Spring Break Fun!

We had an awesome Spring Break! It was so nice to have a "stay-cation"! The kids love being outside and actually play really well together right now, so Rich and I are taking advantage of it! 

Monday and Tuesday morning, Lucy Jane participated in a gymnastics camp which she loved! She thinks her floor routine is amazing, the bars are her best friend, and the balance beam is...well...she thinks she's something else! 

Wednesday we spent the morning at my friend Rebecca's and enjoyed lunch before they headed out of town! The afternoons were full of sunshine and playing! 

I didn't snap a ton of pictures, because if you take your eyes of Kaylor for two seconds he goes riding down the side walks! :)

We grilled out and had supper outside! 

Enjoyed Sonic drinks...in our pajamas! 

And took fun Easter pictures with real life bunnies!

Friday, I wanted to do something fun for Lucy Jane! We had planned to go to silver dollar city but the weather was yucky! Instead, we enjoyed fun things our town had to offer!

Leslie, her girls, Lucy Jane, and I spent the whole day having fun!

We started off ice skating at the Jones Center! Such a fun place for families!  

Then we had lunch, which was an adventure, but I won't go there! :)

We then hit up the pool at the jones center! The girls had a blast!

We went and saw Cinderella! The girls picked out snacks and sat on the very top row of the movie theater!

We ended the day with Lucy Jane's very first soccer practice! Should be an interesting season! 

Thankful for these times with my sweet kiddos and sweet friends! 

Fun Saturday with the Parents!

The kids and I had such a great day last Saturday! We had some work being done in our kitchen and needed to be out of the house. We were also over due a visit with mom and dad, so we drove down and spent the day! 

Mom and I used to spend Saturdays shopping together when I lived in Ft. Smith. I miss the little things like that a lot! It's so much harder to pull off days like that with two kids, but we made it happen! Mom may have been embarrassed once or twice, but it all worked out! 

We had lunch at Taco Bell! It is Lucy Jane's favorite, so she really felt like she scored, but secretly mom and I enjoy our bean burritos just as much! :). Kaylor enjoyed throwing all of our trash away! Piece by piece! In the dirty, nasty, trash can! Oh well, it kept him happy, since it was during nap time and we had plans to keep pushing him! 

Both kids decided they needed to ride in the stroller, and Nana was nominated to push them! :)

We headed back to mom and dads house to hang out! Playing outside, and enjoying the small things are what I love most about family and small towns! I LOVE living in NWA, but I say my church is my small town here! I am a small town, need a network of friends around me, kind of girl! I love who I am because off growing up in a small town! 

Riding his bike!

And if you look closely, the blur way up in front is Lucy Jane! She doesn't lag behind!

So much fun!  Lucy Jane talked my dad into walking down into the cellar with her! I remember camping out in there over night as a little girl! I love how intrigued by the cellar she is, and how willing Bubba was to go down in with her, hurt toe and all!

The kids always take baths and get Into pajamas before we drive home! They had a little system for getting hair done!

We didn't have a big party for Kaylors birthday, so mom had a special cupcake lit to celebrate after they took baths!

 

I think he felt pretty special! 

I love time with family and seeing smiles on my kiddos faces! The older I get, I truly understand what it is that really matters! Perfect Saturday!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Kaylor

Happy Birthday to the sweetest little boy! I wish you knew how special you truly are to your Mommy! I am having a hard time understanding just how quickly two years have gone by! You are so very loved! 

You have taught me to slow down and enjoy every minute with you and your amazing sister! It goes by way to quickly! 

You bring so much laughter to our home! The funny faces you make keep us all rolling! You LOVE to play and snuggle with your sister!  The evenings with you two are my favorite!

You are attached to your "nu-nu" and I think I am having a harder time thinking about taking it away than you are! 

You love to jump and sing and dance and SMILE! You are a happy boy and bring joy to our home! 

You melt our hearts everyday! You adore your "sis" and she teaches you so much! I love that you have learned to love others and be so compassionate from her! You always have a smile and hug for everyone you meet! 

