Spring fun- strawberries and tball

Spring is in full gear at our house! On Friday, we headed to Froberg's fruit and vegetable farm to pick strawberries. We have been going for the past three years and it is so much fun. While Brinely has become a pro at picking the biggest and sweetest strawberries, this was Clayton's first time picking. Last year, he just ate every strawberry in site! It took him some time to get used to picking them without squeezing them to death. So 1/4 of his bucket got tossed when we got home! We came home with nearly 10 lbs of strawberries! We have been enjoying eating them whenever we get the chance!

strawberry stained hands from the excessive squeezing while picking

Saturday morning was Brinley's first tball game. It was so cute to watch 10 kids chasing one ball no matter where it went on the field! Brinley had a great time, but she was mad that the ball wasn't hit to her every time (my competitive child)! I think her favorite part was hitting and running the bases.

warming up with daddy

Put me in coach, I am ready to play!!!!

Brinley's first hit of the tball season

This child never stands still!!!!!!!!!!!

waving to daddy as she got on third

Spring Break

We had a wonderful spring break this year. The Monday was rainy which was a perfect excuse to stay in our pajamas all day long and relax!!!

Tuesday, we headed down to Crystal Beach to stay with a friend at her beach house for the night. We had 3 adults, 5 four year olds and 2 two year olds. There was lots of playing, crying and squealing. The weather didn't cooperate as much as we'd hope. We spent an hour at the beach before the kids got too cold, so we spent the rest of the time letting them run wild! Even though the weather wasn't too pretty, it was nice to feel the sand between our toes and hear the waves crash!
the boys spent most of their time hanging in the hammock

Thursday was Brinley's first tball practice. I didn't get any pictures, but she had fun seeing her friends. It was really cute seeing 9 kids pile on top of each other to get the ball that was hit! Her first game is this weekend, so we shall see how it goes.

Friday, we met up with some friends at the zoo. The weather was GORGEOUS and I guess everyone else had the same idea because it was packed!!! We got there when it opened and left after our picnic lunch. Brinley loved seeing the giraffes (they were in the process of being moved the last time we went) and Clayton enjoyed the train ride. He waved to everyone we passed and screamed "choo choo!"!!!

Brinley and Leo watching the prairie dogs from inside their habitat

Saturday, we had a birthday party in the afternoon and then our first Dynamo soccer game that evening. We upgraded our season ticket seats and now we are much closer to the action. Both kids did great during the game, but we did have to take them to run up and down the ramps during half time! The Dynamo lost 1-0, but they had a spectacular fireworks show after the game.

Whew! It was a busy week and we are glad to be back on schedule this week! The weather has been amazing and we have been outside any chance we can get!!!

More Rodeo

Last weekend, my college roomate and her hubby came in town to go to the rodeo! Going to the rodeo with adults is so much more relaxing than with the kids :-)

It was their first time, so we took in all the sights! Food, shopping, animals and rides! It was a ton of fun and we look forward to them coming back next year!

Amanda and I decided to ride the swing ride. The fear kicked in quickly as we realized how high and fast we would be going!!!

It wouldn't be the rodeo if you didn't eat an insane amount of meat!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason's hidden talent---winning carnival games. The kids were very happy he won them this scooby since they watch it every saturday morning with him!

Rodeo time

We made our annual trip to the Houston Rodeo last Thursday. Jason took half a day off and we headed in after lunch. It was a gorgeous spring day and we had the place to ourselves since it was during the week and all the field trip kids had left to go back to school!

Clayton really enjoyed the rodeo this year. He was a little hesitant about the ponies, longhorns and other animals, but after an hour he was running up to them wanting to pet them! He especially enjoyed the carnival rides! My little daredevil rode every ride he could get on. He even guilted the carnival workers into letting him ride ones he wasn't tall enough for by crying the biggest crocodile tears you have ever seen! He has really learned to manipulate and makes a momma want to pull their hair out :-)

Brinley had a blast on the rides too. She was tall enough this year to ride them by herself and she wouldn't let us get on with her! She was grinning from ear to ear the entire day.

this is my favorite picture from the day! The looks on their faces is priceless!!!!

After 7 hours of animals, BBQ, and carnival rides, we drug ourselves home and passed out! On the way to the car, Brinley said, "this was the best day I have ever had!"......and that statement made it all worth it.

my cowboy and cowgirl have been wearing their new hats non stop since we got them!

