July 2014

For the Fourth of July we all woke up early to get ready for the Round Rock Parade.  The weather was good for the first two hours...then, the sun came blazing out and the parade seemed to never end.  It was still fun and the kids had a great time collecting candy. 

We went out to lunch at CiCi's Pizza and then to a friends house for fireworks.  Jeff felt like it was super unsafe (which says a lot from him) so we split early.

We have a friend that has a great pool and she's always inviting everyone over.  It's fun when the boys are occupied and I can swim with the girls. 

We ventured out to the Children's Museum and Coco ended up like this.  I didn't have a change of clothes so he was stuck in a diaper the rest of the outing. 

The museum is so great and right across the street is an awesome park with a huge pond and amphitheater.  The heat is intense unless you can get in or near some body of water.  I just love having the kids around to go one little adventures with me.  

June 2014

This cute outfit was Jeff's when he was a baby. Then Coco wore it and now lil' Ce.  I love stuff like this, plus it's just the cutest romper.

Our chicks have entered the teenage phase.  You can see how big Allison is and how little Peggy is.  Sadly Rosie is gone.  We aren't sure if an animal got her her she ran away.  The chicks have been staying outside and both scenarios are likely. 

Jeff turned 34.  We went to a Brazilian steakhouse downtown with a group of friends.  After we ate ourselves silly we went to watch the Austin symphony perform at Zilker.  It was good times. 

Here we are at a Texas Stars game.  It was good to get into the cold area because it's been so hot out. 

Well, we moved again.  Third house in three and a half years.  Same situation happened as last time.  The owner wanted to sell and we weren't ready to buy.  Ugh.  I'm so sick of moving.  On the bright side, a move makes me purge.  Shortly after the move we had a garage sale.  The girls, with Jeff's help, held their first little business venture.  They sold donuts, lemonade, and water at the garage sale.  They tripled their profits.  It was pretty exciting. 

One good thing about the move is that we are really close to trails.  We've been exploring and enjoying the area.  Jillian wanted to go on a trail run with me one day.  We walked more than we ran but it was really fun to exercise with my little one.  

This picture makes me cringe.  We went to a fun splash pad mid-month.  After an hour or so, I heard a really loud thud.  I turned to see Jillian on the ground.  I immediately ran over there.  I was most concerned about her head.  Janice drove to a nearby gas station to get some ice.  Jillian's head seemed okay but she kept holding her thumb on her right hand.  It started to swell quickly.  That night I got her a splint and decided to wait and see how it felt over the weekend.  Poor thing only got worse.  On Monday I took her to urgent care for an x-ray.  Sure enough it, was fractured.  The first break for our family.  I was happy it happened during the summer and after her piano recital.  We withdrew her from gymnastics, and piano.  She was actually really happy about quitting gymnastics as she'd been asking to quit for months and months.  

With the splint on she seemed to be healing quickly, so I chose not to see an ortho dr. Now I just have to teach my kids not to run at splash pads.   

Camille got another round of swim lessons with a different gal.  It worked like a charm.  Here she is after her fourth lesson jumping off the diving board.

My handsome boys, once again getting dragging everywhere. 

I got a killer deal on tickets for Sea World so we all went at the end of the month.  I do feel conflicted about supporting places like this and zoo's. We all had a great time though. 

While the dolphin and whale shows were amazing, the roller coasters were every one's favorite thing.  We even had Camille wear taller shoes and put her hair in a high ponytail to get her onto one of the coasters.  

Coco got his first taste of thrill rides.  He kinda loved it and kinda hated it.  

Cecil got to ride the merri-go-round and seemed happy about that. 

On the way back to town we stopped at the temple grounds in San Antonio. 

I love taking the kids to the temple.  I wish we lived closer to one. 

May 2014

 May is Camille's birthday month and this was the birthday book she choose to donate to her school library.  It remains one of our favorites. 

Cecil is quite the active little guy and has learned to sleep when he can, where he can.  He practically lives in the car seat on someday's.  Makes me feel sad, but I think it makes him more easy going. He has found his thumb a few times and I absolutely love it, although I won't let this take the place of his paci.

Here is Jillian's butterfly that will be displayed all of next school year. She was pretty excited about it. 

Here is Coco looking fly.  He has gotten use to being dragged around to the girls stuff too. Poor guy gets pretty upset when we pull up to the soccer fields or the gym, but as long as I have a stash of snacks he does alright. 

Mother's Day this year was super laid back.  We had church and Jeff made dinner. Perfect day. 

Our chicks entered their adolescenes.  They are looking a little dinasourish. 

Swim season started and Jillian has been working on her dives. 

Coco has been carrying around a doll carrier and taking it everywhere.  I guess we need more boy toys around the house. 

