Love This Age

Our calendars are filling up quick! I love that the girls have entered the years where they get to try out many activities to see what sticks and to hopefully find a passion!

Anyone want to guess what Hailey's two activities are for now? She's starting Girl Scouts (get your cookie orders ready!) AND this week she is extremely excited about starting....HIP HOP DANCING!!! (if I didn't birth her myself, I swear I wouldn't know if I'd believe we share genes)

And Reese is in soccer (her daddy's one of the coaches and I'm so glad because that girl is a handful!) and she and Landry are either going to do a little gymnastics together or swim lessons!!

I'm hoping to continue to be able to play tennis once or twice a week. You would think that would be easy to do, right? Nope. But, I've learned that I'm so much happier when I get to go out and socialize and smack that little yellow ball around (actually, I think most of them are green although they say yellow...), so I'm trying to make it work!

And as hard as I try to play tennis, Trey tries to work in a round of golf too, but it isn't easy. And, he loves to BBQ (convenient for me!) and after our Colorado trip, he has a new passion....fly fishing.

So, here's to staying busy and living life!

Now Hailey Just Dressed Up Landry

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Hailey Just Walked In The Room

Always using her creative spirit.


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It Tastes Like Candy!

We introduced edamame beans to the girls at dinner the other night. I knew that if Landry tried them, she'd like them. This is our process of getting a 2 1/2 year old to try new things. It takes chanting, maybe a bit of fibbing and persistence.

You think she likes candy? You tell her something tastes like candy and my girl can't refuse!

Here's Hailey!

Hailey asked me the other day if she could borrow my phone to make a video. Here's what she created. I feel like Hailey always comes off as our child that's more reserved and quiet. She has quite the imagination and this is what we get to see at home! You'll notice her talking about a person named, "Ana" in the video. Well, while she was trying to film, I kept receiving texts on my phone and Hailey was semi reading it and semi still making her video....just to clarify!

Laughing LuLu

Landry wanted me to lay down with her during her nap yesterday. When I did, she started making herself laugh.....for absolutely no reason. Therefore, I started filming. This chica is hilarious and knows how to make all of us laugh. Trey has already labeled her as the future class clown.

Step Away From The Children

Painful day here.

First, this tough chick had her 4 year old check up. Four shots, one finger prick and one flu mist vaccine later, and she got a milkshake and got to pick whatever she wanted for dinner. She chose Freebirds, duh!


Then, while bathing the girls, my feet slipped out from under me, I fell forward into the tub while my finger jabbed straight into Hailey's eye. Horrible. Her scream was filled with pain and I thought we were going to have to make an ER trip. As of now, her eye is all red, but vision is ok.


Then while brushing Landry's hair, post bath, she got up and moved while I wasn't watching and the back end of the brush....went straight into her eye!!


Holy moly what is wrong with me tonight? Good thing the kids were tired (and now partially blind too) and ready to go to bed early. In the words of Hailey, "Mom, I think there might be something wrong with your fingers tonight."

It's time for me to do something that does not involve fine motor skills.
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Looky Looky

Who snuck downstairs half asleep saying, "I seep in Mommy and Daddy bed.".


More importantly, looky at what mama has become a sucker for a cuddly 2 year old! Nightey nite!
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Artwork

I found this picture that Hailey made of me. If only I could be so stylish...



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First Grader

And she's off to 1st grade!!! She picked out her entire outfit, styled her own hair and made sure to accessorize!! She didn't even want us to take us to school and walk her in because she loves the bus!

I love how brave she is....no fear! She's excited to start first grade and meet new friends!



Trey loves taking her to the bus each morning and sending her off. It's precious.





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She's the...

Kobiashi of Freebirds burritos...


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Wedged

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Apparently...

Trey approved this as her jammies last night.


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And As The Weekend Winds Down...

I'm pooped!

I had one of the most fun filled weekends with tennis. Our team came so incredibly close to winning our pool. It literally came down to points in two third set tiebreakers....not games or sets, just two tiny little points. And, the drama was fueled by the fact that there was some dishonest calls from the opposing team (really....adults....cheating....gets my blood boiling....). But that's ok, our entire team gave it our all and played as best as we could. My doubles partner and I kept running into our opponent's #1 doubles teams (as in....one was a Canadian volleyball player....no lie....it was like trying to go through and over a mountain. A mountain that moved and had the wing span of a 747. And, the other team told us after our loss that they couldn't remember the last time they had ever lost together....WHAT!!!???). We played well and came so close!

