Art...by Seth

A couple of weeks ago, Seth had his date with Daddy! Justin chose to take him to a local art shop called Painting with a Twist. This is a phenomenal place that basically walks you through painting a specific picture. This particular day, they were having a kid's workshop. Seth LOVES art, and was so excited (and nervous) to go. I might have been more excited than he was...I couldn't wait for him to get home and to see his finished piece of art.



Three birds on a branch! They are NOT owls, just birds with big eyebrows! Justin said if the teacher told the kids they could use their imaginations and add personal touches...Seth was on it, without hesitation - thus the large eyebrows, the animal clouds, the bi-colored bird, the blue beak, and the random twig coming out of the branch! The painting is up in his room, and I can't help but smile when I see it...it is perfect...just they way he intended it to be!!

Swimmers....

Our boys have always been swimmers...Eli was in the ocean at 9 weeks! We have been doing swim lessons for what seems like years, and it has certainly paid off! This past week, all of the boys were promoted to their next swim levels. Zach and Seth to Intermediate, and Eli to Advanced Preschool Beginner 2. We are so proud of them and their great effort week after week!













Congratulations boys!!

Cuddly by the Fire...

About midway through our bedtime stories, Eli curled up by the fire and fell asleep! Looks pretty cozy to me!!

Pine Wood Derby Cars...in Progress!

It's that time again....Pine Wood Derby time. Our PW Derby isn't officially until the end of the month, but we (Justin and the boys) have been working on the cars for quite some time. A few weeks ago Justin and the boys cut out the shapes, and last week I had the task of helping the boys paint. They each has some very specific designs in mind. Seth LOVES color. If I had 15 different colors of paint, he certainly would have found a way to use all 15. They did all of their own painting, I just did the taping!













Eli was at preschool, and Paige was strapped in her highchair with Oreos for a snack!



The finished products...minus the wheels!!

Maybe this year they boys will place in the top? We'll see!!

My First Bike Ride

The other day, Daddy took me on my very first bike ride! I wasn't too sure about it at first, but then I relaxed and took a nice little snooze!

One of our little painters...

I am testing my ability to post a pictures to our blog from my phone....so here is one more picture of Eli. This was Art Class on the kitchen floor! He traced his feet and was super excited when I told him he could paint them too!

Marshall Texas...(Christmas 2011 post)

We have been wanting to get out around town and look at all of the Christmas lights...this weekend we took advantage of the Festival of Lights in Marshall, Texas. It was a chilly 45 degrees (We are going to have a rude awakening when we get to Wyoming next year)...so we bundled up and headed out. There was giant bounces houses, the World's Largest Rocking Horse (15 feet tall out of Massachusets), and life sized snow globe, the only ice skating rink in the Ark-La-Tex, Santa's workshop, and the list goes on. Our favorite part was riding a double decker bus around town to look at the lights.

It's hard to believe that someday this little guy will be big enough to fit into these fire fighter's boots!

Date with Daddy...

Justin took a day off on Friday...giving him a 4 day weekend and a chance to take all of the kids out on dates! This is a big deal around our house. The boys get so excited when they get to spend one on one time with Daddy.

Zach was able to go first, and chose to go to the Norton Art Gallery. This is a large Art Museum that is located on 30 plus acres of beautiful landscape. The kids and I have been there numerous times, and we always spend a few minutes in the Gallery itself. Zach LOVES it, but the other kids only tolerate looking at the art for a few minutes. Not to mention the stuffy old men in stiff black suits get a little bit antsy when the mom with four kids under the age of eight walks in.

Zach and Justin spend quite some time looking at various art sculpture...C.M. Russel was one of Zach's favorites. Unfortunately the "Gun Room" was closed. He toted his camera, and when he arrived home he immediately set out editing his pictures with my editing software. He is a boy after my own heart.

Here are a few of his favorites!

















Looking forward to posting pictures of the rest of their "dates!"

Family Swim Night...January Edition

We are so thankful to have the opportunity for our boys to all be taking swim lessons year round! Not only are learning how to be excellent swimmers, but they are loving their lessons! In fact, this week all three of them will be promoted to their next levels! This specific facility offers a Family Swim Night the first Friday of every month - and we make every attempt to attend this nights! This past Friday we were so excited to have the pool completely to ourselves! To make things even more exciting, their was an underwater professional photographer there...needing to "practice" with some new equipment...