School time

Sarah had some fun times the few days before school started. One of her classmates had a spa birthday party--the 6 year olds each got a manicure, pedicure, and an updo. Here she is with her good friend Emma playing princesses after the party!
The day before school started, we decided to let Sarah get her ears pierced. She almost had us convinced around Christmas time, but when she heard how they did it, she decided that she'd NEVER get them pierced. Well, last weekend our good friend Heather came to visit with her not even 2 year old girl who had her ears pierced. Sarah decided that she could sure be brave if KJ could! Not a single tear--and lots of smiles! She's so proud of them, and is doing a great job cleaning them 3 times a day!
First day of school--3rd and 1st grades--super excited faces!
And Jas and I have had lots of QUIET and fun times together since the big kids left. I'm loving having some preschool times at home with him the past couple mornings. Here is his adorable cat that he drew today--he's incredibly proud of it!
...and look how his cute little tongue sticks out when he's concentrating!
And last, but not least--you gotta see how excited Jake and his sister get every time they see us! They go nuts! Love these puppies!

Summer fun

I took the kids to the county fair with some college friends..they loved being so close to all the animals--so sad that these outdoorsy kids don't have a farm to regularly go to!
Here they are staring at the llama while he's getting a bath. He was a filthy thing, but very sweet!
...our growing Jake--he has added so much to our family! I'm convinced we have the best dog on the planet, and find myself wanting to brag about him like I want to about my kids. Who would have thought that I would be a dog lover??? Crazy!

Isn't he the cutest thing EVER, though?

Mr. Bug Lover in bug paradise-outside of my sister's wedding rehearsal dinner--he was beside himself with excitement!
My sister got married last weekend to a great guy! I wish I had more pictures of how gorgeous she looked--but alas, I didn't take a single one--stole this one from your blog, Em! Sooo happy for the 2 of them!
Jas and his 2 neighborhood friends had a craft time and made these crowns...adorable!

Sarah had a fun playdate with her best friend Noah this week--they had it all planned out--made sure he brought his cup with his name on it. They're counting down the years till they can get married--we told them they need to wait till they're at least 21, and no kissing till their wedding day! :)

Poor, Poor Jake!

Poor Jake!

12 years...

...and he still makes my heart go pitter-patter. I sure love this man!

Sea World and more San Antonio fun

We took a little vacation to San Antonio to visit some good friends and have a little fun with our kiddos. We left Thursday am and drove all day, spent Friday at Sea World, Saturday at the Alamo/Riverwalk, went to church with our friends on Sunday and headed all the way back home. Pretty crazy--let's just say we were extremely grateful for our van's DVD player and R*dbox!

Here are our little cutie patooties at the entrance to Sea World. What a cool place! It was hard for me that we didn't have time to see everything, but we had a fabulous time.



Levi of course loved the poison dart frogs--aren't they amazing?
Can't remember the name of this--very strange! Levi and I were wondering if God was laughing when He created them!

Can you tell that this is Levi's dream for how to spend a day? Wouldn't want to meet THIS guy in a dark alley! He does NOT look friendly!
This walrus was doing sit-ups! I loved this show!

It was pretty hot, so we decided to cool off before another show at the splash park. The kids were almost lethargic going in, but a little cold water sure woke them up!

Dolphin and beluga show--can't believe how high they can jump!
Here's Shamu--are they all named that? HUGE!

Jas wasn't quite tall enough for the water ride the older kids wanted to ride on, so I stayed back with him and waited on the rest of them. Isn't he the cutest thing ever? I get such a kick out of his ornery grin!



At the Alamo with Neil and Crystal
A delicious Mexican meal on the Riverwalk. The kids loved the ducks floating by--the grown ups loved the conversation and the yummy salsa! Overall a fun trip--the kids were a little crazy from so much packed into a few days, but hopefully we'll only remember the good times!

Introducing...

...our new puppy--the most adorable Morkie! We're still not united on a name for him, but the entire family is in love. We surprised the kids with him this afternoon--they were in complete shock. Names that we're considering: Mr. Weatherbee ("the Bee"), Archie, Rockie, Jack, Max, Biscuit, Oscar, Jake (Jacob Pullen), Ulla (Pomele) ... Hoping to nail his name down tomorrow. He's definitely getting socialized--he had 10-15 kiddos playing with him today at a picnic, saw 4 dogs, and spent lots of hours getting passed around between my 3 kids and the neighbors. He's been a trooper--even got his first bath today. We're hoping for a great night tonight and can't wait to wake up and play with him tomorrow!