Great East Texas Balloon Race (July 2012)!
Ducks and parks!
Gregg County Fair!
Longview World of Wonders Science Expo!
(Photo from Astronomical Society of East Texas)
(Photo from Astronomical Society of East Texas)
(Photo from Astronomical Society of East Texas)
Just a few things we’ve done recently. Tons more to come, as usual!
Adelyn is 3 years, 5 months old and Colton is 16 months, 2 weeks old.
I keep a folder of photos on our desktop that are just waiting for a blog post. Some have a general theme, some are just random cute pics. I looked in it today and found a ton of Addy photos from the beginning of the year (Seriously. February.) and I honestly can’t remember if I ever posted them. So now I’m just going to put them all up in one big post for you to enjoy. I suppose I could call this post “Things Adelyn liked to do at the beginning of 2012.” (because, you know, I think that was the topic I was trying to work on…). So enjoy lots of pics of Addy, a few of Colton and some other randoms tossed in there for good measure. 🙂
Building block towers. (Feb 2012)
And then knocking them down.
Washing her car. (Feb 2012… I know! February, washing her car? Welcome to TX.)
Going for walks in her tutu. (Feb 2012)
Feeding the ducks. (Feb 2012)
Colton was hungry too.
Taking a ride. (Feb 2012)
Daddy time. (March 2012)
Zoo Fun. (March 2012)
Popsicles. (March 2012)
Swings with Great Grandmother Dollins. (March 2012)
Bluebonnets! (March 2012)
Goggles. (March 2012)
Naps in the car. (April 2012) {{Isn’t this funny? Same poses for both kids.}}
Looking sweet. (April 2012)
Watering her plants. (April 2012)
Helping Momma cut Daddy’s hair. (April 2012)
Being silly. (March 2012)
And last, but not least, Colton’s cheeks. Nom. (May 2012)
Okay, early 2012 is officially done. Next up, the second half of the year.
Adelyn is 3 years, 3.5 months old and Colton is 14.75 months old.
Please check and respect the way Colton is kickin’ it in the grass.
He literally just sat there, holding his feet up.
What a ham.
Adelyn is 3 years, 2 mos old and Colton is 14 months old.
Colton is 1 year old!
Can you even believe it?!?! Where has the past year gone? I still think of Colton as my wee little infant. My tiny boy who doesn’t crawl or climb or eat people food. He’s my baby, and he’ll stay that way forever. Except he really is a one year old. He climbs and pulls up and crawls and jabbers and shrieks and eats like a hungry little horse.
At 1 year old, Colton:
Addy took this picture of Colton and I absolutely love it. I crack a smile everytime I see it. 🙂
Such a good boy, cleaning out his bowl.
Splash.
Adelyn is 3 years, 3 weeks old and Colton is 1 year old.
Why yes, that IS Adelyn participating in the Gladewater Round-Up Rodeo’s calf scramble this past weekend.
This marks Adelyn’s third rodeo (first rodeo here, never blogged about the second one because *bam!* we had a baby just over a week later), and this year, she went on all three nights. That’s how much she enjoyed seeing the cows and sheep and bulls and horses.
Night 1. One end of the stadium, over near the cows and calves.
Night 2. Opposite end of the stadium, right in front of the bronco and bull stalls.
“Let’s get this show on the road.”
Someone was so tired. But he still had a great time.
Talk about being all up in the action! Watching the buckin’ broncos coming in.
Blurry, but here’s a bull riding action shot.
Night 3. Right in the middle. Let’s cheer on those cowboys (and cowgirls)! Also the night of her calf scramble.
Apparently, she now wants a cow. Are cows the new ponies?
Adelyn is 3 years, 2 weeks old, and Colton is 11.99 months old.
Woohoo, let’s have a fiesta!
We decided to do a fun fiesta theme for Adelyn’s 3rd birthday this year. Of course, I created an “Addy’s 3rd birthday” board on pinterest and started pinning fiesta decorations/menu/wardrobe ideas like a mad woman. In the end, I think the party turned out perfectly! Couldn’t have done it without the help of my family. Mom says next year we need to hire a caterer. Too much food prep, Ma? 😉
The party was all about bright colors. Ruffled streamers and napkin flowers were the main decorations, along with some fun paintings from our neighbor. I wish I had taken more photos of the decor, but apparently I was preoccupied with other things…
Paper napkin flowers fashioned after this tutorial.
Ruffled streamers and napkin flowers.
Love these ruffled streamers, fashioned after this tutorial. Super easy and added a little something extra to the decor.
I made the pinata following this tutorial from Parents.com. Paper lanterns + crepe paper and party hats + candy = pinata! The pinata stick (seen in my pictures further down) was simply a wooden stick from Hobby Lobby, wrapped in crepe paper.
We had a “decorate your maracas” station! The idea was also from Parents.com, and I purchased the maracas from Discount School Supply. Great buy, good condition, and, even better, the kids loved them.
And with that, it’s prep and party time!
I put my slaves to work making a few more last minute decorations…
At least they look happy.
Decorating cupcakes…
And chopping onions.
