Baseball Practice x 2

Beau's first T-Ball practice!  He joined the Bowie Cubs for T-Ball, and we couldn't wait for his first practice.  It was a chilly day, but he had fun.  He's been watching Lincoln for so long, and now it was his turn.

Score!!!! 

Lincoln took a load off during practice and did a little sunning.  He's always the one practicing while Beau watches, so this different for him. 

After practice, we headed to Ellie's birthday party.  Everyone loved bouncing at the party! 

After school on Monday, Lincoln had baseball practice with the White Sox.  Batting with long shadows makes great pictures. 

Beau needed to try out Lincoln's sunning spot from the day before.   

Baseball is back!  Getting into Spring, and nothing says spring like baseball!

Birthday Party 2016

Birthday Party Time!!!  Lincoln and Beau celebrated their birthdays together at Pinstack on a busy Saturday.  Lincoln had a soccer game at 10:00 then everyone drove up to the party.  This is mostly going to be pictures . . . 

Getting ready to bowl - with Hannah. 

Cheesing with Mom!! 

Blurriest picture of the day - Lincoln, Preston, Nick, West, Canon, and Crawford. 

Jonathan, Cameron, and Jack. 

After bowling, we had lunch of pizza and chicken strips.  Several rowdy tables in the VIP party room! 

Lots of ketchup and lots of lemonade! 

Time for cake and singing!  The boys were looking sweet while waiting to blow out the candles on their delicious Stein's cake! 

Video games were next. 

And bumper cars. 

And laser tag. 

More video games.  With Emily - so serious! 

It was a great party, and everyone had such a great time.  At the end of the day, two happy birthday boys had a sweet hug. 

Happy 5th Birthday to Beau!

Happy 5th Birthday to Beau!!!  We celebrated several times with the birthday boy.  He requested Angry Birds cupcakes for snack time at school, and he was so happy to share with his friends after rest time.  (He had some pretty crazy hair after being still on his cot.) 

We went for a little ride around the neighborhood and said hi to some friends. 

His birthday dinner choice was Carmine's, and Nana and Pops met us there for delicious pizza.  Lots of presents to open after dinner! 

Time to sing and have cake!  Beau was very specific about his cake choice: chocolate cake, chocolate icing, chocolate shavings on top.  When you know what you like, you stick with it!!   

Beau has brought us so much joy in his 5 years!  He has such a dynamic personality, and he provides so much entertainment!  He can be the sweetest and funniest and silliest guy ever, and he can switch it in a second and be the most stubborn and willful and uncooperative guy ever.  (Just being honest!!)  He has it in his mind sometimes that he just wants to do the opposite of what is expected/asked, and we all work to bring him back to the good side!  He loves Lincoln hard, and they play together every moment that they can.  They are the best of friends, and that's what we want for them.  He can be an annoying little brother to Linc sometimes, but Beau also has to be the "little brother" to several of Linc's friends that don't have a little brother to bully on.  He has to hold his own to play with the big boys!  Beau is so into the details of everything, and he discusses and explains everything.  And he remembers every place we go and what happened everywhere.  Beau is so amazing and such a blessing to our family.  He's an interesting mix of Mom and Dad, and we love every ounce of him.  It's hard to believe he's only been here for 5 years, and it's even harder to believe he spent his first week of life in the NICU.  He is surrounded by love and has made our family so much more fun! 

Post Spring Break

Back to Dallas from our super fun Spring Break vacation, and back to warmer temperatures.  We went for a stroll around the neighborhood on Saturday.  Such sweeties to pick me some flowers!

We went to visit the ducks.  Who are the cutest posing boys ever?!?! 

Sunday School shenanigans, for sure!! 

Back to school and work on Monday, but it was a great Spring Break!

Spring Break 2016 - Red River - Sledding

The boys could have gone sledding forever, and we got some really funny videos!  Dad was still on the mountain for the first part, but he joined us to witness the fun.  Can't promise the order thsee uploaded, but edits can be made.  It should be in chronological order beginning and ending with Lincoln.  Not all videos posted because we took like a million . . . these were just our favorites.

Beau's sassy came out by the end, and we all have laughed so hard at his outburst.  No one knows why Lincoln yelled, "CHICKEN" at the end of his sled ride, but we still laugh about it.  Sledding was way easier than skiing, so we decided on fun!  Next time, we'll schedule ski school earlier and really learn how to ski.  Then we'll need to take an extra day just for sledding!

Spring Break 2016 - Red River - Day 2 Beginning Skiing

Bright and early Monday morning, we made the short walk from our condo to the base of the mountain to the ski shop.  We got fitted for our skis and got happy!

These guys were so excited but had no idea what was in store for them.   

Because we booked our trip so late, we weren't able to get into a full day of ski school.  We had a private lesson scheduled for later in the morning, so we took our time checking out the surroundings.  All smiles! 

Two cuties all bundled up!  It was about 40 degrees on Monday morning.  Not super cold, but not exactly spring skiing weather.  We were glad for our ski gear. 

Dad gave the boys a little lesson on a short hill in the practice area.  He's a great skier, and they tried to learn.   

Practicing some balance . . . learning to ski is hard!  Especially when this is the most amount of clothing and gear they have ever worn in their lives.  The hardest part was getting back up the small hill to ski down to Dad.  Mom ended up pulling them back up and trying to keep everyone upright!    

