where are we going? to the ZOON!...

this week is ava's spring break.  aunt sarah is off too, and she invited ava and i, along with sissy, bella and meme, to join her and preston at the zoo! [or the "zoon" as preston calls it :) ] i admit i wasn't pumped about the trip [not a fan of walking and a bunch of people] but it was gorgeous outside, and we all ended up having a really great time!  we went around lunch/nap time, and luckily sarah had a secret weapon wither her to cheer up all the kiddos :)  here are a few [or a lot] of photos from the day!

preston really wanted to ride the carousel until it started moving.  haha!  ava mentioned that she wanted to ride it 38947234 in the first five minutes we were there.  don't worry --- sissy made sure she and bella got to ride --- as i mentioned, preston was no longer interested :)

kitty-cats [aka lemurs]

the "secret weapon"

our budding first grader...

i cannot believe that we are already looking at the end of first grade!  where did this year go?  thursday night we went to Ava's "student-led" parent conference & open house at school.  she was so excited to take us around her class room and show us all of her work.  they had a little checklist that she had to go through with us.  it was pretty cute. 

she read us her "I can change the world" paper, and it was pretty precious.  as of thursday, she wants to be a teacher. 

she had been busy with clay, and i have the mini tea-cup and heart paper weight to prove it.

she also had an awesome portfolio of drawings she has done since the beginning of the year.  she drew a pretty awesome fish, and this portrait below:

can you guess who it is?  here's a little hint: he's one of the president's of the united states :)

we had a great time, and we are so proud of our little big first grader!

pocket full of sunshine...

i find it ironic that i'm posting about a gorgeous sunday morning we just spent at the park when it is gloomy and 45 degrees out today.  i guess that's texas for you!  last sunday, sarah and i took the kiddos to the park for some morning fun.  ava made a friend, and preston spent time bossing his momma and fighting over his water bottle with ava :)  oh, and he was also climbing the ladder and sliding down the yellow slide like a pro.  i may have been bossed a time or two, but i didn't mind :)  it was a great morning!



the lorax...

ava has been talking about going to see the loraz for the past month now [ever since she saw the first preview].  last thursday night [march 1] she came running out of our bedroom to remind me that "the lorax comes out tomorrow.  can we go?"  i reminded her that it would be a school night, and that i'd she'd probably be too tired to go on a friday night. she sighed and said okay. 

the next morning we dropped her off to school, and i got to thinking "why not?"  if she falls asleep? so be it.  so justing and i decided that we would suprise her and take her to dinner and a movie.  i left work early so that we good eat before the 6:45 showtime.  Ava didsn't suspect anything through dinner.  we paid the bill, and then ava started heading to our car.  i told her we were going to walk off our dinner, and she just looked at me like i was crazy [some days, i don't blame her :) ].  Anway, she quickly caught on and said "oh i know what we're doing, we going to the movie theatre!" but i was one step ahead and said, "yeah, but just to walk around the theatre, not to see a movie." she looked at me like i was crazy so i said "yeah, the movie theatre will let you walk around inside if it is cold outside, and they give you a special pass."  she still didn't believe me so i pulled the final trick as we walked inside and said "did you see us buying any tickets?" she quickly realized we didnt' buy any tickets, so i must being telling the truth.  it wasn't until the boy at guest services said, "enjoy the lorax" that she new i was fibbing :) [side note: i had ordered our tickets in adavaince because i was afraid the showtime we wanted would sell out if we didn't, so we had to pick them up inside instead of at the ticket windows outside the theatre.]  it was fun to see the surpise and excitement on her face!

the movie was cute and she managed to stay awake for the whole thing.  nothing better than a date night with our girl!

welcome to this [crazy] family...

*photo courtesy of The Dreaming Tree Photography Studio and Art Boutique



My sister, Stacy, and her husband, Devin, welcomed this precious baby boy, the 9th grandchild, and my 7th nephew, into the world last Thursday.  So sweet. Welcome to our crazy family, little man :)