Spring Break 2011

We may have waited until the last minute to decide on where to go & what to do, but boy did we luck into a super fun time!  Our spring break started off with a nice relaxing weekend at home.  First on the agenda was the garden expansion and planning (but I'll save that for another post).  However, on Monday afternoon we loaded up the truck and headed south for a mini-vacation in the hill country.  We made reservations to spend several days at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort & Spa.  I have to give a HUGE shout out to this place!  It is A-MAZ-ing!!!!  Especially for a get-away with the kids!  It literally have EVERYTHING!  From a lazy "river" and three pools that happen to be heated, to rock climbing, 27 holes of golf, a kid's spa, nightly "family movies" out on the lawn, AND Starbucks on site and Krispy Kreme brought in daily!  I can guarantee you that we WILL be back here.  Madeline happened to have a birthday while we were there and because this hotel is so over-the-top fabulous we were able to make all her dreams come true!

Busy making necklaces at "family craft time"

Colby getting a "tattoo"

Birthday Girl getting her hair "braided"!

How can she be 7 already????

Chloe & Daddy chillin' out in the lazy river

Meanwhile Birthday Girl was treated to a mani/pedi!

  She was LOVIN' all the extra attention on her special day!

Colby tubin' on the river.

Hanging out at the petting zoo!

For the past year, her one wish for her birthday was to ride a horse and wouldn't you know they had that too!  Who knew...dreams come true somewhere other than Disney! LOL!  (I'm SO kidding!)

Such a little lady!

Chloe wanted to ride a pony too!

 I had arranged to have a special birthday surprise brought in at dinner.  The whole restaurant sang to her and she LOVED it!

This was the next day...I think she thinks she turned 17! LOL!

Love that they LOVE each other!  I'm going to treasure this always!

We spent the rest of our vacation a little further south "back home" with family.  The kids enjoyed getting spoiled by grandparents and playing with cousins.  Chloe's absolute FAVORTIE thing to do is to "check on the cows" (aka: drive the four-wheeler. LOL!).  Although Popo has many cows, our family now has a herd of two as Annabelle gave birth to a sweet dark brown girl calf who I convinced the kids to name "Cocoa" - however she wasn't feeling photogenic while we were there so unfortunatley I don't have a picture of her to include.

It was the best spring break EVER!  Now if we can just make it to summer!  Only 8 MORE Mondays to go!!!  Whoo hoo!!!

It's Official...Spring is HERE!

Sunday marked the first official day of spring and I couldn't be more happy!  I am SO ready for warmer weather, open windows, shorts, swimming, ice cream and so much more!  Growing up in south Texas we never really had "seasons", there was HOT (i.e. "spring & summer") with temperatures anywhere from 80-100 degrees and then there was maybe 3 or 4 weeks of  COLD (aka "fall/winter") where it would get cool enough to put on jeans.  I think I literally had ONE sweatshirt in my closet growing up and I distinctly remember one winter when it got close to freezing and we left the waterhose on overnight to MAKE ice!!!  LOL!  Seriously!  Surprisingly just about 6 hours north (still in Texas...yes people...it's THAT big!) and we have all 4 seasons!  There are signs of spring all around the house and I'm lovin' it!  Well here, take a look for yourself!

TULIPS!!!

And my absolute favorite....our wysteria bloomed this year!!!!

It smells SOOOoooo good!

You know what else is great about spring???? 

SPRING BREAK!!!

"Short Cuts"

I love the words my little Chloe comes up with.  For some reason she can never remember the word "haircut" and has always just said "short cut".  Because she's my baby I find it so hard to correct her.  I love that she calls a kiss a "squish" and there are so many more, but that's for another time.  With the warmer temperatures and our family picture approaching the kids all got "short cuts" ...and quite literally!  Here are some before pictures...

And after....

Colby is sporting his summer buzz, and the girls both got bobs.

As you can tell, Madeline's is almost to her nose, and Chloe's is about to her chin.  Somehow they both inherited the "curly hair" gene and this new shorter hair is requiring me to straighten and curl under both of their hair which has added an additional 10 minutes to our morning routine.  But, I must say, I LOVE the new look of all our kiddos!  Now hopefully one of these days I can find some "free" time to make myself an appointment.  I miss short hair too!

Adventures in Scouting

Colby is well on his way through his third year in cub scouts.  Seriously!  Where does the time go???  I can't say enough how much I am impressed with this program.  If you need anything to give you a kick-start in spending good, quality, intentional time with your kiddos...I HIGHLY recommend scouting!!!  On top of teaching Colby those basic "how to use a hammer" or "how to tie a tie" life skills, he's also learning how to be a confident leader.  I can honestly say I've seen a huge difference in the way he acts, especially around his peers.  Here are a few of the hi-lights from the past few months. 

In January, he participated in his very first pinewood derby.  He was SO excited!!!  Jarred helped him cut out the body of the car and from then on it was ALL Colby.  He sanded, painted, decorated, and tweaked his car all on his own and let me tell you...he was PROUD!  I loved it!

Here they are hard at work "sanding down the wheels".

The finished product!

When he arrived at the derby and "impounded" his car, it was quite obvious a lot of the boys got quite a bit of "help" from good ol' dad.  I suppose it's some kind of "manly instinct" to use tools & wood to create something that goes fast and ultimately wins the race that is too strong for most men to resist.  Well, take a look for yourself....



On your mark....Get set.... GO!!!!

My little man was SO proud!  His self-made car went up to 208 mph and ended up winning 1st place in his age group and placing 11th in the whole pack!  Whoo Hoo!!

Accepting his gold medal!

 Another acheivement he's been working on had him actually prepare, serve, & clean-up after a meal.  I absolutely LOVED sitting back and watching him in the kitchen.  He was very excited and quick to let us know he was confident and could do it all on his own.  He chose a menu of "taco nachos" with kool aid.

Browning the ground meat...

Sprinkling the toppings...

It was a hit!  Everyone cleaned their plates!  And he's learned well from watching his momma...notice we ate on paper plates (i.e. less dishes)!  He's one smart kid!  And I know one day far FAR into the future his wife will be thankful that he can cook at least one dish! LOL!

And that's not all the "kitchen time" my little man has had lately.  For the blue & gold banquet his pack had a "father-son cake decorating contest".  For those of you who don't know, I LOVE baking, and especially cake decorating.  I even had a small cake business about a year ago.  My only contribution to this project was baking the cake, purchasing the decorating ingredients & whipping up the buttercream.  From there, this cake was all "man-handled".  LOL!

Adding some finishing touches...

What a masterpiece!!

  Colby hand-painted the rice krispie "car" that was covered in fondant with food gel to match his pine wood derby car!

Getting his ribbon for winning "most colorful"!!

I can honestly say these two boys have my heart!