Dad's 60th Birthday Bash!

In July we celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday at the Kemah boardwalk with lots of family and had a great time!
My mom and dad- married 40yrs!!! It's not often that we are ALL together with kids AND husbands, so this was a very special and worthwhile occasion. In this picture: Alli Jean, Me, April, Marcie, the birthday boy, Gavin and my mom with TJ. So apparently the husbands didn't make it into any pictures, but they were there!

Pawpaw leading all his grand kids out to the patio to watch the boats.

Cade and TJ enjoying the music and dancing at Joe's Crab Shack. Cade is such a sweet boy that loves to play with and guide the younger kids.


Okay, this video is so my dad. He has always been tons of fun and loves to make others laugh. And those dance moves haven't changed much :-)

It's moments like this that make me wish Alli and TJ could live closer to their cousins. How sweet is that?

We were chased out by some nasty thunderstorms and I was really bummed that I didn't get to ride the roller coaster with my dad, but we did catch a great street performer that TJ just stood and stared at in awe (hope he wasn't getting any ideas), and all the kids had fun petting the stingrays at the aquarium.

Most importantly, we were together enjoying each other's company, having fun and celebrating the man who made it all happen together with my mom. Thank you Daddy for being such an awesome dad and Pawpaw. Thank you for everything that you taught me, the values you instilled in me, and all the love and support you have offered over the years.

I love you!

Wonderfully Made

But Jesus called the children to Him and said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

Luke 18:16

She was able to do this with no help or prompting after just a couple days of listening to her new bible songs and stories CD at bedtime. Wow- their little brains are capable of learning and remembering so much more than we realize!

She started randomly singing this the other day after having been at Kid's Day Out. I thought it was hilarious!

Fun in the Backyard Pool

Our Movie Adventure

We went to the movies a while back to catch one of the free family features only to find out that they were sold out. The only other kid's movie out was UP in 3D, so I decided to fork over the money (3D movies are expensive btw- those glasses are not free- thank goodness TJ was)....

So here's how it went...

-The kids spent a lot of time covering their eyes to not be scared of the pack of vicious dogs and the evil man with a sword.

-Alli kept commenting on how loud it was and that they should really turn it down.

-Alli did not want to wear her giant 3D glasses and so I worried about that fact that she was staring at a fuzzy screen the whole time.

-I cried a few times about the man's deceased wife.

-And TJ BALLED when the man finally let his house go with all the memories of his wife (wow- I never thought he understood the plot as much as he did or was so emotionally invested in it).

All that being said, we stayed for the entire movie enjoying our popcorn and snacks, had a great time and would highly recommend the movie (unless of course your kids are afraid of dogs). It was a really touching story and a fun little family adventure.

You Don't See It

TJ approached me as a I was checking emails at the computer with the chocolate syrup and a cup in his hands and requested chocolate milk. As I followed him to the kitchen, he said...

"Don't see that spill, mom"

"Uh oh," I thought.

"Did you spill something, TJ?"

"No, momma, don't see the spill. You don't see it momma."

But I did see it- milk on the floor in front of the fridge.

It was a nice try, but the power of suggestion was not enough. He's going to have to get a little more creative hiding his oops in the future.

Aqua Man

He rarely ventures off of the steps into deeper water, but he's prepared just in case.

A Great Idea

After coming home from kid's day out, Alli decided she wanted to turn their crafts from that day into hats. So, that's what we did. She was very excited about how tall her hat was.

July 4th Weekend

This year we spent the July 4th weekend with our perfect family match, the Westinghouse family. I call them our perfect family match because Dwaine and Corry are good friends and grew up together, Steph and I have been good friends since junior high and our kids are almost exactly the same ages. Everyone has a friend and we all get along great. The only problem is that they live about 4 hrs away and we don't get to see them as often as we would like. So, we really enjoyed getting to spend the holiday weekend together...

And, because Shelby's birthday is on the 3rd, we also had the privilege of celebrating her birthday with her!

Yummy cookie cake.



Shelby and TJ playing Littlest Pet Shop. Who says they are only for girls?

Autumn and Alli looking so adorable in their matching dresses.


Lots of fun was had by all on the water slide.

And I don't just mean the kids...

I love the action shot of Autumn trying to avoid getting wiped out by Corry.

Now that's hot...

I mean the grill of course!

Who likes fireworks?

What's better than celebrating the 4th with the Westinghouse family. Celebrating with 2 Westinghouse families!! Derik and his kids were able to join us for some fun too!

From L to R: Audrey, Autumn, Shelby, Travis, Alli, TJ & Dwaine

What an awesome, fun group of kids!

TJ doing his best to protect his ears and not be scared of the loud noise.

We also got to head to Pearland to spend some time swimming and visiting with my family.

Lainey putting as much style into her jump as possible. These girls are little fish and absolutely love swimming which is great for Alli to be around 'cause then she gets a little more brave in the pool.

Having fun with Lainey. She is one of the sweetest little girls ever!

Dwaine imitating one of Alli's crazy jumps.

My big girl doing her best to keep up with Maddy and Lainey. We were so proud of her and she had a BLAST!

Pawpaw having a little fun of his own spraying all of us while he was manning the BBQ pit.

"Aunt Julie, watch this!"

Loving on all my girls.

TJ enjoyed all the attention from Aunt April.

Then we went back for round 2 of fireworks with the Westinghouse clan and a bath before bed.

Everybody had so much fun. As a matter of fact, Alli asked if we could just buy their house and live there and I'm pretty sure she meant friends, toys and all.

Crazy Neighbors

You never know what you might get when you drive by the Dement house...

Just a typical evening. Our poor neighbors!

Splashin'

The kids having fun at the Pearland splash pad during a visit to see Grandma and Pawpaw. Why do we not have splash pads around here? Seems like they are all over the place in the Houston area and the kids love them...

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).