Fam Pix 2012

I love doing Family pics in the summer!  Tracy is awesome.  Tessa was so grouchy and Tracy was still able to get some beautiful shots of the family.  Thank you so much Tracy!!  You can check out all of Tracy's stuff at: http://www.tracyandersonphoto.com/

This shot was a miracle shot.  Tessa literally only looked at the camera once!

"Ahhh!  No kisses Daddy!"

The BEASTS

I got the privilege of cheering my awesome siblings do the Spartan Beast half marathon. 

 They ran 13 miles over rough mountain terrain and completed over 30 grueling obstacles. 

Yes, she is floating.

 Mark talked Julie into doing the race, she was very apprehensive about the whole thing.  She did not want to injure herself and compromise her marathon running. She made comments about the possibility of quitting and not even finishing. 

Mark signed them up for the "competative" heat.  That means they were the only group wearing red armbands, had priority at the obstacles if there was a wait and were in the running to place overall.  

They were so incredible to watch!

He floats too!

  

 Of course Julie didn't give up, she is much too competitive for that!

 My other awesome sister Tracy snuck behind spectator lines to capture these up-close shots, way to go Tracy!

 They were neck and neck throughout the race.  She would get ahead of him on the running and he would catch up on the obstacles.  The running was her true strong point and she beat him by about 7 min. 

Not only did she not quit...she placed 4th over all the women!!  She was seconds away from winning the third place dagger!  She amazes me.  She is already signed up for next year and has plans for improving her time.  She wants the first place spartan helmet. 

I love this shot of Julie and Brent at the finish!  True love!

 I cant wait to watch them to it again next year!  I am planning my summer trip around it. 

School ends and the party begins...

Chase's little school had a carnival complete with dunking tank.  

Miss 

Miss Bailey

Miss Jeanie

Jack had a Field Day.  It was so much fun to attend and remember all the Field days of yesteryear.  The kids had such a great time.  It was nice to end his year on a high note since his experience at this school had been disappointing.  

Kindergarten Graduation is a big thing here in Texas.  You should have seen the balloon boquets and gifts some of these people got for their kids for graduating Kindergarten!  A bit silly really. 

Jack with his teacher aide and his Teacher.

And time for a vacation!  

Got the most important thing packed first so we wouldn't forget her. 

Chase loved the AC at the vacation house!

Tessa loved the fan, I love that little arm  pulling on the chain!

This huge park was a highlight of our trip to San Antonio.  It was one of those trips were most everything went wrong and we came home a day early just because we couldn't see the point in staying any longer. So, the park was a highlight!

The rocks were so alluring for Tessa

"No Tessie, don't do it!"

Under Dog!

Everything is done in twos with these guys!

 Last but certainly not least...

The first annual :

Nixon End of The School Year Celebration!!

 

 I wanted to make a fun tradition for us to have every year to celebrate the children's accomplishments.  

The festivities included:

Lots of decor

Fun dinner

Fancy cups for sparkly drink

Crowns for the kings

A huge display of tons of their best school work

Family voting on said school work 

King of Kinder and King of PreK 3 in front of their wall of work. 

What great kids!

My Day

I am on a Mother's Day vacation.  It started last night, oh around 7 pm.  I have been catching up on my favorite shows, reading tons of blogs, relaxing and pretty much enjoying myself in a clean, quiet, calm environment.  What is this vacation you may ask?  Father and Sons Campout!!

The actual campout was cancelled because the site was underwater?  (we've been having alot of rain this week but 'flooded'? I can't imagine)  Since Quinn is a super dad he didn't let the boys down and took them on a campout anyway.  What a great father.

I put Tessa down to bed last night and have been enjoying myself ever since.  I quickly cleaned the house and have been luxuriating in the orderliness ever since!  I stayed up way too late watching TV and surfing the net.  The best part was having plenty of time to complete a project in calm and quiet.  So lovely.  I am reminded of my early mothering days with only my little Jack at home.  I thought it was a little silly how people with kids always complained about trying to keep their house clean and remember thinking my sisters carseats looked atrocious!  Couldn't she clean them at least once a month? was that too much to ask?  Well, 2 kids later: my van/carseats are dirty as can be, I have a tough time keeping my house looking nice and I laugh at my stuffy mother-of-one-baby self.  

Here is my bookshelf/cabinet project!  Of course I just spent 20 min looking though the last 6 months of pics to find my 'before' pic but alas, it is not to be found!  Imagine dark wood with fuzzy beige carpet looking stuff behind.  And here is the after!

 I grabbed a few things from around the house to style it real quick.  At least I have a 'before' pic of the lamp now...it is a work in progress.

When I ripped the fuzzy carpeting off the back I found gold wallpaper underneath so I scraped that off too, washed and scraped off the glue and then applied my fabric for the background.  I love how it looks!  I also love that Quinn just walked in and said, "Wow, it looks really good.  I will be honest, I didn't think it was going to be that great."  He never has the vision!!  I get so excited when he likes a project after he doubted me. 

Here's my darling little vacation buddy.  She is such a calm, sweet child. 

I kind of forgot how babies get into everything, it will be awhile before this is "styled" on a permanent basis!

I have been thinking a lot about mothering this past week, what with mothers day upon us.  I am so thankful to have these beautiful children to love, nurture and watch in amazement.  I love a quote by Nie from her interview on the Today show.  When asked about her life before the crash she said, "it wasn't perfect but it was ideal for me.  I had the life I had always planned for and dreamed of."  I feel much the same way about my life.  It is my ideal. I have the gospel of Christ.  I have a loving husband who is amazing enough to provide for our family, allowing me to fulfill my dream to be a stay-at-home-mom.  My children are sweet little spirits with healthy bodies.  I am fit and able to be active.  Some of the details: job, town etc. are not perfect but I am really living my ideal and I couldn't be happier.  I am a blessed little Mommy. Happy Mothers day to you!!