March

The boys got to dress up like cowboys for Western Day at school. 

YeeHaw

Granny Rae sent a fun fireman water hose for Levi's birthday. This will be much loved this summer! 

Ty 's birthday treat for me. He knows me so well. 

Plus, I love Ty's sense of humor and creativity. When we first started dating in college, his 9 year old brother couldn't remember my name or maybe he just thought it was funny, but he would call me "Carrots." 

Zoe hanging out at one of the boys basketball games. 

A little dirt never hurt anyone.

Levi loves the dirt! Here are the kids helping prepare our garden. 

We have spent many hours our here preparing the soil in this bed that has been full of weeds for many years. 

The kids have been so helpful out here (and Ty for tilling the weeds out and pouring all the compost on top). 

Another trip to Wheatsville. This time with all of the kids. Not sure we will do that again anytime soon. Lots of chaos ensued with all 4 having a shopping cart ;) 

We took the kids to the Austin Fair one night. They had a blast on the rides and keep asking to go back. 

Zoe and I on the carousel.

Colt worked all trimester long on his body project. It turned out great and he received the highest mark for it, an E. He learned about each body part represented, wrote a few sentences about each one in his best handwriting, colored the body part and assembled them on the board. Then he got his hair cut and glued it on the body to make it look like him. :)

Levi was excited to see Hazel at Westover one day. We love anytime we can get together with Eliza and Hazel! 

The boys had a recital at their piano teacher's house. I am so proud of their hard work to learn this instrument and hope it benefits them in the long haul. 

I love 

these 

silly

kiddos! 

February

We found this new grocery store, Wheatsville Coop, that has little kid shopping carts. Zoe loves coming here now. She does really great pushing the cart around the store, until we get to the cracker aisle. Then she abandons her cart to grab a box of crackers and won't let go of them until we get to the checkout, which leaves me pushing this tiny cart around till then :)

One day Zoe spilt her milk on the floor. She immediately dropped to her hands and knees and started to lick it up!! It was so hilarious. She got mad at Molly for joining her. 

We busted out the potty to begin pre-potty training... just introducing it to her and letting her become curious about it. 

This is the picture of Levi I took for his evite birthday invitation. He's so handsome!

Levi and Colt are both playing basketball this year. We've seen a definite improvement in both of them over the course of the season. It's fun watching them learn new things. Colt is out shooting baskets in the driveway almost every afternoon. He always tries really hard to master something when he knows he can do better. I love that quality about him! 

Tatum is playing soccer for the first time. She hadn't had any practices before her first game (they kept getting rained out), so we dropped by the field in the literally freezing weather so I could briefly explain the game to her. She was so excited to be on the field that she didn't want to leave even though Zoe and Levi promptly gave up and returned to the car. More on her season in next months' post :)

Daddy Daughter Date

Our church hosts an annual Daddy Daughter Date that Ty took Tatum on this year. She apparently didn't want to dance with Ty though, only with her friend London :)

January

Zoe loves playing in my makeup bag... she just needs to learn how to apply it. 

Tatum's friend, Ryla, spent the night. Both of their first sleepovers. The girls had so much fun! 

They put on makeup, played dress up, dressed up their Build-A-Bears,

Slept in the tent

Talked and talked

Then walked hand in hand the next morning

into Eliza's birthday party!

Happy 4th Birthday to Eliza!! She had a rockin' party at The Thinkery where the kids all made glittery gel play dough. It was so fun!

Colt and Levi played basketball for the first time this season! We played in the Austin city league and they seemed to really enjoy it. 

They were kinda chill this season, just figuring out the game. Levi liked to be a mini-coach and tell the other kids what they should do.

Colt really enjoyed the game and learned quite a bit. He needs a little bit more confidence, but I bet he'll gain that before next season! 

My Grandma Goldie passed away so we went to Tulsa for the funeral. It also ended up being a big family reunion. I hadn't seen many of this side of the family in 20 years! It was so great to catch up, meet their spouses and kids and remember our wonderful Grandma's life. 

Goldie's great grandchildren

Amy fixed Zoe's hair into braids for the first time. It was great to hang out with her and Andrew in Tulsa.

Axel and Zoe were both tuckered out after the funeral. Alethea and I were so glad the Rogers clan could meet our kids. We hate that we've been apart from them for so many years and hope to change that in the future.

Zoe got her first haircut!

She loved it! I am always so thankful for her sunny disposition and some maturity that comes with being a 4th child and always watching her older siblings, then trying to copy them. 

Zoe was a bit unsure about the bow they put in at the end though :) 

All of our pets (minus Molly). Colt got an ant farm for Christmas from Aunt Chez and Uncle Cody. Then we ordered caterpillars for Levi's butterfly tent. We also have a beta fish that the kids have named Baymax (a character from the movie Big Hero 6). 

I ran the 3M half marathon this month. The kids went with me to the Bob Bullock museum to pick up my race packet. They loved the big star out front and wanted to take pictures. 

Zoe has started to be interested in babies. She has been lugging this baby doll with us around town and getting all sorts of oohs and ahhs from the older ladies at the store. I always get an earful of, "Enjoy this age while it lasts. She'll be grown before you know it!" I'm trying to cherish all the moments... thus catching up on the blog to write some of it down.