Hand prints and Footprints

This weekend my sister Kacey, her hubby Josh, and my sweet niece Lila were in town looking for houses-WHOO HOO! They are moving to Waco this summer and I couldn't be happier. While they were in town we had to visit Practically Picasso to get out paint on! My parents have footprints of all the grand kids at 3 months, 6 months, and nine months and then they graduate to hand prints for 1-4. My children love to paint and Lila was smiling the whole time, so this was one smooth trip.

Here are Honey and GP with little Lila

Kacey painting Lila's foot

Ally's purple hand print. She was so proud of herself:-).

Ryan chose an alligator and of course blue, black and gray paint.

This is what Ally got to paint and she didn't seem to mind a bit.

Little artists

The finished products

Here are all the tiles at mom and dad's house. When a new tile is added it replaces a blue tile. This is one of my favorite things at their house. Pretty cool!

100th Post

I cannot believe that this is my 100th post! I really LOVE blogging because it reminds me of major and minor events in our everyday lives. Believe me I know that I don't have a profound voice or life altering advice but this blog gives me a chance to simply capture"life at the wood's". God has blessed me with these beautiful children and I really do count it a privilege to stay home and raise them. Some days it is really hard to be thankful when the laundry is piled up or I have zero idea what's for dinner, or why Ally has been crying ALL DAY LONG, or that Ryan seems to have some obsessive compulsions (weird I know, he's so like his dad-kidding-:-)). I try to be authentic with my struggles as a wife, parent and friend but, I also LOVE to rejoice in the many victories from the Lord.

Today was just a normal day. We went to the mall for a while after preschool so the kids could run around. They were like wild monkeys but fortunately the mall was not very crowded so I just let them run free. I'm not so sure that we'll be back in the GAP for a while (am I right Kylie?)but, other than that it was a pretty easy trip. Here's my failed attempt to get some pictures of both kids looking at the camera and smiling. Oh well, like I said I try to be authentic:-). At least we got out of the house and they had fun.

Ryan's got some moves, huh?! Thanks for keeping up with our little family. I just love to read your sweet comments and feel really blessed to have moms that are quick to encourage and pray for our family. That means more to me than you will probably ever know. XOXOXO

Ally and Wyatt

Ally loves all of her sweet cousins and she dances with joy every single time that we get to see them. But, there is one cousin that is hers. Her Wyatt. For whatever reason Ally has always called him that (well is was "my Wy-dit" for a while but now it's just Wyatt). They are only four months apart, so we have really enjoyed watching them grow up together. I cannot even count the number of people that think they're twins when they are together. This love affair started from birth so here are some pictures of the BFF's.

Wiped out from a long trip to Houston, they look SO tiny!

Little swimmers

Santa here we come (what a difference a year makes, I think you all remember this picture)

It's OK Wy-dit

The Lake and watermelon go so well together

III's TTU party

Piano time at Nana's

Ryan's biggest fans

Waiting to go see Lila in the hospital

Playing with the Coke light switch at Honey's

The little daredevils. Wyatt we love you and your brother so much and we can't wait to see you again soon!

Team Croc

Yesterday we got to play with some our our favorite friends, Jake and Brinley. We are so blessed to have them as friends and neighbors. Since T-Ball is staring up we had to get in some good practice. It was a beautiful day to play outside. Here is our little team getting in some really good hits.

These two are such sweet little friends.

Here comes trouble.

Ally carried these two balls around most of the day, making sure they were safe.

Days like yesterday make me really look forward to this spring and summer. Aren't you ready?

Tired at "The Wal-mart"

So I know I am a Target snob, but while we were in Marble Falls enduring the monsoon of 2009 we had to brave the local Wal-mart (which is called "the Wal-mart" for all you big city folks). We weren't going to be there very long and it was raining so mom and I thought we would just take the kids in to browse around a little. Here's what Ally decided to do. She sat down on the floor took off her socks and shoes and tried on these little beauties:-).

We were rolling because she refused to take them off and she just pranced around the shoe department like these are her everyday shoes!

Aren't they stunning? I know I've told you about this girl's flair!

