behind the scenes at the Dell Diamond

This month's official home school field trip was a behind-the-scenes tour of the Dell Diamond.  I am quite sure I enjoyed this field trip more than the kids, but I know they had fun too.
We were able to visit the suites, the dugout, the locker room, the press box and was given our tour by Baseball Rob, the M.C. at the Express games.  Our group was so large we had to divide into two groups, eighty Moms, Dads and kids came.
After the field trip, we had a picnic with our friends at Old Settlers Park and finished off the day with a looooong nap.

Easter at Gigi's

True to Texas Easters, the weather was unpredictable and we had to rush our Easter festivities at Gigi and PopPop's.  R2 missed the fun b/c he was sleeping and heavy storms were on their way.  Duncan got some confetti egg fun in his place.  I put back five dozen cascaranas for Gigi's Easter egg hunt and not one was safe.  Gigi had tons of great hiding places in her garden.

homeowners

After five years of searching, and two years of renting this house, we decided the home we were in met all of our needs.  It isn't our dream house, but it is our home.  We closed on it today.

one big happy family

This month has been crazy, busy.  I mean crazy, busy more than it is typically crazy, busy.  We have traveled to the grandparents for Easter and we made a trip to Ben's parents for a family reunion.  Ben's youngest brother recently returned from Afghanistan and his brother.  He brought his family to Texas to celebrate his daughter's 3rd birthday. Tim surprised everyone and came in from California so the whole family could be together.  The whole gang was there except for Tim's girlfriend, Tammy, but it was the first time all four brothers were together in years.

last hoorah

It has been a sad couple of weeks on our cul-de-sac.  Our favorite home schooling friends have moved and it has been very quiet around here.  We hosted all three of the kids for the weekend while Mom and Dad loaded up the storage boxes and we had tons of movies, popcorn pizza and memories made.
We have been blessed with great neighbors before, but the kids really bonded with them and it has not been the same without them.  Each time the kids would call it a day, they all huddled together for a group hug, including R2.  It tore me up to watch them have one last group hug before they loaded up on Sunday morning.  I will admit, I was the first to shed a tear.

all clear

I have a trampoline jumping, scooter riding, playscape climbing kid again.  Doctor cleared the big kid for all activities but she has to wear the brace on the trampoline for a few more weeks.

Easter eggs and 5 dozen cascaranas

The kids had a blast searching for eggs in Uncle Ryan's big backyard.  There were 5 dozen confetti eggs plus candy eggs, so lots of headaches ensued afterwards.

Easter Festivities at Mimi's

Every year for as long as I can remember we have celebrated the Saturday before Easter with my Dad's family.  The day consists of BBQ, egg hunts for the kids and adults and a full-sized Easter bunny.  For reasons I won't explore this year it was cancelled and we ended up celebrating Easter with my family at my parents and Uncle Ryan's.  Mimi had fun games planned, loaded Easter baskets and Uncle Ryan was the master of the grill. The kids played pin the tail on the rabbit, croquet, bunny BINGO, cotton tail noses and loads of candy prizes.

my big kid

This is for my seven and six year old who insist they cannot put butter on their own bread.

wordless wednesday

fishin' the Guadalupe

We may need to work on technique and we definitely need a pole that isn't pink, but the boy loves to fish.  I have no idea how or where he learned, but he was a natural.  We didn't catch any fish, and I am sure it had nothing to do with the dancy prancy sisters on the shore, but we had a good time.

fire station visit, home school style

 One of the concerns, people express to me when they found out the kids are home schooled are they getting the experiences that kids in a formal school setting get.  And I LOVE it when I can provide my kids with experiences I know they could never get in a "classroom".
R2's new "thing" is firetrucks, OK, R2's new thing is any kind of truck.  On our last adventure to the library he found the stash of firetruck books and had to be encouraged to not check each one out.  When I found out my cousin, Jeff (Ryan and Bryan's age) was on duty the last time we were visiting Mimi, we had to make a trip to his station.  I had no idea the cool things he had planned.  R2 also has this thing for loud noises,  I really did not think it would frighten him since he loves to pull alongside any large truck and is mesmerized by them.  All Jeff did was turn on the truck to pull it out of the fire house and R2 got scared.  The tears began, but as long as he hung with Paw Paw, he was fine.  So, the girls got to do all the cool stuff, including squirting the big water hose and riding in the truck around the parking lot.  I have to admit, riding in the truck even excited me.  Every year, the fire truck would visit our class when I was teaching, it was fun, but this was cool.  Thanks Jeff and Megan for a great field trip.

wordless wednesday

strawberry fields forever

The kids and I have been traveling to the grandparents a little more frequently to give Daddy a chance to work on the movie.  Last weekend, the kids and I met Mimi, Aunt Rissa and Granny in Marble Falls to pick strawberries for our yearly supply of Mimi's jelly.  The kids had fun finding the reddest strawberries and HR and Granny enjoyed hanging in the shade.  After we gathered our berries, we met at my favorite fast food restaurant, Taco Casa.  I resisted the urge for my favorite cheesy- goodness meal, the chilada and instead scraped the "stuff" off a tostada for a salad, but I could not resist their sweet tea. It is hands down the best tea on the planet, besides the Neal Family Sweet Tea.  I have recently passed a milestone on the scales and hoping to never see a 3 in the tens' place again.

just so you know...

My picasa account is completely jacked up.  I have not been posting b/c I have not been able to access my collage maker for my pictures.  I have given up and I will just have to use photoshop to edit and post a lot more (or less) individual pictures.  So bummed...this is the 2nd time it has screwed up.  And now with google dissing Jesus, I just want to give up on the whole google joke and move on to something else.  Any preferences for email?