Jackson 6th Birthday

Jackson's 6th birthday was this past weekend.  I started a tradition last year with my kids of photographing their lives on their birthday.  I hope one day they'll be able to look back on them with nostalgia and see how much their lives have evolved and changed throughout the years.

In the meantime, Happy Birthday Jackson!  We love you!



He asked for chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, so we baked and added a candle.

It was a Lego kind of birthday

 

Star Wars and Legos, you can't really go wrong.

It'll still be awhile before he outgrows Dad.



He'll out grow me in a few years.



Building Legos (do you see a theme?)

Acting goofy with his brother at GiGi and Grandpa's house.

Grandpa cooked ribs for dinner. They were good!

Central Texas Rain

Memorial Day weekend, we received a record amount of rain in Central Texas.  We had multiple tornado touchdowns.  We had significant flash flooding which devastated several areas including Wimberley, San Marcos, Bastrop, and Austin.  Lake Travis rose over 20 feet in 7 days and will continue to rise this week.

Round Rock had significant flash flooding with several road closures.  We ended up bunking out in our master bedroom closet as we were put under a tornado warning for a little while.  Luckily, it died out right as it came over us, and we are very grateful.  It's estimated we received 9 inches of rain, but it wouldn't surprise me if we received more.  The storm was very slow moving which means it sat over our area for a significant amount of time.

Our house (and our street) sit at the lowest point of our neighborhood.  We have a culvert directly behind our backyard which flows into a flooding area and nearby Brushy Creek.  Brushy Creek (which has been relatively dry from a drought for years) over flowed its banks yesterday.

Our backyard has a French drain behind the garage.  It acts as a drain for several houses in our neighborhood.  We are used to the backyard pooling with water during heavy rains as the flow comes from our neighbors houses as well, and the drain becomes overwhelmed with the flow (hence the pooling).  Because of the insane amount of rain yesterday, we experienced significant flooding in our backyard, front yard, and the street was flooded.  One of our neighbors fences was knocked out.  Andrew had to go out and help another neighbor (during the storm) by putting mulch bags in front of his door because the water was starting to come in his house.  It was insane, crazy.  Words can't properly describe the events we saw.

I took these pictures of our backyard and front yard.  The first pictures show the initial flooding, then it receded a bit.  The latter pictures show the large surge we received.  Luckily, our house was safe and just about 1-2 inches got in the front of the garage.  We're lucky, but many people weren't in our area.  Please keep us in your prayers as we are expected to see even more rain this week.

This is a view of our neighbors yard and the flow we are receiving from several houses

This was the worst of it.  It started overflowing into the yard behind use and flooded their yard

That's our garage to the left

I took this from our front door.

After all the rain and water receded, we were lucky enough to have a gorgeous sunset!

Last Day of Preschool

Today was the last day of preschool for Cullen and Sawyer.  I can't believe it's that time of year already!  This year has flown by so quickly.  Cullen finished up his 3 year old class and will be entering Pre-K next year.  Sawyer will be moving up to the 2 year old class next year.

This time is bittersweet.  I love the fact my kids are growing and becoming more independent.  However, it is sad they are taking another step closer to becoming 'big boys'.

Here are a few First and Last Day of Preschool pictures to show how much they've grown since September.

Viva La Mexico!

Two weeks ago today, Andrew and I left for a week vacation in Riveria Maya, Mexico.  It's the first adults only vacation we have taken in 4 years (yes, I agree we should be doing this more often).

We had a blast!  We stayed at an all inclusive resort with a swim up pool room.  We relaxed on the beach and swam in the ocean.  Andrew swam; I just waded in the water.  We read books in a little beachside cabana with drinks delivered to us.  We wined and dined.  Basically, we were two adults having a good time without children around.  Matt and Ben met us down there for the first weekend.  The four of us tore it up on the beach and at the tiki bar! 

All in all, we enjoyed spending one on one time with each other that comes to us so rarely these days.

Here are some pictures from our resort in Mexico.  I'm still going through most of them.


Beach and Cabanas during sunset

Someone was having a special dinner for two on the beach

Beach at sunset

 

View as soon as you walked out our sliding glass door.



Our room is directly to the right



Pier at night



Live Band warming up



Pier

 



A Pier on the beach



Wednesday night was a Mexican Party night!

A Big Thanks to my Dad!

Andrew and I were in Mexico all last week.  We left the Friday before and came back last Friday.  It was a much needed adults only vacation.  One we haven't taken in 4 years.  My parents were kind enough to watch the kids while we were gone.

However, my Mom ended up in the Emergency Room and admitted to the hospital Sunday night for a kidney infection.  The infection was pretty bad, and she spent three days in the hospital before being discharged Wednesday afternoon.

Instead of calling us back, my Dad 'rallied the troops'.  He watched all four kids by himself and never once complained.  He texted us with a few questions, but never asked Andrew and I to come home.  He brought the kids to school, packed lunches, made all three meals, showered/bathed and put them to bed all by himself.  He was awesome!

And a big thank you to Jackson's teacher, Ms. Canales!  She found out what was going on (Jackson has a big mouth) and called my parents asking how she can help.  She brought Jackson to school two days and to his Kindergarten performance Tuesday night.  Thank you Ms. Canales!

I cannot tell you how truly grateful I am Andrew and I were able to spend our vacation relaxing and enjoying ourselves.  We knew what was going on thanks to free international texting (thank you T-Mobile!).  We knew the kids were in good hands, and I knew my Dad could handle all of them.  If he can handle the Navy for 20+ years, four kids should be a cake walk.

From the depths of my heart, Thank You Dad!  I don't know many (if any) Grandpas who could do what you did.  As the kids say, Grandpa is awesome!

As for Mexico, Andrew and I had a fabulous time doing nothing but laying out on a beach and poolside for a week.  The weather was perfect, and the ocean was warm.  It was exactly what we needed!

I'll be posting more pictures later this week, but here's one from our resort in Riviera Maya.

May 10 on 10

I completely another 10 on 10 Sunday, May 10.  It was Mother's Day, but since Andrew and I just came back from Mexico, we just hung out.  Jackson ended up coming down with a fever later in the day, so we really did nothing.  I however captured the essence of our nothingness on Mother's Day.  And to all the Mom's out there,  Happy Mother's Day!  Check out Sonia Marfatia-Goode Photography, and her 10 on 10.

Sawyer is slightly obsessed with his older brothers Nerf Gun.

My dishwater 'helper'

My Mother's Gift - Getting all 4 in shot.

 

Playing with Andrew's Pirate Lego Ships

One of the gorgeous bouquets from Andrew and the kids.

My second bouquet from Andrew and my kids.

Cullen playing with the card stand that came with the flower.  Guess what he's pretending it is?

Jackson coming down with a fever.

Thibie decided to roll around in another dog's poop she found in our yard.  She got a bath, and Andrew had lots of helpers.

When bored, the laundry basket makes an excellent toy.