Splash Park Days Again

JC and friend.

Shades of Blue

My three girls. Great year for Bluebonnets. I went at the wrong of time of day though and they could hardly open their eyes, but you go when you can! And it was very windy, but at least we got the shot! What would I do without my yearly blue bonnet picture?? JM had a school holiday, so we had a fun day taking pictures, going to the park, and then even playing the the gym! They had so much fun! I'm tired and JE is my trooper!!!

JM was way more into posing than JC today, but with the sun so bright it was hard to have eyes open. I think JC looks so "cool" hanging out by the stroller.

The Greenbelt Calls

Every year I think the greenbelt calls hubby and says Come on down! So, even though I am 3 weeks post surgery and we have a three week old - here we go! ha Thankfully it was a shorter walk and I am feeling really well. The kids had a blast! (And the blue bonnnets along 360 this year are amazing!!!)

And some friends gave us some life jackets that their kids outgrew. YAY! I am so glad because it made watching the kids a lot easier! I wasn't nearly as nervous as JE and I watched from the shore!

Also, a college girl game through with her dog and the girls played with her dog a long time and the girl took our first family photo! :-)

The Aphid Hunt

Well at JM's school they didn't do "Easter", instead they did a ladybug Aphid/egg hunt. Which actually I thought was a nice alternative if they felt they had to keep "Easter" out of it. It went with their bug theme this spring. We went to support our little ladybug and JM of course took JC "under her wing" at school. :-)

Eggs with Poppy

So very glad Mia and Poppy spent easter with us!

Easter Hunt at Hope Presbyterian

Our church youth hosts a hunt with games. It was more fun than I expected with some simple fun! JM thought it was the best day ever! ha

Easter at Summit MDO

Pre-School Butterfly Release

JC's class pets this spring.

Picnic Blanket Beauties

When I see my girls like this my heart is filled. Why? Well, they make fun creative plans, on their own, and enjoy life! They packed up snacks and sat out there and had the longest chat. They put a doormat beside their blanket to wipe their feet on. When I came out for picture taking they invite me in with open arms, but of course I must wipe my feet.

In this vision I somehow hope that we are instilling some wonderful characteristics:

a love of nature over the TV (they did have the choice after all)
an appreciation of God's creation
a love of sisters as friends
knowing how to play on their own and using their sweet imaginations

They have such a beautiful relationship! I love watching them.

The Promise of a Medal...

Well, finally gymnastics is over for the year! (Taking the Summer off) YAY! Well, "yay" to me at least! I really don't enjoy having to be somewhere at a certain time every week. You'd think I would as much as I plan, but not the SAME thing the SAME time every week. Plus it's at 4:30 pm and JC can be at a pill at this time. But, the promise of a medal at the end kept her going! And her teachers were great about getting her "into it" once we were there. They even obliged her and call her by her "nick-nack name" which is "Pecan." I think it's funny they all remember to call her this. Anyway, I know it was worth it to be working on those gross motor skills and getting some fun exercise! I am sure we will be back after the summer.

And in swim news the girls have been promoted - a BIG yay! Actually We did Pike, were promoted to Eel..then the teacher tells us they aren't ready to move and and should stay in Ray. What?? We were supposed to be in Eel not Ray and apparently they combined some classes and moved the girls up with out telling me OR the instructor, so I think he thought it was crazy they were in Ray this session at all. BUT, they rose to the occasion in my opinion and to me staying in Ray is actually a promotion since they were supposed to be in the class just below it! This is a big deal as we had a very slow start of getting the girls to go under. And honestly because of the great progress they made at the Round Rock YMCA we won't be doing lessons anywhere else. We have tried lessons at a couple of places including other YMCA locations and we are most pleased with Round Rock. For the money this is where I would try first for lessons if you are looking. Obviously the level mix-up wasn't so great, but the instructors really did a great job. They were fun and the girls really got to know their teachers and feel comfortable with them. It's about learning while having fun and the girls always wanted to go back even on the days they didn't want to go under!

