Fikes Family

Reading Night

2011-10-25T17:13:00.001-05:00

Sam's school had a reading night at his school and the kids could wear their costumes.
This was their first time to wear their costumes...and they were pretty excited!

Sam as Peter Pan

And our little Micah Monkey

I LOVE Micah in his monkey costume.
My mom made it for Sam when he was two and I am so glad that Micah gets to wear it too!!

It was a fun night at the school and I was able to meet more moms from Sam's class.
I am really happy to such an awesome school for Sam!

Astronaut Helmet

2011-10-23T17:00:00.001-05:00

Sam's teacher called the other day and said she needed me to paint a pumpkin to look like an astronaut helmet. What?? I was a little nervous. But I think it turned out pretty good. Being new to the school I didn't have any idea what they have done in the past. I found out that lots of people attach items to the pumpkins, but I just painted everything on mine.

Mrs. Howard was pretty happy with it too. I was glad!
In case you ever paint a pumpkin...use acrylic paint, it sticks better!

Camp GiGi

2011-10-20T16:18:00.000-05:00

We had a great few days in Kerrville at Camp GiGi!
I have about 600 pictures to go through and post, so it might be a little while before I get it done. But I wanted to make sure and say Thank You to GiGi for a great camp!
We loved spending so much time with our cousins!!!

We love you GiGi and Sir!

First School Field Trip

2011-10-19T16:10:00.001-05:00

Micah had his first field trip at school. Wes and I both went with him. It was at this cute little pumpkin patch at a church. I took a bunch of pictures, but I can't put pictures of the other kids in his class on my blog, so there are the pictures I took of only Micah.

It was really fun to see him interact with the other kids in his class. They are all so cute and would call me "Micah's mom" the whole time. Love watching my boys grow up!

School Project

2011-10-18T15:57:00.001-05:00

Sam had his first school project. He was supposed to decorate a cardstock cut out of a house with whatever supplies he wanted to use for a parade of homes in his class.

This is how Sam chose to decorate his house. And he did it all on his own!!
We helped glue everything down, but it was all his idea. Even the picture inside the door.

Sam's Peter Pan House

I was pretty impressed!!

My Little Brother is Married!!!

2011-10-15T15:23:00.007-05:00

My little brother finally found the woman of his dreams!
Justin and Sindi were married at my parents house today and
it was just what they wanted!
Here they are at the rehearsal:

Sindi did so much to make the wedding just perfect and exactly the way she wanted it.
She made all the favors, pumpkin and apple butter.

My boys were the ring bearers...and I have to say that they looked pretty cute!

The bride's cake. Sindi make all the cake pops with her bridesmaids.

The groom...this is when Sindi walked in. He looks so happy!!

Still can't believe he is married!

Wes with his boys

We love you, Uncle Justin!! We are so happy for you!

Love this family picture!!

The flower girl, isn't she precious!

The boys with their new Aunt Sindi!

Justin with his big sisters

Love my boys!

Wes and Justin

The new sister- in -laws!

Dad and Justin

It was a great day for Justin and Sindi! We are so happy for you!!
Welcome to the crazy Barker family, Sindi!!

All the Fikes Cousins together!!

2011-10-06T14:40:00.001-05:00

Wes' brother and his family are missionaries in Thailand. They only get to come home once a year in the month of October. We were SOOO excited for them to come to our house and spend a few days with us! The boys have missed them so much. It is so awesome when we are all together because the boys are very close in age. Corban is the oldest cousin: 7 years old. Sam and Esan are 5 years old. And Micah and Teagan are 4 years old. So it one crazy house with 5 Fikes boys running around!
Here is most of the bunch walking home from Sam's school. It was pretty awesome for Sam when he walked out of school and all his cousins were waiting for him.

GiGi was in heaven with all 5 of her boys in one place!

Wes took off Saturday and we spent the day at the Oil Ranch.

Esan Ray

Tonya and Corban

Corban Scout

Teagan Race

We loved every moment with Chris, Tonya, Corban, Esan and Teagan!!!
Can't wait to see them in a few weeks at Camp GiGi!

