Crawfish Boil

On the last day of April our friends invited us to their Neighborhood Crawfish Boil. After living in the South for two years, this was our first time trying crawfish. It was fun to try and seasoned well, but they were sure ugly. After enjoying our feast, the kids had hot dogs, the kids played in some races and ran around.

Parker and Jude kicking a ball around with some guy.

Staucie had fun with the water balloons.

This is Staucie in the 'bucket of water' race. You can also see Bensen in the background. I think this is where he lost sight of us and got nervous. You can tell he is nervous because his hands are in his mouth. He is also walking right through the middle of the race. Poor kid. We worry about him.

And there Bensen is watching the other kids play with his fingers in his mouth. Poor thing.

Then we went over to the inflatables where some big, mean kids were pushing kids down the slide. Luckily, our kids were okay. Probably because they didn't know them.

Silas sliding down.

Staucie sliding down.
Staucie climbing up, Parker and Silas sliding down.

Jude climbing up and Parker sliding down.

Then the kids got snow cones and checked out the fire truck.

Parker drove.

Silas, Staucie, Jude, Bensen.

I did get one picture of the back of Tami. ha ha.

Then they waited in a line that took forever, to jump on the trampoline.

Isaac went first but we didn't get his picture. He did flips on it.

This is Silas. I think he liked it.

And then Staucie had a turn...

She was excited to jump but...

...then they raised her up and she looked terrified and I thought she was going to cry.

The guys kept flinging her up and had no idea she was scared. Oh, my kids.

Parker didn't even try it. He didn't even stand in line.

I wanted to try it, but was pretty sure I weighed too much.

It was a fun and busy day! Thanks for inviting us. The kids had a blast!

Addie started walking

She started walking a week or two before her first birthday, which was May 4th. She is getting faster everyday. Although I am sad she keeps growing and reaching new milestones so quickly, she sure is a CUTE little walker. I love her little walk. All day long she walks and walks.

Easter!

On Easter Sunday we waited until after church to have our Easter egg hunt. We also had dinner at our friends' house right afer church so the Easter egg hunt was later in the day. The kids were excited! We tried to line them up for a "before the egg hunt" picture...

Addie crawled all over her stuff...

And then drug her head across the floor... she was tired...

Later that day, we colored our eggs while Addie was napping. We ran out of time the day before so we did it on Sunday.

And then Addie woke up.

Addie's First Birthday

Happy First Birthday Sweet Baby Girl!

It is breaking my heart to watch her grow. I love you, Addie.

Grass in the BaCkYaRd!

But... it took two tries...

We ordered some palettes of sod to lay in our backyard. It was supposed to come sometime before 8:00 on a Saturday morning. We were hoping it would come Friday evening, but we were having a hard time getting a hold of the company. Daniel finally did Saturday morning. They said they were on their way and would be there before 9am. Meanwhile, we had friends and neighbors, and our brother-in-law showing up to help... Then they called back and said they had another customer calling and yelling at them and they wouldn't come until 11:00am to deliver ours... Uh... what.

So, I yelled while Daniel tried covering up the receiver on the phone. Long story... I was mad... We ended up getting our sod the next weekend, which was Easter weekend. I wanted it for sure on Friday so we wouldn't have the same problem Saturday morning. After calling a billion times AGAIN (this was after already scheduling it again) we finally got them to say that for sure they would deliver it around noon on Friday. (If you are wondering why we continued to go with this company, it's because they were the least expensive. Plus, we got them to knock off some more for failing us the first time.)

We got it! On Friday around 11:00am.

And then our friends, Caleb and Tami, came over that Friday night with 3 of the 4 of their boys to help us get a head start on laying it. In about 2 1/2 hours, without much help from me because of Addie, we got 6 palettes laid. The bad news is that Texas sod comes with Texas bugs. There were a few fire ant bites and maybe some spider bites. Those 2 that would not wear gloves got bit the most; they must be father and son.

On Saturday Daniel filled in the rest of the holes and watered it. AND of course, I made Daniel buy granules to kill bugs and treat the grass that day also. Grooooosssss buuuugggs. Yeah for grass!

Someday we will add some planter boxes. I also miss the soft grass in California. This stuff is like a weed. It grows sideways. It looks like crab grass.

Thanks Caleb, Tami, Elias, Isaac, and Jude for all your help. And thanks to those who tried to help the first time and who were willing to help the second time.

Grandma and Aunt Tyne at the Zoo

My mom and sister, Tyne, came to visit us for a week. We were so happy to be together again. They came just because we miss each other and I can't go to them because it costs so much for 4 plane tickets (Addie is free still), and too far to drive. The only pictures I took were of the zoo. It was our first time going to the Houston Zoo.

Me and my kids. They are adorable.

Tyne, Parker, my Mom, Bensen (who you can't see), and Staucie looking at the weird animal that looked like it was several animals in one. Forgot what it was called.

Oh, there's Bensen.

And Addie in the stroller.

Parker checking out the lioness.

The kids with Grandma and Aunt Tyne. This is towards the end of our day and the kids are looking tired. My sister is expecting her first baby, a GIRL, in July. She is a trooper with her diabetes and I am proud of how committed she is at taking good care of herself.

This big orangutan was so funny. He just sat there with his chin resting on the ledge, staring. Barely blinking. He was just hanging out while people took their picture with him. The kids were afraid he could get them at first.

"Here I am at the zoo for everyone to look at. Blah. Blah. Blah."

Thanks for coming Mom and Tyne. I miss you to pieces. I can't wait til we get together again.

Wild about General Conference

General Conference this past session was so hard to listen to. I had a hard time occupying my kids this time so we could listen. They just kept getting bored. Coloring time got a little wild with Addie's help.
Bensen had just gotten up from his nap and so he was just snuggling with Daddy.

Addie loves the crayon box and thought it was super fun to throw them everywhere!

Good thing the conference talks will be coming in the Ensign :)

Sick of Construction

Construction on the building of new homes is all around us. We were one of the first homes in this section of the neighborhood so we will continue to have construction for awhile. They are building the houses fast, but I am getting tired of it. I am not looking forward to the last phase of houses which will be directly behind us. The builders work on about 14 or 15 houses at a time, I think. It is always crazy around here. The kids enjoy watching all the big trucks and tractors. They had fun watching the concrete poured for the neighbor's driveway. I was impressed with how efficient they worked together without much communication. Can't wait until they are all done though! It will be a happy day when all the homes are complete. Just a few more months!

Four at the window, Ice cream mess

Daniel's mom was here in Texas to help Aunt Brittany with the new baby. We got to see a lot of her. It was lots of fun.

This is one night while getting ready for bed. They were all looking out the boys' bedroom window. I can't even remember what they were looking at. Maybe the ice cream man in his van. He seems to come a little too late to our house... We thought it was cute that they were lined up in a row. Poor Addie couldn't really see out the window. And she turned around when I snapped the picture and then crawled away, of course. Maybe to get her jammies on since she is the only one not dressed yet.
Grandma Lees also liked to feed the kids messy treats like big ice cream bars covered in chocolate. I was fine with it as long as I didn't have to clean it up. Once you finally clean up dinner, who wants to clean up a kid covered in a sticky, gooey mess?? I told Bensen to smile, and got this...

It took two people to clean up Bensen on this night. Notice it is Daddy and Grandma doing the cleaning, and I am just laughing while snapping pictures.