We Love Camping

We went camping last weekend and it was tons of fun as usual. The weather was so warm (low 70s at night) so we kept the fly off the tent and could see the stars and feel the breeze during the night. It was lovely. I just love my sleeping back and my air pad and sleeping outside with all the kids close by. We went to Perdenales Falls again and had a blast. Since it was really warm this time we were able to swim in the river which the kids loved! Also the kids found a cactus field close to our campsite that they thought was really cool. 

The wild flowers were really beautiful this time of year also and there were tons everywhere! James learned the names of some at school so he was able to enlighten us all. The most abundant were the Indian Blanket flowers and I got a picture of Hannah with them. She loved all the flowers and there are really flowers everywhere right now so every time we drive any where Hannah shouts "did you see the flowers mom?" "Look at the pretty flowers!"

Too bad it will be way to hot to camp any time in the next 6 months. 

Taylor Turns 30

Taylor just had his 30th birthday! We had french toast for breakfast then headed to church. Vegetable Enchiladas for dinner (yum) and amazing chocolate cake for dessert. Yes, we love our food. Some friends came over. We gave Taylor some Lard. It was a great birthday...I hope

Exact conversation earlier in the day...

Taylor: I think we should start cooking with lard.
Kristi: (laughing) I know you do.
Taylor: What don't you think we should?
Kristi: We should.

Haha. Little did he know I already had some wrapped up for him. So that is why I gave my husband lard for his birthday. I knew he wanted some. Sadly the lard I grabbed in my haste was hydrogenated lard. Who knew you could ruin lard? I just wanted some good old fashioned pig fat. I just might have to render my own...right after we get a pig. Or Taylor shoots a wild one.

We love this guy! Happy Birthday!

Dino Pit and Botanical Gardens

Matthias' preschool took a trip down to Zilker Park near downtown Austin. There is a dino pit there and some animals and birds. James stayed home from school and came with us as well. We had a lot of fun. After the rest of the preschool left the kids and I drove over to the Botanical Gardens in Zilker Park. They are really beautiful and we had a great time looking at all the plants and exploring. I love hanging out with my kids. They are so fun at this age and great for little trips!

Chalk Monsters

Matthias and Hannah spent over an hour in this chalk. They colored a huge rainbow of chalk and just sat and played in it. Super thick chalk covering everything and they got all covered. Tons of fun! 


The road burn on Hannah's face is from a crash she and Matthias had on their bikes earlier in the week. They were going opposite directions and his wheel caught hers and she went flying off the front of her bike. 

The two of them have been playing really well together lately. They spend the mornings together and often James reads for up to 5 hours after he gets home from school. So they end up playing together for most of the day. I have really enjoyed watching the two of them play together and the dynamics they have with one another. 

History Lessons

We are doing History lessons together, me and the kids. We have the past divided into 4 segments, one per year so this year we are doing prehistoric. We've read/learned all about evolution and dinosaurs and early mammals, etc. The kids sometimes write a paper or draw a picture or make up a story or play a game to go along with what we have learned that lesson. Here are some fossils we made with mud. The boys each did a leaf, Matthias' is hard to see because it didn't leave as great of an impression...it's in the top, slightly off to the left of center. Hannah did a turtle shell (from a plastic turtle). We pressed everything in the mud and then left it for 4-5 days until the mud got dry and hard. 

Easter Dress (and ties)

Hannah's Easter dress turned out great! It took me about 12 hours to make and the fabric was, um, a lot. But I knew that going in and it turned out amazing! I was really happy with the results and it was a pretty complicated pattern and I really enjoyed making it. I wanted the boys to have cool pink ties, but I don't love making ties so I just bought those. It was a lot of fun. I love Easter dresses. =]

Cleaning the Bathroom

So I decided James is old enough to clean a toilet so now I am absolved of cleaning the kids' bathroom! Hannah does mirrors, Matthias counter and James the toilet. It's lovely. A couple days before I grew anticipation by saying "On Thursday you guys get to learn how to clean the bathroom all by yourselves" in a really excited voice. All morning on Thursday I talked about how exciting it was that day because we were going to clean the bathroom! The kids were stoked.

So when I was teaching James a few weeks ago the following conversation took place:

Me: So you can clean the bathroom every Thursday now.
James: I'm going to clean 2 times a week-Thursday and Friday.
Me: If you're going to clean twice a week you should do days farther apart like Thursday and Monday.
James: But Monday is too far away.
Me: Well you can go clean my toilet right now. (James ran to my bathroom)
Hannah: When can I clean the toilet?