Garden Happenings

I have no clue what I am doing in my garden and it shows. We enjoy watching it though. So far every tomato we pick goes straight into JC's mouth. Corn is still growing. The beans..well I have no idea what kind they are anymore and don't know when to pick them or if I have to shell them or not. I have like 3 varieties out there. I goofed with that one. Next year I should just grow tomatoes and one type of bean and call it a day! My bell peppers and okra just seem sort of stagnant. I attempted square foot gardening,but I really didn't read the book. Perhaps next year I will read the books and yield better results. It's obvious everything is cramping each other. Well, believe it or not this is an improvement over last year's garden though, so I'll count myself lucky that slowly but surely I learn from mistakes. I could totally study up and fix these issues I know, but what fun is that?

Butterfly and Bubble - RELEASE

As you may remember we hatched our very own butterflies! (Do you say "hatch?") Well over Memorial Day Weekend we set them free! Ourpainted Ladies were so beautiful!

One still was not ready and when we released its friends and it started shaking like crazy, so we thought we'd hang out and blow bubbles to wait for it to come out...no such luck. It came out later when we weren't home and we released it the next day. Amazing experience. We'd do it again! They all "hatched" when we were asleep or not home though. I hope next time we catch one coming out! Bye bye to our five little friends!

Mother's Day Out - Splash Day 2009

What a geat year it has been to have both the kids at the same Mother's Day Out that I am teaching at!

After splashing on the cool slides the kids came inside for some fun.

I Was so glad to be part of the day with them. Sometimes at school I was very much like "the fly one the wall" people wish they could be. My kids were used to seeing me in the hall or the playground and were pretty casual about it. It wasn't until the end of the year that I think some of the kids realized I was their mom. Parents too for that matter! ha I think the girls were glad I was at least "nearby" but of course they never needed me. What big girls they are! Now school is out and we plan to have an exciting summer to give JM lots of fun summer memories before starting Kindergarten!

There are more pictures at our school blog.

And I guess this is how we celebrated Poppy's birthday too!!! Happy Birthday! We look forward to seeing you this summer!

Year of the Zoo

Last year around this time we met my parents at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. We liked it so much we did it again. This time though, on a whim, I bought a membership! It's actually not totally nuts to buy this membership to a zoo that is an hour an a half away! I come through Waco several time a year on my way to Longview. So my plan is to perhaps make our mid-trip stops at the zoo! I am totally excited. Plus I have benefits at other zoos too. The zoos I'd like to visit for FREE this year are: Dallas and Houston. The zoos I will get in for half price are San Antonio and Tyler. There are others too but these are the ones that might not be too out of my way..hmm check the blog to see how many we get to this year! If anything we will at least know the Waco Zoo a bit better!



We bought food to feed fish. Ugly, big fish.

This is a great zoo for the pre-school set for sure. There is a fun little park inside too. That's where I can see playing around during a Waco break on our way to Longview.

Note I didn't exactly take pictures of the animals..well besides the family. I figure that lion will look the same next time. :-) Speaking of the lion, he let out a mighty roar today. Hungry?

Thanks for meeting us Mia and Poppy! The girls missed you! It was a treat to see you!

And a bit of trivia: The dress JC is wearing is the same dress JM was wearing last year on our trip to this zoo. :-) So if you happen to come across those pictures.. Also it was zoo week at school, so the trip was perfect timing to reinforce the zoo theme!

Easter with Fiona

Well Easter Day in general was a little different. JC got an ear infectiono (AGAIN) on Saturday night. So, we didn't attend church on Sunday. Instead we dyed eggs with Fiona! Fiona is the frog from school and it was JM's turn to bring her home and have little adventures with her. Apparently most kids just come back and say what they did with Fiona. JM wanted to write it down and of course I had to take pictures. So I am making some tracer pages for JM and we are going to make a little book with a couple of pictures.

This photo got cropped in Picasa. :-( I guess the program didn't consider the frog a necessary part of the photo. We took Fiona to swim lessons with us on Monday and then to Gattiland for pizza and games.

And in reference to Easter we read the true Easter story and some silly Easter books too. The girls got some Easter gifts too. We really didn't play up the bunny this year and I think it confused JM - like it wasn't Easter. They LOVED their treats but just assumed I got them. It was funny. Then later JM asked me if it was Easter. ha I got the girls some little black sheep stuffies. JC named hers "Bubba the Sheep." JM got a flower press and was quite taken with that. Perfect for that flower loving child!

