Star Wars

We all saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a family last night. It was awesome!  So cool to share these memories with them. Colin and Kaden saw it with Jason the night before, but wouldn't share any plot information with me!  So cool to share Star Wars with them. There's nothing like sitting in the theatre in the dark, and hearing that theme song. :-)

Colin's dry sense of humor

I took Victoria on a play date a few minutes away. I left Colin, Kaden, and Katharine at home, which I rarely do. I went over the don't open the door, etc..  I texted to check on them, and Colin stated, "we're fine. No robbers. No guns, or knives, or bombs, so we're fine. ". Lol!i love his wicked sense of humor!

Daddy's white fur

Katharine was sitting in Jason's lap post swimming when she noticed some of his gray chest hair.  She immediately sat up and said, "Oh no!  Daddy!  You have white fur!  I'm worried you're turning into a Granpa!"  She then noticed some gray hair on his head and said he needed to get some color spray and spray it brown!  Said she didn't want him to turn into a Grandpa and die because she loves and wants her Daddy and Mommy!  I asked her if she thought spraying hair would make you live longer, and she said yes, and wants us to live as long as possible!  Funny and sweet!

Katharine's 7th Birthday!

  Katharine decided not to have a big party this year.  We got a zoo magazine in the mail that mentioned a backstage zoo tour at the Dallas zoo. Katharine loves animals, especially penguins!  She said that she would rather do the zoo tour when they begin in the summer, as her present. So instead we had Madison over and they had a mini party with a Disney Princess theme, and watched Frozen. :-). She blew out her seven candles and had a great time!  We love her so much!

Kaden and Colin's 9th Birthday

Kaden and Colin are 9!  They wanted to have a space themed birthday party at SciTech Discovery Center again, so we had a Rocket party and actually gave out rockets to our guests!  They got to make paper rockets and shot those off inside. Then they did an experiment to see what would cause the biggest Geiser with Coke. It turned out to be Mentos. :-). We were outside for this one!  The leaders allowed Colin and Kaden to both put the Mentos in the diet coke. They were told to RUN after plopping them in!  The Geiser was instant and several feet high!  Colin got a little on him. :-) They had a blast with their friends!  Apollo 11 cake and playing at SciTech finished out the party!
  Can't believe they are 9!  Such blessings!  So different!  Love to be their parents!

Our first flight!  Our first flight was on December 23rd!  We went to celebrate Aidan's 9th birthday.  We drove out to the airport, but did not tell them where we were going.  When we got there, we told them Daddy had to drop some stuff off.  When we got situated, we told them that they were going to have their first flight!  They were thrilled and so excited!  It was decided that Jason would take Colin, Kaden, and Aidan up first.  Each flight was about 20 minutes.  They all enjoyed it, especially when Jason banked some, so they could get a good view out of their window.  Katharine, Mindy, and Ainsley were next.  Katharine sat in the cockpit with Daddy.  Lastly, it was me, Victoria, and Aidan again for his birthday.  It was so fun!  The gift of flight is amazing!  Victoria did great!  She sat quietly and looked outside.  She stated later that she didn't speak because she was scared!  During the flight, she even made a seat for sock monkey in the cup holder.  So cute!
  We all had a great time, and everyone was very surprised!  They each got a "remove before flight" key chain to put on their backpacks.  Special thanks to our awesome pilot!  Really excited about the flight ooportunities in the future!

Shoeboxes for Needy kids.

  We went as a family to target to choose items to place in our shoeboxes to send to children in need. Everyone chose a boy or girl and an age to gift. We made the boxes at home at got ready to ship them. That night, we prayed for each box and each child, that they would feel our love and God's love. Colin then stated that each box was like a box of hope to these kids. Yes Colin!  Exactly right!  :-)

Colin helps a little boy

We took the kids to the zoo.  They love going there. It was a good time, but I was so proud of Colin!  They have a little, shallow creek that they like to play in when we go there.  They were playing, and a little boy about 18 months, fell and was upset. Colin went over to him and comforted him, then took his hand and helped him find his mom. I was so proud of him!  I had tears in my eyes!  I went over and got on his level, and told him how proud I am of his kindness. That I was very proud of him!  Praise God!  Every now and then, you feel like what you are teaching is reaching them!  Love them!

Katharine holds Evan

Katharine held Evan for a few minutes, and he started crying.  I went to relieve her, took Evan, and she got up and said, "We'll that was annoying. . ."  Lol!

Victoria and nap time

Trying to lay Victoria down for a nap today.  She adamantly refused and stated that she "didn't want to rest because it makes me lazy!"  To funny!  Earlier today, she was playing with stickers of bears and chairs.  The bears had to be perfectly situated in their chairs. . . I have no idea where she gets that from!