Putt Putt and Dinosaurs

Last Saturday, we headed down to Galveston for dinner, putt putt and ice cream! The weather was perfect at our house. It was sunny and warm. Little did we know that 20 miles down the road, as soon as we hit the Galveston bridge, it was dark, foggy and gloomy! The fog was scary movie thick! We ate dinner at our fave Mexican restaurant and decided to go ahead and play putt putt. We had the course to ourselves, which was great considering this was both of the kids first time playing putt putt! Brinley did really well and can actually putt the ball in from a pretty far distance. Clayton enjoyed running around holding his club and ball and running on all the beach themed obstacles! It was wet, but we had a great time! Brinley has already asked several times this week to go play again!

this is how all the pictures turned out later in the evening. No that is not rain, its the FOG!

Monday was presidents day and Jason only had to work 1/2 a day. So, we picked the kids up from school and headed to the Science museum. Brinley has been studying dinosaurs at school and she is obsessed with them! She can name almost everyone! Jason thought she would enjoy seeing the dinosaurs. We first went into the butterfly house. Thousands of butterflies everywhere! Clayton thought it was hilarious when a butterfly would land on him and he would squeal with delight! Brinley was a little scared as they swarmed her (she had on bright colors so I think they thought she was a flower!) but after a while she was fine and liked picking out the prettiest butterflies.

After that, we headed to see the dinosaurs. Brinley named every one and Clayton "roared" at each one!

After the museum, we walked over to Hermann park to let the kids run and play. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! After being trapped in the house for the past month due to rain and freezing weather, we are welcoming spring with open arms! My kids love being outside and we try whenever we have the chance!

Happy Valentines Day!

We have had a wonderful Valentines day this year! We celebrated ours on Saturday, so Brinley stayed the night with my parents (because Reese was over there too) and Clayton fell in love with being an only child at Jason's folks. After I dropped the kids off, Jason surprised me with a day at the spa. I got a much needed massage and facial. I felt like melted butter after the massage. We then went to dinner at a new restaurant Jason found overlooking the water down by Kemah. It was very intimate (only 50 people could fit inside) and the food was amazing! It is definitely going to be added to our date night fave spots to eat! After stuffing ourselves, we headed over to Kemah to walk around the boardwalk. It wasn't too crowded by the time we got down there, so we had the place to ourselves. We played some boardgames and Jason won me a stuffed penguin! It was a wonderful night!

Sunday, I spent the day getting ready to host Bunco at my house for that evening, so Jason hung out at his folks house and let the kids play, eat and wear themselves out. Today is going to pretty low key for us. The kids have their valentines party at school so I am sure they will come home nice and sugared up for me :-)

Trying to keep warm

Last Friday, we had promises of waking up to a winter wonderland. Schools and businesses closed the day before in preparation of at least 2 inches of snow (that is what the weathermen promised)!!!

At 5am, I was awoken by an automated phone call from our city letting us know of freeway closures due to ice. I looked outside and saw........NOTHING!!! Not even one drop of snow. Instead we had tons of ice. Icicles hanging off the house, Jason's car was coated in 1 inch of ice and the freeways of Houston became paralyzed due to ice. After watching the news all morning, Jason braved the roads around 10am to head into work for a few hours to get things squared away so he could work from home.

The kids and I stayed in our pajamas and watched tv all day long! It was so nice. Jason got home early because the roads were supposed to refreeze when the sun went down. We ate dinner, lit a fire in the fireplace, made smores and watched Beauty in the Beast. It was a wonderful family evening!

Jason toasting the marsh mellows and Clayton eating the graham crackers first!

Brinley enjoying her smore with Rylee hoping she drops it!

Laying on the floor enjoying "Beauty and the Beast"

Love his smiles!!!!!!!!
It has been a long time since we have stayed in our pajamas all day. Brinley did question why they had to put new pajamas on to go to bed that night, but I just thought fresh pj's were needed to get a good night's sleep! When all was said and done, the news reported over 800 wrecks in Houston during a 12 hour period due to ice! As I look out the window right now, it is raining and the temperature has dropped from 46 degrees to 33 degrees in two hours.....we will see if there is a repeat! HURRY UP SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!