1st Grade Luau

Skylar gets pretty excited about anything that has to do with school, but she has been talking about this Luau for weeks. They've been studying the ocean, and worked hard over the last week or so to make homeade grass skirts and leis. They enjoyed a smorgasboard of fruit, cheese, crackers, and other luau style snack foods. I only had time to sneak out of my classroom for a minute to snap a couple of pictures, but they all looked like they were having a super time!

Gymnastics Awards

The girls had their gymnastics show and awards last night just before the storm scare. They both love gymnastics and are trying to decide if they want to continue next year! They're always more excited to think about practicing when they've received their medals and awards.

Cousins

Despite recital day being rather busy, the kids found a little time in the morning to play together. They absolutely love being together, and could entertain the adults for hours with their playful antics.

What's a lone boy to do among all the girl cousins? Be the daddy, of course! That's the story we're going with anyway!

Grandma Del brought her new dog, Cotton, and the girls couldn't get enough of him.

Sweet little Natalie taking in all the action around her.

Lincoln is a real lover. He LOVES babies, and all the girls. He's quite the ladies man.

My girls and Anastyn eager to take photos in our pajamas. It's a fight to get them to be in pictures when we're all dressed up, but when we're in our pj's and I'm not wearing make-up, they're all about a photo shoot! Go figure:)

Recital 2011

The girls had their dance recital last weekend, and it was so much fun to get to dress them up in their costumes and watch them perform. Their ballet dance was to Owl City's song "Fireflies", and their jazz dance was to "Stayin' Alive" which was definitely their favorite.

Londyn Skylar and her very proud toothless grin!

Thank you to Grammy Tammy, Grandma Del, Nathan, Erin, Anastyn and Natalie for making the trip to come watch what will probably be our last recital!

I'm Back!

So, it's been a while. There are a plethora of reasons for the blogging hiatus, but as school is about to come to an end, I am anxious to get back into the blogging groove for the two of you that check the blog for updates! A lot has happened in the last couple of months, and I'm not even going to begin trying to play catch up right now, but I'm going to leave you with a couple of recent random pics of my three favorite kids. This is a picture of the kids playing in the safe room waiting for a tornado. I swear, this is their favorite time of year! I've never seen anyone so excited about storms coming.

Enjoying a popsicle on a sunny Saturday after playing in the sprinklers. A summer tease....hopefully many swimsuit wearing, patio sitting, popsicle eating days to come!

Over the last couple of months that I've neglected to blog, the girls had a fantastic time in Missouri for Spring Break, we've participated in the Tulsa Heart Walk, sought shelter from crazy OK storms, enjoyed a mother/daughter sleepover, spent sunny days at the park, dyed eggs, baked Easter cookies, had a visit from the Easter Bunny, celebrated the Royal Wedding, helped my mom celebrate her birthday, had a great Mother's Day, finished the soccer season, and I managed to get away for a work trip to Florida. It's been the usual whirlwind of life, and I'm looking forward to a refreshing summer break! We do have the girls' dance recital this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post, and all of my technological devices will be working properly.

Lincoln as an Only

As I said in the previous post, Lincoln got to experience a few days of being an only child. I really thought he would miss his sisters. I'm sure he did, but he also thoroughly enjoyed the attention he received. I was shocked that I hadn't realized how much of my attention was diverted to the girls even when I thought I was giving him my attention. We had a great time hanging out. He insisted on sitting in his chair to eat and insisted on an extended dinner time each evening. He became very fond of syrup...on everything.

But really, is he te cutest thing ever, or what?

Spring Break

Well, yet again, I'm severely behind on this blog. I'm not sure if it's a lack of time, energy, material, or motvation, or maybe all of the above. Oh, and I've had some computer and camera card issues. Nonetheless, for the two people that consistently check this blog hoping for an updated picture of their grandchildren, I am attempting to make a few updates. Spring Break flew by, but we managed to enjoy it. The girls went to my parent's house for the week, Lincoln stayed here with us. He went to school part of the time while I attempted to catch up on a few things around the house and Kevin and I managed to squeeze in a few lunch dates which is always pleasant. For the conclusion of spring break, we headed to MO to pick up the girls and spent a little time with family. The below picture is rather random, but it was of the kids waiting for my mom and grandma to arrive at the designated meeting place. The girls had a soccer game that morning and didn't have time to change, and Lincoln was antsy from the ride. They were eager to get to Grammy Tammy's, and Lincoln had no idea what was to come. I thought he would be lonely, but I think he enjoyed his week alone!

