the heart of a 6 1/2 year old...

i feel so blessed to be a mom of a son and a daughter... it is like having the best of both worlds... there are times when life was and is hard but thankfully the good days far out way the tough days...there are things that i love about having a son and things i enjoy doing with him and then there are things that i love about having a daughter and things i enjoy doing with her too... there are days when being a mom is tough and it is the hardest job i have ever had but thankfully it is the most rewarding and i so blessed to be given the opportunity to be a mom...

my baby girl is finishing up her first year of real school... big ole kindergarten... it just seems like yesterday she was all smiles and i was all tears as she hopped on that bus and road off to school... and now in 8 short weeks she will be a first grader......she is motherly... always willing to take care of others... ...creative and lover of all things arts and crafty...

...a fashionista, shopper, and is all about clothes and shoes...

...soft hearted... ....enjoys learning and all things school....

...not one for sweat and dirt... ...yet has discovered a love for cheerleading...

...fun loving...

...easily motivated....

...wise beyond her years....

...loves to play with others... yet great at playing by herself...

..enjoys baby dolls, littlest pet shop...

... my junk food eater... lover of all things sweet...

... carb a holic... would eat mac and cheese and bake potatoes everyday...

...dependable...

... always willing to help...

that is the heart of my six and a half year old

(scroll down for heart of an almost eight year old)

the heart of (an almost) 8 year old...

it doesn't seem right... how can my baby boy be turning 8 in about a month... how did he grow up and get to be so big right before my very eyes... why it is that the days seem so long but the years seem so short...

he is hard headed while learning life lessons...just not always the easy way...

...my little question machine...inquisitive about all things...

... he is my talker... he has lots of say...

...an analytical thinker... always finding a way...

...athletic...great sportsmanship...yet competitive...

... a leader in the classroom and on the field...

...lover of math... reading not so much...

...has a huge heart... concerned about others...

...outgoing...never met a stranger...

...my little preacher man...

...his prayers can give most preachers a run for their money...

...would eat meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and rolls for every meal...

... can cook a mean waffle and a great pancake flipper...

...water drinker... passes on all soft drinks... but lover of sweet tea...

...chooses balls and bikes over trains and action figures...

...sports fanatic... especially all things crimson tide...

...always willing to lend a helping hand... this is the heart of my seven (almost 8 year old)

Spring Break Part 2

the rest of our spring break was just that a nice break {especially for mommy and daddy}...unfortunately I don't have any pictures to prove it :( thursday was daddy day care day since mommy had to work some during spring break... Got to keep those customers happy friday gogo was off so she and I packed a picnic lunch and headed to the leeds park to play... it was a great day to spend at the park... we all enjoyed getting a little sun too... then jax and bry got to go to the gym and swim in the indoor pool during kid swim... they were so excited that was one of the things on their "spring break list" saturday Jackson played in a baseball jamboree game and then jackson and brylee left with granny and pap pap to go spend some time at the lake with them... this is when spring "break" started for mommy and daddy :) i went and did a little shopping saturday afternoon by myself and then I enjoyed a pedicure... I ran into kk at the nail place once we got our toes done we went and enjoyed some chips and dip outside at icantina... It was so nice just to sit outside and enjoy the evening... Richard joined us later and then he and I headed over to the eilers and enjoyed some much needed patio time... it was a great day/evening... sunday after church I enjoyed a quite lunch at home and some rest time on the couch { this is when I should have been cleaning my house and doing laundry... but relaxing was way more fun} then I rode with Richard to sell ice-cream... I had so much fun making some little kids day being the "ice cream man / lady"... I love seeing how excited the kids get ;) and I love seeing some of our friends too (hello jones family)... then I went to run my 9 miles... {i think it has been a while since I talked about running on here... But yes I am still training and my half is in less than 2 weeks... all my running buddies bailed on me... For good reasons of course but i am still running it... I am really ok with running alone I actually prefer it... I got a new pair of shoes and wow the difference that makes I feel like I am running on pillows... I have missed some of my shorts runs due to busyness but I had tried to get my long runs in... training with a busy family is not always easy to fit in... I am getting excited I can't wait to cross the finish line... I laughed and told Richard surely I can finish it in the 4 hour time limit ha ;)... It took me 1 hr 55 min to run 9 miles yesterday surely I can fit 4 more miles in 2 hours... He has full confidence in me ... He said if it was easy everyone would be doing it... I guess he is right... Can't wait to put my 13.1 pink sticker on my car... I am not one for stickers on my car but I will be proud of that one ;)} Hubby and I enjoyed our weekend together... What a nice break... We were refreshed and glad to see our babies... A little break is good for us all! ;) After work today we drove to the lake, enjoyed a homecooked meal, and picked the kiddies up from granny and pap pap good and tired... It did not take them long to fall asleep on the way home. Well that wraps up our spring break... This might be the worlds longest post with no pictures... Are y'all asleep yet too! ps.... I think it is pretty cool that I just typed this post on the way home from the lake on my new iPhone since Verizon finally decided to offer then... As for the iPhone... It's a love / hate relationship there are things that I love about it and there are things I am going to have to get used too but overall I don't miss my blackberry too much ! ;) happy spring... here's to 9 more weeks til SUMMER!!!!!!

