Sand Pit

Friday the 25th was our first official day of summer here. Shawn and I wanted to plan something fun to do with the kids to celebrate. So, Shawn found a neat sand pit place that also had fake dinosaur bones you could dig up. It was mostly covered and the kids really liked it. The neatest thing that happened was when Levi was playing in the sand and actually found a Matchbox car...he was so excited and proud to have unearthed a real treasure! After that, we headed to one of our favorite Splash Pads in the area for a picnic and more water than we knew what to do with! I sure do love living here....there are so many things to do! So excited for many more adventures to come in the next few months!

If you look closely, you can see the car he found to the left of where he's standing.

Levi also found a doodle bug, which I think he became friends with.

Biker Babe

The other night, Shawn and I went on a date to celebrate our 13 year 3 day anniversary.  It's a long story, but it mainly ends with kids getting sick and plans getting canceled until 3 days after our anniversary :)  Anyway, one of the kids favorite people, Sue Nell, came over to watch them while we went out.  When we came home, she informed us that Ava can now ride her bike without training wheels!  We had no idea!  It has been a while since Ava tried riding her bike and definitely not without training wheels because she has never seemed interested in trying without....until the other night!  Sue Nell said she just pretty much got on the bike and started riding like it was what she'd always been doing.  How awesome is that?!  Let's hope this is just one of many many things that Ava will pick up all on her own with no blood, sweat and tears on our part!  Here's to wishful thinking...and the cutest biker babe on the block!

C25K COMPLETED!

Well, after 9 (actually 10 because I did one week twice) weeks of going from nothing at all to running 3 miles, I can officially say I've completed the Couch to 5K training course.  And just keeping it real, I have followed every single walk/run time exactly as it describes...until today.  In this week of C25K the schedule is to run 3 miles..no walking, 3 times this week. Shawn and I decided to run the last one together today and the only time we could do it was smack dab in the middle of the afternoon....we thought we could handle it....we were wrong.  About 1 1/2 miles in, I hit a breaking point.  It wasn't that my body couldn't handle the running...it was the heat.  I just couldn't keep going in the heat.  It's oppressive right now because there is quite a bit of humidity in the air.  In keeping it really real, I then starting bawling...uncontrollably.  I am so hard on myself when it comes to things like this...I demand perfection from myself and it's hard to accept that sometimes I just can't no matter how bad I want to.  I cried for about a block and then started walking like the mad white girl that I was...determined.  Although I felt nauseated and had chill bumps, I kept going.  Shawn quietly walked next to me, and it was nice to know that even though I was a cruddy running buddy today, he was there and wasn't leaving my side.  I fought my walk the other 1 1/2 miles back to the house and somehow with all that walking, only added 4 minutes to my previous days times.  After sitting down on the front porch and letting my body cool off, Shawn confessed that he had wanted to stop before I actually did because of the extreme heat, but kept telling himself "You can't stop!  Emma needs you to keep going!"  It made me feel good that the heat was bad enough that he wanted to stop too...made me feel like less of a wuss.  So, I still feel accomplished and now I'm even more determined than before to run 3 miles more smoothly. But I now have more wisdom....running mid-afternoon through the summer is completely out of the question from now on.  And now, my goal is to continue running 3 miles, 3 times a week until we do the Tough Mudder in October.  I will be running my first officially 5K next weekend and it's a mud obstacle course too.  After Tough Mudder, my goal is to drop it down to 2-2.5 miles 3 times a week.  Who'd have thought???  ***Just was looking at the weather from today and the high was 95 with a heat index of 104...no wonder it felt hot!

1st is done with 2nd

Today was Elle's last day of 2nd grade. It was also her last day at the school she's gone to since Kindergarten. A new school is being built 1/2 mile closer to my house and the lines have been drawn and we are now in a new elementary district. This has been a bittersweet (but mostly bitter) thing to deal with. But, as I always try to do, I have found many positives and am now VERY excited about the road ahead of us. There truly are many wonderful things to list about this change and I'm sure I'll do a post on that as it gets closer to time for school to start up. But for now, I sit here on the eve of SUMMER and think of all the possibilities and the freedom to be childlike for the next 2 1/2 months! Everyone in the house is excited for no more rigid scheduling! Back to Elle...things have been changing ever so subtly lately. One of those small changes is that last night, I taught her how to wash her face. This may seem so minute, but Shawn and I both picked up on it without saying anything, that we are noticing a difference in her. We also rearranged their room this week and gave them each a side of the room to themselves which EVERYONE loves. It has been the perfect transition to a room that is much better suited to older girls. On that front, neither of them wants their dress up clothes anymore...neither of them wants their baby dolls...neither of them wants "baby" toys anymore. I suspect that Ava would be okay keeping some of those things, but she wants to be just like big sis every time I asked if they wanted to keep a certain thing. Their room is transforming from a little girl fantasy suite, to a big girl space. It is all so surreal for me. It's all so abrupt. When going back to look at Elle's 1st day of 2nd grade picture, I have to say, I was totally taken back. I fully expected her to look exactly the same as the last day of 2nd grade picture...but she DIDN'T. She definitely looked younger in the first picture! I was so upset because I truly wasn't expecting to notice a change! Deep breaths Emma. I love all the interesting things that happen as they grow...I just want to make sure that I allow every pore of my body to soak in every single sense of every single moment. I love my calling and am so thankful that I get to focus on the growing up of my kids...even if it is painful sometimes.

