a day at the beach

Shawn took the kids to Galveston for a day at the beach. This was the weekend I hurt my back...I was on muscle relaxers and useless to them...so they made do without me and Shawners packed 'em all up and off they went! They had a ball! One funny thing happened! Kyler was out swimming and all of the sudden he started crying that his pinky toe hurt so Shawn picked him up to look at it and there was a little crab hanging from his toe...it had pinched him and didn't give up without a fight. Kyler loves to tell the story!! :) Kailee got to bring her friend McKell along too!

Chloe's blanket

Well...now that Chloe has her blanket I am allowed to share these pictures! Kailee was very insistent that I couldn't show these until Chloe saw her blanket first! Kailee made this blanket all by herself! Pretty neat huh?! As soon as cousin Chloe was born (back in February) Kailee went to work on a blanket for her. She had some help from her teacher in school who was extremely sweet to help her! It took me a little while to get the batting so Kailee could finish it up...and even a little bit longer again to get it sent! {insert very sheepish grin here} Check out a darling picture of sweet little Chloe here!

Painting

Last week we finally painted Tyson & Kyler's room!! I know...it's embarrassing...we have only been here 3 years....no big deal! Ty picked the color all by himself! We brought home a ton of paint samples and he went through all of them and picked a color that matched the boys bedding! He did a fantastic job! I will post more pictures soon when I finish the finishing touches. We taped off 2 rectangles...one next to each bed and made a chalkboard/message board on the wall! They are loving it! Austin's room is next and then hopefully my room and then I am sick of the kitchen color so that's gettin' redone too!

Ty took his turn painting very seriously!

He didn't like being interrupted for a smiling picture but he was sweet to cooperate.

Kyler was wild with the roller...we had to keep a close eye on him. He kept saying "I CAN DO IT!!"

Smile! He was more than happy to smile for the camera!!

gifts from dad

Shawn got home from Indonesia safe and sound last Monday night!! We are super glad about that! He brought cool and unique gifts to all the kids and me! He bought things that they couldn't get here in the states! The kids love their gifts and it will be something they can always treasure! So what did we get?...Austin got this little wooden puzzle thing called a Bintang...it took him about an hour to figure it out and he has it mastered now!! :) It was hand carved!together

apart
Ty got a shadow box with this flying lizard!! gross! All I can say is that I am glad it's dead and in a closed container! He of course LOVES it!!in case you hadn't seen enough of it already! eewwww!

Kailee started a doll collection a few years ago and so Shawn got her this neat doll! It's made of wood and all hand carved and hand painted. It's called a Shinta...she stands for faithfulness and honor...the story goes something like this; Her husband had her thrown in jail and then released her to be thrown in a fire because he thought she wasn't a virgin. She survived the fire and was unharmed which proved her innocence! Some fairytale huh?!
I got this beautiful and very real pearl necklace and some pearl earrings!! Gorgeous huh?!! They aren't farmed pearls either...they were "wild"!!Kyler got a bongo drum...again hand carved and hand painted!! He loves it...it has been a favorite among all the kids!
Then last...here are some pics of the $$ from over there! Isn't it crazy to see 100,000 printed on some money. Too bad it only equals $100 U.S. dollars. The 1,000 one equals about 1 U.S. dollar.

This set of coins is from Hong Kong...he stopped there on his way back home.

SNAKES!!!!!

Here are pics of the kids from when we went to see the snake guys last week! The kids all loved holding the snakes...yuck, yuck and yuck!!! Even little Kyler who I had no idea was so fearless held them. They held a bunch of a smaller ones and then I only braved walking through the crowd for pictures at the end when most of the snakes were put away! They saved the biggest 2 for last and I stood way back and used my zoom feature to get these pics!

waiting to hold the Python and the Boa Constrictor

Kyler holding the python...this snake was rescued on the side of the road. Someone decided they didn't want it for a pet anymore. The snakes body was 35 degrees when it was found, which is bad...they call him Lucky, cuz he was lucky to have survived. They eventually nursed it back to health...but it went for 13 monthes without eating while it was sick!

Austin...he even held the head and felt its tongue! ewwwh

Tyson...he was in heaven!

Kailee....she didn't mind holding them, the face is for the camera

Kailee hold the boa...the kid wasn't really letting go and letting the kids hold it so this was the best pic I could get. It was 20 pounds. So it was funny to watch some of the kids sink down a little when it was put on their shoulders.Ty wanted so badly to hold it alone, but the guys said no!

AustinKyler said No Thank You to the boa...but he held all the other ones!Austin wanted a picture that said...'Kyler I can't believe you didn't hold the snake' and Kyler played along!

Ty's yoga class

Tyson had his first yoga class today. It is just a short once a week for 3 weeks kinda thing that a very sweet lady is offering at the library! Ty was of course sooo excited to get signed up! He has been anxiously waiting for today to come for about a month now. We went this morning and got him his very own yoga mat. He carried it around all morning till it was time to go. He had a good time...He said it wasn't what he expected but he still liked it! I don't know what it was he expected I couldn't get him to tell me. His favorite part was the end when they were all still and quiet and meditated! {does that surprise anyone??}on his way to class

showing his flexibility!!

this is his "turtle" positionthis is the "Warrior"

this is his "lotus" position...very serious stuff...this is the way he likes to meditate!!

4th of July

Some 4th of July pics...I forgot to get my camera out to capture all the fun!! oops! So I only got a few pics of before the firework show and then the kids doing sparklers while we were waiting for the traffic to die down so we could head home! We stayed inside in the morning waiting for the rtain to pass and then in the afternoon we bbq'd. We went early to stake out a good spot for the fireworks show and took games and snacks. We played cards, did sidewalk chalk and ate popcorn and m&m's. The kids had a lot of fun doing sparklers while we waited for some of the traffic to die down! When we got home there were fireworks going in all directions of our house so we sat outside and watched some more and then finally dragged the kids in at about 11. It was a fun day and the kids had a great time!!

who do they love more?

I loved this picture from the moment I saw it!!! I saw this on Linda's stamp blog. It immediately reminded me of my little sister Alli {luv you Alli} We have always joked that Alli is the star child and can do no wrong! Out of the 7 of us kids mom and dad loved her best!...we just knew it!! Adam, Shane, Kendall, Carly, Aaron...what do you think? Alli you can put in your 2 cents too. Anyway....love this picture! Hope it makes you smile too!