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!

Whew! We made it.

Well, we technically moved to Texas 10 months ago, but I am going to go ahead and say that we've been here a year.

Because school is finally out. And piano and dance recitals are over. And end of the year parties are complete. And soccer and t-ball games are over. Church programs have ended. Teacher gifts have been handed out, lives have been celebrated and lots of memories have been made.

And I am exhausted.

Because, honestly, this has been the hardest year of my life. I have been through a lot of change and made many moves. I went to the same private school K-6th grade and then moved to the suburbs of Washington DC when I was 12 where I was suddenly in a huge school and I didn't know a soul. I went to college 7 hours from home where I didn't know anyone. I spent summers working at various theatres across the country where.... you guessed it, I didn't know anyone. I moved to New York, back to Alabama, to Kansas, back to Alabama and now to Texas where I have never had a familiar circle.

But this one has been the hardest. Maybe it's because I'm older and just frankly tired, but this year has worn me out.

I remember sitting on my bed last summer in Dothan with tears streaming down my face trying to look at houses online, look at dance studios, find soccer leagues that were still enrolling, get records from pediatricians, enroll in schools, and so much more. So so much more.

And maybe it's because I am tired of saying good-bye, but I haven't had as easy of a time making friends. I think people are just settled into their groups. And most people have family close by. Our family of 5 is as tight as can be, but I do get sad when we are the only ones at recitals and games and other kids have huge cheering sections.

But we made it! We are a year in and I could not be happier for that. Friendships are being formed. Traditions are being made. And we are feeling settled. Bennett is so excited that she is going back to the same school next year where her little brother will join her. I started working part time in the children's ministry at our church and am loving it. Rob is really enjoying his job and the Dallas area has been a blast to live in. Our family loves adventures and there are plenty of those to be found around here.

I will always wish that I could live closer to Alabama, but for now we are settled. And I am so happy that our year of transition is over. Happier than I can possibly tell you.

Here's to a happy summer filled with friends, family, sunshine and relaxing. A lot of relaxing. And no more moving. At least for another year. :) With us, you just never know.

The Winter of our Muchcontent

Since it is April, I thought I would actually blog about winter.

Sounds logical, right?

And the Shakesperian reference in the title of this post sounded better in my head than it actually looks written out.

I digress. On to the blog post. When we decided to move to Dallas the first thing I did was ask people if it snowed there. Seriously. First thing. I know Texas isn't really known for its amazing ski resorts, but since Dallas is in the northern part of the state and fairly close to the Oklahoma border, I thought there might be a chance. And luckily, I was right.

We had about three separate snowfalls this year and the kids missed several days of school due to ice and snow. There was enough to build a snowman and go sledding, but not enough to make me curl into a ball and and pray the Lord would call us to Miami next.

This first picture is my favorite of all of them. All of Bennett's Frozen dreams finally came true. I am afraid that Texas doesn't look much like Arendelle, but for one glorious day, it came close enough.

 Look at how their feet are kind of sinking in the snow. We had 4 inches at least. Not much compared to other places I have lived, but we were all thrilled.

And who needs Olaf? This, my friends, is Brrrrrr Bryant. Roll Tide, little snowman.

Do you want to build a snowman? Sorry. Had to go there.

Snowball fight with Daddy.

We sadly sold our sled when we moved from Kansas City. This is what sledding used to look like with our kids. And can I point out 5 years later that this might not have been the safest thing in the world for Will?

And now instead of cool wooden sleds, we have cardboard. Oh, well.

I don't even see the cardboard in this picture? Did he just slide down on his own? I don't know. I was too busy chasing Lainey who was having none of this sledding business.

 But then we finally caught her and forced her to have fun. She did. For a second. Before she announced, "I go home now. Lainey go home. NOW!"

  

Sledding in McKinney, Texas.

I love this shot of three of my favorites.

And this was taken on another snow day. Three happy faces for sure.

And when cabin fever starts to strike, snow dog heads out to dance on the frozen tundra.