Tiny Tales Thursday...

Last Saturday I had the amazing honor of serving as Cindy's +1 for the OPAS Gala. (She gets to go to fun things like that for work!) Josh was out of town for a work clinic and well, I am clearly super fun so she asked me and I think before she could really finish asking me I squealed in delight and said "YES YES YES YESYESYYYYEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!)

1. I got to dress up
2. I got to eat amazing food from Christopher's
3. I got to drink adult beverages
4. I got to do all of these things with my bestie

In a weird twist of things, Josh actually made it home early. I asked Cindy if she wanted to take him instead and would totally understand if she said yes. But she stuck with me and I was thrilled. (Because I may or may not have started prepping 3 hours early because I was so excited).

Two things you should know about me: I desire to be able to do grown up things like put on make up and fix my hair. I have zero ability to do so.

So little in fact that I pulled out the INSTRUCTION sheet that came with my make-up.

And when I was done I sent selfies to my friends to make sure they thought I didn't look too much like  a raccoon (which I felt I did). I kind of needed some fake eyelashes. 

So. I was finally done getting ready and walked into the kitchen.

Emmy: Oh Mommy! I love your make-up.

Rad: Wow. You put on make-up.

Ryan: (who had been outside) Wow. You put on make-up.

Clearly I don't wear a lot of make-up often. 

I grabbed one last kiss from my crew and Emmy chimed in one more time, "Mommy, you look so pretty. But I think you need a liiiittle more eye-make up." 

Maybe I should re-read the manual. 

If you mustache...

Cooper turns THREE today so me and the kiddos headed north to celebrate this special occasion! 

(Ryan stayed home to do some house work/never ending projects).

His party was at the Mayborn Museum at Baylor which is seriously such an amazing facility. And I am not a huge fan of the green and gold, but even I must admit that they did this museum right. It is huge and interactive and clean and fun. Seriously, if you are in the are you should visit...totally worth a short drive, too!

They have two stories and TONS of rooms and attractions for the kids to play with. Karli-bug really loves the "town" and of course her favorite part is the cozy coupe selection. How she still fits into these things is beyond me, but I may just have to buy her one for her birthday in May.

Rad was pretty obsessed with the reptile room and Cotton was nice enough to ask the 1389 questions he had about the snakes and lizards.

And I could hardly keep up with Emmy...

sweet girl wasn't heavy enough to get any sound out of this piano.

Landry tried to crawl into the water table.

Radley and Kenly made giant bubbles.

And I planned a photo shoot in the tea party room. 

(Sarah, how far do you travel?)

I couldn't keep up with the birthday boy (and maybe nearly lost one of my kids at some point), but I was able to make sure that not one thing went on their heads from any of the dress up stations.

I think the rosy cheeks are a pretty good sign of how much fun the birthday boy was having.

Soon it was time to cap off the celebration with some delightful cupcakes and gift opening.

And, if you really mustache, we had a great time!

Happy birthday, Cooper!

That time it fake snowed...

I'm not sure if you hear, but it got cold in Texas. So cold that freezing precipitation fell from the sky. So much precipitation that school was delayed for two whole hours. 

And we.were.READY....

I love how awesome they thought this was, especially since by the time we made outside it had started to melt.

Landry thought that it was the greatest day ever...

and didn't care at all that she was splashing around in cold water.

There was just enough ice left to scoop up and throw in the yard.

And try their hand at ice skating. 

Just a fun break in our day!

InstaKings...

We were cleaning up after a marathon night of "get every toy we own out" and Radley volunteered to obsessively organize put up the girls jewelry. Without their help. Like he refused to let them come in the room. I love this kid.

When if comes to movie night, we try to be fair. The talkers each get to pick a movie and Landry gets to draw the winner. Mommy won this night. :)

This is how Landry spent the afternoon after we discovered lice-mageddon. 

In casual conversation during homework time that included building a snowman, Radley mentioned with enthusiasm that his school "gets" to have a lockdown drill this week in case a "bad man" came to their school. My heart sank. I held back tears. And I instantly prayed this verse. For him. For me. For every child. Nothing prepares you for parenthood. For the dear that accompanies all the joy. For every ounce of every drop of every bit of love you have being poored into tiny humans that you pray know they are loved not only by you, but by the One that offers far more protection than even that of a parent.