Honey actually did find a really cute pair of sandals.

My Ryan has turned into a TERRIBLE shopper. If we are in a store for more than five minutes he just turns to jello. Monkey see Monkey do.

Mom when are we leaving??????

I think Ally had enough too, what do you think?

Thank goodness for Target. :-)

The Lake House

We spent a couple Spring Break days at Lake LBJ . We have started the process of going through my grandmother, Granny Liz's, home. She had really beautiful things so it is quite an undertaking. My parents have been working on this for a while but it is really a huge process. Although we worked really hard it still feels like there is a LOT to do. The timing of our trip was great because Mark was working in the Marble Falls area so he met us at night. The highlight of the trip for Ryan and Ally was the new bunk bed. And as always, Ella (my parents puppy), and the stairs provided hours of entertainment. In fact, I was telling my mom that we really didn't need to bring the kid's toys because they had a blast just hanging out! (Even though it was not Springy weather:)

Here's some happy kids seeing their new beds

A little flashlight fun on the staircase landing is always a HIT!

Me trying to get a good picture...the kids not havin' it:-)

Ryan asked, "I wonder what's down there? "Yeah, it's better not to think about that", replied his germaphobic mother!!!!

Cuties

I really, really missed seeing Granny Liz's sweet face this trip but, I feel so incredibly blessed that she ensured that her home would be used by our family for years to come. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I just LOVE going to spend time down at the lake. It is so neat for me to know that my children now get the privilege of enjoying the lake house. We just got home and Ryan already wants to know when we'll be going back!!

Basically these pictures are just for my family so my sisters and extended family can see the changes to this sweet house. So feel free to scroll on down.

New paint on exterior

One set of bunk beds, the other set is in the green room on the opposite side of the room. Ryan was demonstrating how to climb up to the top, just in case you don't know how to use a ladder! We still need quilts or some kind of bedspread on them so be on the lookout for a great deal.

Living room with mom and dad's denim couches.

We moved the dining table to the sitting area and vice versa. This really opened up the front room a lot.

The Dining room is now when you walk in the front door. I didn't get a picture of the kitchen but the tile looks really good on the floors and counter tops. I really hope you like the way we arranged the furniture downstairs. Upstairs looks really great too with new carpet. I think that we can now sleep 12 (in beds) Yay! We are ready whenever y'all want to go again.

A Ryan quote of the week

So Ryan has been learning a lot of new words thanks to Wordgirl on PBS. I know, I know, but he and Ally both love this funny little show. He is basically just using a lot more descriptive words when telling us a story. This one is my favorite so far.

We were sitting down to dinner and I asked Ryan if he liked the new lasagna and his answer was classic. He said "Yes, it's suspiciously good." Suspiciously good, huh? The way he said it was like he was a 1940's detective smoking a pipe. He had his mouth curled up to one side and everything, just so funny!!! So there you have it... my cooking is suspicious. Mark has known this for years:-).

Lego Store

You guys know how into Lego's my Ryan is right? Well when Mark found this Lego store in a Denver Mall we really thought Ryan was not going to be able to sleep the night before we left. He was soooo excited! We being smart parents, told Ryan only the day before that we would be visiting this special store, knowing full well that until we actually stepped foot in the store every 5 minutes we would be asked, "How many more hours until we're at the Lego store?" I must say that it was hilarious watching him. It is kind of like when I go to Williams-Sonoma, pure excitement and a little overwhelmed at where to begin. They have Lego everything, a Lego-lovers dream come true!

Little Vanna White

Ryan was in awe of this Sponge Bob Lego. We don't watch Sponge Bob at our house so Ryan thought this was a pretty cool thing to see in person. It was like he was breaking the rules or something. Oh the sweet innocence of my children!

Daddy and Ryan

Check out all these mini tires? I cannot even begin to imagine how they make those little things.

Thank you Grandma for my $20 to spend at the store.

One thankful little man. The Lego worker ( who Ryan wants to be when he grows up:)),let us know that they will be opening a Lego store in the Stonebriar Mall in Frisco this May, so I'm sure everytime we visit Aunt Cary and Uncle Stacey we will be making a visit there!