Shake It Up!

Dearest Jax & Colt,

Today ended a whirlwind of a week as we spent every morning at church Shaking It Up!  I, along with these 8 other fabulous "chefs", organized another successful year of Vacation Bible School complete with over 100 volunteers and 325 kiddos!!

You were both timid on Monday morning and kicking and screaming was on the menu as I dropped you off at your respective classrooms.

Jax, you quickly bonded with your classroom's youth helper, Caroline, and cheered right up!

Colt, you were blessed with an extra-special nursery worker!  Ms. Michelle gave you lots of TLC.

I think the stroller rides around the church were your favorite!

Tuesday was green day and you both did much better during morning drop off!

You flirted with Ms. Michelle instead of paying attention to our morning devotion.

Wednesday was blue day, as you can see here.

You were all smiles while sitting next to one of your teachers, Ms. DaviAnne, during assembly.

And I loved the way your class held this rope together as you walked around the church.

Thursday was yellow day.

I was so glad that you had a friend who you "know" in your class. 

Friday was red day...again.  But I rebelled and we didn't wear our VBS shirts. 

(Because, honestly, Mommy had zero energy for doing laundry this week after running around all morning!)

I think you were pretty proud to be sitting on your other teacher, Ms. Angela's, lap.

And this picture from our final assembly just cracks me up...here you are between two classmates.  I don't think any of you are paying attention to what's going on and your grin is just too much!!!

I wonder how long we'll be going around the house singing,

"Shake, shake, shake - shake, shake, shake it up!!  God's got a recipe for meeeee!" ???

No more mullet

Dearest Colton,

You breezed your way through your first haircut this past weekend!  If your head had teams, the team in the back was definitely winning the race as that was really the only part that needed trimmed. 

You happily sat in the fire truck seat and let her snip away at your precious little mullet hairs. 

After the cut, we took you to the park across the street and took your picture on this bench:

(It's the same bench where your brother sat after his first haircut!)

You always look handsome, but your new do gives you that "handsome little boy" look

as opposed to your "handsome baby boy" thing you had going on : )

Train #???

Dearest Jackson,

I've totally lost count of the number of trains you've ridden thus far.  If you see a train, you immediately want on it!  Well now that we have a train running right through our city, we knew we had to add it to your resume.  So, on Saturday we rode the rail to downtown Dallas.  It was a 45 minute train ride and you were enthused the entire trip!

On the way there, you told me about almost everything you saw from your window!

Your brother rode in the comfort of the stroller for most of the ride there.

After walking through the park, we went inside to the IMAX theater to see a dolphin movie (where you refused each of my picture attempts!).

 Colt was missing his morning nap so his attitude was less than stellar and Daddy was as nervous as could be about squirmy Colton being up so high in the theater...so they left a little early while you & I enjoyed the whole show together.  Flash photography was not allowed so this blurred shot was the best I could do to capture your fascination with the huge screen -

Colton was asleep just minutes into our return ride home.

You, however, stayed awake and attempted to occupy two seats while simultaneously still avoiding my pictures!

I just love our Saturdays together as a family!

Lions, Tigers, and Electronics - Oh My!

Dearest Jax & Colt,

Everyone should ride on a robotic jungle animal at least twice in their life -- so that's why we headed back to the indoor safari park.  But this time we went to a newer, bigger, cleaner location and we met up with friends!

You were ready to run wild the second we walked in the door : )

Getting there as soon as they opened meant that you two had the trampoline to yourselves for a little bit.

I was impressed that you found the one "magical" white ball in the huge pit. 

(And I could tell you searched diligently for it because your tongue was out)

Way to show that robotic elephant who's boss!  : )

Playing leads to resting, which leads to a cute photo-opp!

No worries, Colton.  That deer (?) was not responsible for your lovely head wound.

You had a run-in with our hardwood floor and, as you can clearly see here, the floor won.

What a fun ending to a somewhat stressful week! 

Teacher Playdate

Dearest Teacher's Kids,

One would think that a group of teachers would consider learning opportunities when planning a weekly playdate - but not us chatty Cathies.  Our group likes to meet up wherever the mommies can get in some talking time so meeting at this indoor playplace this week was perfect!  Even more perfect than perfect is that we were the first ones there so we had it all to ourselves for a few minutes!!

This picture of the two of you just cracks me up!  Jax, I imagine you saying something like, "Hurry up and pose so Mom will let us go play."  Meanwhile, Colt, you seem quite curious as to what your big brother is up to.

Fiesta!

Dearest Colt & Jackson,

If life ever starts to get away from me, feel free to bluntly let me know.  I don't want to be one of those people that looks back and questions, "Where did the time go?"  But between two showings on the house, a doctor's appointment, an entire day of granite installation, a Zumba class, a meeting at church, and two playdates, this is just one of those weeks.  The whirlwind week started on Monday night when The Parma Girls graciously hosted us at their place.  They provided the Mexican feast and the refreshing pool and we provided the cute kids ; )

Sometimes, late bedtimes are excusable -

 like when you're busy swimming, laughing, and eating cookie cake with friends  : )