Monday, June 22, 2015

Bluebonnets and Easter

Catching up on pictures again. It's becoming my normal. I had heard about Texas bluebonnets from our family in Austin, but until you see them in person, you really can't appreciate how beautiful they are. Our first Spring in Texas we set out to find bluebonnets as soon as we could.













And we also celebrated our first Easter in Texas. Here are a few shots from Easter 2015






I love these people, my people, so very much. 

Monday, June 8, 2015

And here come the pictures

If I end this blog post with anything less then 5,231 pictures, then I will have accomplished a major feat. Because I have barely blogged at all this year. And we have had lots of stuff that I want to remember. And my husband takes a thousand pictures at every event. You think I'm kidding. So, here are a few hundred from the past few months.

 Bennett won the Star Student award at her school. I'm not surprised. She's been a star in our eyes for a very long time.

A few months ago Rob led worship at a Family Camp in Alabama so we loaded up the swagger wagon for our umpteenth road trip.

We got a lot of great shots at camp, but this one was my favorite. It was taken on a hike with my girl.

With their camp friend, Hadley. They have been meeting at camp three years in a row now.
  
My sister kept Lainey bug for us and so we got to see my family when we stopped back by to get her.

And when we got back to Texas we got to see more cousins. Sophie and Jameson drive up from Austin for a quick visit. We'll take what we can get.

We love S and J so so much.




Bennett had her 100th day of school. Having a Mom who used to teach drama means you will never be lacking for a good school costume.

And Will's soccer season started back up. But this time with a really cute redheaded coach. 

Walking with his buddy, Grant. These two are such good friends and he also happens to live 4 houses down from us, so we get to see a lot of him and his little sister.

It's good to heave friends.


We went back to Alabama for Spring Break. I drove 10 hours by myself each way with the three kids. Yes, I am a rock star. And no, I have no problem saying that. I deserve it after that trip. Here are the kids at the zoo with my parents.

And enjoying a morning at the park with their cousin, Ellison.

I mentioned this in the previous blog post, but I started working part time in the children's ministry at our church. Here are just some of the kids I get to work with on a weekly basis. I feel pretty lucky.

And I also got to direct the drama portion of our church's spring musical. Here are my kids after the performance.





 Will also started playing t-ball so we went spent many spring evenings watching him play. I cannot tell you enough how much I loved this. Some days we would go straight from Bennett's dance practice to the ball field and I was constantly grateful that  had the privilege of having a son and a daughter. Best of both worlds.




Is he not the cutest little guy? I mean, come on!

And this one will go in a frame for sure. Big and little sis supporting their brother at his game.

And this little one.... she tries so hard to keep up with her siblings, but some days she just can't quite do it.
 
My parents came for a visit in May and we were so happy to have them visit!!



They got to go to Bennett's STEM fair with us. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. So, yes, basically a science fair. Bennett based her project on determining how fast a cheetah could run. Way to go, Bennett!

And this is a picture from her "field research" at the Dallas Zoo.

And my parents got to be here for Will's Kindergarten graduation. I cannot tell you enough how proud I am of my buddy. Both he and Bennett entered new schools where they didn't know anyone and both of them had incredible years with wonderful teachers.




And continuing with end of the year activities, Bennett did a wonderful job at her piano recital. She played two pieces solo and then performed a duet where she sang and played the piano while Rob played guitar.



Lainey isn't showing it here, but she was so proud of Bennett. She kept clapping her hands and yelling, "Yay, Sissy!!"

And then Bennett also did a wonderful job in her dance recital. I know I am very biased, but I think her form is pretty good.

2/3rds of my kiddos. The youngest was at home with a sitter. She hung in there through the piano recital and the dance recital dress rehearsal, but asking her to sit through the performance may have pushed her over the edge.

Super proud Daddy.
 
And now we are just looking forward to an awesome summer with good friends.


Of course I will still be working the whole summer, my sister and nieces are visiting, we are driving to Washington DC for a week, driving to Alabama for a few days, helping to run VBS, running a drama camp, taking 3rd-5th graders to camp, running a water camp, and more. But hey, that's what keeps life interesting right.

So, this in no way captures our entire spring, but until I can get back to blogging on a regular basis, it will have to do.

HAPPY SUMMER!