Boy of many talents!

Here are a couple of videos from the last few months of John Thomas that I wanted to share.  

The first one is of singing during bath time.  We were watching The Voice as we were cleaning up dinner and giving him a bath and noticed he was singing along with the performers!  Excuse our messy kid and our attempts at getting him to sing :)  My favorite part is watching his facial expressions as he "sings."

The next one is of him pushing Koen around in the dump truck.  He loves to push anything that rolls (and some things that do not roll) but we were shocked that he could actually push all of Koen's weight across the room! It also shows a little of his out of control side, we sometimes call him a maniac :)

I can't imagine how boring our lives would be without this little spot of entertainment in each day! We certainly count our blessings each day!

Swim Lessons

We signed John Thomas up for swim lessons at our local aquatics center and he completed his lessons last week.  To say he loves the water is an understatement!  He went twice a week for five weeks.  He can now, float, blow bubbles and "jump" in off the side of the pool.  At his last lesson he finally started to kick his feet, so hopefully this summer we will be able to build off what he learned.  He had a wonderful instructor, Allison, who he ran to each time he saw her!  

 Right before his first lesson, Daddy was able to come for the first one!

 

Stretching?

 

Climbing on the wall:

 

 He kept slamming his head into the water with his eyes open, so Miss Allison found him some goggles.  He thought they were hilarious!

 Working on floating on his back:

Swim lessons are complete!

 

Here are a few videos we took during different lessons!

 We will definitely do lessons again, he is not scared of the water at all and that makes us really nervous and proud at the same time!

End of Baseball

We ended our baseball season last Saturday with only losing one game!  The group of boys Kris had this season are made up of many that he had in football and baseball.  It has been fun watching the same group of kids play together across the three sports.  Kris is wonderful with them, encouraging, correcting and affirming them each game and practice.  A dad of one of the players took these pictures of Koen early in the season.  He played great all season, rotating between pitching and first base.  We are proud of his accomplishments, but most of all his attitude and the example he is for others on the team!

Another blessing to our family has been a couple at our church that prays for Kris, the other coaches and the teams over the season.  Here were a couple of emails that Kris received this season.  I am encouraged knowing that complete strangers take time to reach out and lift up my sweet husband, our family, and his team. 

Hi Kris!
I have been praying for you, Alisha, & the kids.

Thank you for ministering to children & sharing the love of God through sports.  You have been given an amazing opportunity to change lives & it is my privilege to pray for you throughout the season.  Let me know how the season is going & any requests that you may have.

Blessings,
Carol

Hi coaches!
We are nearing the end of the spring season & what a season it has been.  I have been blown away by all that God has done through you!
I  imagine that some of you are weary, not just from practices & games, but with everything else that accompanies the end of the school year.  The Enemy would love to discourage you & tempt you to think that you cannot make a difference in the last week.  Don't believe it!  Galatians 6:9 challenges all of us:
"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
Blessings,
Carol

I hope that I can somehow pay this forward and be an encourager to others, I know it has meant so much to us this season!

Ranger's Game

Last Friday night we went to the Ranger's game to celebrate a friend's 30th Birthday.  I was very excited, as I had not been to a game since I was pregnant with John Thomas!  There is something about watching baseball live that makes me feel like a kid again.  I love the excitement of the ballpark, the food, and overall atmosphere.

We headed out early on Friday and picked up Koen from a school trip at Six Flags, I was convinced he would be way too tired to enjoy the game, but I clearly underestimated him! 

We were there super early, so we took some pictures in the car.  I sure do love these two boys!

 Koen thought these huge baseballs were cool.

 He wanted his picture taken with the Nolan Ryan statue, too!

 Since we were there so early, we were able to watch batting practice for a bit.  I sat back and watched with amazement as all these little (and some not so little) guys lined the wall and waited with sheer anticipation that they would walk away with a home run ball.  They couldn't have been happier even knowing that they may walk away empty handed.  I sure do love being a boy mama!

 The view from our seats:

 The great part about going to a game on a Friday night is that the Rangers always have a fireworks show after the game.  The pictures definitely do not do it justice!  It was one of the best fireworks shows I have ever seen! 

