Celebrating Reece

We had a great day celebrating Reece's 9th Birthday. I can't believe we've already had 9 fun-filled years with our little man! Since we had so much rain last week, his dad was able to stay home a little longer this morning to make his special birthday pancakes for breakfast....yummy!!

Then, of course, he had to open some presents! He loved the baseball bat his dad got him signed and used by Clint Barmes of the Houston Astros. :) You can even see the marks on the bat where he had hit the baseball! Pretty cool!

My friend, Trudy, made a football field cake and football sugar cookies for Reece.

He loved them!

Make a wish!

Ah, LEGOs!!

It was a great day. I'm so thankful God chose to bless our family with Reece. I know he sometimes wishes he had a brother but he has some pretty wonderful sisters and lots of cousins who love him bunches. Reegan was all about his birthday today. She came in first thing this morning and gave him a hug and said, "Mom! It's Reece's birthday!"

She couldn't wait to celebrate. Neither could I. :)

Love you, Little Man. xoxo, Momma

Spring Break :)

Happy Valentine's Day! <3

Day 100!!

And When You're Done With the Snow...

Yes, another snow day today so the kids were home again and, since the preschool follows what the school system does, I was home with them! :) I've done a lot of "blog surfing" the last few days...I miss my craftin' blogs since I'm always so busy with school and I was also looking for ideas for my kids at preschool. But then I had to go and make a stop over at the Picky Palate where Jenny had posted these a few days ago. Why did I have to stop in?! In a matter of seconds I had texted Randy to also grab a bag of Double Stufs at the store - I have very little self-control when it comes to chocolate...add in some Double Stufs and I am so there!

Rylee is usually the first one in the kitchen to help me but today Reeva wanted to help so she pretty much whipped up a batch by herself in no time at all. :) The only thing we changed were the chocolate chips. Found out a little too late that I only had a few regular sized chocolate chips (we can't have that now can we?!) so we added mini-chips and chocolate chunks so that we would have enough chocolate chips for our cookies. They turned out delicious - and rich! I don't think anyone could eat more than one - ok, maybe two. :)

After mixing the dough you actually cover the top and the bottom of a Double Stuf and then form the dough in a ball around the cookie....

like so....

and 10 minutes later....wa-lah!!


Yummy!!

Now head on over to the Picky Palate for a yummy recipe of your choice...and let me know how it goes! :)

I {heart} Snow Days

I have to say that I love having a snow day every once in a while where we all get to play hookie for a day...be lazy, play in the snow, drink hot cocoa and make snow ice cream. Here a few of the moments I captured today.

Go Colts!

Randy took the three oldest to the Colts game today. He only had four tickets but Reegan and I were pretty content to miss the game and hang out - just the two of us. :)

We, of course, had to get everyone's face painted so they could support the Colts against whoever they played. (yes, I know, I'm bad) Reece wanted the full face coverage...the girls opted for a little less. But they all looked great. :)

Before they left, Reece asked Randy if he could buy a Colts jersey at the game. (Little did he know I had bought him one for Christmas and his dad convinced me he needed it for his first professional football game.) So, when Randy said Reece wanted to know if he could buy a jersey at the game I had to tell him no that I didn't think he needed to buy one at the game. He said ok but then I continued, as I got the jersey from my closet, that I thought he needed to wear a jersey to the game. I wish I could have captured the look on his face - stunned, he walked over to me and gave me the biggest, sweetest hug and said, "Thanks, Mom". Ok, it was worth it for the sweetness of that hug.

Here he is...checking out the field of his first professional football game.

Randy said he couldn't get enough of it....he asked a million questions throughout he game about what was going on, the different players, etc, etc, etc...glad it was Randy with him...it's like a foreign language when he talks to me.

I think the girls had a great time too. Randy said they cheered like crazy and had a blast the entire time. They were a very tired, but very happy bunch when they got home.

And Reegan and I were ready for them to get home...she had been asking for at least a couple of hours when they were going to be home. She was thrilled with the little stuffed bear with a Colts sweatshirt on....the perfect end to a pretty great day. :)

Happy Halloween!

We had lots of fun today getting dressed up and going out to get loads of candy! Of course, I had to get a few shots of the kids before we left. Don't they just look like they're having fun?!

This Halloween we had:

A Clown

An Army Guy
A Farmer
And a Bumble Bee who wouldn't let me get a close-up shot....
so I had to work reeeaaally hard to get a lot of 'em! (imagine that:)

Here they are...along with a couple of Reeva who will still let me take pictures of her :) and one of my sister and her family at their church's Trunk or Treat where they took home a Cool Trunk Award for their very cool movie themed car - the kids are adorable as popcorn, coca-cola, and a pretzel...

Happy Halloween All!!

A Birthday Day

Today, our sweet Reegan turned six years old. It's hard to believe that six years ago we brought home our sweet little "China baby" as she likes to refer to herself when she sees pictures of her as a baby with tons of black hair that hasn't stopped growing since. She has grown so much in the last year and I have been loving every minute of it. :) You never know what she is going to say or do - she is absolutely full of energy, personality, and happiness.

Here is a little sneak peak into her day.

When I went to wake the kids this morning, I could hear her up the stairs in her sisters' room waking them up - making sure they remembered she was six today!

Finding her way down to the kitchen through all the streamers from her bedroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen. She has scarcely been able to wait for this day!

Ok, this one I just couldn't resist.

Her HUGE birthday plate of pancakes for breakfast that can be made by no one but Dad. She, of course, got lots of help eating them. ;)

With big brother....they wanted this picture. :) I think that almost makes the sometimes seemingly endless bickering bearable. Right here you can see how much they adore one another.

Randy and I got to take some snacks to school to celebrate her special day with her class. Reegan got to pick the song to sing at the end of the day. She picked the Tuti-Ta...here she is dancing away!

You know that her Dad couldn't miss out on the action....he had to lead the Tuti-Ta for the class. The kids, of course, loved it.

Mrs. L got a picture of the three of us together. :)

Na-na and Pop-pa came to have dinner with us this evening. Reegan chose broccoli, rice, and mac&cheese for supper. (We added chicken to the menu for dad :) Here is Rylee and Reeva bringing her birthday cake to her.

Make a wish, my sweet....

And blow them out...

What a crew :)

Happy Birthday, my sweet angel....xoxo ~ mommy

FWD:Randy says you are responsible for this outfit. = ) Chris ( =

Randy says you are responsible for this outfit.
= ) Chris ( =

Field Trip Fun

I got to spend this morning with Reegan and her class as they walked from school to the local fire station for a field trip. When we left the firemen gave all the kids a fire hat and made them honorary firemen for the day. One of the little boys (Kanden) in Reegan's class took this picture with my cell phone - that's his thumb on the side of the photo! :) We had a good time touring the fire station, sitting in the fire truck, and spraying the water hose. The firemen served cookies and kool-aid to the kids before they left. It was such a fun morning and I'm so glad I got to spend it with my sweet Reegan!