Blasingame Family

First Snow this Season

2012-01-19T21:12:00.001-06:00

Reagan very much enjoyed the first snow we received this year. It was sometime in December. There was enough to cover the grass but not enough to cancel school. So Reagan and Robert went outside after Lindsey was at school and played for a little bit. Here's what they did...

Throwing snowballs at mom. :(

Building a (very tiny) snowman.

The finished product.

November wasn't as busy...

2011-11-30T11:09:00.001-06:00

The first weekend in November presented a great time to take a trip to Oklahoma to see my parents. Lindsey had an early release from school on Friday and we hit the road soon after. It was also a fun weekend to visit because it was Oklahoma Christian University's Homecoming. There were several events would could have gone to but we just chose to go to the parade and lunch afterwards. It was fun and I'm sure Mimi and Papa enjoyed showing us where they spend much of their time.

Lindsey waiting for the OC parade to start

Reagan waiting patiently

Mom and Dad were on a float that resembled a gondola in Italy

And they threw candy to us

Lindsey watched as Mimi knitted

And then joined in helping make a scarf for her American Girl doll

Well, this is Reagan being herself sitting with Mimi

While we were there we celebrated Lindsey's birthday a few weeks late - she got a great new comforter for her new loft bed

And we sang happy birthday with candles in her doughnut

More October Happenings

2011-11-30T10:58:00.001-06:00

Just a pretty sunrise one morning

Playing with a friend and this is what happens - she doesn't look too happy

Lindsey's birthday morning picture - Happy 7th, Linds!

All ready for the Costume Parade at school

Maeleigh was ready too

Reagan and Emily set to parade

My cheery cheerleader and crazy cat ready to trick or treat

Visiting my granddad at his place

Visiting Robert's grandma in the hospital

We surprised Robert's granddad at his house

The three cousins done with trick or treating

Yay! It's Wordless Wednesday (ok - so not so wordless - sorry)

2011-11-30T10:42:00.001-06:00

Getting ready to leave for her birthday trip with the girls (minus Reagan)

American Girl Store - she loved carrying her packages

Yummy ice cream at the mall with Nana

Goofing around with Aunt Lydia

Getting way excited for the Taylor Swift concert

We're here!

Swimming with Aunt Barbara

And Aunt Lydia

At the museum being funny

With mommy

We spent about an hour making paper cups fly - she absolutely loved it!

Mommy again :)

Hula Hoop champ

Life sized Lite Brite - so fun

Very cool alphabet bench outside the museum

Women of Faith 2011

2011-10-31T11:21:00.002-05:00

What is better than going to my most favorite place? Oh, going with my wonderful aunt and attending Women of Faith while we are there. San Antonio has always been a special place for me (and my husband). Unfortunately for him, he wasn't invited this time. Girls only!

I was most looking forward to listening to three certain people - Andy Andrews, Lisa Welchel, and Amy Grant. And they did not disappoint.

Andy Andrews is so fun - and sometimes hard to keep up with. He has written several great books. I loved The Noticer and The Heart Mender. If you ever get a chance, read them. One thing he said on Friday was "Everything you do matters." I love that - whether good or bad, everything matters.

Next was Amy Grant. I have loved Amy and her music since I was much younger. I remember going to a friends house in elementary school and listening to Amy Grant cassette tapes in her room (and singing along loudly). I was so excited to see her in person and listen to her sing and play guitar. Makes me want to pull out all the old tapes and listen (and sing) again.

Another favorite from "back in the day" was Blair. Lisa Welchel played a snotty rich girl on TV but she is so down to earth. Loved listening to her. She talked about how it was hard to be on screen during some important times in her life. Friendships for her were hard - she learned several things that she shared with us about being a friend. Sometimes, you just need to be there for a friend - you don't have to say anything, just be there. You also don't have to be perfect in those friendships. The imperfections help you to connect - they make you real.

I love my time away. Thanks, Booksneeze, for allowing me to attend WOF again this year.

Can't wait for next time!

Thank you, Book Sneeze!

2011-10-19T13:48:00.001-05:00

What do you get when you put together wonderful Christian speakers, musical artists, and thousands of women in one arena? Women of Faith! And I am so looking forward to my weekend with them all.

Last year I was blessed by a wonderful friend who sent me two tickets to Women of Faith in San Antonio. I took my aunt and we had a great time. I had only heard of WOF a few times before and we were very interested to see what it was all about. There was singing and praying, crying and laughing. Everything you could imagine.

Then this summer, Book Sneeze, sent out an email about blogging about a WOF experience (and getting two tickets for an event). I already blog fairly frequently so I thought I would put my name in the hat to see if I was chosen. Lo and behold, I was. This Friday and Saturday I will be attending my second WOF event. I am excited.

Here is a short video about what goes on at a Women of Faith event. You can also look at the website to find an event close to you. If you ever get a chance to go, do it! And thank you, Book Sneeze, for allowing me the opportunity to go again this year.

Random Pictures That Don't Fit Anywhere Else

2011-09-14T15:18:00.002-05:00

The Gaylord Opryland Hotel

2011-09-14T15:14:00.001-05:00

A very cool place! A vacation attraction as well as hotel. We spent the whole day there just walking around and taking pictures. I need to go to the Gaylord Texan next. Loved all the fun things to take pictures of. Enjoy!

Our Nashville Trip

2011-09-14T14:58:00.001-05:00

Can you tell today is catch up on blogging day? Well, since this is Wednesday, the next few will follow the rules of "Wordless Wednesday" - aren't you glad?!?

Robert and I went to Nashville at the beginning of August - mainly for my MOPS Convention but also for a fun vacation on the side. We stayed with a good friend of ours, Requelle, whose house was flooded last year and Robert led a group to fix it up (rebuild) it last July. She is great and was a wonderful hostess while we were there.

Ok, that's way more words than I planned so here are the pictures. If you want to know about some of them, just ask. :)

I will add a short note here - because this is my future house. Love it!

Loved Nashville and Franklin. I WILL go back someday. :)

Reagan's First Day of School

2011-09-14T14:30:00.001-05:00

I am so lucky to have two girls who love school - and have schools (read that teachers) that love them. Not too long after Lindsey started school, Reagan got to join in the fun. She started in the 3's class at Young Children's World just after Labor Day. She has three wonderful teachers - Ms. Julie, Ms. Karen, and Ms. Cindy. She is having a blast at school and loves to play "school" at home either with me or her animals. So fun to see her enthusiasm.

By the front door, of course.

With her huge backpack. And I promise I fixed her hair that morning - she just has all those little fly away hairs that go everywhere.

While she was very excited to be there, she wasn't quite ready to have her picture taken with her teachers. But we took a lovely picture by her cubby and lunchbox. :)

My Papa is 99!

2011-09-14T13:03:00.002-05:00

Back in August my Papa turned 99. I am so glad that he did too. We had a great time all together celebrating him at my aunt's house. We started the day with pictures outside. They have a great tree that provided lots of shade and "cool" for the pictures.

Here is my family ... my Papa in the middle, his two daughters on either side of his shoulders and then their families around.

Here is Papa with his 6 great-grandchildren (ages 8 months to 6 years)

Papa with his four grandchildren and their spouses.

My mom's side of the family - my parents, my brother and his family, and me and mine.

The kiddos had lots of time to play together - which is great because we are usually not all together at the same time. Here is Reagan playing with Anna (Heather's youngest).

Here are Andrew (my brother's oldest), Emily (Heather's oldest) and Lindsey (my oldest) playing the piano.

I love this picture because apparently Blake was left in charge of all 6 kids at one time. Didn't know that happened - we were all in the other room talking and having fun. Sorry, Blake!

And to end with, I love this picture of Reagan, my mom, and Papa. They were all happy about something. :)

Love you, Papa!

Lindsey's First Day of 1st Grade

2011-09-14T10:27:00.002-05:00

I know everyone says it but really, where does time go? Lindsey started 1st grade this year and is doing an amazing job. She is at Abilene Christian Schools again and has a great family friend as her teacher. Lindsey was looking forward to moving up to 1st with Mrs. Jinkerson. Then we found out Mrs. Jinkerson applied and got the principal job at ACS. So for a few days, I prayed and prayed for a new, loving teacher for Lindsey. Then I got a message from Sherry Gumm saying to check her "notes" on Facebook. I looked at it and saw a letter she had written to our church family (since she was the Children's Ministry Coordinator). Long story short, she was leaving her position at the church to go back to teaching in the classroom - Lindsey's classroom! We were beyond excited. We love Sherry, err, I mean Mrs. Gumm!

The obligatory pose by the front door.

And with her new bag for school.

And the one and only, Mrs. Gumm!

I Know It's Been Over A Month...

