Huy's SuperBowl Trip

"Okay...this has been way too long coming, but you've heard about it in chat rooms and talked about it around the water cooler at work. Now you can see the footage on your computer and enjoy what my family now talks about with reverence and great laughter."

Aaron Ricks

(Thanks Aaron for getting this available for all too enjoy! And for those of you who don't know what you are looking for... watch very carefully at the end of the video - Huy will be running an obstacle course and then he will "trip" and reappear as he crawls to the finish line!)

"I'm a piranha!"

Remember that scene from the movie Nemo? The dentist's niece, Darla, comes into the office to get her birthday present and says to her Uncle, "I'm a piranha," as she shows her mouth full of braces and then bites down as if she were going to bite something off.

Taylin has blessed us with her acting debut of the above scene as she now has braces so we get the full effect. It is very cute and so is she! She was so excited, and counted down the number of days, until she got her braces. But upon sitting in the chair, she didn't think it was as fun as she thought it would be. She did great though and was super brave.

This is her pretending to NOT want to smile.

And this is her beautiful smile now!

And this is her being silly and Kaylie wanting in on the action!

Cardboard

Setting the scene: big cardboard boxes laying around due to some redecorating going on. Huy and Kimberly on the computer doing work and probably posting some blog updates. Kids busy with markers making spaceships on the cardboard. Kimberly decides to go get a drink.

Passing by the creations, pausing to see the spaceship, glancing over to see Kaylie's to find this instead...

M: Kaylie, who is that?

K: (pointing) Mommy, Daddy, Taylin, me, and Tanner. It's our family! (stated so matter-a-factly)

Tanner and Taylin look over to see themselves.

Dad hears all the "ahhhhhs" and comes for a look.

Big hugs and kisses and more ahhhhs!

(Kaylie usually draws a lot of scribbles, which are precious, but this was the first time we had EVER seen any form of people, let alone people with features and real personality!)

Hail that's big!

Maybe that is a poor choice of wording, but that's my try at humor. Ha!

Anyway, I'm a bit behind in some blogging updates... We had a big storm on the 15th... Biggest hail I've ever seen. If you look closely at the corner of the planter, you can see white stuff that kind of looks like melting snow? No, that's the big hail. There is also a picture of the one Huy braved to get as it was coming down and pelting him. Bigger than a quarter! On the news they showed pictures of ones bigger than baseballs. Tanner woke up during it, but the girls... not a peep until we decided to bring them downstairs with us incase the tornado that was headed our way actually did come our way. It was one crazy storm.

S T E E L E R S win it again!

Playing most of the season as QB, Tanner helped lead his team to be the SuperBowl Champions once again. They had a great season, winning every regular season game and winning all three games in the Championships. He is learning great football fundamentals in flag and he is awaiting the day he gets to play tackle. (A few more years and many more pounds before I'll let that happen!)

The team also played in the Central Texas tournament and were three points away from winning that also. They had some great competition and the games were fun to watch, but in the end, the opposing Patriots (mostly just taller boys) passed the ball over the Steelers heads and came back from a 21 point deficeit to beat them. It was a tough loss, but they definately played their best! Can't ask for much more. And Tanner had an AWESOME over-the-shoulder catch that made Mom proud!

It was a great season regardless. Great job coaching by Huy and Jeff. Those boys are well coached! Congratulations to my boys!!

B L U E T H U N D E R R O C K S

It was her best season yet! Taylin was a HUGE contributor to her team, the Blue Thunder, this spring season. She learned that one must be super aggressive in soccer - it is a must. She went after that ball and gave it her all as she attacked her opponents! It was so much fun to watch her grow into a great player. She was a big scorer on the team as well. She had at least one goal in most games - remember her "hat trick?"

Congratulations on a great season Taylin!

"Merry Mountain Stream"

Taylin's Piano Recital

She brought down the house. Pretty close anyway. I was so proud of her. She had mentioned to me once, earlier in the day, that she was a little nervous, but nothing more was said. She just went up to that baby grand and showed it what to do.

Taylin's friend, Kassidy (on left), was a big support for Taylin as she came and sat through the entire two hours of other performances, just to see Taylin do her 2 minute performance. It was so nice of her to come. Also in the picture is Taylin's other friend, Logan. Logan was in her class for the last two years in school, but recently moved to Dallas, but came back to perform at the recital as well.

Did I mention I played in the recital too? I had the good fortune of playing a duet with Taylin, Colorful Sunset was our song. She has helped me to be a better player and it sure was fun practicing with her and then performing with her.

This is Taylin's teacher, Ms. Stacey. She has been a great teacher for Taylin!

Spoil me rotten day!

Honestly, I love Mother's Day! I don't know if my mother loved it as much as I do when her kids were little, but I sure hope I made her feel as happy as I feel on this day! (Mom?) I woke up to a yummy waffle with strawberries and powedered sugar and whipped cream breakfast. Taylin gave me folder full of wonderful coupons, poems, pictures, and bookmarks. Tanner gave me some coupons as well. Kaylie gave me a poem with a handprint. And all the kids gave me a charm bracelet with cute circle charms that had their names stamped in them - something I've always wanted. It was a great day at church. I didn't do a single dish or fix any meals - thanks sweetie! I took a two hour nap... so nice. The kids tried their best to not argue or fight. My family is just the best! Thanks everyone.

And Mom, I love you!

P.S. The photo is of the little craft the Activity Day girls did for their mothers. They were pretty cute and they did a great job even though it was a little challenging.

Nick Jr.com

Kaylie has a new friend... Nick Jr.com! She is learning that everyone else in the house likes to sit at the computer so she wants to also. She has learned to navigate herself fairly well to all the different games and she knows which ones she wants to play. Sometimes she can't find the ones she wants and when she asks me to help her, I'm not exactly sure what it is she wants either, and that just frustrates her. She can be a pill about it, but we end up figuring it out and she's happy again!