From Sun to Snow

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Spring Break Giveaway 
for a custom dvd slideshow!

Click here!

************************************************************************************         2 Days.  That's it.  We went from sunny 75 degrees to blustery snowy 30s in 2 days.  Sunday to Tuesday.  And that my friends, is typical Texas weather.           We had an incredible Sunday- all of us were in shorts and t-shirts.  We spent the day outdoors - the baby loved the sun.  

We took a bike ride- all 5 of us - with the baby around the neighborhood trails.  

He loved it so much, he promptly fell asleep.

We also spent some time at the local park- just soaking it all in.

Cause we knew- we knew that the "big, bad, storm" was coming.  Did we believe it? Nah. Our weathermen never seem to get it right.  Only this time they did:

We had the biggest, fluffiest, cotton-ball-like snowflakes falling all day.This is the bus stop at 3pm- the kids were so excited to get off the bus!

Poor little Bubba Boy didn't know what to think about all of it though.

But the kids knew exactly what to do:

Don't you just love our shout-out to Illinois weather?

The sun & snow gave us similar reactions.....

A Spring Break Giveaway!

            I made a new movie today:

Spring Break'n Across Texas from Rebecca Darling on Vimeo.

        How fun is that, right?  It is so cool to look back on all that fun we had last year on Spring Break!  And wouldn't you love to have a special souvenir of your great Spring Break fun like that?

You Can!  
Just hop on over to Darling Memories and enter our Spring Break Giveaway!

Hurry!  Contest ends March 1!

How Many Adults Does it Take to Make a First Grade Project?

            In January, Brody came home with an impossible assignment, "make something out of Nine 2D and 3D shapes".  What?  Quick, clear out the cobwebs and think back to 2D & 3D shapes (or just hit Google). Oh, ok- like a cylinder and a square.  We can do this. 

            Did Brody have any suggestions?  Uh no.  Ok- Matt, what can we make?  We pondered this for days until we came up with either an aircraft carrier or an offshore oil rig. But wait a second- isn't this our "son's project?"

            So there's our dilemma - if we leave it up to him, it wouldn't get done.  Frankly, the directions for the project are a little more complex for a first grader- I mean, am I really going to let him use a glue gun?  Not if I didn't want legos glued to his bedroom walls!  So, I asked around to get the sense if this was meant to be a "first grader's project" or a "family project" with the majority of answers coming back as a family project.  And family it was!

             My parents were in town that weekend, so we put my dad to work on it too.  Brody & I went around the house collecting as many shapes as we could and headed outside to paint them.  After they dried, we all started to piece them together to make what we hoped resembled an oil rig:

    

Do you see all the adults diligently working on HIS project?

and working.....

and working.....

        So, I think the 3 adults and one 7 year old came up with a pretty awesome project:

          Look at the detail- the soda straw and toothpick ladder, the 48-sphere chain, the helicopter landing pad complete with helicopter (Brody's idea!).  We rocked it!  Uh, wait a minute, wasn't this supposed to be a first grade project?  And shouldn't it look like a first grade project?  We got so carried away and were all having fun putting it together that we forgot about that......

          Luckily, the project was meant to be a family project and the majority of other's at school were just as detailed.  Whew! So the next question is, "what grade did we get on it Bubba?"  The 3 adults want to know how they did. "Uh, Mrs. D said it was good."  GOOD?  That's all we get????  That oil rig was awesome!!   Good thing Bubba could care less.....

Where's the Baby?

            I didn't want my baby to crawl so soon- I know, shame on me, bad parent, blah-blah.  As an experienced parent, you know that once the baby becomes mobile, your life is in for a BIG change.  This weekend, we played a lot of "where's the baby?" and "Get that (lego, my little pet shop, Wii remote) out of his way" and "seriously, bubba, don't you want to play with your toys on the carpet?"  It has been LOADS of fun:

           Back in the first week of January, we order a custom made carpet for our living room specifically for the baby to play on.  Unfortunately, it took the Home Depot longer than normal to get it made (long, horrible story that resulted in $$ off) and by the time we got it this weekend, he could care less about playing on it (see above).

