Bluebonnets, Easter and Water Fun

Posted on July 17, 2012 by sarah

April was fun. We played with friends, spent time with family, enjoyed some live music and baseball, played in the blue bonnets and had fun in the garden. We were blessed with lovely, mild spring weather, lots of rain and sunshine. Our garden took off nicely. Hank chose to grow potatoes this year – a new adventure for our family. We went to a tea party, celebrated Easter with Grandpa and Grandma, spent some time with Hank’s newest cousin, Dalton, and enjoyed every moment together with family and friends. Here are some photos in no particular order.

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A Knee Surgery, Garden Party and Outdoor Fun

Posted on June 19, 2012 by sarah

Our February and March were incredibly busy but full of adventure – and some sadness. In early February, Tyler tore his ACL and sprained his MCL (same knee) skiing. He had to have corrective surgery. All is well now and he’s healing nicely, but its been a long haul and the first few weeks were brutal for him. Hank was very supportive and tried his best to be gentle with Daddy. They spent time together reading and playing the iPad on Daddy’s bed, which always made Tyler smile.

A week before Tyler’s knee surgery, our dog Cody died. It was very sad but he’d had a wonderful, long life with us. We miss him. Hank has really been angling for a new pet saying things like, “You know, a horse is a pet!”. When we were at the North Texas Irish Festival in March, Hank visited every rescue dog booth seeking out a new pet. He fell in love with a puppy named Berkley and wanted to take him home. Tyler was home recovering from surgery and by the time we talked about it, Berkley had already been adopted. Now Hank is on the search for another dog with blue eyes (like him)…

Despite the sadness of losing a member of our family, we had lots of joy in celebrating birthdays, life and spring. Hank had an idea for a garden party. He wanted to make treats for birds with his friends. So we invited several friends over for a morning of bird treat making fun. It rained that day so we had all our festivities indoors. It was fun and Hank is asking when we can do it again.

We had a good amount of rain (for Texas) this spring and the bluebonnets were beautiful. Hank had a blast playing in them and I did my best to take some cute photos (Tyler is the gifted photographer in our family). The weather was so lovely, we had lots of outdoor fun with our friends. We went on hikes, visited parks, played in nature, went to garden centers, planted and worked in our garden and just enjoyed our time outside with our friends.

Here are some photos from February and March 2012 in no particular order. Enjoy!

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Photos from January

Posted on May 3, 2012 by sarah

Yes, yes, here it is May and we’re just putting up photos from January – better late than never, right?

Our new year kicked off to a great start. We had fun spending time with friends and family and did lots of playing with our new Christmas gifts. Hank took a musical Spanish class last fall and loved it so much, we followed the teacher to her new location, rather far from our home. Hank had a blast in his Spanish class and began “babbling” in Spanish which was very very cool. (He’s now speaking quite a few phrases and knows many words in Spanish and he prefers to read his Spanish books at bedtime these days). Its been fun to see his growth and language development in two languages!

We played with lots of friends and had special lunch and playdates (most notably at a trampoline place with some of his cousins and lunch at a big inflatable playground with his pal, Pepper) throughout the month. And we took a big trip to the Cameron Park Zoo where we met up with GG and Grandad and Hank’s best friend, JenJen and her family. It was an absolute blast and Hank and JenJen wore themselves out with fun. They loved watching the water turn off and on in a little man-made creek bed and danced and jumped with joy whenever the water turned on – very fun to watch. They played mountain climber, pretended to be cats and wanted to play with all the animals. The slide through the otters’ habitat was one of their favorite places to play and we adults enjoyed the lovely rocking chairs while JenJen and Hank went down the slide again and again. Very fun.

Hank went to his friend Sam’s birthday party at the Mayborn Museum, one of his favorite places, and then he got to spend some special time with GG and Grandad (without Mommy and Daddy). We also celebrated Grandpa’s birthday and Hank helped make a cake for Grandpa to celebrate. Hank loves to cook and bake with Mommy. He helped make a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and he decorated it with chocolate pieces making numbers for Grandpa. Hank really likes chocolate. 🙂 Our family hosted a group of teenage girls for a weekend. They were participating in a youth retreat and slept at our house. It was very fun and Hank still asks when they’re going to come back again. They loved him and he loved them. It was a full weekend, but wonderful all around. Hank got a new swimsuit in preparation for beginning swim lessons in February and he wanted to wear it right away. He had fun playing in the sprinkler in the yard because our neighborhood pool wasn’t open yet.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten some of our adventures in January (a hazard of waiting so long to post an update) but I do know we had a fantastic month and our new year kicked off well. Here are some photos from various things.

