Happy Birthday Tyler

I can't believe my boy is 7 years old.  Tyler, you have brought more joy to my life than I can possibly put in to words.  It always amazes me how much you make me smile, cause me to laugh out loud, drive me just a little crazy, and make my heart feel so full of love.  Your BIG eyes and huge grin pretty much allow you to wrap each and every person you meet around your finger.  You are just an amazing person and it is such an honor to be your mom.
I am so proud of the person you are becoming.  I hope and pray each day that you will continue to grow in God's grace.  I pray that you will continue to bring joy to others like you do to me.  I love you so very much little man.  Happy Happy birthday!!!!

Easter Fun

We colored eggs.

We ate Oreos for breakfast because we gave them up for Lent!

We looked beautiful for church.

And we spent the day at the park with The Valenzuelas having lots of fun!!!

The boys took turns driving Emma and she took PLENTY of turns driving them!

Our bunny was HOT and tired!

Emma found LOTS of eggs.

Tyler and Marshall did the egg toss and got messy!

Tyler jumped (and fell) in the potato sack race.

It was a GREAT day!!!!

Our Doodlebug is 5

Oh Emma....how is it even close to possible that you are five years old? I know that it was just yesterday that I was calling Marshall in CA in the middle of the night and telling him that he better get on a plane that you were going to come three weeks early. From that very special day and every day since you have been doing things on your own time and surprising us each and every day.

You are such a beautiful, sweet, loving, smart, strong willed, talented, creative little girl. I told you tonight as I put you to bed and I mean it with all my heart...I love you more and more each day. There are times that I look at you and you just take my breath away. I am so honored to be your mommy. I hope with all my heart that I am raising you to be all that you can be. I know that you are going to have so many adventures in life and I can't wait to be there to support you.

We celebrated Miss Emma's 5th birthday with a very "fancy" tea party.

(These are all the paper products Little White Rabbit Design created for us)

We had 18 silly, giggly, dressed up little girls come over for tea and cupcakes. We played silly games like stack the sugar cubes and pin the earring on Emma. I had two little crafts for them to make (a "welcome spring" sign and a little tea cup). The girls served each other tea and snacked on sandwiches and fruit then headed to Emma's room to play dress up. The parents were even treated to a fashion parade!

It was a lovely party and I think everyone enjoyed themselves!

Here is her birthday interview.

Happy Happy Birthday Emma. You are and always will be our sunshine. You sure do make us happy!!!

March

Well it seems as though I missed updating my blog for an entire month!!! I am so sorry. We have been busy busy busy. We are in the full swing of gymnastics, golf, and baseball. There are days when I feel like we live in the car going from activity to activity. Include volunteering at both schools and working three days a week in there and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.

I have not only been a slacker when it comes to blogging but I have been slacking with picture taking as well. I need to get back to having my camera on the counter so I stop missing so many cute photo ops to share with you.

The major highlights of March include our trip to Mo, Ok, and Tx, baseball season starting, and Emma Marie Brown turning 5!!!!!!

Our trip back to the midwest was a quick visit but filled to the brim with fun. We flew in to OK City on a Saturday and spent the night with Marshall's parents. Early the next morning we headed up to Neosho where Katie had planned a fun evening with family and close friends. We got to see Granny and Great Uncle John, Nana and Papa Carl, Uncle John, Katie and Randy, Matt and Nancy, Logan and Kelsie, Amy, and some other great friends. It was a wonderful evening spent laughing and enjoying what was to be the last of the sunshine for many days.

We didn't take many pictures unless you count the 20 pictures I took of the sweetest dog in the world, Amos. Amos is Matt and Nancy's mastiff. There is just no way to express in words how sweet and cute this BIG boy is. It was love at first site for me. I just couldn't get enough of him so I decided to take pics of him instead of the kids!=)

I did get a few pictures of Uncle Matt helping Emma with her kite--he was a trooper!

We have not been back to Joplin since the tornado. We drove up to meet some wonderful friends, Brian and Dana Moritz, for lunch and decided to drive around and survey the area. I have to tell you....the kids have been praying for Joplin for the past year, but after seeing what we saw, they are praying even harder. I cannot imagine what it looked like in the days, weeks, and months after the tornado because what we saw was almost a year later. It is really heartbreaking.

It rained, and I mean RAINED, Mon., Tues., and Wed. The kids had some serious cabin fever by the time we arrived back in Oklahoma City. Thankfully the sun came back out on Friday and the kids got to have fun with Grandpa and Grandma Brown and their cousin, Alex.

Marshall and I headed to Austin for a wedding while the kids stayed with the Browns and got to go to the Ok City Zoo and Orr Farm. They had a wonderful visit and wished that they could stay longer.

Marshall and I LOVED Austin and had a wonderful kid free weekend.

Coming home we were immediately back in high gear. I was in crazy planning mode for Emma's tea party, the kids were back to school, and Marshall had some catching up to do at work.

Baseball season has started again. Marshall is coaching Tyler's team, The Hot Rods. I am actually looking forward to spending time at the ball field watching my boy make some BIG hits!

The next BIG event of March is our baby turning 5! But she deserves her own post, so the next one will be ALL about Emma!