, so it was fun to have so many girls to watch. We are so proud of them.

Texas sized Tired

We are having a blast....Reagan spent our entire 5:30pm dinner last night, passed out!

Sweet Summertime

Lovin' the summertime!

Blankets in the grass for the babies

Bikes for the big kids

Rolly-polly hunting

ladybug catching

bird-nest watching

bubble blowing

Popsicle eating

sprinkler splashing

ball playing

Beautiful summer days!!!

Night, Night

Gracyn woke up at 5:00am this morning, and no amount of persuasion from me was going to make her go back to sleep. At 9:oo I put her in her saucer with a snack so I could jump in the shower. When I came out, I found her all bent over, sound asleep. She was out cold and napped that way for a good 45 mintues. She is such a fighter....maybe someday she will realize that just sleeping in her bed, until a normal time of morning would be tons more comfortable.

On a happy note, she is one busy girl when she is awake. She walks everywhere now, jabbers all the time and just started giving us kisses this morning! Precious!! Here she is climbing on her sissys' bunkbed....she really wants to climb that later, thankfully for now, all she can do is peek through it.

E-I-E-I-Oops

Addison made her acting debut Friday, in a performance of E-I-E-I-Oops, the story of a farmer and his barnyard full of animals, including a cow who won't Moo. She spent every morning last week at a summer camp for Audience of One, Christian Theatre Group. We have been watching the shows they perform each season for awhile now, and she was eager to give performing a try.

As far as I can tell, camp was a great experience. Though, like school, I couldn't get her to tell me much. I just know she was happy each day when I picked her up and she was eager to go back the next morning. It didn't hurt that they had theme days each day, like super-hero day, rainbow day and pajama day!

She was cast as the Farmer's wife and had 5 lines we spent the week practicing. The whole family knew them by Friday. Her favorite part was at the end of the show, when she had to say to the audience, "Come on everyone let's encourage our beautiful cow to Moo. Say it with me, I can't hear you....". She loved having the job of getting the audience to Moo. Unfortunately I think all the kids in the play had memorized the entire script after all their practicing and Miss Bo Peep accidentally said that line....poor Addison stood there not at all sure what to do!!! In addition to her lines, the show included 5 songs with a dance routine for each one.

We were so proud of Addison and truly impressed at what they had taught such a young group of kids, most of which were doing this for the first time, in just a week. I am thankful for the older kids that served as mentors and for the caring staff. I love sending her to spend time with people who are praying for and encouraging her! I think we will definitley continue to be involved with AO1 in the future.

Addison's cheering section. Gracyn skipped her nap to watch the show.

Waiting to go onstage.

Singing and Dancing.

Doing great.

Taking a bow afer the show.

My sweet girl did a great job!!

I am still backing up, but am almost caught up. We had a great, relaxing Memorial Day Monday. Our neighbors hosted a party for the neighborhood. They set the backyard up with swimming pools, the bouce house, slides and a sandbox for the kids. We grilled hamburgers and hung out. The kids played hard and came home tired. It was a perfect day, except for one thing. Poor Gracyn got stung by a bee. She was minding her own business playing in the swimming pool, when it landed on the back of her neck. She suddenly went from playing happily to screaming hysterically. We had to get the stinger out, which caused more crying, but she was tough. It got really red and swollen and looked terrible, but a home remedy off of Google....baking soda and water paste and some Motrin and she was good as new!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

I am backing up a bit and catching up on posts, for the sake of my memory book. Life has been crazy (fun, crazy) the last few weeks and I am behind on my blogging. My 32nd birthday was last week, and though there aren't many pictures to document, it was a great day. The girls and I got up early, dressed quickly and headed to the zoo. We were there when the gates opened and enjoyed the cool morning without crowds. We had a great time walking around and exploring. Later in the morning my neighbor and her girls met us for a picnic lunch, carousel and train rides and more animal watching.

We got home at 3:30 happy and tired. I had a quick hour and a half to get everyone showered and dressed for dinner that night. All was well until we had another "code-brown" situation in the bathtub with all 3 girls, none of whom had been bathed yet. I won't name the culprit, but I will say it was not the baby. I quickly evacuated the girls, moved them to another tub and got everyone clean.

Tommy finished work early and we headed to Salt Grass Steakhouse to meet some friends for dinner. We had a great time eating and visiting. Then, we headed to the mall for some shopping. My family gave me beautiful earrings and lots of sweet cards, and on the following night, when Erica and Austin arrived, they surprised me with a Cold Stone Cake. I am thankful for such a great day with my sweet family and friends.

The Broadmoor

Well, despite the fact that Gracyn still wakes up 2 or 3 times a night to nurse, my sister made it through the night. There were some tears and I don't think Erica got much sleep but they made it. Meanwhile Tommy and I were enjoying a peaceful, uninterrupted night of sleep (my first in 15 months) and a quiet breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast Tommy was sweet to leave me reading in a lawnchair while he went to pick up my sister and all the kids for a day at the resort pool. We had a great time playing in the room, swimming and riding paddle boats. The Broadmoor is by far, my most favorite place in Colorado. I am already trying to figure out a way to go back!!!

The view from our room. It was right over the lake....Reagan said we were "Floating on Ice".

Sweet Cousins.

My family.

Reagan was in the mood to pose for pictures.

Gracyn is walking everywhere now....no more crawling.

3 eager kids running to the pool. Isn't it beautiful?

Daddy and Gracyn swimming.

Reagan.

Austin and Addison just off the slide.

Brave Addison flying down the big slide.