march with the littles

I know these monthly posts are lost, but I'm kind of obsessed with documenting the little things that happen each day.  Each picture reminds me of how we spent the month and I can see the way the kids are growing and learning. 

And what's not to love about a picture with the adorable Brock!  He is Joanna's little guy, and Brooke is quite in love with him.  

One afternoon, I had to wake Colby up from his nap, which I hate doing!  I can't even remember why I had to wake him, but he looked so sweet laying there with his puppy.  The flash was obviously a little too bright for his eyes.

Brooke continues to love her dance class, although she still gives me grief at times about getting dressed.  When she is being grumpy about getting dressed, she'll say things like "Can we just cancel dance?", probably because I've had to threaten that a few times.  I have tried explaining that not every girl gets the opportunity to dance because it's pretty expensive, so hopefully the lesson sinks in, haha.

We have the stairs blocked off to keep Colby out of danger, but any chance he gets, he goes for it!!  He is much better at stairs, but it still makes me nervous if i'm not near him.

A trip to the mall always end in a carousel ride!  I luckily receive one or two coupons in the mail each month, so it's normally free.

I know you're not supposed to take pictures in the chapel, but since we were in the overflow I justified it, haha. Colby sitting there doing a look-and-find with Daddy was just too cute.

And because he looked so handsome, he got his own picture after church.  My baby is growing up so quickly!

Colby was fussy one afternoon, and Brooke quickly grabbed her baby to comfort him.  It's quite adorable how much Colby loves baby dolls. He always makes sure the babies have a pacifier, and I have no doubt that he will be an attentive and loving big brother.

The Spring weather was so pleasant, and we spent lots of time playing across the street at the park.

Since Colby isn't walking yet, I either carry him around, or he sits and plays with his sand toys in the bark.

As I was putting Colby down for his nap, Brooke kept busy at her chalk board.  I was so impressed to see that she had written her name, minus the E.  The spacing and order were not perfect, but I was impressed that she had done the rest independently :)

Brooke likes to be my little helper, and I love that she is able to maneuver my stick vacuum!  Any help with chores is much appreciated.

We had a fun movie night with the Hawkins the week that Moana came to DVD.  I had been sick all week, so I worried about coughing through the whole movie, but it all worked out and we enjoyed a fun night with our friends.

Since getting my outdoor rug, we have spent more time in the backyard as well.  I planted some new succulents, and Colby boy wanted to water them for me.

We also bought a new washer and dryer after our washer pooped out on us, and the kids have spent hours decorating the boxes. Who knew that a huge box could literally entertain them for hours, multiple days in a row?

During Colby's nap, Brooke kept busy as well!  I came downstairs to find that she had attempted washing all of the dishes from lunch! It was the cutest surprise, and although some of the dishes weren't exactly clean, I appreciated the effort more than she knew.

My girl also sets up the most elaborate of tea parties for her, her animals and her babies.  She loves all of her kitchen stuff, and it makes the perfect addition to a tea party.

One night (while Kevin was traveling of course!), we had a crazy wind storm. The howling winds woke me up, and as I looked out the window, I figured that I should probably move our patio chairs.  I was too much of a chicken to go out there in the middle of the night, so I figured I would just hope for minimal damage.  This is how the patio looked in the morning...

I'm just amazed that the chair didn't break that window it was resting on!

We also had a much needed Mommy/Brookie/Colby outing to the beach at Lynn Creek.  I felt like my patience was wearing thin, and I needed to have a change of scenery. The sun and fun was just what we all needed.

And since Colby is wearing a different swimsuit, this must mean that we went back to the beach area again at the end of March.  What can we say?? We like the sand, water, and sun!!

the joy of cousins

After the previous week's game when Brooke was super grumpy about the other team scoring all the goals, I was a little nervous!  I was hoping that since Kinley and Aubrey were coming to watch, she would be super into the game. Kindly was so sweet with Colby on the sidelines, and then Colby moved on to Uncle Jeff.

Several times throughout the game, Brooke would look over to make sure her cheering squad was still there :)  She loves her cousins so much, and it's awesome that we live close enough that we can attend each other's extra curricular activities.

I had promised Brooke that if she scored a goal, I would take her and her cousins to Iggy's, which is her favorite ice cream shop.  Towards the end of the game, although she hadn't scored a goal, I figured I would take them anyways because Brooke never stopped running and was always right on the ball.  When the game was over, she asked if we could go to Iggy's since she scored a goal during practice, haha.  I love her negotiating skills!  (Sometimes, haha.)

We also had an impromptu photo shoot after ice cream because the whole field behind Iggy's was covered in bluebonnets.

I forgot to mention that Grandma and Papa came for the end of the game, and joined us for ice cream at Iggy's.  The big girls were so sweet with Papa and held his hands back to the car.  He was still recovering from one of his foot surgeries, and I know he loves moments like this.

Lynn Creek Park

Our play group hasn't been quite as consistent as it was during the Fall, but someone normally coordinates a get-together of some sort during the week.  On this particular day back in March, we met up at the beach area of Lynn Creek Park.  We can get in free as Grand Prairie residents, and they have a big playground that Brooke loves.  I actually thought we were meeting at the playground, but when we were parking, I received the text that everyone was down by the water.  I hadn't dressed my kids in their swimsuits or applied sunscreen, but we all had a blast!