This May marks our 10 year wedding anniversary.  We'd like to go on a trip but with me still nursing Cecil it's been postponed.  Jeff has been my very best friend and this picture really says a lot to me.  It was taken while I was in labor with Cecil. He just looks like he'd take all the pain away if he could and so much more.  I love him. 

Camille turned 6.  She is such a sweet sweet girl. She's still as sensitive as she was the day she was born.  She has worked hard to correct her speech.  She's always had a little lisp and would say her "r"'s like "ah" (instead of "car" she'd say "caah").  It actually sounded so cute and she'd get multiple comments on it everyday but she'd also get teased at school and sometimes by adults.  She tries very hard to please everyone and is a bit of a class clown.  She mostly always has a great attitude and is very optimistic.  Her love of animals has continued to grow and now is very selective of when she'll eat meat.  She's always willing to help out and really loves to hold the baby. 

I see so many of my own attributes and my physical features in her.  It's a really surreal and special feeling when I study her.  

We are so proud and feel very blessed to have this little one in our family.      

I've been a little overwhelmed with the four so I copped out and did a party at Chuck E. Cheeses.  I never thought I would, but it was surprisingly great!  All the kids had a wonderful time.  I was able to visit with parents.  And my house didn't have to be cleaned before and then cleaned after.  It was wonderful. 

We did the traditional balloon launch right outside. 

Cecil has rolled over a few times now.  Problem is that he gets stuck like this.  He doesn't seem to mind.

I love to see new places and enjoy where I live.  I heard about Bull Creek and we decided to go check it out.  It's pretty close to us and right off the road.  We loved it.  It's a natural spring fed creek.  There are a lot of kid friendly spots as well as some deeper areas to swim.  It has a hiking trail that runs along side it. 

While there is started dumping rain on us.  We all had a fun time playing in the rain.  It didn't last long, so we continued our exploration. 

We will definitely be back. 

Jillian has been taking piano for two months now and had her first recital.  Jillian did a wonderful job and didn't mess up once. 

The end of the school year brings on awards.  Both girls got the Citizenship award and we're thrilled. 

The last day of school is such a wonderful day for me.  I love having the girls with me all day and I love not having to wake-up early and get lunches ready.  That being said I am so grateful these two have the opportunity to go to a good school and that they have each other. 

Soccer ended too.  Jillian was with Coach Lee and Coach Andy again. Camille lucked out and got a great coach too. 

April 2014

Every Spring we love attending the Round Rock Express games.  We usually sit on the lawn and let the run around. Often times they'll have fireworks or a concert after the game. It's really fun. 

Even Cecil had a good time. 

This particular time they had Bob Schneider in concert. He's a famous Austin native musician. Jeff and I first heard of him right after we moved here. We took the kids to the zoo and some random lady gave us his CD. She was appalled that we didn't know who he was. Jeff and I have loved him ever since. We all really enjoyed the concert. 

Jillian needed some help with homework one day so I sent Ce to see if he could help. 

Fern Bluff has a huge fundraiser in the Spring, called The Bobcat Bash. It was quite the shindig. They had all sorts of booths, games, music, attractions, etc. etc. The girls loved everything! Coco's favorite thing was the real firetruck. 

I finally transferred my nursing license. Now it's time to decide what to do: work, or claim retirement. 

I planned a little neighborhood egg hunt the Friday before Easter. We had a pretty good turn out and we all had fun chatting and letting the kids run around. 

Here we are Easter morning at church. Our church is held at 8 am for all of 2014. We are lucky if we get seats in the foyer.

We got four little chicks for Easter. I've been missing having hen's and fresh eggs and the girls have really been wanting pets. These little chicks were so cute. 

The girls named them Peggy, Rosie, Alice, and Red.  Rosie was the runt of the group. She was a Silky and had hair feet. Alice was the giant and kinda ruled the roost. 

Instead of having a big Easter dinner, I wanted to go enjoy nature. We planned a potluck picnic and invited Stan and the Rattray's. We went to McKinney Fall's.  It was beautiful. We ate yummy food, then hiked and biked around. 

We ended up at the Upper Falls. There was a cliff to jump off that Stan and Sara did. Everyone else wadded around a bit.

We ended the outing with desert and few games, such as Red Rover. We will definitely be back. 

The girls were invited to a birthday party that had pony rides. As much as Jillian loves horses, she gets so timid around them. Camille was brave as could be and rode them over and over. 

Everyone is still all over Cecil all the time. He is really a patient little baby. 

Camille had a field trip and I was able to meet them for lunch at a park. I wish I could be more involved at the school, but it's really too hard with the two babies at home. Camille was thrilled to see me there and we had a fun time. 

I've always been drawn to yoga and as I get older with a more hectic life I feel like I need it even more. This was a "stop drop and yoga" challenge from social media. Cecil looks like he'll catch me if I fall