Pic with Dad! 

Pic with Mom! 

Next is the ski lesson.  They were still having fun and ready for the lesson.

Spring Break 2016 - Red River - Day 1 The Drive

After our warm Saturday of sports, we began our journey to Red River on Sunday morning!  The boys had the iPads charged, DVD players on the headrests with headphones, paper and markers, activity workbooks, and a bag full of snacks for the 9 hour drive.  Two hours in . . . Beau is napping.  Riding is hard!

Lincoln didn't nap a bit, and he didn't overuse the iPad or DVD player either.  He often just looked out of his window and enjoyed the ride.  We saw a lot of this . . . 

There is no photographic evidence of tumbleweeds, but we saw a ton!!!!  We also saw lots of windmill farms.  At one point there was a grass fire in the median between the highway lanes.  The wind had blow the fire over to our west-bound lane, so Dad darted through the grass off the highway.  He was sure he could back-road us past the fire.  At one point, we ended up on a private farm with lots of warning signs that they were happy to use guns on trespassers.  We turned around QUICKLY!  Then we ended up in a cattle farm and saw thousands of cows in a tiny field all huddled up together.  After 3 dirt roads and lots of not feeling confident, we ended up back on the highway with the grass fire behind us.  Adventure for sure!!!  Our next milestone was a big one - New Mexico! 

So here's the deal about driving in northern New Mexico to Red River . . . it's completely devoid of people.  Seriously, we didn't see another car for two hours once.  No gas stations, no homes, no open businesses, no sign of life at all.  It was so weird!  We even had a few occasions of no phones working!  How could we find our way to our destination using phone maps if our phones didn't work in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!   

Somehow, we made it to town and all rejoiced up the mountain!  We checked into our condo and walked to get some dinner.  The boys were so excited to share a room, and they got to watch a little movie to calm down before bedtime.   

Everyone was excited about skiing the next day, and we were loving the cooler weather and view from our ski in/bottom of the mountain condo.

Warm Soccer Saturday

The next day from planning for a ski vacation, we set out for our regular Saturday activities . . . warm soccer games!!  Lincoln was sweating it like crazy after his soccer game.  Water and Gatorade were in order.  He played hard!

Beau had a great soccer game, and he loved the celebration at the end.  More hot and sweaty in Texas!! 

Love this picture . . . Dad and Beau after the soccer game.   

So a hot Saturday is getting us ready for a road trip to Red River, New Mexico bright and early on Sunday!  Pretty sure the weather will be REALLY different there!

Spring Break 2016 - Red River - Surprise and Planning

Spring Break was approaching, and our plans had fallen through.  We had rented a lake house with two other families but a work situation had gotten in the way.  On the Wednesday (3-2-16) before Spring Break started, Dad played golf with some friends at the club.  One of the guys talked about a recent family trip to Red River, New Mexico and how much fun it was, how close it was, how small and accommodating it was, and how easy the drive was.  Dad called Mom with a crazy late idea to take off to Red River on Sunday!  Lots of excitement and lots of scrambling to get gear and lots of planning happened so quickly!  Friday was official "gear" shopping, and Beau did the most of the trying on.  He loved it!!!  Looking good in his ski gear!

When Lincoln got home from school on Friday, he got to try on his new ski stuff!  Soooooo excited! 

Mom and Dad had ski gear stored away from a trip in February 2008, but we had to dig it out and get it all cleaned and organized.  Seriously, this is happening!!!  Also on the list was buying headphones for the car, charging iPads and DVD players, getting snacks and drinks for the road trip, bringing extra towels for the condo, creating the largest most and most quickly put together packing list, locating extra under layers, and on and on.  We were determined to get it all together to be ready to go!!! 

Kindergarten Round-Up for Beau

Kindergarten Round-Up for my Baby Beau had arrived (3-2-16).  What a great thing to celebrate . . . what a sad thing to admit . . . Beau is totally ready for Kindergarten and no one's baby anymore!!!!  He was super excited and walked into Bowie like he owned the place.  Sweet smiles before he met up with friends.

Beau, Case, and Peter were all happy to "cheese" before the kids went to the Kindergarten rooms/hall for a tour and fun activity.  The parents remained in the cafeteria for lots of information from the Principal, Librarian, and PTA President.  Excited guys!! 

The emotions were pretty controlled that day, I mean he isn't going to Kindergarten until August.  Still, it was another reminder that he's really a big boy now.  He loved every minute of Kindergarten and asked if he could start tomorrow!!!!  It took a little explaining that he's staying at Primrose until August.  Love my Beau!!

Sunday Sillies

(2-28-16)  The morning started off at Sunday School.  We got to take our class to sign their names on a wall that will be included in the new addition at church.  What a special thing!  (Beau got to sign the wall too.)

We went to brunch at the club after church then did some hanging out by the gazebo.  Lincoln has apparently taken to practicing yoga . . . OK!!! 

But then he reverts to just looking cute!  Always a good stand-by! 

Beau was being his usual silly and quirky self, of course! 

These two have the best time and make the world brighter! 

Perhaps the eggs, bacon, waffles (by Joey) and ketchup put the boys in a funny mood!  They had so much fun being so silly.