Disney on Ice: Frozen

We kicked off the day with Jase's first baseball game of the season. We were visitors, so we were up to bat first. First inning looked like this: our first three batters grounded out. The home team put up 5 runs in the first inning. So here we were sitting 0-5 at the top of the 2nd inning. YIKES! "So this is how the season is going to be. Well, we've been down this road before {like every season}." Those were some of the thoughts running through my mind. Call me what you will, a pessimist, a realist, but it was the truth. I'll save you the play by play, but get ready for this. We ended up putting some hits together, got some breaks on their defense and benefitted from their strikeouts. We won the game I tell you...I repeat we won the game! 20-12...run ruled them in the final minutes of the game. So, we went to Sonic for ice cream! Below is the only video or picture we got of the game. You could say we had our hands full in the stands. Ha!

Jase went 3 for 4, with some solid hits. He played pitcher the whole game, except the last inning he played short stop. Hopefully the team can continue to get stronger on defense and put some outs together. Go Rangers!

After the game, Shawn took the two middle kids to Disney's Frozen on Ice. They were both super excited! Ally wore her Anna costume and Finn sported his Olaf shirt. I'm so glad Shawn got to take them and spend this time with them. He said they loved it and behaved so well.

I'm so glad Daddy took pictures and captured video of the show. It felt like I was right there with them watching it. If you're interested, below are a few clips I liked.

Elsa singing "Let it Go"

Scene with Olaf

"Fixer Upper" with the Trolls

For the grand finale other Disney princesses and princes came out and skated with Anna and Elsa. Mickey and Minnie joined the fun too. I even saw Nemo in one of the videos!

And watch this video of the finale. At the end Krisoff does a flip!! I was impressed!

The weather was gorgeous, we spent time together as a family, watched a little baseball. Perfect day.

8U Rangers Spirit Night

Last night Jase's baseball league had a Spirit Night {aka Fundraiser for the local high school} at the varsity high school game. We decided to make it a family outing, so everyone was in attendance. Due to bad weather last weekend, all of the opening day festivities and games were canceled, so it was nice to see all the teams together to kick off the season last night. Before it officially began, Jase tried his arm against the radar gun. It was super loud, so Jase wasn't sure if he said 37 or 47 mph. Watch our future pitcher! ;-)

Last year about this time, Jase's allergies kicked in. It's hard to remember how long they lasted, but they definitely bothered him, but we were able to keep them at bay for the most part. When we moved up here this past fall his allergies were bad for a week or so. Watery and itchy eyes, sneezing; he was pretty uncomfortable. Originally we thought it was Hank being inside, but later realized it was another allergic reaction to the weather. Pollen {and other allergens} have been really high lately and have been eating his lunch over the past week or so. We have tried a few remedies, but nothing seems to be preventing or curing the problem. Some days are worse than others and last night at the ball field was a really bad night. Poor guy. He could not stop rubbing his eyes and they were bulging out of his head. We have a doctor's appointment on Friday to see what she says.

Watching Jase in the "standing room only" section. I'm glad Ally brought her new sticker activity.

We only stayed for an inning or so and then packed up and headed home. At least that's what the kids thought. We made a pit stop and the kids were oh so happy. Baskin Robbins, baby!

After ordering, I sat down and said that I should have ordered a small, instead of a medium. Once the little kids finished their ice cream, they came ice cream hunting to see who had what left! Both Finn and Ally loved my chocolate malt! I'm glad I ordered that medium to share!

 

Last baseball season, Jase's team, the Rangers, won 1st place in their division and even ended up going to the state tournament. After watching a scrimmage or two, I'm not so sure of the same outcome this year. Win or lose, we'll be there to cheer Jase on!

3, 2, 1...40 years!

March 21st {3-21} is Shawn's parents' 40th wedding anniversary. And that would be today!! Staying faithful in marriage for 40 years is so refreshing to witness. What a blessing to have a picture of commitment so close to you. I'm sure Chip and Peggy have had many hardships in their relationship: change of careers, loss of loved ones, seeing your children ache, but God. He has carried them through day after day, month after month and year after year. Praise the Lord for their commitment to Him and each other.

