My All-American Girl

** Yay - She made it! **

Kristen has been twirling a baton since kindergarten - she loves it! She's had the privilege to be part of her junior high majorette line that performs during halftime with the band. It has been an amazing experience and has been a real joy to her so far! (I love that she is learning to play an instrument as well - flute - by being part of the band program...) Well, she recently went through "tryout week" for the high school majorette line... very tough, very stressful - but she made it! We're very proud of her hard work and excited to watch her at the high school games on Friday nights!. We'll keep our green and gold for Clay as he starts 7th grade this fall, but we're anxious to sport some blue and red as we support our favorite Rebel!

Spring Break '09

Ok so we didn't go skiing or to the beach, or anywhere really... but it was a great spring break to just get out of the school routine a little bit. Clay got a chance to go to Lake Ouchita with a friend for a few days - boating, four-wheeling, biking, fishing... a 12-year-old boy's dream! Our church had something special each day for different ages. Jake spent a day at the Janet Huckabee Nature Center with his age group and got a glimpse of all kinds of "critters" :) Madi's group was supposed to go to a petting zoo called Deer Acres, but because of rain, ended up hanging out at the Outback play place - she had a blast! Oh and I can't forget Chuck E. Cheese - that was Wednesday night for ALL the kids - fun, but wow that place gives me a headache! Of course spring break always means extra kids at our house - I think we had at least one friend of Clay's or Kristen's spending the night each night of the week. We may not have the best "toys" or have the "fanciest" house, but we sure do serve the BEST breakfast (eggs, pancakes, biscuits/gravy, bacon, sausage, etc.) when friends stay over - we Tylers are famous for that. ;)
Here's some pics from the week (wishin' I had some of Clay's lake trip!)

Kristen and her friend Mary

Clay's amazing jumping skills

What kind of mom would allow their kids on the roof???

Clay and his friend Cole - endless entertainment can be found at the nearby drainage ditch!

Jake and his friend Nicholas at the nature center

Jake on the climbing wall

Checking out the "critters"

Madi and her friend Hannah in the ball pit

Tunnel fun!

I.Love.My.Husband ♥

In March we celebrated Russ's 39th birthday. I am so thankful for him! I have been "smitten" with him ever since those awkward days of junior high... It's still hard to believe God was so gracious to allow me to marry my first love! He is a gifted pastor, loving husband, and wonderful father - it was a fun day to celebrate the gift that he is!

This is his birthday cake (chocolate with white icing and chocolate sprinkles) that Madi "made"... it was soooo good!!!!

Long time, no blog!!!

Boy I sure am glad I had big ambition to be a blogger... ha! Truth is, life is busy around here and there is always something to be done, so blogging is usually my last thought. But I'm going to try and backtrack and get this thing up to date, and TRY to stay with it better.

♥ Valentine Dance ♥

Time to get all dressed up - AGAIN! Seems like my junior high dances were always sort of casual, if I remember right? But Kristen's dances always seem to be "semi-formal" - and she loves them - well, not necessarily the actual dance part, but all the dressing up with friends and going out to eat afterward. Here are some pics of my 14-year-old princess. By the way, I was joking with Russ about why he is never asked to chaperon these things? Hmmm, I can't decide if he would bust out his moves and embarrass her, or stare down any male that came within 10 feet of her - haha, maybe both?

Kristen edited this one - I thought it turned out cute!

Self-portrait...

Kristen and Alexis

Katie and Kristen

Caitlin, Carly, Katie, Sarah, Alexis, Kristen, Amanda

Post-dance - Sarah and Kristen

Look who's tooth-less!

Jake was a happy camper this week! He lost not one, but two teeth!!! He's 7 and a half and has been watching all his friends lose all kinds of teeth - patiently waiting for his turn. We noticed the permanent teeth on the bottom that were halfway through, but the baby teeth were not budging! It finally took a trip to the dentist office, complete with a little "happy air" for those stubborn baby teeth to leave!



So of course we were visited by the "Tooth Fairy".... a buck a tooth seems to be her going rate right now :)