They were also in charge of taming the wild animals.
Mission accomplished.
Before we knew it, it was party time!
Colton sure likes the lei.
The kids started at the maraca station so that the *washable* paint {{good call, self!}} would be dry by the end of the party. There were also all kinds of goodies to put on the maracas – glitter, googly eyes, pompoms, feathers, sequins.
Addy’s birthday smock came in handy!
The kids were all very creative.
Derek was hard at work cooking the fajitas, fajita veggies, and refried beans on our grills.
After some intense painting, we played a rousing game of “Pin the tail on the donkey”. I made the donkey out of poster board, crepe paper, and a googly eye, and the tails were made out of twisted up crepe paper.
Addy was proud of her attempt!
Good job, kids! Kenna’s orange tail was right on the money.
Even {one of} the adults joined in!
After the game was finished, Momma remembered that she bought a special hat for the day and brought it out. Colton loved it.
Auntie Mikaela loved it.
Auntie Kimmy loved it.
And Chef Daddy loved it.
Lots of socializing, playing and (more painting!) was done while we waited for the food.
Oh look! A blank canvas for painting!
What a couple of painting cousins.
Finally, the food was ready! The menu consisted of fajita beef/fajita chicken (our own marinade), fajita veggies, cheese quesadillas, homemade guacamole, homemade salsa, homemade refried beans, and fruit salad. Ya. That was a lot of cooking (and almost all of it was done by Derek! Good job, hubby!). But it was SOOOO good.
Check out that spread. Delish.
What’s that? Why yes, Colton is using a fork. Thanks for noticing.
And of course, after eating it was back to painting.
The birthday girl was given a third eye, thanks to one of the older kids.
Until it was time for cupcakes, that is! Vanilla cupcakes with homemade cream cheese icing and homemade dulce de leche drizzled on top. {{Okay, maybe next year we WILL cater. That’s a lot of homemade stuff.}}
Of course I forgot to remove Addy’s “third eye”.
And then it was time for presents.
What better way to wrap up the party than with a pinata, am I right?
Victory!!
Good thing I made a second one…
Although you can probably tell from this picture that the second pinata was short-lived.
As the party drew to a close, we surveyed the damage…
I’d say the party was a huge hit. 🙂
Adelyn is 3 years, 1.5 weeks old and Colton is 11 months, 2 weeks old.
Things have been so crazy (good-crazy!) around here the past few days that I’m just NOW getting to post something very important.
Our daughter turned 3 years old on Friday!!!!!
Where has the time gone??
From this…
10 days old.
to this.
All in the blink of an eye!
Adelyn has grown into an outgoing, exciting, curious, eager, sweet, thoughtful and completely lovable pre-schooler. She loves to make friends. She loves to learn. She loves to try new things. She’s an outdoor fanatic. We couldn’t ask for a more wonderful daughter. She handled the transition to “big sister”hood very well and genuinely loves Colton. Even though there are times when she can be decidedly challenging, that’s what being a pre-schooler is all about. Her inquisitive nature is something I hope she holds on to for the rest of her life.
We love you beagaloo!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How did our pre-schooler spend her day?
She woke up excited and in a great mood because she knew that today! was! her! birthday!
Party hat!
Her big birthday present from Momma and Daddy was an easel with a chalkboard on one side and a white board on the other. I also sewed a ruffled smock for her to wear when she paints thanks to this tutorial from Make it and Love it. {{Super easy tutorial, and I love how her smock turned out.}}
She jumped up and down when she saw the easel…
and dove right in before breakfast.
Doesn’t she look like a little wizard with her hat and smock??
Finger painting. Colton enjoys the easel too.
She photographed her first easel painting. Lovely work.
After coloring up an appetite, Adelyn enjoyed a birthday pancake shaped like a “3” (although, I admit, I think it looks more like a fetus than a number three… you can’t “unsee” the fetus now, can you! You’re welcome.).
I promise she enjoyed it!
And after that, it was back to the easel!
Look at that enthusiasm! These kids are into art.
Shortly after lunch, Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Kim arrived for the weekend. Lots of spoiling and playing ensued.
Doing some engineering with Grandpa.
She wanted a picture of her clip on earrings.
Also? Apparently my girl is a model. Does this, or does this not, look like an actress’ headshot?!?!
I We had our hearts set on Thai food for dinner (that’s all I wanted for my birthday – which happens to be the day before Addy’s!), but alas, they were closed for a graduation. ::grumble, grumble:: But we enjoyed a delicious dinner of bbq instead!
Colton sure enjoyed it.
Next came cupcakes and presents.
Showing off all her beautiful jewelry from Great Grandma Archer.
The last present she opened was a big surprise out in the garage. With some help from Auntie Kim, Addy unveiled…
A kitchen! A kitchen that actually has running water!!
