Happy Birthday to Brinley! We can't believe she is 9 years old!
Making faces with her breakfast
Granny and Kelly sent her donuts she was so excited and surprised!
YUMMY!!!
Brinley cracks me up. We have a thing on our birthday where you don't have to do homework, but the siblings still have homework. Brinley said for her birthday she wants to have no one do homework. I laughed and asked her why. She said that she will be bored while everyone does school. ha ha. She is definitely a social butterfly!
She wanted to have a picnic outside and play with the swing!
There was a time during the day that everyone was inside and Brinley was outside by herself playing on the swing. I saw her in the window and went out and had a little one on one time. It was so much fun to laugh and swing with her. If I could describe Brinley I would say she is FUN and IN THE MOMENT!
Brinely's birthday was on Friday so we had a date night on her birthday. She chose Olive Garden for dinner and then we walked around the zoo park.
DELICIOUS!
This picture makes me laugh. Right before this picture Derek farted.
I love how when I walk with the girls, they will hold my hand. I am soaking up this!
To top off the night, we got ice cream at Marble Slab.
Grandma gave Brinley this rock box and she decorated it.
She is becoming a great artist and she is also self motivated and is enjoying it!
Great job!
This is our neighbors yard that is on our walking route and I just love seeing the flowers in full bloosom!!
We went on a family walk/bike and explored in the woody part of the neighborhood. It was fun to explore!
We saved the turtle! We found the turtle in the middle of the street and it got lots of love.
I don't know why there is this picture but I am so grateful for this guy in my life. He makes life fun and an adventure!
It is such a fun experience to see the girls be creative and enjoy their hobby of being an artist.
They come up with the greatest pictures.
Some pictures I forgot from my mom's trip.
Claire is just the sweetest. She is into writing sweet notes.
Brinley made this owl from a box.
This guy is learning how to ride his bike. He has struggled getting down the motion with his feet. Since he learned the motion, he LOVES riding his bike. He has rode our cul-de-sac so many time!
Family bike ride
This has been fun to see the kids become more independent. They make delicious food!!!
Derek got this shirt from one of the oral surgeons in the area.
We went to the library and it happened to be during storytime and so the girls went to do the craft.
The kids love riding their bikes in the rain. It was pouring and they rushed outside to enjoy!
Derek had an ingrown toenail for a few years now. He "operated" on his own toenail, but it was still hurting so he had to go to the dr to get it down.
Now he feels great!
Fun artist
Ash and Brin have been reading Shoe Dog with Dad. It is about the founder of Nike. It has a lot of business and work ethic. THEY ALL READY ENJOYED IT!
This evening was one of those blissful moments where it was an ordinary evening, everyone was in their pjs and we decided to go for a family bike ride after dinner. It was a beautiful night and the sun was a deep red. It was very beautiful!
Picking flowers.
The kids and I were reminiscing when they were little and in the spring we would always pick these flowers in this spot on our walks.
Happy Easter! We did an Easter egg hunt and there were 2 eggs that had $5 bills in them. Desi and Claire found the golden eggs. This was one of the hiding spots.
The kids painted stepping stones for Easter while swimming of course.
Brinley was so sweet to read to the youngers.
Brinley is starting to really enjoy reading.
Derek's staff did this at his work. ha ha.
Emmett is just my little buddy! I love his hugs and kisses (which is many). My current fave is when he will hug me and whisper in my ear, "I love you forever." awww
YouTube is a good friend at our house. I am always impressed with how much the kids learn, create, craft all from the use of the internet. I am so grateful to live at this time.
Love the imagination
Derek and I are counting our macros and this is Derek's favorite dessert called the protein lava cake it has about grams of protein in this bowl.
The girls found rings and they put them on throughout the day. It was so funny because they were everywhere on their faces and it looks like a bunch of piercings. They wore it during homeschool and all day. I had them take it out while we were at the store and they were all so disappointed ha ha.
Counting macros has been a fun learning curve for me. I hired a bodybuilding coach (who has his pro card- which is a big deal) and it has been so great! I have stretched myself and have learned a lot by watching Derek for the past few months. Well to reach my correct macros I have to bring my own dressing on our dates.
This step in hiring a coach is my next hard thing in setting and reaching my goals.
Derek and I love our dates. We usually go out to eat and will walk/talk about life. I am so grateful that date night/lunch is a priority to Derek and I. I love spending time with my best friend!
I finished my first triathlon!!!!
I remember signing up I was so nervous because I didn't know if I could do it. It seemed like a goal that stretched me WAY out of my comfort zone.
The training is where the magic all happened. I practiced everyday for 8 weeks before the event and I did the triathlon ( 400 meter swim, 15 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run) 10 times before the actual event. I had a blast!!!
During my training (on my birthday) I was going to try the triathlon for the first time. I had to mentally prepare myself. I woke up at 4:30 am, it was 38 degrees outside (reminder I hate being cold and swimming outside in the cold didn't sound fun). I get to the gym and the pool is empty. I was very disappointed so I decided to bike the 15 miles and run 3.1 miles. I felt so good I decided to double to the run to 6.2 miles to make up for the swimming, but I still felt so good that I decided to run a half marathon 13.1 miles!!
That wasn't my first half (it is probably my 9-10) but I didn't think I could run anymore because my foot and hip would hurt while running. It was a big deal for me!
After that I decided that I needed my next hard thing and that is when I decided to hire a bodybuilding coach!
Lots of friends from the Lufkin ward also ran the triathlon which made it a lot of fun!!
This is my new friend Heidi. She moved to Lufkin in January. Derek and her husband Steven hit it off and so we have become friends. Steven is an orthodontist and weird enough we went to high school together and graduated the same year, but didn't know each other. It has been fun getting to know them and hang out together!
I had the best cheerleaders!!!
I told Derek that we should do this triathlon together, but he highly encouraged me to do this alone. He said that it would be so great for the kids to see me do something hard for myself! I am grateful for Derek's support and love. It was amazing because I want to teach my kids that they can do hard things if they work for it. They can create whatever life they desire!
My nerves were going crazy with excitement and anticipation in this picture.
I finished!!! It was such a great accomplishment!!
There was a Spring Fling downtown Lufkin. It was a fun event of vendors, music, and crafts
Our friend Steven drew this artwork. It is 3D in your phone when you take a picture. The shark has braces because is he was advertising for his practice. He is very talented!
There were lots of fun crafts for the kids
The kids practiced getting the frog in the pond
After the spring fling we went home and swam and the kids created their own triathlon. They would run around the swimming pool and do laps across the pool. It was so cute to see them be inspired to do hard things!
This guy is working so hard at his diet and exercise. He looks great!
painting emmett's toes
This trick always scares me, but the kids love it!
It is so fun to see that working out is something that the kids will do on their own. I love seeing how our family enjoys being active together. They came into the bedroom, blasted the music, and got to work. It was so cute!