Dewberry Farms

2011-10-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

This was our first year to go to Dewberry Farms. I have always wanted to take the boys and it has never worked out for us to make it. But this...it worked out perfect. We went on Sunday afternoon and the weather was perfect!! It was a great family day!

First stop was the pig races. We love the pig races at the rodeo and these were just as fun!

There is so much to do....see the baby animals,

take fun pictures,

huge slides,

feed the animals,

roll in the huge pipe,

ride in the cow train,

and rope swing off a huge hay pile.

Sam loved the corn maze. He wanted to be the one to lead us through it.
It took us about 30 minutes and Daddy had to help towards the end, but we did it!

If you can't tell, one of my favorite things to do is taking pictures of my boys in a pumpkin patch!! (and bluebonnets) So I was one happy momma after these pictures!

Our last stop was the younger kids area. They had a shed full of loose corn.
What a cool idea! We had a hard time getting the boys out it when it was time to go.

Hope we get to go back next year, it was a great day!!

Crazy Hair Day!

2011-09-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

Micah had crazy hair day at his school today. He looked awesome!

Sam wanted his hair spiked too...They are so stinkin' cute!

Micah and his friend Colter with their crazy hair!

A Day at the Zoo with Aunt Audrey

2011-09-24T13:06:00.001-05:00

We spent an awesome day at the zoo with Aunt Audrey.
It was a little warm...but still a really fun day!

Sam painting like a monkey

Newest elephant

Seeing the new 4D movie...really cool!!

Aunt Audrey got us a special treat before we left...

so yummy!!!

Thanks for a great day Aunt Audrey!!

Just because

2011-09-14T12:59:00.001-05:00

Woke up this morning to roses and a poem from my amazing hubby!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the amazing man God gave me!!!

Happy Birthday to Sir!

2011-09-02T12:47:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to Sir, Happy Birthday to Sir,
Happy Birthday Dear Sir, Happy Birthday to you!

We gave Sir some gourmet bait and a fishing pole for his birthday

I made the box full of goodies. I just used baby food jars and filled the with his favorite candy.
It turned out really cute and he loved it!

GiGi and Sam

If anyone knows Steve Fikes, you know his favorite thing to do is sit outside and do a crossword puzzle. So we made sure he had lots of time to do his favorite thing!

We love you, Sir! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Rain, Rain!!

2011-09-02T10:19:00.001-05:00

We have been in a HUGE drought in Houston. It has been a month or more since we have seen rain. So when it does rain...we like to play in it!

Thank you God for blessing us with the rain we got today!

Popeye

2011-08-28T18:09:00.002-05:00

Micah is on this spinach kick. He loves it! He asks to it all the time and just eats it plain. Once Wes told him that he would be strong like Popeye, we can't get him to stop eating it. Which is a great thing...but very odd for a 4 year old, don't you think?

He is my veggie eater...wish his brother would do the same!

Spoiled

2011-08-27T18:06:00.002-05:00

The first week of school was a lot harder on me than I thought it would be. I was just very emotional and overwhelmed all at the same time. Wes was so understanding and supportive!
He came home one day with my favorite roses. Just because. He spoils me all the time. I don't deserve such an amazing husband, but I am sure glad he is mine!!

I love you so much, Wes!! Thank you for loving me!

I wanna be like Daddy

2011-08-27T18:04:00.002-05:00

LOVE that my boys want to be like their Daddy! I hope their Daddy will always be their hero!
I am beyond blessed to have such an amazing man to lead my boys! I know that is why God has blessed me with boys, because I have a wonderful husband to father them and be the example God wants them to be. I hope they grow up to be just like him!

