My Loves on Heart Day

Kaitlyn loves Star Wars so when it came time for Valentine's this year, we went all our with the Star Wars theme.  We made her cards "May the Force Be with You" with Pixie sticks and an R2D2 box.  She loved it!

Alec had a fun party at his school and they sang a song but he refused to get up and sing. He also refused to pass around his cards so I had to do it.

Olivia mugging for the camera.  I had fun with her Kinder class.  They made some great art crafts that I'll frame and keep for years to come.

 Abby was so creative with her box.  She drew up plans and had been saving empty candy containers for idea.  She wanted to make a candy house and it turned out so cute.  She even won a little award in her class.  I couldn't say no seeing how this was going to be her last big valentine's party in school.

Blake Shelton and Usher

Back in February, Todd had a nice work party/function at the AT&T stadium in Arlington.  I guess it wasn't really a work party but an awesome show for the Boys and Girls Club sponsored partly by Kimberly Clark.  The entertainment there was Usher and Blake Shelton.  What a fun concert!

It was a fun night rubbing elbows with some Dallas celebrities - Troy Aikman, Laura Bush, Jerry Jones... It was just neat to see them in person.  And the big thing we joke about is that Blake Shelton pointed to me - he really did - our table was right in front and I had a glow stick waving it around and he pointed right at me.  I was noticed :)

Walking on the red carpet

Elevator had a fun little couch

 I was noticed when I popped my glow stick and got our table going

Jan. Times

A lunch date with Kaitlyn - I tried hard to go once a month.  We ended up settling with about once every 9 weeks!

The Cows Are Out!
The longhorns had babies not too long ago.  One afternoon I looked out our back window and saw something run by.  My first thought was "that's a big dog."  Then it was a quick "that's not a dog!"  The wind had blown the gate that connects our yard with pasture open a little bit and two of the babies slipped through and were running back and forth in our backyard.  The kids thought it was great fun, I was afraid they were going to end up in the pool.  Luckily, the man who tends the cows was home and quickly came over and got them.

 Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam!
This is week 2 of Alec as a Sunbeam and I'm in Primary with him!  He was so unhappy, cried during sharing time and then refused to go to his class.  He ended up sitting in the hall with Todd.

School Work:

 Olivia was picked from her class to have some work displayed in the main hallway.  Her writing has come along so well especially for a kindergartener!

Alec working hard at preschool.

Don't eat the baby! 

One day coming home I saw all these vultures sitting on top of our roof.  I left a couple hours later and they were still there!  It was towards evening that they finally flew down and ate whatever had died in the pasture behind the house.  They are big, ugly bird though!  We get some great National Geographic scenes from time to time in our backyard - deer, roadrunners, foxes, vultures, snakes, Longhorns, hawks, owls.  It's been fun!

Music to my ears: 

Anytime Kaitlyn practices her violin, Devin has to go and listen.  He loves to listen to Abby on the piano too and just dances to their music.

Tea for two:

 I've had this tea set for as long as I can remember.  My dad bought it on his mission in Austria way back when.  I've had it in boxes and it's moved several times with me.  Finally we have a place to display it!  I did have it set up in the kitchen but thought I'd move it to the formal living room where there is even less likely of a chance for it to get broken.  Wrong!  A few days after I set it up, everyone was sitting in the living room when we hear this loud crash from the formal.  I go running in there to see the shelf that had the tea set fell and several pieces were broken.  So much for that display.  I need to superglue most the pieces back together.

 Showtime!
Abby was in drama again this year and they did several short plays of mixed up Fairy Tales the first half of the year.  Abby loves to be on the stage and it's a great creative outlet for her.

Olivia turns 6!

Olivia turned 6 and celebrated for about a week!

Everyone gets to choose where they want their birthday dinner - Olivia picked her favorite place 

Rainforest Cafe!  The kids even got fun balloon animals and Olivia was sung too.  Alec didn't get scared with all the animals - hooray!  And didn't need to cling to me every second.

 Her birthday was on a school day so we had lunch together.

I had run into her preschool teacher from the year before and I mentioned that it was Olivia's birthday.  She commented that "today's weather is bright and sunny just like our Olivia!"  True words when describing this little girl!

 A request for cookie dough cake.  Thanks to pinterest we were able to have a really yummy cookie cake and cupcakes with cousins!

Her loot

 twirling baton that last less than 24 hours before a brother broke it.

 Make a wish

 The weekend after her birthday Olivia had a friend party at Build-A-Bear.  The kids only get parties every other year so they are able to pick places within reason.  Olivia invited some friends from church, Abby and Kaitlyn, and her soccer team.  The girls had a lot of fun picking out their bears, stuffing them, and picking out the perfect outfit for them.  It was a fun party for these sweet kids.

Olivia Age 6:
Favorite color:  rainbow
Favorite animal:  Cheetah and unicorn
Favorite food:  Strawberries and watermelon
Favorite treat:  Cotton candy
Favorite book:  Magic Tree house series
Favorite show:  Justice League
Favorite movie:  Daddy Day Care
Favorite Friend:  Reagan
Favorite toy:  Legos
Favorite subject:  PE
Favorite song:  Walk Like an Egyptian and anything by Taylor Swift
Favorite Primary song:  Choose the Right
With her free time she'd like to play legos
When she grows up she wants to be a horse back rider

A visit to the Lake

We had lovely warmish weather in January so when there was no school on Monday, we headed to the lake.  The kids had so much fun climbing the rocks, throwing rocks, and just exploring.  We could have stayed there a lot longer.