Drew's 9th Birthday Party!

 Drew turned 9 years old! We can't believe it. 9 years with us, 9 years until he leaves us. It's enough to make me cry but I choose to stay present and enjoy raising this wonderful boy of ours. Drew wanted his party at Main Event and it did not disappoint. He chose to play laser tag and do the gravity ropes course which was a lot of fun.

David was able to play laser tag with Drew and his friends. They all came out sweaty afterwards so it was a hard fought battle.

 Drew getting ready to do the Gravity Ropes Course. This kid is not afraid of heights at all. Three of his friends chose to play mini golf instead of the ropes course because they were uncomfortable. So, David and I harnessed up and were able to participate. MawMille and Popo played mini golf with the little kids while we were on the ropes course. Dakota kept walking up and down the greens having so much fun.

 Drew loves cookie cakes and this year, we did one with a Captain America shield on it. We also all dressed in red, white and blue shirts as a family.

After we ate pizza and cookie cake, there was only 10 minutes left and we still wanted to play in the arcade. So, we saved the presents to open at home and headed off to GAME! Drew and I played Fruit Ninja which is our favorite game to earn points and then Drew wanted to play air hocket; first with Dilan and then against me. We had an absolute blast. The party was easy and so much fun.

Happy Birthday, Drew! His gifts included lots of lego sets, a water rocket, a zombie nerf gun, nerf glow-in-the-dark football, and $ too!

Articles of Faith MEMORIZED!

Drew memorized all his articles of faith! Since I was his primary teacher for 6 months, I chose to devote some time during my lessons to this task. When Drew completed the challenge, Drew earned his free ice cream with our wonderful primary president, Sister Mary Anne Jensen. She came to pick him up and took him to Marble Slab where he ate mint choc chip ice cream. So proud of you, Drew!

Oklahoma City 2014

We headed to Oklahoma City for the day which is about 2.5 hours away. I really wanted to start off the summer exploring and taking an adventure. 

We found Mutts Amazing Hot Dogs for lunch once we got there and it did not disappoint. It was on the show, "Man vs Food," so we knew it would be good. 

 Then, we headed to ride the train at the Oklahoma Railway Museum. We rode the train first and the kids picked the open car to ride in so we could see everything as we rode. After the ride, we explored the train car that had 65 feet of model trains in it. Dakota kept pressing the button that made the trains sound over and over. The boys could have watched those trains for hours. We were able to explore other train cars too. Finally, we went to the souvenir shop where the kids picked out something for themselves. Drew got an OKC Railway Museum hat, Dilan picked out a pink train wallet, and Drake chose a train that as you pulled back on it, it would go forward. 

 Next, we checked out the Capitol Building

Our last stop of the afternoon was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was beautiful, serene, and very quiet. A lot of thought went into making this memorial and preserving the legacy of the people who died here as well as the survivors. Here is the fence of remembrance.

 There is water with two walls encompassing it. One that says 9:01 and the other that says 9:03. The water is to represent the minute that changed forever at 9:02. A picture of The field of empty chairs. A chair for each person who died whose names are etched in glass. 

 The kids earned their park ranger badges after learning about the Memorial.

Memorial Day Weekend 2014

We headed to my dad's lake house for Memorial Day Weekend. David got a real bad sinus infection a few days before we were supposed to leave so he stayed home with Dakota and I brought the 3 big kids. It was a lot of fun being with family and the cousins had a blast. We started with a boat ride, swimming in the lake, and celebrating Drew's 9th birthday with the family. He picked out his blue sugar cookies that he loves and we sang to him and he opened presents. From MawDee, he got a lego auto transporter truck, from PawDee, he got the whole set of Harry Potter books, from Drouets, he got a lego logging truck and from Langkowskis, he got a lego Helicopter. Sunday morning we rode the ATVs and the golf cart. I was one of the drivers and the kids wanted to go over and over again. We rode for hours. Then we headed to Lake Tejas which is the kids' favorite place in Colmesneil. Riding slides, going down the "wet willy," and Drew even jumped off the high dive like it was no big deal. Sunday night we made smores outside in the fire pit. Dilan and Drake roasted the marshmallows but only ate the ones from the bags. :)

Great Wolf Lodge 2014

We promised the kids we would go to Great Wolf Lodge in May. We went with our good friends, the Ellis family, and had so much fun. This picture shows the kids when we first got into our room and they all had their wolf ears on. The room was perfect as it had three beds in the kids cabin and Dakota slept in her pack-in-play. We got settled in our room, changed into our suits, and headed straight for the water park. The kids loved everything: the lazy river, the slides, the wave pool, and hanging out with their friends. Drew and Brian were able to ride all of the big slides together while we watched the younger kids. We headed to dinner that night at Fuddrucker's and went back to the hotel for storytime. The 3 big kids got into their pjs while David put Dakota to bed. The kids loved the storytime even though the animals were mechanical and a bit creepy. Dilan and Drake took a picture with Sami the squirrel and then went to bed. Drew pulled me aside and asked me if I would go back to the waterpark and ride the big slides with him. We had half an hour until it closed and I was tired, but I dug deep and chose to spend this valuable time with Drew. It was so worth it! We put back on wet cold suits and headed to the adventure ahead. We were able to ride all 5 big slides together right before they closed for the night at 9 p.m. I was so grateful for that time together because it was me and Drew screaming down the slides and I will never forget his smile and the excitement on his face. It was so memorable. After we left the water park, the place was pumping. We explored all of the stores and found the wand shop. Luckily, they were selling the wands and including a free game so Drew chose the black wand and we looked forward to doing the MagiQuest the next day. Friday morning we ate breakfast and started the MagiQuest as a family. Dakota went back to the room to take a nap and I took the kids to do more of the game. Then, we headed to the waterpark when we needed to check out and had so much fun well into the afternoon. It was definitely worth the trip and we hope to make it a tradition every year!

