Days to Remember...

I remember when I would take a picture, upload it to my computer and write a blog post about it that very same day. I would recall every tiny detail for my 10s of readers to feel like they spent the day with us doing nothing at all. And now I'm lucky if I upload the pictures within two days and blog within the week. 

Our days are still filled with the gifts that the nothing-at-alls bring. Like this day, Ryan wanted to celebrate Memorial Day by going to the George Bush Library & Museum. We put on our patriotic gear and headed up there to discover that  the museum wouldn't open for another hour. We were heading to Waco later that day so we decided a walk around the grounds was good enough. 

We chatted with the kids about who George Bush is and why he is important. What he did as President and how he impacts our little community still. 

And in-between I captured moments of sweet... 

and sour. 

;)

All this rain has made the grounds at GBL so gorgeous!

And these three just added to the beauty. 

When I think about the meaning of Memorial Day and then think about how I tend to need to make things big to be memorable, I kind of get a little mad at myself. Who says it has to be big? Who says it has to be perfect? Why can't it just be?

And this day, it was just a walk in a park. (Literally). 

And as I watched them I said some silent prayers and gave thanks to those men and women whose days were never a walk in the park, rather a run through a battle field. The men and women who sacrificed so that we don't have to. 

So thank you, for allowing us the opportunity to have days to remember. For that, we remember you. 

Back to back...

We headed up to school this week to watch this kid's awards program. 

We loved getting to see all his friends get recognized for their strengths...

and talents...

and great work this year!

Each kid gets a unique award that is geared toward what he or she contributed to class this year and for the second year in a row, Radley was named the Animal Expert of his class.

He was so excited! 

And we couldn't be more proud that he has found something he loves and shares that gift with others!

Way to go, buddy!

Tiny Tales Thursday...

"It was an ack-a-dent."
~ Landry King, age 3

And by this she means the following:

• She accidentally scratched her brother down the back while he was trying to get into the shower and she really wanted to go first
• She accidentally stepped on her sisters face while she was coloring
• She accidentally broke a toy by bending it in half
• She accidentally ate the whole cookie when I told her to break it in half
• She accidentally pulled Emersyn's hair. Again.
• She accidentally changed the channel when Rad and Emmy picked Scooby Doo instead of Daniel Tiger
• She accidentally unbuckled her seatbelt while I was still driving
• She accidentally took her hair out of her pig tails. Every single day this week. 

I guess she's just accident prone. 

#thirdkid

Can't rain on my party...

We got to celebrate a big birthday on Monday - Karli turned eight. EIGHT, y'all. How did this happen? Eight sounds so much more than seven and this makes me believe that in three months when Radley reaches this milestone, I'm gonna need a paper bag while I hyperventilate. 

You may have heard that we've gotten a lot of rain the past few weeks. Well, Monday morning it was trying to rain again so Jenni bumped the party up by 30 minutes and the kids had a great time! The weather was actually great, no one was dying from heat and there was no hint of the familiar Texas sunscreen/bug spray combo. 

My children took full advantage of the big kids that like to take care of them. I think Corbin pushed Landry for a solid 10 minutes before Ryan stepped in to offer relief 

And if Grace wasn't lugging Emersyn around, she was pushing her "super high". 

I love that my kids get to grow up with their kids. I love that so much of us is inside each of them. I love that the 9 months that once separated these three seemed so huge but is really so small. Gah. I miss them so much and wish the hour and half drive was just down the street. (Y'all should totally move here.)

I mean, could she be any cuter? 

This crew. Poor Reed wasn't having it. 

After we finished celebrating that giant basically grown girl :) we headed home to beat the storms that were headed our way. And we managed to make it in enough time for Ryan to mow the yard and for the kids to play a bit. It actually started to rain and then stopped before they could get fully in their swim suits and they were angry. 

So what did Ryan do???

Got out the water hose and made a them a water slide. 

And maybe also sprayed them in the face a bit. 

And I realize these are the worlds blurriest pictures, but they were moving super fast and I'm stubborn enough that I will force myself to learn how to use my manual settings. 

Landry was MOVING y'all. Like at super speed. And she's so tiny that she basically bounces off the end. And is SQUEALING with laughter the whole time. 

I secretly wanted to join them, but I had already showered. And I'm lazy. 

But I may have to do this one day this summer - let me know if you want to join the fun! 

Birthday boy...

Ryan's birthday was last week and he gave us the gift of TAKING THE ENTIRE WEEK OFF! (We actually contemplated whether or not he should switch weeks due to all this darn rain, but we took a chance and lucked out with spots of amazing weather). I picked the kids up from school on Tuesday and we headed to HEB to get all the stuff for his cake plus a few extra treats. He spent all day on his birthday trimming trees, mowing the yard, raking and spring cleaning that we were way behind on. 

And while he was busy finishing up all of that with the kids - Rad became a pro at using the extended hand saw. He cut down EIGHT branches by himself. 

