Bravo!

May I brag for just a moment? Chris and I have the two most precious kids in the whole world. They fill our lives with such joy. Sure, they can be disobedient, loud, annoying, stubborn, etc...but they are wonderful. I used to think they were crumb factories.......now I am convinced they are MADE of crumbs. They mess up my clean windows, they need too many snacks, and they whine alot. But sometimes if I am tense or anxious, if I will just allow myself to stop and enjoy them, their hugs alone can make that stress melt away. Jaron is in the phase of picking dandylions for me...I have a collection of withered ones on the porch. Jordan is in the phase of making gifts for me. She already made my birthday present and gave it to me the other day; it was a mask. Yesterday she made me a Mother's Day card at her friend's house. Not only are they unbelievably sweet, but they are also remarkably talented. Here, you take a look. Jaron is working on sight words...words that are used frequently in literature. He is a reading ROCK STAR!!!!!!



Not only am I proud of Jordan's progress on the piano, but I am proud of myself for being able to teach her successfully!! She can learn music so quickly...not just on the piano, but singing and dancing as well. She has decided she wants to do ballet again in the fall. I am so glad, she was really good in her first class. She is a musical ROCK STAR!!!!



She's Mozart!! Aren't they smart?!?!?! We are so proud...thank you for letting us brag for a moment! Now it's your turn...do you have anything you would like to share? :)

Texas, Our Texas...

This is the last of the Texas vacation posts. It makes me a little sad to say that! We weren't ready for vacation to end, and most definitely not ready to say goodbye to everyone.

I kind of need this post today...everyone in our house has been sick since we got home except for me. Jordan is on her second round of antibiotics for an ear infection that wouldn't go away, she has been home the last three days with a stomach virus, Chris started the stomach virus last week, and has also had a case of gout, and Jaron woke me up last night with a fever and a vomiting session in the bathroom. So far today, he seems like he's OK, Jordan is still running back and forth to the bathroom, but nothing has happened yet. I have been armed with Lysol spray, disinfecting wipes, and paper towels all week. Not to mention I have been washing just about anything that can be put in the washing machine. SO, I need a little pick-me-up!

Here's some of my favorite memories from our trip to Texas.

~ The kid's hands after dying Easter eggs with Granny.

~ Grandad and Dee Dee's cracker barrel room, Nana and Papa's new "antique booth" home, Janice and Chad's renovated home, and Candace and Wes's FIRST home!!

~ The water faucet in Grandad and Dee Dee's guest bathroom...it is sooo cool....it looks like an old-timey pump water-thingy.

~ Toby (Granny's new dog) barking at Chris anytime he was around!

~ Playing with Cooper, Rowdy, Max and Harley and getting to meet Toby.

~ Jordan and Jaron riding the lawn mower with Grandad.

~ Watching Chris and Papa spend several minutes and several dollar bills to win a pink and blue bunny for Jaron out of the machine at Furr's.

~ Taco Villa and Sonic

~ Jaden using my phone to send people text messages that said things like, "You are weird!" and "You stink!"

~ The Mexican food!

~ Watching Jordan and Jaron decorate the Easter cake Nana made...they were smacking on Laffy Taffy while they were adding coconut grass and jelly bean Easter eggs to the cake :)

~ Jordan told Nana that I am always on vacation since I am always at home.

~ Claire decided to brush my hair one of the last nights we saw her. She brushed and yanked, and brushed and yanked, but it was so fun!! She can yank my hair out any day!!!!

~ One morning Jaron and I had the following conversation:
Jaron: "I want to see Granny."
Me: "She's not home right now, we will see her later."
Jaron: "Where is she?"
Me: "She's at work."
Jaron: "Oh. What show is she in?"

~ All the hugs we got to give and get!!!!

