The Rest of February!

I want to get caught up on February before March passes me by too!  Here are some pictures from the rest of last month...

The big deal for this month was SNOW!  We've had such a mild winter, but then we got hit with some cold, icy, snow-y weather, which, in Texas, is cause for major excitement/panic.  :)

Give Texas kids half an inch of ice/sleet, and they think it's a winter wonderland.  :)  I love this picture!

The first round of ice/snow was enough to shut everything down for two days, which meant lots of time playing games inside, and even some time spent sledding outside.

We Texans sled in giant plastic tubs.  :)

Pulling the sled back up the icy hill- not an easy task!

Round 2 of snow was actual SNOW, which was more fun for the kids, although they don't look too happy in this picture!

I made Timothy and Eli their first "snow ice cream," which they didn't like too much. I think they were expecting Blue Bell vanilla.  :)

This picture just makes me laugh- I would love it if it was Eli's profile, but instead it's the dog's.  But still- kind of a cool effect.

We had one of Eli's best school friends, Lauren, spend the day with us during their winter break.  I took them to the movies and out to lunch, and they just played together for the rest of the day.  I am so thankful for Eli's good school friends!

And that wraps up February!  May March be way warmer and sunnier!

January 2015 (and some February, too!)

January FLEW by, and we are already more than half-way through February!  Here is a smattering of pictures from the past month and a half...

New Year's Day is always celebrated with homemade Japanese food and games with Eric's family.  I look forward to it all year!

Jonathan and Heather and Jacey and Cooper visited for Christmas.  It was a great visit, and hard to say goodbye.  I miss seeing these five all together most of all.

DRAGONS are all the rage right now!  Eli spent a good chunk of his Christmas break playing with them.  I love watching him and listening to the sound effects.

I love seeing this too.  Though he be crazy, Hank is a really neat addition to our family.

Eli's class had "storybook character day," where they dressed up as a character from a book and then read the book to the class.  The boys are in the picture below.   

This is a bad picture, but moments like this are some of my favorite.  I love looking out the window and seeing these two (Timothy and Eli) talking and laughing and playing together.

More from the "boy with dog" photo series...

We finished January with a Sidekicks game.  Eli LOVES watching indoor soccer!

Last weekend we went camping with our good friends, the Ninos.  The weather was mild and sunny, and we had a fantastic time!

The Wilson boys.  :)

I like this picture.  My favorite thing in the entire world is to hike around the lake at Daingerfield with my family.  

This looks like an advertisement for Ulta.  :)  Ethan and Eli had a great time playing together.

My boy.

My boyS.

I love this picture of Eli laughing.  He looks just like Eric.

The golden hour.

Eli LOVES "Baby Jacob" and spent much of the weekend entertaining him.

Our favorite spot in Texas!

And that wraps up January and half of February!  :)  Love to you!!

December 2014

The final post of 2014!  Crazy!  Heavy on the photos, per usual.  Sorry.  :)

We spent a fun day doing Christmas-y things with two of Eli's favorite friends from school, Victoria and Elise.

We went to "Christmas in the Park" at Westlake Park with our friends the Ninos.  

This is, of course, a horrible picture, but they had a bunch of bounce-house-type slides and obstacle course things, which the boys loved.  

They also had a "Grease the Grinch" game where the kids got to shoot this guy dressed up as the Grinch with paint balls while he ran around and hid behind things in the field.  That sounds ridiculous all typed out, but Eli loved it.  :)

He rode the mechanical bull a few times, too.

And we finished the night off with pony rides.

Look how big our little puppy is!!!

The leaves are finally falling in Texas, and I think the whole neighborhood's worth has blown into our yard!

Eli and Timothy decorated their "treehouse" for Christmas.  :)

And we decorated a bunch of cookies!

And delivered the cookies to Greenway, where our sweet friend Ms. Vergie lives.

My little shepherd, prior to the church Christmas musical.

In action, and looking confused!

Post-performance with Timothy, looking a little worse for the wear.  :)

Eli's first grade class on the last day of school before break.

Eli had the flu right before Christmas, so we had a few slower mornings at home.  

The boys wanted their faces painted like "dragon-trappers."  (They are SUPER into "How to Train Your Dragon" right now.)

Early Christmas morning...

My favorite part- stockings!

I loooooove the expression on his face when he first walks out to see the presents.

He got roller blades, which have gotten MUCH use already!

He also got a toolbox with a bunch of "real" tools from Eric, also a hit.

Opening stocking gifts...

Post-presents.

The Mannings have been here for Christmas, which has been so fun for all of us.  Here are Eli and Jacey on Christmas morning:

Skater.

Hank likes his Christmas present.

The kids have spent so much time together this past week!

They all had a sleepover at my parents' house last night, too.

And that's it for 2014!  Happy, happy new year, with love!