Mother's Day Fun

For Mother's Day this year we took a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo. It is the oldest zoo in America and it was really nice! (I am still partial to the Fort Worth Zoo...but oh well). Anyway, we went last Wednesday because it was a beautiful day and we wanted to do something fun. We actually bought a membership because we are going tomorrow and maybe Sunday, so after 2 trips the membership payed for itself! Lots of pictures...

Kennan was obsessed with the naked mole rats!!!!

On a mission...



At the children's area

Brayden loved to watch the river otters!
Kennan says his favorite animal is the giraffe...
What a fun day!!
2 tired kiddos...
On Mother's Day I woke up to breakfast in bed. I was presented with a menu for the day the night before...so it was all my choices! After church we opened gifts and cards.

Kennan made me this bracelet at school. Notice his hand on my shoulder?? Too cute!
Brayden drew me a beautiful picture. Notice the holes in the paper? She left her mark!!


And after nap time, Kennan and Kenny went out to protect our building before a BBQ. They were knights...

A Treasure...

So, a few weeks ago I told of the great news that we will be moving to Pampa, Texas very soon. At the end of that post I mentioned a house...well, let me tell you all about it!! Here's a little background...when we went to visit the church in March, we met a great family who just so happen to flip homes. They told us that they would keep an eye out for a home that might suit our needs and buy it. Then, after seeing it we could decide if we wanted it or not. Either way, they would buy it and sell it. They found one at the end of March that wasn't on the market yet and got a chance to look at it. They liked it and saw lots of potential, so they put in an offer and it was accepted with no problems. They closed on it while we were in Pampa for our April trip! After seeing the house (lets call it the Evergreen house), we too liked it a lot and went around town to check out some others so we could make a smart decision. The main priorities for me in a house were 3 (or 4) bedrooms, 2 FULL baths, a nice backyard, good neighborhood, lots of storage, and a nice kitchen with good cabinet and countertop space. All of the houses we looked at that day just had 1 1/2 baths or 1 3/4 baths...not a fan of that!! The Evergreen house was the only one with 2 FULL baths. We decided it was the one for us!!! Our friends from the church (let's call them M & J...not sure if they want their names on here or not) are so great!!! They let us pick out everything we want for the house...fixtures, lights, appliances, countertops, sinks, flooring...everything!!! When everything is finished we will move in (around June 9) and rent from them for a few months while we wait for loan stuff to get worked out. Then we will buy it from them and be homeowners of one of the cutest houses in Pampa!!! Enough talk, here are some pictures...

The HUGE backyard...we are on a corner lot. If you stand in the driveway you can see the Elementary school!! It's only about 3 blocks away.
The kitchen (the garage door is behind me and it is looking into a dining room which I think we are going to use as a little kitchen nook and playroom)
This is looking into the house from the front door (the hallway to bedrooms is on the left, "playroom" would be down on the left past the tile). Notice the door to the right? It is a storage closet, with...
THIS on the other side. Kind of an eye sore and wasted space, so...
we had them take that whole area out to open up the house!!! Looking in to the living room/formal dining room with the kitchen to the left and the "playroom" to the right and behind me.

After the paint job...looking into the living room

Looking into the "playroom" and at the back door. The hallway to the bedrooms is on the left.

Now, here is the reason for the title of my post...this is the TREASURE!!! Look at the beautiful hard wood floors that were discovered after pulling up the shag carpet!!!

The hardwood goes throughout the house...even down the hall and into the closets!!
One of the bedrooms...

That's it for pictures...the ones of the bedrooms aren't too exciting and it's hard to get ones of the bathrooms. You'll have to wait longer for those!! Here are some more details...3 bedrooms, 2 baths, HUGE backyard, large 2 car garage with lots of storage space, and LOTS of closets (3 in the master bed and bath). After the hardwood was discovered we all celebrated because it will save us major $$$ to not have to get carpet. The only downside is that there isn't hardwood under the existing tile and laminate through the entry, "playroom", and kitchen. We aren't going to be able to match the hardwood, so we are going to get some large tiles and lay those through that part of the house. I am having a hard time picturing it, but know that M & J and their wonderful friends who are helping wouldn't do anything to this house that they wouldn't do to their own!!

We are soooo excited and can't wait to see more pictures of how the house is changing and coming along. In fact, M and her friend V are at Lowes right now buying the fixtures and everything else that we have picked out. This is all working out so smoothly and we are blessed to have these great new friends who are doing all of this for us. God is definelty caring for us during this exciting transition time.

Check this out!

Jenny over at Pink Armchair Designs has a contest going on. All I have to do is link her blog to mine and then let her know that I did it. She will pick a few winners from all of her comments. She does great blog headers...I've had my eye on her work for awhile now. You should join me and sign up for the drawing!!!

9 Months Old!!

My baby was 9 months old on Friday. I cannot believe it! I think what really gets me is that she will be 1 in 3 months!!! She had her 9 month check up today and is weighing in at 14lbs 12oz (2%), 27in (32%). We have a petite little girl on our hands! Brayden has had a busy month! Here is what she is doing at 9 months...

*She started waving on April 18

*She learned to play peek a boo on April 22

*She started crawling on April 25

*She is now in a big girl car seat (facing backwards of course)

*She is getting better and better at eating solids

*Her toys are not cool enough, so she chooses to play with Kennan's things and is obsessed with paper!

*She is a very social baby and becomes offended quite easily if you don't acknowledge her

*She has mastered the temper tantrum...she will cry and throw her head down to the ground if you take away something she is playing with

*She has the best smile!

Can you tell me how to get...

to SESAME PLACE?? We had one last hoorah at Sesame Place on Friday. It was bring a friend day for members, so we went with Hans and his mom. Katie and Hannah were also there, so the 4 amigos had a lot of fun! The rain held out for us and we enjoyed some "warmer" (70ish degrees) weather. Kennan had a blast on one of the water slides and requested to do it over and over again with Kenny. We watched a parade, had a picnic dinner, and a yummy funnel cake and ice cream treat before we left. We are going to miss this place when we move!

Watching the parade of characters
Going down the slide...can you see the HUGE smile on his face??



And since I am on a video kick...here are 2 from our time at Sesame Place...as you will be able to tell, Kennan did not want to stop riding the tube ride. He even jumped the railing to get back in line!

Cruising the lazy river
In the teacups with Hans and Kenny
Brayden had fun too!

The 4 amigos...Hannah, Kennan, Katie, and Hans
Brayden got to meet Elmo too!
Waiting in line for the carousel

What a fun day!

Kennan's Acting Debut

Kennan's Preschool had their school play this evening. It was entitled "The Birds (the baby and young toddler class) and the Bees (the Preschool and Pre-K class)". Well, Kennan's classes got left out of the title, but they were a big part of the evening! He is in the Older Toddler class and they were zoo animals and their teacher was the zoo keeper. They have been learning about animals this year and each picked out an animal to be for the play...we were the proud parents of a little seal.

I'll give you a little play by play of the video clip above...Hannah was the little monkey who woke up Kennan, the seal. The seal was to wake up the elephant, Harry. If you listen carefully you'll hear Kennan say "Wake up Harry!" Then, there is a clip of the class singing (Kennan is the one with the head covering...all they had for a seal????) Finally, the class takes a bow.

Some of Kennan's class

I think the biggest hit of the evening was the Preschool and Pre-K classes. They were bees and did a play about all they have learned this year about bees (with memorized lines and everything!). At the end they did the Cha Cha Slide and Macarena. The above video is Kennan's rendition of the macarena...I think he got his dance moves from me...

Kennan and Harry

Enjoying some snacks with William

Kennan loves Ms. Bela!!