A Family Journal: April 2010 Blog Archives

Tuesday April 27, 2010

My camera was broken during this time...Justin and I were in Kansas the weekend before Sid's b-day. The kids stayed in OKC with Nana and Papaw. Although, we celebrated on his b-day at home, the Parsons made Sid a great train/Caillou birthday party at their house. We lost the photos- but they have been recovered! And here they are... Thanks Nana and Papaw for making this b-day special!

They visited Nana's class...Kate looks soo excited to be in a big girl classroom!

Then they went to a fun pizza/game place for dinner...

Here are the b-day celebration and prep pics...

Wow- what a great cake! Thank you all so much for all of the fun!

Here are a few pics from a visit at our house with Nana and Papaw...

Stories, snuggles, and hugs...

Posted 4/27/2010 at 1:29 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday April 27, 2010

Well, I am now officially 30 years old. I feel like it is harder to climb the stairs and that it is more difficult to lift the kids, etc. Either it is because I am 30 or I guess the kids could just be getting bigger :-) It was a way better birthday than I ever expected. I was so surprised to receive a text message from friends in Kansas saying to go to DFW to pick up my birthday gift- with less than 2 hours notice :-) Here is the pic...

Does it look like they have aluminium foil on their head or a bow? It was a bow :-)

Then later in the afternoon, surprise no. 2

I was sooo excited! I got to spend a girl's weekend in Dallas with 3 great, encouraging friends. What a treat!!!! Thank you girls soooo much for all of the effort and for celebrating with me. We had a great time and I am hoping that we can repeat every year :-) Here are a few pics...

Margaret took home some TX classic rhinestone hoops...atta girl.

Why is this pic of Margaret so small? It is the best one- look how yummy that burger from The Porch looks?! It had a fried egg on it- and was ranked no. 6? on the list of best burgers in TX- from what we hear...

My sweet husband went to great efforts with the kids to celebrate as well. Here are some pics of Justin and the kids with my birthday cake supplemented with princesses and trucks. I feel incredibly blessed! Thanks for making it special- now that I am old :-)

Posted 4/27/2010 at 12:57 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday April 27, 2010

We had a great, low key Easter this year. We enjoyed hunting for eggs with our neighbors and the Longs after Kate's b-day party at the neighborhood clubhouse. We did the usual dying of eggs, ressurection egg hunt, and reading of Easter stories with the kids. We went to church on Saturday and then enjoyed Easter with the Longs and their good friends from Lousiana. It was great to catch up with them and have a laid back yummy Easter lunch. Thanks for having us, Em and Chris!

Justin 007 stance...at the egg hunt

Kate and Sid did not please to have a picture taken with the bunny- bummer!

On Easter Sunday...

John Scott, Sid, Kate, Brennan, Jackson

Sid made sure to give his baby cousin lots of kisses!

Posted 4/27/2010 at 12:51 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday April 27, 2010

We have 3 birds that have been trying to inhabit our front porch. It is a small porch, so there is not much room for people to come and ring the bell and for birds to have babies. Of course, along with having babies they drop lots of gross things on the porch and in one case on a friend's head last summer. So, I decided that this year I was not going to share the porch with them. It was a few weeks of battle- including the use of 4-5 different humane bird deterrent tactics. The last tactic was bird spikes. Here is a picture of the birds basically laughing at me for thinking that it was going to hinder their nest building (at this point we had taken down 5 partial nests). After this picture was taken, Justin decided it was his manly duty to be a little more forceful in marking our territory. He and a broom intimated the birds enough for them to decide to find another home for the season. (For all of you PETA supporters- everyone lived) :-)

Posted 4/27/2010 at 12:47 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday April 27, 2010

Well, Kate had been planning her 4th birthday, princess themed party for what feels like years- but really just a few months. She was sooo excited to have her friends come to this party! So, I did all we could to make it a grand princess party at home (minus the pony, which Justin vetoed ) I think she had a great time. (My camera was broken at this time, so I am slowly gathering photos from fam/friends...thanks all that contributed!) Here are some pics from the party...

We made tiaras and crowns after the guests arrived...

We were so grateful to have Nana and Papaw and Em and Chris come and help us with all of the kids!

We played "pin the kiss on the frog", an ice cream relay game, and "pass the glass slipper" to some Disney princess music.

Nana conducted "story time" with a princess book...

We enjoyed tea sandwiches, pink lemonade, princess castle cake, and pretzel princess wands. I made each boy a prince cape with their name on it and each girl a tutu. They were not the best quality products, but fun for the day.

Each kiddo took home a blow up sword, princess wand, some stickers, and necklaces..Justin played the "doodoodoodoo" when the door opened a couple of times with his trumpet. I had to strongly encourage him

We collected outdoor toys for the Dallas Ronald McDonald house in lieu of birthday presents (although, Kate seemed to have plenty of presents as well). It was a good experience. Thanks so much for all of the generosity of all that contributed! Here is a picture of Kate with the goods at Ronald McDonald. Such a great place! www.rmhdallas.org