Reflection on 2014 - Part 1

 2014 was a year of change!  Our family moved.  Chris' parents moved.  My parents were settled into their barndominium while their house was being built.  Chris' brother & his family moved.  Chris' sister & her family moved.

And oh to help get all of those houses ready to sell was so much work!  And to sell them was so much work!  But oh how nice it is to be settled into our new houses and new routines.  (Except my parents, cause their house is still in the build process!)

January - The year began with us camping out at Mom & Dad's.  We bought our camper as both a way to be able to stay at Mom & Dad's during the house building process (theirs) and as a means to explore the outdoors for the kids (get off those electronic devices).

Fishing at Uncle Melvin's place.

The rest of January we spent packing and decluttering our house to put it on the market.  This is not for the faint of heart.  If you've lived in one house for 10 years, you accumulate a lot of stuff.  We had many runs to Goodwill and to good friends giving away items.
At this point in the process we had a lot with nothing on it.  However, we had visited the show homes and other homes in the build process so that we could get an idea on design choices.  

Our piece of dirt!

February - Both Chris & I traveled in February.  He went up to Arlington to help his dad prepare for another house sale - Momma Dot's house.  Her home sale was probably the hardest for everyone as there were so many good memories wrapped up in that house.   I traveled to Austin to attend my cousin's baby shower and got a chance to see my niece and nephew and check out their new house building process.  

Hide & Seek

Both the kids got to play Upward basketball with friends and had a blast.  Cameron played in a mini-golf tournament representing the school and fell further in love with the game.

Maggie & her buddy Nathan

Mini-Golf Leaderboard

They capped the month off right with a Daddy/Daughter Night at the church, where Cameron was able to be a waiter.  

March - March is when everything started to rock and roll!  For Spring Break we packed up and took the kids to Dinosaur Valley State Park.  Our house went on the market while we were out exploring nature and by the time we got back we had 4 offers!   

Being chased by a dinosaur!

Lots of progress was made on the news house and at this point Chris started going up every week to check on it.  I was only going every other week so it all seemed amazing to me!

Beginning of Spring Break

End of Spring Break

Of course March always means baseball for our house and this year was no different.  It was bittersweet as it would be our last season with NASA Little League and because part way through the season Cameron decided he was not going to play when we moved.  He wanted to dedicate his free time to playing golf!

The Twins!

Since I'm trying to get a whole year updated in the blog, I'm going to do it over a few posts.  I think through March is a good start for now!

Bluebonnets 2013

Over Spring Break we stopped in Brenham to get bluebonnet pictures, however it was still just a shy bit early in the season and they weren't quite ready. They were still blooming, but not the vivid and wide-spread blooming that I'd seen in years past.

Here's a Spring Break Pic (Oh and the kids weren't really in the mood to cooperate for the photo shoot at this time either)



Today, I got to take them to a League City/Kemah bluebonnet patch that had amazing looking bluebonnets. They were a beautiful color and really tall! Check out the pics we got today!



So on the last picture, I told them to give each other a kiss. Maggie grabbed Cameron and yanked him down for a big ole' smack. I missed it the first time because I was laughing so hard and the camera battery was dying. I was able to get them to repeat it and get the picture quickly before the camera completely went kaput! I had no idea Maggie was so forceful!

Egg Drop Science

The second graders at Cameron's school get to do something special Easter week - an Egg Drop. They are given directions to create a way to drop an egg and keep it from breaking or cracking. I was really impressed with the creations the kids in his class came up with - a Pringles can that looked like a rocket, a suspension system with straws and duct tape, and more. Cameron and Chris researched and tested ideas and came up with slime!! So a peanut butter jar and slime with an egg in the middle. How do you think it went?



The egg survived! He was very excited. Most of the classes ideas worked, and only a few cracked or smashed. It was fun to see how creative 2nd gradres can be!

Strawberry Fields

The last few years we've had the opportunity to go pick fresh strawberries out at Froberg's in Alvin, TX. The kids enjoy the experience, we have fresh produce to eat and I can everything we don't eat the next day.






So glad we get the chance to experience picking our own food so close to home. We're hoping to make it to the blueberry farm on the north side of town this summer.

Oops, one more pic to add, the finished jelly!

CASE Camp - Week of July 8th

Most of our week has been filled with CASE Camp, and it has entertained and exhausted everyone.  I completely forgot my camera on Day 1, but can tell you that we started the day off forming pipe cleaners so that we use them to grow crystals.  On Day 2 the kids got to see their handiwork.

Then we played with baking soda and colored vinegar.  The kids were able to mix colors and make bubbles. 

 FInally we made marble art!

Day 3 was super hectic with tie-dying and animal wrangling!

Here's one of the great helpers I had this week, Priscilla.  

Maggie got to check out the animals before she had to leave for swim lessons.  As you can see, she was quite pleased with the turtle.

 I got a chance to play with the snakes that Crocodile Encounter (http://www.thecrocodileexperience.com/)  crew brought.

And, of course, Cameron also got to pet the snakes too.

We made big messes with rice, gel crystals and paint all week.  It was a great week of exploration and fun, even with constant rain.

Silly Saturday - July 7th

We hit Moody Gardens last Saturday for our first time back at Palm Beach since they've completed all of their renovations.  It was great!  The kids had a blast on the slides, "beach," lazy river, and wave pool.

By the end of our fun everyone was tired and hungry so we hit the strand to eat and check out the shops.  We snacked on pizzas, poboys, burgers and drinks at Yaga's (http://www.yagaspresents.com/)  All of the kids got camo bandanas and belts at Colonel Bubbies (http://www.colbubbie.com/) which was quite an experience.  

We saw Bob Phillips, the Texas Country Reporter (http://www.texascountryreporter.com/), at La King's Confectionary (http://www.lakingsconfectionery.com/).  They candy makers were making fresh peanut butter taffy on the pullers right behind the counter and were throwing out free samples.  It was heavenly and just melted in your mouth.

And, of course, some more time cuddling with Lincoln!

Week of July 4th!

As always the week of July 4th was a busy one!  We made cake balls, goody bags, and snacks to get ready for the day of.

 For some reason I don't have any swimming pictures, but we did swim on this very warm 4th of July.

 Of course we had lots of time to love on our cousins.

 And we just had to get our nails done.

 And work in some time for silly games.

We did not stick to our schedule, but it was still a fun week!