Our Day at the Beach

Two weeks ago, I headed out on my first solo road trip with my boys.  They really proved what great road trippers they are on the way to and from Amarillo a few weeks before.  So when a beloved relative died in Corpus Christi, I decided to take the boys to his funeral with me, and head to the beach after.  My boys had never been to the beach before, so I had to take this opportunity to introduce them to one of my favorite things.  Some of my favorite memories as a kid are from our Summer vacations to Freeport Beach and South Padre Island.  I was hoping they would love it too.

Thankfully my parents and Mark and Winston were there to help.  I am not sure I would have survived it, if I hadn't had my awesome family there to help with Drew and Cooper.  We headed out Thursday after VBS (yes, I set out on a 7 hour drive after a long week of VBS), and made it to CC for a late dinner with my parents. Along the way we only stopped for lunch in Hillsboro, ice cream (DQ) in Pleasanton, and gas just outside of CC.  Not bad for a 7 year old and a not yet 4 year old, I was pretty impressed with that.  

After the funeral Friday morning, and lunch we loaded up and headed down to Padre Balli Park.  We were able to park our cars, and spend a few hours playing in the surf and building a sand castle.   Drew wasn't too interested in the water, he mostly just wanted to build a sandcastle.  Cooper wasn't too interested in the sand (he doesn't like to get dirty), so he spent his time bringing us buckets of water.  Cooper wasn't at all intimidated by the water or the waves.  He kept trying to go out deeper.  He even dove in head first to swim to me.  

 Cooper got a little sand in his eyes and had to have Grandpa rinse his it out.

My handsome boy wishing I would hurry up and take the picture so he can get back to building. 

A rare shot of Cooper digging in the sand.

Hopefully the only picture of me in a swimsuit any one will ever see.  

But I had to document my boys' first trip to the beach.

I am so glad I decided to take Drew and Cooper with me on this trip.  They are such great boys, and proved it once again on a long, but quick road trip.  Hopefully I have started a love for the beach so they can help me convince Andy that our next big family vacation should be a beach vacation.  :)

Drew's 7th Birthday

Drew turned 7 on May 12th.  To celebrate he had 2 close friends over after school on the 11th and they got to spend the night.  

Drew chose a cookie cake this year, so I decided I could make that myself.

Getting ready to open his first gift.  The crown was from school, he was allowed to wear it all day.

Texas Rangers towel from Carter.  This boy loves the Rangers!

Jake and Drew cheer on Carter in the candy sort game from Minute ToWin It.

They also had to move Tic Tacs with tweezers.

Add caption

 On Saturday night, all the grandparents came over to celebrate with Drew.  We went out to dinner, then back to the house for real cake, and presents.  Cooper was right in the middle of the gift opening.  He was very excited to see what Drew got.  

It is so nice now that Drew can read his own cards.  

With that smile, I am pretty sure this one contained money.

I think Cooper was hoping for something more fun than a book.

Ready to blow out candles again.  This time it was on a strawberry poke cake.

Such sweet boys.

I know I say this every year... but I can't believe Drew is 7 already.  He is such a sweet, smart, funny, and caring kid.  I can't wait to see what this next year brings for him.

Field Day

These post are going to be a little out of order, but I wanted to make sure I got all the end of year events for Drew's class.  Field day was actually more than a week before awards day.  

Field day is one of Drew's favorite days of the year.  And boy has it changed since I was a kid.  Now they have bounce houses and ice pops, in addition to some of the stuff we use to have.  Luckily the weather was pretty good for it this year, and the kids had a great time.

I tried and tried to get a serious picture of these guys...as you can see, that didn't happen.

Drew trying to look tough.

Class relays

The big event that every class wants to win the the tug of war.  For the 2nd year in a row, Drew's class came in 2nd place.  But it was a great contest. 

Drew really trying to win!

Mrs. Hogue's First Grade Class.
During the tug of war, it rained just a tiny bit, but as you can see, that was enough to get a water droplet on my camera.  

