A blessed life.....: January 2010

Monday, January 25, 2010

Gymboree Class

For about 8 or 9 months now Lucas has been going to a weekly "class" at gymboree. It's such a wonderful way to grow his imagination. Every week they have a different theme and rearrange the room according to that theme. They (we) sings songs every week - same songs - which he knows them ALL! :) Here are a few pictures of Lucas in action in his fun class!

climbing and playing

Here with his good buddy Turner

Toddler trampoline - great!

bubbles and parachute time! He loves this part of the class!

playing on the parachute with Turner

Laying under it while the parents do the parachute dance and sing the songs ;) .

This is BY FAR his weekly highlight - he gets a "GYMBO STAMP". He now gets them on both hands, both feet, on his tummy AND on his back... it's so cute!

Super FUN Playdates!!!

Last week we several fun playdates! Hannah joined us for one of them when she was out of school for MLK. We went to a FUN bouncehouse place.... it was great, because as you can imagine it's very difficult for us to find things that BOTH kids are interested in - their age difference is hard when it comes to that ;), but this place satisfied them both! Lucas and his best buddy Jackson played in the toddler area while Hannah went down all the HUGE slides and obstacle courses.

Lucas was so brave to go down that slide w/ his big sis!

He LOVED it!

Another day we met some good friends: Taber and her babies Addie and Jett and Jen w/ hers Blane and Gavin at Barnes & Noble for STORYTIME - Spot the Dog made a guest appreance! Lucas loved hanging out with his friends, but wanted nothing to do with that crazy lifesize DOG -ha!!!

He stayed pretty far away from Spot.

We had a picnic by the pond after storytime!

The 3 big kids checking out the pond!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Dallas World Aquarium

Yesterday, Lucas and I - along with our buddies Sara and Jackson enjoyed the whole afternoon playing at the aquarium. Lucas LOVED the "akookaboo" aka alligators, owl's, sharks, sting rays, manatee, turtles, HUGE fish, colorful fish, birds, penguins, snakes, bats and even a beautiful Jaguar (the cat - not the car - ha). He's still talking about all the cool animals he saw yesterday!

a HUGE manatee - which Lucas kept calling a "biiiig whale"

We were hanging out in the shark tank...

These owl's were way cool!

acookayboo (as Lucas would say) aka alligator

Sara and Jackson

my little man and me

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Fun evening...

The other night I was supposed to go out with some friend while Matt went to watch the Cowboys..... Mammy was coming over to have a play date with Lucas and Hannah.

It turns out I didn't go out with my friends, but I took my Hannah on a date! :) We had SO much "un-interupted" time. It was so wonderful to spend time with JUST her! We went to her indoor soccer game (which she won!). After that - we went for some afternoon shopping and ran into some friends of ours. We had dinner with them.... walked around the outdoor mall.... then decided to take the kids SKATING! I was probably more excited than Hannah!
We had a BLAST! I missed my Lucas, but treasured the time I got to spend with Hannah. Although, she was MUCH faster than me on skates.... I still did pretty well ;) ..

Here are some pictures from dinner - the kiddo's being silly!

She's such a goof ball!

Monday, January 4, 2010

2009 - what a blessing!

I can not believe another year has come and gone! It's funny how when you are young - all you want is to be 13 - then 16 - then 18 - then 21... aaagghhhh! Now, as an adult and a mom - I want the clock to slooooooow down! I take every day as the most amazing blessing! I love my life and wouldn't change any of it! I have the BEST family and IN LAWS a girl could ask for! As far as my husband goes..... I believe in my soul that we are meant to be together. He knows me and accepts me (and ALL my many flaws) for who I am.
Here are the highlights of 2009 (well, all the ones that I can think of right now!)

Me:
I'm still at home with Lucas and Hannah. I'm doing a little sewing biz on the side. It's not enough to make money, but it at least gives me the satisfaction of accomplishing something - and it's so fun! I love our new group of friends we went to Napa with. We get together with them pretty frequently. I have my first church retreat coming up in the month of February - I am way excited about that!
As many of you know I had a friend that lost her (almost) 2 year old in 09. It was the saddest thing that I've ever gone through. Which is NOTHING in comparison to what they are going through. It is something that I think about (cry about way too often) everyday. We were pregnant together while working together ... both have boys.... she gave me tons of his "hand me down" clothes as he would grow out of them. It's just so sad :(. I pray for them all the time. Good news is: They just found out they are pregnant again and due in August! YAY!
It's been a huge reality check for me this year..... count your blessings... squeeze your children a little longer, treasure each moment, take lots of pictures. You never know when God will call them back home to Him.

Matt:
Still thankfully employed with the same awesome company. Finally, I can tell by looking at him that he LOVES what he does at work! He was wired to be a Real Estate Developer! I'm so proud of him. The project he's building is so amazing! He took us on a tour recently and it's oh so impressive!

Hannah:
Started middle school! This was HUGE! This meant 7 different classes - more importantly - A LOCKER! Of course - you have to decorate this locker in the coolest (not cutest) fashion! She is taking band in school. Playing the clarinet - and is 1st chair! What a huge accomplishment! Her first recital was surprisingly very good! :) She also had her first "social" at school. It was a huge party outside the school - she loved it!
Also, Hannah for the first time (since Kindergarten) made straight A honor roll! She worked SOOOOOOOOOO hard to earn that amazing report card. We were so proud of her! I GOT MY "I HAVE A STUDENT AT "BLAH BLAH BLAH MIDDLE SCHOOL ON THE HONOR ROLL" BUMPER STICKER!!!!!!!!!!!! My car wears that sticker very proud! AND - she has maintained her honor roll status all year - so far ;).
I've always been proud of my Hannah, but this year - she is exceeding all our expectations. Middle school is her thing!
Started Gymnastics and is doing really well and loves doing all the flips
Still in soccer - she is the BEST goalie - totally fearless.

Lucas: (I will bullet point his - it is easier to read that way)

He's now officially in his "big boy bed". We just took down his baby crib last weekend and he's doing really well with it.
His vocabulary is CRAZY! It started out really slow (in comparison to some of his buddies), but now - it's all over... We're actually telling him "ssshhhhh - no more talking for awhile"!
Still loves his weekly classes we go to!
He's ridiculously smart! He knows his alphabet song - counting to 10 (almost 15).
Loves to sing songs and dance!
Still doesn't like "Little Lambs" at church (the daycare) - which we hope to CHANGE in 2010!
Looooooooooves to read books. His favorites are: Goodnight Moon (still), Elmo, Mickey, Puppy Love, Thomas the Train
I LOVE the silly "messed up" words he says. For example: The Wonder Pets (a TV show) is "Luck-Oh-Bye", Aunt Melaine - "AnnMiglane" , Choo Choo Train - "Blue Blue Blee" - I have NO idea why he says them this way, but it MELTS my heart.
He has the BEST manners of any toddler I've ever seen! Everything is: Please, Thank you, I'm sorry, I love you. He uses all them w/o being told CORRECTLY! That's so sweet!
Still LOVE trains! He does love all vehicles: trucks, construction trucks, cars, motorcycles etc.....
Can tell you any sport on tv.... tennis, hockey, golf, basketball, football, and his fav is still BASEBALL!
Loves playing the Wii with his daddy and Hannah.
Knows how to work the iPhone like an ADULT! HA!!!