Sunday, January 31, 2016

January

 We kicked off the new year right - with the Hesters out on their family land doing fireworks and eating fajitas!  The kids loved the private fireworks show and all the sparklers, not to mention climbing trees and running through the woods with walkie talkies.
 
 

Alex had tons of fun creating new marble races with his Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Ben enjoyed squeezing onto the neighbor's tiny bike and pedaling around like a clown.  What is it with this kid and tiny cars and bikes?

Alex came home from school one afternoon and decided to start a lemonade stand.  I would only allow him to accept tips but he learned that our neighbors were very generous!  He then decided to do one every single afternoon until I convinced him that the generosity wouldn't last long if he was out there every day.

Ben loved strumming around on his guitar and making up his own songs.  Still waiting for him to get interested in learning some real chords, though.

The Dulaneys came to town for a weekend and we had a fantastic trip to NASA.  I absolutely loved seeing the original Apollo mission control but I was so sad that Ben was at school because he would have gone crazy over this.

We got in a few games of bowling with the Dulaneys and Armstrongs as well...always good fun!


The whole gang!


We got to do some puppy-sitting for Miss Holly, who was growing by leaps and bounds.  Casey enjoyed having a playmate...sometimes...

...but definitely not when she was trying to nap and Holly would come in Casey's crate to play!

Ben competed in his first science fair and won fourth place in his category!  He tested the parakeets to see if they'd learn to go through mazes and he did nearly all of the work on his own.  We were so proud of him!

Alex also presented a project but was too young to compete.  He used his cool new marble maze to see if marbles had equal chances of falling through each exit.  We were also proud of him and his hard work!

Monday, December 28, 2015

December

I was lucky enough to do some Christmas shopping with Stacey and our friend Mandy in Canton, a massive market in East Texas.

You know you've had a successful day shopping when you can barely fit three adults back in the car!

One of my favorite traditions - the Christmas show at our church!  I had nice long-sleeved shirts picked out for the boys but this was one of the warmest Decembers we've had, so we didn't get to enjoy them this year.

Matt was originally supposed to be gone on a business trip, but his flight changed and we were so happy to make it a family evening.

We made a quick visit to Santa because Alex needed to tell him he wanted a ripstick for Christmas.  This may be our last visit with the big guy because the boys look huge and Alex may hear some upsetting news on the street between now and next December.  We shall see...but at least this year was full of magic!

The kids loved our new inflatable this season!

Our first stop after school got out - Star Wars, of course!  The kids had been dying to see it and we all loved it.
 

Probably the most fun part of our holiday break was helping Grandpa with his Christmas surprise for Grandma - a puppy!  We went with him to bring Holly to our house then we got to play with her for days before the big reveal.

We may not have gotten around to baking our Christmas cookies this year, but it was much more fun playing on the floor with this sweet girl.

Casey didn't share in our joy at first.  She was upset that this little invader kept sleeping in her bed or her crate and played with all of her toys!  After several days, she could no longer ignore Holly's constant invitations to play and they ended up getting along really well.  Casey might finally have a dog friend!

We surprised Grandma with her sweet little puppy and spent a few days there celebrating Christmas.  We let the kids open one gift early and they were a tiny bit excited to figure out it was the xbox they'd been hoping to see.

We got lots of fun gifts from Grandma and Grandpa!

Holly loved the wrapping, not so interested in the gifts.

We enjoyed one of the candlelight services at church on our way home Christmas eve. The empty seat next to Alex happened to be where the pastor was sitting during all of the worship.  Thank goodness the kids were perfectly behaved that evening!  This is always my favorite service of the year :)

We left our cookies out for Santa and said goodnight to two very excited boys.  No Christmas pjs this year because it was too warm!

Bright and early Christmas morning, the boys couldn't wait to check out their new toys.  Alex was happy to find his ripstick.

Ben was thrilled to get the guitar he'd been wanting!


Alex was really excited to get his own watch from Mr. Scott and Miss Lou Anne.  Notice the sun has finally come up outside!

Ben was happy to test out Alex's ripstick before it went outside.  Alex needs a little more practice just yet. 

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone!  We are thankful for all the wonderful memories that 2015 has given us.

Monday, November 30, 2015

November

Even though the school days run together sometimes, little gems like this make their work memorable.  Alex was asked to draw a picture of him pushing something...

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the school carnival and the kids had a great time smashing confetti eggs on one another.

Alex finished up his flag football season and his team ended up in third place overall.  

We spent Thanksgiving with the Frenches and Shepherds in Dallas and loved every minute with the cousins!  Carter was pretty serious about throwing crabapples into the creek.

The boys played all kinds of games and invented a few new ones of their own.

We enjoyed time outdoors until the rain set in and then it was all football and movies.


I had to laugh that all four boys were squeezed onto one couch to watch a show together when the other two were completely empty.

Melt my heart...both boys wanted to read books to Carter before he went to bed!


We made a valiant effort at a decent picture of all the boys, but this was the closest I got on my camera...


Back home, the kids were dying to get the Christmas tree decorated and I sure wasn't going to say no to their help!  Notice Alex pointing to his branch with all of his ornaments.  It's the only one touching the floor.

We wrapped up a great month with an awesome Muse concert in Houston.  Alex loves the band and was beyond excited to see the show.  Their drones were pretty cool!


Look at the thrill on this face!  It (almost) made the late school night worth it!

Monday, November 02, 2015

Happy Halloween!

 I love that the kids' school does a book character parade before Halloween.  We've read the first three Harry Potter books together, so guess what both boys wanted to be this year?  Meet Harry #1...
 

 ...and Harry #2.

I celebrated with each of them during their classroom parties.  Ben was a man of steel during the freeze dance when the other kids were trying to get him to laugh.

All the crazy boys and their mummified classmate.  Ben is the kid hiding in the back doing bunny ears.  We have entered the "stop taking pictures" phase.

After a very loud and enthusiastic game of balloon volleyball, I was ready to say goodbye and head over to Alex's classroom!

Ahh, it was so nice and quiet while the second graders made play doh monsters.

Alex's finished product

Then their class cranked up as well for a little dance party.  This man brought his moves!

Yes, that is a nice kick as he took his dance moves all around the room!

And a little more screaming and balloon volleyball, then the party was over and we headed home to get ready for trick or treating over the weekend!

Just like last weekend, some nasty weather threatened our fun, but the skies cleared and we had beautiful weather to hang out with our friends.  How I love these little faces from around our street!

Harry and Harry had a wonderful time trick or treating and enjoying a street party with a little Halloween scavenger hunt while I ate their candy :)