2011-09-14T09:17:00.001-05:00

Reagan really did have a birthday party - actually she had two. Blogger has been having issues (or I've been having issues with it!) with uploading pictures. So, now that it's September, I'll share a few pictures from her parties.

In Oklahoma....

At home.....

Reagan is 3!!!!

2011-07-25T15:34:00.002-05:00

Reagan at...

One Day Old

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Three Years Old

Happy Birthday Reagan!!!

White Bluff 2011

2011-07-13T09:59:00.010-05:00

Lucky you, Blogger had issues uploading my pictures yesterday so the many pictures here are now posted on a Wednesday. You know what that means - Wordless Wednesday. So you don't have to read all about the pictures and stories behind them - you just get to enjoy them. :) But feel free to ask questions if you have them. I've had fun taking pictures lately as you can tell.

My New Thing

2011-06-09T21:09:00.005-05:00

I have recently become very interested in taking pictures. And thanks to my father-in-law for loaning me his camera (permanently) and my husband for taking me one Saturday to let me play with taking pictures. Here's what I got that day...

Lindsey's Kindergarten Graduation (WHAT?!?)

2011-06-02T21:10:00.008-05:00

How did this happen? How could my child be old enough to graduate from kindergarten? I mean, wasn't it just yesterday that I brought her home from the hospital? Wow - it's true what they say - time really does go by fast.

Well, here's just a bit of the celebration - hat and all!

Friday morning before graduation was a reception for the graduates and their families. Nothing huge, just a time for us to go and see their classroom one last time and watch a slideshow of their year. The teachers made copies for each of the students so if you ever have the desire to watch, I'm sure Lindsey would love to watch it again with you. She's only seen it about 20 times so far.

Each graduate also got a autograph dog. It was pure chaos trying to get each one to sign the others. Not sure if we ended up with all of them or not. This is Lindsey with her friend, Hannah, signing away.

Lindsey and Kase

The graduates

Lindsey with her teacher, Mrs. Haught (also known to me as Jackie)

Lindsey and Mrs. Lassetter

At graduation, the fifth grade and kindergarten put on a chapel for the rest of the elementary students. This is Lindsey with her 5th grade reading partner, Eva.

Lindsey receiving her diploma (yes, a true diploma) from Mr. Fisher.

Just a cute shot when she was trying to hide.

The graduate and her proud family.

Even Zen came to graduation.

My granddad didn't get to come to the actual graduation because of a doctors appointment. So we went by to see him. He was very proud of Lindsey too. (By the way, love this picture.)

And of course Reagan couldn't be there without taking a picture too. (This one is pretty good too.)
After all the fun of graduation, I figured we needed a graduation party. But in reality, I just wanted to have people over and cook out. This was just a good excuse to do it. On the table I set out some of Lindsey's graduation things - the flowers she got there, her cap, a bowl of blue and white York pieces, and a framed piece of work from school. Lindsey's teachers also gave this to her (and by her, I mean her parents). They had drawn a picture of what they wanted to be when they grew up. Lindsey of course is all princess so future is apparently is as a princess.
We had a great day celebrating Lindsey. She has loved kindergarten and is looking forward to being in 1st grade next year. (She's even doing a 1st grade math workbook all on her own during the summer.) I think she likes to learn. What do you think?

Reagan's Last Day of the Upstairs Two's

2011-06-02T20:51:00.003-05:00

So you all know that I work part time teaching 4 year olds. Well, I work with some amazing women. I love them all. I have especially loved Reagan's teachers this year. They were wonderful. Reagan has been with Ms. Heather for two years in a row at school and I am so thankful for that. She's great. She loves Reagan and can't get over how much Reagan has grown and changed in the two years she's had her. I loved hearing her stories of Reagan compared to last year - it was so neat. And Ms. Meridith was always so welcoming and loving on Reagan. She has taken such good care of Reagan this year. I'm so sad to be leaving their classroom. I know we will see them. I just wish they would move up with Reagan again to the next class. (Not that I'm worried about next year's teachers - they are wonderful too.)

Here's Reagan with Ms. Heather and Ms. Meridith on the last day.

I always take a fresh, before school picture on the first day of school. But last year I happened to have my camera out and ready so I took a picture at the end of the last day. So of course, I had to do that again. I love the look on Reagan's face here. Oh, and the nasty black smudge on her forehead. :)

And Ms. Heather and Ms. Meridith gave each child a balloon for the last day. I love how they tied it to their clothes. It stayed there for a while because Reagan wouldn't let me take it off. Oh, and that same blue balloon still has air in it - after two full weeks. Not sure what they aired it up with but I need to find out!

Goodbye, 2's class! We look forward to next year in the 3's!

Reagan's YCW Program

2011-06-02T16:21:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago was the last day of Reagan's school. And that means End of the Year program. It is always fun to see what songs the kids will sing and which kids sing and which don't. This year was no different. It was great.

There is always a slide show between classes. This is a picture from that of Reagan wearing her tutu to school one day. That morning was not going according to my plan (but when does it ever, really?) I had already had issues with Lindsey and I didn't want to fight Reagan about the tutu. So I let her wear it - over her jeans! And Ms. Heather and Ms. Meridith decided it was too cute to pass up so they took a picture. Not only was it in the slide show it is also in her scrapbook from them so we can remember for all eternity about that morning. Wonderful!

Reagan and her friends singing "If You're Happy and You Know It." Can you guess which part they are singing?

"Where is Thumbkin?"

And this was their last part. They say a fun rhyme for prayer time and at the end they bow their heads and pray. Very cute!

It was a fun program. If I ever get around to it, I'll upload a video or two from it. I know you are excited about watching a bunch of 2-3 year olds singing at the top of their lungs. :)

Reagan's Baby Blessing

2011-06-02T16:05:00.003-05:00

Yes, you read that right. Baby blessing. No, Reagan is not a baby if you ask her. She is a big girl. However at Westgate they lump their baby blessings all together. And any new members with children 2 and under are also included. That would be us. Reagan is still 2 - although only for a couple more months. Anyway, she was included and got a new Bible and prayer said for her. So I guess my child is doubly blessed because after she was born we had a baby blessing at Willis. :)

An elder gives the "baby" a new Bible. This is Steve Templeton giving Reagan hers. He's great!

Maeleigh was also given a new Bible on this day. Kinda funny having Maeleigh and Reagan both being considered babies since Reagan is HUGE compared to Maeleigh.

And these are our really good friends, John and Brenna. They just recently adopted Grace into their family. She and Reagan are only about 4 months apart in age.

We had a lot of family there at church that Sunday. Here's most of us. Aunt Marilyn and Aunt Lydia were there too but somehow we never got a picture of them with us. Oh, and Manny's parents happened to be in town that weekend also and were able to go to church with them.

Easter at Nana and Pop's house

2011-06-02T15:32:00.007-05:00

Since we weren't home for Easter, we all gathered at Nana and Pops' house one night the following week. The girls enjoyed looking through their baskets and seeing what the Easter Bunny left them there.

Lindsey got another new game for her Nintendo DS.

Reagan got gummies.

All the girls got a Pillow Pet. Maeleigh's is a frog.

Lindsey's is a purple unicorn.

And Reagan's is a cow. Surprise, surprise!

And they all got lots of yummy candy and food, of course. Not much more to say about this except that my children are spoiled!

Easter in Oklahoma

2011-06-01T19:34:00.011-05:00

I know that it is now June and I am just now posting about Easter but in my defense, blogger has been having issues with uploading pictures. I have tried several times to get this done but it would keep saying error when loading the pictures.

Anyway, on the the post....

Right after Grandparent's Day at Lindsey's school, we headed north to Oklahoma. We were going to be spending the weekend with my parents and brother and his family. The girls were excited and so was I. We certainly miss my parents living close by but I do love being able to go to their house and spend the night (or nights as the case may be). We never did that when they lived in Abilene so it is a perk of them living farther away.

Saturday morning, the kids were up early. Too early if you ask me. But my dad was up and already back from his run. And dad always jokes with Lindsey and asks if she is ever going to go running with him in the mornings. Well, this certain Saturday morning, she was up for it. As well as the other big kids. Given, they didn't go the normal x amount of miles with Dad. But they did jog down and around their cul-de-sac. That counts, right?

Before the run.

Lindsey making it back to the house.

Mimi and Reagan at the end of their "run".

Later that day, we squeezed in some pictures before the big egg hunt. This is the best one I got on my camera of the grandkids and grandparents. I love it! It's now my background for my computer.

And then, on to the hunting of little plastic, candy filled eggs. Dad counted down and Lindsey jumped the gun. :)

Reagan was loving it. She had so much fun finding eggs.

Lindsey found one at her level that the other kids didn't notice.

Lindsey looking cute and Reagan saying "Can I open this, please?"

