Memorial Day 2011

Thank you to everyone who has ever fought for our country!!! We so love our freedom and are very appreciative of having one more reason to hangout with our family!

If you could only hear her say The Pledge of Allegance...your heart would melt.

Instead, you get to see Benjamin having a meltdown over not getting another bite. Ha!

So he opted for some goldfish.

McKenzie, on the other hand, helped LaLa make homemade ice cream...mmm!!!

After we ate with my family, Drew and I took the kids to the river to watch the fireworks. Just an FYI, don't ever go right at 9, because they never start on time. Ugh for those of you that have little ones like us! Luckily, there was a GREAT hill to slide on to pass the time!

I lost count of how many times we went up and down this hill. It counted as my workout for the day.

Benjamin was like the Energizer Bunny. If only I had half of his energy!

Benjamin had more interest in sliding on the hill instead of taking pictures.

Benjamin: "Fine, Mom! Take this picture and let me go. I have a hill to slide down!"

Two of my loves!

Haippy 3rd Birthday, Carter!

We went to "Carter-bug's" birthday party at his grandparents farm. It's always so much fun getting to ride horses!

Check out this little cutie! He's patiently waiting for everyone to finish singing to him so he can go have more fun.

Little Miss Sassy can always find time to pose for the camera.

Of course, Benjamin found a horse to ride. He liked this way better because it required no helmet!

ME preferred this style of horseback riding as well.

Poor ME...no girlfriends. But I think she's doing a great job of keeping those boys in control, though.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Carter!

They even enjoyed this safer version of horseback riding. The three of us enjoyed a hayride in the sun. So fun listening to Benjamin keep saying "tractor" over and over.

ME got to practice her lasso skills once again. I think she might have a future in the rodeo!

Even cowboys and cowgirls have to rest...

Lazy Summer Days

I am so excited that Summer is quickly approaching us and we now have a new friend (and a girl) that will be hanging out with us!

Meet little Miss Beth Ann (Davis' baby sister).

I have a feeling that we'll be playing a lot in the yards or at the pool with this guy (Davis)!

And we'll definitely be doing a lot of this...lounging around watching Dora!

Dance Sneak Preview

Today I got to share the process of getting ready for dance pictures with Mary Elizabeth. So much fun!!! I seriously teared up...I promise I'm not one of those crazy stage moms from Toddlers and Tiaras, though!!! The crazy part about getting ME ready for her pictures is that her hair is as straight as a board (I mean like Sarah Wright straight hair :)), so I attempted to use the Chi iron on her hair and add a few curls. As you can see in the first picture, there is evidence of curl, but as you scroll down, not so much. Sarah, now I totally respect you for what you have gone through with your hair all of these years!

Benjamin and McKenzie were waiting patiently to see the debut of ME in her costume. I think their expressions equal "seriously, you had me waiting for this?!?!".

Bemjamin was so over the hype in like 5 seconds.

Meanwhile, I took ME to the studio to join in the craziness of dance pictures. So many memories were brought back to me! I love it!

I love this look! Miss Sheri (my former dance teacher) kept telling her to sit criss-cross-applesauce, but she wasn't doing it. The problem: Miss Sheri kept saying "Erin, criss-cross"! Ha! I love it!

I think she's already got the posing down!

Has it already been 19 months, Ben?

The scary part about Benjamin already being 19 months is that is when we moved Mary Elizabeth to her big girl bed so we wouldn't have to buy another crib. But I can't even imagine moving him out of his crib anytime soon!

• Words he can say: mouth, teeth, eyes (he sounds like he's from Marianna when he says it, too, by making it two syllables), bus, off, up, out, move, "Shish" for Sis, VeVe, and he clicks his tongue to say LaLa (anyone have any idea how to spell that sound?)


• Frighteningly, he can climb (or really plop) into the bathtub by himself and just about anywhere else his heart desires, including the playground set that we recently got in our backyard (YIKES!)


• Loves to mimic whatever his big sis does, even at dancin' class...he might even know the dance a little better than his sissy. Should I be worried?

As you can see, Benjamin is totally into trucks and can pretty much find anyway to incorporate them in his daily life.

A quick trip to Texas

We covered a lot of ground while we were in Texas for my cousin Alex's graduation. Before we went to see Alex graduate, we stopped by Lil's house in Sherman to have dinner and play with her rabbit. Have you ever walked a rabbit on a leash? Kind of cute!

After Alex's graduation, we stayed with Aunt Vicki and Uncle Bobo in Hurst. We got there just in time to head over to Ft. Worth to watch the cattle stampede. It was truly a first for me and was so much fun! There were tons of activities for the kids...it's just too bad that between me, LaLa, Aunt Vicki, and Uncle Bobo none of us actually took our wallets down to the brick road, so we did a lot of watching.

The kids did get to see and feed some goats.

Benjamin got to show Aunt Vicki his new thing these days...kissing everything right on the mouth (even goats)! Real "towboys"!

ME showed us how to properly strike a pose with a goat.

Sadly, though, the kids had to go to jail. I just didn't know that they would let you accessorize when you're in the slammer. I think pink is a great accent for these cloths, don't you?

"Let me out!!!"

Somebody graduated!

LaLa and I traveled to North Texas with Benjamin and ME to see my cousin Alex graduate. Although it was a very quick trip, it was still fun to get to see all of our relatives.

ME felt that she needed to fill out a survey about North TX before she could watch the graduation ceremony.
Benjamin also had to fill out a survey...he just had to sit down for his so he could gather all of his thoughts.

A lot of the Hansard family. We're so proud of Alex!

Benjamin loved cousin Alex...she had food on her finger. Duh!

Me and my little goofball enjoying the graduation brunch.

ME went back in time

LaLa took Mary Elizabeth to the Farmer's Market today and then ended up kidnapping her for the day. They took a detour downtown to the Historic AR Museum. From the looks of all the pics, I'm pretty sure she had a blast!

She's cranking the wheel to make rope.ME got to lasso her rope (one of her favorite things to do, btw) after she made it.

My sweet ME wrapped bandages for the soldiers.

After their trip to the Museum, ME spotted a wading pool that she had to dip her feet in.

Then she told LaLa that she needed a snack. I think a cupcake is a great option for a snack!

Luckily Mother's Day is tomorrow and they brought me some to share with my family.