Beach preview

Best Friends

Cutie Pies- Caroline and Andrew

Childrens Aquarium

We went to the Childrens Aquarium in Fair Park today! The kids and I both needed a fun break from looking for houses, packing, and keeping our house clean! We went with our friend from Charleston, SC- her husband and Kirt have been best friends since high school- and her baby and Meredith and Andrew met us too! My kids LOVED Ellie- They wanted to push her stroller, give her a bottle, play with her hold her hands. Ellie was such a good baby and Heidi was appreciative of the help!

Emerson and the albino alligator. She wore a button on her shirt that said "Birthday Girl" and loved for people to ask if it was her birthday and she would smile and say "No, not today". We have worn this for 2 days so far- we will see it may become our new accessory!

Ellie, Andrew, Caroline, Emerson, and Sam

Up close and personal with the sting rays- the kids could pet them, they would come right up if you put your hand in the water.

Of course I couldn't resist a cute photo-op of Andrew and Caroline! They LOVE each other- they hop around and hold hands. I will post a cute video of them in a minute.

Swimming like a fish

So this may be our new hangout- we are moving at the begining of July and when we took Sam to tour the new school we found this great shopping area with a beach park and spray fountains for the kids to play! The kids are so excited and can't wait to go back! The area was full of young kids and moms! It will be a great way to meet people in our new neighborhood!

The kids are also taking swimming lessons! Emerson learned to swim last summer but apparently she forgot how but she caught on quickly and now she can swim across the entire pool even stopping to take breaths! That is big for a 4 year old! And Caroline- cried for 5 out of 7 lessons- the last two days she caught on and smiled and played. She needs another set of lessons (or two) before she will be swimming after the other kids!

The last day they made a train with the swim noodles- it is an indoor pool so it was so nice not to worry about sun screen!

We took lessons with my friends little ones- Ellery and Andrew! I think Lori, Meredith, and I enjoyed catching up during swim lessons as much as they enjoyed swimming!

1, 2, 3 strikes your out

Spring Baseball is coming to an end and I couldn't resist getting my camera out to take pictures of my favorite 8 year old.

Hug them a little tighter

Friends of ours lost their 2 year old today. He drowned in their backyard pool. It has consumed my mind this afternoon and all I want to do it hug and kiss on my kids. It could so easily happen to anyone- drowning is the number one most preventable accident but one minute in lack of supervision and it can happen to any of us! I don't know if it is my history as a pediatric nurse that makes me so freaked out about this. I remember everyone of my near-drownings- I can tell you the room number and what they looked like- it is forever ingrained in my head. It breaks my heart that this family didn't get to say goodbye to him and they thought they had safety barriers in place. Please keep this family in your prayers tonight and enjoy EVERY moment with your kids. Life is so precious and not to be taken for granted.

Circus Ballerina

One of my favorite nights of the year! Emerson's dance recital!

Spoiled! She got 4 bouquets of flowers. I arranged them in a vase and she wants them on her dresser. She was twirling and doing her "pretend" cartwheels in the aisles.

Getting ready at Sweet and Sassy

Circus Ballerina

Preschool Graduate

Emerson It looks like a pirate hat but it is a graduation cap

Luke & Emerson have been friends since they were 2

Emerson and her teacher with their 2011 shades

Emerson graduated from Preschool today! She was so excited to sing and throw her hat in the air. She will go to pre-K next year since she has an August birthday then onto Kindergarten.

Baseball 2011 Sam

Emerson Signing

Emerson suprised me the other day when the song "You are my God" came on the radio she started doing sign language. I assume she learned it at preschool.

What's missing

That's right- Emerson learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! She is so excited!

Teacher Gifts

OK, so this post is for all of my friends scrambling for teacher gifts! And the best part of this is it is FREE (Well- except the frame) Go to the website http://www.blogger.com/www.wordle.net and click create. SUPER EASY! It prints in 8X10 so if you want to do a 5X7 you would have to shrink it on a copy machine. Have fun with your Wordle!

Cousins

We had a fun walk on Saturday evening with Max & Brooke. Kirt & I took all 5 kiddos to Chick-fil-a and then met my parents at the park for a walk on the trails. This is one of my kids favorite things to do! And yes, people at Chick-fil-a thougth all 5 kids were ours- we got lots of second glances.

Modern Fairy Tale

What an exciting modern fairytale! Yes, I woke up at 4:15 a.m. to watch the Royal wedding! I was so excited to see it- and truthfully- it is the only way I was going to get to watch it in peace and quiet! It was TOTALLY worth it! So Tracey and I went out and got these cute hair accessories for an event we went to last night! Very Royal! We looked all over for a Fascinator (AKA the English word for hat) but they were sold out everywhere! So we thought these were cute!

Here are my little princesses watching a real life princess! LOVE it!

My new favorite pictures

Good Friday = Great Lake day

This is only the second time Emerson has been on the boat since the terrible accident she had last summer when she fell out of the boat. She was nervous at first but by the end of the day she was relaxed and having fun. Kirt and I are still pretty traumatized and always had our hands on their life jackets. I know she remembers the accident because she said- do I get a treat if I don't bounce out of the boat?! Needless to say we didn't discuss it. It was a little difficult to get back on the boat- I kept remembering that traumatic day and being so thankful that our little Emerson was not injured! Anyways, we had a great weekend at the lakehouse with Kirt's family!

Misha & I enjoying the first boat outing of the summer! I couldn't wait to get a little bit of a tan!

Sam & Caroline playing at the top of the driveway! They were racing down on the little bike until a wheel fell off! It seemed a little dangerous so I was a little relieved when the wheel flew off. It is always in the back of my head that the nearest hospital is 30 minutes away!

Coloring Easter Eggs!

Kirt's mom taught the little girls how to make "Bacon Buns" Basically just rolls stuffed with bacon, sausage, and onions. A Ruby Easter tradition!

Easter Eve

We had dinner and an egg hunt at my mom & dad's house tonight! The kids had SO much fun! They ate so much candy- I can't believe they are asleep with all the sugar! Then my sister pulled out the confetti eggs! They had a great time smashing eggs on each other and begged Grandpa to come outside to join the fun!

Emerson, Sam, and Brooke

Sam, my dad, and Brooke (after the confetti fight)

Tracey, my mom, and I