Kite Flying with Dad

Today the SLDS Pre-K students got to enjoy lunch and kite flying their dads.  Sam's shark kite flew high and often.  I don't think he stopped smiling the entire time.  Such a fun and special event!

A Fun Weekend

Mimi and Pop came to visit last weekend, and it was such a treat!  The kids loved catching up with them and it was nice to have another set of hands to help out with the twins.  We look forward to making a journey to Austin very soon.

Bow head

Grace is officially a bow head.  I would not allow a bow to be placed on her head until she had enough hair to hold it.  My good friend Ashley tried it out last week and it stayed.  You can tell from her expression that she thinks she looks cute, too! 

Curls Galore!

I cannot believe that Scott and I have a curly headed child.  The warmer it gets (and the more Ben sweats), the more curls we see.  I have officially embraced the wildness of his hair and have completely given up on trying to tame it!  Go wild, Ben!

The Cast is OFF!

After 3 weeks, the cast has been removed.  The removal of the cast was fast and easy...the x-rays to make sure that the bone was repaired was not.  Three weeks of not moving your arm can make you very tight and he's really nervous to move it because it hurts a little when he does.  But after only half a day he's getting more willing to do things, and I suspect by Monday that he will be back to his fearless self. 

Twins...there is NO bond like it!

The Crawling Position

Grace...repeat after me, "I will not crawl for at least another month".  Grace is having a little too much fun getting into the crawl position, rocking back and forth and then lunging forward.  She's so proud and I'm (let's be honest here) a little scared.  I guess I need to get prepared for chasing around 3 (and eventually 4) kiddos.  I'll take four GPS tags for my children now, please! 

When all else fails, grab a laundry basket!

Grace only wants to be sitting up or on her tummy.  So, it's hard to figure out where to put her when you're trying to get something done.  As always, Sandra finds a solution.  The laundry basket, of course!

Terrible Twos?!?

You wouldn't believe me if I told you that Ben was in the terrible twos stage, right?  

Our First Car Trip as a Family of Seven

It’s amazing how much stuff one family needs for a short weekend trip to see Grandma and Paw Paw.  With four children, two adults and one large dog, we pushed the suburban to its maximum loading capacity on our first road trip this weekend.  Even with the tight squeeze, we all had a wonderful time.  We enjoyed a parade and carnival where Palestine kicked off its Dogwood Trails festival (wow…the trees were stunning), many trips around my parents’ backyard on a toy 4-wheeler, swing and tummy time for the babies, Mexican food (times 2), a fun extended family fish fry and lots of laughs.  We were exhausted after our road trip home but it was well worth the car time.  What a perfect weekend! 

Bluebonnets in Houston

My favorite time of year is always kicked off by the blooming of bluebonnets.  The days are longer, the weather is warmer and we're all just happier people in Texas when we see these beautiful flowers sprinkled along the highway.  

Teamwork

Sometimes teamwork works...and well, sometimes it doesn't!  Yes, that is Ben falling face first in water (please don't mention the fact that Sam isn't suppose to get his cast wet).  Fortunately, I had a spare sweater and blanket in the stroller so I stripped him down, wrapped him up and ran home.

Spring Break Concert

What a fun morning!  We listened to a good friend's band at Discovery Green (one of my favorite parks in the city), caught up with lots of old friends from W Cottage Street, had lunch with Scott (he walked over from work), watched tons of construction vehicles and ran out a ton of energy.  I could not have scripted a better start to Spring Break.

The Best Show in Town

How could almost 7-month-old twins ever get bored when they have 2 older brothers that provide constant entertainment?  Grace & Graham's entire face lights up when Sam & Ben walk into a room...and the more noise and motions they make, the happier they get.  I never thought I would embrace so much noise.  But if the babies are happy, mom is happy!

Ready, Set, Race!

Sam and Ben love to race up and down the driveway on their plasma cars.  Sam is usually victorious but Ben is definitely gaining speed.  Watch out!

Princess Grace

There's nothing like a pipe cleaner, pink crown to express your inner diva.  Special thanks to Sam for the great idea!

