A Field Trip

Last week the kids and I headed out to the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA) to take a hike! It went along perfectly with the Science Unit we had just covered - Biomes (areas of the world that have the same temperature, amount of rainfall, kind of soil and habitats). The LLELA has grasslands, wetlands, and forest areas that you can hike through.

Luckily the trails were are all pretty smooth, so our double stroller rolled easily along - both Mig and Selah needed to hop on every once in awhile to take a break from walking.

Aren't they precious?!?

About half-way through the Cottonwood Trail there is an 1850's restored log cabin that you can walk through. The kids loved this part of the hike!

If you are wondering why Gabe has my phone in all of the pictures, it is because he was our trail guide! I had downloaded the Every Trail Ap which tracked our progress. He could look at the phone and know which way to go and how much farther we had. He took his job very seriously. At various times during our hike he would exclaim, "According to my calculations we are abou to turn to the left." or "According to my calculations we are very close the log cabins." It was quite adorable! 

My cutie patootie:

There are more scenic pictures on my photography blog (which I plan to update more often - hopefully). You can view them at www.cedarcreekphotography.blogspot.com

Mother's Day

I was spoiled this Mother's Day! I spent Satuday afternoon with my favorite little girl doing very girly things - shopping and having a tea party!

This picture is actually at the Cinco de Mayo party, but cute - so I wanted to share.

This is us before the tea party. I had scheduled us for afternoon tea for two. It was nice, but not geared toward little girls like last year's tea was. Selah really was bored to tears - literally - she ended up crying in my lap most of the time we were there. Not exactly the fun time I had imagined. Next time, we may do something totally different.

On Sunday morning we went to church and then Lowe's where the kids and Byron bought me some beautiful house plants. Then we headed over to Red Lobster for some yummy seafood.

 It was a nice Mother's Day and I felt very loved by my crew....even though Selah decided to make a Mother's Day card for Daddy instead of me at Sunday School! Ha!! True story! I think she was still mad at me for making her go to that boring tea room. (Lesson learned, sweet girl.)

Cinco de Mayo Celebration

We had such a fun time celebrating Cinco de Mayo earlier this month!

It has become a tradition for us to make these simple brown bag pinatas. We incorporated it into our art time this year. They are so simple and fun for the kids to make!

Have the kids grab a few handfuls of candy and throw them in the bag. Fill the bag the rest of the way with crumpled news paper (we actually used scrap paper). Reinforce the opening with some clear packing tape and punch a hole on each side over the tape. Thread some string or yarn through the holes to close up the bag and to hang the pinata. Cut various tissue paper colors into 2 inch strips and then fringe the edges. Glue the top of the fringe around the bag starting at the bottom and overlapping the fringes a bit. Continue to the top of the bag and glue some long streamers on the bottom of the bag.

The best part, of course, is beating the pinata until it breaks!!

Mig joined in this year!

Our library threw a Family Cinco de Mayo celebration that we attended that evening. The Spanish teacher in me had a BLAST!! The kids made tissue paper flowers:

They ate traditional Mexican snacks - pan dulce, chips and various salsa, and galletas

They made "real" pinatas (out of paper mache):

And there was even Spanish music and a park to play on!

Best of all, lots of fun memories were made!!

A Haircut Like Ramona

Selah has been wanting to get her haircut - and to be honest, it was getting a little crazy, so on Sunday we took her to get her first professional haircut. Back in September I cut her hair, but this time she wanted to go to the stylist and have it done. When we asked how she wanted her hair cut, she quickly told us that she wanted it just like Ramona on the Ramona and Beezus movie. She smiled the entire time her hair was being cut. Her new style is precious on her!!

Pre-Prom 2012

I had the pleasure of photographing Belton High School's Pre-Prom for the Special Needs students again this year. The theme for this year was Mardi Gras Masquerade and it was so much fun!! It is always such a neat thing to be a part of....the kids end up blessing me so much. Their excitiment and enjoyment of the day is so contagious!

This year, the Temple Daily Telegram was there. Here is a picture of them interviewing my mom:

All of the decorations this year were hand made by one of the special needs teachers.

Each year they honor their graduating seniors by making them the prom kings and queens. This year there were 4 kings and 3 queens...and they wear their crowns proudly!!

It was a fun, fun day! I am already looking forward to next year!