Back yard Fun

We love the weather here in Austin in April!  It is so perfect!  Since it is so beautiful, we had some good fun with our friends in their backyard.

What better way to enjoy a quiet April afternoon than on a tire swing?

San Antonio Botanical Garden

Paul's aunt Bonnye and uncle Mark live in San Antonio--about an hour and a half away.  We have really enjoyed having family close by and have taken the opportunity many times to go down to be with them and to see things in San Antonio.  We usually go down Friday night, spend the night with them, then have Saturday to go and do things.  

Glenn has loved spending time with aunt Bonnye.  She is like another grandma to him!  When we went down in mid-April, she read him a bed-time story--and it was Tiki Tiki Tembo!  Does anyone else remember that story?!  I loved that book!  I can still say the name: Tiki Tiki Tembo No Sar Embo Chari Bari Ruchi Pip Peri Pembo!  

April

April was another month of fun and beautiful weather.  

Hair Cut

At the end of March I finally decided to cut my hair.  I had been thinking about it since November but hadn't decided what I want to do.  One of my friends at church had cut her hair short and it looked cute, so I asked where she got it cut.  She told me where and I finally made an appointment to get mine cut as well.  

The day of the appointment I had Paul take a picture of my hair before it was cut.  

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Good-bye to Maren

Maren had come to live with us starting around Christmas.  She had been out in the Washington D.C. area looking for jobs, but had no luck.  I invited her to live with us in Texas until she could find a job or whatever.  She took me up on that offer.  She quickly found a temporary job being a math tutor at a junior high.  She was also taking some online classes.  She was pretty busy, but we loved having her with us.  

The Thinkery

In Austin the children's museum is called The Thinkery.  

Kaamil's Birthday

We made some good friends here at our apartment complex--and just above us on the third floor.  Kaamil was turning 5 and we were invited to the party.  It was at a bounce house called Wazoo's.  

Fun in March

March was...March.  

Paul and Glenn would work on math flash cards at breakfast before Paul would leave for work.  Glenn had a lot of fun doing the math in his head.

Braden's Birthday

At the end of February we were invited to a birthday party of a new friend in our apartment complex.  We had recently met Braden and his family and we were happy to have friends close by.  Braden turned 5 and had the party at a place that is really close to our apartment complex.  It is called Kiddie Acres.  It's a small amusement type park that's made just for kids.  

Glenn was excited to go on a pony ride.  Here he is getting all set up.

Cake Show

Saturday February 22nd we went to a cake show here in Austin.  My friend Cassandra--remember the tank cake from Atlas' birthday--told us about it.  She would be entering some cakes in the show and I was excited to see them, as well as other cakes.  This year the theme was Cake of Ages.  Any cake submitted would need to fall in that category.  It seemed a little vague to me, and really it was because all the cakes were so varied.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Glenn got some play-dough from a friend and a Jake card from Grandma Esther.

Glenn's Cut

On the evening of February 6th, Paul and Glenn were running around after dinner.  I was washing dishes when I heard this super high scream come from the bedroom.  At first I wasn't sure if it was a bad scream or a playful scream.  Two seconds later I saw that it had been a bad scream.

Random Fun in February

January came and went, and soon it was February.  Glenn had learned a new thing: being an echo.  Not sure where he learned that, but he had a fun time copying all of us.  One time when Maren was talking with Grandma Esther, he was being an echo.  She put it on speaker phone so Grandma could hear, but she couldn't tell that's what he was doing.  But I wanted to remember that Glenn was Mr. Echo for awhile.

Chinese New Year Party

January 31st was the Chinese New Year.  We wanted a reason to get together with friends, so we decided to have a Chinese party.  I didn't make many pictures--I was too busy having fun.  Maren and I had a good time finding some Chinese pastries and sweets as well as some decorations.  We decided to buy a banner to put on the door--we had tried to find one that said party or something like that, but all we could find was one that said, "Sale".  

We bought it anyway.  It didn't matter what it said because none of our guests could read it!  It just made it look festive.  

Homemade Pretzels

Mid-January we were invited to our friends' house to make pretzels with them.  Fun!  Glenn and Atlas were really looking forward to making--and eating--their yummy creations.

Snow in Austin?

Austin was experiencing it's coldest winter in several years.  We got the tiniest bit of snow one day in January.  School got canceled and I think the city didn't know what to do! : D

Balance Bike Beginnings

Remember that Glenn got a balance bike for Christmas?  I didn't take pictures of him and Paul going out that day, but I did take some in January.  

Atlas' Birthday Party

Glenn's good friend Atlas turned 4 in January.  The theme was Army and it was a lot of fun!

The kids each got army hats and had to learn how to be little soldiers.

Random Fun in January

Now we come to the beginning of 2014.  We had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa and were glad they spent time with us.  After they left it was back to normal life, although we hadn't really established that yet.  We hadn't even been here for a month yet!  We were still doing some unpacking and rearranging and such, but once we put the holiday stuff away we were better able to do all that.