April

When someone posts online that a store has Needoh’s in stock, you drop everything you’re doing and you run! I’m not kidding, they are usually gone within minutes. This craze is insane, but I love that it gets us out of the house and I’m so thankful we have the flexibility to do things like this!

Oreo was almost as excited as Ellis!

The rest of the fam headed to the lake for the Easter weekend and I got to stay back with Brooks to take him to his baseball tournament. I Absolutely loved this one on one time we had together. We went to see the movie “Project Hail Mary” on Good Friday and we both loved it, and of course I cried like a baby!

Daddy wasn’t there to soft toss to Brooks to warm him up for his game, so I got to fill in. Don’t tell Adam, but Brooks said I was better at tossing than him! I’m so proud of this kid and his self motivated hard work and commitment!

Let’s do this boys!

Brooks’ hard work has earned him the fourth spot in the line up, which is also known as the clean up batter or power hitter!

Just hitting bombs and catching pop flies! Watching him make outs as catcher is my favorite!

Always coming in clutch! This would’ve been an in the park home run if he was just a little bit faster!

Meanwhile, the rest of the fam was enjoying the amazing weather up at the lake!

Levi makes it look so easy!

The whole month of April was basically a birthday celebration for Ellis! Lesley’s gift bag painting was so pretty, I couldn’t bear to tell her she spelled birthday wrong, lol

Waylon (Kelly’s dog) was supervising Adam’s brisket prep

Ellis loves baking with Aunt Kelly!

Ellis talked me into buying a bunch of Easter crafts for the weekend to keep them busy!

Painting crosses…

Making slime…

Slow mo confetti egg baseball…

Marker spin art with eggs…

And my least favorite – dying Easter eggs!

Everyone was enjoying the phenomenal weather and relaxing in the backyard, even the pups!

The bluebonnets were popping!

Brooks and I headed straight to the lake after his games on Saturday. He was so excited to get to hang out with his cousin Liam!

It will be a sad, sad day if anyone ever builds on this lot.

I can’t even imagine this sunset lake view being my backyard!

Levi showing off for the neighbors on the tumble track!

I guess the next best thing to having the lake as your backyard, is having a golf course! It makes for the perfect glow in the dark egg hunt!

Resurrection Rolls time! Shep was so sad when we didn’t do them last year so we had to make sure we did them this year!

The Easter Bunny came!!!

Don’t love being up early enough to see the sunrise, but WOW! This might be the last year Shep and Levi still “believe” in the Easter Bunny though, so I’m not complaining. I’m sure we’ll still do a hunt, we just won’t have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to hide the eggs anymore!

Super excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought them (especially Liam, lol)!

I think they love their baskets!

Front yard egg hunt!

Backyard egg hunt!

My not so little bunnies!

Ready for church!

The view out of the back of the church!

Gangs all here!

They made strawberry plants and crosses in the “kids church”

Crazy cousins!

Sibling love!

Sister-in-law jackpot!

Loves her!

They didn’t want the fun to end!

So proud of their plants that they accidentally left them at the church, lol

Pretty sisters!

Such a beautiful little church!

Only in Texas, lol!

It’s a tradition to visit the longhorns on the way out of church!

Beautiful picture of my beautiful girl after a wonderful weekend celebrating our Risen Savior with our amazing family in our little slice of paradise!

I told Ellis the rest of the month up until her birthday we could go squishy, dumpling, and Needoh hunting every day. This was the line out the door of Five Below before it even opened! Ellis made a list of all the Five Below’s near us and which days they get their shipments in. She also had a list of other stores to call on certain days to see if they got any goodies in! She is a serious shopper!

Caught these two, who have a love/hate relationship, snuggling!

I’m just so darn thankful Ellis has gotten to stay at home this year to rest and heal, and even more thankful she qualified for homebound services. Mr. Perkins has been a God send. He’s adjusted to her mood and anxiety and figured out exactly what she needs to stay on track. I snuck this picture of her taking the state mandated STAAR test in the comfort of our home while eating Chick-fil-A!

I somehow convinced her to come watch and support my team at one of their home matches. I was hoping she’d fall in love, but she was actually bored to tears, lol. Unfortunately, I have made the tough decision to step back from my team. They kicked butt, won first place, and moved up levels yet again this season! I’m just not able to put in the time and commitment to keep advancing levels with them. I’m still going to try to practice and go to drills when I can, just no more matches for the time being and I’m completely okay with that.

This lucky duck got to go to the Masters again this year!

On this addition of our “Fun Friday” we went squishy and dumpling hunting….

