November to April

We haven't taken a lot of pictures over the past few months.  This wouldn't be horrible except that we celebrated 2 birthdays and Christmas during that time.  Here is the quick version of what happened:

Eve turned 6 in November and she had a 'Super Mario' party.  In this shot she is getting ready to pin the mustache on Mario.  We also popped balloon mushrooms to get coins and threw beanbag fireballs at Bowser.  With a coed party we had to choose a theme everyone would like; it took us a while to convince her the boys wouldn't want to attend a princess party.  

Christmas

Mark's dad came out to visit us for Christmas and we had such a great time.  

Here Asher and Jude are enjoying their spoils before we head off to church. 

 Eve all dolled up for church on Christmas morning 

 Being new to the south, we are still getting used to celebrating Mardi Gras.  This year we headed to town square where they had a family friendly celebration planned.  Eve dressed up with some of her friends and was able to be on a float.  Fun times!

Asher turned 4 in April.  What was the theme?  'Star Wars Angry Birds' of course. He is obsessed.  Seriously. 

The cake was one of the storm trooper pigs.  Tricia dislikes decorating cakes but this was easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

Mark was the hit of the party (don't worry we will post a video).  He dressed up as a Jedi and taught the kids some sweet moves with the light saber.  We knocked down pig balloons off of boxes and threw angry birds at the Darth Vader Pig.  Finally there was an pig pinata filled with all kinds of 'Angry Bird Star Wars' treats.  

It isn't too often that we are all clean and neat at the same time, so last Sunday when Mark noticed we were all neatly pressed and dressed  before church he had to capture the moment.  Enjoy this because it doesn't happen often.  The only sad part was Mark looked fabulous too but someone had to take the picture.  Next time we will use a timer and tripod.  

Our handsome boys all cleaned up for Church. Anyone at church will be shocked at how neat they look, by the time we get to church their hair is messed and their ties askew.  They are also often times covered in crumbs from snacks.    

There you have it.  Six months in 8 shots.  We can now buckle down for what will most likely be the hottest summer Houston has ever had.  Why? Because every summer we have lived here that is what everyone has told us...each summer being hotter than the last...

Our Adventure!  

It has been cool this weekend, and in Texas that is a big deal.

Since we knew we were on borrowed time we decided to take advantage of the last cold front we will most likely see until the end of September and went on a walk. A long walk.  

We are off and away.

I am not a photographer, not remotely, so this is the best I could do with an older camera and little knowledge on how to even work it.  

We can't believe how big the kids are getting, Eve is so tall!  I think back to when she was a baby and we were so worried she wouldn't have any hair!  Well, our worries were for nothing, she has hair (I know you were all as worried as we were;).

Asher, well Asher is our Drama Man.  I don't think I have one picture of him making a normal face.  He is so crazy...really.  I love this one of him, because that is so often the expression on his face. I can't believe he is 4.  I tried to do his hair for the picture but he will have none of it; he insists on brushing his very straight lock of hair over his face.  What can ya do?

Jude, or Juder-bug (that is what he thinks his name is and I am not sure how to break it to him that it really is only Jude, he might be a grown man before he realizes it).  He is so adorable, and loves to make us laugh.  2 and a half is a great age for that.  All our kids were little clowns at that age.  They aren't self-councious yet.  Just goofs.  It did take me awhile to get one of him where he wasn't scowling, he is the youngest and so gets his way a bit too much.

Eve and Jude getting ready to jump.  You know how I mentioned my lack of photo skills?  Well, the jump shot didn't work out, so you get the pre-jump shot. They are just so cute it doesn't matter.

I discovered a new effect on Picasa: Cinemascope.  Love it!  Even with shots that were a tad out of focus you get a cool effect.  The next three are my shots.  Since I am not sure what is a good shot, I like them.  I still can't really tell if the picture has good lighting or not. 

After our 'Adventure' was done (we picked dewberries, pink and orange mixed flowers, and ran up the only hill in all of Kingwood), we headed to the park for a little 'Star Wars' play time.  It works out perfectly:  I only have one girl so she always gets to be Princess Leia, and the boys get to be Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.  

*They have never actually seen Star Wars, except for a very small clip, but that doesn't stop them.

Jude.  Why? Because he is C-U-T-E!

I hadn't really gotten any pictures of Asher for a while; since it was his birthday last week I thought I should.

This is my favorite of the birthday boy, I think I will get one framed.

Here Asher is patiently waiting for the bubbles to come.  This was a great $14 spent.  It keeps them busy and running around.  

My life.  More often than not, Jude and Asher make each other cry.  Here I actually think I was asking Jude to smile.  He simply didn't want to.