We Did It All For The Cookies!

This shirt is soooo true! The girls respond very will to little bribes here and there....what kids don't?!
Emmy Claire
Ella Cate

Blue jay Rescue

This afternoon we had the kind of afternoon that you blog about, and truthfully we rarely have those! Sadly, tomorrow my students have TAKS Math, and since I need to be a prepared and chipper teacher at 8:05 a.m., I have very little time to blog! So...here is a very short version of our afternoon!
Caden and I arrived home from school late this afternoon. It was around 4:45 because we had our tutoring party after school (tutoring is over...yea!). I fixed a quick dinner that consisted of a smorgasbord of Lunchables and Bocca Burgers...exciting I know! As we were eating I noticed an adolescent Blue jay on our windowsill. I watched him and I could quickly tell that he was just learning to fly. After a few minutes he fell into our Holly bushes (the prickly ones). I of course freaked out, so the kids and I headed outside to see if we could help him out. Really, it was just the boys and I. The girls stayed in the doorway, I think that I scared them with all of the commotion that I was making! We shook the bushes carefully and the little bird made his way out only to fall again. By this time our crazy cat had made her way out and was on the prowl. I shooed her away as a whole flock of Blue jays surrounded us in nearby trees and called for their baby. : ( It was so sad because the adult birds flew back and forth trying to protect the baby, but they wouldn't get close to him. Finally, I decided to take the kids inside so the adult birds could get closer and better guide the baby. We watched a little more and I didn't hear the adult birds calling after awhile, so I figured that the baby was safe. About 30 minutes after we headed inside I took the kids back outside, only to see the little baby hop into the street and get hit by a car. It was tragic Carson and Cade saw the whole thing! The little bird that we thought was safe was laying injured in the street right in front of our house! I freaked out and went to get Sam, who I am so thankful for, because he is always calm in situations like this! He scooped the little guy up in a towel, took him inside, and called the vet. The vet gave us the phone number of a lady that rescues injured wild birds. The bird was stable with an injured foot and wing, so he hung tight in an Adidas box as Sam did bath time and I ran. He made sweet chirps, and Sam and the boys fed him tiny squished pieces of bread. As of right now Sam is on I-20 heading back from "the bird lady's" house in West Fort Worth. What a sweet and caring guy Sam is, I know the Blue jay and his family are thankful!

Spring Musical

Thursday was the annual Spring Musical for the kids' preschool. This year was Carson's 3rd year to participate, and the girls' 1st year. Carson did a great job singing the songs that he had learned. Ella caught a glimpse of Sam on the way into the sanctuary and started crying for "my Daddy". I was so proud of Emmy because she didn't follow in suit with Ella Cate. She stayed in the front and stared at Sam and me the entire time. Ella sat in Mommy's and Daddy's laps enjoying the show, and she then got in line to walk out of the sanctuary with her little class. LilliAnn, Grancie, Uncle Caleb, Grandad, Nana, and of course big-bro Cade came to watch the kids. Above is our latest group picture attempt after the little ones performed!

The girls showing off their newly acquired habit (fingers in mouth). Looks like there are some others in their class with the same habit! ; )

Carson and his friends.

Uncle Caleb and Grancie's photo-op with the gang.

The kids after the musical with Nana and G-Dad.

Ella's first time to REALLY use her potty!

Ella's been "using" her potty for a couple of months now. By that I mean that she sits on it and "pretends" to use the restroom. Emma Claire of course does this as well. However, last Saturday evening (4-19-08) she told me that she needed to go potty, and she actually sat down and tee-teed. After she stood up she pointed to the potty and said "poop". I almost didn't even glance in the potty because that is what they always say when they get off their potty, and usually the potty is empty. This time, to my surprise, there was tee-tee in the potty! I was so excited ooohhhing and ahhhhing that I think that I frightened Ella, she seemed a bit confused! Of course I rewarded her with some M&M's and I put her big girl panties on that Brenda got for her on Valentine's Day. I followed her around and made sure that she didn't get on the carpet, and in no time flat she tee-teed in the kitchen! We haven't had any potty successes since, but we will keep trying! If the girls could be potty-trained by mid-summer I would be thrilled! Can you tell how proud Ms. Ellie is with her potty full of tee-tee?!

