The Last Airbender...who knew it was so good.

Okay, lately we have all been obsessed with the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. Yes, even Cade and I will turn it on after the kids go to bed. Not knowing that it was a cartoon before it was an M. Night Shyamalan movie, we ran across it by accident a month or so ago on Netflix (if you get Netflix, you can watch all three seasons online for free by the way). Anyway, it's a very well-written interesting story and the characters are very fun!

Some people learn to make cookies, others...

Last week we took the kids to Gold's Gym and there was a clown there making animal balloons for the kids. Whitney Brynne decided right then that she wanted to learn how to do this unique talent. She used her money to purchase a balloon pump and balloons online. Then she rented a how-to book from the library and spent two days popping, twisting, and tucking the colored rubber into all sorts of barnyard fodder. Her pride and joy was the snail (top). Cade and I have told her that someday the kids she babysits will be very happy that she learned how to do this.

Seaworld

A couple weeks ago we were able to meet up with Courtney's sister Whitney and her parents in Austin. We took a couple days and visited San Antonio. Here are some pictures from our trip!

This is the San Antonio Riverwalk and Courtney's mom with Gavin. It was so beautiful!

Ah, ...the Alamo.

My kids can never visit San Antonio without going to the Rainforest Cafe. With thunder showers every few minutes, animated animals, and gigantic fish tank walls--anyone wonder why?

Whit and Gavin really bonded this trip. We had 5 adults and 5 kids, so Gavin was her kid for the weekend!

We rode the riverboats at night. It was beautiful, but the kids didn't have much time to notice. They were all so exhausted that Taylor, Dawson, and Gavin all were asleep in a couple minutes. It worked so well that we're thinking of buying a riverboat and strip of river just for this purpose...

A beautiful picture of my sis!

Part of the fun reparte that Gavin and Whit kept up for the trip.

It was Dawson's first time in a warm pool. He splashed himself into a standstill--and Courtney to a standstill too.

Strollers this trip were for the tired and grouchy--regardless of age.
Dolphins!

Dawson reached the end of his rope toward the end of the third day. Unfortunately the flying acrobats weren't even enough to distract him from the fact that he was sleep deprived, hungry, and more or less inconsolable. Whitney did Courtney the favor of holding him for awhile while he pondered on his life thus far.
Shamu. We purposely sat in a splash zone, but Shamu didn't even come close to getting us wet. Oh well.


Broc and Brynne's first roller coaster ride. I think they're hooked. Brynne kept begging for more thrilling adventures "that was fun, but not really enough" was a constant phrase. Finally the last one that we took them on was high enough (and one part sent you down backwards) that even our little dare devil turned to me and said "mom, I think I'm going to throw up." She didn't and when it was over she denied saying any such thing. No evidence--no crime.

Good end to a good day.

What a fun trip! Thanks for coming.

Happy Mother's Day!

We want to say Happy Mother's Day to our two Mothers! You are both such wonderful examples of faith and kindness. We love you!

The armor of God

What parent hasn't had an "armor of God" FHE? Okay, so we didn't really think of it either until last week actually. For those of you who haven't yet--it's an easy quick lesson and lots of fun for the kids.

Forts: The next best thing to getting your own place.

Our kids love forts. What kid doesn't? My mom was always such a good sport. I remember she let us leave our forts up for days sometimes. We slept, ate, and otherwise lived in little shanties tacked together with pillowcases and blankets-- tucked into drawers and weighted down by anything else we could find. It wasn't our dream home, but for a kid, it was the next best thing to living on your own. Unfortunately one or two days is all Courtney's patience can hold out for these little architectural marvels. But the kids enjoy them while they last.

Sweet Potato testimonial

Had to snap a picture of one of the boxes of sweet potatoes here in Texas. Leave it to our Texans to stamp some form of gospel proselytization even on boxes of food. I thought the correlation of sweet potatoes to Jesus was pushing it just a little, but it's just so TEXAN.