A Beautiful Day

Couldn't skip over such a beautiful day. My baby sis, Melissa, married Erick Avila in the Houston temple today. It was a beautiful ceremony, a stunning bride and handsome groom, yummy food and a fun party to boot. Congrats and best wishes for every happiness life has to offer!

Easter

We headed down to my parent's house for our last holiday together for a little while. Cory and his family came down for the wedding early, Adam was still home preparing to leave for boot camp and Julie and Jimmy are in TX now... so we were only missing the love birds who arrived the following week.
We had lots of fun with the cousins. Lots of playing and nature walks with grandma. We also discovered that E is a beef jerky kind of girl. It kind of makes me want to throw up in my mouth because I can't even handle the smell of it...but, hey, whatever makes her happy!

The Happiest Place on Earth

With Aunt Betty and sweet Great Grandma Cookie.
Epic castle

It's a Small World afterall got a facelift since the last time I was here!

Let me just say that Walt Disney was right, it is the happiest place on earth. For spring break we took the trek to Florida to take Marc...I mean, the kiddos to Disney World. I really worried that they were not old enough and that they wouldn't be big enough to ride most things...but those fears were quickly dispersed after the first day (thanks to all the hugeness genes, M could ride everything he wanted and B could ride most things).
Yes, it is true...the drive was heinous...but I'd venture to say that it was worth it. We spent three days at the various parks, saw Aunt Betty and Great Grandma Cookie (a real treat!!) and also went to the beach in Destin on the way home. The kids were wonderfully well-behaved and didn't get too cranky despite our packed days and late nights. It was so fun to watch their faces and see them overcome fears. M went on almost all the biggest roller coasters. Ultimately he said that his favorite was Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. He wasn't a big fan of the ones that were way too loud and/or dark.
True to his personality...B took right to roller coasters. To see his expression while on Thunder Mountain, you'd think he was in company with Santa, the Easter Bunny and trick or treating all at once.
I am pretty sure that Marc had the hardest time leaving. He was definitely the biggest kid of all for the week. I am glad he had fun and I am sure we won't be able to stay away for too long!

Florida Continued...

Destin, FL before the oil catastrophe. GORGEOUS!!
Bug's life glasses look so cute on these boys!

Every boys' dream...to ride a real Star Wars speeder.

Spring is in the Air

Please note the cheeto face on B...indicating that his grandparents are in town.


There is nothing like planting your spring garden and getting the plants all ready and cut back to make you feel like Spring might actually arrive. My parents are always so inspirational to me when it comes to all things outdoors. Plus, it probably helps that they are always game to give me tips and go pick out plants when they are here. I know almost nothing despite years of gardening as a family "privilege" growing up. I still have nightmares of collecting the scary tomato worms with their stingers and stripes.
I am going to admit something right now...I didn't like to be outside, pretty much ever when I was a young girl. I considered myself an "inside person". I actually remember calling myself that when talking to people. Maybe it is participating in outdoor sports for so long or something, but I feel like I appreciate nature a lot more in my "old age". Don't get me wrong, I am not ready to move out on the range...but I love that we have 1/4 acre lot and that I have space for a garden and room for the boys to play soccer to boot.

Practically an adult

Right around my birthday...little momma started to crawl!
If you look past the very impressive spit bubble, you can catch a glimpse of tooth #1 trying to bust out (photo taken 3/9/10).


Just before my birthday, E turned into a full-on adult...well almost. It makes me so sad that she is beginning to do all those things and develop into a toddler. That means that she almost isn't a baby anymore. That's all I can write for now about this topic...I am getting too teary-eyed to see.

He knows how to write???

I am very guilty of letting a lot of things slide with children #2 and #3. Please tell me that it is normal so I will not lay awake at night feeling totally incompetent. I remember life with M. He knew all his shapes, colors, numbers, how to spell his name, etc by the time he was 3. This is just not the case with the others. I am pretty sure that it is just my lackadaisical attitude and not the abilities of the children as I learned this week that B can actually write...and that was without any kind of crazy "teach your three year old to write if it kills you both boot camp" that I may or may not have done with #1. We were writing on a birthday card for a cousin and B insisted on writing his name. I decided that he could pretend so I helped him with which letters to write and I was totally blown out of the water. With ZERO help from me, he can write almost all his letters. It was a wake up call to me...I can't put any of my kids in certain boxes...because they will prove me wrong time and time again.