What a blessed life they have lived thus far. They have 5 beautiful children and in return, those 5 children have blessed them with 15 wonderful grandchildren {with 1 on the way...not from us} and 2 great grandchildren. Chip and Peggy both retired last year and are enjoying life together everyday. They have had the opportunity to travel and spend more time with their children and grandchildren. I'm thankful to be a branch in this French family tree.

Chip and Peggy are hard workers. If one of their children needed help, let's say moving {4 of them did last fall!}, they are the first ones there to lend a hand and get the job done. Chip rarely sits down; there is always a job to be done.

Peggy and Chip love spending time with her grandchild. You will often find Peggy on the floor with them reading a book, playing Legos, or just listening. I know my children love spending time with Grandpa and Grandma.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Happy 40th Anniversary, Chip and Peggy. We are very blessed by the legacy of love and commitment y'all are passing down to us. We love you both dearly.

Spring Break Fun

I originally thought we would push through spring break and not take any days off, but plans changed. My sister "Aunt Alisha" came into town for a couple of days this week during her spring break, so we took a short break ourselves. Before we moved she was about a mile away and we saw her pretty frequently. It was nothing for her to stop by with Sonic drinks during Happy Hour for me and the kids. Or if I needed an ingredient I would give her a call and she would make a special delivery to drop it by. And not to mention our talks we would have about life, work and the Lord. Even though we are 8 years apart, I consider her a best friend of mine. That little girl I used to yell "Mom, Alisha is in my room" is now a cherished friend of mine, my sister forever.

Ok, I did not mean to get all sappy on you. I said all of that to say that we love her tons and miss her to bits. While it may be crazy at times with my gang {I have 4 kids, 7 and under}, she is always along for the ride and I appreciate that. We had a great time with her this week. We went out to eat, visited an flight museum, played at the house, went to Walmart and Hobby Lobby, went to the doctor and even saw a movie! Here are some pics from our week.

We loved Cinderella. Allyson said "it was the best night ever!" I put her hair up in a bun and added her tiara from Bippity Bobbity Boutique! She had some pink eye shadow on along with some lip gloss. We picked her up a new Cinderella shirt on one of our outings. And I have been saving the gumball necklace for next month, but thought this was a the perfect time to give it to her. It has a blue diamond shaped crystal on it, which she loved! She was very thankful for her new attire. I wanted it to be a special night for her, and it was, without spending a ton of money. She has a sweet spirit; I love being her Mama!

 

Cavanaugh Flight Museum

Today we ventured out to Addison, Texas for a tour at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum with some other homeschool families. I will admit that I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, being that I am not way into airplanes, but I must say that it was pretty neat. I would definitely go back and walk through it again. They had planes from WWI & II, Vietnam War and the Gulf War. Most of the planes are still in working order, which is pretty amazing. All of the kids were very attentive on the tour and Jase asked the guide many great questions.

The museum had 4 large hangers for plane storage and an outdoor area with planes as well. I was impressed by the amount of planes they had on display.

The kids got to get into a real Army helicopter or also called a Huey. This Huey was used in the Vietnam War. I enlarged the facts on this Huey two pictures below, I hope you are able to read...pretty interesting!

And someone decided to finally wake up!!

Notice the name of the plane below: Spitfire Mark. Jase noticed that plane's name. Our street is Spitfire and he thought that was neat!

For the most part, Finn stayed with the group on the tour. From time to time he thought he had special privileges and would wander behind the chains! And once or twice he was trying to get inside some old cars they had on display. Ha!

Fun Facts: All Army helicopters are named after Indian tribes {i.e. Blackhawk, Iroquois}. All of the wings on Navy planes fold up because there is not a lot of room on the aircraft carriers for storage.

Below are some clips from the tour today. We had a great morning learning about our country's history.

 

Maebry turns 4 months

This past Tuesday, our little Miss Maebry Leigh turned 4 months old! Her little laugh is so sweet and I love her little leg rolls. She is 13.5 lbs, according to her baby scale at home. Her brothers and sister love to her pieces. Finn is too cute and always want to "hold her." For the longest time I thought he was saying "I want to hurt her." She is still rolling over from front to back and back to front. She is not crawling by any means, but can somehow scoot her way off a blanket. We are still nursing and she has a couple of formula bottles a day as well. She has started sucking in her bottom lip, it is the funniest thing. She can also shove her whole fist in her mouth...not kidding. We are having so much fun watching her grow; it is all happening so fast.

