New Gang In Town

That's right, a new bicycle gang is here to stay.

Ever since this little girlie got her own seat on my bike, we have been all over our 'hood.

On any given morning or evening, you can find me in the lead with two rascals following right behind.
 We are a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure.  Watch out, citizens of Murphy!

Partying down with Pa Hays

This afternoon our whole crew headed to Fort Worth to celebrate with Jared's grandpa.  He will turn 88 on Wednesday, which is cause for a celebration for sure.

Pa Hays is in the center with four of his five grandkids, their spouses/fiance, and great-grandkids as well.  Happy Birthday, Pa!  Much love to you from our family:)

Major Accessorizing

The big kids spent the night with Gigi the other night and apparently found all of her old 80s and 90s jewelry.  The collection is quite impressive!  When I went to pick them up, Madison met me at the door and said, "Look!  Boom paw took me to the mall and got my ears pierced!"  She was wearing these huge gold earrings and smiling from ear to ear.  Thank goodness they were clip-ons!

As soon as this little girlie saw the fun earrings, she had to try some on for herself.  Love it!

Unfortunately, so did her brother.  If this isn't a good blackmail picture, I don't know what is!

They brought about 8 pairs of earrings home with them, along with some necklaces and hair accessories, too.  All of it has kept them very entertained.  Before we left for lunch at dad's work today, this was how these three had accentuated their outfits.

I only let J man wear his for that picture, then he had to stop trying to emulate George Michael and get back to being a little more like Josh Hamilton.  His daddy might have had a heart attack if he'd shown up for lunch wearing those spiffy earrings!  Let's leave the sass a fras for the girls:)

Motorboats and Superheroes

Yesterday, while swimming at Memaw and Poppi's house, Daddo was in high demand. 

Lila kicked things off by requesting that he spin her in circles while singing, "motorboat, motorboat go so slow, motorboat, motorboat, go so fast...

...motorboat, motorboat, STEP ON THE GAS!" The last circle is by far her favorite and her daddy was more than happy to oblige each and every request.

Then it was time for some superhero flying.  First, Wonder Woman began her assent...

and then was launched into the air.  The third time this little daredevil even did a front flip!  It was awesome and she came up smiling!

After that, Superman got ready for his flight...

and was launched sky high into the air! Thank goodness he did not flip over.  Something tells me that Superman would not have had a smile on his face if that would have happened!

Big Bro and Little Sis

School's out and it's time to bring on summertime! 

Lila has been sporting a new hairstyle that is especially nice whenever she's swimming, working out or at the lake. It's much easier to enjoy all of these activities without hair in your eyes or a mommy constantly stopping you to put a bow back in your hair!

J went to the barber shop with his daddy yesterday and came home with this "too cool for school" haircut.  We love it.  If possible, he now looks even older.  Can this really be my baby?

3 Peat!

Before Jackson's game yesterday, he and his daddy made a trip to Dick's Sporting Goods.  One of the main items on their list was eye black. 

It's hard to see, but he has eye black on and we wrote "Go Cubs" on it.  It's awesome!  He looked like a pro ball player.

I guess the eye black brought him good luck because this kid got the game ball for the third time this season!  He played so well--he got two triples and a single all off of the coach pitch and made every single catch thrown his way at 1st base.  All of that helped keep the Cubs undefeated.  They play again on Tuesday night to defend their record.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Memorial Day Maniacs

We had a really busy Memorial Day Weekend, being at the lake, ranch and then coming back for the family wedding.  By the time the actual holiday got here, we were just pooped!  Daddo declared a "home improvement day," which included many thrilling items, such as sprinkler work, trimming hedges, cleaning out flowerbeds, and even one unexpected project that involved a leaking-almost-to-the-point-of-overflowing-into-our-closet hot water heater.  Fun!  We finished up with all of that work around 4:00 in the afternoon and were ready to go dive into a refreshing body of water.

After calling Memaw and Poppi to let them know our crew would indeed be able to join their party, we loaded up our oh-so-cute Memorial Day Maniacs and headed their way.  The little one matched Madison to a tee, but she passed out on the way to the party and proceeded to spend the first hour there asleep on the couch.  This is my child who ONLY takes a nap in my bed, not hers, and she snoozed like she hadn't slept in ages!  Although I was glad she got some rest, I wasn't able to snap a pic of all three in their festive outfits. 

By the time Lila Lou was awake, these two had made many runs through this wacky sprinkler...

and declared Memaw the VIP of the day for buying it for them!

I forsee something very similar in our own backyard for this summer. 

Happy Memorial Day, from our maniacs to yours!