Even better than the tennis is the friendships. By the end of last night on my way home, my face hurt from laughing so much. In between matches, we were joking around, being goofy and thoroughly enjoying time off from our normal busy lives. I felt blessed, full of joy and am so appreciative.

My husband rules. When I came home after the first night of competition and was dehydrated mixed with a bit of heat exhaustion (I played at noon and it was 105 degrees), he sent me to bed and happily took care of the girls. When I was gone for over 12 hours yesterday, he simply told me that he and the girls had a great day together and he enjoyed spending time together with them. When I told him that I felt horrible leaving them just so I could go and play, he responded by looking at me like was insane and then saying, "that's crazy. I want you to go and play tennis. You love it and you need a break." Again...I'm so appreciative. And, his Aunt Becky and Uncle Brett were so kind to keep the girls for us on Friday so I could go and play while Trey worked. In fact, my kids cried when we arrived to pick them up. They cried because they didn't want to leave and go home with us!! That's the ultimate sign of kids having fun! Brett and Becky have always been amazing to us.

My other thought from the weekend was this....my mom would have loved being there. Some of the other girls on our team had their parents there watching. My mom loved watching my tennis tournaments (at least, from my child perspective she did!). She and I burned up many miles in the car driving around in the summertime to play in various competitions. She always sat quietly in her lawn chair with extra Gatorade, bananas and water on hand, and she always knew the score (even when I didn't!). It allowed us to spend quality time together. I think of her everyday, but I especially had her on my mind this weekend.

And so....even though we lost and it still stings a bit (apparently, competitiveness doesn't ever wear off), my body feels tired (FYI....recovering quickly from lots of tennis DOES wear off with age) but my soul feels filled with contentment. And that, is what counts.

Put Your Dukes Up

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Go Reesie Go!

At our gym, the girls like to go to the basketball court and shoot hoops and use the indoor soccer goals. I tried to get Reese when she was sprinting and kicking the ball, but by the time I pulled out my camera, she had slowed down a bit. She is one fast bunny though normally! She's fired up for her upcoming soccer season!

I Must Draw The Line

I'm all about letting Hailey choose her own outfits and most of the time, we differ on what matches, but as long as she's happy, I let her do her thing. But when she tried to tell me this was her outfit for the day.....


The fashion police intervened.
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Tennis

After high school, I was ready for a tennis break. The "break" ended up lasting almost 10 years. When I had Hailey, Trey encouraged me to start playing tennis again because I had quit teaching and my social life wasn't so much thriving and I needed an outlet. I told him he was crazy. He went and bought me a racket anyways. I knew nobody in the Dallas tennis world. I started off in a little city league. Long story short, Trey knew best (did I just write that?).

I'm now on multiple tennis teams around the area. And, a good chunk of my friends here are ones that I've met through tennis. We're all competitive by nature and enjoy the outdoors. Most of the girls have met and know my girls and Trey, some of us have traveled together, and I know many of their families. My USTA tennis team just won the city playoffs a few weeks ago (that's not easy!) and we are off to sectionals this weekend. Luckily, sectionals is in Dallas so I don't have to travel, but 10 teams from around Texas will be here competing. The winner of the 10 teams gets to go to Nationals in October.

Team pic after winning city playoffs.

One of the girls got a good shot of me and my good friend, Ruth (aka "Roofie" by my girls). Ruth and I went to Colorado Springs last year together and played in a tournament for Susan G. Komen....and we won our division! :)

So, here's to lots of fun and tennis this weekend in the 100+ heat!

Future Baller

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Cheers!

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Fact

If you were to look inside Reese, she's 99% watermelon in the summer.


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Hailey Bailey Turns 7!!!

Excuse me, can someone explain to me how I already have a SEVEN year old? The Hailes was fired up for her birthday this year. She decided she really wanted to have a slumber party. And, since I loved them as a kid and since she's such a sweet child, I didn't want to say no. She also told me when I asked her what kind of gifts she might want for her birthday that she didn't care, she just wanted a slumber party and that she'd like to be surprised (one of the reasons I love her....totally laid back and easy going). However, she did come up with a theme for her party. She wanted to have a "rock star slumber party," so we went to work!

