they make me a little crazy

No, not the kids... the bluebonnets. I just love spring (think I've mentioned that one before) and the wildflowers are so beautiful this year. The window of opportunity was getting very narrow so one night, we didn't have any activities to be to and the weather was cooperating so I had the kids change and get ready so we could go have a little photoshoot. Now that kind of drives the kids a little crazy... mom making them pose and smile for pictures.

But see, it was worth it in the end.

Thank you Tanner, Taylin, and Kaylie for being so cooperative and smiling so beautifully. You ARE beautiful kids. Love ya!

camping at tejas

A last minute decision, a "late start" on Saturday (meaning games were later in the day), and beautiful weather led us on a night out camping one weekend (April 10th). Seriously, the weather was perfect and it was a good time. After school on Friday, we loaded up the car, completely full I might add, and we headed to Lake Georgetown to the campground Tanner went to with the scouts, Camp Tejas. We had to "pack" our things in the 100 feet - many hands make light work. We set-up camp before it got dark and the kids helped Huy start a great fire so we could cook out hot dog dinner.



There was a nice little patch of bluebonnets near our site so I didnt' know if I was going to be able to get the kids out for pictures at a later date so I made them take a few here. It wasn't quite the look I was going for, but the bluebonnets sure were pretty.

We invited the Colquitt's to come camp with us, but they opted for a night by the fire and then head home to their own beds. Can you blame them? It was fun to have them come so we all had someone to hang with!

Chelon out did herself with her tinfoil dinner masterpieces. She was so nice to share. They were so yummy!

Of course, the best part about a campfire is the smores. Yum, yum!

Looking for a gift for your dad for Father's Day? A head lamp is a great one. Everyone enjoyed it!

Such CRAZY fun we had.

Bedtime did eventually come.

And so did morning. With little time to play, we cleaned-up camp and took a short walk to the lake so Nike could go for a swim.

We got the car packed up and everyone piled in, literally, when Huy sat beside me ready to drive us home and asked, "Do you have the keys?" "No" was my reply. So there we sat. We thought and thought about who had them last, where they might be, what did we use them for, were they lost in the long grass somewhere along the way to and from the car? Oh where or where could they be?

To make a very long, 45 minutes of searching and thinking much shorter, and calling Chelon to drive our spare keys out to us, I would have sworn they were lost in the grass so as I was searching there, the campsite host walks by and asked if we had checked our sleeping bags? I dismissed the comment for a bit, sure that I had covered that option in my mind, but then I thought, "Well, that IS one place we hadn't looked," so back to the car I went. Since everything had been removed in our efforts to find the keys before, the sleeping bags weren't far to reach. Huy had slept under some blankets so if they were going to be anywhere, I prayed they were in my sleeping bag. As I dumped it upside down, out dropped a clinking sound and yes, there were the keys.

Chelon didn't have to come ALL the way out to the campsites again, but we sure appreciate her help and willingness to drop everything in her day to come to our rescue. We still made it home in time to change clothes and head out to our soccer and football games. It was a wild ending to our nice campout!

elgin tree farm

Kaylie went on her Kindergarten field trip to the Elgin Tree Farm to learn about plants and how you plant a seed and what it grows into. She was very excited. So much so that she was got herself up, got dressed, and came and woke ME up. I was able to go with her and see all the fun she had!



Something about those big, yellow school buses that is so fun. Her teacher said it got pretty loud on the way there (about a 45 minute ride).

This is Kaylie with her buddy Anna. They were doing a "craft" of planting seed. They used a ball of white clay as the seed, wrapped it at the bottom of a green pencil (the stem), put some orange yarn coming out the bottom of the seed (the roots), and used a green pipe cleaner to make some leaves. Cute idea, but honestly, don't think it was too effective for the kiddos.

After some lunch at a picnic and playground area, they took a little walk to see and pet some farm animals, they went through a corn maze, and planted wildflower seeds in a cup.

Kaylie told me her favorite part was the hay ride. These are a few of her little friends, Anna, Ally, and Kendall. She had such a good time that she said she fell asleep on the bus ride home.
A big day for my little kindergartener!

easter and general conference

It was both on the same Sunday, April 4th. We had a beautiful day!



The kids collected eggs in their baskets.



They got a few things in their baskets other than eggs too!

All the hard boiled eggs were found so Nike didn't have to use the "retriever" in him to find any.

And I'm not sure why, but Tanner and Taylin could eat a dozen egg whites each. They love them!

The kids built their "nests" in the living room and settled in for some sessions of conference. They all ate their whole chocolate bunny's (okay, I had a few bites too), drew some pictures, and in between sessions, they played some games.

And when we are on the floor, it always includes a little Nike snuggle. It was so nice to enjoy such a great day together!

1st scout campout

Tanner went on his first Boy Scout campout as a 12 year old on March 26, 2010 at Camp Tejas. He was designated to be on the "clean-up" crew and he didn't eat any of the "Scout Stew." Guess he wasn't hungry enough. Huy was able to go with him which was nice for the both of them. They had a good time!



(Pictured left to right: Tanner, Brother Hofheins, Joshua Reddin, Tanner Millett, Lucas Stock, Kayson Oleen, Preston DeLeon, Brother Oleen, and Brother Florney.)

b ow l i n

After the zoo, Cole came back home with us for the night and the girls went with Karmen back to their house. They got to go to a indoor waterpark and I took the boys to Main Event for a bit. They enjoyed some bowling, laser tag where they tried to get the worst scores (go figure), and they learned some shuffleboard.

They cracked me up and it was great to see them enjoying themselves. Thanks for coming Cole. And thanks Karmen for having the girls. They had a great time!

waco zoo

Spring Break started off with some fun at the Waco Zoo. We met our friends there and we had a great day! It wasn't very crowded since it was still early in the week and we had some very nice weather, not too hot, not too cold. It made it a perfect day!



The day began seeing some cute monkeys... Lauren, Lily, Kaylie, Taylin, Cole, and Tanner! : )

And then we got to see the monkey's behinds!

The jaguar was a favorite of Tanner's. He used my camera and took about 20 pictures of this one.

This was Lemur Island.

This is what 11 and 12 year old boys find funny. They make me laugh.

And this was pretty funny too. They took a ride on these baby toys and rocked the spring back-and-forth, almost laying their backs to the ground.

We had to capture Taylin by the rhino because the last time she was at a zoo, she was about 2 years old and a rhino decided to lay down in some mud and when he did, it splashed the mud out from under him and up onto Taylin and Huy. She cried and did not like that so much. I think today was a better experience for her. The rhino kept his distance and so would have Taylin if he were closer.

Lauren enjoyed the beautiful wildflowers. (And honestly, this one was already laying on the ground. I didn't let her pick it.)

This was our adorable tour guide!

And little Lillers. She is sho toot!

These monkeys look familiar to anyone???

Everyone, but Tanner, picked out a stuffed animal to remember thier trip to the zoo! Thanks for coming down guys. It was fun! Same time, same place next year? Oh no, we'll be on a cruise, right?