Happiness is...

bouncing on the trampoline with your favorite dolly...

then flying high above your mama on her feet!

This girl loves a little "airplane" action--especially when we're on the tramp on a gorgeous morning.
God is so good.  He gave me this precious little girl and a beautiful day to spend with her.

Double Dating

Last Friday, Lila and I met up with some friends at a nearby park for an little impromtu playdate.

It was a gorgeous day and so good to be outside.

Lila tried to keep up with her boyfriend Sawyer, but he was more interested in leaping off of the concrete wall!  Cowabunga, dude!

So she settled for some sweet cuddles with her mama.

Before long, we had all worked up an appetite and headed over to Kelly's for lunch.  This horse was a big draw for Lila's other date, Cowboy Cowen, and they were all smiles.  It was the perfect way to spend a Friday afternoon--good friends, good food and a double date for Lila Lou!

The Toothfairy Can't Keep Up!

When I sent this smiling guy to school on Friday, he was very excited.

Why, you ask?  Well, because just the night before he lost his 3rd tooth and got a visit from the toothfairy.  He got to add five more dollars to his piggy bank.  It was a big night:)
 Yes, the kid has now lost 3 teeth at only 5 1/2 years old.

These new teeth are so much bigger than his baby ones.  Check out the big bottom left tooth that just came in. It's the one that looks like a baby t-rex tooth with sharp ridges on it!

Practice Makes Perfect

There is no rest for the weary around here, that's for sure! 

Madison has been loving her tap and ballet class every week.  She will work all year and then show off her stuff at the recital next May.  I bet she might just be a star by then!

Right after we watch Maddie perfect her dancing skills, we go watch Jackson work on his footwork.

He loves playing the Pirate Game.  One kid is the pirate and tries to steal the booty (ball), so you have to always protect the ball!  It's a cute way to teach them.

They also play Red Light Green Light. 
The girls love going to soccer practice, too, because it's right next to the park.  They get to play on the slides and swings the whole time, so it's a win/win for everyone, although this mama is worn out by the end of the day!

Are you ready for some football?!

Last Sunday rolled around and we were all excited to cheer on the Cowboys.  While Jared went to play soccer, the kids and I made a special trip to the store to get stuff for queso.

The Cowboys had played really well the week before, so we had high hopes.  We had all the ingredients for a great day.  We worked hard getting the ratio of rotel to velveeta just right.  Then came the all important tasting.  Lila's verdict?  "I yike queso!"

She was so enthusiastic about it that her brother even tried it.  A first for both!  He wasn't as crazy about he dip (who doesn't like queso?), but was still happy about watching Tony Romo play.  Too bad the queso turned out much better than the Cowboys.  Oh well, we can always hope they'll redeem themselves today.  Go Cowboys!

Birthday outfit--better late than never!

My precious blue-eyed girl turned 2 this past April.  I had bought her an outfit to wear a few months before that and I was sure she would grow into it by then.  I was so excited about the turquoise blue (such the perfect compliment for her baby blues!) and cupcakes on it.  Too, too cute. 

With her birthday steadily approaching, I began to see the writing on the wall.  This outfit was just too big, no way around it.  Five months later, though, look who was wearing it to church!

We just HAD to do a mini photo shoot before we left.

 

Who knows, maybe it will still fit her when she turns 3!

Whenever she's up to something, her underbite always comes out.  So mischievious!

Then sweet Lila returns and she's all smiles again:)

Partying Down!

For the past two weekends, our kids have partied down.  They kicked things off last Saturday with back to back parties for their friends.

The first one was for Sawyer at Little Gym, where they ran and played on the bars, beams, mats...basically had a total blast for a solid hour.

When gym time was over, they got to eat snacks and cupcakes. 

Right after his party was over, we headed straight to our next one at Gymboree.  This gym didn't have the beams or high bars, but the kids were very well entertained and encouraged to do things like leap off this step into the big donut. They loved it!

There were probably 25 activities going on almost simultaneously at Gymboree.  It was crazy!  And a little overwhelming, even for me.  Here they are in some dress-up paraphanelia.  This lasted about 45 seconds before they moved on to the next activity.  I was a little tired at this point, so I didn't get any pics of them chowing down on their second cupcake of the afternoon.  They loved it. 
Happy Birthday, Abby!

Fast forward a week and we were back on the party circuit again yesterday.  We started at Bounce Town for Chloe's birthday.  Madison brought Hedgie the Hedgehog (her class mascot) since he's spending the weekend with us. 

Big brother was so good about helping his sister up the big slide.  The last bounce experience was for her birthday party, and she was definitely uneasy about the whole thing.  He patiently helped her climb all the way up...

then slid down first and turned around to catch her.  After that, she was good to go!

The next thing I knew, these two girlies had run through the big blow up maize and climbed all the way to the top of the slide.

They were so thrilled with themselves...

and must have done it at least 15 times!

Maddie played so well with Lila, too, and only took a short break from her babysitting gig to play with the big girls, Haylie and Chloe.

Happy Birthday, Chloe!

Our crew sure did have fun!  When we left, Maddie said, "I sure wish my birthday would have been there."  Of course, she said the same thing at the end of last Saturday, too:)  I'm pretty sure she just loves a good party.

After a short rest at home, J man was back on the party scene again.  This time it was a baseball buddy's party at the Wylie Rec Center.  Each kid got to climb this huge rock wall 6 times.

On the last time, he made it all the way to the top and rang the bell!  That's 40 feet high!  Way to go, my little man.  It was a great way to end such a cool weekend.