Sunday, August 9, 2015

May


We had some end of the year festivities, beginning with a music class performance for the moms, followed by a Mother's Tea in Colt's classroom. The kids showered us with gifts, self-made books and snacks. It was such a sweet time together. 

Levi posing after a tball game. Such a cutie! 

Ty and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary at our favorite restaurant, Uchi. No star spotting tonight, but we had fun celebrating us nonetheless! 

Tatum's preschool class. She loves these kids, school and her teachers. She's similar to me in that she really likes to read, practice writing her letters and will spend hours doing so. 

Levi hanging out with his friend Ashlyn at the swim team concession stand. This was our first year on swim team... practices were Monday thru Thursday with meets on Saturdays. It was a long but fun season! Swim pictures to come next month... but one of the kids favorite activities was to work the concession stand! 

Last day of school froyo with Brady and Jackson! 

We have moved our church location to a school downtown. Our first Sunday to set up there we had lots of boxes to throw away and these kids were the ones who got to stomp them down in the dumpster! We are excited to be in our new location and to see what God has in store for the community here! 

Abbey graduated from high school!! 

A selfie at graduation :) 

We loved getting to celebrate Abbey! 

The whole fam :) 


Abbey is Baylor bound. We are excited to have her a bit closer to Austin next year and hope to see her much more!


April

What's the best way to kick off spring? With baseball of course! This year we switched leagues and played with a less competitive league a bit closer to our house. This was Levi's last year of t-ball and Colt's first year of coach pitch. They had good seasons and learned a lot but surprisingly didn't seem to love the sport. Part of this might have been due to not great coaching, so hopefully they'll try again next season. 


Tatum spent the spring playing soccer. This was her first season and she loved it! Here's a funny story about her season: We signed Tatum up to play with her friend Wesley (on the left below). Wesley  had signed up to play up an age group, so these 4 year olds were playing with 5 year olds who had all played soccer before. It took Tatum and Wesley several games to catch on to the game, but they had so much fun anyway! On the last game of the season, Tatum had only scored one goal in the previous 7 games. Uncle Dusty came to the last game and I brought my camera to take pics of TaterTot since I hadn't taken any previously. During the first half of the game, Tatum played like normal (lots of assists, but not any goals). I told her that I wanted to take a few pics of her scoring a goal, so this crazy girl went out and scored FOUR!! Guess someone likes getting her picture taken :) We are all signed up to play with the same girls again this fall and Tatum can't wait! Here are a few shots from that game: 

She just kicked the ball to the goal...

and its a GOAL! 

Woohoo! :) 

This is her favorite part of the game... the parent tunnel afterwards.


Zoe also really likes soccer... or at least dressing up in Tatum's soccer uniform. She has been in a phase where she ONLY wants to wear Tatum's clothes so walks around in baggie clothes all the time :) 

Easter Sunday picture at Westover. I sure do love these cuties! 

Pics on Nana's porch



We went to Nana's house to dye eggs. 





Also had a few confetti eggs which the kids were super excited to break.

Zoe came with me for lunch duty at Veritas. She loved sitting next to her brother to eat her lunch! 

We also took a trip to the Capitol. 


We went to support International Justice Mission as they had an anti-slavery rally on the steps. It was fun to show the kids the capitol and teach them about who we can try to influence change in the world. 

Granny Rae came to visit... we went to Rudy's...

Made cookies...

and had tea parties! 

Colt was student of the week and brought Biscuit home again.

He wanted to take a picture with Biscuit and all his animals. Colt is funny b/c he NEVER plays with these animals, but likes to keep them on his bed during the day and on the floor at night. When we travel he takes them ALL with him... and still doesn't play with them :) 

Zoe turned 2! 

Happy Birthday to this spunky toddler! Mmm... cake! 

Zoe, You are the funniest of kiddos and crack us up each and every day. You bring so much laughter to this house! You are already working on your independence... "I do it!" is a common phrase you utter. You are a great sleeper but are starting to not be a great eater :( You are a fabulous communicator and have lots of words to use. Even when you get frustrated, you are easily redirected. You love to watch movies on the iPad... your favorites are Lion King and Big Hero 6. You also like to give high-fives when you do something you know we approve of. You are a social butterfly and know all of our friends names. You always greet the adults with a hug around their legs. Your love language is physical touch, especially sleeping on my stomach. You frequently lift up my shirt and put your cheek on my tummy when you are tired. 

We love you so much! -Mom

Tatum is a big girl! She wanted a picture with her bunny in her bed. Shortly after this picture, she moved out of the boy's room and this toddler bed and into a room with Zoe in a twin bed. She's also working on getting out of a pull-up at night. She's really growing up! 

Tatum and Zoe playing on the playground at pre-school. Tatum is the BEST big sister! She is so nurturing and helpful and loving and the list could go on. 

I participated in a Bible/book study this spring with some friends from church. The study was led by Jennie Allen, the author of the book, Numb. I'd never done a study that was led by the actual author... and it was a great study to awaken our spiritual eyes and live fully in the moment where the Lord leads us. I changed and grew in many ways over the 8 weeks. This is the last night of the study... we worshipped outside, had a carnival, desserts and released these lanterns into the sky. It was beautiful and I'm so thankful for the friendships that were created during this time. 

We took a trip to the Austin Zoo! 

The peacocks were showing off. The boys thought this was so awesome :) 

Levi spent the spring working on an animal unit at school. He chose zebras to study for his project and was proud of his final result. 


I took Tatum and Colt with me on a photo shoot downtown (I think Levi had a tball game). Afterwards, they got to play in the splash pad. We love this town and all the fun things we get to experience here!