Sun room addition Part 1

I have decided to start posting some pics of our new addition. We have been planning this sun room for a few years so it is very exciting to actually have it started. It is moving a little slower than I was thinking, but it is also a larger project than I had in mind. It seems each day we think of more things to add or something to change.

It may seem hard to tell in some of the pics, but we have the room completely closed off and open to the house. All the windows and the door are now out. This means we have to keep all the tools and small objects out of little hands reach. We have also painted to the outside to match the rest of the house. We were really hoping to use brick but we would have to build up the sides to hold the weight of the bricks and we weren't sure if we would be able to match the current brick so we just decided to save the money for something more important and save ourselves the trouble of bricking.

Our house already looks much larger and more open with just what we already have done. I can not wait to have this project finished and the room in full use.

I will continue to update our progress throughout the rest of the construction.

My shining star

Thanks to our good ole pal Dora, we are very familiar with certain things like, a map, a backpack and stars. Carter gets excited every time the little colored stars come out of Dora's little backpack. He stands up pointing to the TV repeating 'star, star'. Now anytime he sees a star he lets us know. I'm glad star is his first shape to learn since he is such a star to me. I think it is now time to start working on all the shapes.

Dancing King

Here is a video I have took the other day. Please excuse the wonderful background singing, i.e. me. Luke is still in love with Elmo, oh and we have added Dora, and loves to dance to the famous Elmo theme song. I am sad to say that this kid has my rythem-NONE, but he is still so darn cute. Luke is doing so good with improving his talking and comunicating more. For example, we have this game where they act like they are coughing and I over react by rushing to them, patting their back as ask 'are you ok'. Tonight I followed our normal routine rushing to him, patting his back and he says 'yay, I ok'. It was so neat to actually have him interact with me with words other than 'mommy, mommy'. Which is one of his few favorite words to say. Lucky me, yet so special.

Our new love

Hawaiian Falls!!

We decided to get a season pass this time since this made our third visit in just two weeks. It is such a wonderful park and perfect for the babies. There are several areas where they can play and I can just sit in the water to assist them. I still haven't braved it on my own yet, but Jeff and I found the perfect spot to set up and play just in case I get a crazy hair and decide to give it a try. I love that they can play independently, burn some energy and I can somewhat relax (the deepest pool we go into is 1 foot). A few other exciting parts is that it is only a few mins from our house and our 3 cousins also have a pass.

Happy Father's Day to L&C's amazing Daddy

Luke and Carter are so lucky to have such a loving and wonderful daddy. He has always been able to make them laugh and he enjoys spending quality time with each of them. I am also very lucky to have such a caring husband who is always eager to help care for the babies. On days that he is off and I have to work he keeps them by himself and he is willing to do more than his share on days we are both home. I love watching him interact with my babies and I love the bond he has with them. I am the mom I am now and a much stronger person because of him. He has supported me and loved me for me since the first day we met. I am so blessed to have Jeff as my husband and I look forward to the future we have together.

Happy Father's Day to my dad and to my wonderful husband.

Fun Weekend

This past weekend was full of fun events and even some Mommy and Daddy time. My mom was here to care for my nephews while my bro and SIL were out of town so that meant some serious mommy and me time. Well along with 5 little boys tagging along. We made sure we had something fun planned each day so the kiddos wouldn't get to bored. We spent one day at Hawaiian Falls, one at Going Apes, one at Chuck E. Cheese, one very long 10K benefiting the Military, and one evening with just the girls at the Concerts in the Gardens. After that weekend we deserved some alone time listening to the wonderful symphony. I think all the boys had a wonderful time with Oma and we are sad that she won't be back for a while. She is going to move at the end of summer to California so she has to stay put in Colorado to finish up some final projects.
I love having my mom here and I hope she will one day live here again. I told her she could just move in with me, but I don't think she was to fond of the idea. I couldn't understand why, I only have TWO very loud and active toddlers.

Ethan helping C down the slide

Jeff and I on a date

10 K-The Wounded Worriors

Concerts in the Gardens
Beautiful fireworks after the show

First trip to the water park

Hawaiian Falls is a new water park that open last year in Mansfield. Due to the babies being so young last summer, we never made to check the place out. My mom we here this last week keeping my nephews (who all have season passes) so we all decided to make a day of it. Our original plan was to take the babies until about 12:30 then Jeff would come get them, take them home to nap while we stayed and played along with the older kids. I really didn't feel the babies would have a good time, plus I thought I would be a nervous wreck the whole time so that's why we planned for Jeff to pick them up. Boy was I wrong--the babies had a blast and I was so comfortable. We found the perfect pool that was only one foot deep and had tubes floating in it. L&C loved splashing in the water and pushing the tubes around the pool. Jeff ended up joining us and we all stayed until 4:00. By then everyone was sunburned and completely exhausted, except Carter. Somehow I managed to get him to nap for a small bit. I highly recommend Hawaiian Falls to any family, it is perfect for all ages.

