Summer Vacation Begins!

June 1st we had to Welcome Summertime in style.

Fortunately for us, it was also National Donut Day, so a trip to Shipley's for some free donuts was in order!

What better way to kick off Summer than sign up at the library for the Summer Reading Program. Great books, fun prizes and activities all summer long. We love our library! 

1st Summer Reading Book

Jake "Get's a Clue" with a reading prize

Last Day of School

YAY! 

Looking a little different from the 1st Day of School - see here

End of School Awards & Parties

Jake and Hayley had their elementary school awards ceremony the last week of school.  Both were awarded numberous awards including ones for UIL participation, Exemplary Conduct, and Honor Roll.  Each were voted by their respective peers to receive the Good Citizenship Award for their class.  Way to go Hayley & Jake!

Michael finished finals and caught the bus to Kolter to catch Jake's awards.  Not too long ago it was little Michael getting the Citizenship Award...where did the time go?!!  Jake had quite the cheering section with Don, Michael, me, Luke & Brooklyn.  So fun!

 

Hayley's picture was a little blurry because as I was taking it, Luke escaped with my phone, ran up towards Hayley saying "Say Cheese Hayley", resulting in everyone laughing as I am making a grab for Luke while snapping a picture.  It was classic.



Laughing Hayley & Ms. Grimm



Sarika, Miriam, Chase & Hayley

 



 


Hayley & Ms. Kyle



Hayley & Ms. Curry

End of year parties included a Magician Show, signing T-Shirts and Playing at the Park.  Who said school wasn't any fun?!

It's Magic Time!

Luke taking over Jake's teacher's chair

Jake and Daniel

Hayley playing 4 square at the park

Brooklyn

The last couple weeks of May we had a fun house guest, a little sweet 17 month old girl named Brooklyn.  Her dad was off at Basic Training in the Navy and her mom was hospitalized for a while on strict bed rest and we were lucky enough to get Brooklyn!  The kids absolutely loved having a little girl around to hug and play with.  Luke and Brooklyn got along fabulously and it was always fun to see the older kids and Brooklyn playing, reading books and laughing together.  She was a trooper and took our crazy schedules in stride, adapting so well from being an only child to one of 6.  It's probably good she couldn't talk too much to tell her mom about all the crazy adventures we had together :-)

Luke and Brooklyn making pizzas

Everything worked out perfectly for this wonderful family and Brooklyn became a proud big sister herself in July.  A week later their sweet family headed off to California for their next great adventure. We will sure will miss you guys, especially Brooklyn and her sweet hugs, goofy smiles and funny machine gun like laughter noises!

Pickle Juice

May 12th was the church basketball tournament for the boys. Unfortunately all the action shots I  have are really blurry. It was Trevor's first year playing, which was a lot of fun to watch.  Don coached the team & Michael and Trevor had a lot of fun.  They won a couple games and ended up playing a couple in a row. Michael played most of the time and end up having a nice refreshing drink of pickle juice to help with a little leg cramping.  Yum.

The rest of us just cheered from the sidelines and enjoyed tootsie roll pops and pickles.  Fun day!

Lollipops and Pickles, what a combination!

Mother's Day

Being a mom is the best.  I have a handful of kiddos that bless my life everyday.  On this particular day they stepped it up a notch and even gave me breakfast in bed :)


Michael, the kid who started it all in 1996



Trevor, adding laughter and fun since 2000

Hayley, a little sugar and spice added to our mix of boys in 2002

Jake, adding excitment and character to our family since 2004



Luke, spreading sweetness and great smiles since 2009

After a great morning at church filled with sweet music, handprint crafts, candy and a rose, we came home to more fun.

 

That afternoon we headed over to Tracy's to celebrate the day with some of the most amazing women I know. It was a fantastic evening, full of sharing great memories of our mothers and wonderful food.  Love these ladies!!

The day wouldn't be complete without talking to my own mom, who showed me just how wonderful it is to be a mother.  She is amazing!  Love you Mom!

Sprint for Life

Leaving for the race at 6:15 am!

On May 5th, Michael and I joined our friends in running in MD Anderson's Ovarian Cancer's Sprint For Life 5K race.  We ran on the "Sweet Like Candy" team, in memory of our sweet friend Candy who passed away last year of Ovarian Cancer.  It was amazing to be part of such a large group united in their love for Candy and doing a little to continue the fight against this cancer.

Sweet Like Candy team - about 75, the 2nd largest group at the event!

It was Michael's first 5K and he totally beat me, showing absolutely no remorse at all at leaving me in his dust :)

It was great to run with our friends and spend the morning with Michael. I think he has gotten the running bug. It will be fun to run more races with him in the future.

May the 4th

We couldn't let May 4th go by without having a little fun in our Star War's Crazed family.

We started the morning with a little Princess Leia Cinnamon Rolls and Cinnabon Cereal.

That evening we had a Star Wars movie dinner party with yummy treats like X-Wing Fighters, Yoda Sodas and fantastic Star Wars Sugar Cookies.

A good day, it was!

Luke is 3!

Luke had a birthday in April. With all the kids birthdays I decorate the front room with balloons and streamers, and put their new age on the hallway door while they are sleeping. 

Luke decided his favorite color his favorite color is green which is just the streamer color that we (& 2 stores!) were out of.  So his number didn't get added to the door until later in the morning, after a run to another store to locate green streamers.  He refused to say he was 3 until the number was on the door.  As soon as I put the last line on the door and it became a reconizable number 3, Luke shierked, "I am 3!!" and started running around the room.  It was classic.

Luke loved opening presents.  After a month of watching other peoples birthdays, he was ready to party!

One thing he is really into now (thanks to a couple older brothers!) are pirates.  So he requested a treasure chest cake.  He was so excited.

Luke had to blow out his candles 3 times because he was 3 years old now :)

Enjoying his treasure

A couple fun things about Luke at this age -   His favorite things always revolve around his siblings.  He loves when they come home from school so they can play with him, whether it's pirates, blocks, running around crazy, or wii.  He also loves all things space - astronauts, space ships, etc.  We often have to put on our jet packs to go places...and don't forget our helmets! His favorite shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (esp when they go to Mars!) and Doc McStuffins.  He has figured out how to pull up Doc McStuffins on the computer and play games on Disney Jr.  His favorite song to play really loud is "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and loves to sing "Once there was a Snowman" in FHE.

For a kid that didn't talk last summer, he sure has lit it up the last 6 months.    Some of his favorite phrases are "Yes, of course" and "yes, I know".  It has been fun to see his personality emerge more this year.  While he is still pretty easy going, Luke has a stubborn streak at times.  He always makes us laugh and his smile is contagious.  He remains everyones favorite and I often find him in poses with others like the one below.



Jake and Luke watching TV

Happy Birthday Luke.  We love you!