 

 
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Christmas 2012

Posted on February 11, 2012 by sarah

Christmas was SO much fun! As always, it was wonderful getting to spend time with our families. This year, we spent the weekend before Christmas celebrating with GG and Grandad. We had an excellent time there and Hank had a blast playing with his cousins. While we were in town, we went to the zoo (Hank loves going to the zoo) and it was fun seeing all the animals in winter, they were much more active than when its warmer out. Hank and his cousin, Ainsley had fantastic sleep-over with GG and Grandad while Ainsley’s parents were at a party and Hank’s parents went to Six Flags (we love Holiday in the Park!). They baked cookies, went to look at Christmas lights, saw Frosty the Snowman (a person dressed up as Frosty) and Santa (again, a person dressed up as Santa), got treats and stayed up WAY past thier bedtimes (which is kind of the point of a sleep-over). Hank’s cousins, Micah and Johanna came over to play while we were there (along with thier parents, Christiane and Monty). It was so much fun, when it was time to go home, Hank negotiated to stay a few extra days with GG and Grandad by himself. That worked out well for everyone.

Uncle Ben (Sarah’s brother) and his family came into town from Ohio (their timing coincided with Hank coming home from GG and Grandad’s) and Hank had the best time playing with his cousins, James and Paul. They went to look at Christmas lights, all bundled up in the wagon. Hank adores Christmas lights and we found ourselves taking him to look at the neighbors’ lights nearly every night in December. Sometimes we’d take him in the wagon, sometimes we’d walk. Sometimes we’d take him in the stroller or pull him in a trailer behind one of our bikes and sometimes we’d just hop in the car and drive around. He’d ask to look at the lights every night even before it got dark enough outside to see them. It was really sweet.

This year, we stayed home on actual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was lovely waking up in our own beds. Hank had fun making cookies with Mom and Dad and wrapping gifts. He enjoyed signing his name to several packages. On Christmas Eve, Hank hung his stocking and put out some cookies and carrots. Then he took a cookie from the plate saying, “Santa won’t mind if I eat one, he likes to share.” – we thought that was funny. On Christmas Day, Hank awoke very early and was so excited to see all the surprises waiting for him by the tree and in his stocking. He was so joyful and we had a really lovely morning with him. We met Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Donna and Uncle Dick for lunch and Hank had fun sharing hugs and laughs with everyone.

The day after Christmas, we got together with family and celebrated Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. That was super fun! My side of the family is rather large so even though it was just “immediate” family, it was quite a gathering. Hank loved playing with all his cousins and it was a wonderful sort of chaos watching all the children open their gifts. The food, as always, was delicious (so many sweets!) and it was wonderful to see so much family. Aunt Laura (Sarah’s sister) and her family came into town from Houston for the week and Hank had fun playing with his cousins. Just before the new year, we had Megan, David and Christopher over to our house for a sleep-over. Hank loved every minute of it! They painted, ate junk food, played with all Hank’s new toys (and some old ones) and after Hank went to bed, the older children watched a movie and had popcorn and hot cocoa.

We rang in the new year at Uncle Josh (Sarah’s brother) and Aunt Dayna’s house along with Aunt Laura, Uncle Jon, Grandpa, Grandma and several cousins. It was a great family-friendly party. Hank really enjoyed himself and completely surprised all of us by staying up well past midnight. He had so much fun with his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents (his parents too) and he thought it was fantastic that he was tall enough to reach the cookies and fudge on Aunt Dayna’s counter – he helped himself to quite a bit. We didn’t really take any photos of our new year’s celebration, but there are quite a few from various Christmas celebrations and get-togethers. Enjoy!

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Fun in December (Mayborn)

Posted on January 5, 2012 by sarah

Hank really likes museums (we may have mentioned this before). One of his current favorite museums is the Mayborn Museum. He likes it there so much that we not only became members, but we had his (3rd) birthday party there too. He likes to visit the Mayborn any chance he can (potty break on the way to visit GG, etc.) and December (2011) was no exception.

During December, the Mayborn had a special model train exhibit and Hank thought it was very cool. We took a special trip there with some of our friends, Ethan (and his mom, Hopie), Sam and Alex (and their mom, Stephanie) and Tyler (and his mom, Amy). Everyone had a great time. The trains were a hit and the only bummer about the entire day was that the bubble mixture in the bubbles room wasn’t right so none of the children got to stand in the middle of an enormous bubble that time. We went again later in the month with some of Hank’s cousins, Tori and David. Hank has a great time sharing places (and things) he loves with people he loves and he had the best time with Tori and David! So much laughter and great naps at the end of the adventure (for the children any way), its a pleasure to visit this museum together.

