Saturday, March 26, 2011

Surprise...we came to Gilmer early!!!

















After eating dinner on Thursday, March 10th, we loaded everything that we needed for a weekend trip to Gilmer and hit the road at around 9pm. We arrived at Pops and Kiki's house after 11pm and went straight to bed. Luckily, the kids slept the whole way to Gilmer and they both went to sleep as soon as we got into bed.

Brent started building a swing set Friday morning and I got the kids ready to meet Neena for lunch at Papacita's. I usually love that place but for some reason it didn't hit the spot and I'm not sure if it was the chips or the salsa or maybe both. Then, we went to her office to meet all of her co-workers plus see the super cute dogs, Charlie and Louis. They are well-groomed Shih Tzu's and Beck told us that he gave them candy which was really dog treats. All of the ladies fell in love with Beck and Kinsey. Afterwards, Neena wanted to show me the really cute boutique where she finds Kinsey's clothes and I love the name of it...Polka-Tots. I'm pretty sure Neena enjoyed her two-hour lunch break and the kids were ready to take a nap at this point so we hit the road back to Gilmer. They both fell asleep as soon as I hit the road. I was able to put Kinsey in the pack n play to finish her nap but Beck would not go to sleep so we knew he would be super tired especially after staying up late playing with Noah.

Beck took his trains and I took the monitor outside to help Brent finish building the swing set. Of course we had to bust out the golf cart and take it for a ride many times that afternoon. Once Kinsey woke up, we enjoyed the beautiful weather and the brand new swing set! Luckily, Casey's Grandma came in town from FL so he did not come to Bishop Playhouse which is why we were able to sneak off early. Otherwise, Brent would have spent all day Saturday building the swing set and we wouldn't have been able to see the boys enjoy it.

We were so excited to see Noah when Pops and Kiki finally arrived. Since daylight savings time changed, it gets dark much later now and the boys were able to play before eating dinner. Willow enjoyed playing with them too! I can already tell this is going to be a fun-filled weekend!

After playing, we ate dinner at La Finca and Brent had to sit in between the boys because they kept fighting over helicopters and trains. I tried a new entree and loved it! I finally fulfilled my Mexican food craving. It was cheese enchiladas topped with fajita beef...delicious!

We put the tent in the living room once we got home and the boys had so much fun playing in that thing! Then, the tickle monster (aka Pops) tickled them to death. They also tossed every pillow from the sofa on the floor and said it was mud as they were falling on the pillows.

Kinsey looks so cute in the skeleton pj's that Aunt Katherine gave us. She tries to keep up with the big kids and I have a feeling that she's going to be one tough cookie!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Mr. Photographer

More of Beck's camera skillz...Beck said he wanted to take a picture of me and Kinsey...

Then, it was the fireplace...

An awesome picture of Daddy...

This is great...a close-up of Kinsey's ear...

Is It a Puppy?

Kinsey does some funny things but this one really makes us laugh...she will stick an object in her mouth then start crawling. It's like she knows she can't carry it and crawl at the same time so she has learned how to carry it around while she's crawling. It is too funny! I've managed to capture her doing this a few times but most of the time she will spit out whatever is in her mouth when she sees the camera so I've had to be very sly when capturing these moments.

The Shark is Gone

Kinsey is too little to take a bath in the big tub right now but we usually put her in it when we are getting ready for work because that's the safest place for her. She loves to play in the toilet or eat the fake moss that's in the basket holding the fake ficus tree in our bedroom. It seems like she's always into something. I can't tell you how many times she has spilled my drink that I leave on our faux coffee table in the living room. The other day I thought Brent was watching Kinsey and he thought I was watching her...I was in the bathroom washing my face and Beck came in there and said, "Your baby is playing in the toilet." I quickly ran to the guest bathroom to find both of her arms in the water! So, that's when I filled her tub and gave her a much needed bath. Thank goodness Beck has turned into a tattle tale! Anyway, Beck got in on the action of Kinsey playing in the big tub that didn't have any water in it. They are so cute!!!

In the picture below, you can see that Beck was working on unscrewing the air valve to the jets and stuck his tiny rubber shark that he got at Chuck E Cheese in the hole. He then asked me to get his shark but I had to explain to him that the shark is gone. Hopefully, our tub will continue to blow water.

Relaxing...

I saw this and had to take a picture of it...mainly, because I'm envious! When I watch tv, it is either after the kids go to bed or before they go to bed which is difficult because I'm changing diapers, feeding one of them or playing/listening to them. I love that the only care in the world for Beck is deciding what to watch on the tv in the living room, the IPad that has Netflix or Brent's phone that also has Netflix. I'm not exactly sure what I did at Beck's age but I'm pretty sure that I spent most of my time outside since we lived on 40 acres of land AND we only had three chanels to choose from on the tv so I had to watch what my parents watched. Cartoons only came on Saturday mornings and Beck is able to watch cartoons pretty much anytime he wants. I might have mentioned this before but I'm not a big fan of technology. I feel like it takes away from quality time together as a family. I hated living in the country when I was a teenager but I sure wish I was there now.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Happy Birthday Natalie!!!

On Sunday, March 6th, Natalie celebrated her 3rd birthday at Chuck E Cheese in Allen and it was mostly me trying to keep up with Beck the entire time. He received a cup full of coins and he wanted to ride/play everything in that place.

He first started with the little rides such as Clifford the Dog (Anderson also enjoyed riding the little rides)...

Then, he veered towards the little carousel...

This water game was broken but in a good way...we didn't have to put in any coins and it would shoot water. Beck had an absolute blast shooting the water all over the place! He enjoyed it so much that he started screaming, "Ahhh!!!"
He finally found the ultimate ride...the Big Monster Truck!!! He rode this one SO many times...once with Natalie and many times with strangers.

All of the kids enjoyed eating pizza (except Beck) and they all got this cool cup...

I love that Natalie got a Toy Story themed birthday cake!

Ella enjoyed eating baby food...
I think Natalie had a fantastic birthday party!

After eating the oh so yummy cake, Beck was off again! He managed to go down the slide once then found the ultimate guy game...a machine gun that shoots bugs! Thankfully, Stu gave me many coins so that Beck could play over and over. I don't have a picture of him playing this game because it wasn't a kid game which meant mommy had to hold him up to play it. I dressed Beck in warm clothes because it was chilly outside but he burned up inside this place. It was so warm inside.

Natalie loved her tea set from Beck. They are so cute together! Brent stayed home with Kinsey since it was during her nap time. It was also during Beck's nap time and he fell asleep on our drive home but he would not take a long nap once we put him to bed. So, we had Mr. Grumpy to deal with that night!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Naked Beck?!?!

We NEVER see Beck without clothes unless he's taking a bath!!! He must wear a shirt, pants/shorts and socks at ALL times! Brent is in the works of putting caulk on our walls to prep it for paint and Beck wanted to help. I told him he could not get caulk on his clothes and quickly took them off. This is how we were able to catch of glimpse of Beck helping Daddy without any clothes.

Beck's Camera Skillz

I've mentioned this before and want to document a few pictures that Beck took recently. He's great at aiming the camera to his subject and he does not use the small window to view what he's shooting. It amazes me what he's able to capture!
Beck wanted to take a picture of Daddy on the couch...
Then, he wanted to take a picture of me and Kinsey...
Too bad I didn't put on some lip gloss...
Beck is a very talented photographer!