A few things...

• First of all: Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms , Grandmoms, future moms!
• I am excited to report that my sweet husband and kids got me a membership to Lifetime Fitness, the plan is for it to be a summertime membership. We went tonight to tour the facility and oh man!, it is impressive!!
• I never did write anything about how our house did sell, closing went smoothly and we are so relieved to have that behind us now! That was such an answer to prayer!!
• Last week a friend (who is moving away- sad) and I took all the kids to the park near our house and as we were unloading everyone from the cars, a local newscaster approached us and asked if he could interview us for a story on kids and heat related illness. So we were on the news! It was embarrassing to watch, so sorry no links to see it.
• On Friday Ashlyn had her Preschool Spring Program, and the grandparents all came to watch. It was so cute, and their songs were adorable. Here she is singing 'Slippery Fish'

"oh no! he got eaten by a humongous whale!"

"Mom, you are embarrassing me!"

Ashlyn and her grandparents

photos from our fun weekend

Friday in the early afternoon we went to the TDS wildlife ranch with my brother, this was Ashlyn's 4th visit, my 3rd, Ben's 2nd, and Paul's 1st...

All of us with Stretch

(The rhino that Ben could hardly wait to see)

Friday evening we went the UT baseball game (which they lost to Kansas St.- boo!) The Rampys met us there, and between us there were 5 kids ages 4mos-4yrs. The net behind the plate is shorter than I remember, so I actually paid a lot of attention to the game- I was afraid someone was going to get hit by a foul ball. Ben watched too, and he loved all the peppy songs they played during the game. Ashlyn and the twins were mostly loud and not still. That is until the bottom of the 8th inning, when those who are NOT my kids were tired. Then it was only Ashlyn who was all riled up!

Sunday we went out to lunch after church with a few other families. It would have been cute to get at least 1 picture of all 7 kids, but by the time we were finished eating we were well into nap time!! So here are pictures that we DID take on Sunday...

This one is the new background on the desktop.

Spending time with Benjamin

This is his super sweet camera smile! Check out those sharp teeth!! You may also notice that he got a haircut- I didn't want it quite so short, but the new look is growing on me.

I can't believe that Ben is over 22 months old! He's not really a baby anymore. It didn't take very long for him to get this old. Days when Ashlyn is in preschool, Ben and I spend quality time together- usually just the 2 of us. I really enjoy having our one-on-one time and Ben seems to as well.

This post is one of those 'I don't want to forget the stuff he does at this age' posts. He is getting more and more energetic... today we were in a store and he jogged alongside me the entire time we were there!! I am very fortunate: this boy listens really well and he stays right with me w/o much effort. When we take Ashlyn to gymnastics he sits right next to me on his own chair and watches the kids for the entire 45 minutes. He has started to ask for food (finally!) and he usually asks goldfish or "pips"-chips.

Although he is remarkably self controlled for a young boy of his age, he still is learning some of the rules. He is tall enough that he can see & reach into drawers and last week he pulled out a blue permanent marker and proceeded to color all over the floor! I was frantically wiping off the floor with a Clorox wipe while lecturing him that "we only color on paper!" He always responds with "Okay!" No arguments, no tears, just "okay." He is developing some 2 yr old tendencies: when it's bathtime, he loses use of his legs and drops to the floor and sits there with his eyes glazed over.

The most common things Ben says:

"okay" and I only wish you could hear him say it

"bop it!"- meaning stop it and almost ALWAYS directed at sister

"hide!"

"Hush Bark - y!" (our dog barks alot)

"Ashin c'mon!"

"Molly!!" (this is his answer to any question that includes the word "Who...?"

"Outside!"

"I love pips!"

"juice peease"

"watch me" or "watch this"

"aaaaay-m-iiiii-n!" (he says his own prays at bedtime and mealtimes and ends them with a long amen)

"Ina watch Einsteins!" as in Little Einsteins which he requests all day every day- at home, in the car, at the store.....

I think I have mentioned this before, he sings ALL of the time- it is precious!! His current favorite songs include Jesus Loves Me, the Little Einsteins theme song, Rock-a-Bye Baby, and still- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

My sweet little boy- I LOVE HIM!

Crazy...

...That is how life has been around here lately!

First, someone has made an offer on our San Antonio house. We are praying that everything goes smoothly- our close date is set for the end of next week. So please feel free to join us in praying for the sale of our house. Last week we drove back and forth emptying out the rest of our belongings (which were all our most valuable and heaviest things), loading up the U-Haul, and getting the house spic-n-span. Tuesday thru Saturday were extremely stressfilled days for us. Even though the house hasn't officially sold yet we are so relieved to have put the last "move" from San Antonio behind us.

And then of course there was Easter! Love this holiday!! I love celebrating that Jesus is risen, and I love that Ashlyn and Benjamin get so excited about it too. We hope that we do a good job as parents to put the emphasis where it belongs- on our Savior... and not on the candy and cute outfits, even though that part is fun too.

So now I have some catching up to do:

Since the last time I posted Ashlyn had western day at preschool.