The weather turned cooler (and a bit rainy for a week or so), neigbors put out Christmas lights and we decorated our house for Christmas as well. Hank really likes to decorate the tree and will put any and every decoration he can find on the tree. He did a great job this year! He says his favorite decorations are the snowflakes Grandma made for Mommy many years ago and Hank hopes that one day Grandma will make him some snowflakes too. Hank thinks Grandma can make anything because she fixed Mr. Bear and made him a scarf (which he absolutely loves) and taught Mommy to sew (in December, I’m not very good at all really). Hank insists on putting a creche with all Daddy’s Star Wars toys. Its really quite cute to see baby Jesus surrounded by shepherds, angels a wampa and a ton ton. Tyler hung up his space ships and now it looks like both the Imperials, the Rebels and even Boba Fett are on their way to praise the King of Kings. We’re tempted to leave the nativity scene there all year….

Hank has had the best time playing with his friends in December. Of course, there has been lots of time outside, visiting the library, helping Mommy cook, etc. and Hank has absolutely loved his musical Spanish class, CANTA. He was quite sad that there is a break between classes (for the holidays) and has been singing all the songs from his class and making up his own “Spanish” words all month. Hank’s friends, Henry and Edie have been out of town most of the fall so Hank was thrilled to get to play with them in Decemeber. And he spent time with his good friend, JenJen as well. Hank is so blessed to have such great friends, all of whom are fantastic children (and we’re blessed that we like and get along well with Hank’s friends’ parents). Here are some photos from December adventures in no particular order. Enjoy!

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Grampie, Thanksgiving & Parks

Posted on January 5, 2012 by sarah

Happy New Year!!

Yet again, we’re still playing catch up with sharing photos and adventures. This gallery is from late fall (2011). We had a lovely visit with Grampie (Hank’s great-grandfather) – we always love when he comes to town and this time was no exception! Hank had fun with Grampie and we even went out for pizza together (at a place Hank likes to call “the dinosaur pizza place”) which Hank thought was very cool. He thinks Grampie is funny and got lots of tickles and hugs (he gave some too). Hank also learned that both he and Grampie have great taste in hats. Grampie didn’t get to stay for Thanksgiving this year but we had a fun family gathering so he could see as many of his grandchildren as he could before he left. Laura and Christopher came to visit for that and we loved having them stay with us.

We celebrated Thanksgiving in multiple locations. Hank’s Aunt Traci cooked a full Thanksgiving meal (including turkey) for the first time so we went and had dinner at her house near the metroplex. Hank always loves spending time with his cousins and he had a blast playing with Ainsley. The dinner was lovely, everything was perfect and I’ve fallen in love with Traci’s brussels sprouts – delicious! Hank loved spending time with GG and Grandad and visiting with Granny too. While we were in the area, we visited the Fort Worth Museum with GG, Grandad and some of Hank’s cousins, Micah, Johanna and Christiane. Hank loves musuems and its always so much fun to see him explore and learn. We had a great time there! Then we headed back to our part of Texas and celebrated Thanksgiving at Hank’s Uncle Josh’s house. Again, the food was delicious and the company spectacular. Aunt Kathy (one of Hank’s great-aunts) came into town from Colorado and it was so nice to visit with her. Hank esepcially liked her new iPhone and he took some rather good photos with it. Hank loved running around and playing with his cousins. It was loud, but wonderful! Hank took Grandpa and Grandma (and Daddy and Mommy) to the Memorial Museum where we saw lots of dinosaur (and other) bones and several metorites. Hank really likes it there and was happy to share it with Grandpa and Grandma. He keeps asking when we can take them there again.

As usual, we’ve spent every moment outside that we can. We love the outdoors and went to several parks with our friends during the fall (good thing fall in Texas is rather mild as far as the cold goes). Hank is learning how to swing himself and its very exciting to see him get the swing going high and fast (he loves that) all by himself. A traveling carnival came through and we went and checked it out. The lights from the ferris wheel caught Hank’s eye even before the carnival opened to the public. We took him to ride the ferris wheel – which he absolutely loved – and he ended up wanting to go on more rides. He was thrilled to learn that he is tall enough to ride without an adult and proceeded to ride several rides all by himself. I see many visits to theme parks and roller-coasters in our future.

Our fall was SO fun and we had many wonderful visits with family and friends. We are truly blessed!

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Fall Fests & Halloween

Posted on November 26, 2011 by sarah

Halloween was super fun for Hank this year. He chose his own costume this year and we thought he made an adorable triceratops. From the moment his costume arrived, he wanted to wear it every day. We didn’t let him do that, but he did get to wear it several times throughout the month. Hank got to wear his costume to his Spanish class the week before Halloween, he wore it to his friend, Ethan’s costume party, he wore it to a fall festival where he played with his friends and he wore it on Halloween. Since Halloween, he’s worn it around the house, playing in the yard and to the park. We’re getting lots of use (and lots of smiles) from that costume for sure.

We took Hank to a fall festival and he had such a great time playing with his friends. Hank was really into his role as a dinosaur and took to roaring and chasing people around. It was especially cute to watch him crawl into the bounce house with his little tail. Hank really liked the tail on his costume and would show us the tail by doing a little (and very cute) dance swishing it side to side.

