Spring Break - Part 2

Yes, I'm aware this post is over a week late, but here is part 2 of Spring Break...

Wednesday:  Sam's first trip to the dentist

Like a champ, Sam rocked his first trip to the dentist.  Everyone was so nice!  Since it was a children's dentistry practice, they were experts in how to make kids comfortable.  They had TVs on the ceiling, stickers, prizes, fun toothbrushes, the works.  It certainly helped that his hygienist could also make balloon animals and he got a fish in his goodie bag.  Sam was so brave!  He let the hygienist brush his teeth with special toothpaste and the dentist gave him a thumbs up on his teeth.  We will see them again with a smile in six months.

And, how does one celebrate a good report from the dentist?  With ice cream, of course!  We met these two Asian cuties at Baskin Robbins for a little snack date.  Big B and little b are as cute as ever!  It was great to see them, and we wish we could play with them more often!

Sam REALLY enjoyed his strawberry frozen yogurt!

Our 3rd Anniversary

Today was also our 3rd anniversary.  The traditional third anniversary gift is leather, known for its flexibility and durability against the elements.  Much like a good marriage, it holds up to the bumps and bruises of life and still maintains it's strength.  The modern third anniversary gift is crystal, beautiful yet functional in a multitude of settings.  My gift from Michael was this beautiful crystal flower vase with "B" etching.  A perfect gift, something I wouldn't buy for myself, but will treasure for years to come.  I didn't know it, but it seems I actually bought Michael a new set of pocket knives for our anniversary too... I guess this is kinda like the steam mop "he" bought me for Mother's Day.

 I took the more traditional approach and had these custom leather luggage tags engraved with our names and a quote from The Hunger Games (our anniversary movie date).  Now, whenever we see our luggage tags, we will be reminded of how we celebrated our third anniversary.

Friday:  Our 3rd anniversary date - The Hunger Games premiere

I have been reading this novel to my students for three years now, over 400 students have experienced this book with me.  I purchased the audio book for Michael to listen to in the car on one of his long trips back and forth to Texas a few years ago, and he listened to the whole book before he made it to Fort Worth.  We have both been hooked on this book and anxiously awaiting the movie for a long time now.  And, on the weekend of our third anniversary, we attended the premiere together.  We both loved the movie...and the sushi dinner that followed closely afterward!

The rest of Spring Break was spent cleaning, catching up on laundry and attending church and spending time with my sweet family who I am blessed to have walk along side me in this life.  I am surely blessed!

Spring Break - Part 1

I won't deny it, one of the big perks of being a teacher is Spring Break, and every year, it comes just in time.  Just when I think I can't go back another day, sweet freedom for an entire week.  So, what are we up to this Spring Break 2012?  Well...

Weekend trip to Nani's

As soon as school was out on Friday, we packed up to head to Nani's for the weekend in Burtram/Mersing combined excursion style!  By the time we got to Nani's house, Amanda and I both were thanking Nani for all her trips TO our house.  Traveling with little ones is beyond hard!  Someone was either, biting, kicking, crying, whining, shushing (my son, Amanda says he gets it from his mom), or snoring loudly the entire drive.  But I guess the important thing is that we arrived safely.

Saturday: Picnic and play date with Kendall and Harper.  

It was nice to get to see our friends outside of a birthday party setting and just hang out and play.  I think the kiddos had a great time playing together at the park.  They seemed to really love sliding this time. 

Sam is really into "driving" right now, and this toy looked just like Pawpaw's Gator.  Perfect.

Harper brought her ball to play with, and as you can see Sam wasn't a very good sharer.  

We're working on it.  This "lonely only" (most of the time) can have trouble with sharing...

 Harper was sooo sweet, and growing into such a pretty girl.  

 Something tells me these two are going to be great friends...;)

Thanks for playing with us!  We had a  great time!

Second park trip of the day

My boy will stay outside from daylight to dark if you will let him.  Later in the afternoon, we loaded all the boys up for a trip to the Leeds park right by Nani's house.  You would think two trips to the park in one day equals a tired boy and an early bedtime...not at Nani's house.

 We got to meet Bentley for the first time, and he was really patient with three little boys in the house.  Sam wanted to put some more food in his bowl, and yes, that's Cameron pulling his tail.  God bless any animal that finds himself roomates with three boys under 6.  

Monday:  Trip to the Zoo

Spring Break is all the more fun when you have friends to share it with!  Suszane and Kelton have season passes to the zoo and invited us to joined them for a day of fun as their guests!  Sam's favorite pastime right now is bird watching.  So, I thought it was perfect that the first animals we saw were these...they would squawk, and Sam would answer them back with his version.  Pretty cute.

They had a new "Dino Trek" exhibit that Kelton was really excited about!  We went on a special trail with life-like, moving dinosaurs that made sounds and even their eyeballs moved as we passed.  The boys were really into it as we began down the trail...

 ...but it was all down hill when the dilophosaurus actually spit (water) at us.  

Both boys were unimpressed and wanted out of there!

Triceratops was nice, and they were okay with him.

 We got to see these little baby dinos hatching right out of their eggs.

And, what's a dino exhibit without a SHARP TOOTH!?!

Sam wasn't too sure about all those teeth.

Our favorite thing, by far, was the bird sanctuary.  

These birds would come and land right on our arms and hands 

and drink nectar from these little cups.  

My little bird-watcher was in bird heaven!

 This bird even smiled for a picture with Kelton!

 I'm not sure who that fence is containing?  

Sam, or the elephants?

The giraffes and their new baby

Another favorite:  the meerkats

This was the only decent picture I got from the amphibians and water creatures section.  

Sadly, no pics of all the snakes, and spiders and scaly things, but the boys loved them.

Thank you Freeze family for a wonderful day at the zoo!

Today: Craft Day

I whipped up this yarn ball wreath today while catching up on some laundry.  Okay, I won't lie.  Some of it was already done because I tried to make this wreath last year, and then realized how time consuming it was, so I quit and shoved it all under the guest bedroom bed.  But today, it became a handmade Easter decoration to enjoy for years to come.  Thanks Trisha for the tutorial!

And, of course I wrote this seriously long blog post.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Spring Break 2012...

SRO Rodeo

Tonight was a special night.  The Rutherford County SROs (school resource officers) put together a rodeo every year to raise money for the special needs kids in our county, and it was our first time to attend.  We had been talking it up all week, so all the boys were beside themselves with excitment by the time Saturday night rolled around.  The three cowboys and I sang songs all the way there!  This will be the only time they can say, "This IS our first RODEO!"

My cowboys getting ready to go...

(Sam probably looks more like a farmer than a cowboy, 

but where else was he gonna wear those overalls I bought?)

 Cowboy Cameron

Sam is sworn-in as sheriff in these parts.

Waiting for the show to start...

Sam spotted some "little bulls" 

Cameron wanted to ride one of these "little bulls" because, according to him, 

the big ones were mean and might step on him. Smart cowboy.

Our friend Jack won the "Cutest Cowboy" contest!  

He was one good-lookin cowboy!  Go Jack!

The show's gettin' started...

 All the riders took a run around the ring.

My pictures aren't that great, but our seats were!  We were right by the shoots and 

could see all the horses and bulls getting ready to go out into the ring.

Mesmorized. Both of them.

They looked like this all night.  Seriously.

 Two of our three cowboys hung in there the WHOLE time.

One couldn't make it.  Care to guess which one?