More Family Day Pic's

Family Day

Yesterday we had a marathon family day. We went to Art in the Square in Southlake first. It was actually kinda' boring other than checking out the cars on display. There was a Mercedes miniature toy car that both the kids hopped in - Riley was a little too big, but it made for a funny picture. We decided to leave after a quick stop at Starbucks, but didn't want to go home so we stopped by Bicentennial Park. Jeremy and I worked on a tan while the the kids played on the tire swing and watched an inning of a kid's t-ball game - thank you Greg Stamps! We still weren't ready to go home so we headed to the Water Gardens in Fort Worth. We realized that Bailey had never been before because the last time we went I was actually 5 or 6 months pregnant with her. The kids got totally soaked and in order to dry off we hung out in the grassy area of the Water Gardens and practiced cartwheels. My family didn't think I could still do one so even in a skirt I had to prove them wrong. Anyway our last stop was to Uno's for dinner. We've never taken the kids before and I wasn't sure if they'd like the pizza or not but we thought we'd give it a try. Riley thought it was great, which really makes me happy and Bailey decided to wait and grab Chick-fil-A on the way home:)

Duct Tape Rocks!

This week at school Riley and his friends Drew and Nick had to build a boat out of cardboard and duct tape. Each group created their own design and then they raced the other groups. Today was the big race day! Riley's team did well and won first place on it's intial run. But...didn't hold together so great in the semi-finals. They didn't get too far into the second run before the boat sank! How great of a field trip. Oh, I completely forgot Riley's boat was the only boat I saw that had cupholders - which amused most of the crowd while they watched him sink.

Bear Creek Park

One of my favorite things about our new house is it's location to the park. It's literally at the end of our street. We go a lot to play basketball, ride bikes, swing and tonight we decided to feed the ducks. At first we couldn't find any that were hungry, so we started feeding the turtles instead. Jeremy then noticed three baby ducks on the other side of the creek. Bailey managed to creep up slowly enough not to scare them and they actually started to eat out of her hand. I just knew her Grandma Mamie would love these pictures so I wanted to post them asap. Riley fed the ducks for a few minutes too and then being all boy decided it would be way more fun to climb through the storm drain.

Folding Socks

When I was a kid one of my chores, well one of our chores, was to fold the socks. I absolutely hated it. I don't really know why it's not exactly a difficult task. Anyway, now I know why it was our chore. I constantly have to get on to my kids about turning their socks right side in before they put them in the dirty clothes, which I'm assuming is the same reason me, my brothers and sister were forced into this task also. So now I've passed sock folding onto my kids. Somethings do come full circle huh. As you can see Bailey isn't making a lot of progress. She refused to start until Riley joined her - which irritated him a little since he's had to do the socks all by himself the last two times. Shortly after I took these pictures we all ended up having a sock war. I'm usually not big on wrestling, but every now and again Riley provokes me!

Boys will be boys!!

This morning I had a really funny conversation with Riley. Yesterday all the boys from Mrs. Pugh's class were lined up in the hall. The girls had already been dismissed to wherever they were going and the boys at the end of the line decided this was a good time to do the wave. Mrs Pugh says to the boys "if you think you can do the wave then go ahead." Well, they obviously did not pick up on her tone so naturally all the boys now followed suit. Riley did not understand why she then got mad. I began to explain to him that she did not really mean what she said. That she was actually saying if you think you can disobey, go ahead, and we won't move until you are obedient. I tried to tell him that if she sounds like she's mad she probably is and that she doesn't mean exactly what she's saying. He still seeemed a little confused so I said it's the reason why dad tells me to respond to you with a definitive answer. I'm in this bad habit of answering Riley with whatever, I don't care or some other vague response. Jeremy keeps trying to remind me that Riley, as a man, doesn't get that and that it sends him into confusion. Apparently Jeremy's dead on. Riley's exact words were "yeah I don't get that I mean all I wanted was a granola bar" and "when you say that I just ask dad anyway"

Going All the Way!!

We are huge Mavericks fans!! We started following basketball five or six years ago because Jeremy got free tickets from work. At first it was just a lot of fun to be in the arena with all the fans, loud music and of course the free food didn't hurt either. But now we're completely hooked. Here we are again in the playoffs and this time we're going all the way. Last night we just had to let the kids stay up late and watch the opening playoff game. Even from home we go all out with signs, clappers and food!!

Somebody's Gonna' Get Hurt

On Saturday we met Jeremy's brother in Southlake for coffee. Southlake Town Center is
one of my favorite places to shop and walk around. After Starbucks we took the girls to check out all the decorated cows and then let them throw money into the fountain. We ran out of money to throw so we decided to do a little acrobatics. I was sure Robert was going to break something - you're getting old you gotta' be careful with those hips :-)

G-Stamps

We have some friends from church whose parents are our Sunday School teachers. They have two boys Doug and Greg, so it gets confusing to our kids trying to figure out which set of Stamps we might be talking about: Deb and Jerry, Doug and Anglea or Greg and Becky. So Riley now calls them D-Stamps, G-Stamps and J-Stamps. Tonight we were babysitting for the G-Stamp kids Abby and Reese. We took them to the park to swing and slide and even got to see some ducks and turtles. Abby is 5 and Reese is 3, so they're a bundle of energy. It's been a long time since I've had to chase two kids around the park. Truth be told Bailey did most of the chasing, but it was still a lot of fun. We also played a little X-Box (hope that's okay with ya' Bec), Polly Pockets, horses and ate some candy - Abby decided we should have a "candy night" but I didn't think that was such a good idea. Finally around 9:30 we put on their pj's and laid them down for a movie. They got to sleep in Riley's queen size bed since he was at the Rangers game. I'm gonna' sneak in there again when they're all asleep and take another picture. I just love sleeping kids! Sorry no new pics they never actually went to sleep :-)

