Happy Mother's Day!

The kids had been working hard on Mother's Day projects for me all week at school.  Jackson had hidden a few in the house and they'd also been shopping with their daddy.  I was so happy when I woke up to a kitchen full of love.  There were cards, art projects and flowers--it made me smile:)

They each picked out a dozen roses--Lila got light pink and J got yellow with orange tips.  They each made me a card, too.  Lila's just had letters written on it, more "L's" than anything!  Jackson colored me a beautiful heart picture that said, "I love you, Mom."  They also bought me some really cool cards that allowed the kids to put their very own handprints in them.  I will treasure those, for sure! 

While my sweet hubby was cooking us cinnamon french toast and bacon, Jackson and I sat down to read the book he made for me at school.  It said: "I love it when my mom plays with me."  "My mom is 33 years old."  "My mom is good at cooking." "My mom and I like to go swimming."  "My mom likes to watch my games."  "My mom is good at playing tag."  Each page also had an illustration.  So cute and simply priceless. 

Around lunch time we headed up to a park that we had never been to before.  Jared had convinced Jackson that it would be an excellent day to take off his training wheels and learn how to ride his bike.  We've asked many times before, but he's never been that interested.  He'd much rather just throw a ball!  Jackson didn't shoot us down, though, so off we went with bikes to the park.  We got thrown a minor curve ball when Lila fell asleep before we got there.  The boys had to take us back home and I stayed with my little sleepy girl.  I gotta admit, I was a bummed to be missing such a big moment in J's life, though.  After laying down with a non-sleeping Lila for a half hour, I gave up and we headed back up to the park.  Imagine my delight when I saw this....

He was riding a pretty good distance all by himself!

After watching him a few times on the grass, we convinced him to try it on the much easier concrete.  Riding on grass is SO hard and he wasn't falling at all.  We were hopeful that he wouldn't have a major wipeout on the sidewalk.

In no time at all Jackson was riding 100 yards down the sidewalk!  Little sister was pedaling her hardest while trying to keep up with him.  She kept saying, Jackson can't catch me--I've got on my fast training wheels!

We grabbed a late lunch and then went home to get ready for the whole fam to join us that evening.  Jared put on his "funny cameraman hat" and made us all laugh out loud.  I love this picture even more because it reminds me of lots of good belly laughs.

We were so happy to be able to spend Mother's Day with both of our sweet moms.  Uncle Andrew, Aunt Maria, Uncle Scott, Aunt Lyndsie, Boom and Poppi all treated us so well!

We hung out on the back patio and visited.  Lila climbed up in my lap and finally gave out for a half hour.  I missed the ball game, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.  Sweet snuggles are one of my very favorite parts of being a mommy.

Maddie and Jackson got lots of hits and I think everyone had fun working up a good appetite.

Our night was complete after sampling some of Lyndsie's lemon cupcakes with strawberry icing.  She also made me and Shelley a jar full of mini-iced mother's day cookies.  How cute are they?!

Thanks so much to all of you for making my day so special.  When I tucked Jackson into bed last night, I thanked him for working so hard on all of my gifts.  He said, "yeah, that book took me like 5 days! But today I got to pay you a lot for all of the nice things you always do for us." 
He's got a big heart, and I love that.  I really couldn't ask for anything more.  Happy Mother's Day!

We went out last night!

We bought tickets to the Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Eli Young Band concert at least 4 months ago.  Last night our big date had finally arrived!  Unfortunately, the Cubs were scheduled to play at the same time, so we had to call in some back-up to help us out.  No worries at all.  The grandparents were awesome.

We got score and batting updates on J the whole game and were thrilled to hear that he played well and the Cubs won big.  J man hit a single and a triple, played well at 1st base and helped the Cubs remain undefeated by beating the White Sox 19-6.  Way to go, guys!

When we finally made it into Cowboys Stadium, we headed down to the floor to check out our amazing seats.  I was so pumped!

Fifteen minutes later Eric Church came out full force and rocked it from the very beginning.

The enormous screen was right above us, too, in case we needed a super-sized view.

Rock on, Eric Church!  He put on a fantastic show--if you get a chance to see him live, go!

A half hour later, the lights went down, the stadium roof opened up and they cranked up the volume, too.

Kenny Chesney just knows how to put on a GREAT show.

Despite the odd look on my date's face, he had a really good time, too!

Kenny played for over 2 hours.  He's got so many good songs:)

Most were upbeat ones, but he worked in a few of his slow songs, too.  

Towards the end of the show he brought out Jason Witten and DeMarco Murray when he was singing The Boys of Fall.  It was a really cool moment.  He also signed a Dallas Cowboys helmet and gave it to a little boy near the stage.  Lucky little guy!

It was a night to remember, for sure, and a wonderful early Mother's Day gift, too!

Raingutter Regatta & Muffins with Mom

One baseball game, the Raingutter Regatta, one baseball practice and Muffins with Mom.  Whew!  We've had a busy week and it's not over yet.  Still got Field Day tomorrow and another ballgame tomorrow night.  It's been nice, though, to be able to spend time with each girl this week.  First up, Maddie invited me to the Raingutter Regatta at school.  I was honored!

We put together and decorated a sailboat (my 4th one!) and then took it outside to see if it would actually sail.  Turns out that even if an experienced builder, like myself, happens to put the mast on the wrong side, it will still sail!  Thank goodness!  I was going to feel terrible if ours was the only one that just flopped over. 