This year we took Hank trick-or-treating for the first time. In years past, we’d usually go to Grandpa and Grandma’s or Josh and Dayna’s house and ring the doorbell and then hang out for a while and then go home. This year, Grandpa and Grandma’s house was our first stop – Hank thought it was so funny that Jack and Yoda didn’t know what to make of his costume. After visiting them, we went to Josh and Dayna’s. Hank had so much fun chasing his cousins around (and roaring), that he ended up going trick-or-treating with them. He had a great time ringing doorbells and getting candy. He told us his bag was “so heavy” and we asked him if we should go home – he said “no, i think there’s still room”. He had a great time!

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Hank is 3!

Posted on November 26, 2011 by sarah

Its hard to believe Hank is already three years old – the time is certainly flying! Hank celebrated his 3rd bithday this fall with a party at the Mayborn Museum. He had an absolute blast exploring the museum with friends and family and showing them his favorite exhibits. As usual, we spent quite a bit of time in the Water and Bubbles room (one of Hank’s favorites). Hank wanted lemon cupcakes with “yellow icing, like the sun!” for his party. On his actual birthday (Oct. 25th), we went out for Asian food. Hank enjoyed one of his favorites, salt and pepper shrimp (with no shells) and he tried a new (to him) vegetable, snow pea leaves. We had chocolate cake and Hank had fun putting the candles on himself – counting to make sure there were three. We had such a wonderful time celebrating his birthday and Hank is happy to be three!

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Summer into Fall

Posted on November 1, 2011 by sarah

As usual, we’ve been so busy having fun, we haven’t updated our blog in a while. The cabin photos are still in the que (we always take a plethora of photos there and it takes some time to go through them) but we thought we’d catch up a bit with the end of our summer fun into the beginning of autumn. We’ve had lots of fun playing with friends, visiting family, exploring parks, musuems and aquariums. Tyler has been to a few Ranger’s games which has been so special for him to share seeing the Rangers in the World Series with his Dad! Hank checked out a soccer/multi-sport class with his friend, Ethan. They had a good time playing soccer and tee-ball (Hank hits left handed!) The weather has been interesting and the allergens high. Hank ended up in the ER in September due to breathing problems. They’ve persisted but God has been faithful and awesome and provided us with fantastic health care and treatment for him so we’ve managed to stay out of the hospital since then. Hank continues to be interested in cooking and crafts. He can make a collage out of anything (which I guess is kind of the point of a collage after all) and really enjoys decorating cookies, cupcakes and the like (sprinkles rock in his book).

We’ve had a blast at the Mayborn Museum with GG and Grandad, we visited the Dallas World Aquarium with them and Hank’s aunt, Traci and cousin, Ainsley. Traci and Ainsley took us to the Dallas Arboretum where Hank and Ainsley had fun exploring and choosing pumpkins. We now have a few pumpkins (courtesy of Hank) waiting to be baked into pies and muffins. Hank chose a costume for Halloween and since its arrived a few weeks ago, he’s been keen to put it on. When we had him try it on to make sure it fit (see photos below), he immediately told us he needed to go show Grandma and Grandpa. He’s asked to put it on quite regularly since then. Halloween/Fall festival photos to come shortly. For now, here are several from our adventures since late Aug.

 

 
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Summer Fun Part 2

Posted on October 5, 2011 by sarah

Even though this was probably the hottest summer we’ve had in a while, Hank loves being outdoors so we spent a good deal of time outside (mostly in the morning). Hank had so much fun playing with his good friends all summer long. We visited parks, ponds, friends’ houses (had friends over to ours as well), gymnastics schools (for the open gym where its free play on all the equipment – SO fun), the library and our favorite hang outs and restaurants. We took Hank to Sea World for the very first time over the summer. He loved it! His friend, Henry and his (Henry’s) family went with us and the boys had such a good time! Everyone was tired and sweaty (did I mention it was HOT in Texas this summer?) by the time we left (okay actually within an hour of being there) but it was SO much fun and wonderful to see the children’s faces light up when they saw various creatures (Edie especially loved Shamu). Hank was crestfallen that there were no jellyfish at Sea World, a fact he reminds us of almost daily. He is very into jellyfish. The Blue Planet “Seasonal Seas” DVD (also known as “The Jellyfish Movie”) is still highly requested at our house. We also get lots of requests to go to “the aquarium with GG and Grandad” to see the jellyfish (he’s talking about the Dallas World Aquarium, which does in fact have jellyfish). We had a blast at a botanical garden with Hank’s friend, JenJen just before we left for our summer trip to the cabin (which will have its own entry soon). Hank and JenJen didn’t seem to mind that it was already in the triple digits fahrenheit and ran around the gardens with wreckless abandon and joy – truly wonderful!

 

 

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