Henry's 8th Birthday

My little cowboy turned 8 this year! I can hardly believe it. Where has the time gone? When Henry was just little (maybe a year and a half old) I made him a cowboy costume, complete with cowhide-print chaps and vest. Way back then, we never dreamed that the cute little cowpoke would grow into a REAL Texas cowboy as the years went on.

This year (as in year's past) Henry decided he wanted a cowboy themed birthday, so we invited all of his friends to get duded up and come on out for a hoe-down.

We set up the party underneath our camper canopy. I threw hay down on the ground, put out folding tables with red-checked tablecloths, decorated with cowboy boots and black eyed-susan's found around the house, and hung 'wanted' posters around the area. Party favors included cowboy hats and bandanas. Our neighbor (who happens to be a cowboy!) brought his guitar over and played a little poem for Henry during cake time.

It was so much fun! The kids all had a blast. As Henry requested, we had a cactus cake with vanilla ice cream...

We decorated with some 'real' cactuses (cacti?) too...as you can see, Henry poked himself on one of the extra sharp needles. LOL. What a comedian.

My wonderful sister-in-law spent a day with me cutting up and painting old appliance boxes (acquired from the very helpful people at Lowe's) to make what Henry dubbed "Cowboy Town."

And of course there was a jail! I think that was the most popular area during the party. There was always some poor child being hauled off to jail. Here the boys are pretty proud to have arrested their sister for one reason or another.

The kids had a blast! We missed out on some of the cousins being able to come because grandkids camp was scheduled to start the same day as Henry's party. As you can see though, there was no shortage of fun kids at the party!

Happy Birthday Henry D! We love you so much and we're very proud of the cowboy you're growing up to be! :)

Spring 2011 Sports

Spring sports are always so fun...this year Henry played soccer for the Jayhawks again. His coaches (Coach Dave and Coach Lyle) are so incredible, patient, loving guys. They really make being a part of their team fun. And all of their hard work paid off...this year the Jayhawks won every single game they played!!! The kids were all pretty pleased to be on an undefeated team.

Henry is the one in blue, kicking in a goal. He had quite a few goals this year and was one of the leading scorers for his team.

2011 Spring Jayhawks
(Coach Dave, Jayden, Quinton, Cody, ?, Kaylee, Tyler, Brett, Dillon, Henry, Bella, Kiana, Coach Lyle)
Jonah was back in action on the t-ball field this spring. Jonah just adores the game of baseball. He loves every little part about it and gets so excited about every practice and game.

During a few games this year, Jonah got to play catcher. While I don't think that is his favorite position (it requires paying attention to where the ball is ALL the time, and that is pretty difficult!), he really enjoyed wearing the 'gear' for it.
Jonah's hitting really improved this year. While last season he struggled with sometimes hitting the tee, this year Jonah whacked the ball right out into the infield every time! It was really great to see the fruit of all his hard work practicing.
The highlight of the games, of course, is the sno-cone. What a way to cool down! :)
We are blessed to live in an area that offers fun, family-friendly sports for our kids to participate in, and we are so grateful for the coaches and officials who donate so much of their time to make it all happen!

Mom's Visit

My mom has lived in another state ever since my kids started sports. While we still get to see her quite a bit, we had never quite worked it out for her to visit during a sports season. So this year she made a point to plan a visit during one of Henry's soccer games and one of Jonah's t-ball games. And we actually were able to time it around homeschool-day at Six Flags Over Texas and take my mom on some roller coasters while she was here!

The kids knew we were picking up Grandma and then going to do something 'fun' but they had no idea that the fun thing would be Six Flags! They were so excited. We picked up Grandma from the airport and headed straight there. We got there just as they were opening the gates, so we stood in line a few minutes and then headed in!

There were plenty of photo opportunities...

...some scary (but awesome) roller coasters...
....and lots of family-friendly rides too. Jon and Kelly, Jordan and Matthew met us there too, so we had a big ol' group to hang out with at the park. It was warm but not too hot, and we all had a blast!
My mom had a great time cheering on the boys at their respective games. Henry showed off by scoring a goal or two for Grandma. ;)
And Jonah was just proud as could be that Grandma came all the way out to Texas just to watch him play.

She spent some time getting to know our sweet baby donkey, Smokey. Mom loved the donkey...how could you not? She is just the sweetest thing, all fluff and cuddles.
We had such a great visit! I love getting to spend time with my mom.

Henry got his new puppy while Grandma was here, so we spent some time at the park with her. The weather was just about perfect the whole time she was here. We took the kid's bikes and rode around the lake, which is where I snapped this great picture:
Thanks for the visit, Mom! It meant so much to the boys to have you see them play their sports, and we had so much fun at Six Flags, playing Ticket to Ride, hanging out and talking. Love you!