More photo opps but Reagan dropped her basket which sent the eggs rolling down the steps. Thanks, Mimi, for picking them up.

I just LOVE this picture. Not sure where my little girl went but this picture is precious. She's getting so big.

Reagan helping Amy pick up some eggs of her own.

Sunday morning and Easter baskets. Lindsey was excited for all the goodies she had in her basket. Can you tell?

And Reagan was very interested in her new gummies.

After church and lunch, the kids got special Easter eggs from my mom and dad. Lindsey got silver and Reagan's was gold. They each had quarters in them and they thought it was the best thing ever.

They also each got a little velcro paddle game. These games are very entertaining and we have loved throwing the bunny up and trying to catch it again.

We had a great time and can't wait until we can spend more time at Mimi and Papa's house in July. I hope they are ready for us again!

Grandparent's Day 2011

2011-05-07T21:27:00.008-05:00

Several weeks ago was Grandparent's Day at Lindsey's school, Abilene Christian Schools. We enjoyed hanging out with her for the morning. She even had the grandparent who had come the farthest to see her at school this morning - her great grandpa Buchanan came from the Philippines. Well, he was coming home anyway, but got to Abilene just the week before so it counts. :)

The day started with a program in the gym. The lighting is always horrible in there plus I am getting used to a new camera. Sorry for the bad/dark pictures. You can kinda tell what is going on in them.

Lindsey patiently waiting for the program to get started.

Here is Lindsey's cheering section. Grandma Blasingame, Pops, Granddaddy, Reagan and Nana, Grandpa and Grandma Buchanan. We had a good group.

And the performance. Lindsey's class, along with some others, sang "Who Built the Ark?"

Lindsey's work that was set out on her desk for her to show family and friends. Her self-portrait in the middle. A cookie in the shape of Africa on the right. I don't remember what was on the left but it was highlighting her handwriting, I believe.

Grandma and Granddaddy looking over Lindsey's work.

Family picture in her classroom.

Lindsey showing Grandma and Nana her African project that she made. Her tie-dye shirts from the previous post.

And Lindsey with her self-portrait. Not sure why she drew herself with earrings because I'm pretty sure it will be a while before she gets her ears pierced. :)

Then we moved on to the Jog-A-Thon. It was fun. Just Pre-K and Kindergarten ran during her time. They encouraged the family and friends who were there to join the students in the running. Here's daddy and Lindsey jogging around.

Pops and Lindsey ran too.

During Nana's turn, Lindsey's class was encouraged to get a drink of water. That's where she was heading in this picture.

And of course, Reagan wanted a turn also. She did great!

Lindsey was the second girl in her class with 19 laps around the basketball court. She did wonderfully! And I think she even had fun.

After the fun was over, we ate some lunch and then headed to Oklahoma to see more grandparents for even more fun! It was Easter weekend and we had cousins to see and eggs to hunt. That post will be coming up next. Stay tuned!

Tie-dyeing

2011-05-07T21:19:00.003-05:00

At school, Lindsey has been studying Africa. One day she brought home a packet of projects for her to choose one and make and display for Grandparent's Day at school. All the projects were of products were things that were made in Africa - drums, dolls, tie-dye, beads, etc. Lindsey chose to make something with tie-dye. I am not one to enjoy messes so this was going to be very interesting. She did a great job and made very little mess. :)

Applying the dyes.

We dyed three different things - 1 t-shirt, 1 tank top, and 1 handkerchief.

Lindsey's Half Birthday

2011-05-06T14:19:00.009-05:00

I'm sure you're thinking "Really, a whole post dedicated to Lindsey's half birthday?" Before you think we are crazy, we had a fun time telling her what she would be getting for her REAL birthday. And you are going to have to go through the pictures to find out. I'm not telling what she is getting until the end of the post. :)

Here's Robert telling Lindsey we are going on a scavenger hunt. We gave her clues and she had to figure them out and tell us where to go next.

Love the look on her face. She wasn't too sure about the whole thing but had a fun time.

Our first stop was the airport. Nana was there waiting with a puzzle piece and Lindsey's next clue. I kept each puzzle piece until the end and then she had to put the puzzle together.

Next was Barbara at Shotwell Stadium. And a puzzle piece and clue.

It was a bit windy. We are lucky that the clues didn't blow away.

Next stop was Uncle Manny at the Civic Center where Lindsey goes to see shows.

Lydia was waiting at Mine By Design - one of Lindsey's favorite places.

We took a short time out to eat dinner at Jason's Deli. This is Lindsey telling us that her next puzzle piece was "dot dot dot or ..." She was really confused with this one.

The last place we went was Nikki's, the new frozen yogurt place in town. This is where Lindsey put the puzzle together and figured it all out.

The puzzle, when put together, said - "Lindsey and the girls are going for a day of Lindsey fun in Arlington. You will go to Cowboy's Stadium to see ..."

And her final envelope revealed a ticket to ...

see Taylor Swift in concert!

This was a very fun way to tell her that we are going to Taylor Swift's concert for her real birthday. She is very excited! And check back here in October (or possibly November or December) for pictures from our fun trip.

Andrew and Amy's Birthday Party

2011-04-18T14:19:00.007-05:00

So I uploaded these pictures on Monday but am just now getting back to it. And lucky for me (and you), it is Wordless Wednesday. So you won't have to read all my comments on the pictures. And I'm sure there were would be lots of them. So here are the pictures sans my captions...

Our Cowboy Days

2011-04-15T12:20:00.004-05:00

Last week at YCW and ACS, we had cowboy week. You saw the pictures of Reagan on the horse. That was on Tuesday and then on Thursday we had our "Cowboy Round-Up". Basically it is a day to dress up and play fun cowboy-type games (roping the cactus, milking the cow, branding the cow, throwing cow patties, etc.) We had a lot of fun and Reagan loved wearing her overalls and cowboy hat to school.

Oh, and she had pig tails too!

Lindsey got in on the fun of trying to take a picture with Reagan being still. Rarely happens.

The next day was Lindsey's "Cowboy Campout" for the kindergarten and 5th grade. They got to wear their pajamas and do their fun cowboy stuff (making bandanas, eating s'mores, etc.) And she got to wear the fabulous (although beat up) cowboy hat.

Not to worry - I have lots more to catch you up on. It just takes time with my life these days. Hopefully another post will come soon.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T09:05:00.002-05:00

So just a few words - this isn't all of my pictures from the last month. It's just the ones that were on my camera. I'll work today on getting the ones on my phone off. Wish me luck - Robert normally does that for me. :)

Just Some Cute Valentine Pictures

2011-03-06T17:14:00.003-06:00

We had a fun Valentine's Day. The girls got a few little somethings from us and my parent's sent cards for them. We also tried the new cupcake place in town, Sweet Celebrations. By the way, try them out. Robert got each of us a special cupcake - mine was chocolate with a caramel center. Oh, so good! Then Robert surprised me with a pedicure appointment with a friend. Then Brenna and I met up with the husbands for dinner at Outback. Yum! Then some practical shopping at Target and ended the night at Starbucks, of course. It was a wonderful day!

Snow Days #3 and #4

2011-03-06T17:07:00.003-06:00

Now that is it March, I'll fill you in on February. That seems about right, right?

Our third snow day was a lot like our first two. Friends and family came to hang out at our house. We had fun visiting and playing games, eating and laughing. Then on day four, I finally found two recipes for snow ice cream to try. And we did.

Reagan enjoyed only a few bites of the first recipe. She didn't really care for it so didn't want to even try the second batch.

Lindsey tried both recipes and voted for the second. It was the one with the sugar and vanilla added. I voted for that one also.

How Long Will This Go On?

2011-02-02T21:12:00.002-06:00

Snow Day #1 = played in snow, baked Valentine cookies, played XBox 360, fajitas for dinner

Snow Day #2 = played in snow, painted fingernails and toenails, watched movies, made more cookies, chili for dinner, played Wii

Snow Day #3 = ? Need some ideas - send me some!

And to satisfy those who come and read my blog just for pictures, here are a few.

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!

2011-02-01T12:53:00.004-06:00

Well, we finally got snow this winter season. So we had a snow day home from school. I can't wait until the girls understand that snow day should equal sleeping late! Hope you enjoy a couple of videos from our morning out in the snow.

Ski Trip to Purgatory

2011-01-26T19:25:00.004-06:00

Back at the beginning of January, Robert and I took a trip with some of our new friends, John and Brenna. We went to Durango, CO to ski. We had a great time. The guys ski three days and the girls just skied one. But it was perfect. The first day was shopping in downtown Durango. The second was skiing all together. And the third day was spent getting massages and little bit more shopping. Really, it was a perfect arrangement. The guys had fun and the girls had a blast doing our own thing. Here are just a few pictures from up on the mountain.