Playing with Maebry in the school room on 2/26/15.

Here is Maebry on 3/3/15 talking away in the living room.

 

Maebry's Dedication to the Lord

This past weekend was a busy one. Friday was Shawn's birthday {YAY!}, so on Saturday we had a small get together to celebrate. We didn't really tell any of our friends it was for his birthday, but just a time to eat and have fellowship together. Shawn's parents, my parents and my sister came up for the weekend and celebrated with us. Here is the only picture I took! Ha! Fruit pizza...so good, an all-time favorite.

The main reason we had family come up is that we were dedicating Maebry to the Lord on Sunday at church. We were given a copy of a copy of a copy of an old letter from our pastor. My initial thought was "goodness, couldn't they have reprinted these on some letterhead?" Just being honest. But the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated the old letter. This is not something new they recently started doing at Denton Bible, they have been doing this for years and their stance on it has not changed.

Let me quote a few lines from this letter. "It {a baby dedication} is a Biblical ceremony: In Exodus 13 the first-born of Israel is given to God. Jesus Himself, a first-born, was dedicated by Mary and Joseph. Samuel was dedicated by Hannah, and Samson by His parents. Indeed "children are a gift of the Lord." There is nothing saving in a dedication. At Denton Bible we don't baptize babies because a parent cannot bring a child into covenant with God. The child alone can believe the gospel. There is nothing magical about a dedication. It does nothing to insure a child's salvation or a blessed life. So what is a dedication? It is the public accountability of a parent to model a godly life and to raise their child in the discipline and teaching of Jesus Christ and in the fellowship of His church."

The letter goes on to ask a few questions about our life and our walk with the Lord. The letter ends with the statement "the dedication of a child is actually the dedication of the parents to be the children of God they were meant to be."  This is so true. I'm very thankful for this copy of a copy letter I received and will tuck it away. We will continue to thank God for our blessings and ask Him to help us be the children He has created us to be.

This was our first baby dedication to witness here at DBC, so I wasn't sure what to expect. When our pastor was talking he told us that he was going to announce the names and for the parents to give their best "Lion King" of the baby. Meaning to hold the baby up in the air. At that moment I think I started to sweat, as I was holding Maebry. Below is the clip where Pastor Tommy introduces Maebry and we present her to the church. Too funny.

After the service we snapped a few pictures of the family!

It was a nice weekend and we enjoyed visiting with our family and friends.

Small Changes

I blinked and we are nearly half way through March already! I cannot keep up...and that is probably an understatement.

We have a long bench in our breakfast area in the kitchen and it was not really being utilized all that much. We had a round table in that area, but with the size of the table, only 1, maybe 2 people {if they really liked each other} could sit on the bench and use the table. So, we decided to switch some things around.

First, we moved our existing homeschool table upstairs in the playroom area. We moved all of the Legos out of the kids' bedrooms; they were just taking over their rooms. Jase had a Lego table in his room and that came out into the playroom as well. Below is what we ended up with. Each child has their own Lego table to play on. So far, so good. With the exception of Finn loving to play with his brother's Legos, which is nothing new.

And since we didn't have a table in the homeschool room for a few days, school just happened all over the place. Below is one day where it took place on Maebry's floor. I was folding clothes in there one morning and the next thing you knew, all of the kids were in there with me. This happens often: kids following me around.

As you can see above that Allyson is dressed up in a princess costume. She wanted to be Aurora from Sleeping Beauty that morning.

The next day she was Anna from Frozen.

 And Finn decided to be "Finny Crockett" with old Betsy!

Back to making changes. We bought a new table and chairs to go in the breakfast nook area. I really like how it looks in the space.

We moved the round table from the breakfast area into the homeschool room. While it is smaller than the rectangular one we moved upstairs, it is a better fit for the room and still plenty of room for working space.

 

And one more dress up photo for you. This was yesterday. They crack me up!