Why Am I Such a Slacker?

Seriously, I used to be so good with this thing.  Maybe it is because now, every time I sit and try open the computer, the kids run over thinking that I am playing Candy Crush and want to "do the oranges" or "do the yellows" for me.  (FYI, year 2033, Candy Crush is a ridiculous game that is a huge time suck, and we are all addicted.)

Nothing new and major going on, just keep on living, L-I-V-I-N.  ;)  Summer days mean pool fun.  Kaylynn and Ben are little tan kids - the epitome of the Coppertone Baby.

Here are a few Instagram updates on the summer so far.  We've got a fun trip to west in store soon, which we are very excited about!


Chalkin' Fourth of July Fun Aunt Cathy brought her ice cream machine over on the 4th and I think we all had fun with that one. Yes, that is ice cream in his hair. Trying my hand at a Pinterest find. In the summer, sometimes we have to cool off by taking a trip to PetsMart to see the fish. You'd think we were at a zoo or something, the way they run around checking out every exhibit. Though, all-in-all, I can't complain about the weather much. Some days are cool enough that we can actually "enjoy" the park and not leave red-faced and drenched in sweat. In June, we got a new member of the family - Phyllis the Pilot. Phyllis is after Phyllis on The Office. Some people don't think it is a fitting name, but we love her! :) We were very impressed at how well-behaved Thing 1 and Thing 2 were at the dealership. Test driving cars and what not. One day, daddy surprised everyone with a trip to see Monster's U! Every since then, Ben's been going around saying, "Monster's Inc., coming to dvd." No idea where he got that from, but it is HILARIOUS. At the beginning of June, we took a mini-trip down to Galveston to celebrate my Uncle Bob's 80th birthday. We had some kid fun time at Moody Gardens. Might not have been the most fun way for the dad's to spend Father's Day, but the kids had fun. They are still talking about those pyramids. And back to the very beginning of summer - we finished up Blast Ball for Kaylynn. The Super Heroes did great and Ben was a great team kid-brother! He's looking forward to getting to play on his own next year!

Every Morning is Easter Morning...

...every day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone!

Those words remind me of one of my favorite songs that I sang as a kid in front of the church (with the choir, of course!).

No matter how many children's choir practices we go to, my kids will never actually sing in church on Sunday.  They rock out to the songs for the next few weeks, but never the morning of.  :) We've been letting Ben stay in "big church" until the Children's Moment for the past few weeks. It stresses me out, like on the verge of sweating most days. On Easter, there were a lot of kids, but usually, there are just 4-6ish of them, and Ben has more freedom to move around. I just know that one day he is going to knock the baptismal font over. I love how Ben is paying attention here (while Miss Kaylynn is poking her friend, Gavin, in the back. Those two are something else!) After church, we were invited over to Aunt Cathy & Uncle Cliff's house for lunch. We can't visit their house without going out to see the horses. Lucky kids got to climb fences in their church clothes. We took our annual "Easter picture in front of the azaleas" after lunch, when we were in desperate need of a nap. Turns out, it decided to DOWNPOUR right as we were walking out the door to head to church. I can't get over how grown up Kaylynn looks with her little braids. I was just impressed that she let me do something with her hair. (3rd year of making her Easter outfit! We'll see how long she'll let me do this!)

Insta-Maine

Just a few of my Instagram pics from Maine to hold you over until I can upload all the ones from my camera.  There are a lot! They are in backwards order

Happy 4th of July from Castine, Maine!

Mr. Blue Eyes at Dennett's Wharf

Dennett's Wharf

Starfish catching at Dennett's Wharf

Fire on the beach!  FYI - campsize marshmallows are a fail for smores.  Too much 'mallow.

Kiddy parade with balloons = Ben's best day!

Tug-o-war at Castine's 4th of July Festival.  For more info on it, visit here.

Lobster boil

My farmer's market fail.  Turns out, I don't think about the fact that the Maine-iacs are just beginning their summer...about where we were at the beginning of May.

Rock throwing is the best thing to do at the beach, dontcha know.

She did not care that the water was like 50 degrees!

They could have sat here all morning, watching the planes!

Easter Weekend

We missed the annual Brenham Easter egg hunt at Aunt Lila's for the first time. :( It is always a good time. But Kaylynn was singing in the children's choir at church. And by singing, I mean sitting on the step. :)

We began Saturday with the Easter egg hunt at the church. Lots of eggs for not a lot of kids = lots of candy at our house.


Diva in her shades.

Ben rocking his new Nike's.

I'm telling you, he's going to be an excellet football player one day.

Kaylynn's butterfly friend. We have a thing with butterflies lately.


Later on, we headed over to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Afterwards, Kaylynn wanted to go on a mule ride. Operation "Feed Catfish" commenced.

All the Indian paintbrushes in the pasture.


Contrary to this picture, she is not a south-paw.

The albino catfish. He does exist.

Brian decided that catching them barehanded was a good idea. He got nothing.

Ben enjoyed just watching. The catfish feeding frenzy is not his cup of tea.


Fast forward to Easter morning. After church, it was all I could do to get them to stand still for pictures. See below for proof.






This one cracks me up. I can imagine her saying, "So, you have some milk, eh? Well, I have chocolate." Haha!!