Pre-School Graduation

This week my big girl, KatieLynn, graduated from pre-school! I know it sounds silly, come on, graduation from pre-school? But KatieLynn was proud, so we were too! They sang some great songs, and then walked across the stage and accepted their diploma (or telescope as KatieLynn called it). She has been going Tuesday and Thursday to pre-school for the last year, and this past Tuesday was her last day. She had a great day (as always) and said she was ready for kindergarten on Thursday. :) I don't think it has fully sunk in that pre-school is over for her, and she has a whole summer before kindergarten! We will have to keep busy (and wet) the next few months. Katie is also making herself more independent. She told me that I need to buy more dresses that she can put on all by herself (aka, nothing that zips or ties in the back). And just this week has decided that she is okay being called KATIE instead of KatieLynn. Since she was 2 years old, she has requested to be called KatieLynn (which I love!). Then last summer, she told me she only wanted to write her name as Katie. I informed her that would be fine, but people would be calling her Katie instead of KatieLynn. That wasn't acceptable to her, so she has written KatieLynn all year, but has now decided that it's okay if people call her Katie, if that means she only has to write 5 letters instead of 9!

Dean enjoyed playing with Bebe's i-phone during the program!

My sweet boy is such a stinker these days when it comes to picture taking! But he did want to know why Bebe (my mother) didn't have more pictures of him on her phone.

Fishing, Swinging, & Digging!

Darren is an avid deer hunter, but never been much of a fisherman. But KatieLynn & Dean have been asking to go fishing for close to a year, and this daddy loves his kids, so he finally gave in. There much anticipation and excitement, but no fish were caught thus far...

Daddy can push really high!

They love swinging, it's probably KatieLynn's favorite thing to do outside.

Dean likes swinging, but digging is by far his favorite.

The boys work in the garden.

Hope you had a Hoppy Easter!

I know this is late, but so be it... :) We had a fantastic Easter, and hope you did too. I am so thankful that God sent Jesus to us, and that Jesus was willing to die for us on the cross. I pray that my children will understand the sacrifice He made, and will accept Him as their personal savior. We are so blessed, and all we have to do is accept His gift.

We had these pics done as part of a fundraiser for a friend's MOPS group. They turned out great! You can't really tell in the pictures, but Dean was definitely not excited about this photo shoot; the photographer pushed the button at just the right time though.

We hunted eggs at our little church in Hockley Saturday morning. They had lots of fun at the pancake breakfast, and KatieLynn won the coloring contest for the 5year olds. On Sunday we attended church, and then went to Brenham for lunch. That evening we went to Darren's Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Tim's. The next weekend we went to Darren's Grandpa Hegar to celebrate his birthday and the kids got to hunt to eggs for the umpteenth time -they loved it!

KatieLynn puts a green egg in Dean's basket.

The kids make sure Dean has all the blues, greens, and yellows, and KatieLynn has all the purples, pinks, and oranges. Too funny!

Happy Birthday KatieLynn!

On March 30th, KatieLynn was born 5 years ago. The time has gone so fast, but on the other hand, I barely remember my life before she was born! Though I certainly had MUCH more time on my hands back then, I don't know what I did with it all!

KatieLynn chose strawberries and Strawberry Shortcake for her birthday theme year. I opted to do just strawberries on her cake, though we did have Strawberry Shortcake pinata and paper goods. She was thrilled with the cake, even if she only ate a little icing, but made up for it by having 2 cups of chocolate ice cream!

Happy Birthday dear KatieLynn, Happy Birthday to you!!

We didn't know if Darren would be finished planting corn in time for a party, so we opted to have it away from home, to make less work for us. We chose the Oil Ranch, and we couldn't have had more fun! We did decide to make the invite list smaller, and limited it to KatieLynn's family friends that she plays with on a weekly basis. It made an intimate party, and we were able to enjoy playing and visiting with everyone.
KatieLynn gets to milk a cow! Dean was very interested in watching her, but wanted no part of it himself.