It snowed several times on us. These next two pictures are ones I got of the mountain across the highway being snowed on.

This was our last night to be on the mountain. It was snowing pretty good on us here. The guys had finished skiing and we were heading to find something for dinner. I am still kinda sad that Purgy's restaurant was closed. Although, the Italian place we ended up at was yummy.

Me and Robert (and the snow)

John and Brenna (and the snow again)

We have already talked about taking more trips together and I really hope that we get to. We all got along great and had so much fun.

Christmas at Home

2011-01-24T14:46:00.005-06:00

Now for a run down of Christmas at our house....

Reagan with her gift from Santa. A Minnie Mouse DVD.

And Lindsey with her gift from Santa. A Pocahontas DVD.

Opening stockings is always fun. Lindsey got a set of three CD's from the Charlie Brown movies.

And Reagan loved her big bag of Mint M&M's while Lindsey was excited about her new pen.

And although this picture looks like Reagan does not like this part of her stocking, it was the first thing she wanted open. They were fruit snacks - also known as "gummies" around our house.

The girls checking out the note that Santa left for them along with seeing how much he actually ate of their cookies.

Lindsey opening a new game for her Nintendo DS - Toy Story 3.

Reagan enjoying two new gifts - both Minnie Mouse (are you seeing a theme yet?) She got new sippy cups and a new purse from Lindsey.

And the aftermath. I love taking this picture each year and seeing what kind of mess we made.

So finally, I think I am done with catching up with Christmas. Now let's all pretend that I'll keep up with this blog from now on, okay?

Christmas Eve

2011-01-19T12:53:00.004-06:00

Now for Christmas Eve. We had a great night. We ate out so we didn't have to deal with messes at home. We had presents from our friends, John and Brenna, to open.

Lindsey and Reagan loved the first part of the presents - M&M's Candy Canes.

They also loved the shirts they got. Lindsey was Tangled and Reagan got Minnie Mouse, of course. Thanks, John and Brenna!

Setting out cookies for Santa - two per girl. Yummy!

Oh and these are the other cute pair of pajamas they got. The only way for Reagan to look at me and be still was to ask where her pajamas were. This is her showing me.

And who could resist these two sweet little girls? They are adorable.

Then the girls went off to bed and we were able to enjoy a movie, our Christmas tree, and a fire in the fireplace. It was probably the best Christmas Eve in a while.

Blasingame Family Christmas

2011-01-19T12:00:00.005-06:00

I know it is January but bare with me. With children sick, holiday celebrations, a couple of trips, recovering from those trips, and another round of sickness it's been a very busy several weeks. But, never fear, the blog (and mostly pictures) is back.

Here is a quick rundown of Christmas with Robert's family....

Our Christmas "Eve" was actually the 23rd. So here are the girls' new pajamas. We found lots of cute ones so they each got two pairs.

Reagan wanted to try hers on right away. Too bad she tried on the pants on her head. Haha!

Our "Christmas morning" in their new pajamas. And new bow from Aunt Lianne. Reagan loves her new Minnie Mouse place mat.

Lindsey opening a gift. Love the face.

A new ornament - Tinker Bell.

Opening her new Nintendo DS.

Reagan has her own baby carrier now. And she LOVES it!

Robert got his tool chest for the garage. He is so excited to get it all organized.

And the girls get to share this new toy box.

We had a great morning all together. After presents was a delicious breakfast and then since it wasn't really Christmas day, Robert and I got to go out and shop around for a few last minute things. It was a wonderful day.

The Jesus Book book review

2011-01-17T16:50:00.003-06:00

Finally another book review for Book Sneeze and Thomas Nelson. I have had this book for a while and am just now sitting down to write the review.

Overall, I loved this book and CD. The illustrations are great and I (we) love the songs. My 6 year old sings right along with all the songs and my 2 year old is starting to sing a few of the songs with us. The book is a little much for my 6 year old. We have read some of the stories and they are great. But the flow of the book doesn't lend itself to sitting and reading it through. There are topics of Who Jesus is, What He did, Why He did those things and so on. And while those are wonderful things to read, we just didn't get too into it. I am looking forward to looking through it more as my oldest daughter grows and asks more questions.

I do recommend the book - to a little bit older audience.

Our Gingerbread Village

2010-12-23T16:09:00.003-06:00

Each year, the girls and I have made a gingerbread house. Well, this year I saw a gingerbread village on sale at Target and thought we would give that a try. The village had five different buildings in it so I thought it would be perfect for us so Reagan could do her own without Lindsey having a fit because it wasn't done her way. And here it is...

Reagan concentrating hard on her "toy shop".

Lindsey working on doorknobs and windows.

And a few shots of the finished product.

And so far, they are all still intact. But I do think a few pieces of candy are missing from the buildings. Hmmmmm.

Our First Christmas (well, for this year at least)

2010-12-23T15:02:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we enjoyed time with my family for Christmas. They came to our house again and we enjoyed every minute of it. Here are some snapshots of the day spent together.

One of my most favorite things at Christmas is seeing the tree all decorated and filled with lots of fun stuff under it.

Reagan and my mom and my granddad looking at the ornaments on the tree.

Opening stockings - applesauce, yum!

Lindsey asked for turquoise nail polish and she got three different shades because my mom is a little indecisive.

After the stockings, Reagan decided it was time for a snack and so wanted her new pretzels opened. And Amy, being only 9 months old, wanted some too.

We decided that the kids should open presents while they were all happy and content. So they all had fun being the center of attention for awhile.

One of the gifts that Lindsey received was the horse from Tangled, Maximus.

Reagan wanting to open this present but needing help to do so.

Inside the tin was Reagan's ornament for the year. And of course, being Reagan, she went to put it on the tree immediately.

My mom trying to explain what she got (a Pampered Chef baker) to my granddad.

Blake opening one of his presents. Notice the lack of children? Yeah, two of them were napping. :)

Lindsey loved the house shoe boots that she got too. She couldn't wait to put them on.

Loved being with family. Had a great meal. Got fun presents. Had a wonderful time!

Catching Up

2010-12-15T13:54:00.012-06:00

So this weekend is our first Christmas this year with my family. Before that can happen, I need to catch you all up on what has gone on the last month or so. So, without further ado, here is the last part of October, November, and the first half of December for your enjoyment. (I will try to keep comments to a minimum.)

Halloween spent in Oklahoma with my parents.

Our Mickey Mouse pumpkin.

All set to go.

Lindsey was Taylor Swift, of course.

I love that she has to fill up her bucket the rest of the way once we get home each time.

We met Dora at the Magic Time Machine restaurant.

And Tinker Bell.

My hotel! The Emily Morgan in San Antonio.

The "Well" picture.

Riverboat ride.

So pretty!

Really not a good plan but it worked.

My new favorite shot of both the Alamo and my hotel, the Emily Morgan.

Lindsey lost her first tooth in San Antonio.

We were both thrilled!

My grandmother turned 90 on the 29th of November. We celebrated with a small party. It was fun but unfortunately Lindsey had strep so she and Reagan both stayed home so no one else would get sick.

My mom and niece, Amy, playing at the party.

My nephew, Andrew, got a hold of my camera and took a picture or two. Here's one of Robert and my brother, Blake.

The Christmas parade was on a cold night. Luckily we had a good parking spot and were able to enjoy the parade sitting in my van.

Her second tooth came out soon after the first. And no, we aren't going to take pictures of each missing tooth (at least, I don't think we are.)

Love Reagan in this one.

Waiting to see Santa at school.

She was close to tears but held them back this time.

Lindsey's first Christmas program at ACS. They were the Peanuts Gang.

There you have it in a nutshell the last little bit of our lives. Maybe now that I am caught up, I can stay that way. Maybe?

Fall Fesitvals and Costume Parades

2010-11-11T16:58:00.004-06:00

Both girls had fun times at their schools with Pumpkin/Fall activities. Reagan had two days of fun but unfortunately I was with my class during her Pumpkin Festival. I did manage to catch her at the Costume Parade that we had in the atrium.

Apparently she lost a shoe somewhere along the way.

And Lindsey's Fall Festival was on a Wednesday so I was lucky enough to join her in her activities.

First, just a cute pose.

Then she and her friend, Ashley, decided to be silly with pumpkin faces.

There was a cookie decorating station. This was the first thing she chose to do. Who would have thought?

Then she didn't want to close her eyes for the pin the mouth on the jack-o-lantern. She wanted to be silly and put the pumpkin's mouth on his nose and this is how it turned out.

We had a lot of fun things to do working up to Halloween. Next will be a short post from our Trunk or Treat at the church building the Sunday before Halloween.