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

  We went to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science downtown today with Joanne, Emma, and Lily.  Everyone had a great time!  The dinosaur exhibit is fascinating, as well as the space exhibit.  To many exhibits to count!  We probably only saw 20% of the museum!  That's ok.  We wanted you guys to take your time.  You built some dinosaurs, created a circuit by holding each touching an end, and then holding hands.  :-).  We lost poor Katharine in the bird exhibit.  It was only for a minute or so, but I found a lady walking toward me with her.  She was crying a little, but really started when I held her.  Poor thing!  The woman asked her if I had any other children.  Katharine told her, "yes.  There are 4 of us, but now there are only 3!"  Poor baby Kate!  I loved on her and made it up to her!  

  We watched a 3D movie about Meerkats, then headed to the human exhibit where there were slices of human on display.  Everyone was fascinated by the private parts, of course!  Good grief!  We then went to the Children's museum, which ended up being their favorite part!  It had a Farmer's market that Victoria and Katharine loved!  They bought and restocked the produce over and over again.  :-).  They then joined their brothers on a playscape that looked like the Dallas skyline.  They had "bricks" that they could put on a set of two conveyer belts and take them to the top of the playscape, only to put them down the correct shute, back to the conveyer belts!  They spent forever on this playscape!  Then it was outside to the giant sand box to dig for fossils.  Kaden and Colin made "sand angels".  Good grief!  Then it was inside the the water table with boats and mini channels.  They all played so well together!  That makes me so happy!

  I finally corralled them into the gift shop, hoping to finally be on our way home, but I was robbed there by 4 bandits!!  Mine!!  However, it was all books and toys about Science, and I can't say no to science!! :-).  Colin found a book, sat down in the middle of the crowded gift shop, and proceeded to read it.  I love that about him!  It almost made me cry!  He loves to read, and really can just tune everything out and focus on the book.  He made out with a couple of them! 

  Hurray!  We finally make it outside the museum, only to be waylayed by the little stream and playground area outside!  Drat!  It was beautiful, so I couldn't say no to playing!  I'm such a sucker!  

  We had a great time at the Perot for our first time!  I look forward to going again!  You guys are all pretty cool, and such a blessing to me!  Daddy didn't go, as he is skiing in Colorado with Mike.  We'll have to take him real soon!  What a blast with my 4 blessings!  

Colin and Kaden's 8th Birthday Party

  Oh my!  I cannot believe my baby boys are 8!  And getting so tall!  And looking more like boys and not little boys!  I love you guys so much!  We had your birthday at Sci Tech Discovery Center and did the Sparkle, Shimmer, and Shine party.  We had like 30 kids and a ton of presents!  You guys wanted a Minecraft party and the cake was AWESOME!  All of your friends wanted a Minecraft cake too!  At the party we did science experiments including: making a circuit with a watch battery, electric tape, and an LED light.  We then made glow in the dark goo with polymers!  Then, we had a fire experiment with coffee creamer, oxygen, and a lighter!  That was cool!  A really cool birthday!  Nana and Papa and Aunt Stephanie and Uncle John came too.  You then got to play in the Sci Tech exhibits.  You both rated it a 10 of 10!  We all then came home, opened a billion gifts, and then played Minecraft, of course!  

  You guys are amazing!  We are so blessed by you!  So glad we had 2 wonderful boys!  Just know how much we love you!  I cannot wait to see what the next years hold for us all!  

Victoria conserving toilet paper

  Victoria has been potty training, and with everything Victoria does, she must do so independently.  She's done very well with very few accidents.  However, she's using half a roll of toilet paper each time she poops!  After cleaning the toilet paper out for the 3rd or 4th time, I explained to her the need to conserve toilet paper due to tree consumption, etc.  I could see that she was understanding my meaning, and I felt really good about our environmental potty practices. . .  As with everything Victoria does, she does nothing by halves.  Soon after our discussion, I was discovering poop in the potty with no toilet paper at all.  ???  Hmm, what's that smell in the bathroom?  Oh wow.  She did take our conversation to heart, I reflect as I inspect the source of the smell.  Victoria has decided to really conserve resources, to utilize the toilet paper, and then just roll it back up on the roll. . .  Yes, using it, then rolling it back up on the roll.  That's what I said.  Oh my!  I've never experienced this with my others!  We had to have another conversation about conserving, but in a clean, sanitary, non disgusting manner.  :-)  I love how God made her, and I'm so blessed to be her mom!  She keeps me on my toes for sure!

Kaden and Narnia

  It's bedtime.  We're reading the Chronicles of Narnia.  We get to the part where Edmund betrays his siblings for some Turkish delight.  I'm appalled.  I want you all to be appalled too!  I'm relating that I can't believe Edmund did that to his siblings.  Colin agrees.  Katharine agrees.  Victoria is to young to do either.  I look at Kaden and ask, "Good grief, Kaden!  Can you believe that?"  Pause. . .  Then Kaden responds, "Well, exactly how much candy are we talking about?"!!  Gotta love Kaden!  :-)

Katharine and Victoria get Big Girl Bunk Beds

Katharine and Victoria decided a couple of months ago, that they wanted bunk beds like brothers.  They said they wanted to have a sleep over every night.  :-).  Daddy did a good job putting them together, and tonight is their first night to sleep on them!  They are so excited!  Let's hope no one ends up on the floor!

