Huntin' Eggs.

Today at Brooke's preschool was Easter Egg Hunt day, and she was a little bit excited. I posted this picture for two reasons, one so you can see the shocked look of excitement on her face when Ms. B said it's time for the Easter egg hunt and two, so you will know what she's wearing so you can pick her out in the rest of the pictures.

I never understood the term 'herding cats' before today. Try getting ten 3 or 4 year olds to do anything at the same time is pretty miraculous, but walk in a straight line when they can SEE Easter eggs, well that was near impossible even with us mom's helping. Here is Ms. B mixed in with the class. You can see Brooke off to the right hand corner running.

Lined up ready to run get all of the eggs.

And they're off!

I made the smart alleck comment to one of the other mom's about how I wonder if Brooke is going to manage to get all of the purple (her favorite color) eggs. As soon as they were off Brooke passed any egg that wasn't purple. I finally had to tell her to grab anything around her to remind her green, orange and yellow were okay too.

They had tons of fun, and yes Brooke has been on a sugar high this afternoon. Oh they joys of holidays!

Happy Last Day of March.

From our little "monster".

Scary, don't you think?

A walk in the park.

After letting a beautiful afternoon pass us by yesterday, I decided to make sure to find a way to enjoy the beautiful weather while we have it....especially since it might rain or snow again tomorrow. I asked Brooke if she would like to pack a lunch and go to the park, then play afterwards. Of course, you can guess her answer.....it was a very animated, jumping up and down "YES, YES, YES!" Then of course she asked me about it every 5 minutes until lunch time today.....some day I will learn to not bring it up until I, myself am ready!

Just some fun pictures. We had the park ALL to ourselves, and I could completely get spoiled by days like this one. Here is Brooke, fake smile and all ready to go!

Eating lunch is so much fun when you have scenery to watch! There were only a few walkers out today, barely a breeze, and the only sound other than an occasional passing car were the birds and ducks.

And she's off! The first time she has EVER had this park all to herself. I, as a paranoid mommy, LOVED every second of it. I even acted like a kid myself and showed her how to use the equipment she didn't know how to use! Yes, another reason I am glad no one was there....no witnesses!

Brooke, taking in the warm day and me, taking in the beauty of this child I was blessed with.

For those of you who haven't seen Brooke in person lately.....there is not an ounce of baby fat left.....ANYWHERE. She is officially a tall, slender young girl. And, while I love every phase....I do hate to admit she isn't a baby anymore!

Playing Tic Tac Toe.

This was huge for her. Last summer she fell off a slide pretty high up and the rest of the summer she would NOT slide down by herself. I think because we were there alone, no pressure from me, she did it.....a NUMBER of times and became much more confident and giggly as the tries went by.

She was SO impressed that her momma knew how to swing.....man, if she would only stay that impressed with her parents....HA!

I asked her to pose for me before we left and this is the smart alleck pose I got!

Spring is in the Air! For today anyway!

80?

This past weekend we ventured on a little day trip down to Carlsbad, NM. My grandparents live there and the family threw my grandmother an 80th birthday party. Age has never mattered to me. I tell people who worry about their age that it's far better than the alternative. It's just a number that reminds you that you are still alive and kicking. But, for some reason when key people in my life hit milestones, such as EIGHTY.....wow....it makes you stop and realize how time truly does fly.

Brooke, naturally, loved the idea of a birthday party. I think she might have sang louder than anyone else in the room. And, she seemed to have been one of the only people happy to wear a party hat. The picture shows she got into my Granny Mildred's lipstick before the party. The hot pink lips you see below are after lots of wiping and cold cream to get a lot of the excess off.....yikes, powerful stuff.

I am currently fixing a box to mail to my sweet mother. She sent ALL of the party hats and worse....the party HORNS home with us. I know it was all in good intentions, because Brooke's birthday party is so near.....but, UGH....not my favorite noise these days.

Can you believe this beautiful woman is 80 years old?! I cannot at all. Every female in our family, and lots out of our family.....love the idea of looking this good at 80! This is my sweet, wonderful, amazing Granny Mildred. A woman I definitely strive to be like.

I threw this one in because I handed the camera to Steven and asked him to just take pictures. I had no idea I would be in any of them. I wish now I had thought to stop and get the family together for more 'together' pictures. Since I didn't, here I am acting like I am helping while visiting with my cousin Donna and her momma, my Aunt Shelia.

My Dad, a very proud Grandad with his two Grand daughters, McKenzie and Brooke. Cohen was running around enjoying time with his boy cousins.

This picture was taken at my request. An updated four generation picture. I only have two before this one. One of which I am still the size of a Volkswagon, right after Brooke was born and the next one was at Brooke's 1st birthday party and she wasn't exactly enjoying herself in the picture. I like this one much better.

Brooke's favorite part of the party, well besides singing and cake. The piano in the corner of the room.

The only other person I saw with a party hat on.....and that was due to some coaxing from Brooke of course. Doesn't my sweetie pie look thrilled?!

Happy Belated Birthday Paw!