Our Pumpkin Patch Visit

2010-11-10T15:09:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, the MOPS group that I am a part of had a play date at the pumpkin patch at DRI. I had never been before but had a great time. There are lots of pumpkins, they have a story time, and they take you on a hayride. We took lots of pictures and I narrowed them down to these. Hope you enjoy!

I am really surprised Reagan sat here long enough for me to get a picture. She wasn't too sure about the scarecrow.

An up close shot.

Just chillin'.

She wasn't too sure about sitting on the pumpkins. I think she thought they might fall over with her on them.

Then Reagan tried to pick up the pumpkins. I think this one was too heavy.

Here's one she can handle.

And here we are. It took a lot to get this picture. Too much other stuff going on at the pumpkin patch.

And I just love this picture.

We had a great time and I do plan on going back next year.

Lindsey's 6th Birthday Party

2010-11-10T09:15:00.003-06:00

We had Lindsey's birthday party at our house this year and had a blast. She invited the girls from her class at school and a few others who are special to her. We ended up with just seven girls which was perfect. I was really worried that my house was going to be way to small for everyone she invited but it worked out great. Here are some pictures from the party -

Lindsey listening while we sang to her.

Concentrating very hard on making her necklace.

We played some fun games - this one was "Frog, Frog, Princess" instead of "Duck, Duck, Goose". We also played "Musical Lily Pads" instead of "Musical Chairs".

She loves each of her new Build-A-Bear animals. This Enchanted Pony was from her new baby cousin, Maeleigh.

I think she was a little excited over this new Leapster game. Don't you think?

And one of the first presents to be used was her new box of toe nail paints and paintbrushes.

And what is a blog post without a new, cute picture of Reagan. She enjoyed the party too.

Mimi and Papa came into town for the birthday girls weekend. Here Lindsey opens a box of shoes. Which she shopped for and tried on earlier that day. Pretty funny!

Both the grandparents with the girls.

And of course, Mimi has to spoil both children. So Reagan got a new gift also.

And the last gift for Lindsey that night was her new hula hoop. She then took it to school the following Friday for her talent show in Music. Pretty fun.

Again I say, I just can't believe how big she is getting. She loves school, reading, and listening to music. She loves playing with her friends and visiting family. She is such a good girl and I love watching as she changes and grows in every way.

Lindsey is 6!

2010-10-15T12:38:00.004-05:00

I say it again - I can't believe how big our girls are getting. Lindsey turned six yesterday. Wow! I have a six year old. That is amazing. Here is a short recap of Lindsey's birthday (I know it was almost a month ago - please forgive me!)

The morning of Lindsey's birthday. I absolutely love these "first thing in the morning" pictures.

Painting pottery with mom at Mine By Design - her most favorite place.

Opening family presents - I think Reagan wanted to help.

Lindsey with her #6 angel. Those her smile!

This surprise package came in the mail. I wasn't sure what it was or even who it was from. Luckily it was a nice surprise. A gift from her Uncle Blake and Aunt Lianne and cousins, Andrew and Amy.

And her new guitar. She has been wanting one for awhile and I found this great purple one. She loves it!

It's All About Reagan

2010-09-12T21:53:00.005-05:00

And I'm not just talking about this blog post. Haha! Reagan loves attention. And she is very much my shadow these days. She is learning to say more things but sometimes very hard to figure out what she is saying. We need to work on her initial sounds. If you are on Facebook, you need to go and see the video of her on my profile page. She is saying "Zack" but all you can hear is "Ack" over and over again. It is really funny. Anyway, back to the blog - here are some pictures from Reagan's first day of school. And of course, the pictures were taken by the front door. :)

She is getting so big. I just can't believe it.

A close-up of my precious two year old.She had to take a picture with her backpack just like Lindsey did for her first day.It's almost as big as her but she loves to try and carry it around.And then Reagan wanted a picture taken with her big sister. I love how she is looking up to her. Just about anything Lindsey does, Reagan wants to do too.And to finish out this blog, a funny story and picture. The other day I went in to get Reagan after she woke up and she was naked except for her diaper. She apparently has learned to take off her nightgown. Well, tonight Robert came to me and said I needed to go and look at Reagan. I thought "What position has she fallen asleep in?" I went in and this is what I found. Not sure if she couldn't get the shirt off or fell asleep in the middle of taking it off. Either way, she gave us all a good laugh and of course I had to take a picture and post for you all.

Well, like Reagan in this last picture, I hope to be out asleep pretty soon. Hope you all have a great day and I hope to post a little bit more often. School starting for Lindsey and then me and Reagan along with MOPS starting up again has kept us pretty busy. I know you have missed reading about our lives so I will try hard to keep you more up to date. 'Night!

Our Baby Girl is Growing Up

2010-08-18T12:36:00.005-05:00

Today marks a new beginning for a certain 5 year old in our house. It is Lindsey's first day of kindergarten. I can't believe it. After 6 years of her being with me all the time (more or less) she is starting school. And to be truthful, I haven't cried today. I cried a couple of times leading up to today, earlier this week. But not a tear today. Is that bad? Or does that just mean I'm growing up too?

Lindsey was so excited for today. We laid out her clothes last night. We had a special dinner for her of homemade pizzas and ice cream. We took baths and went to bed praying for a good day and year. She fell asleep fast and was up and ready to go today before 7.

Here are the pictures from this morning...

Of course, the pictures are by the front door again.

A close up of my precious girl. This one is going in a frame somewhere.Reagan got in on the action too.Lindsey all set at her new desk.

She is going to have a great year. She has a great teacher who will love on her and teach her many new things. We are all so excited and can't wait to see what all this year brings.

The Last of Reagan's Birthday Celebrations (kinda)

2010-07-26T14:34:00.006-05:00

We celebrated Reagan's birthday (again) on Sunday. After church we went to eat at Pizza Inn where she promptly shoved down a piece of pizza and a good helping of mac and cheese (of course). After that we all came to our house for an ice cream party and presents. We had a lots of friends and lots of family over for the fun. Here is a quick rundown of what we did.

Last year we got a great family picture at the party and I wanted to try it again. So here is this year's shot. Turned out pretty good again. Or maybe it's just us that makes the picture that much better. :)

For some reason, Reagan decided she didn't want to be the one to blow out her candle. She wanted sister to do it this time.

And Lindsey did a great job at it.

Waiting for the presents to start. So patient.

Mr. Potato Head - so much fun!

Love her smile on this one. She loves her new necklaces.

And you can never go wrong with clothes.

A very cool (and bright) new flashlight. She loves to shine it and see where the light goes.

I'm sure we will all have fun with this new toy - just look at Daddy's face.

And I made the mistake of leaving Lindsey's gift for Reagan in our room so she got it after the very cool gift of Rody. But she does love her new pink table too.

But I'm pretty sure this was the favorite gift this time around.

And this was when she was falling off the front of Rody, right in front of me taking the pictures.

Lindsey's turn on Rody. Anybody can try it out - apparently it holds up to 300 pounds.

She did give Rody up long enough to practice some on the basketball goal.

She tried really hard to do it by herself. But she needs to grow a few more inches before she will be successful at it.

Well, that about does it for Reagan's 2nd birthday. She hasn't gotten her mom and dad gifts yet but maybe we'll do that today or tomorrow. Who knows? Probably won't blog about it though - just clothes, nothing too exciting. Thanks for reading!

Reagan is 2!

2010-07-25T17:58:00.001-05:00

Wow! Another birthday. I can't believe how fast they grow up. My baby is now 2! Here's a quick look back at Reagan on July 21st the last three years.

Our family right after Reagan's birth (Lindsey wasn't too sure about her yet).

Here is a better shot of Reagan. We were still in the hospital when this photo was taken.

Here she is on her first birthday morning (I love to get a picture when they first wake up).

And here is Reagan on her birthday this year. All smiles (well, that and messy hair)!

Closer up and with the hair out of her face. Too cute!

And since her birthday happened to fall on a Wednesday, we took cookies to church to enjoy.

Reagan had a mouthful in this picture. Lovely, huh?

I guess she was making sure it all got in there?!?

I think at this point she wanted another cookie but all that was in the box was the cookie part of Lindsey's cookie. She ate the icing off the thumbprint but not the cookie itself.

We have one more birthday celebration to come. That will be on Sunday with lots of pizza and ice cream. And lots more pictures, too.

Visiting my Parents

2010-07-23T08:49:00.006-05:00

My parents moved to Oklahoma last July. And the week that the girls and I went with them up there just happened to be the same week as the Edmond Church of Christ's VBS. Of course I jumped at the chance for Lindsey to go each night. She LOVED it. So our summer plans this year were planned around when Edmond's VBS would be. Well, it turned out the be last week and we were there. It was great.

Blake and Lianne and their kids were on a trip to Tennessee and came back to Texas by way of Oklahoma. It was great to see them some and have all the cousins play together. It was a fun and busy week.