Look at Ella Cate's big girl panties!

Emma Claire hasn't had any potty success yet, but she wants you to know she'll be a potty super star soon!

Fort Worth Zoo Run!

Today Chelsi, Carter, Stacey, and I participated in the Fort Worth Zoo Run 5K. We had a great time despite the enormous crowds that showed up at the crack of dawn. There were so many people that participated in the 5K, that it took us 4 minutes to actually cross the starting line! As always Carter was a lot of fun and a great running buddy for me (I had the privilege of pushing his awesome BOB stroller through the course). After the race we stocked up on lots of great freebies at the refreshment tent, and then we walked to the nearby Panera for our caffeine fix. Thanks ladies and gentleman for a really FUN morning! I would LOVE for that to become a yearly tradition for us!
Here is a "before the run" picture of us. We were about to start our aerobic warm up!

Carter and I were waiting for Chels and Stacey to finish. Somehow we missed seeing both of them run through the finish line!

Here are Carter and cousin Stacey

Carter enjoyed his 1st Twinkie from the refreshment tent...he LOVED it and made a big mess!

Mommy finally got our message!

Lately Carson and the girls have been misbehaving in the Gold's Gym playroom. My goal of getting to the gym at least 5 times a week might be just a bit too much for them to stomach. Last week we started a new routine, I have been going to the gym 3 times a week, and then I run outside on the other days. When I run outside I don't go until Sam gets home from work, so this leaves alot of time for the kids and I to play outside in the nice weather that we have been having. The kids have been behaving much better on the days that they do spend time in The Gold's Gym playroom...yea...everyone's happy!!

Group picture from our playtime on Wednesday...silly Cade!

Emma Claire

The girls love having a ponytail..."like Mommy"...they always say.

Cade's "Micheal Jordan like" moves!

Singing Sweeties

Here is the gang, before they sang, posing in front of a cool motorcycle parked in front of the church.

Carson, Ella, and Emma

Carson saw me and gave me a "cheeeese" in the middle of singing. ; )

The girls are standing by Carson's girlfriend, Aslynn.

Ellie and Emmy after the performance. Carson was not interested in posing for pictures, he told me that he was too hungry!

Today 3 of my sweeties performed at one of the church services at the church school that they attend. Carson, Ella, and Emma did great singing a song about all of God's creatures and "Jesus Loves Me". The girls had the movements down pat! Over the last couple of weeks I have been wondering where they came up with such expressive moves for Elephants, Monkeys, and Alligators. The songs were lead by their music teacher Ms. Aimee and their chapel leader Mr. Kyle. Both of these nice people have such a wonderful way of teaching the children. I am sooo thankful for the little ones' school!

A Fun Day at The Dallas Arboretum

Today we visited The Dallas Arboretum. We took advantage of our Spring Holiday (no school-yea) and hung out with Chels, Brenda, and Colt at one of the most beautiful places in Dallas! The weather was a perfect 72 degrees, it wasn't too hot or cold, but just perfect! The kids enjoyed running around and looking at all of the beautiful plants and water displays. I had never been to The Dallas Arboretum before, so I was in awe the entire time! We will definitely be making trips back to The Arboretum. Here are some attempts at pictures of the kids. As usual, I didn't get anything to write home about. The kids were too bust being active to stop for pictures, but I think Chels managed to get some good pictures! Check out her blog to see.All of the kids next to a fountain. It is sooo hard to get them all to look at the camera at the same time!

My gang in front of a little pond where the boys fed giant fish Goldfish brand crackers...the fish LOVED them!

Colt, Cade, and Carson at the beginning of our day (we wound up staying 5 and a half hours).

The kiddos in front of a Bluebonnet display.

Here are the girls at the very end of our adventurous day. As you can see they got a VERY bad sunburn (so did Carson). I am not sure where my brain was when I left the house without putting sunblock on them. The sunblock didn't really seem to phase them, but I felt horrible! Mommy's sorry, and I promise not to let it happen again! : (

Stampede, Schroeder Twins, and Shawna's 30th

We had a fun weekend that started off bright and early on Saturday morning (7:45 a.m.)! The kids and I participated in our school's 3rd annual Colt Stampede.We did the 1 mile run. Cade ran ahead of us and finished in 6th place! Julie and I were the last place finishers with Reese, Quinn, Carson, Ella, and Emma in tow. Carson and Reese ran/walked for the entire mile! We had a great time! Julie and I with our kiddos before the race began (I'm not sure why I'm leaning like that!)

