Easter Happenings

Easter has always been a favorite holiday of mine. There is such a "freshness" to it. It restarts and energizes me! My mom loved Easter, so her spirit is even heavier on my heart during this time of year. I have a unique perspective as I hold my family close each and every holiday. But, Easter is just so special in many ways. I adore my family, and my kids are at the most precious ages right now. I want to press the pause button and enjoy this phase for as long as I can!

The boys are like glue to each other. They are truly each others other half! Best friends on a whole other level!!! And sister can do no wrong in their eyes. They worship the ground she walks on, and she is learning to take advantage of that! She is so incredibly sassy! She is also hysterical and adorable!

Then, there is the Easter bunny! I was impressed with the boys this year. Hunter and Trent both did great. They were brave and excited. Faith Ann...NO WAY! She was having an anxiety attack. She would not let go of my shirt. Grabbing my hair, necklace, anything she could hold on to! We spent Easter at my brothers lake house. Trent was concerned that the Easter bunny wasn't going to know where we were. So, he ran back to him and yelled from the sidelines "Easter bunny, we are going to Ally and Jake's lake house, that is where we will be, okay??" The Easter bunny waved to him, so all was good! Well, sister took a while to recover!

Once she recovered, we took some pictures at home. She is almost 2 years old, so I wanted to get some pictures while she was dressed up to document these last baby days! She is just too much for words. She gives the biggest "shuggies!" Shuggies is our word for big kisses! She puckers her lips and plants shuggies on you! I LOVE it! She gives shuggies to everyone at the nursery when we are leaving the gym, someones house, church! A true Southern girl! Love her to pieces!

Easter is always fun at school. Rummel Creek had an "art car parade." The Pre-K students got to decorate a car and parade around the entire school. Hunter wanted an Easter themed car. He said, "I want an Easter all over car." Scott said it looked a little girly, and Hunter quickly responded with..."not girly at all daddy, that is all Easter!" ha! He LOVED it. He helped me put the Easter grass and eggs on. He was very proud of it! The parade was adorable and Gigi came to watch too. She is in town from California, so Hunter was happy to have her at his school.

Trent had an "Easter hat parade" at his school. We put Easter eggs on a hat and Trent colored it. He loved going to the Rummel Creek parade then all of us went to his parade afterwards. It was a big morning, and it was wonderful! I love the picture of Trent spotting me in the parade. His modest smile exuding excitement!! This picture of Faith Ann cracks me up! Looks like we have a future Beyonce! Her posing with her chest out just makes me laugh so hard! I said, "Scott your one year old has cleavage, not a good sign!" Scott said, "I'm not worried about it, her attitude will scare all the guys away!" Ha!

The rest of our pre-Easter days were filled with egg dying, Tball and bike riding! Cousin Ally came to dye eggs with us. What would I do without her?? She is my helper! I appreciate her so much! Hunter and Trent are on the same Tball team, which we are beyond excited about. Scott is the coach, so this season will go in the books as my most favorite season ever!! And Trent rides his bike ALL the time. All day! Around the 'morning tree' at the end of our culdesac and back...over and over and over! He is amazing on his bike. He's one to watch out for, he's gonna be somethin' else! Now, off to celebrate Easter!

Trent the Bike Rider and Spring Break

Trent learned how to ride his bike...3 years old!!! March 19, 2016. This shows his skill level. He is tough, adaptable, athletic, coordinated and has this quiet confidence through it all! Cousin Jim passed down his bike the other day. So, Trent quietly had his eye on it. Then, he picked it up and off he went. Literally, just like that.  A new chapter has begun in our lives...brothers riding bikes together! I love these pictures. Trent has a confident focused look on his face, Scott is protectively letting him grow up, and Bentley is close behind! Such a wonderful memory captured! 

The last day of school before Spring Break was special. I signed up to be mystery reader in Hunter's class. Scott went to work late, and we all surprised Hunter. The teacher gave clues, then we walked in the class. Hunter was beaming with joy! He ran to me with open arms and said "mommmmmy!!!" He may be growing up, but he is still my little boy. Always will be!

These boys are just too cute these days. They are blossoming into big boys. Each with their own identity, but their bond inseparable. They are rock solid in their loyalty and friendship. I admire their love for each other. They are the definition of "best friends." The way best friends should be. I just pray that their bond lasts a lifetime!

Spring time means pretty dresses! Faith Ann has beautiful Spring dresses, and I am so excited to dress her for church every Sunday! She may be sassy and tough, but I she can still look like a princess in her dresses! However, we do have to bribe her these days for pictures....with food, snacks, toys! She is on the go!

Our neighbor has beautiful azalea bushes. So, we took the photo opportunity the other day. The flowers are in full bloom and are breathtaking. The boys had forced smiles, but we still got some pretty good pictures. These document our Spring Break 2016!

And the adventure of Spring Break was me performing at the Children's Museum!! They had an American Ninja Warrior exhibit, and I was asked to perform obstacles. It was AMAZING! We had to do some marketing with pictures and newscast! So, I appeared LIVE in KHOU, which was pretty cool. The boys thought is was awesome to see their mommy on TV. They ask to watch it everyday!

