Mom's Night

On Thursday night Landon's school held Mom's Night and it was pajama themed. We started off in the classroom where there was a craft activity and free play in all the centers. Landon again was shy and clingy and didn't play much with the other kids....it breaks my heart! He apparently is not like that when we aren't around although he is still the quiet child (not at home! HA!). Then we went to enrichment where we sang/danced to all kids of adorable sleep themed songs (10 in the bed, dinosaur song, when I wake up in the morning, etc.) and Landon started to participate towards the end. After that we went out to the playground and had cookies and milk and the kids played their little hearts out. Landon had fun playing and enjoyed a game of chasing his friends (they are rough!) until he had a collision and fell in the dirt and got upset that his pj's got dirty. That constituted a crying fit while laying in the mulch. Now his pj's were dirty! :) Then we headed to chapel to sing some songs and pray. Landon came out of his shell and thoroughly enjoyed being silly with the other kids and singing "This is the Day" and "Alleluia". When it was time to pray Landon proudly belted out "Dear God" loudly right before everyone else. So precious! Now he was ready for some fun! Not to mention he was in the over-tired zone from being up since 5:45am with a cough (his allergies have been terrible). Once it was over he didn't want to go home.

What's Wrong With These Pictures?

We put up a swing in the front yard a few weeks ago as our trees are finally big enough. Of course the kids want to swing 24/7 and fight over it. Landon pushes or knocks Emerson over in order to get on the swing or get there first while Emerson repeatedly bites Landon. Fun times! I'm surprised Emerson is able to swing as it's for ages 3-10 but don't put anything past that girl as she has no problem at all. Landon can swing himself with his legs now but can't go really high which is what he enjoys. The second we pull in the driveway both kids are already asking to swing and Emerson even says "swing higher" or "high" and kicks her legs. Now whenever one kid is swinging the other one asks for the baby swing to be hung up. So on a regular basis we have our almost 2 year old swinging high on the big swing while our 43 lb. 4 year old is in the baby swing. I'm sure our neighbors are wondering what's going on and I'm pretty sure Landon exceeds the weight/age limit! Landon has always enjoyed playing with baby stuff ever since his sister arrived. We have quite the role reversal going on in our house on a daily basis. Never a dull moment....

CAF Air Show

On Saturday my parents, Jason, and I took the kids out to West Houston Airport (I never even knew it existed) near Bear Creek Park for the Open House of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) West Houston Squadron. It was so neat! There were all kinds of old planes from WWII, Korea, and even a fighter jet. There were also old planes constantly landing and taking off one after another, some flying VERY close to each other, and some with the smoke coming out of the back as well as a close-up look of a helicopter landing. I would say we saw at least 25-30 planes taking off. The kids were in heaven as they love planes. We also got to go inside a 1943 paratrooper plane and look around and check out the pilots seat which Landon thoroughly enjoyed. Emerson didn't so much...she must be claustrophobic like me! They even offered pricey rides in all kinds of planes, even the fighter jet...not for me! We also got to look around in their hanger at all kinds of commemorative plane memorabilia, Landon got dog tags made on an original machine that made dog tags back during the war, and my mom bought the kids metal plane replicas and an artists drawing of the Texas Raiders squad that the CAF Colonel dedicated/signed for Landon. It was a lot of fun and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Afterwards we went to eat at Clays and enjoyed lunch outside and the kids liked petting the horses and checking out all the other animals.

After naps that afternoon we then headed with Jason's parents to a church spring festival nearby for some food, music, and fun. Emerson had a blast but Landon was in a whiny mood and got scared by one of the carnival games that had popping balloons. That did him in for the rest of the evening! But he at least enjoyed the live country band and all the good food. We even came home with our very own new marshmallow gun...I think Jason likes it the best! :) We had fun tonight shooting marshmallows in the street and seeing how far we could get them to go.

Picture overload...I took so many pictures!

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

Emerson definitely is my daughter! Both her and Landon are particular about order, schedules and the way things are done, and lining things up. Emerson has never showed interest in it much in the past and tended to be the "messier" child that didn't care about order. However, these past few weeks she has enjoyed lining up all kinds of toys, cars, beads, etc. and telling me "look, line" while describing to me what she did by pointing and babbling some more words. She is a visual learner and mimics everything she sees/hears so she definitely learned from watching Landon. She even likes to empty out the playroom and organize it in the hallway several times a week. It's fun to watch her little mind work, but not fun to clean up! Crazy girl!

Simple Pleasures

Ahhh, the simple pleasures in life like watching my 2 little munchkins playing together (nicely) in the bathtub with their letters and numbers. Oh how I love looking at those little baby bottoms, something I will greatly miss when they are older! They surely will not like these pictures come junior high!

