Rodeo Field Trip

Yesterday was Jackson's field trip to the Houston Rodeo! I went as a chaperone, which meant I was responsible for Jackson and two other kiddos. Another mom and I paired up and kept 6 kiddos together throughout the trip. It was great! We started with a tour inside where we saw the cows, bees, bugs, baby chicks, and more. The kids got to plant sunflower seeds and watch a cow get milked.

From there we made our way outside to the petting zoo and the farm. I think the cornbox (a sandbox filled with corn) may have been their favorite part of the day!

The boys were great, and we all had a great time!

There are lots more pictures in the album.

My Little Audrey Party

Audrey chose to have a My Little Pony party at Jump-N-Jungle this year. Before leaving for the party, we had a mini-photo shoot with the birthday girl!

After a few pics by herself, I decided we needed some family shots too! Thanks to Ross and my dad, I was able to be in a few as well!

Audrey and ~15 of her friends celebrated with lots of jumping and running, laughing and smiling, a few minor injuries and crying, pizza and cupcakes, and a huge pile of presents.

Audrey was too cute when opening her gifts. She made sure to read the card to know who it was from (with Mommy's help), and then after thanking the gift giver, she made sure to show all of her friends each gift by either holding it up for everyone to see as if reading them a book or passing the gift around. The process took a little while, but it was so sweet and funny!

The birthday girl declared the party a success! However, it took a while for her to realize her birthday was officially over after we got home. She tried to claim to be the birthday girl to get her way for several more days...much to her disappointment it didn't work anymore. We enjoyed spoiling her a little for the occasion though!

As usual, there are more pictures in the album.

Spring Break at the Zoo

As part of our spring break, we took a trip to the zoo! There was lots of fun had by all!

I may have spoiled them a little and even let them feed the giraffes!

It was worth it! We had a great day!

Audrey is 4!

Audrey turned 4 last Monday, March 10th! We started the morning with presents from the family and chocolate chip pancakes.

It was also the start of Spring Break week, so Jackson and I were able to spend the entire day celebrating with Audrey! She and Jackson spent the morning playing with her new toys, and she allowed me to take a few pictures.

Audrey's choice for celebrating during the afternoon was to go pick strawberries, so we headed to Froberg's Farm!

It was a little muddy, but we came prepared! There were tons of great looking strawberries to be found.

They had a great time picking strawberry after strawberry and helping each other find the best ones!

After inspecting their full buckets one last time, we headed home.

The Fulliloves joined us for Audrey's favorite dinner, tacos, and cake that evening, which wrapped up a nearly perfect day!

It's hard to believe how much Audrey has grown and changed in 4 years. Something that hasn't changed, though, is that she has always had a way of lighting up a room. She is full of joy and energy! It's pretty tough to get her down, and when it happens, it never lasts for long.

Ross and I are glad to have the "threes" behind us and hope the testing phase comes to an end soon. Aside from that, every day seems to get more and more fun with both Audrey and Jackson!

Audrey's birthday was definitely fun! There are more pictures in the album!

Jackson's Field Day

A little over a week ago Jackson's school had their Field Day. Ross and I were both in town for a change, so we went to check it out. It was very different than what we remember field day being like. It was basically a free-for-all. They started in the gym. Each kid had a partner, and they took turns picking what they wanted to do for two hours. There were lots of game options. Some indoors and some outside. Jackson and his partner, Lizzy, started outside.

A free-for-all is tough for kindergartners. Jackson and Lizzy had a hard time deciding where to start. Once they had a couple of games under their belts, Lizzy decided she didn't want to play the games Jackson wanted to play. Poor Jackson was so disappointed. His teacher quickly came to the rescue though, and they did great the rest of the time!

Two hours of non-stop playing was a bit much for these two though. They took a little break and watched the other kids for a while before getting back to the fun!

There are more pics of the fun in the album!

Mardi Gras in Shreveport

We made it to Shreveport again for a Mardi Gras parade this year. It was fun as always! While waiting for the parade to arrive the kids got to feed the ducks, play and dance in the streets, and practice throwing the frisbee. The adults enjoyed some good cajun food and did a little karaoke. We loved catching up with some old friends and visiting with family!

The kids ended up with a ton of beads and cups, as well as a few specialty items including a light-up sword, flowers, a stuffed animal, and a very special light-up necklace from the mascot of one of the floats. It was a successful trip!

Unfortunately, I was sore for almost a week after the trip from having the kids on my shoulders most of the parade. It was worth it though! We were able to recycle the beads at Audrey's school the following week for their Mardi Gras parade, so the timing worked out great for them!

Valentines

Thinking I'd be a creative and attempt to save a little money on Valentine cards this year, we made photo cards with inspiration from pinterest. They took a little longer than planned to execute due to computer issues, but I think they turned out pretty cute!

We cut small slits in the pictures by their hands and stuck glow bracelets in the cards as a lightsaber and a princess wand. Jackson and Audrey were excited to give them out!

Happy belated Valentine's Day to everyone!

School Carnival & Karate Demonstration

Jackson's school held their carnival fundraiser at the beginning of February. It was a fun event! They had all kinds of games and activities. Jackson especially loved showing off his hula-hooping skills, which we didn't know he had! Audrey loved singing and dancing to any song the DJ played. One of the activities was a room where you could choose what to have painted (face, hair, or nails). Jackson chose to have a rocket painted on his face, and Audrey requested to have her nails painted a sparkly pink.

Another activity was a karate demonstration by the students from Bushi Ban that attend Falcon Pass Elementary, which included Jackson! As one of the youngest kids on stage, we were so proud to see him get up there without any hesitation. He did great, but most importantly, he had fun!

The kids did several exercises in unison before breaking up to do smaller groups and individual demonstrations. Jackson got to break his second board as part of the individual demonstration. This time he chose to break it with his foot. The first board he broke was with a "hammer fist" when he received his first belt promotion.

It was an all around successful event, and we're looking forward to the next one!