In Search of Spring Break

We told the kids that we didn't have to go to school this week because we were on Spring Break and they kept asking "Where is it?"  "Where's Spring Break?"  So... we spent the week looking for Spring Break.  We looked at the lake, at Grandma & Grandpa's house, at Chuck E Cheese, at the Granbury Square, at the duck pond, and the park...
Oh how we love the park... it's free and the kids would be happy going there every single day. 

Slide, swing, repeat.  That's how we spent most of spring break this year.

Besties

It's happening already.  Tucker will ask Reese to play with him and she'll say, "No, I'm playing with Rylan."  While I hate that Tucker is being left out, I have to admit that I love to see Reese playing with Rylan.  I'm praying that they become not just sisters but lifelong best friends.

My older sister and I are 3 years apart just like Reese and Rylan and I don't remember us ever really fighting.  We shared a room for years, spent summer after summer serving snow cones together, and even shared some friends during the college years.  She made me lick the deodorant once, but other than that, she was a great big sister.  When I was 9 years old, my baby sister was born. She's wearing a diaper in most of my childhood memories.  But as an adult, she's a bestie for sure! 

I'm so blessed to have two incredible sisters... that both live right up the street!  I pray that Reese and Rylan become besties early in life and develop a bond that keeps them close forever!

They're off to a great start...

I totally don't deserve to be so blessed!

I {Heart} Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was coming and since the kids are in school this year, we had to make cards for all their friends. I'm addicted to pinterest, so that's the first place I went for ideas.  Chris reminded me that we could buy ready-made cards at Walmart, but you know me... always making things harder than they have to be.  It was fun though... the kids wanted to help so we made a night of it.

Step 1:  Photo Shoot (some were more cooperative than others)

Step 2:  Photoshop & Picnik Card Design (I copied a tutorial I found on Pinterest and used picnik.com... it was a cinch!)

Step 3:  Assembly

The kids helped me count the kisses, seal the bags and staple their toppers on.  It was a fun project and a huge hit with their classmates (well, at least with their classmates' moms!)

I had to make one for Rylan too... just so she wasn't left out. 

A Valentine kiss just for you!

Love, Reese, Tucker and Rylan

Sweetness

My sweet little Rylan is 8 months old now.  How is that possible??  She still has the sweetest smile and continues to be the easiest of all the Tims' children.  She does have a little temper though... especially if Reese or Tucker takes one of her toys away.  This girl is learning to defend herself already.  You'd never know it by the sweetness in these pictures though...

The latest stats put our girl in the 25th percentile for weight and the 95th for length.  She's been sitting up on her own for months and is now army crawling all over the place.   She'll be chasing her brother and sister around before we know it! 

Beauty & The Beast

Like most little girls, Reese wants to be a princess.  You can imagine her excitement when Grandma invited her to see Beauty & The Beast (in 3D I might add).  I wasn't sure how her first movie theatre experience was going to be so I was relieved when the movie started and we were the only people in the entire theatre. 

She was on the edge of her seat when the previews started and was literally laughing out loud at every little silly thing that happened. 

 Wow... this picture makes me laugh out loud. 

You watch movies through a whole different lens once you have kids.  I didn't remember Beauty and the Beast being so scary.  I was really surprised that Reese didn't get scared.  I guess she was just mesmerized with Belle and her 3D glasses. 

She ate way too much popcorn and candy and had a complete blast at her first movie.

Santa Fe Getaway

Santa (ie, Chris' parents) gave us a huge treat for Christmas this year... an opportunity to get a way without the children.  We both love to ski and since we hadn't been in a couple years, we flew off to Santa Fe for a long weekend of skiing.  The kids stayed behind with Grammy and Grandpa and probably had just as much fun as we did. 

Like most of our adventures, this trip wasn't a boring one.  Halfway through the first morning I got a little too cocky and ended up breaking a rib.  Yes, I hit a tree.  People joke about that when you talk about skiing, but it's actually a really hard thing to do.  The "runs" are pretty much clear of trees... this is where the "little too cocky" comes in.  Note to self... don't get off the beaten path!   This was my first broken bone experience and it was TERRIBLE!  I skied the rest of the weekend though... b/c let's face it, who knows when we'll be able to drop 3 kids and hit the slopes again. 

The next morning, I was h.u.r.t.i.n.g.  Chris brought some hydrocodone with him so I took 2 of those... 2nd mistake of the weekend.  We stopped for breakfast and literally as the "I don't know how people get addicted to these, they don't do anything" words come out of my mouth, it hit me.  I'm pretty sure it's not safe to ski while you're doped up on pain meds. But I did.  My mama didn't raise no baby so I just threw up off the side of the lift and kept skiing.  I do have to note that Chris and I weren't alone on the lift when my breakfast made a reappearance.  Not embarrassing at all.

That's what you call a fun weekend!  Believe it or not, it was a blast.  We skied all day, ate at the resort at night and just enjoyed being together.  Of course, I didn't get hardly any pictures... it's always to cold and awkward trying to get pictures on the slopes.

We've skied lots of different mountains and after 2 trips to Santa Fe, it's quickly becoming one of my favorites.  Next time I'll just be sure to steer clear of the trees. 

Christmas with the Cousins

It was a little bit like a daycare at Christmas this year.  SEVEN kids under the age of 5 makes for completely exhausted grown ups! The kids had a blast playing with their cousins though.
They all piled in the 3 jeeps that Santa brought to Grammy and Grandpa's house.  They drove around for hours and I have to admit that I was totally surprised that there wasn't any fighting. 

Granbury decorates the park with thousands of lights so we let the kids run off some energy

Then we were off to Grapevine to ride the real train down to the Stockyards...

Lots of love, laughs and complete exhaustion.  Trying to get 5 toddlers to sleep in the same room can be quite a challenge.  Bless Grammy for giving up her sleep and staying with all the kiddos!