Hike and Egg Hunt

Today was a good day. It is always nice to have one of those! We woke up, ate breakfast and packed lunch for the day. We met some friends at the Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center in Denton. It is 2900 acres set aside for conservation and education purposes. We took a guided hike to explore Texas nature. 

It was beautiful out there and I am looking forward to taking a family hike once it warms up a bit. The wind was howling today, but we still enjoyed getting outdoors. 

The original plan was to eat lunch and have an Easter egg hunt out there, but it was in the 50's and felt like it was in the 40's with the wind chill factor. So, we ended up in the lobby at church, which was a blessing. Below Ruth and Allyson are playing together; they enjoy each other's company every time they are together. 

After lunch, the kids went around the corner and some of the moms hid eggs for the kids to find. 

It wasn't a free-for-all on the egg hunt. Each child could find 4 eggs to make sure everyone got 4 eggs. Even with the limit, it was just the right amount of candy and goodies. All of the kids enjoyed it, but Finn and Mae really had fun!

We had a great morning and afternoon with friends. 

Camping Fun

Earlier this month I took Allyson camping with American Heritage Girls and we had a great time. I have only camped 5-7 times in my entire 35 years, so this was a big deal for me to go solo and get it all set-up. 

Allyson was super excited to get outdoors and have some fun with her friends and Mama. 

Shawn did a fabulous job helping me pack everything up. The table was awesome to have outside the tent. It was so nice to have somewhere to put things. And the red container of tap water was great for brushing our teeth or rinsing off our hands. There were a couple of port-a-potties, but no running water at this site. We were roughing it for sure!

We snuggled in the tent together. It got down into the 40's and it was chilly to say the least!

After breakfast, the girls attended several stations to learn about slavery and the founding of the USA. I believe by doing this the girls earned 2-3 badges that weekend. 

Here are all of the Tenderhearts (1st-3rd grade) in our troop that attended the campout. 

Little Ally was wore out on the way home.

The next day was Shawn's birthday. I'm glad we were able to be home and celebrate his special day. 

The following weekend was Shawn and Jase's turn in the wilderness. They went camping with their Trail Life troop. 

The boys had a couple of informative meetings (fire and snakes!), but they had a lot of down time, which they all enjoyed. They came home with several pirate jokes that were told around the camp fire. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Shawn or Jase. So glad to hear they had fun. 

Finn: Color Master

Our little Finn loves to color. He rarely leaves white space on the page these days. I love to pick him up from Sunday School and have the teachers tell me how much he enjoyed coloring. Something about it warms my soul, maybe because I am a fan of paper and markers too! The kids will often sit next to me in my room and they color or make cards while I do my bible study; it is a special time. And I'm happy to report that I am sharing my big set of Stampin' Up markers that I have had for well over a decade. LOL! {Notice he wrote his name on his paper! #bigboy}

February wrap-up

I blinked and literally February was over! We have been busy with life lately, that blogging has definitely taken a backseat. But I like to document what we've been up to, so here is a snapshot of the past two weeks. 

At Classical Conversations a couple of weeks ago the kids painted like Michelangelo, on their backs. This is how he painted the Sistine Chapel in Rome. They got a kick out of it.

On Wednesday, February 17th, I took the kids to the Denton Fire Station with a homeschool group for a tour. One of the dads in this homeschool group is a firefighter for Denton, so he and his coworkers showed us around. He works his shift every 3rd day for 24 hours. What a commitment. Thankful for people like him.

Friday, February 19th, we snuck away for a little adult time. We went to the Hillsong United concert in Dallas. It was awesome. Or Epic as Jase would say! Ha! Such a great time of worship and fun to share it with friends.

Love my mom. She came up and watched the kids so we could go to the concert. We also had several laughs around town together. One that I can think of right off hand was on Saturday. It was Jase's last basketball game of the season that morning. I had plans all week to pick up a gift card for his coach as a thank you gift for doing such a great job. He did an awesome job teaching the boys plays and fundamentals, it was really a productive season for them. Anyhow, I never picked up a gift card during the week, so Saturday before the game it is. Surprised?! I passed a Sonic and a Chicken Express on the way to the game and that's about it. He's a grown man with a family so I'm thinking a Sonic gift card is probably not the best choice for him! Mom suggests that sometimes she has seen gift cards in convenient stores, so I pull in and see. The lady at the register thought I was nuts when I asked if they sold gift cards! I remembered there is an Italian restaurant right around the corner and thought that would be nice for he and his family. Well, I walk in and ask the employee if I can buy a gift card and he said "I can probably do that for you." Oh geez...that should have been my sign to walk out. I proceed with the transaction. I buy a $25 gift card and he tells me my total is $27.06. I asked "I have to pay tax on a gift card?" He said "yes, we charge tax." Huh. Then he prints out a receipt for $27.06 and another receipt type of piece of paper that says gift certificate on it, and he staples both together. For the love. I bring it out the to car and show my mom, we die laughing. I proceed to put the $27.06 gift card in the card Jase had made for him, and it totally looks like our receipt from lunch. There is no telling what he thought when he opened that card. Good times!

