Happy 9th Birthday, Jackson David!!

Dearest Jackson,

Your 9th birthday fell on a Friday this year so you had school that day but we surprised you before you left that morning with this huge message on our front lawn!

After school, you had a few friends over and we piled all of you into our cars to head to your party.

Everyone else met us at Main Event and the party started with bowling.

Y'all played 2 games of laser tag afterward.

And then it was time for pizza and cookie cake.  You designed a fun look making it half a soccer ball and half a baseball.

The party ended in the arcade and this smile tells me it might've been your favorite part!

You're the reason for so many of our smiles over the past 9 years.  We love your energy and caring heart.  You're an awesome big brother, a helpful teammate, a level-headed student, and a budding comedian.  Thanks to an overabundance of examples between your teachers and your parents, sarcasm has recently joined your vocabulary and you lay it on thick sometimes.  You are a homebody but you're always game to head to a sporting event (your own or those of others).  You don't have a huge group of friends but you seem to be nice to everyone.  We're still learning you and, the more we learn, the more we love.

Happy, happy, happy birthday, baby boy!

April's Awesomeness

Dear Colt and Jax,

April was filled with so many awesome moments and the trusty Iphone was there for a lot of it :)

The month started with the awesomest of the awesome when our besties bought a house in our neighborhood!!!  You can see the excitement on our faces as Michelle gave me a tour of their beautiful backyard! 

You also got excited when you practiced the 1.2 mile bike ride to their house & it only took 10 minutes!

Haircuts were needed to get y'all through the remainder of the school year.  Gone are the days of me taking pictures of your haircuts but I had to document this one since you were in "Grandpa's chair with his hair guy"! 

When I picked you up at school one day, you wanted me to see your artwork.  Can't you spot it???

Marcus High School had a special night where local youth were allowed to join the players on the field.  You and your other MHS feeder teammates enjoyed the game together.

 And then your soccer team was invited to join players on the field at the Dallas Cup.  

That's you, in the yellow, Jackson!  :)

My chaperoning adventures continued when I accompanied your class to Elm Fork at UNT.  This was a great trip because a) it was so easy since your class stays together and UNT's grad. students do all the leading and b) this is the same trip I went on year after year as a 3rd grade teacher.  (All the 3rd graders in our school district go here.)

Private batting lessons continued with Coach Frank...

Braxton hosted his nearest and dearest at Pinstack to celebrate his 9th birthday.

And then it was Easter & you looked as handsome as ever at Grandpa and Grandma's church!

The truck wasn't moving, of course!

Grandma spoiled the both of you with full baskets!

At this point, summer break feels SO CLOSE!!  : ) : ) : ) : )

Bluebonnets

Dearest Texans,

Our tradition of stalking native wildflowers lives on!!! 

I can't believe that it was 5 years ago that we were introducing Grandma to her first field of beautiful bluebonnets!  

 

She came with us again this year as we walked along Lake Grapevine but I didn't even think to have y'all recreate that precious picture!  Next year!???

 

Jax, I love that you're such an "easy smiler" -- braces and all!

Colt, I love your line of freckles!

Me:  How about you give each other a little kiss?

Y'all:  Faces and giggles.

Me:  Ok, fine.  Just a hug then.

Y'all:

Of course, you two preferred exploring the shoreline rather than posing among the flower patches!

Later, you told me that you'd still take these annual pictures for me until you're 15.  

I'm documenting it and totally holding you to it!  : )

An Adventure Begins...

Dearest Boys,

As I hinted in a previous post, we added a little more to our plate in March.  I don't even remember where the idea came from, but it was somehow decided that you, Colton, would join your school's scout pack.  Their are scouts at every grade level at your school but the Tiger Den (1st graders) is the largest group by far.  After hearing about the fun things your friends were doing through scouts, you were excited to give it a try!  Dad took you to your first den meeting and you two both came home with huge smiles on your faces!

When we went to the scout store to buy all of the necessary gear, I realized just how cub-scout-clueless I am...but it's been fun learning about this awesome program as we go along!

I got to take you to one of your den meetings and y'all were working on a teamwork patch (Or is a badge?  Oh, dear!) and it was an hour of giggling boys!

 I love the way that the scouts incorporate learning into almost everything they do -- that is SO right up your alley, Colton James.  I think this activity includes your two favorite things - learning and socializing - so it is such a great fit for you!!

Spring Break

Dear Jackson and Colt,

The adults in our family were still recovering from our week at Disney so we used Spring Break to hang out around our own town and take it easy at home.    

We played a little tennis.

Jax, you did a few days of baseball camp with some of your teammates.

Colt, you were allowed to plan a "Mommy & Me" date for the two of us while Jax was away.  Not surprisingly, you picked Chuck E Cheese!

Jax, you were camper of the day!

One day included bowling with the Vaughns.

I finally discovered my hidden athletic ability!  Turns out, I'm a bowler!  ;)

Board games on the daily!

We went with some of our favorites to see Beauty and the Beast.

You two said your favorite part was the fight scene at the end.  ::eye roll::

Spring Break wrapped up with a big family date night when we took Grandpa and Grandma to Top Golf for their first time. 

We really enjoyed our week of rest and relaxation....

but we might have spent some of our time together planning a road trip for Spring Break '18...