Field Trippin' with Kindergarten

The kids have two field trips a year, and I opted for the all-day one with Lila to the Dallas Arboretum.  By 9am we were on the bus and bound for a fun day outside!  

Madison, Lila and Lauren--the three musketeers:)

My little posse--Lauren, Lila, Cason and Rahul.  We couldn't have had a prettier day--the sun was in full effect for sure!  One lucky gal's mom even remembered to bring her sassy sunglasses.

First up, the huge treehouse!  

Climbing up to the top of the net was a big hit, too.

My girl!  

All the kids took turns shooting this water cannon.  It demonstrated the power of water for them.

And this water crank was pretty cool, too.

After a picnic lunch, we headed to the puppet show.  No breeze.  Straight sun.
Not our favorite 30 minutes, but we made it!

After that, we went to explore some more.  This cool kaleidoscope was a fan favorite.

 

The sand art station held their attention even more, though.  

We did a few more stations, then ventured into the main Dallas Arboretum.  I took them to see the waterfalls and grotto.  They thought those were neat...

but these koi fish were the main attraction.

Well, that is, until we made it over to the big lawn.  They asked to run and play and we gave them the thumbs up.  They loved it!  So many cartwheels for the girls and wrestling moves for the boys.

By 1:00 we were making our way back to the bus.  By the grace of God, we didn't lose Cason or Santosh.  Great success!

I loved spending time with my favorite Kindergartener, too. She's just one cool cat.

Mother's Day Weekend

It was a rare non-sports weekend, sort of like spotting a unicorn in our backyard, so we simply had to seize the moment.  Road trip to Lake Texoma!

By Saturday afternoon, these four rascals were ready to take a zip around the lake.

It was warm, but windy!  Thank goodness Cami had Maddie to snuggle up to.

Gigi found that Jackson made a pretty cool riding buddy...

and Lila was our captain.

 

We were living the life!

My lake crew--love this bunch.

After a half hour of riding around, these crazies said they actually wanted get in the water.  Y'all...it wasn't just chilly, it was downright freezing!

They were all smiles and squealed a lot, but they got in.

Good grief--so cold!

My littlest bear opted to just hang out with us on the boat.  She's a smart cookie.

It was a fantastic afternoon in my happy place.  With my mama.

The next morning I woke up to all sorts of homemade cards.  They were all so sweet.

This one might have been my favorite, though.
Sweet Lila took her time making it just perfect for me.

I'm so happy to call this cuddly, outspoken, hilarious little 2 year old my baby girl...

and I think her sister is pretty awesome, too.  She's made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

Even though this kid gives me plenty of gray hairs, he is still the one who made me a mom, and I love him with my whole heart.

We ended our day with a cookout at the Hayses.

The sun was out and we had such a nice evening with the whole fam.
A happy Mother's Day indeed!

Dance Portraits

It's almost recital time again!  Dance portraits were taken this past weekend, so I got to see Miss Lila in her two costumes.  The verdict is in--they are adorable!

First up, her tap photos.  She will performing a routine to Hey Mickey.  It's so darn cute.

There is no doubt that Ashley, Lila and Brooklynn are going to steal the show!

It's been such a fun addition having Brooklynn at the same dance studio this year.
She and Lila make a great team.

Bippity Boppity Boo was up next--their jazz costume.  I love it, too!

Impressive heel stretches for 6 year olds:)

Kindergarten Cuties--one of Lila's BFF's.

I simply cannot wait to watch our little girl dance her heart out in a couple of weeks!

The ABCs of Cami

All about Cameron--she's growing up way too fast right in front of our eyes.  She is funny and smart.  The perfect combo, in our humble opinion!  She will tell you that she's also cute and strong--modest has not yet been mastered.  Being able to hang out with this little spitfire is one of the greatest joys of my life.  While I was getting ready this morning, she treated me to a tap dance.  How can you not love that?  She joined me at lunch today with a friend and was SO entertaining.  She asked Jenny, "so, how was your weekend?"  And then she showed her The Cami--Cameron's signature dance move that is sure to take over once it gets discovered.  Jenny loved it!  She then proceeded to tell Jenny all about our upcoming trip to the beach.  She said she will "splash in the water, look for crabs with my flashlight, and play in the sand."  This girl always has big plans.

She is becoming more girly by the day--often spraying my perfume on herself and wearing one of my necklaces around the house.  I asked her if she would like to wear a sundress today and after we put in on, I held her up in front of the mirror.  She was so pleased with it, that she stood on the bathroom counter and swayed around, saying, "it's so pretty!"

The baby days are definitely fleeting, and though she still loves to snuggle, the times that I rock her to sleep are getting much less frequent.  It's such a bittersweet time.  I love that she's becoming more independent, but y'all, that's my baby!  

