Easter 2014

 After church we spent the day over at the farm. It was a beautiful day! Sadly, I didn't get a picture of everyone together in their nice clothes before the egg hunt AND before John David ran inside and had a lightning fast wardrobe change. 

 There's a lot of places those eggs can be when you've got a lot of land. 

At least this year nobody hid eggs in the middle of thorn bushes like last year!

 My parents got baby bunnies and chicks. It was perfect for Easter. 

(And I can tell you that the chicks are nowhere near this size now!)

 Some bluebonnets scattered about sure made for pretty pictures!

 My niece, Audrey, got in on the candy action.

 Joshua did the best because Daddy was helping him (that's what the other kids say anyway!).

 John David LOVES animals!

Of course, you have to have at least one goofy picture!

Aulora Steps Up

I went out for a few hours today and left the kids home with John. Julia is out of town so it was just John David, Aulora, and Joshua.

Now, John had work to do so he was on our bed reading and writing.

John David is his own man so he was doing his thing, studying and playing on the computer.

Aulora and Joshua were buddies. They built a Mario Kart track and played with dolls. (Yes, Joshua helps with the dolls. Hush.) They colored and watched Arthur on Netflix. They fed the dog and made some other random messes. And apparently they worked up an appetite.

Aulora decided they shouldn't tell Daddy they were hungry since he was working. So she made their own lunch.

For Joshua, she made a popcorn sandwich, an apple, and a nutrigrain bar.

For herself she found her leftover box of spaghetti and put it on a plate.

She was one proud little girl when she told me all about it. I guess next time I'll leave her in charge instead of Daddy. =)

Learning Legos

First he needed a lesson, but now he's doing it!

Angry Sensei

The kids love to play "Angry Sensei" with Daddy. It's a game he made up and they beg to play it every night at bedtime. 

Bible Quiz 2012 - League 1 and Gold Cup

John's David's Bible Quiz team at the Gold Cup Tournament at our home church in Cedar Hill, Texas.
John David, Jacob, Mitt are in the front.
Behind them are Nate (one of our former students/quizzers! who came to visit for the day),
John, and another quizzer, Jacob.
In the back are Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Cali (and Baby Audrey still in the oven!). They live there so they came to watch John David quiz and we got to hang out with them. We love them so much!

Daddy gives the boy some quizzing advice.

John David's teammate, Jacob, was the individual high point quizzer for the day.
That was quite an achievement!

The first league meet. The kids helped themselves to donuts.
Yea for brainfood! =)

Talking to girls - eek!

John David with "Uncle" Paul, John's own coach from when he quizzed
(and now best friend!). 

Jacob, Mitt, Jacob, John David

Time out

Hanging out after the matches

An opposing team. We took this picture so we could print it out and put it on our quizzers' walls
for motivation to study and beat them! Ha!

A nice, normal picture of the John David's team plus our church's other team too.
(Abigail, Sarah, and Emmanuel. )

A crazy picture!

And some more crazy!

Nate (AKA Niller Miller) and John. We love this guy.
Ladies, he's awesome and he's available. Call us.

Aulora Lost Her First Tooth

This picture was actually taken right before the tooth came out. Daddy was trying to pull it since it was so loose. He could never get it though. Aulora came upstairs and I couldn't stand it anymore - I thought she might lose it during the night and swallow it! I yanked that little guy right out. 

She was very excited! Of course, the tooth fairy visited that night. The girls decided that they didn't want the tooth to get lost in the bed though. Instead, they put it on a pillow in a little doll house bed right by the door to their room. The wanted me to tell the tooth fairy that's where it was. They don't really believe in the tooth fairy, but I told them that the fairy wouldn't come if they didn't "believe" in her. So they play along and humor me. 

And that's why even our 12 year old son still "believes" in the tooth fairy! Ha!

Alamo Trip

We started off our school year with a mostly free trip to the Alamo.

John had to travel there for work and already had a nice hotel room so we tagged along.

It was a very hot day, but we Texans are tough. 

While the kids enjoyed seeing where such important history took place, I think they liked the pizza and swimming at the hotel that evening better. =)

Remember the Alamo!!!

Captured Moments

Kids playing airplane on Daddy. Squealing, laughing, and collapsing in a wiggly worm pile of cuteness.

Pirate buddies out for a cheap Friday night dinner with just us six.

Little girl delighted to become a big girl with the losing of her first tooth.

A Mustache Bash at church. With the youth group. My baby. At youth. 

Meet Hadley

After being married for 13 years, John and I finally decided it was time to get a puppy. I had been searching for a couple of months to find the right dog for our family. I scoured spca sites, ebay, breeder sites, and craigslist. I had my heart set on a golden doodle until I realized we would have to sell one of our kids to afford one of those! So I kept looking.

I figured I would know the right one when I saw it. We wanted a golden colored dog, not too big but not tiny. Soft hair that doesn't shed. Cuddly and smart and not hyper. Nothing too expensive. I wanted a dog that looked like a teddy bear. I saw one a couple of years ago and was never able to figure out what kind it was.

 And then one day, as I was again searching Craigslist, I saw a poorly written post that seemed promising. John and I made the drive to the other side of Houston and we were smitten! We arranged to pick up our little guy once we returned from Jamaica. We told the kids we had a prize for them and they assumed they were getting more little Jamaica souvenirs. I secretly picked up the puppy and then put a ribbon on him and placed him in our suitcase. John led the kids in....

They were very surprised! And happy!

Introducing Hadley!

John David has declared that Hadley loves him second best after me. 

Julia and John David both do really great with him 

and I don't have to worry about them hurting him. 

See the blob of black fur on the right? That's Phantom, John's parents' cocker spaniel. He and Hadley get along fine. Nothing cute and cuddly like sleeping side by side, but no barking and fighting either. Phantom likes to think he's too cool, but I think he'll come around. 

Every night everybody gets "Hadley time" when I tuck them in. They love to tell him good night. 

He looks like another stuffed animal. 

Is it just me, or do they resemble one another in this picture?

Boo and Hadley. My heart is about to explode! 

**I promise I comb my kids' hair. They were at a bounce house place all afternoon right before these pictures! =)