14 years...Wow

Baseball

Another season of baseball has come and gone. Bodin did great as usual.

They rotate positions, but I must say he did an awesome job as catcher and he looked mighty cute while doing it.

Moody Gardens...The Rainforest

We went down to Moody Gardens, Rainforest Exhibit. It has recently been re-opened after being flooded during Hurricane Ike. We loved this place!

Oh how this reminds me of my favorite place on Earth...HAWAII!

We could not believe the monkey sitting right there.

There were tons of beautiful birds of all different colors.

That night they were opening the Festival of Lights for Christmas. We watched Santa and his elves parachute in. Very Cool! We then went home because I think everyone in Houston came out for the Festival of Lights. Way too many people when I have 4 kids to keep track of. We will have to come back some other time.

Spending some time with Grandma and Grandpa Cobb

Jim and Danielle took the kids to stay at their hotel while they were here. The kids loved it!

The Childrens Museum of Houston

We took a trip to the Childrens Museum in Houston while Jim and Danielle were here. There was a ton for the kids to do.

Journey loved this big red chair.

The optical illusions. I walk right on passed these. My brain does not work this way so why frustrate myself.

The boys were trying to build a bridge across this.

The only reason Ben is higher than me is because I have a ten pound weighted purse on my shoulder.

The face painting was my favorite part of the whole trip. Journey loves to get into make-up so she was totally into this. Bodin is a little obsessed with being a black ninja lately. He was making this dream come to life. I can only imagine what everyone was thinking as they saw my little black ninja throughout the day.

This climbing contraption had some tight spaces throughout. I am a bit surprised Jim made it. What a trooper!

Journey is going to be a vet. Here favorite station. Boy was she mad when she had to put the animals back in their kennels.

And onto the boat races...

McKinna was at a birthday party. We did not forget to bring her with us:)

Letters

Ben had been practicing baseball with Bodin on a Saturday afternoon. After he came in I inquired how it went. Ben said that he did well, but he was a little lazy going after the ball. A few days later I was picking up his room and found this. Bodin is tenderhearted and we have to be really careful what we say to him. I think the end is funny, 10+10...=110 airheads. Where did that come from?

McKinna wrote this letter from school last week. Unfortunately, she will not drop the subject of hamsters. "Mom, I want to do my science fair project using a hamster. I am going to see how fast it runs on its' ball in different situations. I need it soon!" "Mom, can I pleeeease have a hamster for Christmas?" We have gone through so many hamsters and they all end in demise. Our last one was evil with red eyes and all.

McKade is Three!

Of course the Dr. Appt. details first:

Height 3 Ft

Weight 27 lbs.

Percentages on the chart: We don't discuss:) But you can guess...at the bottom

He was lucky to have Brandon, Erin, Gracen, and Ava here for his big day. We had cake and ice cream and he opened his presents. He loved all of them, but his favorite is his new Spiderman bike. He thinks he is a big boy and rides it all over. He begs to ride it in the street, which he rarely gets to do.

In other news: he has started his speech therapy classes and is doing well. He loves to go and he adores his teacher. He is always saying teacher this and teacher that. It is super cute. He has a killer personality and is not shy at all. We were in the grocery store the other day and he was getting the groceries out of the cart and putting them on the conveyer belt. He yells to the checker and bagger, "Hey people, watch out we have a ton on food!" He is pounding his fists in his palm while he says this. They laugh and I chuckle a bit to myself and so he now has made it a tradition to do it everytime we check out. Can the kid just be quiet?

He loves his brother and sisters. He waits impatiently for Bodin to get home everyday so they can play Beyblades together. Journey and McKade play all day, and he defends her if he ever thinks that she is getting pushed around. McKade loves to be included with McKinna and her group of friends, although the acceptance is getting rarer these days. We sure LOVE him and the spunk he adds to our family. One of my favorite things he does is that many times a day he will tell me I am the best mom ever. "Thanks for making cookies mom. You are the best mom ever." Then his little Journey echo follows up with, "ever ever ever." I LOVE it!