 I do solemnly swear to let my kids paint A LOT more this summer!....starting today.

 little monkey

Bought all these blocks for $5 at the resale shop....very good use of $5!!!!

Mawwiage Retreat

Shawn was fortunate enough to be asked to speak at a marriage retreat this last weekend in East Texas. We both felt like this was killing 3 birds with one stone. First, he loves to speak and this was a chance for him to get out there outside of the pulpit and speak. Second, we personally would benefit from this in our own marriage! And last, our kiddos would get to spend a little bit of time with Gramme :) I was completely unaware of exactly how Shawn was going to do this retreat. I gave him a few tiny thoughts, but he pretty much worked up his own thing. I like being surprised when he speaks anyway :) So, we loaded up the kids on Friday around noon and headed towards Tyler. After dropping them off, we ate a quick dinner and headed on up another hour or so to the retreat place. We invited any other couples from our congregation to go with and two accepted the invitation. We had a total of 11 couples attend and it was a wonderful, way to short, weekend. Shawn did a fantastic job presenting a marriage retreat in a way I'd never thought about it. It was a wonderful time for us to stop and really evaluate our marriage and where we each can improve. The retreat facility was great too! It had go-carts which were dangerously fun, as well as a game room with pool tables, air hockey and things like that. We all acted like we were 18 again (some of the couples were close! lol) One thing we realized in this group, is that were the oldest couple, married the longest, and with the most kids....talk about feeling OLD. Ha! There was even one couple there that was one week away from getting married-felt honored to share their last unmarried weekend with them (and no they didn't share the same room!) We got to catch up with our friends the Campbell's who were the ones that invited us to speak. It was great to see them as well as meet new friends, and bond with the couples that came with us. After the retreat we headed back to Tyler to pick up the kids, and take Shawn's mom out to eat for her bday. I wanted SO badly to stay a few more days, but there was just no way. We packed up and headed back for our home...arriving around 10:15 pm. We.were.exhausted. But, it was a wonderful weekend, and I can only hope he gets asked to do another marriage retreat again!

 The whole group

 Me and Marci...friends for 8 years now!

 Valerie, me, and Sherry

 Celebrating 13 years of marriage

Levi and his buddy (his great grandmother!)...these two have a very special bond...only wish we lived closer.

Pre K Graduate

Ava "graduated" from preschool last week.  I'm not sure when there started being so many graduations...preschool, kindergarten, 5th grade, 8th grade, High School and finally college...oh and let's not forget graduating into big girl and big boy undies (we're working towards that in the house right now!)  Anyway, who cares about all those graduations, as long as good cake and punch are served afterwards...I'm there!  Anyway, it was pretty cute to watch all of them in their pint sized caps and gowns and I will say that as I got situated and started looking at the program, it actually hit me.  Like, chin-quiver, chest-heaving, eyes-blurring type of hit me.  Ava is truly about to not be all mine anymore.  In less than 3 months, she will go from being my almost constant shadow (and I mean that literally!) to completely gone for 5 days a week, 7 hours a day!  That is hard to imagine.  She has been a challenge to raise to this point, and requires a lot of patience and attention, but it still is hard for my heart to begin to let her move forward.  That is such a conundrum for moms.  You grow so unbelievably attached to these little creations and then, as part of your job, you are to begin to prepare them to live independently of you.  It's a hard reality but it's also exciting--to watch your child come into their own and begin to be confident and proud to make some of their own decisions.  It's all a mixed up jumble of crazy emotions but I'm so excited for it.  If ever there was a child that not only was ready for Kindergarten but will BLOSSOM wildly from it, it's Miss Ava Kate.

Seriously, she oozes confidence!

I hope you can zoom in on this picture.  She's right in the middle...again with the confidence!

Big thank you to her preschool, where she loved every single minute and become even more ready for Kinder than we thought she could get!

Pickin' Peaches

A few weekends ago, we were able to go down and help throw a birthday party for some of the kids at Central Texas Children's Home. Afterwards, since we were close to San Marcos, we decided to go visit Shawn's uncle and aunt and cousin and see if we could do some peach picking in his uncle's orchard. We got in on the tail end of peach picking time so there wasn't just a whole lot left. I can't tell you the name of every variety we picked, or even every type of fruit we picked...but we picked A LOT and we ate a lot too! The kids absolutely loved being out there. They met Scotty, Shawn's second cousin that is in elementary school and LOVED playing with him. We could have left them there all day and they wouldn't have gotten bored. Shawn aunt and uncle were also wonderful to spend time with, as always. It was a great day and we look forward to going back again...maybe soon!