First Grade Awards

On Friday, May 25th, Drew had his first grade awards day.  Mrs Hogue did a great job of calling each kid up for each award.  I know they each felt special.  Drew got several awards, but I think the one he was most proud of was the one he got for being green all year.  That means he had excellent behavior all year and never had to change his color.  

These 4 boys have become very good friends this year.  Not only are they in the same class, but they have all played on the same baseball team this season. 

Drew and Jake have been such good friends for about the last 5 years.  They have been in preschool, church, sports, and now elementary school together.  

Me and my sweet boy.  I am so proud of him.

I am so thankful that Drew had Mrs Hogue this year.  He has learned so much from her.

I can't believe how fast this year has gone.   In just a few days I will have a 2nd grader, but it feels like he just started kindergarten last week.  The time really does go quickly once they start school.

For years (all of my adult life really) I have said "I can't cook", or "I don't cook." Over the last few years (after having kids) I learned to cook a little, but mostly stuff that included mostly premade stuff. Then Pinterest came into my life... and my cooking got significantly better. Over the holidays last year, I really started baking a lot of yummy dessert treats. I then progressed to several baked chicken dishes that were still pretty simple, or things that only involved the crock pot. Last night I think I ruined my chances of ever being able to say "I don't cook." Last night I made homemade Chicken Pot Pies! And by homemade, I mean from scratch. Yep, even the crust I made from scratch. I know, crazy right! I took pictures along the way to prove it.

Filling in the crock pot.

The only thing prepackaged I used was the cream of chicken soup,

and the peas and carrots were frozen.

Pie crust cut out and in the pie tin.

Filled pie crust, just waiting for the top crust.

I made little muffin size ones for the boys. Unfortunately they are both sick so they didn't eat them.

I froze the leftover ones,they will make a good quick lunch sometime.

These two I wrapped in foil and put in the freezer for Andy and I to have another day.

I coated the crust with an egg wash to keep it from getting soggy.

Finished products! I really need to do this when the weather is cold, but oh well.

I love that my freezer is slowly getting stocked with meals I can pull out later when I don't feel like cooking. I also love that I am wasting less food, because I am learning to freeze what we don't use. Oh, another great perk about making these... I had a little crust left over so I made cinnamon crisps!

So... Thank you Pinterest!

Fun at the Ranch

Wow, I really need to get back to blogging. I know I say that every time I post something, but I mean it this time... really, I do.

Here are a few pictures from this past weekend at Daybreak Ranch. the weather was great for a quick day trip to see Granny and Granddad.

Just a little Daddy cuddle time on the playground or as Drew and Cooper call it, the Treetops

Cooper decided to climb up to the monkey bars.

He was really brave until he decided he wanted down, then Daddy had to help.

Of course Drew had to try it too... he got across a few of the bars before he decided to drop down.

Looks like we need to practice the monkey bars a little more.

Sweet Brothers! I didn't really intend to dress them alike, but it sure made this picture cute.

Drew is Six

I haven't been able to post blogs in a while, so this one has been sitting there waiting to be posted since June.

I know I am a little late in posting this but, last month Drew turned 6, and finished kindergarten!! That is a pretty big month in the life of a little boy. We just had his 6 year checkup with Dr. Fikkert today and got conformation that is his very tall and skinny. I think the term "bean pole" was actually used, which may or may not have brought back some memories for me. He is 4'1" and weighs 49.6 lbs (no wonder I can barely carry him upstairs when he falls asleep on the couch!!)

Here are a few pictures taken by my very talented friend, Melanie Timmons @ www.melaniemtimmonsphotography.com.

He had a great year at school this year, and is looking forward to 1st grade (although he thinks he should skip 1st and go straight to 2nd grade). This should be a fun filled Summer for him with VBS, Camp Thurman (this is his first year), family vacation, and another day camp I signed him up for. Hopefully that will keep me from having to hear "I'm bored" all Summer.