My water babies

Summer is here and Texas is HOT!!! We have already made it to the 100's a few days and it seems more humid this year than ever. This morning we went to our stroller class and by mid way through the class I was covered from head to toe in sweat-I know gross. Afterwards we headed to the Howard Moore pool to cool off. Howard Moore is a pool designed for small children, it is only a foot and half at its deepest. We have been spending a lot of time in water lately so I feel they are getting more and more comfortable with it. We only had one near drowning experience for each baby and it was actually at the same time. Carter went through a tube thing, fell under on the other side I let go of Luke to slide through to tube to rescue Carter and quickly pushed myself back through to get Luke only to find him under. I'm sure the whole scene was an interesting one to watch, but we are all alive and that is what's more important. We settled back at the more shallow water and stayed away from the slides and tubes for the rest of our visit. I think this is something we need to do with daddy next time.

Family Fun Day!!!!

When I was a child when we had a family outing we would all call it 'family fun day'. This weekend we had a very long needed family fun day. We all went out to my dad's for a fish fry and hanging out at the lake. We were hoping to have the boat out, but unfortunately Jeff had to work and was unable to attend. Instead we swam in the lake and the kiddos had fun in the hot tub. I am a little worried about Carter around the water this year. He has no fear at all. He defiantly keeps me on my toes at all times.

There was plenty of fish, hush puppies, fries and fruit. The babies really enjoyed the fish and of course the watermelon. They had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, aunts, uncles, Mimi and Grampy. We look forward to our next 'family fun day'.

Corn on the cob and bubbles

I know that isn't really a good combo, but I really just wanted so share some fun pics.

We tried corn on the cob for the first time the other night and it was a huge hit. They both chewed the cob clean. They had fun holding the little corn handles and using their little front teeth to bite off the corn. They love bubbles of all kinds. Everytime they get in the tub they say over and over again 'bub-bles, bub-bles', until I finally get the bubbles poured in. We also have a bubble machine and some little wands outside so the same thing everytime we are out. At least they are easily entertained.

Congratulations to the Graduates

We had two graduations to attend this year. One was my little brother, Kevin and the other Jeff daughter, Alyssa. Both, Kevin and Alyssa have grown to become wonderful young adults. It is amazing to me that one day they are a child and the next day they are graduating High School. I think Kevin is the first person I have known (close to me) as an infant and now as an adult, man that will make you feel old. I now realize having children of mine own that time really does go fast, next thing I know L&C will be graduating High School themselves.

Kevin started high school in Mansfield where he was on the Football team and Baseball team. The summer before his Jr. year he moved to Paradise, Texas. In just being there for two years he was elected prom king and the best looking in his class. He also played some awesome football and was the catcher Paradise was always looking for, he even had an interview quoted in the local paper. I am so proud of Kevin and wish him the best for his future.

Alyssa graduated from Alvarado High. She is one of few in her class that has attended Alvarado ISD since kindergarten. Alyssa was on the A or AB honor roll most 6 weeks and made awesome scores on her TASK test. She took a few college courses already to help reduce her load in the future. I am very proud of Alyssa and all the difficult hurdles she has overcome. Like me her future won't come easy, but I know she has it in her to be successful.

Congratulation to Kevin and Alyssa on your achievements and I am so proud to have you both in my life.

Our Memorial day weekend

Another wonderful holiday weekend put in the history books. We had a very eventful, busy weekend with plenty of activity. We started our weekend with a high school graduation and bar b q in Paradise, Texas. We were able to spend a little time with our wonderful Oma on Sunday morning, then our buddies Cason and Holden come over for a cookout. All four babies had a blast playing in the little pool and on our new playground. We tried our best to get a photo of all for of them, but as you can see and imagine it was impossible. Then Monday we did the traditional Memorial day/beginning of summer celebration with our dear friends Brittny and Adam. We swam in their pool and cookout hamburgers. I am amazed how much the babies loved the big pool. They have no fear when it comes to water. It went to prove that the Manning's definitely need a in ground swimming pool. Now for Luke, Carter and I to do some convincing to get Daddy on board.