I pray that grow strong in Jesus and that we can be the example for you that we are to be! We love you with our whole hearts sweet, funny boy! Happy 2nd birthday! 

HIS plan, not ours!

We started our journey home from Colorado yesterday, but little did we know what our day would hold!!!! 

We began by having breakfast with our sweet friends, Mel and Nancee Conant in Denver! 

When we left Denver, it was snowing but we didn't think much of it! Rich acted concerned that the weather was supposed to get worse the more East we got, I didn't really care! I was very confident in his driving skills and knew he could get us home in ONE day! :) 

A little further down the road, we couldn't see 10 ft in front of our car! Rich acted nervous, and I still refused to act like I thought there was a problem! 

This was our view, and I was graciously volunteering to drive our family! HOME! Don't get me wrong, we had an amazing trip, but once the vacation is over, it's over! 

Needless to say, after a couple hours of driving, we were "re-routed" off the interstate to a side street! The town was named, "Stratton" population 650?! Rich asked if I wanted him to get a hotel and I said no, we can wait it out! :) I just knew it would die down and the interstate would reopen shortly! 

The interstate was closed all the way to the Kansas border and we were told it would not be reopening until the next morning! Needless to say, I was less than chipper! I was on the phone with hotels.com trying to find a hotel anywhere in the area. The closest one was 2 hours away, and we had no way to get there! So, we were going to be staying at the Town Hall in Stratton. I felt like it was something out of a movie, and there was no way this was really happening! 

Rich scored us a corner spot, and our kids thought it was so cool! Kaylor undecorated their Christmas tree over and over!

We overheard the Police talking about a chili supper they were having at the school cafeteria to support some local FFA boys who were raising money for a trip to Thailand! I invited our family to go! :)

The Baker family also went, and I am so glad they did! 

We joked about our sleeping arrangements and how we were still in shock that this was really happening! They are from Boulder, and were only 2 hours from being home! Big bummer!!!

After eating, we went back to the Town Hall to hang out for the night! I was dreading trying to get Kaylor to sleep in this room, so had already decided we were sleeping in the car!

THEN....it all changed! The Ludwig family came in and said they had seen us at the chili supper and wondered if our family and the Bakers would want to come stay at their hunting lodge! Hello???? Of course, we would love to! I think rich was so shocked that I said yes! Our families and a sweet lady named Diana loaded up and followed the Ludwigs out to their property! 

The kids had a blast playing, and we loved visiting by the fire! :) 

This morning, lance had fixed the kids a nice breakfast before we got on the road! 

What started out as a scary night with plenty of unknowns, ended up being a night that our family will never forget! 

There are still nice people out there, y'all! We were completely taken care of and safe in a situation that could have been very different! One thing I saw is that God is always faithful! He provides a way when we can't see a way! (We thought we would be sleeping in our car with our kids and eating what we could find from the gas station!) 

We had a wonderful chili/soup supper and met great new friends! Memories were made!!! Great end to our trip! 

Always eventful traveling with the Richardsons! :) only 9 more hours in the car! 😁😁😁

Sweet Palmer Kate

I have been waiting for this day for nine long months!!!!! Finally my sweet niece is here! She's perfect! Her cheeks, y'all!!!!! 

Hoyt is a proud big brother!!!

I brought Lucy Jane with me and came and waited at the hospital. Rich kept Kaylor and they waited until sweet Palmer Kate was born to come to the hospital! 

Our first looks at sweet cheeks!!! This girl has some chubby cheeks, and her Tee Tee loves to kiss them! 

Lucy Jane and Hoyt enjoyed playing for the most part! They surprised me how well they did hanging out in the lobby all day! 

And Lucy Jane kept calling Josh's dad, john, Uncle Joe! It was hilarious!

This sweet girl is so loved!

Big brother was worn out and had to catch a nap in the hospital bed!

Palmer Kate, you are loved! So proud to be your aunt!