Belated Birthday Party at Main Event

The kids decided they wanted to wait on their birthday party, until Aidan could be here to celebrate. Aidan spent spring break with us, and tonight, we went to Main Event. They wanted to do Laser Tag :-). Nana, Papa, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle John, and Mackenie Ridout and family were all there. Katharine and Victoria had a great time playing Deal or No Deal with Papa. Katharine likes the games where you win tickets. We also played miniature golf with the kids for the first time. Kaden, Colin, and Katharine were getting the hang of it. Victoria, on the other hand, set her ball down about 2 inches from hole! She was very successful with that strategy!

Laser Tag was a blast! Kaden, Colin, Aidan, me and Jason went. Katharine wanted to, but she was to short :-(. They were so cute running around in their laser tag vests! I wish I had gotten a picture! So stinkin cute! They had so much fun! We played twice! The second time, Colin and Kaden decided they had to use the bathroom right before we were supposed to play. I stood outside the bathroom and kept yelling for them to hurry, as the line was all ready going in. Kaden made it. I ran with Colin, and we walked in after the door was closed. The Laser Tag hostess had all ready started her rule intro when she came over to collect our tickets. Colin: "I'm sorry my ticket is wet. I had to use the bathroom and didn't have time to wipe." LOL! We all died laughing! She was appalled, as she was all ready holding the said ticket! Thankfully, he meant he didn't have time to dry his hands after washing them! It was hilarious! We then went in and had another blast with laser tag :-).

The boys raced each other in the Nascar video game. Kaden and Colin kept running into each other intentionally and laughing. Aidan was so serious! Never cracked a smile, but he did win the races :-).

Victoria had a great time with Skeeball. She rolled the ball up, and it rolled back to her :-). She also tried to steal a few of her neighbors balls :-). Kaden was pretty good at skeeball. He plays it on his itouch. All in all, we had a great time! They loved it! We'll have to do the laser tag thing again. Hopefully, next time we'll all have dry tickets! Gotta love Colin!

Kaden lost his first tooth!

Kaden lost his first tooth tonight! He was so excited! We promptly put the tooth in the rocket tooth pillow for the tooth fairy :-). My baby is growing up! Time goes by so quickly. There are no words to express the love. We will have to see what the Tooth Fairy leaves him in the morning!

Asthma and Emma's Birthday Party

Colin's asthma has been acting up the past few days. We tried increasing his treatments, but he still wasn't improving. To Acute Care Kids we went for some oral steroids. Darn it! Hopefully, he will be on the mend soon! ABX just to be on the safe side.

Emma had her 6th birthday party at Pump it Up. It was the first time Victoria has been there, since she was a baby. The first time Colin, Kaden, and Katharine had been there in a long time. They were thrilled and made themselves right at home! Victoria was really pensive and would only watch for several minutes. Then, she finally decided to take me up on the offer of sliding down the big slide with her! Once she started, it was difficult to get her to stop! She even went a few times on her own! Like her sister, fearless! Has to do whatever big brothers are doing! She is really growing up! They all played very well together and were happy to see Emma :-).

Pumpkin patch and Halloween 2011

We went to the pumpkin patch a few days ago. The kids all picked out a pumpkin. Victoria picked out a few little ones :-). They enjoyed running in the kiddie hay bale maze! Then we got to go on a hay ride! They all love that! Katharine then went to bounce in the bounce house while Victoria continued to peruse pumpkins, and the boys inspected the reminants of rotting pumpkins. Yuck! They all love the pumpkin patch!

We weren't able to go to the Safety Town halloween event, as we are moving to another house soon, and had to get stuff done on that :-(. We were in Belize during our Community Halloween get together, and Nana and Papa were not up to taking you guys. So, this year, we only did Halloween on Halloween :-). Kaden was an Angry bird. Colin was a King Pig. (Both from the game "Angry Birds"). Katharine was Cinderella, and Victoria was a fairy :-). All were super cute! We went Trick or Treating around the neighborhood with Mackenzie Ridout and her family. The weather was perfect, and everyone had a great time. Victoria wasn't to interested until she discovered that it was candy that was being handed out! Then, she was all about it! Aunt Stephanie pushed her around in her little car and carried her up to the door. Yes, she has the life! We then went home and handed out candy to the remaining Trick or Treaters :-). They love handing out candy! Especially since we have this creepy bowl that has a motion activated skeleton hand that comes out and spooks people! Grammy got that for them! To funny! They were all very happy, and candied out!

Our First Chess Tournament

Colin and Kaden are in chess club at school, though they have never played before. They had their first tournament, and we were expecting them to do poorly :-). Jason even picked them up early because they have hip hop on Mondays as well. Kaden was upset to leave. On Friday, Kaden comes to the bus with a trophy, and Colin has a ribbon. Apparently, Kaden won 4th place in the tournament, even though he left early! Colin got an honorable mention! Chess club then wanted to advance Kaden to the next level. Kaden did not like it. He said he didn't like losing, and he missed Colin, so they let him go back. So proud of both of them! Look out Bobby Fisher!