Spring Break Part 1...

we are enjoying a low key spring break around here... we don't really have any big plans which i am ok with... we know there is so much to do locally that we don't always get to do so we are just doing some fun things things each day... this past weekend was the first time Holy Cow Ice Cream made a visit to some of the local neighborhoods... it was a nice weekend and there were lots of little eager ice cream customers outside playing... (i still can't believe we really have an ice cream truck ha! :) )

brylee got to be daddy's little ice cream helper...

Monday night it was pouring down rain so we decided that would be a good movie night... jackson, brylee and i went to see the Justin "Beaver" movie in 3-D... what a fun little movie... Today we went to eat at LaPaz (my favorite mexican place) and then went to the McWane Center... which was not the best idea b/c I think everyone in the state was there today... it was PACKED... so we really did not get to do much but the kids still had fun... The Backyardigans were there... not that brylee is "into" that but she is a sucker for a picture with a cute pink stuffed animal... and that is what she got... for a 2 hour wait... seriously we waited 2 hours to get this "silly picture"... oh me oh my the things we do for our kids! :) We are not really sure what we are going to do the rest of the week but i know we are enjoying sleeping "late" and staying up late; eating out; and other fun activities... just being able to go and do and not have to worry about it being a "school night"! Happy Spring Break! :)

i am over it.....

tonight i am going outside the "blogger box"... instead of writing about all the things i love and all the fun things we have done... i am getting real tonight...{consider that as your warning for what is below}... -i am over today... -i am over this weather... what happen to our beautiful spring weather we had??? -i am over second grade homework... who flippin' cares how many words he reads per minute, or how many minutes we read a book each night... what if we don't want to read 20 minutes, what if we want to read 10 tonight and 30 tomorrow or what if we just want to read a book or what if we just don't want to read at all... does it really matter? - i am over kindergarten homework too... for the love we are in kindergarten... we have the next 12 years to have homework... what if we don't want to write sentences with sight words on tue night, or read books full of sight words and rhyming words, or go over the sight word ring for the 100th time... - i am over doing laundry... it is a never ending process... i think we have enough laundry to cloth half of africa - i am over my house looking like a bomb went off in it - i am over cleaning my house...it is never clean no matter what I do - i am over not having a maid - i am over my hair i am about to chop it all off -i am over all my clothes... even though I got some new clothes this weekend the weather has been so yucky I can't even wear them - i am over not having a tan... mr sunshine please come out! - i am over my make up... I need some new colors - i am over that fact that my husband and I are about to be married for 10 years... 8 years of which we have been parents and we have not been anywhere together without the kids for more than 2 nights... we will be doing something about that this year!!!! - i am over trying to think of something to do during spring break...it would make things easier if spring break would actually be in the spring instead of the freezing cold rainy season! So... what are you over???

what a week... TGIF!!!!!

we have a busy busy week with lots of fun activities going on... i am very thankful today is FRIDAY and that i am going on a GIRLS WEEKEND... there is lots of r & r, shopping, and dining in my future i am SO READY!!!!

grandparents breakfast at the school...

second grade field trip to botanical gardens...

this is what a bunch of boys think about flowers...

what did they do before ipods....

brylee had her cheer party at jump zone

she had great time with all her cheer buddies...

so excited about her trophy...jackson's basketball team party at the park...

and look who showed up at the park... if you look real close you might just recognize the ice cream man! :)

my hubby has talked about being the ice cream man for three years... he is a teacher by trade so he has the perfect job that allows him to be the ice cream man and we have lived in our community for 5 years and have seen the ice cream man a total of 3 times... so we saw the need for sure... a few conversations later, a business partner, and a hunt for the perfect truck... it all paid off because he is officially the ice cream man... Holy Cow Ice Cream! :) we are so excited! :)

Happy Friday! I hope you have a great weekend! I plan on returning to rested and relaxed!