Today Brooke, Cooper and myself took a day trip to Nana and Paw's house in Plainview. Our mission was to help Paw celebrate his birthday, which was Monday. In preparation for this day I had to deal with a very demanding three year old who adores her Paw and anything to do with birthdays. She told me we could NOT sing Paw Happy Birthday or celebrate without a cake, but since our trip wasn't really planned too far in advance I took the easy way out and went to United. We HAD to get Paw a particular red shirt because in her own words, "Paw loves red and he'll like this one." All in all, we just went up there to goof off for the day, but gave Brooke a reason to celebrate.

This is Brooke's new 'pose' face.....pretty eye opening wouldn't you say?!

Much Better.

It was supposed to be nice and warm today, and it is here in Lubbock....but in Plainview it was cool and windy. This was all the play time she got outside today. Throwing rocks in Nana's winter bird bath.

The cake for Paw. Can you tell who picked it out? Purple is BROOKE'S favorite color, so she thought Paw would love to have a purple monster.

The birthday boy (hahaha, sorry Paw calling you a boy in place of an old man was almost too much) and the party planner. Yes, the cake was small but it's all four people needed!

Um, warning.....if you buy a dark purple cake with black eyes, things WILL change colors immediately. I took this picture trying to show Paw and Brooke's black and purple lips and tongue.

Now, on to the sweet girl that sang Paw Happy Birthday. She had no idea I was videoing her or she would have been too bashful. You might have to go stop my music from playing if you are viewing this online.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

This post will mainly be pics of who else?! Brooke! She is a very animated little girl. I refuse to teach her what our address, phone number or any other important information is right now because she would tell ANYBODY she met! She is not afraid of strangers at all, and I tell people she definitely got her outgoing personality from her Daddy because I was not the least bit outgoing until years of being around Steven..... She loves to T A L K. To the point where at least once an evening we tend to call her chatterbox and ask her if Daddy or Momma can get a word in. She is still learning and absorbing like a sponge, and I never truly understood that term until I became a mom and get to watch the things she picks up SO quickly. I am having a hard time right now because she will be FOUR already in less than a month, and she won't let me forget it for one single minute. She already has 'plans' for her birthday, what she'll wear, what we'll eat, etc.....

Brooke playing with her laptop that USED to challenge her.....now I think it's just a way to pass a few minutes.

These are her 'married flowers'. We got them the last time we ventured to a craft store (which is really often). She will get dressed up in a princess dress, heels, etc....turn some music on and very slllllloooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyy walk from her bedroom to our back door. If you interrupt this process or even talk she WILL start over. She is getting married. Yep, already causing Daddy a few extra gray hairs!

As mentioned earlier my folks came to visit last week. When they are here, namely Granny, I could disappear as far as Brooke is concerned. So, this time I decided to disappear in books and enjoyed my relaxation. I realized I hadn't read a real book (meaning without pictures) other than 'What to Expect in the First Year' since Brooke was born, and I thoroughly enjoyed the escape.

The picture is a very happy girl who had just received a very early Easter bunny.

In her own words "this is my makeup. this is how Granny puts HERS on." Well, thankfully my mother doesn't.....but it was still too cute not to share!

Quick update.

We had a busy week last week with a visit from my folks. I went on a mini vacation, getting lost in an entire series of books and reading all four in less than five days....something I could not have done if this angel (who did her own makeup of course) wasn't preoccupied by her grandparents.

On to my reencarnate......Cooper. Just an hour or so after I let the wind blow my leg shut in the car door, Cooper decided to once again one up my injury by totally taking his little toe nail out this time. I am pretty sure it is still stuck in our back fence.... He is fine, just has a sore foot that Steven took to get bandaged yesterday. The doctor told him it needs to stay dry. Normally this would be NO big deal, but this comment came during one of the rainiest days we've had, so below you can see the contraption Cooper has had to wear on his foot when going outside. To say he is not thrilled about it is a major understatement, but I have to giggle everytime I hear him rattle by.

More pics to come of course, just trying to catch up.

Hurry up Spring....we're ready for you!

We have had a week's worth of beautiful, spring-like days here and we do NOT want it to stop! Yesterday, Brooke got to take her scooter that Santa gave her outside for the first time and to say she was excited seems very understated.

Sporting a hand me down (love them) helmet and a proud daddy not far behind.

Yes, we got our exercise too. A downfall of living on a busy street!

Can you tell where she gets the fake, cheesy grin? It's NOT me!

Gotta love them shades! She still loves her accessories.

Scootin'.

Funny side note. Every time I asked her to look at the camera she pointed her toes. Ballet scooter riding anyone?!

Only posed picture I captured without a pointed toe. "CHEESE!"

I had to share these because they make me giggle. She was playing hopscotch on Daddy's hand made stones...and I wish I had come in to get the video camera, she was singing Jesus Loves Me at the top of her lungs while hopping.

I guess hoping the Spring like weather will stick around is MY wish, not Brooke's. She just came up behind me and asked me if we could go ice skating.....?!