After a few successful sailing voyages, we went back inside to ice and decorate our sugar cookies.  My favorite part, for sure!  I'm pretty sure I was the only other adult to have one, but I just couldn't resist.  There were sprinkles for goodness sakes!

This morning it was Lila's turn with me.  She was all smiles when we got to school.  First, she showed me her caterpillar and flowers that she had painted earlier in the week.  Her teacher used them to make a really cool bulletin board outside their classroom. 

Then we sat down to enjoy some fruit and homemade muffins (made by her sweet teacher) and she gave me the present that she has worked so hard on for the past few days.  It's got her handprints, fingerprints and a precious picture of her on it, too.  I really couldn't love any gift more.

After breakfast, we went down to the music room, where we were treated to the cutest performance starring 1, 2, and 3 year olds.  She sat right up front, sang softly and did most of the motions, too. 

"Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham.  I am one of them, and so are you.  So let's just praise the Lord.  Right arm, left arm, right foot, left foot."  This girl was getting into it for sure!

Thank you, sweetness, for a very special morning. 

Early Release!

Not only was it early release at school today, but Jackson also got invited to his very first co-ed swim party, too.  Now that's a big day!

Tucker and Brently are twins that are in Kindergarten with him.  They each got to invite 5 kids to swim at their house after school.  Do ya think they're having fun?!

Looks like the boys have moved on to the trampoline now.  I feel like this is such a big step for my little guy.  The twins live really close to school, so he got to walk home with all the other kids.  That meant I didn't pick him up and then he went to a party without me or his daddy.  Oh my!  He's growing up too fast.  I was so relieved and happy when Tucker's mom texted me these pictures.  Looks like they are having a blast.  C'mon summer, we're ready!

Monday at the Arboretum...

aka the best day to go there!  It was almost empty and the weather was gorgeous!

I was so glad that me and my little girl got to enjoy the outdoors with our good friends.

We met Sawyer and Hayley there around 10:30 and right away the kids took off running.  They ran everywhere.  Surely it was enough to surpass the 5K mark!

We found our way over to the giant slide, where we found Lila's friend, Caitlin, and her mommy.  How fun!  The girls were so happy to see each other and had a great time not having to share the slide with 100 other kids.  Ah, yes...the greatness of a Monday at the Arboretum.

When the one little class that was on a field trip there came over to the slide, we decided to go check out the big tee-pee.  Even though I told Lila what it was called at least 3 times, she refused to call it by the correct name.  Finally she just said, "I know it's a tee-pee, but I call it a TV."  And then just giggled.
Ok, sister.  Whatever floats your boat:)

After getting dir-tay inside the "TV" we headed over to see the lake.  It was so nice there that we just set up our picnic blanket and had some lunch.  There was a tiny breeze blowing and we had a great view of White Rock Lake.  Que romantica for these two future lovebirds!

After lunch, Sawyer wanted to run some more, but Lila just stayed and chatted with me.  We talked about all kinds of stuff and laughed at the birds trying to get our lunch.  One bird even succeeded when Lila turned her head.  He made off with half a sandwich, which she thought was very funny!

The kids ran some more and her cheeks got rosier by the minute.  We played hide-and-go-seek with these two rascals and enjoyed watching them just be silly.

Then Lila showed us her new trick!  Strong little thing, isn't she?

Thanks again, Hayley and Sawyer, for a great start to our week.

Lila Lou and I had a fantastic time!

May Days

Summer is right around the corner...

time to break out the shorts and flip flops!

This little girl is all smiles while pedaling her Barbie Bike around our 'hood.

The other morning we set off for the park--she was on wheels, I was on foot.  Thank goodness she doesn't go THAT fast just yet, allowing me to keep up with her by walking.  We spent most of our time playing in the sand at the volleyball court.  The park was empty and it was about 75 degrees.  Perfect!  We must have buried her hands and feet 32 times and she loved every single moment of it.  Truth be told, so did I.  Sometimes it really is the little moments in life that are the sweetest.

The month of May also means that baseball is in full swing.  Jackson was really excited (I know it doesn't look like it here!) to get an invite to the Rough Riders game last Friday night.  He even got an autograph from one of the pitchers...

was there early enough to watch batting practice...

and his friend even got a baseball handed to him by one of the San Diego players, which he then gave to Jackson.  What a nice friend! 

After winning his Cubs game on Saturday, we headed up to the Ranch.  Our friends, Jenny and Dusty, brought their lab with them.  His name is Legend and he's awesome!  He was the main-most outfielder during batting practice for J!

Lila got to ride the horsey swing for a good bit...

and then we all climbed into the Polaris to go check out the cows.  Jackson asked Jenny to ride in the new back seat with him and she very kindly obliged.

What a crew!

We finally made it down to see the cows and even got pretty close to Baby Madison, the newest cow, who was born on Madison's birthday this year!

After that, Dusty, Jenny and Jared saddled up and went for a little trail ride.  They all did great--the horses didn't give them any funny business and no one fell off!

When evening came, it got a little chilly.  Gigi was rocking her best Duck Dynasty jacket:)

We had such a great time at the Ranch.  Whether hanging out on the porch, playing ball, riding four wheelers or just playing with bubbles, there were always smiles to be found.  The mark of a fantastic time, I do believe.

We ended our weekend by going to watch the Children's Choir Concert at First Baptist.  Memaw helps out with the 1st graders and we were so happy to be able to go see their show.  It was really cute and the kids loved that Memaw wore pig-tails and got to sit on the stage, singing songs with the kids, too.