It's about time!!!

 Look...

 who...

 finally...

 decided...

 they...

 could...

WALK!!!

Beach or Bust!

 We told our kids all spring break that we would go to the beach on Saturday...
(Little sidenote/mom moment:  I can't believe how big this girl is getting.  She came up to me yesterday and told me her goal is to do one nice thing for me every day.  This is the same girl that I almost strangled during piano practice that same day...(Seriously, it almost came to blows.  And Mark was just laughing upstairs. Roar!) But then she totally redeems herself and says something like that.)

 They were so excited...they LOVE the beach!

 Then Mark woke up at 4am throwing up Saturday morning, yuck!  What were we going to do?!?!?  I didn't know if I was brave enough to take the kids on my own.

 Luckily, there was a great group going, so I would have lots of help.  Mark was a good sport and kept Reilynn, and we headed off.

(Another mom moment:  Doesn't this picture make Parker look so old?!?!  Or is it just Parker!?!? Or is it the tattoo on his arm?!? (I'll explain later, it was from the rodeo, another post.)  I love that he still needs me to be at his baseball practices though. He gets misty-eyed if he can't see me close.   He is my sensitive one, which I have to admit, I love.)

We ate nothing but junk, played in the sand, got in the water a little (it was still pretty chilly), and flew kites. We had a really good time.

It made me really excited for summer, I am ready to go back!

We must be doing something right...

In the car Bailey decided she needed to "pway."  She made everyone be quiet, I had to turn off the country music we were rocking out to, and she proceeded to bless everyone and their dog. 

"Please bless Grandpa's arm to feel better." (giggles from the back seat) "Shhhh,  please bless our food." (more giggles) "Shhhh, please bless dad to drive home safe."  (Why is Bailey praying right now?!?) "Shhh, name, Jesus, amen.

What would we do without Bailey in our lives?!  We love her so much!

Like Father Like Son

Parker idolizes his dad.  He loves to go to his basketball games, cheer him on, and he wants to be just like him when he grows up.  I know that they will have their differences in the future, but I hope Parker will always look up to his dad.  He has the best example in the whole world sitting right next to him.

Bring out your belt buckles and boots!

I love the rodeo!!!  I love seeing all the cowboys, cowgirls, boots, hats, buckles, horses...Why do I live in the city again?  Oh right, my husband needs to have a job.  (Just a side note, have any of you seen my husband ride a horse, it is pretty funny.  I think the horses can sense...city boy.)

I love my "city boy" by the way.  Growing up on a farm, seeing how hard farmers work, the hours they are gone, I didn't want to be a farmer's wife.  I just miss being around them.

Ok, back to the rodeo. 

I had to take a picture of the kid representing Ellensburg, WA!!!  He earned the highest score of the night too...go WA!

Now this is an event that I love to watch...

If you aren't familiar with it...they let loose 14 calves, and about 30 kids try to catch them.  There are always stubborn calves who don't want to cooperate and determined kids who want the prize!  Good times.

Then after the rodeo, they wheel in the huge stage, and in comes Rascal Flatts!!!

(Thank you lady sitting behind us for snapping a few shots, even though you don't know how to push the button half way down to focus.)

Rascal Flatts was awesome.  They sound even better live than on their albums...you can't say that very often.

Yeah for the rodeo!  I can't wait to go again. 

The Great Muffin Catastrophe of 2011

I decided to be a good mom and make a snack for my kids for after school.  What was I thinking?!?!?

I got the whole batch mixed up, put into muffin papers (because I hate washing muffin pans, so I don't, as you can tell), and then realized that I forgot to put in the eggs!

DANGIT!!!  I didn't have enough papers to throw them away and start over...So I had to scrape the batter out, add the eggs and then try and reuse my papers.  But if you have ever been in this same predicament you would know that muffin papers stretch out.  They don't like to go back to their original little cup selves.  I had a huge mess on my hands.

Meanwhile, I had 3 little monsters, which means 30 little monster fingers, trying to dip into the batter and taste while I was scraping, swearing, globbing, pushing, spooning, slopping...did I mention swearing?!?? (Ok, I really didn't swear, but I wanted to!) 

Oh well, my kids still devoured the muffins after they came out of the oven.  But I now have a years supply of muffin papers in my cupboard, as should you.  You never know when you will forget the eggs and have everything go downhill from there.

Remember the Alamo, and all the fun times at Utah State

 What a beautiful city we have so close!  We love San Antonio!!!

 Some really good friends we have from our college days at Utah State, go Aggies (the right Aggies, he he he), came all the way from Utah to enjoy our wonderful weather and see the sights. 

 Thanks to good friends here at home, Mark and I were able to go meet them in San Antonio.  Thanks everyone for taking our little monsters...I owe y'all!

We walked the River Walk,

 Remembered the Alamo,

Ate good food,

(Yes, my husband is a goof-ball.) 

 Laughed,

(Still a goof-ball.) Reminisced,

 Laughed some more,

 Laughed some more,

 And then made the trip back home for life to begin again.

We had so much fun seeing Curtis and Rachelle!  You know you are good friends when you haven't seen each other in 3 years, and you can pick up right where you left off, without skipping a beat.

Pajama Day

 Mark and I were both home sick with the stomach flu last Sunday.  NOT FUN!!!

 After a day of sitting in front of the tv, watching way too many movies, and WAY TOO MUCH basketball, we headed outside to get some fresh air.

 It was so nice to sit outside in great cool evening and let the kids get some energy out.

 I get a lot of looks when I am out in public...5 kids, ages from 1-7.  "Are those all yours?"  "You don't look old enough to have 5 kids."  "How old are they?"  "How old are you?"

 Having them this close was not necessarily planned, but on nights like tonight, I see how great it can be.

 They like to do the same things.  They really enjoy each other.  Poor Parker is very outnumbered.  But he does pretty good being surrounded by girls.  And I don't think he is going to complain much when they are older, and his sisters are bringing tons of girls to our house.

 Plus, he gets lots of one on one with his favorite person in the whole world.

Playing catch with dad, it doesn't get much better!

We are the Champions

 Parker's basketball team took first in his division.  Go Bobcats!!!

 They had such a fun season.  The coaches were amazing, the boys all got along great, everyone had a great time.

 The girls didn't do a whole lot of "watching" the games, but they had fun cheering on their brother...most of the time.

 I remember when I played basketball, when I was in 5th grade, I was pretty timid.  (I know, hard to believe.)  I remember my dad telling me, "don't worry about getting a basket, just get a foul this game." (Trying to encourage a little more aggressiveness.  We never had to coax Parker at all. 

 He was pretty much a ball hog.

 Ssswwwwwwwwiiiiiiisssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 Good game, good game, good game, good game....

 WE WON!!!

When we got home, Parker put his trophy on his desk in his room, which happens to be right by the window.  He raised the blinds and told Mark it was so everyone could see his trophy.  He also had to take it to school to show his class.  Pretty funny kid!