En el Parque

I took 8 years of Spanish classes and I still had to ask my sister-in-law how to say at the park!! I hardly believe that's possible. I guess there's something to be said for the saying "use it or lose it." Anyway, we were supposed to babysit our niece Mariana on Friday night, but the hail and tornado's changed everything. The kids were really disappointed that they didn't get to see each other, so today we all got together to play at the park. You won't see Riley in any of the pictures because he was playing basketball with a friend. The swings don't exactly hold his attention anymore. What's so funny about my niece is that she mainly speaks Spanish. Jeremy's older brother Robert and wife Sonia just moved here from L.A. a couple of months ago and they're both bilingual. Spanish is spoken more often in their home so naturally that's what Mariana speaks more of also. When we first started spending time together she spoke to us in Spanish also, but she quickly realized we had no idea what she was saying.

She's a Star!!

Autographs anyone? Last night at BSF one of my ladies brought me a copy of the Fort Worth Star Telegram because she recognized Bailey in one of the articles. This season Bailey played in a select basketball league in Southlake. The teams were allowed to be any range from 3rd-5th grade girls. Well, Bailey's team the "Keller Xplosion" was only one of two teams that actually had 3rd graders on the team. We kind of thought this would be more of a transitional teaching season, but the girls ended only 2nd to a team made up of all 5th graders. Seriously they had girls taller than me. You should've seen Bailey out there. It was sooo cute!! Anyway her team ended up making the newspaper and Bailey was super excited. She was supposed to go to bed early last night because she had her math TAKS test today, but as soon as she heard Jeremy's car pull into the driveway she jumped out of bed to show him. Since it was already 10:00 I made her show dad quickly, who was also super proud, and then rushed her back to bed.

Made for Me!

I absolutely love the sun! Today was such a beautiful day we just didn't want to be inside. We grabbed our lunch, a blanket and headed out back to enjoy the warm weather. Days like today make me so ready for summer. I know I'm crazy, but I'd take heat even extreme heat any day over the cold. Of course I'm from Texas so cold is like 50 or even 60 if it's windy! We had a great time eating, talking and listening to the birds. Spending time with my husband and my kids is one of my favorite things to do. Gotta' go watch the Mavs beat the Spurs now!

Victory!!!!

Riley and I finished off our series with a 3-2 victory over Jeremy and Bailey. It was a close game 21-19 and Riley scored the winning bucket. I think he'll be able to beat Jeremy here before too long. He's really fast and has learned some pretty good moves. I was not exactly "on fire". Riley suggested I take the Don Eddy Offensive Camp where you're guaranteed to improve drastically. That all sounds good, but I'm not sure they'll let me in. I can't exactly pass for 18 anymore ;-)

Jordan Alexis Winans

My new niece is finally here. Apparently, she was quite cozy with mom and put up a little bit of a fight. Lori was in labor for almost 24 hours! I told her the next one should be easier. Jordan was 7 lbs. 7 oz. and I can't wait to see her. I'm sad that I missed her birth, but hopefully I will see her this summer. I just hate that we live so far apart. I'm trying to bribe them into moving here so that I can help watch the baby. Texas is great y'all.

Rain or Shine???

No one really knows. This week it has snowed, been over 70 with plenty of sunshine and now today it hailed - our weather is so crazy! Bailey doesn't ever remember seeing hail before (the last time I can remember it hailing she was three) so she and Jeremy went out to take a look. She was not at all interested in moving off the back porch. Jeremy picked up a little for her, but really she was content to just watch. The storm didn't last long and immediately after we were back to sunny skies and a huge rainbow.

Visiting Again

I made it to Children's Medical again yesterday to see Dirah. Doctor's say she's doing well, but we need that to continue. She's going to have her stomach tube removed soon and there's a chance that the toxins in her tummy will start to reproduce again. If that happens they'll have to take her in for emergency surgery. Please pray that all goes well and that she'll be able to go home soon.

We love you, Dirah!

On Monday morning I received a call from my older sister that my niece, Nadirah, was in the hospital. As soon as I dropped my kids off at school I rushed to Children's Medical of Dallas. Nadirah's appendix ruptured causing a serious infection. She had a tube inserted in her stomach Monday to drain the fluid's and relieve pressure. The surgery was successful and as long as the antibiotic's control the infection she will have her appendix removed in the next month or two. Unfortunately, she is still very sick and will need to stay in the hospital for another week and then will be released to home health care with an IV to keep her from dehydration as well as 24/7 antibiotics (this will continue for at least a month). Riley and Bailey have been super sweet!! They sent her cards, Easter candy and a stuffed animal that Dirah named Dr. Spot because he was with her during her surgery Monday. Dirah was too tired for visitors immediately, but we were all able to visit with her on Tuesday. Children's Medical is an awesome hospital and they have a lot of activities and rooms the kids can hang out in to keep them from being cooped up in their rooms. On Dirah's floor she has the "Aikman End Zone" with computers, pool table, air hockey, crafts, and even a basketball hoop. We managed to get her up on her feet long enough to enjoy some time playing. We got her a Gmail account set up so that we can all email her and then we did a couple of crafts. After about an hour she was tired and hungry so we took her back to her room so that she could sleep until her food arrived. Speaking of the food - she actually has a menu to order from. She's very excited about the "room service". Oh and while we were there Uncle Justin called and said Aunt Lori was in labor. Anytime now we should have a healthy baby girl!