The performance was a great experience. Sam Sann set up rings, salmon ladder, cliffhanger, lache bars and the warped wall. So, he talked while I did the obstacles. My dad, Scott and the kids came. That was my dads first time to watch me on obstacles. He was proud and cheering at every little thing I did! He gave me a standing ovation when I made it on top of the warped wall! So cute to see him so proud! He said he was most proud of my determination, and that I am being an example to my children...an example of perseverance, big dreams and hard work! He got a little teary eyed when he said, "your mother would be so proud that you are breaking the mold, making life fun, and living an example of health for your children!" And that is my goal in a nutshell...to be the strongest and healthiest I can be for my family, and have fun along the way! Making fitness a journey for all to enjoy, and we sure are enjoying it! Opening doors and blessing our lives in many ways!

Then, the kids got to play at the other exhibits at the museum. It was an action packed weekend! Then, we filled our week with outdoor play. Which led to pull up practice! By the way, Hunter can crush pull ups...amazing for a 5 year old! We have had cousin slumber parties, play dates and late nights! The kids are sleeping in late with the time change! School mornings may be a challenge to adjust to. But, they had a wonderful and memorable spring break!

Rodeo and Mutton Bustin'

Rodeo time in Houston is always a favorite time of year. Rodeo with the kids is so adorable and way fun! Hunter got to do Mutton Bustin' in the big arena this year! It was AWESOME! He was so tiny in big Reliant Stadium....with 70,000 people watching! He didn't have an ounce of fear and was so brave! The experience was so great! They suited him up, walked him down on the dirt, put him in the cage and off he went! Hunter is really growing more and more into a risk taker, brave, adventurous and confident! Scott, Trent and I got to walk down and get a close view. Macy, Grandpa, Greg, Drew and Kinsley were in the stands cheering.

After he did his run, I got tons of text messages from random people in the stands! "We just saw Hunter!!" It was awesome that so many people witnessed such a fun time for Hunter! Lots of Hunter's school friends, our old high school friends, and many more were proud to be there that night! Scott and I just couldn't get over how confident and mature he was in that big rodeo world! He got a trophy, belt buckle and a shirt. He wore the shirt to school on Monday, he was very proud to share his accomplishment!

They lined up the little kids, and one by one would put them in the cage with the sheep. They would announce their name, put their picture on the big screen and off they would go! The announcer said "here goes the next American Ninja Warrior, Hunter Monteverde!" Adorable! He told them he wants to be an American Ninja Warrior when he grows up! Well, he had a good ninja grip to show his skills. His sheep was huge and he got kicked to the side, but he held on!! He eventually hit the ground, but still didn't let go and was drug for a while! Determined little fella! Can you imagine being 5 years old in that huge stadium, 70,000 people cheering, all eyes on you!? He loved it!

The "behind the scenes" at the rodeo is pretty amazing. He got to be in the grand entrance wagon ride, which was so fun. Just the entire operation, details and logistics is unbelievable. So much work goes into the rodeo, it was neat to witness. This was a once in a lifetime experience for Hunter, and we enjoyed every moment! We hope to be able to get Trent in it next year. You have to be 4-5 years old, so Trent now really wants to do it!

To continue the rodeo fun, we have had school parties and more! Trent's school puts on an amazing rodeo night! Petting zoo, horse rides, games, food and prizes! Trent loves his friends, and he gets so excited to see them at school. He was just running from friend to friend, playing like a big boy! He is really in his element at school, which I am so happy to see! Faith Ann HATED the horses! She had an anxiety attack as we tried to put her on it. She may not be our country girl!

Trent is so sweet and has this quiet confidence that shines at school. He loved having all of us there. He was proud as he was showing us all his friends...he is so special! I love this boy too much! He enjoyed the horses, making smores and experiencing rodeo at his school! He is such a big boy...solid bones! He is a brick, and his size is really starting to show as he is around his friends. He is just 3, and he is almost as big as Hunter. They now wear the same clothes and continue to be inseparable.

Faith Ann...as I said above. She is not our country girl. She wanted nothing to do with the petting zoo or horses. She didn't even like the horse trailer! She was clinching onto us the entire night. However, she looks adorable in her red boots! She has this sweet sassy smile until a horse is close, then she freaks!

Then, we had rodeo at Hunter's school. They have Pre-K rodeo roundup. Full of games, stations, music and food. Hunter kept his eye on me and wanted me to see everything he was doing. We made our way to see Ally's country dancing performance. Rummel Creek is such a wonderful school that always includes the community and family!

Do you notice the red faces with Ally?? Yep, that night the stomach bug hit our entire family! Started with Faith Ann...then the rest of us just hours later. It was fast and furious. We were sick for about 6 hours, then it was gone! Thankfully, we had fast bounce back and returned to more rodeo fun! However, I did laundry for days to recover from the virus! That was a doosey!

Mutton Bustin' continues as the kids are always practicing! They take turns being the sheep! Here they are making the cage with the broomsticks. Trent is the gate opener, Hunter is the sheep and Faith Ann is the rider. This cracks me up! Action shot of her flying off his back! They are so creative and always have so much fun together. People ask me "what's your kids favorite app?" I say..."pine cones and dirt!" haha! We still do not have one app on my phone. I don't even get email on my phone. Scott has the old blackberry!! We do not have an ipad. We are not against any of that stuff, we just aren't there yet. For now...our kids love sticks, pine cones, brooms, dirt, trees, and being barefoot! So, we are keeping it simple as long as we can!

Our last rodeo party was in our neighborhood. We LOVE our neighborhood! We walked down the street for mechanical bull, games, food, music and dancing. We are continuing to make new friends, and we are just so happy here! That wraps up our Rodeo fun!! We are blessed with joys of new experiences, the love of our nurturing schools, and the comfort of our amazing neighborhood! Cheers to another great rodeo season!