A.W.A.N.A.

Both kids successfully completed their first year at AWANA’s.  They absolutely loved going each week to play games, recite memory verses and hang out with friends.  I love the fact that they are starting at such a young age to hide God’s word in their hearts.  Once upon a time I was more disciplined about having memory verses for myself and am amazed at how verses I memorized 10+ years ago will pop into my head periodically.  I am confident that the verses the kids learned in AWANA’s this year will do the same for them in the years to come.  Maybe, just maybe, some of the verses I help them memorize will stick with me too!

Addie with her Cubbies Class….

Addie with her Cubbies Award….

Dalton with the select few first graders who made it through the Sparks book…

The kids enjoying some ice cream after the ceremonies…

Very proud of my little AWANA Cubby and Spark!

Family Fun at the SA Botanical Gardens

One of the kids won a family four pack of tickets to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens last summer.  We were waiting to use them during a time we thought the gardens would be in full bloom.  Since San Antonio was the recipient of some much needed rain this spring, we took full advantage of the flowers being in bloom one weekend early in May.  This was Addie’s first visit to the gardens (Dalton’s second) and she was absolutely in love.  The kids had a great time and we all enjoyed spending some great time together as a family.

The fountains

Posing for pictures….not sure where they learned that!

Family picture by the lake…Addie apparently does not like to smile for strangers.

Feeding the ducks

My beautiful Princess

and her sweet big brother!

Our little man…

loves a little adventure in life,

is always up for a challenge,

finds joy in life even when just hanging around,

loves dinosaurs,

and spending time with his family,

takes good care of his little sister,

thinks being a pirate when he grows up would be so cool,

is doing amazing in karate,

has a sister that adores him,

mastered riding his bike this year AND won first place in his bike rodeo at school,

is a handsome little man (squinty eyes and all),

loves going to the zoo,

thinks he is cool,

has a soft spot for animals,

still thinks that $100 is A LOT of money,

celebrated his 7th birthday at Rainforest Café,

followed by a play at Magik Theatre,

and a party a few days later at Laser Legend with only the boys,

dreams big,

but isn’t too big to carry around a puppy dog Easter basket….yet,

has an unexplained love for Angry birds…even his Easter basket full of goodies didn’t pull him away from his game,

still enjoys a ride on the train at Landa Park every now and again,

adores his cousin Clayton,

but most importantly is LOVED by all!

Family Traditions

We have a family tradition that each year on each person’s birthday, they get to decide where we eat for dinner.  I grew up with this tradition in my family and always enjoyed it and wanted to keep it going with my kids.  Dalton selected Rainforest Café for his birthday dinner this year.  It has been a favorite of his for years and still asks if we can at least walk through the jungle scene each time we find ourselves at the Riverwalk.  Naturally, I figured Addie would ask to go somewhere equally as exciting.  However, it turns out she noticed our unused picnic basket tucked away in our garage a few months back and has been begging to have a real picnic for weeks.  When asked where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner, she quickly replied that she just wanted to have a picnic.  What mom cannot honor that request?  Since her birthday was on a Tuesday this year, we packed some PB&J’s, fruit and the leftovers from her cookie cake from school, headed up to Dalton’s karate class early and had a picnic at the church playground.

I love my sweet, yet simple little girl!

Cousins

We made a quick trip to San Angelo after Addie’s birthday party to see the cousins.  Since there are now five cousins, getting pictures of all of them together can be quite the challenge.  Here are a few we took on a whim over the weekend as a Mother’s Day Gift for Grandma.

All piled in the car and heading out.  That’s A LOT of kids but fun times were had by all!

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 16

And the WINNER!

Clayton looks so grown up compared to the rest of them in this picture.  It’s hard to believe that the gap between Clayton and Dalton is almost identical to the gap between Dalton and Asher.  What can I do to keep my little guy little for a while longer?

A party fit for a princess

 

I can’t believe my baby girl is four years old!  This year we had a Princess themed tea party.  Addie had a great time with all of her friends and I enjoyed all the planning and preparations that went into the party.

My four year old princess!

The Princess Castle Cake

The decorations

Table settings

Tiara crafts

The snacks

Blowing out the candles with a little help from friends.

Snack time

Craft time

and finally….Gift time.