Summer Nights

Summer nights are the best!  We invited the Nelsons and Goochs over to swim, BBQ, and hang out in the backyard.  It's so fun when we get together because the way the kiddos sexes and ages blend, everyone has a buddy! That is a rare occurrence and we don't take it for granted.  The kids play hard and rarely have any issues at all.

 The adults are all pretty awesome too.  Everyone is relaxed and so easy to talk to.  We enjoyed chatting and eating on the patio while the kiddos played.

 We played some cornhole and got out the archery stuff too.  Both the kids and adults enjoyed it!

Summer - I love you!

Summer Fun!

Summer is here and I'm enjoying just about every minute of it.  I seriously love, love, LOVE summer! I love the break from our normal routine.  I love lazy mornings, chilling at the pool, building forts, staying up late, etc.  It's all so wonderful and as the kids get older it just gets more enjoyable.

I added a little summer to the chalkboard in our kitchen.

The boys have build lots of forts around the house.  Our blankets are getting lots of use!

We have gotten a few family workouts in!

One afternoon I got to slip away and go meet my friend's new baby.  So pressure and I was in absolute heaven!

We've already taken lots of trips to the library.  Our summer reading program has some pretty awesome prizes and I love that it encourages the boys to read.

I can find them all around the house reading, especially Vance.  He has already made his way through quite a few big books.

I love them all snuggled up reading together.

Sutton snapped this picture of me reading.  A definitely upside of the boys reading is that I get more time to read as well!

Their favorite reading prize is going to Sweet Frogs.  This is a little pricey so we don't go a lot but it is one of the weekly prize choices for the summer reading program and so far a family favorite.

The boys had a blast at VBS (vacation bible school).  They were on the same time and it was a great bonding experience for them.  Every night they came home and told us all about how fun it was.  They also could tell us the bible story and how it applied to them which is a win! VBS rocks!

There is usually some type of mission fund or non-profit fundraiser that VBS donates to.  This year it was a contest to see which team could have the heaviest donation bucket.  The boys took their hard-earned dollar bills and exchanged them for rolls and rolls of pennies.

Keller attended baseball camp.  It was so cute to see so many little baseball players on the field.  He learned some new things and promptly came home and practiced them each night.  That kid is baseball obsessed right now!

His favorite part was probably getting introduced to baseball cards.  They could buy cards all week and the last day of camp they had an opportunity to trade their cards.  He loved it and has been wearing his camp shirt nonstop.

 Sutton is happy to "practice" baseball too.

 Vance has been teaching him how to be a catcher and it's the cutest thing ever.  I mean ever!

 I mean seriously...so freaking precious!

We've also enjoyed lots of games on the back patio. 

 My mom took Colton and Vance on a bike ride around White Rock Lake.  They look official and had a great time!

I didn't get pictures of this but Vance attended a volleyball camp and a few club volleyball clinics.  He is making so much progress and really loving it.  We are trying to find him a team but there are not a ton of options for boys volleyball in Texas.  The good news is it's growing and every team is happy to see a boy showing up.  Hopefully by the end of summer we will decide on a team for him.  I'm super proud of the way he is throwing himself out there.  He never knows a soul on the court, usually the only boy, and sometimes one of the more inexperienced players.  He doesn't let that stop him and I absolutely love that about him!!!

Happy Father's Day

We are always excited to celebrate our favorite fella - Chad!  He always does such a great job of spoiling me for Mother's Day that the pressure is on for Father's Day.

 

He woke up to our standard chalkboard sign and lots of papers and drawings the boys had worked on.  Unfortunately I never snapped of the papers individually but they were all cute and full of love for Daddy.

 Sutton could hardly wait for Chad to read his.  He was grinning from ear to ear the entire time.

 Vance drew a cool caricature (sp?) of Chad and got him some Golden Knights dress socks. Keller drew a treasure map with a love note at the end.  I got Chad a certificate to a spa and a little small Golden Knights something for myself if ya catch my drift. Haha.

 Then Chad hung out on the patio while I made him breakfast and a cup of coffee.

 We sat and relaxed while eating breakfast and watching the boys play baseball.

 After church we headed to the park for a little family tennis.  The weather was perfect and the boys are getting better and better!

 For dinner he requested shrimp tacos and homemade ice cream so that's just what we had.

This next part was Monday after Father's Day but I'm including it anyway.  We went to visit Chad at work.  I still haven't seen his office and he has almost worked their for a year!  The boys have gone one other time and always beg to go back because they love the fully stocked break room.

 They all thought sitting at Dad's desk was pretty awesome.  I'm sure they were enjoying it much more than Chad does on a daily basis.

 Vance in particular did his best "Dad at work" improv and it was pretty hilarious.  He knows his dad well!

 Of course we stopped by the break room and everyone got a drink and a treat.  Keller said he dreams of working at Armanino when he grows up.  I don't think he realizes lots of places have food...

 Then Daddy treated us all to lunch and his favorite place to grab a quick bite near the office.  The boys loved it!

 We love Chad!  He is everyone's favorite and I'm just fine with that...he is pretty damn awesome!

Love you babe and hope you had a Happy Father's Day!

Texas Rangers

One of the partners at Chad's work gave us 7th row tickets to the Rangers game.  Of course we were all thrilled! 

The game was in the middle of the day so we all wore our hats and lots of sunscreen.  It was definitely a warm game!

Seriously the tickets were awesome! You felt right down in the action.

The best story of the game was about the game ball.  A player hit a foul and they tossed the ball to us.  I tried to catch it but dropped the ball.  Then it kind of rolled down the stairs to where a larger man was going to grab it.  Vance barreled down the stairs and into the man and got the ball.  Haha!  However the story doesn't end there.  

About an hour later Sutton said, "Daddy needs to catch us another ball since I lost ours."  Apparently he dropped the ball and it rolled down to another row.  Another fan told us someone grabbed the ball and had left.  The older boys were crushed and tried their best not to be mad at Sutton.  All ended okay though because we were able to get a ball at the end of the game.  The only part that kinda sucked was that the first ball had a picture of Globe Life Park and it said, "The Final Season."  Next year the new stadium opens so this would've been a cool ball.  The second ball didn't say that but better that ball than no ball :(

The boys also got some Rangers shirts.

We snapped a quick picture to send Fred to say thank you!