Randoms from April

04 Apr - Derek loves giving Clara piggy-back rides... on all fours!

06 Apr - I love having short hair!

06 Apr - Silly girl. She loves hats and I guess she made her own out of paper 

14 Apr - Bryce drew a whale with chalk on the back patio. He was so proud of himself!

18 Apr - Apples went on sale, so Bryce and Clara helped me make applesauce and peach apple butter to can.

 18 Apr - YUM!

 19 Apr - Apparently Ace doesn't like lawnmowers. He barked constantly when both neighbors mowed their lawns at the same time, so I brought him in to calm down. He just needed to be close to someone. :)

Houston had a horrible flood over the last few days (17 Apr - 20 Apr), but it made for a beautiful photo of the temple. 

22 Apr - Clara loves new clothes!

22 Apr - She doesn't look like a baby here! :(

26 Apr - Our Blurb books came in! I finally finished 2011, 2012, and 2013. :D

29 Apr - Derek chose a very interesting sleeping position tonight, haha!!

Derek's First Musical Performance

We were so excited to see Derek in her first musical performance! All the kindergartners participated in the performance called, "Tea with Queen Caroline." The principal, Mrs. Glenda Dophied, played the role of Queen Caroline while the children sang to her and Jack and Jill carried her crown. There were lots of giggles and the poor music teacher had a hard time keeping the children's attention, but that made it all the sweeter for me. I loved seeing how much fun all the kids were having. We were so blessed to have family come out to support Derek. Emeri sat on my lap so she could see better and helped me take pictures on my phone. I loved having that sweet time with her. :)

 Derek's creepy Joker smile. :S

 That's my boy!

 Derek is definitely one of the tallest kids and he did a great job standing still while the music teacher introduced the theme for the musical.

 He made us laugh when standing still clearly became too much for him, haha!

 Me and my lovely assistant!

 Derek did a great job smiling and singing

 Yay family!

 The regal Queen Caroline was serenaded by her sweet chorus

 Derek and his principle, Mrs. Glenda Dophied

We love our family! So glad that they could make it out to support Derek.

Gone to Keller

We had a great time at Nana's house today. Aunt Bella came up for the weekend and I took the kids out to Nana's to surprise them. It's always a party at Nana's house! The kids stuffed themselves with fruit snacks, chocolate kisses and banana-blueberry pie that Aunt Bella brought special from San Antonio. Definitely a hit with Bryce. After a fantastic grilled sandwich lunch Aunt Val cooked us, we went down to a nearby park to play off the calories. Derek and Aunt Bella made a beeline for the "high-rise-merry-go-round," as Danny calls it. That was definitely the more popular toy. Bryce and Clara were content to go down the slides or swing on the swings. After a while, we took a stroll down a nearby path where the kids found a "path" in the tall, tall grass, haha. Derek led the way down the path to look for Bigfoot and the kids came tearing back, insisting that Bigfoot was looking at them, haha! We went back to Nana's and watched "Planes" and "The Aristocats" while Aunt Val and Aunt Amy cooked another amazing meal for us. Thanks for a great time!!! :D

Stuffing her face with "Frozen" fruit snacks from the comfort of Danny's lap

 Making funny faces

 Derek and Aunt Bella tackled the high-rise-merry-go-round

 Aunt Amy helped Clara take a turn while Nana provides counter-balance

 Maybe she's born with it... maybe it's... well, yeah, she's born with it.

 "Hey, watch this!" He jumped from the top of the rock wall before we realized what he was doing. :S

 Woohoo! That's my adventure-lover. No fear.

 Blast off!

 Aunt Val helped Clara on the swing

 Bryce loves swinging on the swings with Nana

 My sweet little girl. She knows she's cute!

 Aunt Amy figured out how to take it to the next level on the merry-go-round with Danny and Bella

 Danny took a turn too! Aunt Amy and Aunt Bella provided counter-balance.

 Derek wanted in on the action, too, so Danny spotted him while Aunt Bella provided spin

 Balancing act

 Clara tried her hand at the rock wall

 Derek pulled himself up the rock wall - no footholds necessary

 King of the Hill!

 This is how we start whack-a-mole, lol

 Stop growing. Stop it.

 My tender-hearted teddy bear. He's my go-to cuddle bug.

 I guess this mole got whacked

 Aunt Val climbs the tower to rescue Rapunzel

 You can usually gauge Bryce's concentration level by how involved his tongue is... he's concentrating (byt not too hard) here, lol. He gets that from his daddy. ;)

 Swinging is fun... til your nephew walks out in front of you. No brakes!!!

 Derek loves to help, but he pushed Clara waaaay too high!

 Time for a walk!

 Her pants started falling off with every step!

 Danny tried to catch the attempted nudist

 "Saggin' like an H-town thug," says Aunt Bella! :D

 Aunt Val graciously offered to carry Clara so her pants would stay on

 "We're following the leader, the leader, the leader - we're following the leader wherever he may go!"

 Searching for signs of Bigfoot

Solution: hold your pants up when you run :)

 We had a blast bouncing a ball around in the driveway.

 Interception!

 Clara was getting pretty good at throwing the ball straight at Amy's face, lol.

 Oops...

 Poor Brycie Bryce took one straight to the nose

 Luckily, Aunt Bella (and Aunt Val) were there to comfort him

 Look at that sad little face! Clara came over to comfort him too

There was a lot of this too, haha!!