Sean's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the greatest guy! Here is my list from our last anniversary, but it is still applicable. He is so unselfish...our little family is the luckiest.

His Likes: (things he is passionate about)
Aviation
His family
The solar system
The church (everything about it)
Travel
Sports (watching, playing, coaching)
Animal Planet
Comedies
Me!
Long showers
Maps
Good 80's songs
Talk radio
Missionary work
Boating
Sushi
Good basketball shoes
"Combos"
Hot tubs

His Dislikes:
Women driving while talking on cell phones
When the boys miss the toilet
Cutting nails over carpet-yuck
Bad drivers
Lots of shopping
Cheap trash bags
Sad movies
When he gets hit in the face/head :)

What I Love About Him:
Watching him be a great dad
His nicknames for me
The twinkle in his eyes when he talks about his family and about flying
The way he does his hair-it's an art
When he gets fired up about politics
When he gives me tickles
When I go out with friends, etc. and he says "have a great time or enjoy"
When we talk or play Uno

I think one of our most favorite moment's of Sean's birthday weekend was when we all went to Babe's chicken and they made him stand up and do the chicken dance. Sean, you were a great sport!


















The weekend of Sean's birthday his cousin Cathy was in town and it was filled with all kinds of fun stuff, so when his actual birthday came around on Monday he said "I just want to do something that you and the kids would enjoy." Hence, we went to our favorite family park..."the wooden park". It has a big play area, walking trails, a lake, and even a friendly donkey that Austin befriended. It was a great evening. Here's some of the good times.
































Rolling down the hill!





























Queen of the hill!












Mack Boys!

Squirt

So our little Malti-Poo, Squirt, definitely deserves his own post. He was Taylor's birthday present, but technically we all share him:) He has been the sweetest, best little puppy. In the beginning I have to admit that the "accidents" got a little old. Now, he has become part of the family.

Last week Squirt found a way under the fence and disappeared. Jake and Taylor got on their bikes and I got in the car. We searched until it was dark. Finally a sweet lady called and said that she had found him. We were overjoyed. We know our prayers were answered. After that experience I now know that Squirt would be hard to replace.

Cousin Cathy Comes to TX

Cousin Cathy came to Texas for the weekend and we had a great time "Texas Style". We started out with a bang going to the Ft. Worth Stockyards! We had true bbq and then went to a rodeo. Of course the kids loved going out in the arena for the sheep chase! It was probably 40 degrees that night and windy...brrrr.

The most touching moment for me was at the beginning... a cowgirl rode around the arena holding an American Flag while the song "I'm Proud to be an American" played. It was beautiful and I got choked up. What a great country we live in. I also loved how they started out with a prayer...only in Texas!!!

The next night was fun at Babe's Chicken. (That's when Sean was a sport doing the "chicken dance"). The last night was dinner and a birthday celebration at our house. Cathy is so much fun. It is always a joy to see her and her wonderful kids. Lots of fun and laughs!

Who Says You Can't Bake a Turkey in March

Yes, I have helped with a turkey many times, but never done the whole thing on my own. This is my first turkey ever. Yum! It tasted good even in March.

I Love Spring!

I can't explain how much I love Spring! One of my favorite things in the whole world is watching plants grow. Even flowers I planted 2 or 3 years ago are coming up again this year. Growing up in AZ I never experienced this, so I think I have an even greater appreciation for its beauty. At the end of March, leaves started to grow again on the trees and the flowers on this bush blossomed. They always seem to come before the greenery. This is our first beauty of Spring this year.

Homemade Marinara & Pumpkin Candles

I had a day I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere, so in the morning I ran to Sprouts and loaded up on fresh fruits and veggies. I took the day making yummy foods to freeze. I used Lori's food processor...it saved me.

My last big venture was to make homemade marinara sauce with all fresh ingredients. I've never done this before and I don't think I'll ever do it again because of the amount of time it takes, but it was fun to try. When I was done, I placed all of these items in the freezer.

At the end of the day the kitchen was finally cleaned up and the kids were getting in bed. Austin came downstairs and tried to get something out of the freezer. I remember saying, "No" and in slow motion bags of marinara fell to the ground and splattered! It was everywhere. I have to admit tears started to flow, but we were able to save some and it did get cleaned up! I'm happy to be able to laugh about it now.

This picture was taken after a lot of it was cleaned up.













The marinara incident with Austin reminded me of this.

























2 days before Austin's 3rd birthday we were at Bath and Body Works standing in line. Austin went to touch a glass pumpkin candle and the whole display of glass and pumpkins came crashing down!!! The woman profusely apolgized because she put the display up the night before and she didn't think it was safe. I felt horrible! Luckily, Austin was not hurt except for a few scratches. Corporate called and they changed the display. (I have to admit layering $75.00 candles on unsteady sheets of glass probably wasn't the safest idea.) Once I knew everything was O.K., I pulled out my camera...I was so glad it was in my purse that day. What a boy!

Staining the Fence

This was our absolute favorite part of Spring Break! Believe it or not we spent 2 whole days (probably 8 hrs. each day) staining the wood fence around our backyard. It desperately needed it and the kids had an incentive. They were trying to earn a certain game for the Wii (which they later chose to take back because of appropriateness...Sean and I were so proud of their choice). These kids were so motivated to get it done.

Whether they earned the game or not I was so proud of each child. They truly worked HARD and we have the stain on many clothes to prove it. Working together as a family makes my heart HAPPY. What more can I say...

Artist of the Week

Way to go Taylor! Artist of the week again this school year. We didn't tell her about this 2nd time...so boy was she surprised during the assembly. Great job Tay.