Poser

Allie called me yesterday and mentioned during our conversation that all of the pictures I have posted of Abbie lately are of a blank-faced child who will not smile.  I had to confess to Allie that I have only been posting pictures in which Abbie looked relatively normal---she has taken to doing all kinds of bizarre poses every time she sees a camera heading her way.  I know that in her own mind these poses make her look extra glamorous and like a major babe but in reality she looks like her head is superglued to her shoulder.  I recall Maddie--and even Jessie--going through this phase so I know that it's totally normal I just wish that it would stop.  On the rare occasions that I am able to get a candid shot I am reminded that she can take a decent picture but I decided that I better post some of her most recent poses so that you will understand why I post some of the pictures that I do.  

side note:  While Abbie was dressed like this a middle-aged woman came over and shouted "Go Wildcats!" Abbie looked at her like she was crazy.  My kids are not yet into watching things like High School Musical, Abbie just likes to dress-up and this is her most durable park-going costume.

The above pictures are from a day about a week ago when the kids and I decided to take Justin back to a park we had visited during spring break.  Spring break in Texas was two weeks ago (super early in my opinion) but Justin was out of town the whole week so I kept the kids busy with a lot of fun outings, like going to the pool and discovering new parks.  Anyway, this park is called Champion Park and has a huge sand box area with dinosaur bones buried under the sand for the kids to dig out.  There is an entire T-Rex you can uncover, which is Bracken's favorite, but there are also other random fossils and bones scattered throughout.  All of the bones and fossils, etc. are permanently fixed into the sand so it's really only a surprise the first time you discover them but that didn't seem to bother the kids.  In fact, my kids were more interested in just playing with the sand than doing much excavating (notice the lizard driving Bracken's bulldozer, I didn't see it until I enlarged the picture).  

Ruby has been to the beach and has also played in sand boxes, yet she was really unsure about what she should think about the stuff.  After a few minutes of standing like a flamingo and being unwilling to put both feet on the ground she decided to have a seat and see what it was all the fuss was about.

  I think in the end she decided that it was kind of fun.  She wasn't very happy on the few occasions it got into her mouth but once she learns not to put her sandy hand in her mouth I think she'll love the sand as much as her siblings!  

Bracken decided to make sand angels and then Abbie decided to join him, they were trying to make their angels hold hands.  It was really quite cute but they had no patience for it when Tate decided to get in on the action.  He wasn't really even making an angel, he was just lounging beside the other kids and that really annoyed them.  The big kids got up to do other things and Tate decided that it was time for daddy to help him really dig down deep to find something extra special.

When we had all had enough of the sand the kids moved over to these giant faux rock boulders and had a great time perfecting their climbing skills.  Tate was very frustrated that the other kids could all make it to the top but he couldn't quite make it up over the first hump.  Justin finally hoisted everyone up and Tate was ecstatic to be on top!

We LOVE it when Daddy is home to play with us and we wish he could be here so much more!!!  In fact something really funny happened around the dinner table last week concerning an often-absent father...

Our whole family was sitting down to dinner one night when I said, "Someone we love and haven't seen in a really long time is coming home this week, do you guys know who that is?"  Bracken and Abbie smiled and shouted in unison, "DADDY!!!"

[I was referring to their uncle Spencer who was returning from his mission to London but clearly the kids notice that their dad is gone A LOT]