July 4th fun

Only 200 degrees on the fourth of July this year!  It felt like it anyway.  We had a lovely time with the Jarvis family.  Things started out okay...all the kids were dressed to the nines in their red/white/blue garb.  All three kids managed to eat barbequed chicken and hotdogs without one shirt stain!  (I know this surprises Marcy!)  Then the water ball came out...the dry slide became a river slide...and then the dirt turned to mud...then the next thing you know, Kepler's brand new shirt is brown, Holden is covered in grass and mud, and Jillian's freshly curled hair is dripping wet!  At least they were cool!  The not-so-smart adults were in the shade, but it was still friggin' hot!

 Adam and Sasha Jarvis

Then it was off to Randolph Air Force Base for some 4th of July fun.  And heat.  They held this particular event on the tarmac...so hot.......so we did some under the tent stuff like face painting:

Yes, he has his eyes closed.  He kept peeking at the girl painting his face, but he wouldn't look up!  Hilarious!

And last but not least, we hit the bounce houses and slides...this was by far the best part of the day!

Just a side note:  Texas outlawed fireworks this year....BOOOOOOOoooooo, Texas.  Maybe next year!

Swimming!!

Swimming lessons were a success...and I'm now happy taking three kiddos to the pool alone.  It's quite the undertaking, with pool noodles (poodles according to Kepler), swim rings, dive toys, goggles, towels, sunscreen, water shoes, flip flops, drinks, snacks....you get the picture.  We've gone so much, we are the tannest family in the south, I'll bet!  I'm amazed by Kepler's ability to jump into the pool absolutely fearless.  He gets into his little inflatable ring and just jumps.  Little turd.  Jason was able to convince the older two to start diving.  AND THEY DO IT!!!  Our frightened little kiddos dive into the pool!  Holden is able to hold his breath long enough to touch the bottom of the 10 foot deep end.  Ahem...he must take after me!

June brings.....

Well, June is off to a smashing start!  Aside from spending most of our time with our friends the Jarvises, Jillian and Holden began swimming lessons!  Let me just say that they MUST take after their mom...as I was always known as 'the fish'.  It's amazing how they have taken to the water...no doubt thanks to their swim teacher Ms. Taylor.  She has a great 'take no crap' way of teaching and the kids really pay attention to her.

I just decided today to start all three kids horseriding.  It's a little pricey, but I think it's going to be well worth it.  Anne is the name of their teacher...and she plans to teach them everything about horses BEFORE they get to ride!  That's right...my three afraid-of-poo kids get to wash, brush, feed and clean up after horses!  With any luck, Anne says the kids may get to be in a parade in August.  I guess I've gotta get 'em some boots!  I'll keep you posted on this one...they start the end of the month!

Our exciting lives!

May was quite an exciting month!  Yaya, Boompa, and Aunt Colleen visited, I went on a much needed vacay to the beach, and Holden turned FIVE!!  Can I just say how grateful I am to Jason's family for coming to my rescue!?!  It was exceptionally kind of them to come take care of my brood while I took a drive with one of my besties to the beach in Corpus Christie (North Padre Island).  Aside from the occasional sand storm and the 10 foot wide, 3 foot deep, 1 mile long mound of seaweed that had accumulated (and started to smell like skunk), that trip was a lot of fun.  I don't think Heather and I stopped talking and laughing for the whole weekend...and will always have fun memories of sand burns, sun burns, and weird looking sea-condoms (I think it was a jellyfish, but who knows!). 

While I was away, the mice, they did-a-play!  Yaya and Colleen took the kiddos to Sea World, the riverwalk, and of course SHOPPING!  I'm so happy and grateful that everyone was well behaved and glad to have me gone! ha!

   

Holden (the one that looks chinese in his pictures)...may you remember our newborn as a scrawny, skinny, lizard-boy....well he's FIVE!  The kid is awesome.  He has no fear...except spiders and cockroaches (thanks to me!).  He's fun to talk to and he's extremely loving.  He's my one kid that surprises me often with 'I love yous' and hugs.  He is definitely the best sleeper in the house.  I think since birth he's only woken up a few times in the middle of the night!  God bless that kid!  I am so proud of him and can't wait to see what the future holds for this child that is so sweet, smart, and special.  He'll start kindergarten this fall....did I mention it's ALL DAY kindergarten?!?  I will miss having quiet time alone with him in the mornings when Jillian was long off to school and Kepler was still sleeping...but I look forward to watching him learn and grow...I'm making myself teary!!!