….then to Petsmart to hold hamsters and guinea pigs…

…next up was Target where she convinced me to buy her another Dino stuffy (her other obsession)…

…and finally to Nom Nom’s to eat lunch, because she loves their Spanish rice!

Another weekend, another baseball tournament and getting to watch these boys do what they love! The catcher has my heart!

Brooks coming in clutch with another triple!

A stud on the ball field and in school!

This time he actually got the coveted CREED award, which stands for courage, responsibility, excellence, empathy, and determination. They only give a few of these out each nine weeks and this makes me even more proud than straight A’s!

Speaking of his awesomeness, he also dazzled us with his talent at the “Night of Drumming” performance.

This was just the 7th and 8th graders from his middle school performing…

This was the high school and all the middle school percussionist that will feed into his high school performing together!

Athletic, smart, talented, kind and handsome- so proud of this kid!

The grand finale! We all look forward to this night every year!

His BFF Hunter plays percussion too!

The whole family came to support him! Ellis is fine, she just hurt her foot tumbling in the backyard, and thankfully Nancy had some old crutches we could borrow.

I’m also happy to report that after sleeping on the couch in the living room for nearly a year, Ellis FINALLY has been sleeping in her own bed in her own room for the past month! Praying so hard this slow and steady progress continues!

She also went to church and attended her age Sunday school for the first time in I can’t even remember how long!!

So proud of this angel pie!

The day before Ellis’ birthday we received intel that Target had some Needoh’s, so we started our day off there!

Then we went to go get her birthday nails and toes done!

The sweet nail tech gave her this pretty pink bracelet that she hand made!

Ellis has unfortunately lost touch with most of her friends. This is such a hard age and so hard for these kids to understand all that Ellis is going through. Kids are so darn mean too, and I’m honestly glad to be done with the drama for the time being. My mommy heart still hurt a little because she’s always had huge party’s with lots of friends, but this family night out is truly what she needed this year! We had to celebrate the day before her birthday because Shep was supposed to have a baseball game on her actual birthday. Pin Stack is where she chose to go to celebrate!

That smile means more to me than she will ever know!

STRIKE!

Love the gems I find when Sheppy takes my phone! This kid always puts a smile on my face!

After bowling we all had some fun at the arcade!

Jackpot!

Brooksy beat Shep in Connect Four!

Shep is an animal, lol

Of course she spent all of her tickets on a Needoh!

Getting it done together!

Her sweet brothers gave her their tickets so she could buy more Needoh’s! Love them and their kind hearts!

Getting all of Ellis’ presents ready to surprise her in the morning!

Her brothers got her this awesome custom chair!

Ellis made a few decorations and told me exactly where to hang everything, lol

Last night of being an 11 year old. So not ready for this stage, but I’ve definitely got my safety harness on.

Donuts are what’s for breakfast!

She’s officially 12!!

This princess LOVES a celebration and I’m totally here for it!

She wrapped all of the squishy’s, dumplings and Needoh’s we scored throughout the month, because I told her they were for her birthday and she had to wait to open them. I was going to wrap them for her, but she got bored one day, lol

These cool dumpling squishy’s change color with UV light!

And these cool Needoh’s glow in the dark!

Sweet brothers didn’t complain about getting up extra early to celebrate Ellis before they headed off to school! They love to see her smile too!

Ellis was super excited about her money flowers from one of her aunts!

Yay, more money!

And more money! It pays to have lots of aunts!

No pizza just Dug, lol

Only the best for our little princess- Pink Palm Puff and mini Bogg bag! Me, Ellis, Maddie and Julie are going on a girls trip to Florida this summer while the boys are at summer camp, so I had to get her some essentials for our trip!

Grandma got her this pretty custom necklace with her name! Ellis is all about clothes, jewelry, skin care, and makeup these days too.

Favorite video of the day that the kids always look forward to!!!

Ellis always gets compliments on a cute Winnie the Pooh shirt she sometimes wears, and we realized she’s never actually seen the movie. We had some downtime, so we decided to watch it!

They opened this fun little pottery painting place next to our house and Ellis asked if we could go there on her birthday!

Ellis painted a bunny and I went with a birthday plate!

The Pottery place is right next door to her favorite Mexican food restaurant, so we decided to pick up lunch there. Ellis wanted to eat in the car because it was too cold in the restaurant, lol

Next on our agenda for the day was Sephora for her free birthday goodie!

Sweet Grace came over after school and surprised Ellis with this amazing gift box full of Ellis’ favorite things!

Showing off all of her new clothes!