Reagan and I playing in the pool in my parents neighborhood. She loves the noodles.

The girls.

While we were in OK, we celebrated a few birthdays. Reagan was the only kid birthday so the cake and balloons were for her. She is loving cows right now for some reason. So we went with it. I think mom had a lot of fun planning a kid birthday again - so I let her do pretty much all of it. Here is the cake and cupcakes. Reagan loved it.

Mom lighting the candles.

Reagan did a great job blowing the candles out (well, she got the first one and then tried again but Lindsey beat her to it).

Our family

Lindsey stuffing her face.

And the remains of Reagan's cupcake.

Then the presents began. We didn't have time for all the presents for all the birthday people (mom, Lianne, Reagan and Robert) so we settled for just opening Reagan's at that time. Then we did the big people after VBS that night.

Reagan opened a gift of a nightgown and promptly went to hand it to someone else. Not real sure why because she loves it.

She was really excited to see this card - it had Pooh and Tigger on it.

We saved the big gift for last. She had a blast pulling all the paper out.

She finally got a glimpse of the gift inside.

And she was very eager to ride on it. Even with all the tags and stuff on it still.

Then later I was trying to get a picture of Reagan with her new BIG bow on. She would not stand still.

And she kept coming running right up to the camera. She was a bit too close but this one turned out really cute.

Well, that is celebration number 1. There are at least two others that will be on here shortly. Stay tuned in the next couple of days.

Our Trip to St. Louis

2010-07-07T12:42:00.007-05:00

Back at Easter we were sent an Easter card from our good friends, Caleb and Ashley Dickison. Inside the card was an invitation to Caleb's surprise birthday party in St. Louis. Apparently Ashley was planning a big party for his 25th birthday. Robert and I decided that we would go and surprise everyone. We were supposed to RSVP to either Ashley or Caleb's mom, Lisa. Well, Robert of course wanted to surprise everyone so we didn't.

Long story short, we went to St. Louis hoping that the party was still happening and it was. We were able to surprise several groups of people that weekend and we had lots of fun doing it. We first went to the mall and surprised Lisa, Jordan and Brianna. Ted was in on it so that he could get the rest of them to the mall. Lindsey ran up to the group (with us watching from a distance). They looked at her and kept saying, "what are you doing here?" and then they finally saw us. We then spent the next couple of hours with them eating and talking. It was a lot of fun.

The next day was the party but we first went to the St. Louis Zoo. (Which, by the way, is a great zoo. And it is FREE!) More on the zoo below with pictures. Fast forward several hours to the party. We walked in and were able to see Caleb and Jordan's grandparents, Charles and Ruth. They weren't expecting us either so that was great too.

Then Caleb and Ashley arrived (Caleb in blindfold) at the church building. He of course was surprised by it all and had no idea that we weren't supposed to be there. Ashley, on the other hand, came and hugged us and said "I didn't know you guys would be here". So we got to surprise her too.

All in all, we had a great trip to St. Louis. Lots of fun with friends (and my parents in OK on the way and on the way home). It was a long drive but the girls did great and we enjoyed (almost) all of it.

Now for the good stuff - the pictures!

Robert always gets the best hotels. Right outside of this hotel was an area with restaurants, comedy clubs and dessert places. It was neat to walk out and find it all. Here are the girls in that area and I just had to get them on camera playing.Bow head!

Who me?

Lindsey's turn for pictures.

She's a cutie!

I can almost do it myself.

At the St. Louis Zoo. Lindsey loved the chart with all the butterflies to help identify which ones you see.

One of my favorites, the Red Postman.

The Blue Morpho, Lindsey's favorite.

And of course, right outside the butterfly place there were very pretty flowers so we stopped for a minute to enjoy them and take pictures.On to the River's Edge. And the hippos. There were four hippos in all but these two were putting on a show for us. It was neat to see them fighting right in front.Reagan was interested in the elephant while he was eating the straw but as soon as he started walking toward us, that was it. She was ready to go as you can see.This little penguin was posing for me. I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Reagan didn't care for much that we did at the zoo. Especially the penguin place - it was really loud during feeding time.

Another ham for the camera. But so pretty.

Lindsey liked the penguins though. I tried to get a picture of one swimming behind her but it didn't work.

Grizzly bear (in case you didn't know).

The girls watching the flamingos. Again, Reagan liked them until they started moving toward us.Because the zoo was free and so was our parking, Robert decided that Lindsey could get something at the Build-A-Bear that is in the zoo. They had some great animals like a stingray, yellow poison dart frog, spectacle bear, and giraffe. These are animals that they don't have in the regular B-A-B's so we thought it would be fun. Lindsey chose a giraffe that we named Spotty. And she did it all her self - stepped on the pedal to fill it up, put the heart inside, everything. She had never done that before - it was great.

Here we are at the entrance. This was us this year and we have a picture of the 3 of us (Robert, me and Lindsey) from the first time we went to this zoo in 2006 but it's not on the computer so we just have the hard copy in a photo album somewhere.

After the zoo, we had to drive into Illinois to say that we had been and on the way back there was some air show going on. We all had a lot of fun watching the airplanes.

Every bridge we would go on, Lindsey would ask if it was the Mississippi River so we were sure to point out the one when it was actually the Mississippi River.

And you can't make a trip to St. Louis without seeing the Arch. So here it is.

Like I said, we had a great time. St. Louis is a neat place with fun things to do. I hope that we can go back again when Reagan might actually enjoy the zoo and everything else that we do.

Family

2010-07-07T12:07:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago my brother and sister-in-law brought their kids to Abilene to visit. Baby Amy had never met our granddad, her great granddad, until this visit. It was fun to see them all and to visit with them and my Papa. I only have a few pictures from the time together. Blake has the whole family pictures on his camera and I haven't seen them. Hopefully he will send me some and I will be able to post them on here too.

Here is Reagan checking on Amy. I love that Reagan is holding her leg up. It looks so funny.

I am so glad that I caught this smile on camera. They were really cute together.

Now taking a picture of Lindsey and Andrew was a little more difficult. He was having fun on the futon while Lindsey just posed sweetly.

And here he is with the blocks.

Finally a good shot of the two of them. Thanks for cooperating, Andrew!

We had a lot of fun. Even with the eight of us in our small house. It was great. And coming up will be some pictures of our trip all together to Mimi and Papa's house in Oklahoma. There are sure to be more fun opportunities to capture and tell about soon.

Lindsey's Swim Lessons

2010-06-24T14:48:00.004-05:00

This summer we finally got Lindsey into swim lessons. It was a little iffy at first because we almost waited too long. But on Saturday, we found out there was a spot for her with Teacher Sherri. And we LOVE her! I have taken our video camera a few times to capture what she is learning. It is amazing. Here is a little bit of what she has been doing.

Hope those worked. And I hope that you can see how much she is loving her lessons.

Look for new videos next week. She has five more days of lessons and I can't wait to see what she learns before it is all over.

Just A Swimmin'

2010-06-16T14:57:00.002-05:00

We have been swimming just about every weekday since June started. It has been a lot of fun (and work for me keeping up with two girls in the pool). Sadly, I only have before swimming pictures as I have been in the water while the girls are in and that isn't the best time for my camera to be out. Maybe some day I'll be able to stay out of the pool while someone else swims with the girls so I can get a shot or two of them.

Reagan saw the camera and went running for the door once again.

Then both the girls together. They were in the process of sitting down to be more comfortable.

And my swimmer (kinda). She is certainly more comfortable in the water this year. And will hopefully be starting swimming lessons this next week. Or the next.

Stay tuned for some action pictures to be on here eventually.

Reagan's Latest Favorite Thing

2010-06-14T22:00:00.002-05:00

Reagan now has figured out how to open and close the DVD player. NOT A GOOD THING! She also knows exactly where her DVD's are and is constantly getting into them. Which means there are LOTS of DVD cases and paper inserts all over the house each day. We've really got to move them so that I don't go insane.

Right now her favorites are the Baby Einstein videos. And of all of those, there are 2 that she likes to watch. Baby McDonald (of course because there is a cow in it) and Neighborhood Animals (which also has a cow in it). I think she likes cows just a little bit. She is really cute when she mooooos like a cow too.

Here are the girls watching Neighborhood Animals in a box. Because all children like to watch movies in a box, right?Mesmerized!

So if anyone wants to come over and help me figure out a way to lock up/hide/move the movies and/or DVD player, feel free. It could save me a lot of fighting and picking up time. :)

A New Month and a New Do

2010-06-01T14:07:00.002-05:00

Happy June everyone! I love the beginning of a new month - especially this one with it being summer. I'm just not looking forward to all the hotness that comes with it. With that in mind, Lindsey has been begging to have her hair cut short (like mine is what she has said). Well, we finally were able to make it to CoolCuts4Kids today. Anytime we get a haircut, I have to have pictures of before and after so here it goes.

