popsicles & the pool

I would definitely say summer has begun. It has been hot around here, though we still have decent mornings and evenings. The girls have played in the pool a few different times and ask every day to fill it up! Emmaline got hosed!It is fun to watch them slide continuously in a circle and giggle each time down.Georgia does not tolerate cold water like E. But when she decides to do something, she does it with her whole heart! Love that about her! We had a sack of oranges left over from a party so I spent a few days contemplating what to do with them. I have this really cool old glass juicer/reamer. It is green. I got it from Louin when we lived there...it's the one item I took with me! I love it. It always brings so many great memories to mind. Anyways, I decided I would let the girls help me squeeze some oranges and make juice..They loved that..but it got to be too boring for me..so I remembered these plastic popsicle molds my mom got us and thought we could make popsicles. What kid wouldn't want to do that! So the girls got so excited and squeezed and twisted those oranges around until all the juice was out and we filled up our molds. Placed them in the freezer with much excitement and waited for the big reveal! I was secretly praying they wouldn't fall apart when I tried to pull them out because devastation would surely occur.
There was many checkings in the freezer to see our status of frozenness. Finally, success!! Georgia liked the juice better. Emmaline liked the popsicle best!We marched outside and cautiously pulled out the pink one first, Emmaline's of course, and it was perfect! YEA!! Then Georgie had yellow, me & HB had blue and we saved the green one for Daddy. They were so yummy and soft and sweet! Really better than I expected. I am excited now to see what other flavors we can make! HB was shaking he was so excited.He didn't know how cold they would be! Surprise!! Oh, I love summer days, even when they are so hot all you want to do it eat popsicles in a pool! We are SO doing that next time!

Grandparents' love

Of course I don't completely understand a grandparent's love but I think I can kindof understand what the fuss is all about..I mean, you get to love on the little angels for a few days and then send them home all the while smirking under your breath that your children are getting just what they deserve..is that it? Too harsh, missing the point??! But really, there is nothing like grandparents' love!We got to spend a long weekend with my parents over Easter. It was so much fun to hang around and get to relax, play in the water, eat too much food and watch movies til our hearts were content. The girls absolutely love to go see MaMa & Pop. There are always new toys and clothes, plenty of snacks & lots of breaking Mommy's rules! Bedtime is out the window and the juice flows like a neverending fountain. The girls just push the limits! Emmaline's highlight this trip was the mama birds on their nests on my parents' front porch. She was infatuated with watching them and checking on the eggs/babies. She is still talking about them and asked them to "send me a picture of the mama bird and the baby bird, ok?!" Her and my dad love to watch birds..it's one of their things..the other is the moon!Georgia's highlight of the trip would have to be her duckie blanket that she sleeps with when she is there. It is always just as exciting to her to sleep with and drag around. She also loves that she gets to sleep in the crib there. Emmaline hates it but G loves it..I think because it makes her feel 'little' again as she put it and also because she sleeps better/longer in it. She also got a new carseat (not really new but one of our extras my mom keeps but she thinks it is and is so proud of it). G also loves her breakfast chair that is special for her. If E is in it she better watch out! She is quite protective of her things. G's funniest quote of the weekend: after going potty I asked, "Did you go potty?...Was it poopoo?" She replied, "No, it was chicken nuggets!"
They didn't even fuss at us when we left them with the stomach bug! Now that's love!
Hayes Bryant is just spoiled by whoever he is around. He is so cuddly and happy that you can't help but want to hold him! He wasn't feeling 100% over the weekend but you really couldn't tell one bit..he threw up twice but it didn't seem to phase him. I think he is teething, so we will just have to wait and see when those pearly whites make their appearance! And of course I am spoiled just as much..I got a new Suburban for Easter. My Mom and Dad let me have theirs and she is getting a new Yukon. I am so excited to have all the automatic fun things and it drives so smooth. The girls love it and constantly say, "I love our new car. It's so pretty!"It was a great weekend celebration and I am so thankful to have such wonderful family to share it all with, but we did miss Daniel and his family too!

