A well-rounded, enjoyable weekend!

I'm finally on Instagram!  I still refuse to join the Facebook revolution, but you can find my instagram profile as livinlife_20.  I'll approve your request to follow.  Sorry, with pics of kids, I chose the private setting.  Here's my profile photo.  LOL

However, I realize that I turn my blogs into books, and I don't want to miss out on all the fun stuff we did this weekend, or exclude the people not on instagram.  So, now I'll be double duty, I guess.

We wrapped up spring break with a bang.  On Friday, Shelby finished off his rockstar dance camp with  an awesome performance! (Yes, I'll be working to blog that too).  I picked up Chaila and Aaron to come watch, then they spent the afternoon and overnight with us.  It was a party!
Chaila let me fix her hair on Sat morning and take some pics.  Then, she taught me how to use instagram.  Thanks, Cha!

What a cutie, huh!  I can't believe she's growing up!!!  She was only 9 years old when we moved in next door.  Even though they don't live next door to us anymore, we've all been able to hang out and stay close.

And Lil Aaron was only 7 when we moved in.  That's just one year older than Shelby is now.  I can't believe it.  Shelby is in heaven when these two are around.

On Sunday we joined Staci and Giana for a playdate at the park.  The kids were so excited to see each other.  They're so funny though, because by the end of the over 2 hrs they were done.  LOL!

On the ride there Shelby informed me that "Mom, Giana's not just my friend, she's my girlfriend."  "Okay, Shelby but what does that really mean?"  "Well, it means I have a crush on her."  "And are there other girls you have a crush on too?"  "No!  Just Giana.  Some of the girls at school say they like me, but I tell them I already have a crush on someone."
It's funny, they've been this way for years now, and I wonder when they'll let that go.  Cute...and scary all at the same time.

 Precious girl

They made a squirrel trap.  Watch the video.  I was very impressed with their creativity!

Guard dog.  She was fine until the kids started climbing a tree and she started whining.

Once we let her near them she was fine.  She just needed to check it out for herself.  Such a good girl.

When we got home Shelby decided he wanted to be a flower too.

I LOVE when our flowers bloom here in our front garden.  They just make me smile.

Then Sunday afternoon Travis came over to play.  They had a blast with the sidewalk chalk.

I loved Shelby's creation!  I'm thinking of making it into a canvas for his room.

Travis was obsessed with drawing lightning bolts, but calling it thunder.  Cute.

What an awesome, relaxing weekend.  It's funny.  We had a ton going on, but since we weren't traveling or hosting anything major, it felt like a chillin' break.

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Thanks!

Shelby's Talent Show Performance

A few months ago Shelby begged me to let him audition for the school's talent show.  I tried to explain how scary that might be to perform in front of everyone, but he swore he understood and wanted to do it.  So, he auditioned, made the cut, and last Thursday he performed his little heart out!

I was a mess, with a grin so big I thought my mouth would split, and tears of absolute pride pouring down my cheeks throughout his performance.  Stacy and I were sooooo unbelievably proud of him!  What courage and TALENT!  There is no greater sense of joy than the pride that comes with being a parent.  We were just blown away!

The rush Shelby got from this experience was evident through his excitement for days.  Which has me left believing this is just the beginning of little man's performing days.  He even asked if next year I can play the drums and Stacy play the bass guitar while he plays regular guitar in our family band.  LOL...

Hope you enjoy his show as well!

The Citadel - Charleston, South Carolina

Nonny's 80th Birthday celebration was held in South Carolina this past weekend.  Since the travel to the East Coast is an all day affair, we decided to go early and spend the weekend in Charleston, SC.  Stacy, Shelby and I arrived around midnight Friday night.  Saturday morning Stacy went to the local "box" to workout and then we were all off to see The Citadel.

It amazed us how much the rings there favor the Aggie Ring.  Pretty cool!

Shelby loved seeing all of the military stuff!

I think he liked the chopper the best.

"The guns"

Now that Shelby's older, we realized we can go back to being in the photos and let him shoot! :-)

The buildings were a fav of Shelby's because they all "look like castles!"

This gentleman was there with his family.  He asked Stacy what year he was and shook his hand.  Stacy explained our rings were A&M, not The Citadel.  They ended up having a cool conversation.  We found out he's currently serving our country and was just at home on R&R.  He got his picture with Shelby after we explained to Shelby that he was a soldier on leave.  He was going back after the weekend, so the family went on a visit to campus with him.  Made me crying knowing he was leaving them all again soon.  We thanked him for his service.
Only later did I regret not getting his name and letting Shelby send him care packages!  What was I thinking...Shelby would have loved that!

And we all traded cameras so we got family photos.

We kept seeing bulldogs around...then we figured out why.  So cute!

Shelby picked out a Citadel football as a souvenir so Stacy went out and tossed the ball around in the large field.

See the ball?  He's getting better at catch and cradle.

"stand clear of ramp when horn sounds"  Seriously?  Because anyone would stand in front of this tank at all?

Shelby is acting like the jet shoots footballs out...lol

Dive for the ball

And then he got a pic with a current student who introduced himself as Ben.  He was with his Mom and such a young gentleman.  He even let Shelby wear his hat for the photo, which was cute.  His mom was rightfully proud of her son.

408K

This past Saturday I recruited a couple of my CrossFit buddies to run an 8k with me.  I signed up for the 408k in San Jose this year, but I am going to be out of town for the actual race.  408 is the area code for San Jose.  This race is in support of the Pat Tillman Foundation.  Thank you to everyone that help me raise $500.  So, we ran a week early.  Yes, those are 20lb vest we wore. 

We started with 3.  Me, Eric, and Ryan.

Shelby wanted to send us off.

We ended with 2, 43:45 later.

 

Eric rolled his ankle about 900m into the race.  He decided to go back to the house and ice it.  I am glad that he did, the ankle was black and blue the next day.

We finished at the local high school.

Thanks guys for joining me on the run and for playing baseball with Shelby afterwards.