1st Week Report

2011-08-26T17:49:00.006-05:00

Day 2, I made sure to bring Toby and it was a much much better day! After Mrs. Howard explained how everything works at school, things were great! I love the conduct chart in Mrs. Howard's room- everyone starts on green. They can move down to yellow, orange, and then red(which is not good)...BUT they can move up to blue! LOVE this! It is something that the good kids can work towards and Sam has come home on blue everyday!
He is now loving Kindergarten and Mrs. Howard hung the moon in Sam's eyes (we think she is great too)

Friday we took lunch to school and ate with Sam. It was so fun to see him with all the other kids. He is a big kid now!! Going to eat lunch with him was pretty special!

Their Daddy decided they needed something to show them we are proud of them and that they had a great first week of school. Those boys have him wrapped around their finger!

They each got a happy napper, they were pretty excited!

Sam never naps and he was out cold on Saturday afternoon. The first week of school wore him out! Sweet boy!

We walk to pick up Sam everyday. Here are the boys on their way home on day. It is really hot right now, the umbrella is just for a little shade. It will be nice when it cools off a little bit.

So glad Sam is loving school!! I am very proud of my boys!

Teacher Gift

2011-08-26T17:45:00.003-05:00

With you as my TEACHER, I'll be one SMART COOKIE!

These are the gifts we gave the boy's teachers on the first Friday after a great first week of school!

Blessed

2011-08-25T17:42:00.001-05:00

I don't have the words to describe how blessed we are to have such sweet boys.
I was packing the boys lunch for school one morning and I look over while they are eating their breakfast and they are praying together for their food. And praying that they would be blue birds...not sure what that was about, but still sweet!

So very thankful for my amazing boys!!!

Micah's 1st Day of Pre-K

2011-08-24T17:19:00.001-05:00

Micah is so excited to now be in the 4's class at school!
Last year Micah cried everyday when I dropped him off. Everyday! So this year we are really hoping that he can overcome this attachment he has to me. We will see. Here we are at Meet the Teacher:

Micah and Colter are in same class this year. I am super excited about it. I hope that it helps Micah with going to school and I get to see Steph every morning!!

Micah James on his first day of Pre-K

Wes and I were both there to drop him off. LOVE that Wes was with us for the first few days of school. Micah cried a little when we dropped him off. But he was excited too!

Love our Sweet Micah!

1st day Report

2011-08-22T17:15:00.003-05:00

So...I could hardly wait to pick up Sam from school! I was so excited to hear all about his day, his new friends, his new teacher, and just hug on him. We decided to drive to pick him up and just park close, so that we could surprise him with a trip to get ice cream. That was a huge mistake! I had told him that we would walk to pick him up and that we would bring Toby with us. Well, I didn't have Toby when we went to pick him up and he starts crying as soon as he sees me. I felt like the worst mom in the whole world at this point. Then Sam starts telling me that he had a terrible first day of school. What?!? I never expected that to be his response! He had a page that he was suppose to color at school, which said " I had a great first day of school"...Sam had marked through the word 'great', because his day was NOT great! I had no words! What happened??? Apparently Mrs. Howard had to correct the class several times during the day and when she did, she would say " boys and girls". Well, Sam thought he was getting in trouble every time she said "boys and girls". So I tried to explain to him that she can't name everyone in the class and that is how she is going to talk to the whole class and you are not in trouble. "No Mom...she needs to say 'except Sam' if she isn't talking to me". Oh brother!! So again, I tried to explain to him that unless he is doing something wrong, she isn't talk to him. Well, it took me emailing his teacher and her talking to him about it for him to finally understand.
He is very literal and now only listens to what Mrs. Howard says... I have realized that Mrs. Howard has already found a special place with Sam!

Celebrating the first day of school with ice cream

Hoping Sam has a better second day of school!

Boo Hoo Brunch

2011-08-22T17:10:00.004-05:00

I hosted a Boo Hoo Brunch at my house that morning after we dropped off Sam,
for all my friends that have Kindergarteners.
It was so nice to be with other moms that were having all the same emotions
and it made the day go by faster.

We had mimosas to "turn our frowns upside down"

and everyone brought a yummy brunch dish.

LOVE having such wonderful friends!!!

1st Day of Kindergarten!!!!