Hanging out in Uncle Cliff's peach truck....we had to tear him away!

A little visit

Shawn's brother and family came and stayed with us this weekend. Chad's wife Lesley was here to celebrate her dad's retirement. We were excited that they got to stay with us! 

 Let's start with my newest niece Ivy...she's just getting to the really fun stage.  She was so sweet and cute and obviously smart, since she wears big glasses.  My favorite thing about her besides her wardrobe, which I envy, was that fact that just about anything you did made her smile with her whole face...a real ego boost for me!

In unrelated news, Sunday was our 1st Sunday potluck and I made these.  I knew it would start a riot and it just about it...."WHAT!???  Bacon on a CUPCAKE!!!  Well I never...."  It was great....and people were mystified until they actually took a bite...then the adoration poured in.  These were great!  They were Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Cinnamon frosting and although they were a catastrophe when they came out of the oven, it wasn't anything a little (or lot) of icing couldn't fix.

 We got to go over to Lesley's dad's house Sunday afternoon and go swimming, and eat leftover BBQ from the party the day before.  That was pretty wonderful and relaxing.  It was the perfect end to a good day and a good weekend.

Indian Food

We have a missionary from India that our congregation supports. He is one of the most dynamic speakers I've ever heard and every time he visits I get that fire in my bones to go do mission work! He is a captivating speaker and better than anything else, it seems that his system of evangelizing and converting those in India is WORKING! We were talking to our kids about him and trying to give them an idea of what happens when we give a missionary money and how that helps the work he's doing so we thought we'd go to an Indian restaurant to get a little bit of a better idea of what kind of culture our missionary lives in. We did some research and Shawn found a restaurant called Tarka Indian Kitchen. I would highly recommend it if Indian food is a new thing to you. It was exactly what we needed for all of our American tastebuds. We tried a little bit of everything and loved just about all of it.

  We started with an appetizer called Samosa Chaat.  The description was "classic indian street fare! Samosas topped with onions, garbanzo beans, raita, chutneys and roti crisps.  An adventure for the tastebuds!"  And boy was it ever.  All kinds of flavors swimming around in this dish and though I didn't know half of what I was chewing, it was great!

 Then the rest of our food came.  We just ordered two main meals and split it between all of us. 

 I ordered the Shredded Lamb Tark Naanini--a play on the word panini except they used Naan bread which is their common bread.  It was great!  The girls didn't like the lamb meat.
Shawn ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala (mild!) and it was much like a rich tomato soup with cut up chicken.  We all loved that and the girls were slurping it up like nobody's business and dipping the Naan in it. 

Then came dessert.  We ordered two things: Ras Malai which was "delicate cheese patties served in sweetened cream infused with cardamom."  I thought it was GROSS with a capital G!  It tasted like someone had poured rose smelling perfume into the liquid and that's all I could taste.  All the girls thought it was gross and both boys liked it!  The second thing we ate was called Gulab Jaman which was "a traditional deep fried milk pastry served warm in a rosewater-honey syrup."  This one reminded me of a fried donut hole sitting in veggie oil...except the veggie oil tasted like if you took and entire thing of cotton candy and melted it down and drank the liquid (oh and add a touch of rose flavor.)  SUPERSWEET!!!  It wasn't bad, but I just didn't expect what it was.  I wouldn't mind it again, but maybe I'd squeeze out some of the liquid before gobbling it up.  Anyway that's our culinary adventure for the day.  We definitely were very glad we went and it made us see our missionary in another light.  It also made our tastebuds come alive and now we want more....more of anything that's different than American all the time.  There is a Greek cafe here in town that we've always wanted to try out, and now we feel like we have the courage to do it!

Drifting

A few days ago our friend John from church asked me if my family would like to go out on the lake this week on his boat. I'm pretty sure that before he got the whole question out I had already said YES! None of the kids have every been on a boat and it's been quite a while for me and Shawn. So we packed up at least enough towels and food to last us a week, and headed to the lake to meet John. We had a wonderful time out on the lake today. We spent about 3 hours out there and it went by like 10 minutes! The weather was wonderful and we got to almost watch a full sunset. The kids all LOVED it and can't wait to go again. I did ask each of the girls what their favorite part was. Elle said "Steering the boat!." Ava said "Eating our food and playing in the water after we got back to the boat ramp." lol Enjoy a few snapshots.

 Although it looks as though I'm catching Levi as he attempts to dive overboard, in reality he wanted to play in the water so I'm holding him overboard and letting him.  I had a REALLY tight grip!

 Hold onto your hat Biggie!!  We were going full throttle!

 A view from my seat--I could have stayed on that boat all day...give me a good book and a pillow and I'd be set! (a fishing pole and bait would have been okay too!)

 Ava driving the boat :)

 Dinner on the lake

 Levi had us doing donuts in the middle of the lake

 If Elle can drive a car half as good as she drove the boat, we're in for smooth sailing in about 8 years!