Hopefully this won't be the last game we are able to go to this season! I forget how much I enjoy them until I am there again and, as a bonus, coming from a sports fanatic family it is an event we can all enjoy!

Mother's Day 2013

I had a wonderful Mother's Day last weekend spent with little family.  We spent most of the weekend just being together taking care of little projects at home and enjoying uninterrupted time! 

I woke up to the happiest, sweetest smiling face!

Here is the one who made me Mama, and I before church:

After church we went and bought some flowers and tried to have lunch out.  Unfortunately, my littlest date had other plans and we had to get our first unplanned "to-go" meal!  After his nap he "helped" me with some of the plants we bought.  

 Yes, he took them out of the pots and ate the dirt.  Such a boy! After his nap, we had snacks outside and played until almost dark!

 He ate the entire package of blueberries, at one sitting.  This kid can eat!

 Kris, as always, was wonderful and took care of me all weekend.  He couldn't wait until Mother's Day to give me my gift, so I actually got it on Saturday morning!  He got me a new sewing machine!  Way nicer than anything I would have picked out for myself, and I love it!  I would post a picture of it, but that would mean sharing a photo of my sewing room (garage) and I would rather not remind myself what kind of condition that is in :) so here is the manufacturer's photo.  I cannot wait to get time to figure out all of it's functions!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a Mama, and I pray that I can be everything he deserves and needs!  I also pray for anyone who has lost a mother or hopes of one day being a mom, I cannot imagine what a hard time of year this can be for you. 

Thank you to my amazing mom, I am grateful for the wonderful example she has always been and the even better grandmother she is to our kids.  I love you, Mama! Also, for my grandmother, there is not another lady in this world I admire more!  Love you, Mimi!

Texas Bluebonnets

About a month ago my friend Amanda told me about some bluebonnets by her house and graciously offered to take us there and get some pictures of John Thomas.  Not being from Texas, I am fascinated with these beautiful flowers, there are patches of them growing everywhere! 

Easter in Texas

We celebrated Easter in Texas the week after Easter since we were in NC on Easter weekend.  Luckily, I don't think any of our "egg hunters" besides Koen, noticed we were late!  

We enjoyed Ken and Mandy's big backyard, snacks and lots of playing, riding and running.

I might have a slight bias, but I think this grin is beyond words cute!

 

 The new twins were able to celebrate from the comfort of their Rock N Play Sleepers! I made sure to get in some special cuddles from these little guys!

 Hard to believe the twins (set #1) are this big already!  Abe enjoyed his Doritos, thoroughly!

 You can barely see her, but Reagan is pushing Ben, even though he is almost as big as she is!

 There were many, many trips around the backyard (with various drivers) in these cool trucks the twins got for their birthday.  Lots of passengers were hauled from one end of the yard to the other.  With only a few minor bumps, bruises and fallen passengers :)

 This sweet girl just sits back and takes it all in!  Bless her, she is so outnumbered and has lots of boy cousins to keep in line!

 Our future race car driver was serious at his turn behind the wheel!

 A very, very full load!

 Little Miss is always dressed to perfection! I think we all live vicariously through her accessories!  With boys the accessories are limited to hats and dirt!

 There were a few water gun wars.  I think Pappy probably won this one!

 Kennedy caught a ride in John Thomas' lap, with concerned Abraham at the wheel.

 Pulling the grass out of the bucket was much more entertaining to our little than actually putting eggs in.

 Pre hunt photo session with the kiddos. 

 Abraham getting some help from Granna.

 Some of the eggs were dyed and stuffed with confetti and little man decided that was the one to eat.  For the remainder of the day he had hot pink lips!  I could not stop laughing.

 Brothers going through their stash.

Confetti eggs in the curls!

 Pappy and Granna with 6 six of their 9 grandkids!

 Koen decided at some point that it would be fun to spray me with silly string, then outrun me.  I will say he gave me a pretty tough time trying to catch him, but I did manage to get him eventually.

 

 We were all tired from a long day, but my cup is certainly full with these men God blessed me with!