KatieLynn rides a pony.
In the huge haystack, KatieLynn was surprised and very excited to find an egg laid by one of the ranch hens.
The train ride was a hit for everyone.

On the actual birthday, KatieLynn requested brownies and ice cream.

Yummy!

Presents!

• KatieLynn's favorite inside thing to do is play games, like Hide-n-Seek, Chutes-n-Ladders, and Go Fish (just to name a few). Her favorite outside thing to do is swing, with jumping on the trampoline and riding her bike close seconds.
• Her favorite toys to play with are miniature strawberry shortcake and friends' dolls, polly pocket girls, miniature little ponies, and her dollhouse.
• KatieLynn's favorite things to watch are Strawberry Shortcake, Super Why, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
• Her favorite bible story describes Heaven.
• She loves preschool and playing with friends.
• She enjoys making crafts, and decorating with glitter, etc.
• Although, she may not always admit it, her favorite playmate is her brother. She and Dean will play for hours together, both outside and in (his room, not hers though!).
• KatieLynn always finds the silver lining.
• I love how she is always ready to tell me she loves me and give me a hug!
• She is our sweet angel, and we are so blessed that God gave her to us.

Rodeo!

We had a great time at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this year! The kids and I went three times. Darren went with us the first time, where we watched the rodeo and then saw Jason Aldean. During the rodeo, Dean asked about every 20 minutes when Jason Aldean was coming on. Then, once he did come out, Dean asked about every 5 minutes when he was going to sing 'My Big Green Tractor' (Dean's alltime favorite song). He finally sang it for the 7th song!!
Last Thursday, the kids and I went to the rodeo and then watched a little of Brad Paisley. The kids enjoyed the bus ride (we did park and ride this time), and were great all evening. the concert was a little loud, and the kids (and I) were tired, so we headed home after a couple of songs. Yesterday I took the kids again (for the last time in 2010), and we did some outside activities like the carnival, pony ride, and mutton bustin'. Fun was had by all!

Dean with his blue cotton candy beard! Here's KatieLynn at the mutton bustin; she's been dying to ride the sheep since last year! She held on for 3 whole seconds! :) She did great, and was super excited before and after the ride! Sweet little country girl!
Dean riding the pony

KatieLynn on the pony Dean excited about Jason Aldean singing 'My Big Green Tractor'

Outsides Pics

I just have a few pics of the kids playing outside. If it's raining, we stay inside the house, but otherwise, we are outside every day! Swinging is a favorite. Darren hung the swings up in the tree, which is very sturdy, but very high... which is fun for the kids, except that it's so high that it is hard to swing by yourself, so I have to push a lot!Riding bikes is also a favorite. The kids pretend the front porch is their house or kitchen. KatieLynn cooks macaroni, bread, or veggies, while Dean tends to grilling the meat, checking on it several times before it's ready.Here's Dean's all-time favorite place to be! He digs, he dumps, he digs more and more!Though KatieLynn enjoys digging as well, she prefers the swing.

You're a Redneck if....

....you go to Monster Truck Jam ...TWICE in the same month!

If you know us, even a little, you know that we like trucks, tractors, equipment, anything with wheels! So when Darren and I heard about the monster trucks coming to Houston in early January, we thought it sounded fun... and it was! In fact we had so much fun, that we decided to go again last weekend, and it was just as good or better!!

Below is Toro Loco, one of Dean's favorites!

Toro Loco jumping over lots of cars

Monster Mutt Dalmation (with a girl driver!) was a favorite of KatieLynn's

Here's Jurassic Attack with a lost tire; the loaders are coming to move him out of the way. Dean was just as excited about the construction equipment as the trucks, as they moved broken trucks, wrecked cars, and pushed dirt for new layouts.