2011-08-22T16:49:00.008-05:00

One of my favorite books, "The Kissing Hand", my mom gave me when I left for college.
So the day before Sam started school, I wanted to read it to him so he would know that his momma's love is with him all the time!

With my sweet Sam (and crazy Micah behind the couch!)

His favorite breakfast, blueberry muffins

My Sam on the first day of Kindergarten!

Walking to school

Ready for the big day

Daddy and Sam

Sam and his friend Seth

In line with his class...

At his table, ready to start his day

They had a breakfast in the library for all the kindergarten parents.
Micah was excited for Sam to be starting school at first, but by the end of the day...he was really missing his big brother!

Meet the Teacher

2011-08-18T16:39:00.004-05:00

To be honest, Sam and I were both a little nervous about Meet the Teacher.
I have been excited for Sam all summer. I know Sam is going to do great in Kindergarten. I am not worried about him at all. I haven't been sad. I haven't let myself really think about it.
But this week it hit me! I am not going to see him everyday. He is going to be gone from 8:30 to 4 everyday!! That is a long time! He is growing up!! He is a big kid now! I had one really good cry this week, so I was hoping I would be okay.

Having been a teacher, I felt like I would get a pretty good feel for his teacher just by seeing her room. Well, it was precious! Her theme is Dr. Seuss and it looked so fun!!
Lots of bright colors, centers, and a fun reading corner!

Sam loves Dr. Seuss and he was super super excited to see his room!

Meet Mrs. Howard, Sam's Kindergarten teacher!

There was just something about Mrs. Howard...I just knew she was going to be a great fit for us!

And I have to say that I did great! No tears! I had such a good feeling about his teacher and the school...I was so happy for Sam!!

We can't for school to start!!

No training wheels at our house!!!

2011-08-14T16:22:00.005-05:00

Micah has always wanted to be just like his big brother and riding a bike with no training wheels is no different. He got his bike for his birthday in May and he has already decided he wants the training off. So Wes took them off.

And within about 5 minutes...

he had mastered it! No more training wheels!!!

Big Brother helped teach Micah what to do

Within about 30 minutes, Micah was able to start and stop all by himself!
We were all pretty impressed!! He is a natural!

Part 4- Sea World

2011-08-11T14:36:00.031-05:00

I have been SO excited to take the boys to Sea World!!!
It was worth the wait!!
We had a BLAST!!

I think the boys get tired of me taking pictures! You know me...I LOVE to take pictures of my boys! I just can't help it.

I was so glad they had their own camel backs...they were nice on a hot day!

Sam was the guide with the map

Feeding the dolphins was my favorite part. They are such amazing animals. The boys loved getting to feed them. Well, Micah didn't want to...I think he was a little scared. But Sam enjoyed it.

Spending so much time with Daddy has been the best part of the trip!! We have missed being with him all the time. We sure do love Daddy!!!

Ready to watch Azul...it was our first show of the trip.

(Don't you think that guy looks like Wes in this picture??)

It was a really really good show! We all enjoyed it!!

Then we headed over to the splash area for some cool off time!

The best part of Sea World are the shows...I didn't know if the boys would like them, but they enjoyed each one we watched!!

Stick em up!!

Our first time to see a walrus do sit-ups.

The boys on their first roller coaster ride ever!

The boy's favorite part was Shamu...he wanted to see the show again and again!

We decided instead of trying to fit everything into one day, we spent two days at Sea World. I am so glad we did, because we were able to relax and enjoy the park instead of trying to hurry and see everything in one day!

The second day we fed the sea lions. They weren't quite as exciting as the dolphins, but still pretty cool! One of them was talking to us the whole time!

I told you that the boys loved Shamu...we had to see both shows!

Love this picture of Micah!! He loves the water!!

I was so excited when both the boys were tall enough for my favorite ride!!!
They both were super brave and LOVED it!!!

We had an AWESOME two days at Sea World!!! Can't wait for our next time we get to go back!!

