Happy Easter 2016

Easter 2016 was a fun holiday for our little family.

We spent Saturday in Lubbock, hanging out at our church doing kids Easter activity. We had a small Easter egg hunt with our close friends, the Maldonaldo's, at the park. Finished the day off cooking yummy food and having family time!  On Sunday, we drove the short drive to spend Easter with Justin's family in New Mexico. We had a great church breakfast, a little play time at the park (can we talk about how perfect the weather was, 75 and sunny!) , the kids hunted Easter eggs in Nana's front yard, we had a good family lunch before heading back home.  It was a great holiday and we enjoyed reflecting on how loving our Father is. Our kids are really starting to understand the significance of Easter and I love sharing stories of our sweet Jesus with them. 

 Post Church Easter picture with their Nana and Papa!

 Justin and his momma Carrie (Nana)

 Luke & Tony at our best friend Easter egg hunt :)

 I love this sweet babies!

 Kylee Grace 3 years old

 Easter morning with my beautiful family

 Luke and Nana's Easter cake!

Lucas Lee...7.5 years old!  Enjoying some Easter sunshine at the park!

Luke's special Valentine's Day

This sweet boy had a very special Valentine's Day!  He had his first "date" to his school Valentine's Dance with a sweet little girl named Adriana.  He was escorted by me and his Aunt T who came to see this special event!  We got to watch from the stands as he danced away with his friends.  He is so sweet and so innocent and I could not love this boy any more. He makes us so proud!

Kylee Grace turns 3

Our full spirited little girl has turned 3 years old!!!

We celebrated with close friends and family at the local ice cream shop in town. Kylee wanted a Frozen Ice Cream party, and for this princess, she got it!  She is such a joy to be around. She is so charismatic, silly, so so so smart and just a genuinely easy child. She gets so shy when she has everyone's attention. So seeing her shy smile while everyone was singing to her was just the most precious thing. 

What is our sweet girl into?  At 3 years old she...

- loves fruit!  LOVES IT!

- She likes to be outdoors jumping on the trampoline or riding her scooter

- She is genuinely obsessed with her big brother

- She loves Frozen and Tangled

- she gets so excited about Texas Tech and likes to be at any sporting event

- She is taking gymnastics and ballet 

- Her doll house her Poppi built her is her absolute favorite toy

- She loves dolls and dresses them, does their makeup, and tucks them into bed

- She will spend hours at the park just going down the slides over and over again

- She is a true daddy's girl but loves girl time with me!

- This girl LOVES her naps. No lie, she will ask to take a nap and sleep for hours

- she also does not like morning time or waking up at all

- her favorite part of church is going to puppets

- you are my sunshine is her most favorite song in the world

I am loving every second of watching this beautiful baby grow up. She is our baby girl forever...

Christmas season 2015 is here!  We have been busy every single day and weekend. I truly love this time of year and for sure can count my blessings one by one. Having my mother responding to treatment so well is a huge blessing. Watching these 2 babes soak up all Christmas season has to offer is beautiful. The kids have been loving the Christmas music at church, too!  This year on L & K's Christmas List:

Luke (7 years old):

Remote control car

Remote control helicopter

Texas Rangers bedding

Lego's (of course!)

Kylee (2 years old):

Princess

Elsa

More Princesses

Anything Frozen or Tangled

Fruit Snacks

These 2 kids make life and holidays so fun!  I can't wait to see what Santa Claus brings :)

Oh my sweet Lucas and Kylee. I cannot believe how much you two have grown. Today, you are 7.5 and 2.5. Poor Kylee, I said I was going to be better about blogging your life, but life just moves so fast. 

Luke...you just started the 2nd grade. Already your social calendar is filled to the max. You love being "involved" in life. You got selected for the Gifted and Talented program at school. You are so incredibly smart and it is so natural. You are a natural born leader, do not ever lose sight of that gift sweet boy.  This season you are already strong in boy scouts, trying out for the destination imagination (creative events) program at school. You are gearing up for baseball one on one camps and spending weekends with family or playing with friends. You still dislike cleaning your room, but you will help do anything else we ever ask you. You are the BEST brother and that is a huge gift to our entire family. Your little sister idolizes you so much.  I could not have asked God for a better son. 