Unfortunately I don't have more pics, as my camera died midshow. Dean is quite unique in his show watching; he sits still as a mouse!! Because the trucks are so loud, the kids and I wear earplugs, and at first Dean's fell out a few times, but we got it figured out so that they would stay in. But I think he was worried that they would fall out, so that's why he sat so still. During intermission, he did talk, laugh, and eat popcorn and cotton candy, and then on the way home he talked nonstop about all the action! KatieLynn had a great time watching everything too, but she didn't let the earplugs slow her down any (with talking or eating!). She was much more subdued on the way home though; I think her no-nap days catch up with her pretty quickly at nighttime!

If you like trucks or crashing, I would highly reccomend Monster Truck Jam!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We could not have been more blessed. Below is our family Christmas picture, taken by Natalie (my sis) of course. KatieLynn shows off some new games: Noah's Ark go fish & Bible memory.

Dean loves his new green boots!

KatieLynn passes out a present to Daddy (we did one at a time), as Daddy tries to get new tractor out of package.

KatieLynn helps me open presents.

Darren's parents with grandkids: Emma, Dean, & KatieLynn

My mother (Bebe) with KatieLynn & Dean

We had our 1st Christmas Wednesday, the 23rd at Darren's parents (Gigi & Papoo). We all got enough there to last for the whole Christmas! KatieLynn's favorite presents were a teaset and leapfrog scribble & write. Dean's favorites were big CAT backhoe and leapfrog scribble & write. The next night we spent Christmas Eve at Darren's grandpa's. It was great to visit everyone, and the kids enjoyed playing with all their cousins! All the kids were very anxious to open presents, which we of course did at the end of the night. :)

Christmas Day the kids woke up after 7am (I think that was their present to us!), but got in the swing of things very quickly!! Santa brought a digital camera (KL) and a John Deere planter (D -Darren went and bought on Christmas Eve! Dean had talked about asking for lots of different implements: shredder, mower, planter, and also construction. I had gotten wooden construction trucks before Thanksgiving... but for the last week and a half all he talked about was the planter. I told Darren it didn't matter, that he'd be happy with whatever, but Darren said he needed the planter... so we put the construction up for another event). KatieLynn and Dean were just as excited to pass out presents as they were to open thier own. Fun times!!

We headed to Brenham for lunch. We had a great visit with everyone, including Johnny & Lauren. We all got lots of goods there too, including a double stroller, girl train, game, and Strawberry Shortcake for KatieLynn, and remote dumptruck and conveyor, mater, construction magnets, bulldozer, and dumptruck for Dean. Then the next day we drove to west Texas to get together with my dad's family in Miles, and my mom's family in Robert Lee (San Angelo area). I enjoyed catching up with lots of my cousins and extended family.

We came home Sunday night, and began the cleanup of the present tornado! Things look much better now, we have kind of found homes for all the new stuff and trash pickup came this morning. :) I imagine I'll start boxing up our Christmas decor tomorrow. It will be sad... but much less clutter.

Santa Visit

Guess where we went to visit Santa? The John Deere store (in Navasota), of course! It was a FUN morning! The kids both won 1st place in the pedal tractor races for their age groups (I didn't take my camera. :( ) and recieved tractor toys as a result. They loved looking at all the toys, and Darren got some shopping done! Then, they of course, visited Santa. Dean wanted (inside) dirt, but decided to ask for a shredder instead. KatieLynn wanted a digital camera and Strawberry Shortcake dolls, but decided to ask Santa for the SS dolls, but the next day, she changed her mind, and wrote him a letter asking for a 'digigal camera please'. (which is good since I ordered the camera at Thanksgiving!!)

Christmas Program at preSchool

Last Thursday was KatieLynn's Christmas program at school. She was so excited, and has been singing the songs for weeks! Her program started at 7:30pm, and that is VERY close to her 8pm bedtime, which is very important since she only naps occasionally. She did sing some, but she also looked around and yawned a lot, not the big performance she would have given an hour earlier... but she had a great time just the same. And I was proud of her just the same as if she had a lead part in the whole show! It made me emotional just to see her walking up on stage (with her class); she's growing so fast! I didn't get many pics, due to lighting, but Dean behaved great; I was proud of him too!