The Yellow Rose of Texas

I know this is really dorky, and is definitely a product of my 6 year profession, but I try to sing as many Texas songs around the kids as possible. My two favorites are "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas", hence the titles of my last two posts. I need to learn to play them on the piano, too :) Jordan and Jaron are starting to pick up on some of them, thank you very much!!! You know, Texas pride is innate in us all! So, here are some sweet videos from our visit to Texas. I have already watched them over and over, and I am sure I will continue to watch them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!




Jaden, Claire, Jordan and Jaron playing in Claire's big girl bedroom



Jordan and Jaden's secret handshake that they made up while we were at Beijing House



Grandad and Jordan riding on the lawn mower :)

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Sunday, April 5th we hopped on a plane in Philadelphia and flew to Big D. Grandad and Dee Dee picked us up from the airport, and there our vacation began!!

Our first stop was Mexican food!!!!!!!! Papasito's was delicious! It took us a while to find since the GPS systems weren't cooperating, but it was worth the wait :)
We spent the night at Grandad and Dee Dee's "Cracker Barrel house" in Weatherford (that's a nickname Jordan gave their home), and the kids had a blast playing with the dogs the next morning. Cooper let Jordan sit on his swing for a while :)

Cooper and Jaron had the best time chasing after the bone...Jaron wanted to get a hold of it first so he could throw it. For some reason I never got a picture of Rowdy, the cocker spaniel. He was cute, too!!

Grandad had fun entertaining two of his grandkids.
While in Weatherford, we also got to see Grandpa Small for a few minutes.

Late Monday evening, we headed to Lubbock with Nana and Papa. We stopped on the way at a really good little Mexican food place. For the second night in a row I had tacos, and they were yummy!!!!!!!
It seemed like we couldn't get to Lubbock fast enough. We were so ready to see Granny and Candace and Wes and Jaden and Claire. We hadn't seen them in a year...look how much Claire has grown! She was shy for just a minute, but then we became great friends. She talked our ears off :)
Jordan and Jaden picked up where they left off........fussing at each other!
Jaden had a baseball game, and that's where we FINALLY got to see Granny and Aunt Candace. It was so good to seem them and HUG them.
After the baseball game, guess where we headed? You got it!!!! TACO VILLA!!!!!!!! Bean burritos all around!!!! Biting into that burrito was like visiting a long lost friend!!!!! PARADISE :)

Our first stop at Sonic was after we picked up Jaden and his friend from school.
Our second stop at Sonic was the next day :)
And how could we visit Lubbock without going to Furr's? The kids continued their tradition of draining Papa and Nana of all their money on the silly games out front :)
We got to visit with lots of friends and family at 50th street Caboose. Guess what? We had more tacos! Here's some silly little faces from that night.

Another Lubbock favorite........Beijing House. It used to be Chinese Kitchen on 50th street by Monterey Baptist Church.

Rough-housing with Uncle Chad.........we stopped by to see all of the hard work he and Janice had done on their new house. It is absolutely beautiful!!! They have worked so hard, and now they are getting to enjoy it.

Nana let the kids decorate the Easter cake with green coconut as grass and jelly beans as the Easter eggs.
Sadly, our wonderful time had to come to an end. We thoroughly enjoyed everything we did with everyone. The time went by way too fast!!





Nana and Papa drove us to Abilene where we met up with Grandad and Dee Dee again. Our vacation wasn't quite over yet. We still got to spend the evening with them and stay the night again.
The next morning was full of rides on the lawn mower and playing with the dogs again.
Isn't it funny that I remember doing the same thing with Poppie when I was a kid! Good times!!!

One thing that we will always enjoy about West Texas is the sky...what beautiful views we saw. (We did see an awful lot of blowing dirt) But how can you beat this?
Or this?

Sam Houston once stated that "Texas could survive without the United States, but the United States could NOT survive without Texas." So true, so true. Texas is a world of its own, and we will always and forever be Texans!!!!!!

We love all of you so, so much!!!

HOWDY, Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!

We're on our way to the Lone Star State!!

See ya tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!