The Children's Museum

This is a shot of us waiting in line to get into the museum. Fortunately, there was plenty of shade on this 100 degree day. The line moved fairly quick.
Lily (Carlee's best friend) hiding under the legs on the statue, while waiting in line.

Zachary loved this area with all the ramps and balls.

We might need to get this boy some Tinker toys. He loved playing with them as you can see. On a side note: Zachary has been playing with his toys at home more and more. He has never had much interest until he turned two and now he lines all his trucks up and builds towers with his blocks. It's amazing he can play by himself now and be content. This is a huge praise!

Carlee being her goofy little self in front of the crayola wall.

On Friday we left the Woodlands bubble and headed out to the Children's Museum past downtown. I only say "the bubble" because the Woodlands really has plenty to do. We rarely leave our comfort zone. The Woodlands has it's own children's museum, but nothing beats the one in Hermann. Despite the crowds of kids and the hot temp. we had a great time. I'm so glad we did not venture out on our own. The Sharp's were with us, as well as, a new lady (Tania) from our bible study and her daughter (Ava). We only had to pay for one ticket and parking. Thank you Sharp family for the coupon. The kids played and played and touched everything. It seemed like I spent most of the day looking for or trying to keep up with my kids. Thankfully we got out of there together and arrived home safely. It's these kind of adventures that make me realize that we need to get out more and enjoy the world around us. I'm so thankful we have opportunities to go to places like this. I know Carlee and Zachary could have stayed there all day!

Dance Production "Deliver Us"

Last night, Carlee had her first big production. For the past 10 months, Carlee has been dancing at Excelsior School of Dance. She has loved every bit of it and has always looked forward to Fridays ever since her first class. She has learned how to skip, dance gracefully and listen to a teacher (this is the only preschool she gets). However she still has her moments when she wants to jump and be over active (all due to the excitement of being there). Here is a run down of the evening. First we got her leotard on and did hair and make-up at home.
We took over 40 pictures for this event and in almost half of them Carlee was sticking out her tongue. She is a pill!

We use lots of hairspray and gel to get her fine little whispies out of her face.

Foundation, powder, blush, eye liner, lip liner and lipstick makes being a dancer even more enjoyable to Carlee.

Backstage putting on the finishing touches. Carlee wanted to help with her fancy leg frillies.

All set, full of energy, and now she gets to wait for everything to start. Carlee was a bundle of energy backstage and ran around a lot. She said she had butterflies in her tummy. Carlee was one of the many little lambs that would be dancing to "Great Is The Lord."

One thing Carlee told me before going on stage, was that she was going to do her silly dance like she did in dress rehearsal. I told her she needed to listen to her teacher and follow her. Carlee danced beautifully and did great the whole time, but right at the end (when all the little ballerina's were exiting the stage) she went to the corner of the stage and did her fishy swim dance and twirled and made the whole audience laugh hysterically. Greg and I were beside ourselves and so was the rest of our family. Who would have thought my daughter would be the one to steal the show. She is so funny and I love that she does not mind being ridiculous to make people laugh (just like her mommy). Here's an example of what she did: (we weren't aloud to take pictures during the actual performance, so here is her interpretation)

Carlee loved getting baby roses from us. This was her first arrangement. (I've learned this is pretty much required after ballet shows- Good thing we only have one a year.)

After the production, grandparents came to the house to celebrate and to watch the dress rehearsal video we took the other day and enjoy some homemade cookies. Here's Carlee with my mom and dad (her Nana and Grandpa).

Carlee with Greg's parent's (Grammy and Pawpaw)

It was a lovely evening. The one thing I LOVE about Carlee's dance studio is that they do it all for the glory of God. Her teachers are hands on and so precious. They end every class with prayer and focus on God shining through them as they practice. The production was not only filled with good dancers, but with an insightful message that portrayed Christ. Carlee shined Jesus through her smile, dance and funny personality. Great job sweet girl- mommy and daddy are so proud of you!

Final Dress Rehersal

This past week Carlee had her last dress rehearsal to get ready for the big production. She was so ecstatic! She got all dressed and ready in backstage rooms and then waited in the auditorium for her class to preform.

She was being filmed by her daddy here and being a goof ball (seen by her funny face). Carlee is not camera shy at all.

She did a great job doing her ballet runs, pony trots, twirls and step touches. She got very tired during the practice and ended up running around the last half. She did a very silly dance at the end and made everyone laugh. I told her that she did great even the silly dance was pretty cute! They practiced the finale and did their curtsies and bows. Carlee really wanted to get off stage after that, but stayed somewhat patient while waiting. I wish I had more pictures of her dancing, but the lighting was not that great which made for some not so good pictures.

More pictures and stories to come about the big show!

Date With Daddy

Greg took Carlee out on their first date last night. Carlee got all dress-up and "fancy."
They went to Chick-fil-a because they were having a father/daughter night. They had a three coarse meal and it was all FREE.

