ladies trip to nyc...

was absolutely fantastic!!  i have to call it a "ladies trip" as apposed to "girls" because my grandmother, gram lois,  is just a proper lady.  she loves and appreciates all things formal, fancy, and fine.  gram lois has lived a fairly simple life, yet eats from bone china each day and prefers to eat with REAL silver flatware.  so at age 90 years young, she decided that she wanted to see the world and travel a bit before the opportunity passes her by.  it was decided that new york city would be the perfect location to experience some of the finer things in life- shopping, dining, the arts, and luxury accommodations.  i was lucky enough to be given an invitation to this "ladies trip."  it was a fabulous few days filled with lots of luxury, but i will forever cherish the time that i was able to spend with  my gram lois and mom.
here are the highlights from our trip...

we stayed at the ritz-carlton...

this was the view of the statue of liberty from our room.  it was beautiful!

and here was our room.

then we had afternoon tea at a lovely victorian tea room...

gram and i have had more tea parties than i can count over the years, but this was the first one in a REAL tearoom.

we each got to choose our own pot of tea and check out the fancy sugar.  so lovely!

gram LOVED the theater...

we had second row center seats to WICKED.  it was fantastic!!

gram was in awe of the costumes, make-up, and the set.  she LOVED the music and the story. 

because the theater ended up being one of her favorite things, we decided to go to another show.  NEWSIES.  so great!!

then we did some touristy things too...

we toured the 9-11 memorial.  such an emotional and powerful experience.

we were humbled by our two tour guides that shared their personal stories from 9-11.

our express tickets to the empire state building made us feel like true VIPs. :) 

the view of the city from the top of the empire state building was awesome.

gram really enjoyed our carriage ride through central park.

we also enjoyed lovely lunches around the city, lots of shopping, five star dinners, relaxing in the lounge at the hotel, and some crazy cab rides.  truly it was a trip i will cherish forever and i am so thankful for the memories we made together in new york city.

where are we going next gram?

when your daughter's teacher is pregnant...

you throw her a baby shower!!  a very simple, yet sweet and special party for all her students to truly show how excited they were about baby tyler.  ms. pattillo has been pregnant for the entire school year and due right as school is getting out.  SOOOOO, her students have watched her belly grow and have truly fallen in love with the sweet little boy growing inside her.  i was so happy that she allowed us to celebrate her and baby tyler.

you also totally forget your camera so you have very few pictures and the ones you do have are taken with your iPhone...

tableclothes+ set tables+ simple centerpieces+ some bunting= the classroom turned baby shower.

food table, minus the cake and a few gifts for the special mama-to-be

ms. pattillo about to read the book of predictions about tyler's weight, height, eye color, hair color, how many bottles he will take, how many diapers he will use in a day. etc.  the kids were so excited for her to read their predictions.

then it was present time!!  the kids each brought small "essentials" and we made a big basket for baby tyler.  they would all point out which items they brought as she pulled them out.  so cute!! :)

but the memories of that special afternoon in may are priceless and couldn't have been captured anyway.  the book of predictions made by each of the kids had us all laughing.  and i am confident that ms. pattillo is living by all the advice that her students wrote and illustrated.  ha! :)

most of all, when your daughter's teacher is pregnant you throw her a baby shower and hope that she feels loved.

 of course she took much better pictures.  you can check out her blog and get her take on the celebration.

olivia's art gallery...

the second semester of this year olivia had the opportunity to participate in kindergarten REACH.  it is a pull out program once a week for 1.5 hours.  she worked on higher level thinking, problem solving, and also did an in depth study of the brain.  she loved this class and really looked forward to it each week.  the last several weeks the students studied the "creative side of the brain" and several famous artist.   after learning about each artist and the inspiration behind their works of art, the students created their own masterpieces.  on the very last day of her REACH class the parents were invited to view the artwork and take a "gallery walk."

olivia was very proud of her work.  she was able to explain the inspiration of each piece and how it was similar to the famous artists that she was mimicking.  of course, mark and i thought her work was the best!! :)

now these pieces of art are filling the walls of our playroom.  olivia is so proud that her art is on display in our house and they make me smile each time i see them.  i know they will be pieces of art we will treasure forever.