My parents built this little kitchen themselves. Let’s take a moment to admire it! There is a pump rigged up under the counter so when Addy pushes and pulls the little black lever just to the right of the faucet, water comes pouring out! And the other neat thing? The sink drains. Addy can pop up the center of the drain and the water flows out the back. How genius is that?! My Mom did an awesome job making the stained glass window. {{Side note: Mom has her own Etsy shop where she sells some of the stained glass lanterns, lamps, night lights, and candle accessories that she makes by hand. Seriously, she is amazing. Some of my favorites include this, this and this. Check it out: Ethereal Elegance}}
My Dad with the kitchen just after they finished it.
The kitchen is seriously awesome. Addy’s has been playing with it non-stop.
Like a little housewife, doing the dishes while wearing her pearls.
That about wraps up Adelyn’s birthday day! Next up is her birthday fiesta, so stay tunnnnned…
Adelyn is 3 years, 5 days old, and Colton is 11 months, 2 weeks old.
Well, the special treasures that the Easter wabbits left behind…
Let’s start with the Easter Egg hunt we went to last weekend! Just like last year, we went to an egg hunt put on by the Pinetree Church of Christ.
Look! A family shot!
Colton was the best looking boy there (next to Daddy, of course). Doesn’t he look handsome in his sweater vest?
Momma and Addy with our dear friends, Rachel and Hannah Clare.
Look how much the girls have grown in the past year! {{Hannah Clare and Adelyn, Easter 2011}}
Adelyn collected 9 eggs this year!
Colton says “Just wait until next year…”.
This morning, we partook in another egg hunt after the Easter bunny stopped by our house. Colton made sure he was dressed properly before getting started.
{{He sure knows how to model!}}
Addy is a master egg hunter now. She was moving so fast, most of the shots are of the back of her head. She found eggs on window sills…
In a stinky shoe…
By the pack ‘n play…
Colton found a few eggs too…
But he was more interested in inspecting Addy’s basket.
She wasn’t crazy about that idea… {{Mid “Nooooo.”}}
But Colton was a sweet lil brother and helped her pick up the spilled eggs. ::wink::
That’s a pretty good haul!
Happy Easter, everyone!
More Easter pics to come. 🙂
Adelyn is 2 years, 10.5 months old and Colton is 9 months, 3 weeks old.
After we had dinner tonight, we made homemade ice cream in a Ziploc baggy.
Ya, we did!
And let me tell you, it was a piece of cake (er… bowl of icecream?). We mixed everything up, put on gloves and shook the ice-filled baggy for about 10 minutes. Voila! Delicious ice cream.
Colton was excited about it.
Addy started with the shaking of the baggy…
but I soon took over shaking responsibility because the bag got cold.
I’m talking COLD folks. My hands were frozen by the end of the 10 minutes, so I would definitely wear gloves. Probably something heavier than the thin gloves I wore…{{Seriously, my fingers were an angry shade of red by the end of the shaking.}}
Time’s up!
Inspecting the ice cream.
Looks good.
Looks real good.
Derek says this is how he knew the ice cream endeavor was a success.
Did Addy approve?
You bet she did!
Colton’s impression of Addy begging for some ice cream. Poor lil man didn’t join in on the ice cream tasting (this time…). {{And don’t worry, we didn’t tease him with ice cream to get this shot. ;)}}
Want to try your hand at making ice cream in a baggy? {{You know you do!}}
Here are instructions, courtesy of 2 little hooligans.
– 2 tbsps sugar
– 1 cup half & half or light cream (we used heavy cream because that’s what we had)
– 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup coarse salt or table salt
– ice
– gallon-sized Ziploc bag
– pint-sized Ziploc bag
1. Mix the sugar, cream and vanilla together. Pour into a pint-sized Ziploc bag and seal tightly.
2. Fill the gallon-sized Ziploc bag halfway with ice and pour the salt over the ice. Place the cream filled bag into the ice filled bag and seal tightly.
3. Start shaking! Shake for about 5 minutes (or 8-10 minutes if you use heavy cream.)
4. Once the ice cream is hard, quickly run the closed pint-sized baggie under cold water to clean the salt off the baggie. (Note: We could still taste a bit of salt in each spoonful of ice cream we ate, even though we rinsed the bag. Perhaps we had a little puncture somewhere… It was kind of neat really, getting both the salty and sweet in one bite!)
5. Grab a spoon and dig in!
Adelyn is 2 years, 9.99 months old and Colton is 9 months, 4 days old.
Last year we visited Mrs. Lee’s Gardens, the incredible daffodil paradise, in mid-march.
This year, we went almost two weeks earlier than last time, but this is what we saw.
{{Exact same place, simply shot from a slightly different angle.}}
According to the lady at Lee’s Gardens, the drought we experienced last summer really did a number on the daffodils. They just couldn’t get the necessary moisture from the ground and as a result, only a small percentage bloomed this year. And by the time we went to see them, most of them were past their prime.
We managed to get a few fun shots though!
Telling Colton not to touch the daffodils.
He didn’t really listen.
Prancing around/over the flowers.
And again, for comparison sake, a pic of the same area from last year. Big difference!
The Zivney men.
The closest we could get to a family photo. Oh well, there’s always next year…
Adelyn is 2 years, 9.75 months old and Colton is 8.75 months old.
Our Little Blessings 