Cousins

Got some really cute pics of the kids with their cousins, Cade and Gavin on a recent trip to visit them...

TJ, Gavin, Alli, Cade and of course, Baxter (the dog). That's the top of Chili's head at the bottom. They were having quite a little stand off the whole time we were there. They used to absolutely love each other but apparently they are grumpy in their old age.

The boys being silly. Not sure if this was before or after Gavin's "Eye of the Tiger" performance that TJ imitated. HILARIOUS!

Gavin adorably sporting the missing tooth.


I think TJ liked Baxter.

I know he LOVED the playroom full of big boy toys! He was NOT happy when it was time to leave.

Baxter was such a good sport.

Notice Chili in the background staying very close to the door to make sure he doesn't get left behind.

We also got to go to Grandma and Pawpaw's and swim with Aunt April, Maddy and Lainey, but somehow I failed to get any pictures of that (seems to be a growing trend with me).

Port Aransas

Getting ready to head to St. Louis for a family vacation to visit Dwaine's brother, Lonnie. Figured I better hurry and get some pics up from our last family trip to Port Aransas with our good friends, the Roberson's...

Somehow I didn't take a whole lot of pics on this trip. Could have something to do with the fact that TJ and Jake ended up with high fevers and a nasty little bug that kept us from doing as much as we would have liked. But we still had a lot of fun and the kids thought it was so awesome to stay in the beach house with friends.

Helotes Rodeo and Cornyval- May 2009

We went to the local Helotes rodeo for the first time this year. We always make it to the carnival but we've never actually watched the rodeo. I thought that was so much fun!! I would have loved to stay to the very end to see all the events, but it was late and TJ was fading fast so we were doing good to make it through about half of it...

Waiting in the stands to watch the pre-rodeo mutton bustin' event. That was hilarious. Alli says she wants to do it next year. Not sure how I feel about that yet.

She did participate in the calf scramble though...

This was a very last minute decision so she had no idea what she was doing and bless her heart, she is about the slowest runner ever! She was just running around in circles following all the other kids. I asked when it was all over "Alli, do you know what you were supposed to be doing?"

Her cheerful, excited response: "Yeah! I was supposed to be running!!!"

Mom: "Yes, but you're supposed to chase the calves and try to grab a ribbon off of one."

Alli: "I'm not fast enough to catch a calf!!"

We convinced her that maybe next year she'll be bigger and faster. She had a blast regardless. I was just so proud she was so willing to try something new that she knew nothing about.

Dad and TJ watching Alli run.

The pony rides were a big hit this year! I was surprised 'cause last time TJ had the chance to ride a pony, he would have none of it. I guess he's over that fear now.



On the ride home...

We only played 2 or 3 midway games, but apparently we are REALLY good!

The next morning...

At the parade...



Either the firetrucks or the Shriner's in their go-carts were passing by. He does NOT like loud noises!

TJ's Happy Visit to the Dentist!

Mom and Alli had a dentist appointment today and TJ got to come along for his "Happy Visit" as my dentist office calls it. I though that was cute. This means he comes to watch mommy have her teeth cleaned, gets to sit in the super cool chair for a ride, has his teeth counted and practices getting his teeth cleaned if he tolerates it...

Fortunately, he waited as patiently as possible while it was mommy and Alli's turn and then it was his turn to climb up into the chair and don the awesome sunglasses. I was just sure that he would complain about the bright light in his eyes and get scared when the hygienist turned on the electric tooth polisher (bright light in his eyes and unexpected noises are 2 of his least favorite things), but he surprised me just as he has time and time again in the past at the hair salon and the doctor's office. He was very well behaved and thought the whole experience was fun just like Alli did the first time- phew!!

Now that's cooperation!! She was able to do a quick version of the whole nine yards.

So this video is not as long as I thought it was, but I was just so proud of how well he was doing that I had to capture a little bit on film.

We were all in and out in an hour and had some time to kill before meeting Daddy for lunch. We were about 5 minutes away from the zoo so I decided to take the kids to ride the train through Brackenridge park. I've been wanting to do that for a while and this was the perfect time.

Then we enjoyed a yummy Mexican lunch and had a nice visit with daddy. It was a very successful day all around. Yay!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a lot of fun firsts over Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday, we made our first trip down to Choke Canyon reservoir and did some fishing. Unfortunately, Dwaine wasn't able to catch all the big bass he had read about (he had a boat full of family and a lake full of tournament fishing boats working against him) but we were able to load up on some yummy catfish....
Rainclouds (but no lightning) surrounded us in the afternoon but we thought we had enough time to catch just a few more catfish. We didn't. I started to hear the rain hitting the lake and could see it just off in the distance, so we started packing up as fast as we could, but there was no way we were getting out of there before the rain was on top of us. So we told the kids what was about to happen but assured them it was okay. Thankfully, they were real troopers.

