Happy 5th Birthday, Emma Ireline!

Since today is Saturday, Emma's 5th birthday and her party day are actually aligned this year. Last night, Memaw & Pepaw arrived after dinner. Viola was asleep in bed, having suddenly come down with some kind of illness just minutes before. We let Emma open her gifts from us since we usually like to do ours before the party. This morning, I made french toast, and Emma opened more gifts from Memaw & Pepaw. Then, Memaw & I went into party prep mode and got all the food prepared and packed up a little before 10:00. The party was at Kiwanis Park this year. Other than some pretty strong wind, the weather was great. All of Emma's friends made it to the party, and she was very excited about all her gifts. By 12:30 we were loaded up and headed back home. Morgan & Emma spent most of the afternoon playing with all the new stuff. Tonight, Papa Wes & GG will be here for round two! Emma wants to go to Mr. Gatti's, and then there will be more gifts!

The Calico Critter squirrel family she has been waiting for.

A new dress & headband.

No candles. The lighter wouldn't work, not that it would have mattered anyway with all the wind.

Cute little Wee-Wee...

Waiting for cake & ice cream....

In lieu of the traditional couch photo, we piled them all up on the playground.

Love this one- Me, Emma, and her best friend Kate

Morgan's got the crazy eyes!

Easter 2012

Thought this post was up already, but anyway...here it is!

Easter candy...a.k.a. crack!

Easter Eggs

We finally got our eggs dyed tonight...so fun!

Recent What-Not

Here are some photo tidbits of our goings on recently...

Daddy & Morgan hard at work on the art lesson.

Baby V with Memaw at the Abilene Zoo last weekend.

The kids spent a good deal of time rolling down the hill at the zoo...

...assisted by Aunt Haleigh.

Playing the "triumphal entry"

The fig tree hide out

Baby V in the hideout

Spring Break Part 5: Texas Wildflowers

For the final post of our spring break series, I have to share our wildflower pictures. The hill country area is spectacular right now. I think it is more beautiful and lush than I have ever seen. It may be that I've just lived in the desert for too long...Anyway, as I was driving from Abilene to Liberty Hill on Wednesday, I was overwhelmed by the flowers. I made Matt promise to stop on the way home. And we did...twice. The kids were enthralled. As I was praising the beauty of our state's flowers, Emma exclaimed, "Thank you, God, for Texas!" That pretty much sums it up.

The kids love to pick flowers, especially Emma. She never misses a chance.

Daddy was here too!

Just LOOK at this! Every field we passed was more magnificent than the last.

Here they are again, gathering as fast as they can.

Spring Break Part 4: Horseback Riding

While Matt & I shopped on Friday, Wes & Jan took the kids to a friend's house to see the baby donkeys and the horses. I thought they might be afraid to touch the horses, much less ride. But all three of them did, and they enjoyed it very much.

Morgan got to lead the horse too.

Mama's baby cowgirl

Spring Break Part 3: Pedernales Falls

On Thursday of spring break, we made the long drive to Pedernales Falls. It was a place we'd never been, and we didn't realize it was a 2 hour drive (almost). But it turned out to be an amazing place. The river was much like the Frio, except that there was a beach. The kids spent at least as much time collecting shells as they did swimming. The actual falls were incredible. And there was even a natural spring bubbling up, right where we could see it. Unfortunately, it was a no-swimming area (thank you, overprotective government).

Since Wes wasn't able to go with us, we met him for dinner at a restaurant on the way back. It was the best catfish we've ever had!

Baby V was freaking out about clumps of underwater sticks.

The hike to the falls was strenuous, so Jan stayed with V at the lookout point above.

This was really cool– the water was just roaring down through these rocks.

There are two sections to the falls, separated by a very deep pool in between. We weren't allowed to swim or wade, so we just stuck a hand in.