Bren's Fish tank

Brenley had money burning a hole in her pocket from some items she sold at Uncle Kyle's garage sale and some books sold at BookAHolic.

So with two 19 cent fish and $80 to spend......and that cash is now all gone.....the lesson is.....fish are cheap. The supplies are not. Now let's see how long we can keep them alive!!!!

But she has made a lovely home for them in her bedroom and seems to be pretty content with her new pets. Names TBD. 

Brenley Baking

We walked upstairs yesterday to find this.

From preparing the Easy Bake Oven soft pretzel mix, to cooking it, to this precious note.... She did everything herself.

Sweet baby. Love her mind and her heart. 

Brenley & Beau musings

Our Bren.....her recent obsessions include Shopkins and more artwork.

Shopkins are these little collectable "things" and each season has a theme.  Every little Shopkin has a name, and she knows ALL of them.  She watches youtube video after youtube video on them and can go into quite detail about them. I encourage you NOT to buy her any as she probably already has them and gets very disgusted with you if you buy her repeats (insert actual experience on that topic here).

Between her Art Gallery Wall and Shopkins.........and just her normal make believe mind.....here are some of Brenley's projects in pictures.

Labeled Shopkins

another angle. this took some time....

Shopkins display city

welcome to her diner

Art wall in her room.

Her and I went out on a "date" yesterday. We painted ceramics and enjoyed a treat at Panera.  She is such a joy to be around.  I love spending time with her.  When she is happy and in her own world, she talks to herself, sings, or hums. That's the best of Brenley May.

Beau.......well, no pictures of his make believe. Most of the time you can find him chillaxing on his new queen size bed (no more bunk bed!!) watching the Thunder or playing video games.

Since I have been gone so much and have missed some baseball games, I wanted to take Beau out on a date for some one on one time, which we did Thursday night. We went to Abuelo's Mexican restaurant, where you can play trivia games at the table. He loves to eat, loves Mexican, and he loves sports trivia. It was a win win win.  Mom even managed to answer a few right, which I think he appreciated.  Then we went to Glow Golf and played a few rounds of mini golf, where Mom also managed to talk a little smack on a few holes.  Me, competitive?  We ended the night with half price Sonic shakes. It was such a great time to just be with him.  We talked when he wanted to talk. We laughed. He opened doors. And at the end of the night I kissed his cheek and he told me how much fun he had and thanked me for the night. #priceless

And I am adding these last two pictures just for fun. When I am out of town, I enjoy these pictures so much. This is real life y'all.

This is our plastic cup obsession.  The cabinets wouldn't close any more. It was time to say goodbye to some of our plastic cups.  ha ha

Ribbie was mad that he got left behind. Got in the trash. Oops. Point made, Ribbie Trey,

I'm not going to lie.......

we take A LOT of pictures of Ribbie. I mean. A LOT.  We can't help it.  Brian is just as bad. He sends me probably more pictures of Ribbie than the kids.  We just love him.  So I'll share them here too.

This is him wanting my attention while I work.

Sister is always covering him up with blankets

This was at a ballgame. I think he was ready to go home.

And most of these are AFTER a day of Playcare.  He is always so tired after playing with his friends all day.

just to prove that we also take pictures of our kids when they sleep.
this is the true sleeping beauty

last day of school and other happenings

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR 2015/2016 SCHOOL YEAR!!!!

I know EVERYONE says this, but seriously, where did this year go?  I cannot believe Beau will be in 8th grade. Bren in 3rd grade. Wow.

Really, we couldn't have asked for a better year for the kids. Brenley's teacher was a sincere gift from God.  I was SO NERVOUS this year having moved her to a different school, and with her speech....I just hoped I wouldn't take her 3 steps back. But I knew that I loved Maize South Elementary because of their Leader in Me program, and selfishly, it was so much closer to the house......but little did I know we would end up with the perfect teacher for Brenley. There was a mutual love and respect between Bren and Ms. Harden. We did our best to spoil Ms. Harden and let her know how much we cared for her. She was and is probably one of the best teachers either child has had so far.

Brenley thrived this year.  Her reading is off the charts. The Librarian loved her.  She made new friends. Got involved in the school speech therapy program. She sang in her grade school program. Gave a presentation for the Lighthouse School testing. Perfect attendance.  She adjusted very well to the YMCA after school program. Ms. Lisa loved her. The list goes on and on. She is amazing. Always wanting a challenge. Always wanting to do better, follow the rules, helps friend, helps teachers......she's a good one.

And Beau......well, he needs a push from time to time, but also a very good (and smart) kid. Once we finally figured out the push in math he needed, he brought his B up to an A.  That same math teacher nominated him for Student of the Month, and he was voted on by several teachers and got the award! Several teachers wrote, "outstanding student" or "great kid" on his report cards and evaluations.  His Teen Leadership teacher (she is all of 24 years old maybe), LOVED him, but he was enamored with her because she was married to a minor league baseball player.  He really liked his classes this year, and is a great leader within his peer group. Would have had perfect attendance except for the ONE HOUR we took him out of PE class for an eye (contacts) appointment. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? But he did so well in school, and we are happy with how hard he worked and stayed on top of things.

Either way, we may push our kids a little hard and stay on top of them.....but we have great kids. So so so so so proud of them.

Bren before her field day

Tug of war at Bren's field trip day

Mother's Day

It's always a good Mother's Day when I get to see my Momma.  It was a nice weekend. The kids actually stayed in Garber Saturday night, so I woke up to spend my Mother's Day morning with my fur baby, after Brian went out and bought me my favorite Panera breakfast.  My fur baby is waiting for his turn to eat here.

And here is my mom and dad opening their presents, with a little help of Bren. We also celebrated my Dad's 70th birthday, which was also a nice treat.  I love my Mom and Dad so very much. Nothing I wouldn't do for them.

Mom and Sis

the entire crew including the pups

opening birthday cards and presents

Then on Sunday afternoon we met them halfway for lunch at Braum's.

Mother's Day lunch at Braums. Our Beau and his picture taking skills......sigh

Love love love this one

Selfie with the parents

the roses they brought me for mother's day

Track

Beau finished his first year of track and we were super proud of him for 1) wanting to try out and 2) working hard on getting better. I don't think it was everything he wanted it to be, but by the last meet, he threw some personal records in both discuss and shot put, so we were happy it ended on a good note from him - even if he didn't medal this year.

Love this shot that a friend of ours took.

track buddies