school's out!

This school year flew by!  I can't believe it's already summer.  All three kids did so much growing up during the school year.  Here are some before and after pic to prove it!

Kirby - 1st day of PreK

last day...

William - 1st day of 2's

last day...

 Maggie - 1st day of 2's

last day...

Jim:  Hey, Mags.  What are you doing?

Maggie:  I'm tryin' to rub dis in.



Cinco de Mayo and more

We had a fun weekend!!

We celebrated NINE years of marriage - I can't believe we've been married for 9 years.  It is so weird how it seems like just yesterday I was walking down the aisle and yet it feels like we've been married forever.  I am so blessed to be this man's wife!!

We planned to celebate with an evening sans kiddos thanks to my wonderful parents, but William has been so clingy lately, we thought it would be a good opportunity to have some one on one time with him.  So, Friday afternoon, the girls went to big B and William, Jim and I got to hang out.  W was an angel and had a ball running around at Cedar Creek.  We've only ever gone there with adults, but the early crowd is very family friendly!

Saturday morning,  Jim went skydiving - William thought the planes and parachutes were super cool - like father like son!!

 

We got the girls back Saturday afternoon and headed out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with friends.  I think everyone had a great time!

Wordless Wednesday

William

This big boy is such a sweetheart.  Those eyes are just about more than I can stand!  William LOVES his mommy these days almost as much as he loves trains, cars, and Buzz Lightyear.  He can simultaneously melt my heart and test my patience to the limits.  He's been cracking us up with the things he says, too!  Here are a few of my recent favorites:

-I got mosquitos in my nose (boogers)
-I LOOOOOOVE cheese a la las (cheese enchiladas)
-I need a bander (band-aid)
-Mommy, Mommy!  Look at my balls!  Look at my balls!  See my balls? (EYEBALLS!!)

 We found him like this a couple of nights ago...

rounds

We "do rounds" every night before bed to check on the kids and make sure lights are off and doors are locked.  We crack up at what we sometimes find when we peek in on them, but tonight by far takes the cake!

We're not ready!

I went in the babies' room to get them out of bed Wednesday morning and my heart stopped momentarily because I found this...

We are SOOOOOO not ready for M&W to be in big girl/boy beds.  William evidently crawled across the dresser between their beds to visit Mags.  We did a little furniture rearranging to try to put off the big move a bit longer.  Cross your fingers that it works!!

Dad's V-day breakfast

Daddy and donuts - Maggie and William were in heaven! 

pinterest

I love pinterest.  It is a huge time suck, but I have gotten some really yummy recipes and some really good ideas from it - there are some really creative people out there!  One of the funniest things I've seen on it is this...

The first time I saw it I laughed until I cried.

I had my own "nailed it" moment over Christmas.  My mom and I thought it would be so fun to make these precious santa hat brownies.

pinterest version...

ours...Nailed it, don't you think?!?!

I tried again with Kirby's valentine's, and things went a little better.

pinterest version...

mine...

I'm so happy with how they turned out!! For once, I really did nail it!  YAY!!

loving my new camera...

...and these faces!  Our camera croaked about 6 months ago, and we finally got a new one!  YAY!  What's even more exciting is that my kids are beginning to be willing to smile for pictures!  I am a little biased, but girls don't come any cuter - or sweeter - than these two right here.

fimmin like a fish!

Maggie and William just finished their 2 weeks of intensive swimming lessons.  They both LOVED it.  It took Kirby a long time to get used to the water, so I was a little nervous when we started, but I could not have been more wrong about how they would react.  Their excitement made it SO fun!

They can't stop talking about swimming...

"I blow bubbles!"

"I float a back!"

"I slide!"

"I got a succer blue!!"

"I wanna go fimmin!"

"Ms. Michelle.  She soooooo nice!"

"I fim like a fish!"

reminders

We had a wonderful Christmas - full of family and friends and fun.  On Christmas night Maggie and I chatted while we were playing.  Our conversation went like this...

Me:  Mags, Did you have a good day?  What was your very favorite present?
Maggie:  Ummm...I don't know.  You know what?  Baby Jesus.

