Birthday Celebrations

Well, Kaylyn's birthday is off to a grand start. First, a birthday dinner at Chuy's in The Woodlands on Monday night with Nia and Papa. We had dinner and cupcakes. Then Kaylyn opened gifts. She got a personally engraved Disney snowglobe in a birthday theme. She also got a Disney Girl doll (Disney's version of an American Girl doll) along with a Belle outfit and a Tinkerbell outfit. Very cute!

On Tuesday Brian brought a purple butterfly cupcake cake to Kaylyn's school. We left one of our cameras with her teacher, Ms. Liz. They took pictures for us while her classmates sang Happy Birthday to her. I'm sure she loved it!

Then, Tuesday afternoon, Uncle Scott met Brian and the kids at Chuck E. Cheese. They had pizza and played games for 2 1/2 hours. Of course Kaylyn and Jack didn't really care about the pizza, they just wanted to play! Kaylyn got a really cool Ni-Hao Kailan Lego set from Uncle Scott and Aunt Kathleen.

Finally, when I got home from work, Brian had decorated the house and Kaylyn got to open gifts and have birthday cake. She got her long-awaited Ladybug Pillow Pet. She also got a soccer ball, Play-Doh Ice Cream Shop and Prince Naveen doll. To top off the day, we watched "Today's Birthdays" on the Sunnyside Up Show on Sprout and the card that I had made several weeks ago made it onto the show. Kaylyn was so excited that Chica got her birthday card and that her picture was on TV. What a lucky girl!!



To see pictures click on the various links below.

Pictures from Chuy's Birthday Dinner, click here.
Pictures from Colony Kids Party, click here.
Pictures from Chuck E. Cheese, click here.
Pictures from home, click here.

Birthday Coming Up...

Not much to post right now, but Kaylyn's 5th birthday is almost here (on Tuesday). I'm sure I'll have something to post by then. Otherwise, highlights from this week...

1. Kaylyn had her pre-K graduation party on Friday at school which I missed because I had to work,
2. Kaylyn has claimed that she is "allergic" to beans,
3. Jack has learned to play freeze dance (very cute!),
4. Jack hit Kaylyn so hard in the face with a toy car that she got a nosebleed....Kaylyn is fine, and last but not least
5. Jack has decided to give up his afternoon nap every day this week!

Never a dull moment around here. At least Kaylyn's Ladybug Pillow Pal arrived in the mail. Of course she asked for the ladybug, which is the number one seller and on back order for several weeks. Fortunately it has arrived and is currently wrapped and hidden in the back of my closet. I'm sure I'll have pictures to post of her with her ladybug next week. 'Til then!

Another Year Flown By

Brian and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary this past Saturday. Brian happened to take the day off because we were supposed to attend Kaylyn's Pre-K graduation party at Colony Kids. Unfortunately, the rainy weather cancelled the festivities. Instead, we invited the grandparents and Uncle Scott to meet us for lunch at PF Chang's at First Colony. Lunch was nice, the food was good and everyone got to visit. Afterwards, Mike and Chris took Jack back home to Lufkin for the rest of the weekend. Kaylyn went over to my parents' house to spend the night. Wow! A whole night without kids?? Brian surprised me by making reservations at America's in the Galleria area. We ate there one other time.....the night that he proposed. The food was excellent and I found out that I definitely prefer a classic red sangria vs. a white sangria (2 completely different drinks!). I had the pork carnitas, Brian had the churrasco steak. We split some bread pudding and tres leches for dessert. We could barely breathe when we left, we were so full!! Afterwards, we headed home and watched AVATAR in HD. It was a nice anniversary celebration. I am looking forward to many more in the future!

Moving on to bigger things....like kindergarten!

Kaylyn is almost ready to graduate from pre-school at Colony Kids. She is registered to start Kindergarten in the fall at Palmer Elementary School. She will officially become a Palmer Bear!

She has learned so much this year. She is an expert with her colors, numbers and shapes. She can count to 100 and she has begun reading. She has participated in school spelling bees and can recite many nursery rhymes from memory. She also has been taking gymnastics and computer classes as extra-curricular activities. This Saturday will be her graduation party, then 2 more weeks of school before the summer break. Brian and I are so proud of how well she's done! Here she is in her cap and gown.

Rockin' Mother's Day Concert

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies, grandmommies, aunts, moms-in-law, godmoms and every female who influences someone else's life. I had a great day hanging out with my family at my parent's house. We had barbecue and filipino food for lunch. The kids spent the afternoon running around and playing. At one point Kaylyn had her toy guitar out and came over to give me and her grandpa an impromptu rock performance. I must say she had the act down well. NEVER a dull moment with my kids.

Strawberry Fields Forever...

Today we went to Froberg Farms in Alvin, Texas. We met my mom's family there for a Sunday morning of fresh strawberry picking. The weather was nice and the kids all really enjoyed running through the fields and picking strawberries. It smelled like strawberry fruit roll-ups to me when I was standing in the middle of it all. After picking strawberries we shopped in their little outdoor market and bought some other fruits and vegetables grown on the farm. Too bad Brian missed it....we will have to go back on a weekday so that he can enjoy picking strawberries with the kids too. But first, I have to eat the HUGE container of fresh berries that are currently chilling in our refrigerator!

For a complete photo album of our adventure, click here.
To see pictures from my parents house after the strawberry picking, click here.

Let's Go Fly a Kite, Up to the Highest Height...

Scott and Kathleen returned from China on Friday night. Saturday night they came over to the house to spend time with Mike, Chris and the kids. Brian and I were both working and missed out on the fun. Brian and I had bought a new swing set that we were putting together in the back yard. We were interrupted by the rain the other day, so the project was left more than half unfinished. Mike and Chris finished putting the set together for us. The kids spent the afternoon playing in the back yard. Later in the afternoon Scott and Kathleen arrived with presents for the kids from their trip. One of the presents was a new kite. Scott and Kaylyn had lots of fun flying the kites in the neighborhood. To see some pictures I posted a link to Scott's Flickr photo album here.