Sometimes life is not always what you plan

I'm so behind on this sad blog. Everyday I think I'll have time to get caught up and everyday the time gets away from me. Soon, I hope to get things caught up. We've had a kindergarten graduation, birthdays to celebrate, summer fun, but also we spent the last few months (well actually all year) preparing for a big change around here.

We are moving. Like really moving. To Texas in fact. The company Corey works for develops master planned communities and they have two huge communities going in the Houston area. This is something we knew would probably happen and we had just been waiting for things to come together. 

We've taken a few trips there, once with all the kids, to explore the area and look for a house. We really like it there. It's going to be a huge change for us, and while we are sad to be so far away from family, it will be an exciting change too.

We are in the process of buying a house, and if that goes smoothly we will be moving in the next few weeks.

The new house. (Well hopefully) It has grass!! In the front and back. We will actually have to buy a lawn mower. 

While we've known and been preparing for this, it's now all becoming so real. Moving is never easy. We will never be fully prepared to say our goodbyes to the place we've called home for so many years. We will leave a little piece of ourselves in Las Vegas.

Beginning and End of Seasons

When we first moved, we kind of took a break from a lot of the activities and sports we'd been doing. It took a little time to find new leagues and places to do them. I also was enjoying a little break from all the running around it takes for the kids to participate in all of it. But we have been back into all of it recently.

The girls are doing gymnastics at one of the rec centers and Carter just finished the winter  basketball season. He had a rough season. None of the kids had ever played together and that makes it hard. It's a good learning experience for him though. He has a short break, but will start back up soon for the spring season.

 

 

Brendan also just started a new season of lacrosse. He was really disappointed to leave his old team, but is adjusting to his new team. During the preseason they were having practice 6 days a week to get the kids back in shape. Thank goodness with the season started and 2 games a week, practice is now only a few days a week. The next couple of months will still be pretty full with it though. He plays defense and is learning a lot. I still learn a lot every game too, I still don't know all the rules, but I sure love watching the game.

On Top of the World

The last week of February, the Stratosphere tower was running a special. Locals could get in free with their I.D. We knew it would be a great time to take the kids to see the spectacular view of the city. It's normally pretty expensive to go so we were pretty excited to get in free.

We went right after school on a weekday  hoping to avoid the crowds and it worked. The kids were pretty amazed how high up it is and loved watching the rides too. Thank goodness Emery is to little for them because I'm pretty sure she would have gone on them, giving me a heart attack in the process.

After walking around for a while, we figured it was so close to sunset that we might as well grab a snack and wait to see the view at night too. As we were waiting, Corey found the characteur artists. They were so fun to watch and we decided to let the kids get one. Carter was all for it and the girls decided to get one together. The other boys opted out. But it was a fun experience for them.

 The end results are pretty fun.

Once it was dark, we walked around some more to take in the view and then had to head home. It was such a fun way to spend a night as a family though. 

Around Here

 1. Emery has quite the sense of style. For the girl who never used to want to wear dresses or skirts, she sure loves them now and usually puts them on when she gets a chance.

2.Sour lime face

3. The company that I ordered my Christmas cards from sent this cute thank you note. Hailey and Emery love animals and loved the card. It was perfect that it fit an empty frame in their room and was also the perfect colors too. It was meant for them.

4. I bought new frames, ordered prints of our recent family pictures, measured and got them all hung, only to accidentally break the glass on one of them. Figures. Someday, I might actually get around to replacing the glass. Someday.

 5.Accidental twins

6.These girls have such a hard, hard time getting up and going in the  morning. The struggle is real. I really hate waking them up, yet every morning I am forced to. 

7. We have had such nice weather around here lately. We've been taking advantage of it and get out and enjoy it while we can.

. The lunch struggle around here is real too. I am always trying to come up with different things the kids can pack. Hailey asks for cereal a lot. I have compromised with her and let her take it about once a week. I figure there are much worse things than eating frosted mini wheats for lunch. 

 9. Emery loves to play the game of life. Occasionally, after a lot of begging, she is able to convince someone to play with her. She lucked out one day and got both the older boys to play.

10. Life with boys. Brendan tends to leave his cup all over after lacrosse practice. Always nice to find it. 

11. I was in the mood to bake on Saturday morning. Banana bread and cookies were the result. 

. I love Emery's drawings right now. This family picture is one of my favorites. I especially love the figure in the left. I thought it was a horse, but apparently it is Carter. I also love how long my legs are. 

13. Another gorgeous day.

14. I had been searching for some new pillows for my bed. I got new, more neutral, bedding for Christmas, and had Christmas money saved for the pillows. I found some I loved at TJ Maxx.

15. Emery still takes her beloved dog, Todd, a lot of places. She takes his car safety seriously too.

16. Emery is not a fan of homework. She doesn't have a whole lot, but still hates it. She really doesn't like to do it with me either. I was telling her teacher about it and she made her a chart to mark off at home for doing it willingly. Now I had made her a chart too before this, but because I made it, she didn't want anything to do with it. But has willingly been filling it up for her teacher.

17. When her chart was filled, she got to draw a picture on the marker board at school. Her teacher sent me a picture of her creation. She also asked for a vanilla bean frappuccino from me. Totally worth it in my book.

18. Another picture her teacher sent to me. During reading week, the kindergartners went to the 5th grade classrooms to read with a buddy. Emery was pretty excited she was able to go to Brendan's class and read with him. It was also pajama day, so that only made it even more exciting. 

Valentines

Emery and I started our Valentines day celebration by making cupcakes for the other kids. She loves, loves to make cupcakes and was a little excited about it. 

Corey and I were able to go out and celebrate the night before. The boys have decided to have a social life and wanted to go to a dance the day of Valentines, but we'll take what we can get. We enjoyed a good dinner and movie. 

One of the best things was returning home and finding all the little kids asleep in bed, dishes done, and house all clean. That was a great Valentines gift. They are pretty good boys

On Valentine day, I set out cards and a little treat for each kid. We never get or do anything really big or fancy, but I like to have a little something for them. Corey also had the girls heart this year. Not only did he get me a card, a treat and flowers, but he got a card, a treat, and flowers for the girls too. They were so excited and kept those flowers in their room where they could see them each morning and night.