I am not making this up.  I was shocked and touched in a way I can't explain.  I don't really think that Maggie understands the gift of grace and love that God gave when Jesus was born in the manger so long ago, (right before this I asked her what color her pants were and she said "D" :)), but there is no doubt in my mind that God was using my sweet baby girl to remind me as I sat in a sea of toys and wrapping paper that His Son is the most precious gift of all!  I am so thankful for this reminder and all of His blessings!!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

family photos

My mom thought I was ridiculous for paying someone to take pictures of our family, because these days getting all three kids to look/smile at the camera is next to impossible.  When we left the session, I'll admit that I thought she was right - the kids were AWFUL - we left the session and needed a drink.  Who am I kidding - we needed several!  But guess what?!?  She got some good ones!  Well worth it!!  Check them out below!

Studio Bloom Photography

Soccer girl!

Kirby is playing soccer this year!  The jury is still out on whether she likes it or not, but she sure looks cute running up and down the field, and we've had fun cheering her on!  The real reason she wanted to play has more to do with her desire for a soccer ball for her charm bracelet than the game itself!  I'm glad she's trying something new, but it won't surprise me if soccer doesn't turn out to be her thing - she informed me last week that she "loves flowers and butterflies and rainbows...and ALL the girly things!"

I don't know why she didn't make contact with the ball!!  

1st Day of School!

All 3 kiddos started school this week!  I can't get over the fact that M&W are old enough for school and that Kirby is in Pre-K.  Blows. My. Mind.

Kirby started on Tuesday and seems to love it so far!  She has the same teacher she had when she was 2 who is super sweet, so I think that's made the transition back into school a bit easier for her.  She also has a room full of all new friends!

I can't believe how much she's changed since she started at St. Luke's 2 years ago!!

2009

2010

2011

 I love my babies - even if they're not really babies anymore!

Maggie and William started today with the teacher Kirby had when she was 3.  The had a great day - they weren't overly sad when we left them this morning and were super happy when I picked them up this afternoon!  YAY!

Maggers was super excited about "cool" this morning!!

 

William grabbed his bag and walked right down the hall!

 I'm so glad things went well today because our "meet the teachers" last Friday didn't start off so smoothly!  I'm sure all the parents in the room were beyond shocked when I barged in literally dragging M&W kicking and screaming.  William broke away and bolted down the hall and once I got him back in the room I realized he needed a diaper change...and diapers and wipes were in the car.  All of this was going on and the parents with their one little kid quietly playing with the toys just stared at me with eyes as big as saucers and jaws dropped to the floor.  If it weren't for my screaming kids, I'm sure you could have heard crickets chirping.  As you can see, things did calm down :)

Happy Labor Day weekend!!

I yub a beach

We had the best week at Crystal Beach.  Clear skies, cool breezes, happy kids - I couldn't ask for a better combination!   It was a perfect vacation!  

I had my doubts in the beginning, though - we left all three of the kids' bags at home and didn't realize it until we were almost to Galveston.  Then Maggie woke up with yucky drainage from her ear.  Our trip to the "med center" was a trip - the receptionist had to move her Marlboro Reds out of the way to give me the paperwork to fill out, and we had to wait an extra 10 minutes to be seen because the entire office staff along with the pregnant lady in the waiting room had to take a smoke break.  Wow is all i can say!!  After that it was smooth sailing!

 

 

Kirby and William LOVED the sand and water, and once we got Maggie some water shoes, she was sold, too!  All week William sang, "Where are we going?" Dora style and Maggie would answer, "To the beach!"  Kirby told us several times that she wished she could have a beach cabin of her own...me too, Kirbs, me too!! 

They loved it so much that I got a little nervous - William would take off toward the water yelling, "Tame ooon, Mommy!" (come on)  I can't explain how perfect it was though - the beach and water were so clean, and there was a very shallow sand bar about 20 feet from the shore - we had a perfect little "pool" to play in all week!

 

 

Impromptu photo shoot...

I already can't wait until next year!  William put it best...I yub a beach!!