Once we got back to the boat ramp, the rain had stopped so Alli enjoyed playing in the muddy beach which was great 'cause there was a long line of trucks and trailers waiting to pull boats out of the lake.

She didn't want to leave when it was time, but it's a good thing we did 'cause it poured on us on the way home.

Daddy promised Alli she would get another chance to go swimming over the weekend which is how we came up with our plans for Monday (another first)...

We rented a raft and rafted down the Guadalupe river stopping every chance we could to let the kids swim in the river. It was soooo much fun and we all really enjoyed it. I purposely left the camera at home that day. Didn't want to take the risk of my camera ending up in the river and I wanted to be able to just relax and enjoy the experience rather than worrying about digitally capturing the moment. In other words, don't have any pictures to share from our rafting trip, but trust me, it was picturesque!

Tree Climber

I always loved to climb trees as a kid and apparently Alli takes after me in that way...

And yes, she's barefoot too.


This tree is just too inviting not to climb. You can practically walk right up it. Unfortunately, those vines keep you from getting too far.

But that's far enough for now!

Again with the modeling!

Helotes Easter Egg Hunt

Yes, I'm still blogging about Easter and I have a ton of other stuff that has happened since that I need to blog about to, but I have this thing about blogging in order and not moving on to the next thing until I've finished the first so sometimes I get a little (or a lot) behind. It's even bugging me a little that this egg hunt was before Easter Sunday and that post is already up, but I'm over it. I may never get "caught up" but this is at least a step in the right direction. So here goes...

Is this not just about the best Easter bunny pic ever? They were so cooperative. I couldn't believe it!

The hunt itself was nothing too exciting which explains why there are no pics of it. TJ wasn't sure what he was supposed to do and Alli wanted to get in some last minute hugs and kisses from me after they said "go." Not to mention the fact that the city must not have planned for the amount of kids that showed up because there were no where near enough eggs. There were a lot of empty baskets and tears when all was said and done, but thankfully, TJ got 1 egg (with my help) and Alli got 2 and they were happy with that.


Our friends Miss Melissa, Jack and Davis didn't make it in time for the egg hunt (probably a good thing) but joined us afterward. So of course we busted out the cameras and the kids seemed to be more than willing to pose and model. What a nice surprise!


Are these some cute pics or what?

Best of friends!

I think maybe Alli has seen a few too many episodes of America's Next Top Model.

Funny story: We made one last trip to see the Easter bunny after Jack and Davis arrived to get a pic with him and all the kids. The bunny was still on duty for another hour but pretty much all the kids were gone (except us of course). So, after this picture was taken but before we left the area, the volunteers were goofing around with the bunny being silly, giving him noogies, etc.

As Melissa and I were packing up, I noticed Jack staring in the direction of the bunny with a dumbfounded look on his face. So I turned around and saw why he (and Alli now too) looked so shocked. The bunny had removed his head- not cool in front of the kids!!! So we hurried the kids along and tried to make light of it.

Later that evening when Alli was telling Dwaine about her day, she told him "We took a picture with the Easter bunny and then he turned into a person!"

Trying to get a pic of all the kids. This was before they started being so cooperative. TJ was insisting on playing peek a boo and it looks like Davis was not too sure about being held by 4-yr-olds. Oh well, still kind of a cute pic.


Not often that I get a pic of me with one of the kids. I love it!

I won't tell her she'll probably never be tall enough to be "next top model"

Another failed attempt, but I think the interaction between Davis and TJ is just adorable!

Oh yes, Alli got to meet the "princesses" of the Helotes court and get some signed pictures too.

Easter Sunday

We had a really nice, relaxing Easter Sunday- just our family of 4 celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and savior! We went to early service at church where Alli got to sit in big church with us for the first time. Even though she had a little bit of a hard time sitting still and remembering to whisper when she felt it necessary to say something, she absolutely loved it and thinks she's extra special that she got to go to big people church. After all, "4 year olds get to do that, not 2 year olds."The egg hunt was so fun this year now that both kids knew exactly what was going on!

We decided to bust out the tripod to try to get a family pic since it's so rare that we all look this nice at the same time and were thrilled with the results... Our best family photo to date!

Yay!! Chocolate Easter Bunnies!

Mmmmmm! Yummy bunny heads.

This year the Easter Bunny delivered store bought cellophane wrapped Easter baskets - GASP! I know! I never thought he would be so lazy or cheeseball either. But, Dwaine and I both agreed that we thought they were super cool as kids and always secretly wanted one. And, as expected, the kids loved them!

As a matter of fact, there were a ton of neat boy baskets, but I was having a really hard time finding a girl one that didn't have something that we have a ton of already. So, I had Alli pick out her favorite one at the store and told her I would tell the Easter bunny which one she liked. Unfortunately, by the time the Easter bunny went to the store, that basket was no longer there, so he improvised. So when Alli saw her basket on Easter morning she immediately said (in a cheerful tone) "Hey, that's not the one I wanted, but that's okay!" Phew!