After everyone had cleaned up we settled outside for our first meal of the season on the porch. Y'all - it's been raining THAT much. Ryan picked sloppy joes - I am such an overachiever that I surprised him with deviled eggs and beer to go with it. And I think the deviled eggs were his favorite gift. 

#easytoplease

Then they just had some general backyard shenanigans before heading inside for cake. 

Yellow cake with yellow icing... 

and a whole lot of love baked in.

Now, he didn't reveal his wish... but I'm guessing it came true in the form of these three. 

One of my favorite part of birthdays is watching the kids pick out gifts for other people. We all went to Academy and I had made a few suggestions of things we could get Ryan, but they had very distinct ideas of what they wanted. 

Radley insisted on a red golf shirt. 

Emmy picked the blue and green hammock. 

And Landry is generally just a "yes" girl for now.

And the celebrations didn't stop there. I took the day off on Wednesday so we could combine our February date that we didn't get to because of rain (ha!) and headed to the golf course. 

 He opted for 9 holes since we were short on time (Rad had a school picnic) and I opted not to play since the weather was lurking over head and I wanted him to get to play all nine holes. But, it was a great morning of golfing (him), reading (me), and spending time together.

And know about 2% of what it takes to make a great golfer, but he sure looks good, eh? 

I hope that this birthday was great, Ryan. And I pray that the year ahead is the best one yet!

And she danced...

Last Saturday was a big day in the King household - it was RECITAL DAY! Emersyn was just beside herself at the thought of putting on her costume, doing her hair and getting to wear makeup. We somehow managed to get her to nap through all that excitement (and no it had nothing to do with my, "if you don't sleep, you don't dance" statement as I kissed her forehead. I mean, come on) and when she woke up Gigi and Pops had a very special gift waiting for her. 

A ballerina bracelet - that they spent much too much money on - but that she ADORED! Thanks, Gigi and Pops!

Then it was time to get ready and y'all - this part made me more nervous than her falling off that giant stage. Have I mentioned that I fall in the "lousy at hair and makeup" category of motherhood? Good, then I won't repeat myself. Except that I AM LOUSY AT HAIR AND MAKEUP. Praise the Lord for that ridiculous full-costume run through the week before. 

If you notice, her hair has bumps and that bun is a bit frizzy over the sock that I made it with. But you know what, she didn't care one bit. She just loved the time spent making her "beautiful" and I did too. 

We snapped pics before the show because we knew after the show would be chaos. She was so excited Gigi and Pops were there and she picked out Gigi's shirt to wear. 

Landry was by far the most excited to watch her Emmy dance and Radley is just the best big brother around. 

And Mom and Dad were pretty excited to see her shine, too!

And then the story gets interesting... Y'all. Hwy 6 is crazy cakes right now - we have had exits closed down for a year because they are redoing how they run, meaning where you get off and on the highway. And I know this. So the exit you would take for where the recital venue is closed which means you have to take the exit before and stay on the access rode. And I did that, except that I went into "cruise" mode and turned at the wrong light. And then freaked out because it was graduation weekend, every rode was crowded and I wanted a good seat for the show. (Because I'm the mom that likes to sit in the front). 

So I freaked out calmly decided to bust an illegal uturn. I mean who doesn't do that? Then I proceeded to time it so that I could zip around the front car turning left and make better time. Again, who doesn't do that? I think it's just fine. 

But you know who doesn't think it's just fine - the kind Bryan Police Officer that was invisible to me while on this mission. The one that then pulled me over and caused me to cry because "WE WERE GOING TO MISS THE WHOLE THING!"

(Have I mentioned my tendency to over-react?)

(I'm on over-reacting Mom that can't do hair.)

(And then that totally made me think of the line Brittany Murphy says in Clueless - "You're a virgin that can't drive." Classic.)

Anyway.

I was in the parking lot of a gas station explaining to the kind officer that I was indeed in an actual hurry because my darling daughter needed to be at her recital check-in in 10 minutes. So you know what he did?

HE KEPT MY LICENSE AND FOLLOWED ME TO THE CIVIC CENTER.

I was all, "can you at least give me a police escort?"

Ummm. No.

So we make it to the venue, I illegally enter the parking lot to get a closer space (because why does it matter at this point?) Ryan and crew head inside to grab seats. I keep Emmy with me (mercy factor) and the dear Officer says, "Do you know why you were pulled over? You turned an illegal turn."

I then explain that yes I realized I did that - I did it on purpose because I was in a HURRY. And no one was moving fast enough. 

And you know what?

I got a warning.

#honestyisthebestpolicy

So, we finally got to watch the show!! And Landry was practicing her twirls... 

And then it was Emmy's class' turn.

(Please note that these were taken at her REHEARSAL since no cameras were allowed during the actual recital. I know.)

She did so GREAT! Her entire class was on pointe! (pun intended)

And I just love watching her love something so much!

She had such fun this year and I know that she wants to take dance again, we just have to figure out how it's going to work in this crazy routine of ours. 

We are so proud of you Emersyn!! 

You are pure beauty, inside and out and we love you so much!

And next time we are leaving the house an hour early.

;)