One of the most amazing humans on the planet, my friend Tiffany, scored the SUPER RARE and SUPER hard to find giant dumpling squishy!! She could’ve resold this gem for a pretty penny, but she insisted on gifting it to Ellis for her birthday and wouldn’t take a dime from me! There is just something so special and heartwarming about friends loving on your kiddos and wanting to see them smile as much as you do. Her kindness means more to me than she will ever know!

Beyond excited!

That smile means everything!

One of her favorite colors!

Shep’s game was canceled due to rain, so we got to take the birthday girl to Texas Roadhouse for dinner!

We absolutely made her sit on the saddle!

Love this crazy family of mine!

After dinner we picked up her favorite dessert, Chick-fil-A ice cream!

Happy, happy birthday Ellis!

The day after her birthday Ellis received the first dose of her monthly infusion. We actually planned it that way because she loves her nurse so much that she wanted to see her on her birthday week! Her and her daughter made Ellis this sweet cork board with notes from them and a few of her old school friends. It literally brought me to tears. Ellis didn’t have a big birthday party with tons of friends, but the love she felt from a select few was HUGE!

I made her gather up all of her squishy’s, Needoh’s and dumplings so I could take a picture of her with them all! I think it’s safe to say she’s set!

I was wondering what in the heck she was supposed to do with her jumbo dumpling…I guess it’s good for cuddling with on the couch, lol!

As if the giant dumpling wasn’t enough, Ms. Tiffany also brought Ellis the ice cream Needoh she thought she was getting in the video where I surprised her! I think she just wanted to see her big smile in person. Tiffany really is the absolute best!

The day after her first infusion she took her second STAAR test in her PJ’s while enjoying Chick-fil-A again!

Ellis texted Maci (her nurses daughter) to thank her for the cork board, and all on her own, asked if her and a few of her friends (Ellis knows them also) wanted to come over on Friday and decorate their bibles with wash tape. It’s this new trend apparently. This social step was huge for Ellis!

Those sweet girls showed up for Ellis and made her whole year!

When they asked if I would also take them to Texas Roadhouse, of course I didn’t hesitate for a second!

Saturday was a FULL day of baseball that started with Shep’s game in Little Elm…

…then I drove over an hour away to Rowlett to see Carolina play! Both Carolina and Jackson had tournaments in the Dallas area and I was so excited to get to see them play! Jodie and Rickey had to divide and conquer since the twins were playing at different fields nowhere near each other.

I tried to convince Carolina to jump on my back…

…but I’m way too short, lol…

…so we switched!

Love my tall, beautiful niece!

Next, I drove another hour in a different direction to some town called Farmersville to watch my equally tall and super handsome nephew play some ball!

After Jackson’s game I drove all the way to Frisco (near our house) to watch Brooks’ games, but right as I pulled into the parking lot the game was canceled due to a lightening storm. I was completely exhausted, but my heart was so full!

The next morning I started the day at Brooks’ games. He came in clutch with another double! His team won their first game and then were unfortunately knocked out in the semifinals. They were up one run with time expired and two outs, when a kid smoked one over the fence for a walk off home run . Sucked for Brooks’ team, but how awesome for that kid!

We were about to head to Shep’s games when I’m so glad I called Rickey and found out Jackson was playing at the exact same park as Brooks. I just assumed he was still playing an hour away in Farmersville and not right by our house in Frisco. Of course Brooks wanted to see his cousin play, so we walked over to his field! Unfortunately, Jodie was with Carolina at her games, but….

…we got to see Jackson pitch!!!!

I LOVE watching my boys play ball, but there is just something so special about getting to cheer on your nieces and nephews! My heart was bursting with pride!

Strike three you’re out! Jackson was on fire!

Only 6 months apart, lol, hopefully Brooksy will catch up eventually!

Meanwhile, Shep was balling out at his games! An awesome grandma actually took these pics for us!

They went all the way to the championship game, but ended up in second. Still got that bling though!

After Shep’s games, him and Adam came to watch Jackson in the finals with Brooks, Rickey and I!

Yardbirds did it! They won the whole thing! Carolina’s team went to the championship too, but unfortunately lost after a tie break. I’d say 3 out of 4 kids making it to the championship game and the other one making it to the semi finals is pretty dang awesome!!! The Arguijo’s ended up staying the night with us instead of driving all the way home at midnight. Such an exhausting but fun filled weekend!

Had to leave this pic of our cutie patootie Astros fan!!! We are definitely a baseball obsessed family!

We ended the month at Tiff’s Toys, lol, where Ellis got to spend some of her birthday loot! I guess you can never have too many squishy’s! Tiffany and Ellis need to go into business together!