Part 3- River Walk

2011-08-09T17:32:00.001-05:00

We spent two nights on the riverwalk. It is so pretty and there is just so much to do!
I was loving every minute having so much time with all my boys! Even just the time in the car together driving all over the place. I hope my boys remember our family trips.

We spent one morning at Kiddie Park. This is probably the last year that Sam will enjoy it, because he will be too big. But it was so fun! The boys loved it and the weather was awesome!

They were all smiles the whole time!

then we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the riverwalk

Eating at LuLu's Bakery (3 pound cinnamon roll)

and a riverboat cruise to end the day

It was such a fun day exploring San Antonio together as a family!

Part 2- Wolf Lodge

2011-08-08T16:08:00.001-05:00

Next stop...Ft. Worth!
We went to see Wes' cousins and family so we can spend some time with them before one of his cousin's has a baby. We are so excited for Matt and Trisha. Matt plays golf, so they had a super cute golf themed baby shower.
Here is Micah and Nana at the shower. We love you Nana!

Matt and Trisha even have a putting green in their back yard. The boys loved it.

Wes' Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Gayle paid for us to have a night at the Great Wolf Lodge...
SOOO AWESOME!!!
We loved it!!! The boys had a great time and we did too!

A small area is outside, but most of the park is inside!

Taylor got to meet up with us for the first day we were there. We were so happy to see her because she used to be at our house all the time before she moved and we really miss her!!

The outside part

Having breakfast in the room

The inside part

It was so much fun!!! We really loved it!

Ice cream with Taylor for her birthday

Daddy telling bedtime stories

Thank you SO much Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Gayle!!!
We had an awesome time!!! We love you!!!

Vacation Part 1- Hill Country Hyatt

2011-08-06T10:42:00.002-05:00

Wes was able to take 3 weeks off work during August and we were so excited to spend some great time together!! We have missed being with Daddy all the time so having him every second for 3 weeks was AWESOME!!!

Our first stop was Hill Country Hyatt. We went with 3 other families from church and had a BLAST!!! The first night they had a movie outside with popcorn.
Here is Wes...he was still trying to switch from nights and so he was a little tired!

Micah enjoying the popcorn

The kids loved watching a movie outside

Micah and Addy

Having breakfast outside...it was perfect weather!

And of course there was LOTS and LOTS of swimming!!

Addy

Will

Leslie and McKenzie

Sweet Wade

The next few pictures are of Sam and Colter being volleyballs over the net

Gregg and Colter

My boys lovin on their daddy

Relaxing in the tube

McKenzie

Will

Wade

Addy

Micah

So blessed to have these girls in my life!!! Love them!!!

All the guys hanging out by the pool

Life is good...lunch by the pool~

Us adults really wanted to be able to have a nice dinner, but we weren't sure that would happen with all the kids. But...thanks to technology, they just watched a movie while we had our dinner. They were so good too!

Me and Leslie

Chris and Nicole

Stephanie and Gregg

Leslie and Mac

Me and my hubby

night two...another movie on the lawn

This time we had smores before the movie

I think we wore them out!!!

Such a wonderful wonderful weekend with some of our best friends!!

Blessed are the ones God sends to show His love for us...our friends.

Church Camps

2011-08-01T20:10:00.003-05:00

This was our first summer at Bammel and we were so excited to go to church camp!!! The first one was Sports Camp. For the older kids they could pick a sport to specialize in...but the 4 and 5 year olds just did a group sport of learning how to kick, throw, jump rope, and lots of other fun and important skills they should know.
Breaking Free from Sin was the theme for the week:

Being a bear...

Sweet McKenzie

Relay race

Oh, Micah James...always being silly!

Friends at Sports Camp

Sam and Emma

Love our sports coach!

Most of the kids at sports camp

Coach CoCo getting a pie in the face because all of the 4 and 5 year old's learned their memory verse!!! We love you CoCo!!!

Next was Art Camp. Here are the boys painting their rocks and sacks to be like David.

Some of Sam's art from the week

And all the things he made

Micah's art

and Micah with his projects

The boys LOVED both camps and it was something really fun to do during the summer!