They had a fruit salad, chicken nuggets and fries and milkshakes. Sears portrait studio was there taking pictures. They will give us a FREE picture!

Then we all met at the pavilion for a FREE concert by the Houston Symphony.

Carlee enjoyed herself, as seen in the pictures. She loved being out with her daddy and receiving all his attention.

Carlee met a few friends on the lawn and ran around the whole evening. Zachary and I enjoyed the evening too. We ate Chick-fil-a at the Methodist Church and played on their indoor playground. When we got to the concert, Zachary insisted on walking the whole way from the parking lot to the pavilion. It was a long slow walk, but a memory I will remember. He stopped and looked at everything and little did I realize that the back entrance was open (the entrance we were closest too). Oh well! Gotta laugh! I hope these traditions continue.

June 2nd (Zachary's Birthday)

On Zachary's birthday (yesterday) daddy took the day off work and stayed home to celebrate some more. Mommy didn't feel very good, so daddy took the kids to the park and then outside in the new swimming pool Zachary got from Miemaw and Pawpaw Herdejurgen for his birthday. They loved the pool even though the water was a little cold.
Zachary's first try down the slide. Carlee helping give him a little push. He loved it and came down with a smile.

Carlee loved the slide too as you can see. They played for an hour or so and had a blast!

Carlee doing her motions and singing "Father Abraham." Zachary speechless behind her. I wonder what this boy thinks of his sister sometimes. He seems a bit memorized in this picture.

Zachary enjoying birthday celebration #2. We ate lunch outside on the picnic table and then cupcakes, of course. I love the fingers sticking out in this picture. Zachary likes to get dirty, but is always pleased to get the yucky mess off when it's over.

Zachary you are a wonderful son! Life with you has been an adventure. Loving you has been easy, but training you has been challenging. You are always busy. The only time you sit still is when you are sick. You are our loudest child. You love being outside. I'm pretty sure you would spend all day outdoors if I let you. You are funny and laugh constantly. You even know how to make jokes. You amaze me! You love being around people and hate to be left alone. Isolation works well when disciplining you. You are pretty stubborn right now. I'm hoping this is just a 2 year old phase. Your emotions are coming out more and more these days. I know it must be tough being two and not having the vocabulary to tell us what is on your mind. You are such a special little boy. You use your manners very well and are one of the friendliest little boys. You think life is a game; therefore, you are always having fun. You don't care about winning or losing because to you everyone is a winner. You are full of hugs, smiles, kisses, nestling, and zerburts and will give them freely to anyone who asks. Your my sweet boy and always will be. I love you Zachary! May God bless you and help you grow into a mighty warrior for Him, passionate about Him and always willing to worship Him through everything you do. May He guide you and protect you all the days of your life!

Zachary's Party

Zachary was content with his two foam airplanes and could have bypassed the rest of the presents.
Zachary loved celebrating his birthday with our family. We ate hamburgers and cupcakes and opened presents and had lots of fun. Zachary's favorite was eating his cupcake. He did really well for a 2 year old... barely made any mess.
Carlee entertaining everyone with the songs and motions she knows from watching mommy lead kids worship on Sunday mornings at our church. The big 2 year old!

Carlee brought out two chairs from her room for them to sit on while they opened presents. They played choo-choo train first. Carlee helped Zachary open his presents and Zachary could have cared less. She expressed how much she loved everything and made Zachary even more excited for the presents he received. He loved his Geo Trac train and has played with everyday since his party. Zachary's fun gift from us... some replacement golf clubs. The ones he had before had broken. Zachary is a pro at golf and loves to swing the club and hit the ball. He makes good contact often. Daddy is ready to sign him up for the tour.

This is the year we give our kids bedding for their big beds. So we gave Zachary his big boy comforter, sheets and pillow shams. He'll be moving into his big boy bed soon. You can pray for us. haha...

Thank you for coming to Zachary's party Grammy, Pawpaw, Nana, Grandpa, Uncle P, Uncle John, Aunt Rachel, Great Miemaw and Great Pawpaw Herdejurgen. We loved celebrating with you! It's always so good to be together!

Mulch Project

Zachary didn't feel good so he watched from the car as daddy and Carlee got to work.
Carlee is always ready to help with shovel in hand.

"King of the mountain" she says.

It's become a yearly tradition... we ordered 6 yards of mulch this year to cover our backyard. Since we do not have grass in our backyard we decided last year to buy mulch (kitty cushion) so our kids can have fun playing outside without getting hurt too bad. It's been a great investment. Greg did as he did last year and started on the pile as soon as he got home from work and did not stop until the job was done. It took him 4 hours or so to finish the job. His hard labor is much appreciated! Now we have a beautiful flat area for the kids to run and play on again.