Happy 6th Birthday, Rachael!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet Rachael!  We love you so much, you've brought such joy to our family with your kind and sweet spirit! 

The request was made for a ballet cake, which seem to be the impossible being that there were no ballet toppers, figures, or even candy molds to make this cake.  So the best I could do was make a pretty purple rose cake with tulle arround it.  Rachael was very pleased with the results...phew! 
Rachael's big gift request was that she wanted to get her ears pierced.  So that is what we did.  She did great, such a brave girl despite the worried faces on her siblings.  She didn't show any signs that it hurt, and she is soooo proud of them!

Because it was to be 103 degrees outside, we backed out of the zoo and went to Amazing Jakes instead.  They all had a good time and became obssessed with tickets.  They collected 1375 tickets in all from the various games they played hoping to trade them in for a big prize.

Happy 4th of July America!

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans and a big Thank you to all the soldiers who have given their lives for our proctection and freedoms.  As I teach my kids American History, I'm always so amazed in the morality, virtue, and wisdom that God has bestowed upon our founding fathers.  To create a country, a set of laws that protect our freedoms that God has given us...it amazes me.  I'm saddened when I look at the country today and in the future will have to teach my kids all the "new mandates" that are now in place in government.  Who knows what else will be taken from our constitution by the time I'll need to teach Government.  God be with us and our politicians.

On the 3rd  we found out last minute that there will be fireworks in Sachse as well as bounce houses, games, and a live band.  We really loved it!  It was a great crowd, lots of fun contest, free cotton candy, firemen in kilts, I mean what could be better than that?  Of course, a great firework show at dusk.  The kids did really well,  a few plugged ears during the firework, but otherwise had a blast.  On the 4th Matt and I looked at more lots for sale and then picked up the kids and headed for Grandma and Grampa's for dinner.  It was a nice relaxing day.

kids really wanted this one posted: jillian's face dive

June Vacation 2012 Album

Scrapbook created with Smilebox

Summer Vacation 2012

The first week of June we went to San Antonio for our vacation this year.  We went to Sea World our first day and it was HOT topping out somewhere around 106 degrees that afternoon.  The kids were miserable, which means we were miserable so despite the great shows and cool rides, we did not come back the next day.  Instead we went to visit the missions starting with San Jose.  The kids watched a documentary about the mission and explored the old buildings.  They received a junior rangers badge for answering correctly the work page that was handed out.  Ava and Matthew enjoyed competing with one another searching for answers among the mission grounds.  They still hold Mass there everyday and Sundays.  We were not dressed for it, but maybe next time we'll catch one.  Jake now knows what a cactus feels like when he decided to check one out himself.  I had to pick all the spines out of his hand.  Didn't get a picture....Jake too upset.  We then finished the missions with our famous Alamo.  It has changed a lot since I've been there.   Although the outside remained the same, the inside was a very brief museum and a huge gift shop.   I recommend taking a picture of the outside and move on to other fun things.  Which is what we did.  We had a nice lunch on the riverwalk.  Yummy mexican food and ducks to share it with (or so the kids thought.)  Next, we were on our way to a cavern and panning for gems.  The cavern was really pretty the kids did well through the tour, but I think their favorite thing to do was panning out the gems and arrowheads.  After this we headed home.  Since we came home early from our vacation we decided to take them to Hawaiian Falls water park for some fun at home. 

Summer fun

Our Summer kicked off with a great start: swim lessons, baseball tournaments, and getting ready for an upcoming vacation. Rachael continued swim lessons, while it was Jake and Jillian's first time. They were a little hesitant, but by the end of the lessons they were more comfortable. We have another session later in the summer to review and continue learning. Matthew's baseball seasoning was extended a little longer due to rainouts, so we are heading into June and just starting tournaments. Ava's horseback riding lessons are complete, she's very sad and can't wait until fall. Most of her summer reading, you guess it, horse books that she selected from the library. Thank goodness they have so many. Rachael and Jillian are looking forward to ballet in July.  Ava, Matthew, and Rachael will be doing an art class in Aug. as well as an archery class once a week.  Can't wait for all the fun to begin!