           And I promise you, I don't just put my baby down and leave the room....  He was in our bedroom playing on the floor as I was in our bathroom getting ready for the day when I found him here:

I caught him just in time before I had to crawl under and get him out!

          But his newest trick left us baffled.  With all this new-found courage, the baby decided to pull himself up.  After his nap on Saturday, here is how I found him:

"Hey Momma! What's up?"

                  And Saturday night resulted in this instead of going to sleep.  I turned all the lights off and pretended to leave the room to see if he would do it again.  Yup- except this time, he stood up.  Guess who got a great night's sleep in the pack and play that night??  And dad had to lower his bed the next day.  Yet another step out of baby hood and into toddler world- too soon bubba!!!!

           Oh Bubba.  I love your curiosity.  You keep going!  No matter how much complaining I do, you are all worth it!!

Breaking News.....

            We interrupt this blog with an important announcement:

My baby brother is engaged!!!!!!  

            My sweet little brother, Christopher ("critterfur"), is all grown up and engaged.  He and his very sweet girlfriend of a few years got engaged this past weekend in a very romantic setting high on a secluded hill in Washington.  Who knew that my brother has a romantic side to him to plan an elaborate proposal day?  

          Part of me is a little sad- it is hard to see my baby brother grow up - I was 10 when he was born, so I remember loving on him as a baby, reading him stories and playing transformers with him and my other brother, Josh.  Of course, if you ask him, he'll remember me trying to feed him cat food, locking him outside in the winter with no shoes or socks on, and ignoring him as a teenager.  Ah siblings!

          But to look at him now- he is an adult, making very adult decisions, like getting married!! I am so proud of him and so excited to welcome a sister-in-law to the family!

Congratulations Chris & Kaitlyn!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Texas Darling's!!

2004- Just wee babes!

2005- Sissy starting to show off those baby blues.

2006- "wood u bee" mine?

2007- We only have EYES for you!

2008- We "XOXO" you!

2009- Bubba's "first" valentine!

2010 - We're "crazy" for you!

Wordless Wednesday: Just Eatin'

              Happy Wednesday!  What do we need to get over this hump day?  Some sweet pictures of my baby boy!!
             My sweet friend Tanya over at Miller Racing Family is hosting Wordless Wednesday, so I thought it might be fun to link up.  I always have a fun capture to share of one of my kids- never at a loss with photos here at our house!!
             Bubba boy loves to eat- or he used to at least.  Let me clarify- he tolerates with minimal fussing his veggie and rice- he really wants that fruit- he goes nuts to get it.  It is so funny to see him showing his preference already.
              Here he is tolerating his veggies......

Leave me a comment and let me know your caption to his crazy faces!!  

And join us over at the Miller Racing Family to show your pics as well!

Report to State

           Brody was in his first parade this past weekend.  It is the Boy Scout's 100th Anniversary and the Texas Annual Scouts Report to State.  Boy Scouts, Sea Scouts, Explorer Scouts, etc. all march to the State Capitol to report to the governor what is going on in each of their councils.  

           They anticipated over 3000 scouts.  And as they lined up over Congress Ave. Bridge, there were a ton of them.

           I may be a little biased, but I think we have one of the prettiest state capitols in the country.  It is made of Texas pink granite and is one of the tallest state capitols, even taller than the US Capitol building.

           My guy is the one walking next to the guy all in red (that's my handsome hubby!).  As soon as Brody saw me with the camera, he started to hide, so the only decent picture I have of the bratty boy is this:

 I mean, look at this non-smiling 7 year old!

        It was a beautiful day, in the 50's but sunny, and we had a wonderful morning walking to the capitol, viewing the House of Representative and Senate chambers, and even saw our Governor, Rick Perry, meet with the scouts. 

       And we even met up with some very special guests, Matt's Aunt & Uncle were in town for business and stayed over a day to spend time with us!  

And finally, here's my smile: