5th Birthday and Kindergarten

So we've had some big changes the last few weeks in our house!  The kids turned 5 and started kindergarten...on the same day!!  I'm not sure why, but I had a hard time accepting the fact that they are already 5.  I guess I just wanted to keep them little as long as I could....it seems like it was literally just yesterday when we were taking them home from the hospital and frantically trying to figure out how to take care of two newborn babies.  It is so true when people tell you that time flies by when you have kids.  It does.  And I'm trying to savor and appreciate every single minute of it.  That's one reason why I haven't been able to keep up with my blogs lately.  We've been busy making memories and having fun, and I've been enjoying every minute of it!
We had the kids party the Saturday before their birthday at Pump it Up, which by the way is (in my opinion) the BEST place in the world to have a birthday party!  The people there literally do everything for you and are so helpful!  Besides doing the cupcakes and decorations, I didn't have to lift a finger!  The kids were so excited to have their party there, it's pretty much been there favorite place to go for the last few years.  I decided to do separate themes for the party this year and let them each pick out what they wanted.  Hannah wanted a princess party, and Hunter wanted an Angry Bird party (he is a little obsessed right now with these).  The kids had a ton of fun and were all worn out after bouncing their little hearts out.  I think the adults had just as much fun bouncing too:)  Of course I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to of the kids, mostly because I couldn't get them to stop moving!  But, I did get a few pics in the party room....

 

 

Princess table

Angry bird table

 

 

Then, the following Monday the kids started kindergarten. After much debate, we decided to put them in separate classes. I'm so glad that we did, because I can already see them starting to develop their own individual personalities. Kevin and I both took off the first day of school so we could take them and pick them up. I had envisioned one or both of them having major meltdowns when we separated them and had to leave, but nothing happened. NOTHING. To our surprise each of them waltzed into the classroom like they owned the place and gave us a quick hug and kiss, and that was it. I started tearing up when we got out to the parking lot. I'm not really sure why, because I knew they were perfectly fine....I think it was more because they acted like they didn't even need us!! Holy cow....they are all of the sudden little grown ups! So far, school has been great. They seem to love their teachers and have been making a lot of new friends. We are getting used to our new school routine, and I'm sure I will have lots of fun things to post about in the future. Here are a few pics of their first day. We got them bikes for their birthday and had them waiting in the garage for them when they returned home from school.

 

We are still here, I promise....

I've been putting this little blog on the back burner for about three months now, partly because we've been nonstop busy with "life" in general, and partly because every time I think about trying to catch up on it, the idea of it just overwhelms me and I'm too lazy.  So, I decided instead of trying to re-hash all of the details of our life the last three months, I would just post a few of the highlights, along with some cute random pictures (in no particular order.....because again, I'm feeling lazy). 

Part of the reason we've been a little busier than usual is because I started a new job in March.  I had been a little unhappy/unfulfilled at my previous job and had been praying for a long time for a new opportunity to arise.  For once in my life I was actually patient and let God do his work.  Sure enough, a full time position was offered to me at a fabulous office and I accepted, knowing that it was definitely in God's plan for me.  It's been a transition for all of us, and sometimes it seems like there's not enough hours in the day, but overall it's been awesome, and I'm very happy. 

Let see, what else?  We had a fun weekend watching Kaitlyn last month.  I don't think I've ever seen three kids play as hard as they did that weekend, and they were all very well behaved.  The kids ask at least once a day when she can come stay again....so I'm pretty sure I can envision many cousin sleepovers in our future! 

 In May Hannah and Hunter graduated from Pre-K!!!  I have to admit that I held back a few tears when I saw them walk out in their cap and gowns.  Wow, I can't believe they will be in kindergarten next month!  Speaking of kindergarten, the first day of school will be ON THEIR 5TH BIRTHDAY!!  And....we recently decided that they will be split up in different classes.  I've had a hard time with the thought of splitting them up, but after speaking to several others and the school counselor, I feel like it is going to be really good for them.  I just wish we had a few more months of the summer....can you tell I'm nervous about it more than they are???

And, our most recent highlight, was Hunter's surgery last Friday.  Our brave little boy had his tonsils and adenoids taken out, and tubes put in his ears.  The surgery went great, and minus a few icky feeling days afterward, he's pretty much back to his old self....minus the gigantic tonsils!  If I could figure out how to download video from my phone I could post the HILARIOUS footage of Hunter after he drank the happy juice at the hospital.  It was seriously one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Kevin and I could not stop laughing, mostly because Hunter was laughing uncontrollably the whole time.  All kidding aside, I was so darn happy for the "happy juice", because it made the whole process stress free for him and us.....and even happier that everything went so well!

Here are some pictures from the last few months:

                                                                                        

         Hunter before his surgery

 last day of school party and Miss Cissy, their PreK teacher

 Hunter and one of his besties Joshua

 Graduation night

 cousin's sleepover

 random photos of the kids watching shrinky dinks shrink....their new obsession

Now, time to update my recipe blog!!  I've got a whopping 34 recipes that I've tried out and need to share, so get ready!

Crawfish Sunday and Baby Birds

Yesterday we discovered a birds nest above the storage shelves in our garage. We've noticed birds flying in and out of the garage when we open the door to go to work in the mornings, so I'm guessing that was the "Momma" bird. This morning Kevin discovered this.....

Isn't this just the cutest and weirdest thing you've ever seen. And it looks like there's a ton of eggs in there, so I'm sure there will be more babies in the morning. We were careful not to disturb the nest at all, but I'm anxious to see how things will turn out...inside our garage:)
Later on today we had a crawfish boil with Kevin's family. This was the first time we've boiled crawfish this year, and they were really yummy. Kevin stuffed himself silly with the little critters, and the kids discovered they liked them too.....as long as they didn't have to peel them. It was such a beautiful day to sit outside and relax, and watch the kids play. I wish the weather would stay like this forever.....

I made a oreo layer pudding dessert that I'll be posting to the recipe blog right now. It was really good, and I'm about to polish off what little that was leftover right now!

Spring is in the air...

Here's a few pics of my silly kids enjoying this beautiful weather we've had lately. We've definitely been taking advantage of it by strolling around the neighborhood picking up flowers, pine cones, and whatever else they find interesting. I love this time of year!

Valentine's Day

The kids celebrated Valentine's this year with a fun party at school. They were so excited because this was their first time to make and exchange Valentine's with their friends...the last few years their party has fallen on a day they were not a school. I took off a few hours from work to help out with the party...I was totally impressed at how well behaved their class was. I expected a ton of chaos with all the extra "party" energy the kids had, but their teacher had a great handle on them. Each of the kids got a chance to pass out all of their Valentine's to each other...it was so sweet to watch. I have a great video of them singing Jesus Loves Me, if only I could figure out how to download videos! I had to sneak out right when they were starting to eat their desserts, so I'm not sure what happened after they consumed massive doses of sugar, but I'm assuming they were perfect little angels:)

Be sure to check out the recipe blog...I'll be trying to post some of the Valentine's treats I made!

Soccer

Hannah and Hunter started a co-ed indoor soccer program at the rec center last week and are loving it! I had no idea how entertaining it would be to watch a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds run around playing soccer....their first game was total chaos but so much fun. I decided to take Hannah out of dance for a little while, partly because I wanted her to try something new and partly because it was Hunter's turn to do something he wanted to do...and he really wanted to do soccer! They have practices every Friday and games on Saturday mornings. This past Saturday was their first game...they had a double header. To say the kids were exhausted after the games would be a major understatement. What made it very interesting, was that the second team they played they had to switch goals....this totally through the kids off and they were pretty much kicking the ball to the wrong side for the first half of the game. They won the first game and lost the second...the teams don't really keep score....but Kevin does:) Kevin has been able to help the coach a lot with the practices and the games so that has been really neat for the kids. Both the kids did great for their first game....Hunter really jumped in and wasn't afraid to get in there and kick the ball. Hannah (sweet, shy, girly Hannah) got out there and kind of froze up for a while...I don't think she expected there to be so many people in the bleachers. She also took a pretty good tumble and bruised her elbow at the beginning of the first game. She surprised me and hung in there though, and actually kept up with the kids following the ball for the next game. I'm not really sure soccer will be Hannnah's thing, but I'm glad she is at least trying it....and she loves her pink shin guards! We are very proud of both of the kids and can't wait for the next game!

We bought the kids a goal from Academy so they could practice at home...unfortunately we haven't been able to use it outside because it's been so rainy and wet, but the kids had a great time practicing their goalie stances and tough faces

before their first practice

right before the first game...notice Hannah yawning?

hunter hanging out with the boys on the sideline

huddling up with their coach, strategizing:)

my sweet boy

Christmas 2011

I'm still trying to catch up on blogging, so here's a few photos from the Christmas holidays. This year was pleasantly low key and relaxing....we went to my Dad's a few days before Christmas to see the family, then to my mom's for Christmas Eve, then our house Christmas morning and Dickey and Pam's for Christmas day. I know that doesn't sound relaxing, but it actually was! We scaled it down quite a bit for the kids this year which was nice....they still got more toys than they know what to do with though! The kids had a break from Pre-K for 2 weeks...I totally enjoyed having them home all the time. It made me realize how little time I have before they go to kindergarten...I am soooo not ready for it:(

Kevin surprised me with a new camera a few days before Christmas (I still haven't really figured out how to work it though), here are some pics in random order...unfortunately I had the camera on the wrong setting at my dad's house so all the pictures I took were a huge blur. Be sure to check out the recipe blog....trying to catch up on that tonight too!