Cille's Class Easter Party

One of the great things about being home on sabbatical was that I could attend all of the kids' activities at school.  Even after I was back at work we were lucky enough that their class Easter parties fell on my spring break, so I was able to be there.  Cille's glass got all gussied up for the occasion in bunny ears they created themselves (with a little help from Ms. Hadia)...

Who is that handsome young man sitting next to Cille, you might ask?  According to her, that's her boyfriend, Evan. When Cille first started proclaiming this, I thought it wasn't really that big of a thing and would blow over in a couple of weeks.  That was about a year ago.  Every time the word "boyfriend" is mentioned, Cille announces that Evan is her boyfriend.  She can even point out the first letter of his name on a pizza box, so it must be true love.  When Stella was around the same age she had a similar fascination with a little boy named Brody at her school (I mentioned him here), so maybe this is just a phase.  Damon and I just tell ourselves that Evan is her best friend and hope for the best, but I guess if he shows up asking for her hand in marriage in 20 years or so we'll know they were serious.  At least she has good taste, because he is a cutie...

Stella's BirthDAY

At our house every day is special, but we try to make birthdays EXTRA special!  As always, Stella received birthday breakfast in bed and opened a few presents along with it.  I am not sure why there are no pictures of that.  That evening, Mawmaw and Pawpaw came over for more presents, cake, and ice cream.  Of course they refuse to give Stella something and not give the other kids something also, so here is Cille with her surprise...she was really excited about it...

During birthday breakfast and again when she started opening gifts in the evening Stella kept receiving American Girl accessories.  This was perplexing her because she didn't have a full size American Girl...

I think we may have taken the "use them on your bitty baby" ploy a bit too far...

She was so excited when she saw that she actually had a doll to try out all those accessories on!

Stella and Caroline...

Cille and her buggy...

Watts partied so hard that he lost his pants...

In another box Stella received something she has always wanted: booby bras!

After presents it was time for cake...and soon afterwards, bed, from the look of Stella...

Stella and I made her cake together.  It is the same kind of cake my mom used to make for my birthday when I was little: chocolate bundt cake with a tunnel of fudge!  We added our own special touch: melted chocolate chips on top...

Happy Birthday, Stella!  Daddy and I cannot believe that our sweet baby girl is already 5 years old!  You are our dream come true, and we love you so much!

Global Wildlife

On our way back home we decided to take a detour and visit the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom.  Cille was a little apprehensive about feeding those big animals...

But not for long...

Soon she had llamas eating out of her hand...I'm not sure if this one was mad at his mama or not...

I Don't Know and Watts had a great first trip to Global Wildlife...

Even Savanah's ladybug made the trip...

We had a special day together and the animals seemed thankful for the snacks...little did I know I would be visiting Global Wildlife again soon and I would not need a sweater, but more on that later...

Camping Getaway

A few months back Kirk let us know that they would be camping at Bogue Chitto State Park on the weekend of the Bogue Chitto Adventure Race.  Damon and I have not really been in racing shape for a while now, but that didn't stop us from reserving a cabin so we could join the friends for a fun weekend of camping.  At the last minute, Jessica and Savanah were able to come over from Houston to join the party so it really turned into a special getaway weekend.  On Saturday morning we did go watch the race for a few minutes and we just happened to meet up with some of our favorite folks: the Sharbonos!  Since we had a ton of kids, we decided to take a group pic and here it is: 

There are 10 visible kids in that picture and two stowaways, so the next time we take a group pic like this we will get to see sweet Jude and Grant on the outside!  Hooray! That should help boost the boy numbers and handsome factor.

We went for a hike and captured some cute cousins...and their babies...

Our whole crew, minus the mom-tographer...

Feel the electric in the air...

Not sure what they were looking at but it must have been interesting...

Even though we really practice "glamping" (there is indoor plumbing and DirecTV) Damon always pitches our tent in front of the cabin for the kids to play in.  This next picture shows what happens to you when you are born last and everyone else thinks you make a great baby doll...

Cousin love!

Recent Pictures Taken by Stella

When our old point and shoot digital camera started having issues we decided that it was time for an upgrade. Instead of throwing something away just because it refuses to stay in picture mode and wants to randomly toggle to video mode, we passed it down to Stella.  Imagine how surprised we were when we popped her SD card in the computer a few months later and discovered these little gems.  May I present: Our Life from Stella's Point of View...

First, her closest backseat neighbor...

Her doll, Caroline...

Her other doll, Izzy...she posed them in her own car seat (while the car was in the driveway...relax!)

Her best friend Molly, minus a few teeth...

Her perpetually hungry dad...

Molly's family minus Mommy...

Mom and Caroline waiting for the pediatrician on one of our sick days last semester...

Self-portrait with Caroline in the doctor's office...

Caroline waiting patiently...

Mawmaw...

The television in the waiting room at the doctor's office.  We go there a lot...

Mawmaw Shirley, who was kind enough to come stay with poor sick Stella so Mom could go to work...

Izzy and Caroline napping...this was on a sick day as evidenced by the bathroom trashcan's proximity to the bed...that means someone was throwing up...

Stella's piggy toes...

Stella's laptop...also a hand-me-down from Mom and Dad...she wanted to use it on her sick day home with Mawmaw Shirley, but unfortunately her great-grandma was not tech savvy enough to get it going...she is heck on an iPhone, however...

The fireplace...

Caroline and Izzy posing in their jammies on a cat blanket...

Stella's favorite sister...

Her favorite brother...looks like he may have been a little upset...

One of her favorite shows...she loves to take pictures or video of television screens...

Me waiting to take her picture at her Tumbling Tigers showoff day...

How our dining room table/laundry folding area normally looks...don't judge...5 people wear a lot of clothes!

Wattsy is crawling!

Mom, on a not very glamorous day...

Watts going for her camera battery...don't worry; it's a safety outlet...

Cille shaking her pompoms...

Mom feeding baby brother...

Cille walking through the living room...the laundry must have all been put up that day...

Cille-punzel in the backyard...

Daddy in the hall...

The men of the family...

Our neighbors asked me to come over and take a few family photos for them while their kids were in town for a visit.  Stella took her camera and snapped a few photos, too.  I think hers actually came out better!  We printed a couple and she gifted them to the sweet family...

Watching The Princess and the Frog in the car...(you can see her snapping the pic in the rearview)

Brother doing what he does best on long car rides...

Selfie...

And finally her dreamlight propped up on her camera case...