kindergarteners, fourth grade buddies, and animals oh my!!

all year long olivia has had a fourth grade buddy that comes into her class to read and spend time with her.  all the kindergarteners have one.  it is a really sweet tradition at her school.  as an end of the year activity, the fourth graders and kindergarteners go to the dallas zoo.  they experience and learn all about the animals.  i was able to go as a parent volunteer.  i loved getting to watch as o and her buddy, brie, spent the day walking, talking, and learning together.

olivia and her classmate, ava, studying the map before we loaded the buses.

olivia and brie all buckled in and ready for our zoo adventure.

sweet.

first stop the safari train. 

our group.  3 fourth graders and 2 kindergarteners, plus a mom and grandma behind the cameras.  

we got to feed the giraffes.  they had long black tongues that made all the kids giggle.  

almost time to go home, but we had to get one more group pic by the elephant fountains.

it was a long and tiring day, but we had lots of fun.  the girls were great!!  olivia's favorite animal was the white alligator.  brie liked the hurricane experience in the reptile house.  after returning to school olivia and brie together wrote about their experiences at the zoo and even did a report on kola bears.

yeee-haw...

it was rodeo day for jack today at school.  it looks like he had a great time.  i did get to be there because i was working, but luckily my sweet friend, laura (caroline's mom) took some pictures and i stole them from her.  :)

i was happy to see that jack put on his cowboy duds once he was at school.  at home he was NOT having it and insisted on TOMS not cowboy boots.  :)

caroline and jack.  sweet friends.

 here are some more highlights from a morning of rodeo fun...

the group.  lucy, caroline, micah, and jack

playin' and throwin' horseshoes

gallopin' stick horse races 

makin' texas flags 

ta-da!!  love that texas pride. 

cotton pickin' races.  fun!!

love this tradition at ccdc.  it is a special day for the three year old classes and one that is always memorable for them.  jack didn't stop talking about his special day the entire car ride home.  that is a BIG deal for him.  he is a typical boy and NEVER tells me details about his day.  ha! :)

singing their way to the zoo...

the kindergarteners and first graders did a joint musical performance at dartmouth elementary.  ms. taylor, the FANTASTIC music teacher, did a wonderful job directing and leading the students.  it was a really cute performance to show off all the musical skills they have learned this year at school.
but first, our family likes to make everything into an event, so we all met at amigos for a dinner before the big show.

we {heart} amigos!! 

all of the kids came in costumes of their favorite zoo animals.  miss o was the cutest zebra on the stage. :)

she knew every word and all the motions to each song.  she was very into the performance and kept her eyes glued to ms. taylor.

olivia really LOVES music and was thrilled to have two "special" parts in the show.   she had a speaking part, reciting a poem AND played the xylophone in two songs.

olivia has come to expect that when she is on stage there will always be a HUGE fan club in the audience.  i love that, but i know one day she will truly appreciate how fortunate she is to have such a big family that loves and supports her in such a BIG way.

pop, b, gramps, uncle sean, mommy, o, and chrissie

daddy, olivia, nana, jack, and uncle sean (again)

bravo to all the students and to ms. taylor for a job well done!!  can't wait to see what they do next year.  

celebrating easter...

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."  

1 Corinthians 15:20-22

holidays are filled with traditions at our house, and therefore, each year our celebration is very similar to last.  i love traditions, so i love it!  of course, the kids get bigger so there are still lots of pictures.  this year was our year to celebrate with the blanchettes.  so here is our easter sunday in pictures and a few captions to give some juicy details :)...

treats the easter bunny left, including empty baskets to search for eggs all over the house.

jack discovered PEEPS this easter and now LOVES them!!

my beautiful olivia all dressed up and ready for church.

jack would only do silly and with his sister.   oh that boy!!

pictures after church in the rose garden.  nana with her grands.

miss o

us.

my love.

off to nana and gramps for more easter fun!  squinkies were olivia favorite easter treat this year.

jack grabbing eggs filled with candy and coins.  there were ONLY 100 eggs for two kids.  

we ended our easter celebration at the addison cafe with the blanchette family.  it has become a tradition and such a nice way to end this special day.