Reagan saw me get the camera and heard me tell Lindsey that we were going to take a picture of her hair before. Reagan assumed the position. I always take their pictures in front of our front door so she went straight there. So before Lindsey, I took a picture of Reagan.

Then Reagan asked Lindsey to sit beside her. Such a loving sister.

So here is the "before" shot of Lindsey. (PS - she loves this dress)

And the "after" shot. It's adorable.

The lady also braided a small section to keep her hair from falling in her face. So cute!

There you have it. I am hoping that it is cooler for summer, easier when swimming, and LOTS easier to comb and brush. I am sad that she looks more grown-up now but I guess that was going to happen even if we didn't get her hair cut, huh?

Meeting Baby Amy Elizabeth

2010-05-31T09:33:00.003-05:00

We finally were able to go to Arlington and meet my new niece, Amy Elizabeth. She was born April 16 but we have been busy with college retreats, graduations, and the end of school that we weren't able to go to see them until just over a week ago. It worked out pretty good, though, because it was also my brother's birthday weekend. So we had lots of celebrating to do while there.

Here is Reagan coming to see Amy for the first time. Not real sure about her expression because it looks like she didn't like Amy. Quite the opposite, Reagan loves baby Amy.

Reagan loved looking pointing at Amy's nose.

And Mimi didn't.

We had a fun. It was short but it was a great time. We look forward to trips and holidays together. Watching the four kids laugh, play and occasionally fight, I'm sure. It will be wonderful!

Bryan's High School Graduation

2010-05-27T15:40:00.007-05:00

(For some reason, blogspot won't let me move the top picture down so you'll just have to bear with me. It is driving me nuts.)

Bryan graduated!!!!! Last Friday night we were able to spend the evening celebrating Bryan and his accomplishments. It was great. The picture above was taken at his house before the big festivities.

This is Reagan and Cason (the Houston's little boy) at the party. They are only about a week and a half apart in age. It was fun watching them play together - especially with the balloons.

Here's the graduate walking in. I must admit, this is a great picture. Or maybe just a great subject.

Bryan led the opening prayer. He does have his cap off in the picture only because he was reminded to do that (after he told the graduates to remove theirs!) It was great.

Bryan and Mr. Craig Fisher

Bryan receiving his diploma from Dr. John Tyson.

Reagan loved all the clapping.

Here he is waiting in line to go and get his roses to give out.

Sorry, Marilyn, this is the best one I have of you two. You had posed but were too close to me to get a good one and then you decided to wave to Barbara and Manny via Robert's iPhone.

Bryan and Grandma Blasingame

Bryan and Lugene (Grandma Lewis)

Bryan and Kimberly (aka Kimmy)

Bryan and Kirsten (the girlfriend)

Reagan barely made it through the night. She was just a bit tired by the time it was all over.

It was a fun night. I know you have all heard this before but kids grow so fast. I started babysitting Bryan when he was about 3 and now he has graduated from high school. I can't believe it. We love you Bryan and know that you will do amazing things with your life.

Last Day of School

2010-05-27T12:25:00.004-05:00

The last day of Young Children's World was last Thursday. It was a great year and both girls really enjoyed going. I usually don't get a picture of the girls with their teachers on the first day of school (it's a crazy day and sometimes the kids aren't quite sure what to think of it all). But I do make a point of taking their pictures with their teachers on the last day. So here they are.

Reagan with Ms. Kathy and Ms. Heather. She loved going into the classroom and giving hugs first thing in the morning. We will miss Ms. Kathy (she is moving away) but are hoping to have Ms. Heather again next year in the Young 2's class.

Lindsey with her teachers, Ms. Anne and Ms. Tiffani. I love both of these ladies. Lindsey loved having them as teachers and learned many things from them. I will miss them both - neither one is coming back to teach at YCW next year. But I know they will be blessing some other children's lives in what they do.

Here are my precious girls once we got home after that long day. I love how their hair is a mess. It did not start out that way in the morning. I promise!

We had a wonderful year at school but are excited about the summer and the fun we will have. Lindsey is already looking forward to going to kindergarten in August and pretty soon will be counting down the days. They grow up way too fast.

Lindsey's End of the Year Program

2010-05-25T19:53:00.007-05:00

Last Monday night was the Young Children's World end of the year program. This was Lindsey's last year to be in it and she did great. My class also performed so I wasn't able to take pictures but Pops did and even got pictures of some of the slides that Lindsey was in. Here are the slides...

During Christmas, the Pre-K acted out the story of the birth of Jesus. Lindsey (and all the other girls) played the part of an angel.

This is Lindsey and Campbell on their "safari". They found a giraffe.

This picture of Lindsey was taken during community helpers week. This day was builder day.

50's day - Lindsey is on the left. They were learning some of the dances from that era.

Lindsey, London, and Campbell during May Farm's visit.

Cowboy Day - Lindsey is "toasting" a marshmallow while eating homemade butter on a roll.

Here is a shot of Lindsey just before beginning their songs.

I don't remember the song but they are singing about listening.

Don't remember this song either. Something about the darkness. Can you tell?

"Fixing My Eyes on You"

Our family after the festivities. This is the best one I got - unfortunately Lindsey's mouth looks goofy. Oh, well.

Lindsey with a few of her friends - Mallory, Jared, and Campbell.

We had a great time and I am kinda sad this was her last year there. I will continue teaching there next year and Reagan will be there but without Lindsey, it will be very different.

But, she will be in plenty more programs. I've already gotten an email from her music teacher for this next year about the Christmas program in December. Talk about organized!

Fun With Corduroy

2010-05-25T19:31:00.006-05:00

Each weekend during the school year a student in Lindsey's Pre-K class took home a teddy bear named Corduroy. Well, Lindsey's turn came the last weekend before school was out. She waited and waited and waited to be able to take Corduroy home and that time finally came. We didn't have much planned for the weekend but we did have fun.

Here are Lindsey and Corduroy making personal homemade pizzas.

This also happened to be my birthday weekend so on Friday night, Tiphanie came and babysat while Robert and I went out to dinner and movie. Tiphanie had the fun thought to take the girls (and Corduroy) to Jacob's Dream. They had a lot of fun posing and taking pictures.After taking lots of pictures, they decided to go eat at Red Robin.And of course Corduroy went with us to church on Sunday morning. I was sure to keep him with me while Lindsey went to Children's Church and class.We had a lot of fun with Corduroy. I kept telling Lindsey that her teachers wanted to save the best for last (even though with some of the other kids, Corduroy went to Disney World and Disney Land - that was nothing compared to our fun, right?).

College Retreat 2010

2010-05-25T13:09:00.009-05:00

Our college group at church went on their spring retreat back at the first part of May. But with it being May and having graduations, end of year stuff, sick girls, and many other things I am just now getting around to posting about it. Hope you haven't been waiting on pins and needles for these posts and pictures.

Robert decided he wanted to take the group to New Mexico and do some fun outdoorsy type things with them. We started out by camping overnight in El Paso on Friday night. That was a long drive but we made it only to find out that it was a primitive campsite. That means no running water (at all). The bathrooms were pretty interesting and pretty scary since we didn't get there until well after dark (oh, I forgot to mention there was no electricity either). Needless to say, I was not liking it much at all.

The morning was a much happier time for me. I could actually see where I was walking and what I was doing. The area was pretty but without water and electricity, I don't think I'll be going back there again.

After packing up camp, we drove to City of Rocks (north of Deming, NM). It is basically a bunch of boulders in the middle of nowhere. Fun to see and climb all over.

Me and Robert surrounded by rocks.

Here is a rock that looks like a dinosaur. Barbara and I had our picture taken on this same rock formation back in 2000 before Robert and I were married. Fun memories.

Robert and I are always looking for pictures that we have taken of God's creation to print and put up on a wall at our house. When we were at City of Rocks in 2000, we took a picture in this same spot and have it on our wall. This one turned out very neat too.

The girls looking a little scared. Don't worry, they made it out okay.

Windmill!

Robert letting the other guys do all the hard work.

Greg climbing.

Laura and her bean.

Tiphanie climbing. This was before she injured herself.

Zach helping Greg out of a tight spot.

Zach and Greg acting goofy.

Tiphanie on a rock waaaaay out there.

Another rock that Barbara and I found. This one reminds us of those old fashioned hairdryers.

Robert climbed up on this really big boulder to check out what might be in the hole. His whole arm fit in there and touched the back. Nothing was living in there at the time. Thankfully.

Oh no, Laura is stuck.

Nice hairdo, Courtney.

See how amazing this place is?

