{Brazil}

Our good friend & neighbor , Helmut is from Brazil. He & his sweet wife hosted a soccer/football viewing dinner. Complete with Brazillian BBQ. All the Brazillian restaurants we have been to dim in comparison to the food we ate at Ronda & Helmuts'.  Ronda even rented a water slide for the children. Rod asked me after the veining was over if I had watched a moment of the game. The answer was no. Between keeping an eye on Presley in the water & catching up with my girlfriends the game was forgotten. Presley has been growing closer to her 3 doors down buddy, C. They are so sweet together. C is so patient & loving with our girl. Maddox & Tre had to be dragged home. they loved playing with Evan & all the street kids. Cooper is beginning to outgrow his separation anxiety. He explored & played & gave everyone scares as he showed them how good he is at conquering the stairs. The night was one we will definitely remember. We are happy here. Very happy.  

{yellow}

 Between Our City & Dallas are miles & miles of farmland. Some of which are sunflower crops. Yellow as far as the eye can see. People were pulling over with their camera phones & snapping pictures of their kids in front of the tall stalks. I figured why not. So I found a spot to pull off and let the children pile out. Tre was a nervous nelly the entire time. He was sure Cooper was going to run in front of a mack truck.  I love how my biggers have such a strong inclination to protect the babies. Also I am reminded why I do not attempt my own family photographs. Impossible.

{5 hrs}

5 hours is nothing. It is 3 movies, 1 meal & only 1 fill up at the gas station. The drive to Dallas is actually very pretty. There are miles and miles of farm land & blue skies. The children didn't mind the drive at all. They usually do well in the car. We enjoy a good road trip.  We arrived at Brad & Kalen's a few hours shy of dinner. The boys & Presley were eager to play & stretch. Norah shared all her toys & showed us that she remembered her little buddy Cooper with hugs.  It never gets old seeing Cooper & Norah next to each other. 2 little babies running around together. I'm pretty sure there is nothing cuter. We played outside & climbed all over the yard. We went to the neighborhood pool & uncle brad tossed them around. the boys kept loosing their dang swim trunks. Someone give these boys of ours some hips already! The patrons of the pool got more than they bargained for! That is for sure. The 4 oldest slept in sleeping bags in the office. It went surprisingly well & makes travel easier that they can all bunk up together. Kalen & Brad made us feel right at home & assured me that they had no hard feelings after we ate all their food & made their home easily the loudest on the block (or in the city. state. country. whichever.) We have plans to be together again in a few weeks. We are loving all this time with them! Its a dream come true! 

Id drive 5 hours any day to see the cute face below....

{worst}

Mother's day had consisted of a sleepless night prior with a hurt baby who needed an ER visit after a pretty yucky fall. Rod had worked the night before & was exhausted. The kids were having a rough day too. It wasn't the ideal day, but that was no ones fault, just how things ended up. To make things even Rod said he wanted the worst father's day ever. I considered it a challenge.  Tre & I brainstormed & decided to cook a yummy meal & put it in a trash can of sorts. we hunted for a trash can that would be perfect. We stumbled upon a ceramic cookie jar that looked like a trash can. It was hilarious. The boys made cards that looked like insults until you opened them up to see the whole message. We sang Rod his least favorite song ever & really made a joke of the day. He reported that it was his best worst fathers day! I failed at taking pictures.

{girls}

On Presley's birthday we had a little play date. Not really a party. We just invited a few little girl friends Presley's age over to play & eat lunch. Presley was having a rough day to be honest. But the other girls didn't let the grumpy birthday girl stop them from having fun. Presley calmed down once she was able to eat  a piece of the pink cake that had been taunting her all morning. The girls played with mermaids in the water table & played dress up. We have such darling little girls in our lives. They are each so tender & sweet with Presley. They also each have the talent of understanding our Presley. She went to bed the night of her 4th birthday talking about each of her friends with a big smile.