Where have we been?

Where have we been? ALL OVER THE PLACE!! Life is busy and it doesn't slow down. We are exhausted but we are loving life and enjoying every moment. I have not blogged in so long that it overwhelms me to break the last 6 weeks down into events. So, I will give our latest top events...

Cat came to visit for Grandma's birthday and the boys' 5th birthday party! Chris really wanted a slip n slide, so Catherine delivered. We had a blast! The kids literally slipped and slid until they couldn't do it any longer. To date, this afternoon (into the night) is one of my favorite memories of watching the kids. We didn't have bathing suits so they went slip n sliding in their birthday suits. They laughed until they couldn't laugh anymore. And, Miss Harper tried desperately to keep up with the big kids and did a damn good job. D, Cat and I couldn't handle being on the sidelines, so after just a few trips, we joined.

D and Charlie hanging out by the pool while we grill Grandma's birthday dinner...

The boys love Cat!

Grandma and her girls celebrating her birthday

This is a random afternoon at the park. The Nixes came in town for a visit and we were being silly!

Upside down Claire

 

Swinging Harper

Celebrating Mimi's Birthday

D and I meeting Lucille Banzhaf

Lucy Armbrister's Birthday Party

The girls have made some wonderful friends at their new school. Claire fast and furiously fell in love with Ellie. This picture is of the the two friends cheering at a birthday party for a boy named Parker. The birthday party was led by a coach on a Sport Court and the kids were supposed to be doing races and such, but Ellie and Claire decided they would cheer for everybody. It was priceless.

 

 

 

Claire riding a pony at Wyatt's birthday party at the Austin Rodeo

Harper has been fearless since birth. She loves life and she loves to try new things. This was Harper's first pony ride and she squealed with delight.

Then, Claire shocked us because she demanded to ride the roller coaster by herself?! She rode 3-4 times, threw her hands up in the air and had a blast. I was so proud of her, but I was also in shock at how brave our sweet little Claire bear can be. I love this picture because Claire looks so serious. She has her "game face on."

Lastly, Claire is obsessed with Rapunzel. We took her to Tangled- the regular movie. She went to 3-D on a special date with her Daddy. This picture is of her date with Daddy fully decked out in her Rapunzel dress and the Tangled 3-D glasses. We now own the movie, as well.

One Sunday afternoon, Daren and I decided to take the girls to the Austin Zoo. Poor Harper gets manhandled by her big sister who insists upon pushing Harper in her stroller. The trip to the zoo was fun, but I am sure that Harper ended up with whiplash. :-)

Kick ASSphalt! Live Strong, LaLa!

Our sweet LaLa did an incredible thing this past weekend. She ran her first Half Marathon. LaLa has been training so hard and working toward this for a really long time. She even ran the hills of Vermont on our family vacation. She has endured pain, emotional highs and lows, hours of sweat and now PRIDE. We couldn't be prouder of LaLa. You know Daren is a really proud brother to wake up at 5 in the morning to be at the starting line. We got to see Lashelle run from the starting line down the first big stretch. We all high fived and shed some tears. Then, we caught up with her again at around mile 9. We won't mention that we had just stopped for a bite to eat. Pops then dropped the girls off to meet us and form Team LaLa. We got to see Lashelle run the home stretch with our family so proud of Lashelle. It was amazing! It was inspiring! She became one of my personal heroes that day. I always knew her strength and power, but she showed her courage and will power too. I will never forget that day. I will never forget how proud we are of Lashelle. We love you, Lashelle, and we are so proud of you! As we were snuggling last night with Claire, she said to me "Mommy, can I run one of those races with LaLa and Mommy someday...later?" You made quite an impression on my sweet little girl, Lashelle. And who knows, maybe someday, we can all run one together?!

This is Lashelle right at the start making the first long run

This is Lashelle at mile 9 (Does anyone notice that she is still smiling?)

This is the home stretch!! We were all crying so much and Lashelle was grinning from ear to ear. It was magical!

This is minutes after Lashelle broke her personal goal of running under 3 hours!!!

Team LaLa

A Princess Tea Party

Claire's friend from school had a princess tea party! Snow White came. She sang with the girls. She danced. She taught them how to do the princess clap. She painted their faces. She was fabulous fun! Claire had so much fun!! The girls came dressed in their princess dresses. After Snow White left the party, they sat down for lunch and tea. :-) Claire was in heaven!

Snow day

It snowed in Austin. We had no school. No work. We played all day. Claire loved the snow. She couldn't get enough. She built a snowman. She threw snowballs. She trounced around listening to her boots crunch. Harper was fine as long as one of us was holding her, but as soon as she was on her own...NOT HAPPY! I think Harper takes after her Mommy and she doesn't like the cold. As a family, we had fun being silly and playing together all day.

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First and foremost, I must mention that my nephew Charlie has scored 4 or 5 goals in two games. I have lost track. He is competitive, intent and athletic. I have been so impressed with him. I love watching Pops watch Charlie play soccer. He gets so excited and I can see that competitive fire in his eyes that he used to get watching us play sports. One of my favorite moments is when Charlie and Aidan ran together to score a goal. Aidan actually scored the goal this particular time, but it was hard to tell who scored it. Pops yells "WAY TO GO, CHARLIE!!" to which Charlie replied "Pops, I didn't do it!" Pops laughed that wonderful belly laugh that I love so much. We had been cheering for Charlie so much because he had scored at least twice at this point that it was like he was tired of hearing it. Hysterical! All the parents on the sideline laughed. Claire is doing very well when she plays. She is not overly interested but we are trying not to push it. When it is her turn on the field, she is athletic and fast!!! One moment that tickled me so much was when she'd just had this awesome sprint after the ball. I could see her fire and her speed. She kicked the ball out of bounds, decided she was finished and just plopped down on the field and picked the grass. Claire hasn't scored a goal yet, but I feel it coming.
Chris did great during drills and he is enjoying it more as he is out on the field more. True to Chris's nature, he is more cautious and he is a perfectionist. He is naturally really good at soccer. He kicks really well and he is fast, but he likes to do it on his terms in his way, so if anyone gets in the way of that, he gets frustrated. One of my favorite moments with Chris is when he kicked a goal during drills and a parent yelled "Yay Chris!" Chris stops, looks and yells "Hey, how did you know my name?" Good question, Chris. Priceless.

A whirlwind of birthday parties

Life is busy and so much fun! January has been a month of celebrating our friends' birthdays. Whew! We had a blast. The new year and the whirlwind of birthday parties began with a bang at Alex's 4th birthday. JW Tumbles came to her house and did all sorts of fun relays, had a zip line and more.

Tug o' war

Claire on the zip line

We celebrated Olivia and Leah's 4th birthday at Extreme Fun. They giggled in the foam pit until we had to pull them out. 

 

Claire in the foam pit

After Extreme Fun, we went straight to Pump It Up. Harper and Claire both had a blast at Tyler's 4th birthday. Claire got to Pump It Up and she tore it up. The kiddo has no fear. Harper had every bit as much fun, but she still needs Mommy and Daddy's help. She laughed for two hours straight! It was big fun!

D and Harper

Mommy and Harper

Daddy and Harper driving

We headed to the Austin Children's Museum to celebrate Ethan's 3rd birthday. Both girls had a blast and we loved seeing our close friends.

Harper and the slide

Ethan and Claire

Charlie at Caroline's birthday party

Chris and Harper