A Break to Remember!

I'm not sure who had more fun this spring break...me or the kids! We were off to a slow start on Monday, but by Tuesday, our week was full of fun things to do! Tuesday we went to the park and played outside a lot. Wednesday we met Naomi, Grace and Meredith at Telge Park to play and have a picnic. Thursday we used a couple of free passes we had been saving for jumping at Pump It Up. Friday we met Sarah, Micah, Caleb, Lizzie, Luke, Kelly, and Pacey at Chuck E Cheese for playing and pizza! After CEC, Alisha dropped by to pick up Austin and Abi to go to Grammy's for the weekend. Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed to the Benders. Then, we hit the road to go to Conroe for my first ever Warrior Dash. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! Okay, the run was not that much fun, but my friends are AWESOME! My allergies had been acting up for a few days, progressively getting worse even with meds and vitamins. So, that made my run challenging. Luckily, Lizzie stayed with me the entire time. Even when I had to walk! Otherwise, they may have had to send a search party after me!! I'm not sure how we ended up with friends that are so much fun, but I am thankful for them!!!

 Chuck E Cheese bound!

 Sarah and Pacey, the cutie pa-tootie!

 Mark getting us to Warrior Dash

Sluz, excited about the run!!!! 

On the shuttle, Sluz and me 

Some REAL WARRIORS! The Avatar, Air-Bender, and Warren as a wrestler...though I have no idea which one!!! 

 Dani- yes, she ran 3.1 miles in FLANNEL pajamas!!! Lizzie, cute socks!

Before, aren't we clean?

 back row, left to right: Steve, Jared, Sluz,Rupert. Javier, Javier's friend, Warren, Me, Justin, Matt (not sure if that was his name) Lizzie, Dani

Rupert, Justin, Warren

Lizzie's friend, Bridgett, Lizzie, Dani, Sluz, Me

Sluz and Dani...playing in the mud?

Me and Sluz!!!!

After the race, not so clean anymore!!!!

A couple of stories from the kids' adventure to Grammy and Papa's house:

Alisha, Austin, Abi, and Alisha's dog, Hunny Bun (a tiny yorkie) went down to look at the pond. Abi asked Alisha if Hunny Bun swims. Alisha told Abi, "not willingly". Abi then asked how Alisha got her to swim then? Alisha told her that she throws her in the water. Abi asked, "won't she drown then?" Alisha said, "No, dogs just know how to swim." So, Abi proceeded to pick Hunny Bun up and chunk her out into the pond!!! As Hunny Bun swam back to shore and walked out of the water, Abi laughed hysterically and said she looked like a wet squirrel!

Mom and Alisha took Austin and Abi down to the pond to fish. They didn't have any bait, so mom grabbed 2 cans of vienna sausages and a couple of slices of bread to use for bait. By the time they finished baiting the first hook, Abi had eaten both cans of vienna sausages!! Mom then sent Austin back to the house to get some of the leftover fried chicken (which is what the kids ask Mom to make every time they visit) from the night before. They caught their first fish with the chicken, and Austin said, "even fish like Grammy's fried chicken!!"

They had so much fun at their Grammy and Papa;s house!!!!

On the way out

Spring Break is well on it's way out the door. It has been a good one, but now it's time to get my game face back on. Before that, here are the highlights from the past couple of days. Again, I forgot my camera: the kids and I discovered a new park today. Not really new, but new to us. We went and the kids had a blast. They ran and got a lot of energy out. Then when we came home, the kids donned their swim suits (they have been asking to play in the sprinklers all week!) and I drug out the mopping bucket. Who says mopping can't be fun? I really needed to get the floors mopped, and the kids really wanted to have some fun! So, we put the two together. We had tons of rags, some warm water, and dawn dish liquid. Austin kept yelling, "Man, I didn't know we were going to have so much fun today!" as he was sliding around. It was a lot of work, but now my floors are clean, and the kids are happy! By the end, they were sliding on the stomachs!

Thursday wasn't a big ta-do either. We hung out around the house and played outside a little. Abi drove around in her car until she decided it was too sunny out and went back inside. Austin refined his skateboarding skills. He's teaching himself how to jump up, make the skateboard bounce off the ground and then land back on it. Alex, his best buddy, was watching and trying too.