We had a rock star pizza dinner to start it off.

And for dessert, a guitar/rock star cake made out of cupcakes.

She loved all her sweet gifts from her friends.

Then it was on to the craft where the girls made their very own rock star picture frames. Hailey's good friend, Haylee, even let LuLu help her!

Then we just HAD to take a picture for the picture frame as a party favor! One was smiles and one was goofy!

Next came the rock star pinata where all the girls, including the sissies, had many chances to whack the guitar!

After that, they were raring to go, so they went on a neighborhood wide treasure hunt! They had to figure out and follow all the clues!

And the clues led them to the TREASURE!! And in the treasure...

was silly string, glow balls and bubbles! Reese figured out how to spray hers. Then she figured out how to spray me. Why did this not surprise me?

Overall, the party was a hit! The girls all got along beautifully and most of them went home with about 9 hours of sleep, which I thought was pretty good for a slumber party! And today, I made the birthday girl pose for a few pics after church (yes, she wore her tiara to church, and so did Reese).

She and I made a trip to the mall where she got a special Build-A-Bear for her one present. I think Hailey has taught me just as much, if not more, than I've taught her. She's so easy-going, personable, kind, compassionate and has the biggest imagination I've ever seen in a child. She always says thank you and even though she's a petite little thing, she's exploding with personality and life. Trey and I are looking forward to this year with our seven year old!

Colorado Trip

Trey and I just got back from a trip to Colorado. We celebrated 10 years of marriage in January and swore we'd take a trip. January wasn't a good time since he had just changed jobs, so we waited for the summer. I hadn't been to Co. since I was a kid and he hadn't been there in the summer (besides an outward bound trip in high school and he didn't see much civilization on that trip!). We decided to go somewhere where neither of us have been and we have some old camp friends that live in the Beaver Creek/Vail area, so the planning began with some tips from them!

We've learned so much in 10 years of marriage. One of those things being how we like to vacation. We like to have things to do with the option of relaxing also. This was the perfect blend. We went hiking on our first day there. We went about 4 miles.

Here's a shot of Beaver Creek area from one of our spots.

Day 2 we went mountain biking for about 4 hours. I LOVED it! I don't have pictures of us on bikes nor do I have one of the bruises we both got (means we're tough...and clumsy), but I do have one of the place where we stopped to eat lunch. Not too shabby!!

After that we were off to the pool to sit and read with some mountain views. Day 3 and we split up. Trey's always wanted to learn to fly fish (I have not) and I always like a little time at the spa (Trey does not). Ten years of marriage has also taught us that when are interests are completely different on something, rather than fake it and pretend we like something we don't, we high five, go our separate ways for some fun and then meet up later! I wasn't about to take a spa pic, but Trey got some good ones fly fishing! He's addicted.

And on day 4, we went on an adventure....white water rafting. The gear one wears for white water rafting is extremely appealing to the eye with the booties and helmets.

And they spend 30 minutes educating you on what to do if you fall out of the boat and warning you of every possible thing that can go wrong (i.e. as a mother and father of three children, you wonder if you should actually be partaking in the activity and the parent guilt rises up), but in the end it was well worth it, we stayed safe and the canyon views were spectacular. They caught us cracking up in the front of the boat.

The village we were in had ice skating, even in the summer in the evenings!

And on our way back to the airport, we stopped in Breckenridge to ride the Gold Coast Roller Coaster. Basically, it's an alpine slide, but it's built above ground so you can go all year round in rain or shine.

But my favorite part of the trip was just the time we spent together. I mean, we actually started AND finished conversations without being interrupted by screams or taking a little one potty or by phone calls, etc. I love him more and more as time goes on. We look back now and see how we have grown together and grown up together. We aren't perfect people, but we love each other unconditionally and I know that even as our kids grow up, I'll always have my best friend to come home to at the end of the day. And for that, we thank God.

And also, a HUGE shout out to Granni and Trey's cousin Courtney. Not only did they watch over our precious cargo, but my girls had such a fun time with them. We couldn't have done it without her help, so we are unbelievably thankful!!! And....Granni even took on the task of cleaning and scrubbing down our kitchen table and chairs, which I had been avoiding with all of my might. I came home to a clean home, clean laundry, a clean table and happy children. That, is what I call the ultimate vacation!