Spring Break feels so Spring-ey!

Spring-ey, I am pretty sure that is not a word but we have had some beautiful weather lately!! It feels like spring is here and we even have some pink faces to prove it from our park morning. We have had a great Spring Break so far. I have plenty of pictures to share so those of you who have been waiting for some pictures, you will be so happy! (Does anyone actually read this blog? Hmm...)

Our first day, we saw The Lorax as a family of 5. It was so much fun and the kids did so good! We were so proud of them and it shows how big they have gotten! :) Then we had the family over to celebrate Justin's 33rd birthday! His mom made his absolute favorite cake- peanut butter cake! Guys, this cake is so amazing! It tastes like heaven in your mouth!! Justin got some goodies and we got to spend some quality time with some of our family.

You can see the peanut butter-amaziness that Mikah is trying to taste!

On Tuesday, I got to spend the entire day at my brother and sister-in-law's house. Justin had to

work all day so it was so super special that I got to spend that time with them. I have a new nephew Jeremiah that I haven't been able to see much since he was born in November so I held him the entire day!

Also Mikah and Feliciti were so affectionate and caring towards Jeremiah! Feliciti really blossomed into a "little Momma" as she soothed him when he was fussy, gave him his lovey, his

paci and just overall wanted to hold him the whole time! It warmed my heart to see her so loving and caring towards him.

But I got a tad freaked out when she leaned to me and asked, "Do you have another baby in your tummy?" Now I didn't freak out because she thought I was fat. (I am in the best shape that she has ever seen.) I freaked out because I am so done with babies! I have never heard from any of the kids regarding another kiddo so this took me by surprise to say the least. Anyway, I informed her that we get to welcome new nieces and nephews into the world but that we were not going to have any more babies in our family. She said 'OK', and then hugged Jeremiah again. :)

We had a blast making homemade pizza, even making our own dough in Aunt Bibi's (Vivian) breadmaker. We do love our Bibi and Bobo and always look forward to spending time with them. They live in North Richland Hills and for some reason, sometimes it's like they live in another state. :) Our lives get so busy and with all of our kids, getting together is so hard. But I am determined to make it a priority to have my kids know and love them and vice versa.

About to start making the dough

Smoothie snack after nap

Pretty hard to get 5 kiddos under the age of 6 to all smile at the same time.

Today we went to Putt-Putt and had the best time! We all had a blast and we enjoyed spending some fun outside-time and teaching them how to play! Madilyn was much more into posing with the animals and placing the ball straight into the hole. Feliciti sort of got it but she also enjoyed just hitting the ball around for fun. Mikah, on the other hand, was really into learning how to play and he did really good! He is definitely our more competitive child and he is very athletic.

Here is Madilyn placing the ball straight into the hole...adorable!

You can see her concentration- she really tried about half the time and just enjoyed hitting it the other half. :)

Had a little bench rest time and we had them pose with their balls and clubs.

Justin teaching Mikah intently how to hold it the 'right way'.

Choosing the perfect hole to shoot from.

Family pose at the 18th hole. I am so blessed!

I even got Mikah to take a picture of Justin and me...I realize after our family outings that I never get pictures of Justin and I so I am making an effort to get some of those done. I let Mikah be the photographer and he loved it!

All in all, I have to say that God is so good! He has truly brought me out into a spacious place and rescued my life! Without Him, my life would be meaningless and empty and I am forever grateful for all that He has done in my life...He has truly held me into His hands and given me a hope and a future. Sigh...

Family and Weight Update 3/7/12

It has just been too long Blogger...and there is no excuse other than life has been so full of blessings lately that we have been swamped! I will list a few...

1. Mikah is doing so great in Kinder, learning his sight words, learning to read, having great Bible studies, realizing how to play video games without getting too frustrated, playing board games and having lots of sweet conversations. Mikah is definitely a Daddy's boy right now; he loves to wrestle with him and watch him play video games. He is currently learning how to add numbers, which has been really fun for me as a math teacher and he is super good at it!

2. Feliciti is doing such an amazing job at preschool, she loves to learn, she loves to teach her baby sister, she loves to play princess, "Mommy and Daddy" and she adores treasure chest Thursday at FBC Mansfield! LOL! She is definitely a Momma's girl right now and loves cuddling, hugging and kissing! Feliciti is currently learning all her letters and their sounds and she loves to practice! She also makes up songs and sings them in tune!

3. Madilyn is in such a fun stage! She also loves preschool and learning new things, she is getting so good at her colors, and following multi-step instructions. She knows some of the letters too and can count to 10 in English and Spanish! She loves to play dress up, jump on the trampoline and be anywhere with her Mommy! She is always loving on us and giving us kisses and hugs. She is so incredibly sweet and honestly, she barely got any of the terrible twos- thank the Lord!

4. Justin and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary this Friday (3/9)!! Praise the Lord and all glory to Him! He saved our marriage and continually is the true Focus of our lives! We got to celebrate our anniversary early February on a 5-day cruise and it was incredible! Our family watched the kids for us while we were gone and they had a blast and didn't miss us at all. They were loved on so much by Justin's parents, Justin's brother and wife, and my parents and that was such a true blessing. On the cruise we got to sleep, read, eat, sunbathe and enjoy precious time together!

5. I have finally been spending time with the Lord consistently and have so been blessed! I went through such a dry time with my Master's and work and being too busy and I made so many excuses. I am done with those! My life has been incredible since I started spending time with Him...I joined a Bible study with my life group ladies and I have loved it! We get to be real together and share life learning how to be better wives, better Moms and better Christ-followers.

6. Our life group multiplied to 4 couples and we have such an incredible group! The Lord is going to use our group to change lives; He is changing our individual lives, our marriages and we pray every day for Him to use us in our community and our church. Our Father has knit our group together and given us all a heart for outreach and prayer. It has been incredible to see where the Lord has brought us already and how close we are in such a short time- I can't wait to bring more glory to Him through the outreach of our group.

7. My weight loss journey has been awesome and steady! My last update in December, I weighed 146.4 pounds and now I am down to 143 pounds! This is 29 pounds since June! My mom and I joined LA Fitness and I consistently go 3 times a week. At the gym I do weight training and run on the treadmill; I run a 5K at least once a week but at minimum I run 2 miles each time. It has gotten extremely easy to run the 3.1 miles which is a huge blessing! I also still do at-home Netflix workouts mostly for my abs. Below are 2 pictures of me on our cruise...as you can see, we had a blast!

More kid pictures to come...I am on our new laptop (huge blessing given to us from our friends) and the kid pictures are on my work laptop. :)