Skylar in Teacher Mode

It's Been A While

So, I'll play a little catch up. The last few weeks have completely kicked my butt. Getting back into the swing of things after two blissful weeks off has been a challenge. But I think we are almost back to normal, whatever that is! I've just posted a few pics of our recent in order and they start at the bottom and go up. Last Saturday the girls both had their first soccer game. I'd love to say it was fun, but it as 30 degrees outside, and I was alone because Kevin was sick. I don't have many pictures to post because I was trying to keep myself cuddled up in my blanket to stay warm. The girls both had a great time, and didn't seem to be bothered at all by the ice cold temperatures.

We went to Missouri for a quick trip a couple of weekends ago to celebrate my nephew Malachi's birthday. I can't believe he is already one! So cute, and he had a fabulous Mickey Mouse birthday party!

While in Missouri, Grammy Tammy was kind enough to let the girls deck her out in make-up, new hairstyles and nail polish. What a good sport.

They also did a little finger painting. Lincoln tried it too, but he wasn't fond of getting his hands dirty.

Lincoln got a new backpack, which he loves, and new shoes. It was like he instantly grew out of all his shoes. He went from several pair to wear to churh and school to none! He is growing like a week, but cuter than ever. I'm totally loving every minute of this stage. He has developed quite the personality, and loves to make everyone around him smile.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the after the big day of eating cookies, ice cream and chocolate all day photo. It appears they all enjoyed it, especially Lincoln as he has chocolate drool all over his shirt.

Too Good To Be True...

In a discussion with someone about my husband and our relationship, someone referred to my husband as too good to be true. I laughed, of course! But quickly realized he is too good to be true. Not in the sweep you off your feet, super romantic, buy you nice gifts kind of way. (I mean we went to CiCi's Pizza buffet on our last date night, that should tell you something.) But in the perfect for me, amazing person that totally gets me kind of way. I could go on and on and bore you with all the delightful details, but no one really wants to hear that, right? It's hard to believe that this Valentine's Day will be the 13th anniversary of our first date! I hope you and your too good to be true significant other enjoy your Valentine's Day!

Sweet Dreams

There are so many things about this picture that make me smile, but mostly I think that it is hilariously sweet that they choose to sleep together in a twin bed. Every night. They just can't give it up.

The End

Well, my two week hiatus of sleeping in, sitting around in pajamas and sweatpants, eating cookies, drinking hot chocolate by the fire, staying up late watching movies, playing with the kids, etc is coming to an end. I am beginning to feel the pressure to begin getting things prepared for a normal week. I have to say, that for the first time in a very long time I actually felt like I had a break, a real break. For a short time, our little world seemed to stop, or at least slow down a lot, in a very happy place. Nowhere to be, no one expecting anything, just us hanging out. I thoroughly enjoyed the lack of schedules and activities, just the luxury of a little down time with my favorite people. This time of year is usually quite challenging because of Kevin's busy season, so it was so nice to have him home with us for several days as well. For our family, this blizzard was a true blessing and a perfect reminder of who is in control.

Puzzled

We decided to spend last night putting together a puzzle. I thought it would be a fun way to spend some time together as our leisurely lifestyle is soon coming to a close. Although, I totally overestimated the amount of time it would take. I bought a 100 piece puzzle thinking it would take us an hour or two, but it took about 20 minutes. I've never much enjoyed puzzles because I wasn't very good at them. It probably would have taken me an hour or two. Oh well, we still had a good time, and I guess next time we'll go for a larger puzzle that will entertain us for a little while longer!

Remembering Fall

I've had a bit of extra time on my hands, so I thought I would post a few of the pictures we had taken in the fall and I never got around to posting. We attempted to get pictures of all the grandkids on my side of the family, but it is near impossible to get so many little kids to cooperate. (and we've added one more since then) I still managed to find a few favorites. All pictures were taken by Sara McDaniel of Beloved Photography. She's fantastic, but you already knew that.