Houston Zoo

Bennett invited one of his friends to the zoo with us earlier this week. I have found some sort of "relief" with the fact that he is finally making friends...even if it is a girl. These two get along SO well....

They loved being together, and Miles thought he was totally part of the friendship.

She was cold at the zoo so Bennett offered her his jacket...a gentleman in the making!!



We had so much fun with Esther- Bennett has been asking since if she can come over and play. We loved having her with us-

Surfside Beach~

Saturday morning we decided to head to the beach...(it is only 35 minutes away). We had so much fun and spent ALL day out at the beach! We went and grabbed a beach tent where we cross our fingers and hoped that Miles would take a nap (didn't happen) or possibly even Bennett (not a chance) but it was nice having the shade!

It took Miles all day until he felt comfortable touching the sand...and then the last hour or so he spent running as fast as he could into the water and throwing himself at the waves.

The kids loved playing in the sand, and everyone got real sandy.



By the car ride home everyone was exhausted. Miles crashed the whole way home- and Bennett was just dieing to go to bed. We bathed the kids as soon as we got home, ate dinner, then while Bennett was waiting for everyone to finish he actually fell asleep while playing with the blinds. He was running his fingers up and down the blinds (guess it was a soothing sound?) and feel backwards onto the ground!! Poor sweet kid was so so so tired. It was a blast though and we will be going back!

Big Date

In our family we have decided that when our daughter is ready, when she feels like she is ready to become a "big girl" she can get her ears pierced. I specifically didn't want to hold an age limit...we have talked about how in our family you can have the choice to get your ears pierced, one hole in each ear. ANYWAY- on Friday Bennett was at a play date with his new friend Esther (she is darling...pictures to come soon) and HAlle decided that she wanted to get her ears pierced. So we up and went!
Before:

During:

And After!

She is so proud of herself, and now has decided since she is a big girl she has to help out around the house more. (Hey I will take it)

Bennett's Soccer

These past two months Bennett has been involved in a soccer team, and has loved it (great change from Halle's version of soccer). It was so nice and fun- a mom put it together and we met on Friday mornings. THe kids had a 30 minute practice and then a game. This past week he had his final game and did such a great job- he has loved playing soccer!


As you can see- to keep this nice and free for the moms there was just a red team and a blue team- no cost of jersey's, nada!! It was great!

As you can see he was super excited to get his soccer certificate and his "gummies". (Kid knows what he likes!)

Family pics...somewhat

While my family was in town my dad wanted to get some pictures of all of us together- AND he wanted us to be in the jersey's that Nicki brought back from Argentina. I thought the picture turned out cute (as a side note it was like 150% humidity), but i do love the after shots my dad got.

This knuckle head...how can you resist such a great smile??


Of course my sister's dog had to come down for the trip. He is cute...even though you are never quite sure where he is looking.

Wii Time

While my parents were here we enjoyed a little Dance Party (hilarious) and Band Hero. My all time favorite was watching my mom play the Rolling Stones song over and over and over and over because she was just-this-close to getting it!! Super fun.

The boys stayed up WAY too late playing- NIcki and I crashed on the twin bed, and Alex fell asleep on the other side of me. So nice having my sisters come-especially when they like snuggling!!

Beach Trip

After spending spring break with my family- they decided to follow me back down to Houston! We decided to go to the beach on Friday and had a BLAST. (be jealous, the beach is 45 minutes from our doorstep...which is super close for us) and it was so nice!! We had a blast playing and the kids were exhausted by the time we got home!!

Chuckie...

Almost as scary as the movie-- but not quite. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law came in town for the Houston Rodeo and of course had to take the kids to Chuck-e-cheese. The kids had a blast, and we love that family lives so close that they want to come and share the weekend with us!! My mother-in-law even took the older kids back up with her to finish off the weekend!!

My Sister is HOME!

We had the opportunity to welcome my sister home from her 18 month mission to Argentina (Roasario). It was so much fun being there when she came off the plane, and being able to be with her while noticing all the change and development she had happen while out there. Here are some pictures from the day-

Junie B. Jones

Have you heard of the Junie B. Jones books?
Halle's teacher has been reading these books to the kids...I didn't know what they were about so I decided to pick some of them up from the library. Wow. I was absolutely horrified. Bad behavior, bad grammar, even bullying (all of it uncorrected or unpunished, and even contextualized as cute). I was basically stopping on every page, and noting aloud how naughty Junie was, or how she'd used a bad word, or she wasn't using correct words, etc. I had to spend more time explaining Junie's bad actions and bad language than I did actually immersing ourselves in the story. Do I really have to explain how naughty she is being...while trying to read the story??

Of course I got online to see if I was the only one that felt this way (sometimes we feel like we are too strict...maybe this is one of those moments?) I found some info on the author, who pretty much spent the article justifying parental concerns about her books as a censorship issue, and it's anything but. I have no interest in "banning" Junie B. Jones. I simply don't think it's appropriate especially for a Kinder class.

I know that it is hard to find parents who are as strict with their kids about exposure to this or that. I know people who count themselves as normal parents who barely govern the TV, movies and music their kids take in -- and think that parents who are as strict as we are are...well thought of as party poopers.

Are we the only ones out there that are looking for a great book, for little kids (specifically girls) to get into, to enjoy, and most of all to admire/look up to?

We just started Ivy + Bean, hoping this one is a whole lot better than Junie. I don't think I can take another horrid book.