my parents visit

My parents drove down to visit us at the end of March....yes, it's May now! Where did the time go. I'm a little late posting again!

They arrived on a Friday and stayed with us through the following Friday. We had a fun and busy week. They got to start thier visit off, by watching Luke at his soccar practice. We also went down to the Woodlands canal and took a walk and let the kids play around the park. On Tuesday we took a trip to the Houston Park and road the train...Luke's favorite. We also went to the butterfly gallery. My camera batteries died, so I didn't get a lot of pictures there. Thursday, we drove down to Galveston Island and played on the beach for a couple hours. Dad bought the kids a kite and Luke got to fly it all by himself!

We had a really good time! Thanks so much for driving down to see us!

Enjoy all the pictures!

our week with grandma & poppie

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a day at the beach

We took a road trip to Galveston Island for a little "get a way!" We stayed at Galvesta Hotel, which was really nice. It turns 100 years next year. Surprisingly, being that old it was in great condition and the rooms were clean. They are in the process of remodeling each floor. We weren't so lucky to have one of the remodeled rooms though.

Jake got back from his trip at 7:30a.m. and was not reassigned, so we loaded up and headed for the beach! The weather was perfect...80's! Not to hot, but warm enough for the pool. Our room was not ready when we arrived, so we stayed at the pool area for a couple hours. It was REALLY nice! Wish I would have taken pictures. It was Libby's first time in the pool. She held on tight, pretty much the whole time! After checking into our room, we spent another couple hours on the beach. Jake and Luke played in the waves. And Libby and I played in the sand. It was very peaceful and relaxing!

For dinner we ate at The Rain Forest Cafe! It was pretty cool inside. Again, didn't get pictures. Luke was scared and wanted to be held the whole time. He barely took his hands off his eyes. Poor thing.

The weather was a bit chilly the next day. We went to the beach for just a little while and decided to head back home. We had a great time!

safari birthday party

The kids had a "Safari Birthday Party"......about a month ago! I'm really late on posting these pictures. We all had such a good time though! I put a lot of time in the planning and preparing, which I truly enjoy doing. I spent hours researching the internet for ideas and using only a hand-full of the wonderful idea I saw.

We rented a bounce house for the kids to jump in.....I highly recommend them for parties! And, I must say, it's great for adults too! I haven't done the splits in the air in YEARS! And, as for Jake......I haven't seen him relieve so much stress! He jumped, and jumped, and jumped, and jumped!

I made the invitation. I got ideas for the wording on-line. I have a stamp of this giraffe (about 2 inches tall)

and I used it as a guide and hand drew him. I bought yellow

butcher paper and typed it to the wall and drew him. Then

went back and cut out brown spots, made the eyes,

and traced him brown. He's as tall as Jake! So cute!

I took a clear pie plate and added blue jello to make

it look like water. I put a plastic hippo and stood him in

it to make it look like he was wadding in the water. I

used shredded green grass and placed the other

safari animals in it.

For party favors, I got the kids pith hats, binoculars,
and an animal sippy cup. I made a sack lunch with peanut butter
sandwiches, a banana, and a package of animal cracker cookies.
You can't see it, but I had used a di-cut and made a yellow giraffe
and green grass to decorate the brown lunch bag.

For the adults, I made chicken salad sandwich, spinage dip,
strawberry salad, banana bread, and sweet tea.

Chicken salad sandwich, made into a snake. I bought
shredded lettuce for grass. I used green olives and toothpicks
for eyes. And a red pepper for the tongue.

I MADE THESE CUPCAKES!!!! I found a six minute videos that
showed step by step how to make them.

I watched it a hundred times!
It was so fun to see the faces come alive!

The monkey was my favorite!

Party favors and lunch bags.

Balloons!

The table before.

The snake! Super easy and big hit!

My birthday girl!

The picnic!

My birthday boy!

Eating the tiger face!

Eating the zebra face! They love the icing!

The table during!

The party!

The bounce house!

Luke jumping.

Libby's birthday shirt.

Mommy and Luke having fun!

luke singing "ABC's"

torn ligements

The other day, I slipped and fell on puddle of standing water in the bathroom! I had flip flops on and my flip flop turned under, which exposed my toes and I fell forward. And, my toe bend backwards.....OUCHHHHH! I heard a SNAP! And thought, this can't be good! I rolled on the floor in a fetal position, yelling and screaming as load as I could! I bet ya'll wish you were a fly on the wall huh!! I couldn't walk on it very well and as the hours past it became very painful. I put my tennie on for better support, which helped. A couple hours pasted, I took my shoes off and found this lovely bruse!

After looking at some broken toe pictures on line, Jake thought it would be best to take me in to have x-rays. So my WONDERFUL friend, Shanndra watched the kids (THANK YOU SOOO MUCH). And we went to Urgent Care. Doc said, he thought he saw a hair-line fracture, but when he put pressure on my toe, I didn't feel extreme pain, so he thought I just probibly pulled ligaments. They wrapped it and sent me on my way. I'm just praising the Lord that I didn't have to get it reset!!!

Doctor's order....stay off foot and elevate for a few days. So I asked Jake, "Does that mean I get to have a babysitter and a housemaid come in for two days and take care of everything!!??!!" He just laughed......I guess that was a NO! And, I missed two days of work this week....I really do feel awful about that.

Jake was so sweet though the whole things! Thanks sweetheart!

This picture doesn't justify the brusing.