Basketball Season!

This football season we were crazy about the Wildcats, but basketball season has been a bit too crazy for us to enjoy many games. Two of the boys teachers are on the girls varsity team, so Mom and Dad took them to a game a few weeks back.The Wildcats won! They are still in the play-offs and we are so proud of them!
After the game they went to Whataburger. What a perfect day!!!

Thanks for a fun outing Granna and GPop!

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

Better late than never! Valentine's Day was a fun day this year. The boys had pre-school, so we gave them our gifts at breakfast. Jacob was super thrilled with his Super Bowl Heroes book and a Quanah Parker book.He was also thrilled with cinnamon-raisin french toast and bacon from the griddle!
Rylan got a Steve Nash biography and a history book too.
After school we surprised them with a second gift... trading cards!
They spent the next hour organizing and trading their cards.
Then we went to Granna and GPop's for more LOVE-ing fun!!! And they got us exactly what we wanted...trading cards! Jacob also got a Drew Brees figure to match Rylan's Rodgers figure.

And Rylan finally got the spy watch he'd been begging for! They also each got a new Tag book. WOW - Granna and GPop - THANK YOU!
We had a "Jason's cooking" night for supper - fried shrimp!!! I made PW's Potato AuGratin and a nice green salad. Here are the boys with Granny and Popa.

We made a flower heart for each person in the family and the boys said why they love that person. On Jason's flower... "I love Daddy because he is fun." Rylan "I love Daddy because he is very, very fun!" Jacob On Kim's flower... "I love Mommy because she is nice." Rylan "I love Mommy because she is very nice and loves me because she has the heart of the Holy Spirit." Jacob (That humbled this momma very quickly...)

Then Granny and Popa gave them a Valentine... trading cards! (Notice a theme???)

It was a day full of love and happiness!

36 Hour Get-away!

For Christmas, Jason surprised me with tickets to see Wicked in Austin in February. The big day finally got here and we were so ready for 36 hours away! Mom and Dad graciously kept the boys and we were footloose and fancy free! We got to Austin about 4 and checked into our hotel. Then we headed out for dinner at Mandola's Italian Kitchen. We ate dinner for $10.38!!! It was happy hour, so we got a pizza and 2 teas for cheap! This was the BEST pizza I've ever eaten in my life!Then we got some dessert at the bakery... it was $13! hahaha Isn't that about right - spend more on dessert than dinner??? In our defense, we got a dozen cookies to take back to the boys.
But we did get a Zuppcotto... heaven on a plate! It was chocolate mousse meets sponge cake meets delight! It was fabulous!

We (read Kim) were a little nervous about finding the Center and parking since it was on the HUGE UT campus, so we got to the campus about 2 hours before show time. It was my first visit to the campus, so it was neat to walk around and see the stadium, tower and more.



Finally it was showtime!!!

The show did not disappoint! It is hard to pick favorite parts.... but Jason really liked Defying Gravity. This time I really liked For Good. It got me all sappy about the people who have touched my life.

Saturday we slept until 10 - GLORIOUS treat!!! Then we walked the Capital of the GREATEST state in the nation!

I loved the door knob!
There was a high school government assembly that day. They took a lunch break and we walked onto the floor of the House of Reps. It was awesome to see/touch the chairs and desks. Then after I was taking about a zillion photos, the adult leader got on the microphone and said if we were not a part of the school group we could not be on the floor. Oh well, it was fun!
Check out the door hinges!

The top of the dome gives me chills every time!


The real flag from Gonzales... the boys would have freaked out! Seeing it made us commit to going to Gonzales this summer!
After about an hour on the Capital Grounds, we hit the road home. Lockhart is one of the BBQ capitals of TX. We ate a delicious meal at Smitty's...
We got beef shoulder, ribs and sausage. I also got a small potato salad and Jason got beans.
This is really not intended to be of the ATM, but to look beyond the ATM to the long tables of the dining room.

The rest of the way home we did our FPU homework... more on that later! All in all, it was a wonderful treat to get a little break and to invest in our marriage. Thank you Mom and Dad for keeping the boys!

Prayer Bouquet

I don't remember where I first saw an idea similar to this, probably pinterest, but I tweeked it a little to fit my craft supplies! Jason and I have been trying to get the boys to pray from their hearts and not their same rote prayer "Dear God, Thank you for lions, cheetahs and jaguars. Thank you for Lambert, Pico and CuCu. Thank you for our food and drinks. In Jesus name, Amen."

What I did was make several flowers. Then the boys told me important people in their lives that need prayers. Each morning they each pick a flower and say a prayer just for that person.
So far, it has been going great! It has gotten them to think of at least one thing they like about that person and at least one thing to ask God for on behalf of that person. I think this Bouquet will be staying around for quite a while!

Cleaning Out!

I love reading Ann's blog and one day she had a link to a de-clutter calendar. I was SO excited! This year has been declared the year of decluttering in this house - declutter the house, our weight, our finances, our spiritual life. Over all declutter and focus on the things we should be focusing on. Well, one day was clean out he fridge. I am usually fairly good about doing this regularly, but the meat drawer got away from me. These hotdogs expired on July 6. GROSS!!!Another day was to clean out the pantry. This was SO much fun! I am really an organizing dork. I should have taken a before, but this is the after.
And here is the trash from all the cleaning out...
Now to do more de-cluttering!

Puzzle Time!

The boys love to do puzzles and they really love it when I pull out a new floor puzzle! They were studying the rain forest at school, so it was time to do this 4 foot rain forest puzzle! Can you tell the excitement on their faces?!?!?Laying beside the puzzle may have been the best part!

Now to do more puzzles another day!

Bird Weekend!

Our congregation had a Men's Retreat the first weekend of February. Trey, Lacie, Kannon and Braden came own and we had LOTS of bird-y fun! On Friday night while the boys were getting filled with WONDERFUL lessons, the mommas and kids were all at our house for pizza, salad and dessert. It was wild and wonderful! The boys loved the bunk beds and having battles.
The girls loved sneaking up on the boys! hahaha
After all 12 kids had run for a while, they ate, giggled and ate some more!

This is the only photo I took of the mommas all weekend! I'm sure they will kill me, but it pretty much sums up the weekend from a momma perspective... laughter! talking! tears!
About 8 we put on Dolphin Tale for the kids to watch. These two are definitely two peas in a pod!

Most of the kids were asleep before long and by midnight everyone was tucked in to their own beds.

On Saturday the mommas took the kids to Mickey D's for breakfast and playing on the playground while it poured outside. We had so much fun watching them play and doing what we do best... laugh, talk, eat and laugh some more! The dads finished up the retreat about noon and went to TBone's for lunch. We put the kids down for a nap and then the mommas left the kids with the dads so that we could have a calm dinner at LaMads. It was perfect!

Can't wait for the next time we are all together again!!!