Drew's End of the Year Party 2014

Drew brought donuts to school for his summer birthday celebration. This is one of our favorite traditions!!! David wakes up early to go get them and Drew is admired by all when he gets to school :)

 Drew's form is excellent for the limbo

 His favorite event was the "pig roll." He loved racing others and won each time. The kid apparently is coordinated using his head and crawling across the ground.

 He also man-handled this balloon. By the end, he was jumping up and down to get the most air in it for every pump. He was taking it seriously!

 What started off as a way to refresh oneself, quickly became a 'drag everything to the edge and scoop it out' event instead of retrieving it by the toes. Dilan and Drake even joined in and had some fun fishing.

 Drew and his best friend having fun posing. After going to Drew's party, the first thing he said when he walked in the house after school was "thanks for coming to my party, mom." It felt good that he appreciated that we were there supporting him. :)

 Drew got all As for the entire year! We are so proud of him and I think he is very proud of himself. He also got "best speller" in his class with a little help from me as I give him a spelling test on his words each week and he has to write them 5x if he gets them wrong - it works!!!

 Drew also performed in his Spring piano recital last weekend. He played "Minuet" and "In Summer" (Frozen movie). He did great!!!



Dilan's Pre-K graduation!

Dilan graduated from pre-school! Here she is walking in in her cap and gown :)

 Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Lea Ann were her teachers. They called each child's name and they got to walk across the stage. Dilan said she was a little nervous but when she smiled for the picture, it was so genuine and she was so excited for this special event. :)

 Ms. Robyn was also there because she had taught Dilan mostly through the year until she took a kindergarten teaching position near her home.

 Dilan recited scripture and sang songs. My favorite was "Jesus is my Superhero"

 Family picture after the hour long ceremony. David was coming back from Austin for work and got there just in time to see Dilan graduate. They also made a CD of images of the kids when they were babies and now and I had to fight back the tears on that one. Can't believe Dilan is ready for Kindergarten!!! :)

Mother's Day 2014

Mother's Day was very special this year because we had Colleen with us. David started our day off right by making us omelets :)

 I got cards, oven mits from Drew and Dilan and flower pens from Drake. Drew also made me a book of poems and he said such sweet things up to and including how I couldn't play sometimes because I had to go to work... literally in every poem he wrote. I felt bad but didn't say anything for a few days and then I was able to talk to him about me working one night a week. We discussed the many reasons I decided it was important for me to keep my skills current and what me working that one night allows us to do (vacations, etc.) He understood a lot more as to why I do it. I know he really just misses me on that one night but when I explained he's at cub scouts and he's not really there, he really just said that he missed me reading to him on Wednesdays nights. :)

Dilan and her classmates wrote recipes for a cook book. Dilan chose to include my recipe for "mini hot dogs" and she said that I spread the bread out on a "square thingy" - that's my girl! It was so funny reading how each child came up with how their moms made some of their favorite dishes.

 We chose a theme of "favorite things" for Colleen. David's sisters helped me put the basket together with ideas and we chose a church book, Il Divo CD, Snickers candy bars, a Blu-ray movie, and Muddy Buddies because they reminded me of Buddy. Colleen had said that she had really been thinking a lot about him this week so it was perfect. We also had all the grandkids videotaped saying their favorite thing about Grandma and I made it into a cute video for her. Drew said his favorite thing was when she taught him how to play checkers on the plane, Dilan loved that Mimi let her play on her phone, Drake loved her hugs and kisses and I got Dakota playing the piano with subtitles that she loved that Mimi plays the piano. It was so cute.

 The kids picked out this fabulous balloon for me and orange roses because I like the color orange. Pretty cute

 Then, we had dinner at Fuddrucker's Sat night to celebrate US!

Soccer ends and Field Day Dilan

Dilan's first season on the Sunnybees comes to an end. We had our last game which did not end well (I think we only lost two games the whole season and this was one of them) but we had a fun party afterwards. Lots of breakfast foods, sunnybee cookies and trophies to hand out. Dilan was very happy and really enjoyed playing soccer this season. She has an awesome coach who really stuck with her and made it fun.

 Dilan had field day and had a blast. She dressed in her athletic shorts and top and put on her true athletic shoes. She had a lot of fun. Her favorite part was going on the bouncy house. She also made "goo," bowled, and had a bike race.

Field Day 2014

Drew was excited about field day this year. Green third grade shirt, FC Dallas hat, and sunscreen all on and ready to go! We went in the morning to see a bit of the competition and here's my favorite picture where Drew is getting soaked with cold water. :)

 Drew having fun

 Hula hoop around the circle, no hands!

 Drew and his best friend, Matthew

 Piggy back rides

 and the gym teacher spraying the third grade with a water hose

 time to get even wetter!

 What a happy kiddo on a very fun day of school!