Carson and Reese running to the finish line. Notice there were no other runners in sight...we were last by a long stretch!

All of the kids with their participation ribbons after the race.

On Sunday morning I headed to the hospital to see Carla and Wayne's new baby girls. Camryn Rita and Addison Claire were born Friday 4-4-08. They are beautiful and so very tiny. It is hard to believe that the girls were nearly this small 2 years ago!

Sunday afternoon I met Shawna, Michelle, Chels, and Carter at Macaroni Grill to celebrate Shawna's 30th birthday that is coming up this month. We ate, and headed to the mall for a little shopping...what fun!

Is there really a principal at preschool?!

Well....just ask Carson. At the ripe old age of 3 years and 5 months, he will tell you that, yes, in fact there is a principal at his preschool. He spent the afternoon in the the school director's office (a.k.a. principle of All Saint's Lutheran Preschool). I wish I knew more, but unlike the principal situation that I am used to at an elementary school, he came home without an official "write-up". Now Ms. Peggy the director/principal did talk to Sam when he was picking the kids up and said that Carson and another child were "play fighting" and some minor injuries occurred. Supposedly this behavior had occurred before, and they had been disciplined in the classroom. Neither Sam or I knew that any particular incident had occurred. When I asked Carson why he went to the Principal's office he told me that he accidentally bumped his head...interesting story! I did talk about how we shouldn't play "Power Rangers" with our friends. Anyway I plan to talk to his teacher on Monday.
This is definitely not something I have experienced with Caden! I think pigs would fly before he was in the Principal's office! It's so funny how different kids are! By the time Mr. Car is Cade's age I might very well be a veteran "Principal's office parent"...or who knows maybe not. However he does it I know that Car-Bear is going to give us a run for our money...he just has that wild spirit that I can't help but love.

Jerry Jeff Concert in Austin

This past Saturday, Chels, Brenda, Gary, and I headed to Austin for Jerry Jeff Walker's Annual Birthday Concert. This is my 3rd year to go with the Wimbish fam to the concert, but Brenda and Gary have been going for basically their whole life! ; ) We headed out Saturday morning in hopes of getting some good Austin shopping in before the concert. When we arrived in Austin we dropped Gary off at the UT stadium for what was left of the scrimmage that was going on. Then Bren, Chels, and I headed to Trudy's for some Mexican Martinis and margaritas on the patio-yum! We enjoyed the great food and nice weather by eating outside and people watching. After our dinner and a couple of drinks we went to the co-op and Barton Springs Mall to shop. All of us bought things for our kids and nothing for ourselves...what sweet mommas we are! ; ) Sadly on our walk through the mall I started to feel really sick. By the time we left the mall, picked up Gary, and headed to the hotel to change for the concert I was laying my head in Chelsi's lap because I felt soooo pitiful. At the hotel I laid down for a few minutes, and Brenda gave me some Pepcid, however things only got worse. Jerry Jeff was 3 songs into his great concert, and I had to head to the bathroom to get sick. By intermission I had to get sick again, and there was a line out of the bathroom door. Brenda had to rush me by all of the ladies in line and tell them I was going to get sick so that I could cut in line. I was so embarrassed, but thankful for my sweet friend that helped me when I felt soooo helpless! Needless to say after the concert we headed to the hotel, and I was asleep by 11:00. I even slept with the TV on, which Sam and Chels will admit that I NEVER do...that's how terrible I felt! I was so sad...I had looked forward to hitting 6th Street for weeks! Oh well, maybe next time! Thanks Chels, Bren, and Gary for being so sweet to me! Y'all have taught me everything I know about Austin...what fun memories!
Jerry Jeff put on a great show!

On the porch at Trudy's

With Bevo at The Co-op

Abs of Steel

Last week the boys did Ab's with Denise Austin (from the 10 minute fitness DVDs). They were so hilarious that Sam snapped some pictures. Cade had just taken a shower...hence the undies!