I guess I should state here for JM's sake I was JUST like that. One difference though - JM picks every leaf, flower, blade of grass she comes in contact with and wants to keep it "forever". I just don't get the point. I on the other hand went unhinged as a child when it was time to mow the lawn over all the wildflowers that were growing in the yard. My parents had me go pick them and put them in water. And still I try to tell JM it's nicer for them to stay in the ground for all to see. Luckily in this house we have a section in the very back of the yard that I attempt to grow wildflowers that we dont mow. We got a few this year. Who wants to pick them? JM! I did tell her she could pick them for the new flower press and she just thought that was "going to be so great!!" :-)

True Blue

Click here for the web album with a few more.

And where did we true Texans find our patch of bluebonnets? The YMCA!

Jumper Crop

And we wander why our kids feel the need to jump off or over everything in sight. Well it's gotta be cuz this guy does it.

Also note our garden improvements. Hubby and Poppy added a fence for me to keep out bunnies. I plan to add a net over as well to keep out birds. Yup Fort Knox Garden here I come! Thanks guys for helping me achieve my fence dreams!

The seeds are planted and we'll see what happens. It's my first garden from majority seed! I have spinach, bush beans, lima beans, corn, and okra. My basil and tomato are from plants.

Homemade Lava Lamp

Our play group has started adding Science to our possible play dates and today was our day to host for JM's age group and we made lava lamps!! This is a Kryptonite green one! :-)

I really do think the kids thought it was pretty cool and interesting. This was easy and certainly a summer must-do with the kids!

The whole group working on their lamps. I had to take a quick picture of everyone. Check out those patient babies in the front sitting watching and waiting! We also filled the baby pool to see what would sink or float. We also looked at Popsicles as a solid and liquid and several of the kids checked out our garden and a lizard, so we had a science filled morning!

Here is the How-to:

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000035

Materials:
- One clean, plastic soda bottle (16 oz. size works well)
- Soda bottle cap
- Vegetable oil (the cheaper the better)
- Food coloring
- An Alka-Seltzer tablet
- Water

• Fill the bottle 3/4 full with vegetable oil.
  
• Fill the rest of the bottle with water (almost to the top but not overflowing).
• Add about 10 drops of food coloring. Be sure to make the water fairly dark in color. Notice that the food coloring only colors the water and not the oil. Hmmm?
• Divide the Alka-Seltzer tablet into 8 pieces.
• Drop one of the tiny pieces of Alka-Seltzer into the oil and water mixture. Watch what happens. When the bubbling stops, add another chunk of Alka-Seltzer. It’s just like a lava lamp!
  
• When you have used up all of the Alka-Seltzer and the bubbling has completely stopped, screw on the soda bottle cap. Tip the bottle back and forth and watch the wave appear. The tiny droplets of liquid join together to make one big lava-like blob.

Vegetation

Our cactus in our front flower bed! Love those flowers! I don't remember them blooming last year, but we also pruned it this year.

And of course the garden update. Cheery tomatoes and bell peppers! So excited!

Exotic Zoo - Wow!

You just won't believe what we did this week! We saw this:

This Zoo in Johnson City was totally amazing! We got up close and personal with a variety of animals. We got on a covered trailer with food and amazing animals just ran to us! Bison, deer, camels, antelope, ostrich, geese, llamas, alpaca and I have no idea what else!! Mega-variety! Our hands were IN their mouths feeding them. The bison had the longest tongue!! The pictures don't even begin to illustrate what was happening! Everyone on the trailer was hysterical. Some of the kids I think were VERY intimidated and scared, so there were some screams due to that, but the adults AND MY KIDS thought it was awesome and hilarious! And often slimy and slobbery!

Some animals like zebras and kangaroos and the petting zoo animals had separate areas for their own safety.....Petting zebras? Who does that??? Cool.

The other thing I discovered was that JM is quite the animal lover! JC was often indifferent, but JM was in love and in awe of everything. She hugged and petted and loved in the petting area!! She was never afraid or scared. She was simply curious and gentle.

This was such an incredible experience. The animals were so gentle and used to people, so this obviously wasn't like being in the wild, but to be as close as we were was amazing and something I just didn't expect from this trip. Worth every penny of gas money and we'd go back! Actually going with my play group we got a decent discount which of course always makes things even better! :-) And of course being with our friends and sharing this experience with them was very special. Here is there link for more info: http://www.zooexotics.com/