This little nugget turned 22 months last week. How is that possible???

Radley wanted to build the castle from Frozen, so he gathered various plastic containers, filled them with water, and froze them...and then built his masterpiece. With a shark on top. :)

Isn't Reed the sweetest?

And they are pretty darn sweet, too!

Sunday sweetness and I think that all 3 of them look entirely too old. This is the first picture where I see Emmy as a teenager.

This may be the best bouquet of flowers I've ever received.

A man who cleans and is good with babies?

Yes!

Y'all. This is ridiculous and insane and maybe means that Ryan does more than help deliver people's JCrew packages. 

And this is today. Our "snow day". We delayed school 2 hours because of this "crazy" ice.

Tiny Tales Thursday...

We have the best children's bibles and have read a few from cover to cover. We have now made it to a new one and began reading it sometime last week.

It's SUPER cute and fun, asking questions of the kids along the way, so it's more interactive and gets them thinking about why God/Jesus/others made the choices they did.

So, Genesis 1 - God creates the world. We were going day by day and guessing what God would create next. Radley starts guessing all kinds of animals like bears and birds and dinosaurs (y'all. Can someone PLEASE explain the dinosaurs to me? Please. Pretty pretty please.) When all of a sudden Emmy shouts...

I know! I know!! He created LICE!!!!!!

S.M.H.

Bowling is our life...

The Royal Hot Messes once again hit up the Grand Station for our annual MLK morning of bowling. Definitely the cutest bunch there. 

Collectively we have decided that out of the 6 of the kids, at least one has to be a professional bowler. 

Good pay.

Cool shoes.

Low physical risk.

Not a huge party atmosphere.

Always nice viewing climates.

And semi-fun to watch.

And there is a defined perfect score.

So which one the six do you predict it to be??

Sweet baby Reed...

The girls and I made a day trip to Waco last weekend to meet Mr. Reed Ryan Galler. 

I had to wait an entire week to snuggle with him thanks to a lice-a-geddon. 

The girls LOVED him. And he even gave them a smile. 

We had so much fun snuggling him and are so happy that he is here!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out with Gigi and Pops. What a perfect day with my sweethearts. 

:)

Wannabe a balla...

 We enjoyed a lovely Friday evening with our besties that included $5 pizzas eaten in the high school cafeteria, running up and down stairs, and HS BASKETBALL.

Y'all. 

HEAVEN. 

I was in heaven. 

I'm not sure if you knew this about me, but I'm a balla. Like a legitimate BEAST on the basketball court. What? You think that's crazy talk. Well, you are crazy talk.

Fact: I was on the VARSITY basketball team in HS. For TWO years. (So what if Coach Delaney asked me and Kellie if we wanted to be on JV our junior year because we would be guaranteed more playing time? Psshhh..JV? No. We were varsity material.)

Fact: I was great on defense. Loud. Talkative. And fouled other teams. 

Fact: We won district my senior year. 

See? A BEAST. Clearly. 

I was so pumped for the kids to watch their first game, and it was a good game...it came down to 2 points. Unfortunately CS HS was on the losing end, but since Navasota was "Rocket" blue, I consider it a win. 

(Just kidding, Josh). 

I was surprised with just how much the kids would enjoy it. Radley became instantly competitive. Landry loved all the clapping. And Emmy was mesmerized by the cheerleaders. (Duh). 

I was a little sad they didn't allow food or drinks in the gym, because I needed a giant pickle. And a Dr. pepper. And maybe some nachos. And I also needed the kids to be able to run around under the bleachers and just check-in between quarters. And I also needed someone to shout "Rockets Never Quit" or "WAO LAO" just once. 

Even though none of that happened...what did happen was the fast-forward of our lives. Of the Munsons and the Kings sharing these moments as the players on the court/field/track became our own. And as the loudest voices cheering on the team become as real and familiar as the hair on their head. As our lives morph into celebrating big wins and learning from the major losses. As we continue to grab pizza and do life. So while I may not be raising my kids in the safety of my small town state of mind, we do get the benefit of those friends that create our world and memories. And as much as I want time to stand still, I look forward to all the beauty that has yet to come.