Transportation Day at SLDS

The boys had the perfect time at SLDS's transportation day this morning.  By far, their two favorite items were:

1.) A real astronaut (the one and only Leroy Chiao) ... we even had to check out his website when we got home.
2.) The race car.  What boy doesn't love a race car?

Transportation Day never disappoints!!!

The Cast through a Girlfriends Eyes

I almost fell over when a friend texted me this picture that her adorable daughter drew for Sam.  The description was even better:

Title: Sam & Kirby Dancing

Description from Kirby's mom: This is a photo that Kirby drew this morning of the two of them dancing. She really wanted to hand deliver it at 8 am, but convinced her to text it to you.

I just want to melt over this.  If  arranged marriages were legal, I would be begging this family to put us on their list.  Thanks Tonya and Kirby.  You guys made Sam feel so, so special!!!

Sam Can Feel the LOVE!

A friend dropped off these adorable cards that Sam's classmates made for him.  He closely examined every single item and it brought a huge smile to his face.  We've been so touched by all the handmade cards, cookies, movies & games/books that people have dropped off since Sam broke his elbow.  THANK YOU everyone.  It has meant so much to us.

The Cast is ON!

Sam received his cast (blue, of course) this morning.  They also put one on blue dog.  As you can imagine with any boy, he's extremely excited about it.  I'm sure that will wear off soon.  We're hopeful that he'll only need to wear it for 3 weeks!



Zoo Fun

We were going a little crazy from sitting inside all day yesterday so we loaded up the wagon and headed to the zoo.  When I got tired of pulling 75+ pounds of boys, Ben took over for me.  Our trip ended up being shorter than expected because Sam couldn’t see anything sitting inside the wagon (the fences always had a huge board at the exact height of the wagon) and I was too nervous watching him crawl in and out of the wagon over and over.  So, after seeing a few animals we headed to the train.  It was nice to be outside, and we’re all looking forward to returning when everyone can run around.

The Face Grab

Grace & Graham both do the sweetest thing right now.  When you pick them up from their crib after nap, they grab your face with both hands and press their face tightly to yours like they are trying to give you a big kiss.  I laugh every time and it really warms my heart. 

There's no picture to accompany this post, but it is one of those sweet moments that I never want to forget!

The Not So Funny, Funny Bone

Around 6pm yesterday, Sam was running around the house and slipped and fell.  He barely cried and it was only when we saw him continue to clutch his arm that we thought something was wrong.  You could tell by physically looking at his elbow that he now had a new gap in the bone and if you tried to straighten the arm he started crying.  Luckily Sandra was still here so I scooped up Sam and headed to the ER.  Scott who was on a plane home, met us a few hours later at the hospital.  After a round of x-rays it was determined that his right elbow (the 'funny bone') was fractured.  I was honestly shocked it was broken because of how calm he was acting.  They put on a soft cast and sent us home. 

On Friday, we'll venture to Texas Children's for a permanent solution.  In the meantime, we have the hard task of keeping a very physical boy sitting still until the orthopaedic doctor can see him and make a decision. 

A Wild Ride

The kiddos usually try to keep me on my toes when Scott is traveling for work.  Unfortunately, my toes were a little under the weather (as were Sam & Graham) so it made for a particularly crazy past few days.  Most of yesterday morning, I hung out on the couch while Sam & Ben watched a movie.  Sam then made lunch for him and Ben (ham w/ no bread, chips leftover from Chuy’s, pre-sliced Apple slices & chocolate milk).  I felt considerably better after naps so we went for a nice, slow walk and ordered pizza for dinner.  Sam was truly my hero yesterday.  He entertained himself, Ben & the babies while also making sure everyone was fed & dressed (though Ben wouldn’t let him change his shirt so he wore his space pajama shirt all day).  What a big guy!

This morning I awoke to our house alarm blaring.  I pop up and see the door to the kitchen open so that Ben could feed Sadie (Sam was still sleeping).  Upon further investigation, I discovered that Ben had also done this to his face…

Thankfully, Sandra arrived about 45 minutes after I discovered this and so the day is looking up.  Come home soon, Scott!  We all miss you!