Jase won his game that Saturday, which landed us in the playoffs this past Saturday. We ended up losing the playoff game, but what a great season we had.

Our little Maebry. She has been keeping us on our toes lately. Busybody for sure. It's nothing to find her in the pantry eating chips on the floor or on the kid table in the school room with dry erase markers. She is giving me a run for my money.

The weather has been so nice lately, we have gotten out for a walk in the middle of the day. Jase usually rides his bike, Ally is on her scooter, and the younger two walk.

Miss Mae in our bed the other morning. She was super comfy laying right on top of me.

And we finished up February last night with our home group. We hosted family night and had a wonderful time. It was sweet time of fellowship and sharing a meal with those we love. Our home group leaders, Marcus and Ashley, will be moving to the other side of Denton next month, so things will definitely look different in the weeks to come. They were our first friends when we moved up here, and we are very thankful for them. This group of friends would not be gathered together if it weren't for them opening up their home.

Valentine's Weekend

Saturday evening Shawn and I had a little evening on the town. Our Sunday School class will set-up "Date Nights" for us couples about once a quarter. We drop the kiddos off at the church for a few hours and we are free to go as we please. I cannot tell you how much of a blessing this has been for us with parents living so far away. Now don't get me wrong, we have been able to go on some dates when we have family in town too, but these nights are special too.

Shawn and I headed into Denton, of course! Well, our church is in Denton, so that makes it easy on us. We went to LSA (Lone Star Attitude) on the Square for some dinner. They have the best brisket queso, so yummy. We shared a burger and parmesan fries and they were tasty as well. We were a little early for live music (we'll know better for next time!), so we walked around and stopped in at West Oak Coffee Bar. We both got a monster of a chocolate chip cookie, and it was warm too. Bonus! I opted for a hot chocolate and Shawn got a cup of decaf. It was nice.

Sunday morning was Valentine's Day. We surprised the kids with donuts and they loved it. They each also got a few new books to read. Jase got a new book series for Christmas, The Imagination Station, and he loves them, so we got him a few more to read. They are similar to the Magic Treehouse series. We got Allyson a couple of books in a series called The Never Girls by Disney. They had good reviews and that theme is right up her alley. Finn got 3 new Peter Rabbit books and one of them was a sticker book! Board books for Maebry: Jesus Loves Me, Giraffes Can't Dance and Where is My Belly Button. She is obsessed with her little belly button, it is the funniest thing.

Sunday evening we changed things up a bit and the boys took me out on a date. Jase picked the restaurant and navigated us there: Cracker Barrel. It was a nice time and we all got plenty to eat. See the game below? I am pretty much a master at it. Ha! No, when I was younger and would stay at my dad's house for the weekend and there were some days where we would just be at home all day. One way I amused myself is by figuring out this game. I would literally document every move on a notepad, one by one, and then keep playing it over and over again until I had it down. I still can do it at 35!

While me and the boys were living it up, so were Daddy and his daughters. He took them on a date to Rosa's Café, Ally's pick! She got all dressed up for him, dress, necklace and all! It was precious.

At the end of the evening, we all met up at Dairy Queen for some dessert. The kids were giddy to see each other. It was a great way to end a great weekend with my little family. Thankful for these times.

And I'm pretty sure we have met our "out to eat" quota this year in the month of February alone! Time to get back to meal planning.

BINGO

We have had Bingo on the brain lately. Finn found an addition Bingo game in the schoolroom this past week, so we broke it out and played at the end of the school day. It really was great math practice for Ally and I think we will play again soon. 

Our homeowner's association was having a neighborhood Bingo last night and I thought it would be fun to attend. Shawn's parents were in town, so they joined me and the two big kids. Shawn stayed at home with the littles.

I think Jase was the first one to bingo in our group. He got to pick out a couple of prizes and we have already broke out the checkers game. 

We really had a fun time and ended up staying the entire time. And at the end of the night guess who got to call the Bingo numbers?! Jase of course! He jumped right up on that offer! And he did a great job doing it.