Trying to keep these boys entertained!

2011-07-28T19:30:00.002-05:00

It has been SO hot and we don't have much going on lately,
so keeping these boys entertained has been a little hard.
We can't be outside too much and they get tired of being around each other.

So we tried out a few experiments the other day.
This one we used a notecard to cut out a boat shape.
Then placed it in clean water and added dish soap to the cut out part in the boat.

It causes the boat to race across the water. The boys thought it was very cool.

Next we put a gummy bear in water and left it overnight.
We each made a prediction about what would happen to the gummy bear.

All our experiment came from this book that I found in the $1 section of Target.

Our gummy bear grew overnight!! The boys were quite impressed!

The next day we made Blue Goo.
Sam got his 'gear' from a friends bday party...isn't it great?

Every boy loves goo!

PopPop helped us blow up a balloon without blowing air into the balloon.

Vinegar in the bottle and baking soda in the balloon...

It worked!!

I thought it would be fun to practice writing our letters in some whip cream outside.
Mommy wasn't really thinking because it melted very quickly!

Good thing it was yummy to eat!

Homemade sidewalk paint

It was suppose to rain one day and the weather was great!

We spent the morning painting the driveway!

Making sidewalk paint is super easy.
1 cup cornstarch, 1 cup water, and food coloring

Only a few more weeks of summer left and I am running out of ideas.
Hope I can think of some more things to keep these boys busy!
Good thing I have wonderful parents and great friends that have helped with playdates and sleepovers! It has been a wonderful summer!

Happy Birthday PopPop!

2011-07-24T19:20:00.005-05:00

Wes and Dad have birthdays only 2 days apart. So we usually celebrate them together.
Poor guys, they have to share father's day and birthdays!

Happy Birthday PopPop!!!

We all went to lunch and then back to our house for ice cream sundaes!

We love you PopPop!!

My boys are so blessed to have such an amazing PopPop
and I have the best dad!!
We love you!!! Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

2011-07-22T18:50:00.001-05:00

Happy Happy Birthday Wes!
We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives!!!

Wes was getting home from night shift and I surprised him with beignets!

The boys loved them! Good thing they have only had mine and not the real thing!

It is a little messy, but totally worth it!

Once Daddy woke up, the boys were ready for some Daddy time!

They love their Daddy SOOO much!!!

I set up a few decorations for Wes.
The boys made cards too.

The boys helped me make the signs. We spelled out DAD with their bodies.

And the banner says:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
It was really fun to do with the boys and they had fun helping me figure out how to make each letter. I was pretty impressed!

Homemade cupcakes and icing!

Wes' favorite meal, shrimp and corn on the grill!

He was pretty happy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

The boys absolutely LOVE to wrestle with their daddy!
It is their favorite thing to do!!!

They play this game called 'So Long'
and they try to push each other off the bed.

The boys teamed up on Wes and were tickling his feet.

Happy Birthday Honey!
I love you with all my heart!
You are such an amazing dad and husband, we are so blessed!

Hope you had a wonderful day!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

2011-07-17T16:40:00.001-05:00

Uncle Justin and Sindi wanted to take the boys to the circus. I have to say I was a little nervous letting them go without us, and...I really wanted to go see their faces, since it was their first time to the circus! The boys were so excited!!! We went early to get a behind the scenes look with Uncle Justin.

My boys are so blessed to have such an awesome uncle!!!

So glad Uncle Justin was with us because the boys were able to see everything from their shoulders and I didn't have to worry about losing them!

Love my Sam!

Our fam checking out the elephants

Micah's mouth looked like this the whole time. He was amazed by everything!

So was Daddy and Sam!

LOVE this picture! Just wish Micah was looking at the camera.
Like I said, he was amazed by everything and couldn't figure out how he was so tall!

Being elephants on the elephant stand.
Wes is such a great daddy!

LOVE this picture of the boys with Aunt Audrey and BeBop!

Happy boy with his popcorn!