Unfortunately, tomorrow there is a 90% chance of rain (BOOOO) and the temperature is supposed to drop back down to the 50's for a couple of days. I can't say that I am pleased with this forecast, our rodeo outing is still coming up! I don't think that I have ever gone to the rodeo on a day that it wasn't cold or rainy...or both! We will have to wait and see what the weather has in store for us.

Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That

We have been up to all kinds of things! I haven't written about them because it's just a small blip here and there. On March 6 I had to take a test for school, but Mark was able to participate in our church's community service day. He chose to work on the 'Feed the Children' project where they boxed food for families. He said that it was a cool experience, and the group that attended boxed quite a bit of food. Although he couldn't take Austin and Abi this time, he hopes that maybe we can plan a day with our small group and take the kids to help then.

the group that attended 'Feed the Children' project

Next, I posted a happy birthday wish to Abi on her birthday, but haven't said what we did. That morning, Abi woke up to my awful, raspy version of the 'Happy Birthday' song, and came down for her choice of breakfast. She wore a dress to school (with jewelry!!) in honor of her special day. I would have liked to eat lunch with her, but I had to turn in a paper for my class. I read to her class on Friday to make-up for missing lunch. She got off the bus wearing a pink paper crown and a big smile! When she came in the house she found her cupcakes, flowers, and present! She and Austin ate a cupcake on our way out the door to have dinner with Aunt Marie, Deve, and Lala (Mark's Aunt, cousin, and sister) at Chuy's. When we came back home, Grandpa, Wendy, and Kenzie came over for cupcakes. This year Abi opted for a bigger (more expensive) gift instead of a party, she wanted the purple Hannah Montana PSP (it can play games, music, and movies- great for car trips!). This year she wants her and Luke, her very best friend, to get their faces painted like tigers, go to the Rainforest Cafe (because it's like a jungle where tigers live) for lunch, and then see a movie together. Because there aren't really any kid movies out right now, we have to wait until "How to Train Your Dragon" comes out on the weekend of the 26th. Coincidentally, that is Mark's birthday weekend as well.

Abi and Austin March 11, 2010

This past Friday, we watched Grace and Meredith overnight so Mark and Naomi could have a date night (those are super important when you have kids!!!) We played outside for a little while; Grace drove Mer around in Abi's car until the battery finally ran out! Mer was laughing hysterically the whole time!! They both had a lot of fun!

Because I am a huge slacker...I forgot my camera for Jimbo's (my brother) baby shower! I woke up around 3:30am this past Saturday and drove to Dallas for it. I got there around 9, just as my brother and the rest of the family was waking up. Jimmie and I went grocery shopping for all the food for the shower, then came home and set up. This shower was mainly for family, so it wasn't that big. Other than Jimmie, Rita, and myself, there were only ten other people. On our side: Mom and Alisha (my sister), Aunt Lulu (my mom's sister), Ronda and Cheyene (my cousins). It was so good to sit and visit; I had been a while since I have had a chance to see my aunt and cousins. I also was a slacker in the gift department. I am sewing a very special quilt for my new niece (due date moved to May 5 from the 17th). I didn't finish sewing it before the shower, so I had to give Jimmie and Rita an IOU- I have since finished it, and will post pictures after I ship it.

Also on the sewing front, I found some fabric that I fell in love with! After spending much time toiling over what I was going to make with it (had to be special!) I settled on making a boutique style outfit for Pacey. I want to list similar outfits like it in my shop on etsy.com

Unfortunately, it is already Thursday of my spring break; so, I'm not sure how much more sewing I am going to get to do. I should be doing homework, which I guess it why I am so motivated to sew! If I could just make this week stretch a little bit more! We have nothing on our agenda which helps the time pass by slower...I like that! We have loved being outside in the beautiful weather!!! The kids adopted the box that the lawnmower came in and have made it into a shop, house, clubhouse, tiger cage, and I'm sure many other things. They have played outside every day this week, except Tuesday when it rained. We had a picnic yesterday with the Benders at their playground. We will end the break with a visit to the rodeo to see Selina Gomez. The kids are excited, they love watching her on Disney. After that, it's back to school. For all of us.