Crazy Busy Weekend

School is almost out and it seems we cram all the fun the last weeks of school. We started out on Thursday going on a field trip to the AGI gymnastics in Arlington and I came along to help out. It was lots of fun for the kids and we were all exhausted after it was over.





Friday Hayden had field day all day and Mason was honored for good character- trustworthy so they got to sit at special tables with their parents at lunch and got a medal and certificate.





Friday night we had a sleepover for the 3rd and 4th graders. They were promised that they would have one if the school ended up being Exemplary on the TAKS tests this year and they did it! Here in Texas once you start 3rd grade up until 12th the students have to take these standardized tests and basically that is how the schools are rated so this year we had over 90% of the students pass which ranked us exemplary. It started at 7 pm and they had dinner and then they could do several different things until bedtime at 11pm. There was karaoke (which I was in charge of), hair and nail salon, video games, bounce houses, and crafts. The kids along with me had a great time. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of Hayden because I was in the Karaoke room but I did video this cute little boy who pretty much stayed in the karaoke room with me and sang the whole time. He was hilarious! At first we couldn't tell if he was for real- check it out for yourselves.

Saturday we had Callies last volleyball game and they ended up this season in 1st Place. They got their trophy's but the coach took them back because she promised to get their names engraved on them if they got 1st place.

After the game we rushed home, we made treats and got everything ready to host a baby shower for my sister in law- Nikki. She lives in Lewisville so we had it at her house. It was lots of fun and my mother in law drove from Tyler to come to it and help out. Notice the diaper cake I made and the blanket, bibs, and burp cloth that I embroidered. Next week is another sister in laws shower- lots of babies this year! Next Saturday will be the 5th baby shower in 2 weeks!!! I've have been doing alot of blankets lately.

Paint job

We have lived here in our house for 8 years now in Fort Worth, Texas. This is our first house and I think we will probably be here for a while so I am having a blast remodeling and redecorating. We bought the house new but after 3 kids and buying a cookie cutter house we have a lot of new plans to fix up our house like an HGTV home. (Shawn & I's favorite channel). I am in the process of redoing just about everything from buying new furniture to a new roof (due to hail storm),replacing baseboards, doors, light fixtures and flooring. The house was in great need of a new paint job so we hired a friend of ours to do it and these are the before and after pictures. I sure hope I don't have to do this every eight years. Although I'm sure it will take me that long to get everything done I want to do!

new haircut

After a long time decided what to do with my hair I finally bite the bullet and paid for a good haircut. I was talking to the ladies at work and told them it was time to get my haircut, that I wanted it shorter, with some color and that I would just go to the haircuttery place by Albertsons and they freaked out and said I needed to find a good hairdresser so my friend Amy called her hairdresser in WEATHERFORD and made an appointment for me. She told her all about my hair and how I need help to find a good hairstyle. We spent the whole week looking up new hairstlyes on the internet. This one isn't the one I picked but I like it and it is easy to do.

Easter Pictures

Easter Egg Hunt at Uncle Jasons house

spring soccer and volleyball

Callie and Hayden have started their spring sports. Callie is playing volleyball for the first time. She usually plays softball and loves it and does very well. Last spring she played softball and after the season was over she was asked to play on the all-star team and enjoyed that, other than crazy parents way to involved in winning(thats another story). Our local sports association added in volleyball this spring along with softball so she had to choose. Callie has played for intermurals at school and enjoyed it so after much consideration she choose volleyball. She is doing very well and their team- The Grizzlys are in 1st place right now.

Hayden is in probably his 10th season of soccer. Hayden has tried just about every sport and I think we finally found his nitch. I have tried very hard to keep Hayden busy with different sports/activities outside home and school. If it would up to him he would stay at home and play video games with friends all day long. This season he has the position of full back and he loves it. He is very proud of himself for all of his blocks. He is very quick to tell us that he is the best player on the team!

Open House

Mason's school had its open house so I took Mason to go see his teachers and classroom. We first stopped by Ms. Monroes room. Ms. Monroe was Masons teacher last year and the year before. This year she moved to Resource. We were so sad to not have her as Masons teacher. She is a wonderful teacher and was so good to Mason. They went on lots of field trips and she took tons on pictures. At the end of the year (both years) she made a slide show to music on DVD and gave each of her students one. Mason loves it so much that he will watch it constantly and sometimes even sleeps with the DVDS. It always brings tears to my eyes when I watch the videos because of how wonderful they are to my son. I feel so grateful to have such amazing teachers who have helped Mason become the wonderful child he is. I owe alot to his teachers. He also has a great new teacher this year- Mrs. Welsh. We did't get a picture of her because she unfortuately wasn't at the open house because she was sick. Mrs. Welsh is also an amazing speical ed teacher. She has come up with some wonderful ideas to help Mason stay on task and follow directions that I have even incorpurated them at home. And then there is Ms. O'Connell who is the 1st grade teacher he comes and sees for about 45 minutes a day for social studies that way he can get some socialization with the regular ed. class. He has been with her for two years and loves her. He will move up to 2nd grade next year so unless she moves up with him he will get a new regular ed teacher (Im going to have to request Callies old teacher). We are so blessed to have Mason in our family. When he was diagnosed with Autism it was very hard for us to deal with it and not knowing what the future would hold for our son. His milestones were very lengthy in time and we wondered if it would ever happen. He didn't walk until his was 14 months (the other 2 kids were nine months), he wasn't potty trained until his was four and he didn't start talking until about six years old and now at seven he is talking in sentences and carrying conversations with us. We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for sending us Mason. At first you are devistated as a parent to discover that your child has a disability and don't know how you will go forward having to deal with such a life long sentence but I now realize that the Lord is trustig me with this special child and I feel honored that He has choosen me to be a mother of a special needs child. Mason is truely a gift from God and he brings so much joy to our family.

Pinewood Derby

Haydens 2nd pinewood derby was last night. He had a hard time when his car didnt get in 1st place and then he just sat there mooping when it wasn't his turn to race. This was my first car to make. We had forgotten about the pinewood derby and when we got an email 2 days before I asked Shawn to help him make it and he wouldnt so I got out the hand saw and went to town. It wasn't to hard but I don't know the tricks of making your car go fast so we didnt place at all. Hayden got the Best Flame award which was thanks to Shawn since he painted it.