THEN:

NOW:

Easter Greetings

     Easter Sunday...did the Binks Family go to church today?  or did they sleep in?  or did they get up early and then ditch church?  Ha!  The kiddos woke to find the easter bunny had eaten some of the carrots we left for him.  "How'd he get in?" they ask!  That's always Holden asking the questions--
       "Why do chickens have feathers?  What kind of frosting is on that cake?  Why do you put frosting on the cake?  What's in the frosting?  Why do you put sugar in the frosting?  Why do some chickens have white feathers and some don't?  Can you put feathers in the frosting?  Can we put frosting on a chicken?"  He's our 'why' kid!  Gotta love him!
     Well, we left the bunny a key under the mat, if anyone asks!  To that Holden says, "Do bunnies have hands?  Does he have hands on his feet like monkeys?  Are bunnies and monkeys the same?  Bunnies and monkeys have fur, are they both soft?  Where do monkeys live?  How did the bunny know you left a key under the mat?"   and on and on and on....
     The kids had a great time devouring a yummy chocolate cake with creme filling and peanut butter frosting!!  And, of course, they loved finding all the eggs with money in 'em!  (No candy this year!)  If you ask Jillian, she'll tell you how much money she collected ($4.31)...if you ask Holden, he tells you how many coins he collected (91 monies)...if you ask Kepler, he meows like a cat!

Oh, and I seem to have broken my camera.  Apparently you can't leave a camera in a garage when the humidity reaches above 90%!  Stupid camera...stupid weather!  I'm in the process of buying (or researching) a new camera now, so hopefully I'll have one soon!  So, sorry there's no pictures of easter!!

Jason's 'stache...

UPDATE:  Jason has informed me the month of april is "Magnum PI Month"!  I guess there's only a few more days to put up with it!  The best part is that when he mentioned it in class, one  guy said 'who's Magnum PI?'.  Apparently he wasn't even born when Tom Selleck hit Hawaii!

Ugh...will someone tell Jason he's growing a disgusting caterpillar on his upper-lip?  It all started when some dude mentioned it was 'Mustache March'.  He's lucky, though (by guy standards) and can grow a mustache in like half an hour, so he has been sporting the crumb catcher since then.  He thought he'd give it a trim the other day.  I turned to look at him in the car and couldn't stop laughing!  He'd missed so much of it and left these horribly long, grotesque mustache hairs poking out the corners of the repulsive patch of hair!  He looked ridiculous, but I didn't say anything until he'd been in public all day.  I never thought Jason would be a facial hair guy...can you all tell him he looks silly and convince him to shave it!?!  I'M BEGGING YOU!!!  And please don't forget to mention that it's APRIL now, not March!!  Let's not revisit the mustache thing til 2012, K, Jay?  (I still love you, though!)





SOME LIKE IT HOT!

We were watching the news last night and discovered that it is dry in Texas.  Is this news? I have to admit that some mornings I feel like I live in the jungle.  We have nesting birds in our chimney and in the exhaust vent in the laundry room...and with frugal Jason leaving windows open at night, I wake up feeling sticky...hearing the *squaaaak* of the birds...and waiting for croaking frogs!  But alas, it is dry in Texas.  We are limited to watering only on Thursdays...the only rain we've had blew by north of us hitting Austin and Dallas...just missing us.  It's gonna be a LONG, HOT summer!!  Thank the lord I remembered to send our kiddie pool with the movers!  The kiddos love that thing!

Oh, and colored bubbles SUCK!!!!  I thought it'd be fun, til I got covered in blue.  Sure, Crayola says they're washable, but I'm not so sure.  They only wash off when they're fresh, and don't come off of concrete unless scrubbed!!!!  DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT BUY CRAYOLA COLORED BUBBLES!!!!!