Batter Up!

Liam had his last blastball game on Tuesday night.  It's been so much fun watching him and his fellow Sneeky Kleets at base and on the field.  They've all had a great time, and Liam can't wait to start t-ball as soon as he possibly can.

Getting a little help from Coach.



Cheering for brother.



And he hits it!

Running the bases.

So much fun watching brother

Memorial Day Weekending

This Memorial Day weekend...
We officially opened our pool for the summer when cousins came over to swim.

We had a cookout at Nana and Papa's.

We had fun playing outside in the Texas heat.  Summer is very near!

Brother and Sisters

Yup...I think they like each other a little. 

Soccer Pics

End of the Year Picnic Time!

Today was the end of the year picnic at Sloan School, and Jon and I were both able to join Liam, his classmates, and other parents in celebrating the marvelous school year.  We absolutely love Sloan, and Liam is already excited about next year.  Ms. Amy has been such a loving, kind, gentle, but firm-when-necessary teacher this year, and Liam has made such sweet little friends and learned so much in her class room.  Almost all the kiddos from his class will be back next year in the fall when they officially begin Pre-K!

Dance Party

Ellery's Morning Face

Any day that starts with a baby making this face is a great day!

Weekend Recap

FRIDAY night was relaxing.
After we tucked our three little people into bed, it was in-home date night for Jon and me.
We enjoyed PeiWei and watched We Bought a Zoo.
It was actually a pretty great movie.

SATURDAY was crazy.  And over-scheduled.
All five of us were a little cranky, so that made for some bumps along the road. 
Liam had two back-to-back birthday parties.
Sponge Bob in the morning and a princess party in the afternoon.
Here he is at Speed Zone.
Bowling, playing skee-ball, and trying his hand at miniature golf.
Jon said he was really good at skee-ball.

Marin ate a pint of strawberries. 

Her mouth was pink all day on Saturday.



Jon stayed with the girls in the afternoon.
They took naps and played while Liam and I went to the park for the princess party.

A photographer took pictures of the kids on Saturday evening.
Taking snapshots of these three at this stage is challenging.
To say the least.
We were so glad when it was over.

SUNDAY was a much better day.
Everyone in the house slept until 8:20!  Alleluia!
At church, we showered a family in our ABF class with love as they will welcome a new baby into their home in July.
Soon after church, my cousin Matt flew in from Denver for business and spent the afternoon with us.
It was so great to see him and such a nice way to spend Sunday afternoon.
We used to live on the same block as kids.
And we're both Martins, so that means that we've also lots of travel adventures together.
To Alaska (road trip style), San Francisco, Churchill, Manitoba, even all over Europe.
He's a great guy.

Now here we are on Sunday night.
The only things left to say is...
Nine more days of school!  Yay!
We are all ready for summer around here.

Magic Number 4

Mom's Day

What a sweet little Mother's Day it was, complete with homemade cards and red roses.  Jon and my three littles made me feel so special from beginning to end.  I love every (crazy) minute of being Liam, Ellery, and Marin's mama.

 I'm so very thankful for my Mom.  I love her and, of course, she's the best mom ever, so I have a pretty amazing example to follow.  Although I didn't get to see her today, she and my Dad are coming down to Texas in a couple of weeks, so that makes me so happy.  I missed not being able to call my Grandma this year to wish her a happy day and listen to her talk about the weather or the tasty dessert she had just eaten, but I spent some time remembering both of my Grandmas and the stong, lasting legacies they passed on through their lives.  I can't wait to see them both again some day!

After church, lunch, naps, and a little time spent outside in the garden, we had dinner at Memaw and Poppie's house.  I'm so lucky that I married into a fabulous group of loving mamas, too.

And when it was time to go home, these little girls hopped in the wagon, and away they went down the street with Poppie. 

 Happy Mother's Day to all you amazing Mamas out there!  It's the best job in world, isn't it?

Dreaming of Roses

On Saturday (our day with no dots) we took a break from The Fresh Beat Band and Doc McStuffins to watch the Kentucky Derby.  Sometimes on the weekends, we feed the kids dinner at our normal time, but Jon and I wait until all the littles are tucked into bed before we get takeout and watch a movie or something along those lines, our version of a homemade date.  Anyway, as the kids nibbled on dinner, we were tuned in to the Kentucky Derby coverage on t.v.  Just as the University of Louisville choir was finishing up their rendition of "My Old Kentucky Home," and the horses were all lined up and ready to run for the roses,  I looked over at Marin, and this is what I saw.

She was completely zonked out, lulled into slumber by the soothing melody that's a standard of the Old South.

Pleae excuse the peanut butter smeared all over her face...Marin is our messy eater.  :)

And, NO, she was not sipping on a mint julep in her little pink cup before drifting off to sleep.

A Saturday With No Dots

Rarely a day goes by when I tap the calendar icon on my phone and a gray little dot isn't hovering below the date, indicating that there are appointments scheduled, places that we need to be, things that have to be done that day.  But not today.  Today we had absolutely nothing scheduled, and it was so refreshing. 

We still managed to fill up the day with a trip to Target, voting for our local school board and city council candidates, buying groceries, watching a little t.v., taking naps, happy hour stops at Sonic, and a shopping trip to Etsy's Dallas Homemade Bash, which by the way, was wonderful (and I scored a bunch of adorable little girly things for Marin and Ellery).  Days like this make me pretty excited for summer when there are lots of days with no dots.

It's May Day!

The first day of May.  It is such a happy time of the year, especially if you're a teacher.  :)  Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, summer break is just a stone's throw away, the kids can play outside with little risk of heat stroke.  It was a great day to share the joy of "May Day (cupcake) baskets" with our neighbors. 

All ready for delivery.

Liam had no problem knocking on this door three houses down from us.  It's a place he visits very often...

...To people he loves a whole lot.  His first delivery was to Memaw and Poppie!