Next up - the rest of day 1.

White Sands, Sitting Bull Falls, and Carlsbad Caverns

2010-05-24T16:33:00.010-05:00

After spending most of the morning at City of Rocks, we drove over to White Sands National Monument. If you have never been or even heard of it, White Sands is a huge area of white gypsum sand. It is very neat to see and fun to play in (if you don't mind sand being EVERYWHERE on you). Take a look at all the fun we had.

The boys being boys.

Cute girls.

Just a scenery shot. This one may end up on our wall at home.

Someone had the great idea to try and bury Greg. It didn't work too good because the sand is dry there, not wet like at a beach.

Robert went dumpster diving to see what he could find that could help to sled down the hills.

His treasures worked pretty good (once we figured them out).

The now newlyweds sledding.

Me telling everyone what to do. Surprising, huh?

Our group - the parents and the kids.

Setting up the amazing picture that I took.

See? How great is this one?

The boys jumping a few more times before heading back to the van.

And they landed. I love how their legs get so buried when they land.

The girls wanted another shot of them too. I told them they need to work on their form.

Sunday we went to Sitting Bull Falls (somewhere near Artesia). It was a neat drive to the actual falls and a quiet little waterfall with some interesting formations.

See the old man's face?

The falls with a pretty blue sky and white fluffy clouds.

Laura and Ryan posing at the bottom.

Me and Robert down at the lagoon-y part. They kept making fun of my new word - but that's what it was.

The "kids" at Sitting Bull Falls.

After the falls, we went up to Carlsbad Caverns. It was fun to go there with a few who had never been before. On the way down into the cavern, they actually wanted to pause and look around occasionally instead of going down faster.

At one point we saw this hole and Robert wanted to stick his hand in it. The funny part is, the caverns are dark so I didn't really know what I was taking a picture of until the flash went off. I love the expression on his face. Too funny!

Our group in the caverns.

Again, didn't really know what everyone was doing until the flash went off. This one turned out great.

That was pretty much the end our adventures in New Mexico. It was a fun but a very short and quick trip. Maybe next time we will be able to relax more and make more memories.

Catching Up

2010-04-29T16:01:00.005-05:00

Just a few pictures to catch you up. Nothing real exciting but some cute pictures of the girls (mostly Lindsey this time - I'll explain why later).

Just a cute picture of big blue eyes.

My cousins daughter, Emily, came over to play a few weeks ago. I can tell you that it was hard to get a picture of all three girls looking in my general direction. So this is it.

A couple of weeks ago was Cowboy/Texas week at school. On one of those days, we had three of the Six White Horses from HSU come visit. Lindsey rode one named Cotton and loved it.

Here we are on Cowboy Round-up day. Robert was still at home so we were able to get a picture of all three girls.

Lindsey being cute while waiting for the rest of her group.

Playing horseshoes.

Having stick horse races.

Then on Friday, Lindsey was sick. And to top that off, Reagan decided to throw a hard bouncy ball at Lindsey. It hit her on her left eye, turning it a lovely new color.

That is all for now. I know, it wasn't very exciting. Maybe in the next couple of weeks I can entertain you more. We'll see.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-05T21:11:00.003-05:00

Well, Easter is over. But I did want to share with you pictures of our girls on Sunday. Just a little warning - I didn't get a good picture of the two of them together. It just didn't happen this time. Maybe next year will be better.

Here are the girls' baskets loaded up (and overflowing) I may have to look for larger baskets for next year - just don't tell Robert.

Reagan loves her new straw cup and has successfully splattered me with her orange juice when she opens it. Any ideas on how to avoid that in the future?

That would be my hand showing Reagan that she got a canister full of jelly beans. She is a huge fan (thanks, Mimi and Papa!)

Lindsey's turn to look at her basket. She went for the cards first. One from Mimi and Papa and one from our good friends, Caleb and Ashley.

Both girls had new jellies in their baskets. Lindsey loves jellies and has worn them each day already.

Now for the dress pictures. Lindsey wanted to curtsy and this is how the picture turned out. I never knew there was a special way to hold you tongue and mouth while curtsy-ing.

Reagan was not happy with me at all. But, being a mom, ignored that fact and tried to get a picture. Didn't work.

We were actually able to go across the street from our church building for the egg hunt. It has been a couple of years since that has happened due to rain or cold. But Sunday was beautiful (except for the wind). Here is Lindsey with her friends, Morgan, Piper and Finn (and Mabry, Piper and Finn's cousin).

Reagan found another one of those well-hid eggs. But I really do love this picture.

And here is my last attempt at getting a picture of the girls together. Told you it wasn't great.

There you have it. That was our Easter. But before you close this window I wanted to tell you a sweet story about Lindsey. She and I pray together each night before bed. This past week as I was finishing the prayer one night, I said, "and thank you for your Son dying on the cross for our sins. In His name, Amen." She then said, "that was good for you to say that this week since we celebrate Jesus during Easter." I just thought it was nice to know that Lindsey pays attention and is learning about our Savior. With that I'll tell you good bye!

Easter Saturday

2010-04-05T20:10:00.012-05:00

Our Easter usually includes LTC and this year was no different. We thought we were going to have a nice and calm weekend at home. Then we found out that Barbara was flying into Dallas on Thursday to help out at LTC. So we changed our plans to include a trip to Dallas on Thursday also. We actually picked up Barbara and Manny along with Robert (who had been in Pensacola earlier in the week) at the DFW airport.

It turned out to be a wonderful weekend and we have lots of pictures to show for it. Here they are...

Each year at LTC, Robert and I take a picture in this same spot with the girls. It is fun to look back and see what has changed from year to year. Reagan loved watching the elevators going up and down - as you can tell in this first picture we took.

This one was a little better - although Reagan didn't quite get the message to look at the camera.

We decided to go to the mall and eat at Cheesecake Factory - one of my favorite places. Here are the girls with Barbara. They were excited to be together (all 3 of them).

Of course a trip to the mall with Aunt Barbara means a visit to Build-A-Bear. Here is the bear that Reagan picked this time. She loved hugging on it pretty much the whole time.

Lindsey and Barbara waiting while the worker finished stitching up Brittany (from the Chipmunks).

After the animals are stuffed, you are supposed to go to the "bath" station and brush them so that there isn't any extra fur that will come off later. The girls (with a little help from Uncle Manny) got their new friends cleaned up.

After the mall, we found a park where the girls could have an Easter egg hunt that Manny and Barbara had planned out. We went to Trinity Park. Growing up in Fort Worth, I went there fairly often for different things but mostly I remember MayFest and also riding the train from the zoo.

Robert and the girls before the hunt began.

Lindsey needed a little bit of help getting this egg down.

Reagan had a lot of fun finding her "well hid" eggs.

So cute!

One of Reagan's gifts was a new snack cup. Uncle Manny decided to put jelly beans in with the goldfish and Reagan quickly decided she didn't want the goldfish and began digging for just the jelly beans.

In some of Lindsey's eggs, they had put pieces of paper that had directions on them. This one said to go tell Robert who her favorite singer was. She told him and then he gave her this book all about Taylor Swift. She was ecstatic. I really wish I had been on the other side so that I would have a picture of her face but oh well.

Lindsey also needed help with this egg. It was in a great hiding spot.

Reagan and Barbara watching as Lindsey finished up her hunt for eggs.

Reagan also got this really cute puppy. It sings songs and teaches colors along with other fun things.

Heading back to the van we went right by the train. Reagan was fascinated with it. I hope to go to the Fort Worth Zoo soon and ride the train. I know two little girls who would love it.

We had a great and busy Saturday. We drove home after all this and not ten minutes down the road, Reagan was asleep. It took Lindsey a little longer since she had these new books to read. But we all had a great time and were ready for Easter Sunday (post to follow soon).

50's Day at YCW

2010-04-05T12:18:00.003-05:00

Usually in kindergarten the classes celebrate the 100th day of school but since we only meet on Tuesday and Thursday, Lindsey's class had a special 50th day. First off, they were encouraged to dress in 50's outfits. We borrowed a skirt from a friend. I found a cheap, cute black shirt. We borrowed a pink belt from Ms. April's daughter (which she actually ended up giving to Lindsey. Thanks!). And we searched high and low for a pink scarf for her hair. I think the whole outfit turned out pretty good. Here is Lindsey on her 50's Day.

At school, they did lots of things centered around either the number 50 or the 50's decade. They ordered lunch from Sonic (complete with a vanilla milkshake). They hunted for 50 Hershey Kisses hid around the classroom. They learned the Hand Jive. They hula-hooped. I know there is more that they did but right now I just can't think of it all.

Lindsey had a blast and I know that this will be a day that she remembers for years. Thanks Ms. Anne and Ms. Tiffani!