2 weekends ago I went to an Antique Show in Roundtop with a few friends from church. We had so much fun, and I just happened to run into Annalee while I was there which was a wonderful surprise!

3 weekends ago I got to see my friend JoElla when they invited us over to her parent's house for dinner. It was a blast being back where I spent most every weekend from middle school through highschool, being able to visit, and finally meeting her husband!! Sorry it has taken us so long to get together Jo! While all that was going on, our third amigo Tamera is laying in a hospital bed recovering from a fairly dramatic delivery of her baby boy, whom I can't wait to meet!

Well I guess life is crazy for just about everyone!

A busy Spring Break... in pictures

Pink HydrangeasI love Spring! All the pretty blooming flowers, wonderful fragrances, and the warm weather- it all puts a smile on my face. One day I would love to plant Mountain Laurels (the ones that smell like candy) that bloom in the spring and hot pink Crepe Myrtles to bloom in the heat of the summer. Although I love to gaze upon lovely gardens and manicured lawns, I myself do not have as much of a green thumb as I would like. That being said, I am giving it a go again this year. This Spring Break week, my mom came over and helped us plant a flower garden in the shady spot off our porch. Of course the kids wanted desperately to help...

It took me 2 whole days,but I also managed to rake our yard. We have never had such a big yard, and I now remember why- my muscles are still sore! On trash day we put out 17 lawn refuse bags- much more than anyone else in the neighborhood, I was a little surprised that they picked them all up.

Later in the week, a friend and I took our kids to the San Antonio Zoo. During spring break the zoo is apparently always SUPER crowded! Here are all the kids loaded up in the van.The big girls getting on their sunscreen

We love the zoo!

That evening I played slowpitch softball with both of my brothers and my brother's fiance. It was a family affair... even my parents came to watch. We did win the game, but again my muscles are so sore!

For the weekend we packed up and went out to Llano to stay with some friends at their parent's ranch. It was so fun- the kids loved seeing all the livestock. Right after breakfast they went out to feed the cows from the front yard. Benjamin even let a huge heffer eat right out of his hand (the cow's tongue wrapped all the way around his arm!)

We didn't go straight home from Llano... we went to San Antonio next to attend cousin Payton's birthday party, and did some cleaning at our San Antonio house. Finally that evening we headed back to home. Sunday, we got back to our normal routine: made it to church, class, and even went out to lunch with some friends!

Whew! This has been a busy week!!

to explain the following Videos

Last Thursday we had some major water heater woes, which thankfully have been resolved. We had to spend all Friday morning at the house while the plumber was here so we were looking for something to keep everyone occupied. It was the perfect opportunity for me to video-document some of the newest things that the kids do.

To explain the videos:

The first one is the ABC's... please pardon the barking dog in the background, the plumber was making Barkley a little anxious.

Set up for the second video: the current favorite game to play is Hide-and-go-seek. Although they only have 2-3 hiding spots accessible (without the help of a parent) Ash & Ben play this game together well. It has taught Ben to count too- to 20! However the "Counting" video only shows them counting from 1 to 18. I take what I can get...

ABC's

Counting

Such a great age!

I was telling a friend the other day that I just love the ages that my kids are now:

18-24mos is so fun- they are so sweet, want to please you, are learning so much, talking... Benjamin says something new everyday and if I can't understand what he is saying, Ashlyn can translate. He copies EVERYTHING he hears. The newest phrase that we hear repeatedly is "I had it first!" If he doesn't know what else to say, that is his go-to response. He's not the only one saying it either. Looks like I am going to have to start reading a new book now.

4 years is also so fun. They understand the rules, are increasingly independent, can be very helpful, are so energetic, extremely inquisitive, and absorb information like a sponge...

During bathtime Ashlyn has been memorizing the names of the bones in the human skeletal system. She fell and skinned her knee the other day and told me immediately that she had hurt her "patella"- knee cap. At her Dr's visit today she impressed the pediatrician with her medical knowledge.

Cherishing these moments while they are these sweet ages!

4 years old!

My baby is 4!!!! Ashlyn's birthday was on Sunday, and we had her party at the Children's Museum on Saturday. It was a lot of fun except that I was unaware of a boyscout parade going on downtown that morning which severely affected the parking situation. (When I booked the date of the party my choices were between last Saturday and the day of the 3M marathon... I chose the 7th to avoid parking headaches- ha!)

One thing in particular that I'm very thankful for since we have moved are all the little girl friends that Ashlyn has. In San Antonio ALL her close friends were boys, which is perfectly fine at the age she is at, but kids do grow up.... I think Ashlyn really enjoyed her party although we still do have some parenting work to do about how to be nice to friends AND family at the same event- she was a little preoccupied with all those pals to be nice to anyone else. She is extremely extroverted/social and thrives on the relationships that she has with other people- even at the age of 4!

Later, after the party, the cousins hung around long enough to go to the Arboretum and feed the ducks with us. Apparently the weather was pretty enough out that lots of other people had the same idea, so all the ducks and geese were well fed and not too interested in us. That didn't deter the older ones from chasing them all around the "lake" trying to force feed them slices of bread.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLYN! LOVE YOU!