Kylee...my sweet baby girl. You are growing so fast. I could never have expected time to move as quickly as it has. You talk a lot. At 2.5 years old you talk in complete sentences. Are fully potty trained and undoubtedly are the "boss" of our home. You have a soft heart and love to hear your family tell you that we love you "thiiiiissssss bigggggg". You can be a lil sneaky and love to giggle to get your sweet little self out of trouble :)  You are so independent when we drop you off at church you always turn give us a good smile and wave and go about your business. You make us so proud. Your laugh can make our entire family laugh in a heart beat.

Luke and Ky...do momma a favor and slow down growing up.

 Aunt T found some cute little bunnies hopping through our hotel!

 I know I am blessed with these angels. Sweetest babies ever!

 Chaotic pics are the best!

 He LOVES finding his money eggs!!!

 Nanny lives for moments like this! All her grandbabies!

 Uncle Justin just loves his nephew so much. Joey and Justin!

 Cheesy, Candy, Easter Smiles!

 My momma and sister. Life would just not be complete without them.

 Too many Easter outfits for this princess!

 She is such a HUGE daddy's girl.

 Princess Kylee!

Joey and Kylee = best friends and cousins!

 

 

 

Never let the sadness of your past or the fear of your future ruin the happiness of your present!

Easter 2015 was chaotic, funny and perfect in every way.  Justin and I drove Luke and Kylee and my niece and nephew- Joey and Claira, to Oklahoma to meet my mom and sister.  It has kind of turned into a yearly tradition to go to the Tipton foster care home for Easter.  Its so beautiful, with a lake and mountains and we have a great time!  Traveling with 4 kids was exhausting but I wouldn't trade the memories we made for anything in the world!  The kids had a blast, we had a blast, there were more laughs and giggles than we even knew what to do with!  On Sunday, we surprised the kids with an entire hotel room full of Easter basket love!  Then, thanks to my sister and 2 of my moms cousins, we hid over 200 eggs for the babies to hunt in the mountains.  It was beautiful weather and so much candy.  We have learned to truly enjoy every single moment we are blessed in life with.  There is no better sound to me than to hear 4 beautiful kids giggling.  My mom loves having all her grandbabies together and I feel so blessed we get to make many memories with these precious babes!

"I am ALWAYS here"

Last night, Luke, had a pretty bad cough that just came on right before bed time.  Justin carried him into our bed so he could sleep by me and I could help keep him propped up during the night to help his cough.  I kissed him and whispered in his ear..."I am here if you need me".

So, today, I wanted to write this blog for Luke.  As he grows older and continues to learn about life I wanted him to remember that I am always here for him.  At almost 7 he is already so independent, I am watching him grow by the second.  Weekends used to be filled with cuddles on the couch and playing with his batman cave, now he likes to be outside with his friends on the street.  Doesn't matter, I still watch outside of the window.  I love his carefree laugh, his legs still look little to me when he runs up and down the streets.  No matter how old he gets, he will always be my precious, little boy.  When he faces the challenges of life, I will always be there.  I smile at his confidence but I crave his attention.  I love watching him grow, but I miss being his whole world the way a mommy is to a little boy.  I know Luke gets that and at times he will run in the house and give me a quick hug then run back outside to play.  I cherish that more than he will ever possibly realize.

Luke tested into the Gifted and Talented program at school.  I could not be prouder of him.  Regardless, I will still always be there.  I told him that every day while he was testing.  I didn't want him to feel pressure at such a young age.  So I kept my advice simple and reminded him "I will always be here no matter what and just relax and do your best."  There will come disappointments in life.  There will be many of things he will face that just plain and simple will not be fair.  There will be tears and frustrations and fears to face.  And every single day of his life, doesn't matter where he is or what he is going through, I will always be here.

Lucas Lee...you make me and daddy so proud!  You are such a sweet, kind boy.  Watching you grow has been the biggest achievement of my life.  I am so grateful God gave us YOU.  I hope you always dance in the living room, always giggle when you are really happy, always love others with that big Godly heart you have and I hope you always, always, always know that I am always here for you.

Love, 

Momma