Huntin'

There was lots of huntin' going on around our parts this past week. I mean, lots!
Not only were the little girls and little boy busy finding treats in the grass, the big boy, their Daddy, was busy huntin' in Mississippi. He wasn't huntin' wabbit, but turkeys and fishing on the off times! He had a blast and best of all was successful!He even brought some turkey home for us to eat..we all thought it was yummy. One thing that he was not huntin' was this snake. He walked up on it in the back yard and in true Daniel fashion - he was barefoot!
The girls have attended 4 egg hunts, so here are just the highlights. One at Daniel's workwhere EB made his appearance. HB didn't seem to notice, E was brave and gave a hug and G was a little skeptical but did say "Hello Bunny"
one at their school, one at my parents' neighborhood& on Easter Sunday in the backyard.
So we have tons of candy and lots of happy little creatures in this family!!

Hayes' 1st Easter

Hayes was visited by the Easter Bunny. He got peeps, a cute stuffed horse and some eggs filled with Puffs. Georgia couldn't help but 'feed' him and help herself to some too!We had a wonderful time in CS for Easter. We had multiple egg hunts, a yummy lunch with ham and all the fixins and more sweets than anyone needs!
Michael and Rachel came over for lunch and brought yummy cupcakes from a shop in CS. Hayes was such a flirt with her and kept staring at her, smiling and then would look away all shy! It was sweet!Emmaline kept finding eggs and saying this one must be for Hayes because it's a boys..she also picked a flower, made a wish and said, "I wish, oh I wish for Hayes to have a boy car like me!" I guess in reference to her Barbie Jeep..that sure was a sweet wish though!
Little HB looked so handsome in his tie and vest! We went to church and all the ladies wanted to love on him! What a sweet, big boy!The kids' Easter baskets were full of goodies as usual!

Words with Friends

Gene came in town to visit this weekend. We had a blast and stayed busy the whole time! We got a sitter on Friday night and went out to play darts. Saturday we headed to Gruene to spend the picture perfect afternoon listening to Texas country music, sipping on Sangria and catching up. I love days like that! The girls loved having 'Genie' spend the weekend with us!We went to the zoo sometime last week with friends. It was great weather and the kids had a blast.

Daniel and I headed to his Dr. Appreciation party downtown on the Riverwalk. It was one of the coolest venues, great weather and lots of fun. There was dancing and an open bar..which may not be the best combo for me.I love his belt with rattleskin embedded in it!The Baptist Growth OfficersWe celebrated Anna's 2nd birthday last week also. She was so excited to blow her candles out she almost used her lips. We were all singing and then the moms just all abruptly stopped and gasped, "OHHH" luckily Anna didn't seem to notice or have touched the flame!
Just our latest version of Words with Friends! ;)

Wildflower Festival

We headed to Wildseed Farms last weekend to enjoy the annual festival they have. It was our first time out there and we weren't sure what to expect but it was such pretty weather we figured we couldn't go wrong!We woke up early, got dressed and headed to Fredericksburg. The kids did great in the car as usual and we arrived just after they opened. It is all free to do unless you want to purchase food, drinks or plants. We walked through all the fields of flowers, saw the butterfly area, snacked on samples in the shop, ate homemade biscuits and jelly and maybe took some pictures. The girls enjoyed the morning and HB did too! He is getting so fun in his stroller, taking it all in. I love being able to spread out cheerios and goldfish on his tray to eat! We then headed to town and found a fun spot to eat lunch! We went to Hondo's where there was live music, shade trees and good food! The girls loved running around and we were able to relax and enjoy our lunch! It was a great day and I was so happy to get some pictures of us in the Texas wildflowers, especially since the drought has hit our area so hard!
I think it's a great place to take visitors for a fun afternoon in the Hill Country!