Cameron Nicole, you are one of God's most precious creations and I simply adore you.  I treasure every single one of your hugs and kisses.  You are full of love and bring out the biggest smiles from everyone in our family.  Now if only we could get you to sit in your seat during meal times, we'd be set!  Oh well, I guess it's always good to have goals. I have no doubt that one day you'll turn into a little lady that lunches at Chocolate Angel, just like the big sister you look up to.   

Oklahoma Ace

 With the crazy Texas weather, it was very touch and go if the boys were going to play last weekend in the Oklahoma Shootout.  There was a lot of rain and even a few tornadoes.  No hail, though!  The Friday night games got cancelled, and their Saturday games got pushed back to 4:30 and 8pm.  

We all rolled up to the game that afternoon.  Four adults, three kids, three chairs, 2 purses, 1 toy bag, and 1 wagon.  It's quite a production!

The fields had dried out and this kid was ready to play some ball!  He started out hitting really well and playing short stop like no one's business.  His team played great, even with two new pitchers, and won 8-4!  

Our favorite ball player got high fives and hugs from his fan club and then we went to a quick dinner in Durant before his next game.

By the second game, things were running a little behind, so they didn't start playing until after dark.  These girls didn't mind one bit and just had the best attitudes at every game.  They watched the game for a little while, then played tag with other siblings.  By the time we left, they were so hot!  

We didn't get home until 10:30 that night and then J had to be back at the ball fields by 8am on Sunday morning.  The girls and I made it just in the nick of time and got to see Jackson during his first at-bat.  He got a hit and ended up scoring, too.  Go Fury!  The game was really close the whole time.  Ian pitched really well and had Jackson backing him up at short stop.  The boys were up 4-3 in the last inning, but there were runners on second and third base.  One wild pitch and it would be a tie ballgame.  The pressure was on for sure!  The batter got a hit...and it was headed straight for Jackson.  I immediately felt relieved and then scared all in the same 2 seconds.  He fielded it cleanly and made the throw to first base.  Game over!  Fury wins!

I was SO proud of this kid!  That's my child who just sealed the deal!  I ran over to the dugout and gave him a big hug.  He was smiling so much and even admitted that he was nervous during that last play, too.  

That's all the celebration we got to do.  The Fury had their biggest opponent to date waiting to face them 15 minutes later.  The Canes are a Majors team, one step above AAA, like The Fury.  Not only that, but they are the #5 Majors team in the State of Texas.  Our kids came out swinging, though, and immediately got two hits.  Before Jackson got up to bat in the #3 slot, their coach changed pitchers and brought in their ace. 

Jackson got a RBI that scored Ian, and we were up 2-0. It was a great way to start the game!

Then the real work began.  Jackson Hays on the mound for the North Texas Fury Elite.
Let's go Bubba!  This kid pitched the game of his life, too.  He was confident and calm the whole time.  He definitely doesn't get that from me.  I'd of been a nervous wreck!  The Canes got two runs off of him and it was tied going into the last inning.  Our team made two costly errors and we lost 2-4, but it was still an amazing performance by the entire team.  The Canes went on to win the tournament later that day and are now ranked #3 in the State.  The Fury are now #18 in AAA in the state, since we played them so closely!

After the game, Jared hugged Jackson and said "I am really, really proud of how you played this whole weekend."  A high moment for Jackson, for sure.

I think he even inspired his baby sister, who told us all that she was, "practicing my baseball" after the game.

We love, love, love, cheering for this kid and watching him succeed.

Even though the boys lost, they were all so proud of how they played.  That's the BEST thing that came out of this weekend.  Their confidence is back and they had FUN!

And we had a bonus--no more baseball meant that we had more time to play at the lake house.  Cooper came with us and the boys had a blast riding the four wheeler around everywhere.

Big kids like toys, too!

Within a half hour, Cooper had formulated a plan to get a four wheeler of his own!  

The girls and I enjoyed riding around on the golf cart.  We got to see that the water is up pretty high right now, even over the peninsula.  We're hoping it goes down by the summer and we get to use the lake much more.

Maddie was our chauffeur for a while, but then hopped on with Uncle Jared.

It was a fantastic way to end our weekend together.  I just love all my peeps so much.

And it inspired us to go back this coming weekend.  I really can't think of any place I'd rather be on Mother's Day than waking up at Lake Texoma.  It's my happy place!

Dance Girls

It's almost recital time for these precious girls!  So hard to believe that it's been a year since Lila's very first dance recital.  She is going to be performing tap and jazz routines for us and I cannot wait to see our little shining star on stage again!