Giddy Up

Last Saturday we went to Wyatt's 4th birthday party and had so much fun. They had pony rides for an hour and then the kids had a blast playing outside on the swing set, trampoline, bouncy house, and so much more. Emerson was in heaven with a lot of space to roam. Of course they also enjoyed all of the junk food and sweets....they had so much sugar! After talking for days about the pony rides Landon wanted nothing to do with them once they were actually there. He would barely even pet one. Of course he was upset when they left because he then wanted to ride one. Emerson was content petting them but screamed anytime I tried to put her on the pony, Callie. I rode the bigger pony with her (poor pony!) as the guy said we could and once we got going she was great and seemed to enjoy it. Of course I felt like a fool and like I was going to break the pony's back! We then got her to ride alone after several attempts. She was too distracted by the cotton candy she was eating to get upset when we put her on the pony. She enjoyed her few laps with daddy walking alongside. It was a great party and the kids were exhausted from no naps and a long afternoon of outside fun. Landon of course fell asleep as we were pulling in the driveway but we couldn't get him to fall back asleep at home. Emerson had no problem going back to sleep.

The Snake Story

On Tuesday Jason and I were outside with the kids playing after we got back from taking bluebonnet pictures. The kids love playing outside therefore we have a million toys, bubbles, chalk, bikes, ride-on toys, etc. that are all nicely stored on the side of the garage either hung up, on a shelf, or on the ground. They like to go in and out of the garage a lot pulling out all the toys. If you know us, you know the garage is neat, painted, decorated, and not a typical garage (not a place you would typically find a snake!!!!!). So, after playing outside it was time for the kids to go inside for baths. I was attempting to get them to put up their toys and cozy coupes that they were riding in while Jason was putting something up in the backyard. Landon was having a usual melt-down because he couldn't get his cozy coupe in the garage as he kept getting hung up on a Home Depot bag with yard lights and wiring that was sitting right at the end of the garage by Jason's truck and where the kids go in and out. Keep in mind that the bag had only been placed there for a day. I went over there to give Landon a push over the bag so he could park his car and Emerson was right behind me about to enter the garage to park her car. I decided to just pick up the 2 Home Depot bags to put in Jason's truck since he was going to exchange them that week anyways and they were just in the way. I moved the first bag to another part of the garage and as I leaned down to pick up the 2nd bag I noticed (thank God I'm observant) a lovely snake curled up behind the bag up against the garage wall. OMG!!! Let me just tell you how I still can't get that image out of my head. I immediately told Landon to keep moving forward to the front of the garage and to stay in his car while I immediately backed out of the garage and ripped Emerson out of her car as she was right there too. I yelled for Jason (don't quite remember what I even said) and he came running out of the backyard thinking one of the kids got hurt. Once I frantically told him what was going on he got in the garage and got Landon into his truck and closed him in it while I sprinted with 28lb. Emerson on my hip to get a shovel out of the back building. My hands were shaking so bad it took me a while to get the lock undone. I then got Landon out of Jason's truck on the other side and ran over (with both kids on my hips until we were safe in Larry's driveway) to get our neighbor Larry to "help out". At this point the snake was starting to slowly come out from behind the bag. Let me just mention that Jason HATES snakes as he has had to kill A LOT at our house. We apparently attract snakes as nobody else has this problem. Jason's killed probably about 5 Copperheads and tons of grass snakes. The kids and I all stood at the bottom of the driveway while Larry just took the shovel from Jason and killed the snake, which took several whacks. Larry grew up on a farm and killed rattle snakes frequently so he was not afraid at all. Jason was afraid the snake would get away into the garage or the yard.

After all was said and done a 2 1/2 foot long Cotton Mouth (also known as a Water Moccasin) was dead. Thank goodness! We had several neighbors come over and all confirmed the snake as well as our research on-line. He had the white mouth, yellow belly, markings on his back, and was even striking at the shovel. We have no idea when it got in our garage and how long it had been in there. We still live a few blocks away from the bayou and retention pond so we aren't sure why it was at our house. All I know is that we are VERY lucky as the kids walked past those bags at least 20 times that night and that one of them didn't find the snake or the snake didn't find them. I'm still freaking out about it and didn't sleep for a few nights. I can't stop thinking about it and how the situation could of turned out, especially with two small kids. I know if Emerson found it she would of immediately tried to play with it as she did when it was dead. She kept saying "snake, ssssss" and trying to grab it while giggling. Landon asked why he was sleeping and we then had the discussion several times that night about snakes and what to do when you find one. Needless to say we have been extra cautious and observant when we are outside. Let's just hope this was a one time freak thing. So scary! Oh, and we are considering getting an outside cat that will maybe help curb the snake activity. Anybody have one??

Bluebonnets!

On Tuesday after school we picked up Jason at work and headed to Chappell Hill to take pictures in the bluebonnets. We stopped by his grandma's house and then headed to our usual spot for pictures. The kids did great and we got tons of good pictures in just a matter of minutes. Landon didn't want to take them at first but after being bribed with Chick-fil-a he was running around like crazy and didn't want to leave. Both kids loved running in the flowers and even picking some. They just love being outside and nature. Afterwards we headed to Chick-fil-a for dinner. It was a quick and successful trip! Enjoy the picture overload of my cuties....