I borrowed sunscreen for Colby's sweet cheeks, and luckily him and Brooke were only slightly pink.  I, on the other hand, in my effort to provide shade for Colby at the water, was fried on my neck, arms, and back of my legs.  The things a mother does for her kids, haha.

Because Brooke's shorts were so wet, they were falling off her cute bum the whole time!

Colby just wanted to throw rocks into the lake.  Seeing the joy on their faces made me even more excited for our North Carolina vacation in April!!

sunday best

This past Sunday was our Stake Conference, which meant no meetings for me, and a 10 AM start :)  Since we were actually ready on time, I was able to take a picture of my two little loves.  I am so grateful to be a mother, and I know that it is a divine calling.

The meeting was great, but so LONG!  Two hours is a long time to expect kids to keep it together.  We had camped out in the Young Women's room since Colbster can be noisy, and even though the kids were really so well-behaved, it just felt really long.  And clearly Colby was exhausted...

our silly boy

One night, as I as trying to get Colby ready for bed, he was being a serious goofball. He kept crawling away from me, would plop himself in his little chair, then dive out of it into my arms.  Then he started standing up and doing those cute victory arms. The fact that he was practically naked made it even funnier.

I love this silly, goofy, boy so much!  He has the funnest personality, and really gets a kick out of making us laugh. I hope he always stays so happy.

fort worth mini train

I was missing our "Arlington friends", as we call them, and since it was Spring Break, we tried to coordinate a play date. In the end, due to sickness and poor Nora's bruised head, it ended up just being us and the Sturgills.  Danielle suggested meeting at the Fort Worth mini train, and it was so perfect!  I went to the wrong meeting spot, but I finally made it to the train depot, and we didn't have to wait too long to board.  Just look at this cute group...

Maddy was so adorable with both Brooke and Colby.  She kept getting the best smiles out of Colby, and she wanted to sit by Brooke, which made Brooke's whole life.  When we went over the bridge, Maddy put her arm around Brooke to help keep her safe.  She's the best!

I ADORE this picture...

Colby was getting antsy by the end, and just wanted to stand up and climb out of the moving train.  We all survived though, and enjoyed a little picnic afterwards.  I loved spending time with Miss Danielle and her crew.  We need to plan these play dates more often, especially with summer approaching!

lesson in sportsmanship

Last weekend was our 3rd week of soccer, and Miss Brooke was ready!  Kevin wanted us to be a little early so that we weren't always the last ones there.  We had always been on time, so I wasn't worried about it, but Kevin said he didn't want to be "that guy", haha.  Well, mission accomplished, we were early, and Brooke began practicing with the coach's daughter Charlie.

Everything was going well, but Brooke mentioned that she was tired by the end of practice.  They practice for a solid 45 minutes, then have a little devotional and bathroom break. The sun was out in full force, so I figured that was having an effect on her as well.

Well, the game started, and they were getting spanked by the gray team.  They were scoring goal after goal, and for some reason, our team was really struggling to get the ball. Brooke was in the game, and she yelled to me that she was tired.  I yelled back and told her that it was almost halftime.  Fast forward to the second half, and Brooke lost it.  Coach put her in again, and she was just standing there with her arms crossed.  I went over to talk to her, and she told me that she wanted to go home.  I was so embarrassed, and was frustrated that she wasn't trying.  I told her that her team needed her, and I knew that if she positioned herself by the goal, her and Ethan (the best kid on the team), could score more goals.  She was being so stubborn and told me that she didn't want to score any goals.  I promised that we would go to Iggy's if she scored a goal, and not even that worked, haha.  I told her to go tell her coach that she wanted to sit out, and she refused to do that as well.  I finally yelled to the coach to sub her out, and I walked her back over to the bench.  I asked her why she wasn't having any fun, and the truth came out!!  "I'm mad because the gray guys are scoring all the goals", hahaha!  Well, that explained a lot.  She was frustrated because the other team was scoring all the goals, and I reminded her that the other team was just working hard and trying their best, whereas Brooke was pouting and refusing to run.  You can't score a goal if you don't run, right??  That's where our lesson about good sportsmanship came in :)

So, the end of the game was rough, but hopefully next week is better! Colby enjoyed the licorice though :)

And at least we had smiles at the end as Brooke went through the parent tunnel :)

first soccer game

I think we were all anxious to see how the first game went down, and it met all of my expectations :) Practice was great again, and Brooke seemed to be improving in the different drills. Once the game started, Brooke stayed on that ball and was running all over the field.  They have 4 kids on the field at a time, and the other 3 sit together on bench chairs. One little boy on the team scored all the goals for Team Shine, and I am pretty positive he must have an older sibling who plays.  He just seemed to get the concept of going after the ball, and taking it straight to the goal.  Something we need to work on with Brooke :)  In the second half, Brooke seemed a little more distracted.  She was holding hands with Charlie and those two girls were running all over the field together.  At least they were following the ball, but I kept shouting for her to drop hands.

Colby just wanted to get on the field, and play with a soccer ball that wasn't ours.   Thankfully, I had lots of fruit snacks in my backpack to distract him.

Grandma and Papa came to watch the game, and Brooke gave them huge hugs after the game.

I have to admit, I am kind of loving this new Saturday routine :)  We have 6 more weeks left, so hopefully it continues to go well!