And the show begins...

3 girls in one very small box

Sam was like this the whole time the motorcycle guys were doing their show.
He said he was looking through his fingers...so cute!

There were 7 people riding on motorcycles in this ball,
the best part of the whole circus!! It was awesome!

Uncle Justin and Sindi with the boys

Micah loving on his daddy

Sweet Micah

I love the elephants!

He looks like an old man!

It was so much fun and the boys loved every minute!!
Thanks Uncle Justin and Sindi for taking us to the circus!!!
We love you!!!

Bowling

2011-07-10T21:58:00.001-05:00

We are having so much fun with the boys this summer.
They are getting older now so we can do so many fun things.

We took them bowling for the first time.

We had a great time!!

Sam can bowl all on his own. It is so cute!

Micah needs a little help. Daddy did a great job helping!

Wes and his boys

Mommy and my boys

After each time Micah would bowl, then he would stand with his hands on his hips
and watch his ball. It was so cute!

And CiCi's Pizza after!! The boys favorite!

I love my family so much! It was a great day!!!

Reading Day

2011-07-09T21:45:00.001-05:00

The boys spent the whole day in their pjs and read book most of the morning.
I am so glad they love books!!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Justin!!

2011-07-08T20:33:00.000-05:00

Uncle's Justin favorite candy is M&M's, so we had an M&M party.

With all the different kinds of M&M's.

Happy Birthday Uncle Justin!!!
We love you!!!

Few days with GiGi and Sir

2011-07-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

Wes was finally able to take a few days off and we headed to Kerrville!
GiGi has a new place and it was our first time to see it! It is so cute!
And perfect for her! We had a great time spending a few days with GiGi and Sir!

Micah and Sir reading together

Micah and Sir's favorite...Watermelon!

GiGi and Sam at our picnic lunch

Swimming at the new pool in Kerrville...so fun!

They are both asleep!

Water balloon fight!

Trying to pop the balloon in his own face...really funny to watch.
He is such a mess!!!

More fun at the pool!

Love that his arms are tucked at his side!

Nap time for all the boys!

Thanks Gigi and Sir for a great trip to Kerrville!!!
We love you!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

2011-07-04T20:26:00.001-05:00

It was my first time to have company over on the 4th. So I turned to Anders Ruff
for my decorations. They turned out super cute!

Sam didn't want to have his picture taken...

yummy strawberries!!!

We put out the water slide and just let the kids have fun.

We only had our family and Nicole's family over. Nicole and I grew up together and have reconnected after not seeing each other for more than 10 years. It has been wonderful! We have become wonderful friends and I enjoy her friendship so much! It was also fun for our parents to see each other again after several years.

Will

Micah going down the slide upside down.

I forgot to take a picture of our dinner, but here is dessert!

Mom made homemade icecream!!! It was yummy!!!

My poor hubby! He was so tired. He worked the night before and didn't get a nap.
Everytime he sat still with no one to talk to...he was asleep!

Mrs. MaryJo, Aunt Susan, Audrey, and Mom

Me and Nicole

Sam was cracking me up. I didn't even know he was in there and I walked past the pool and it scared me because I thought he was floating face down. Nope...he was just hanging out like that.

It was a wonderful fun day!!! So glad we had friends and family to share it with!

Micah James

2011-07-03T22:35:00.001-05:00

Just a typical outfit for Micah.
He is such a little character! He has his own little opinion.
We went to Wal-Mart and I heard several people comment on his boots
and how cute he is. I would have to agree!
I love my Micah!!!

A day around the house. His dishtowel cape, cowboy hat, visor on the hat, buzz socks and McQueen in hand. He wore this most of the day! Such a mess!

Following in Mommy's Footsteps

2011-06-29T22:21:00.000-05:00

Poor Micah James!
He is following in my footsteps with his goose eggs.
I don't know what number we are on...at least 3 or 4
and I am pretty sure I had 6 or 7 growing up.
I hope he doesn't get that many!

But the other night they were playing, and bam! He hits his head on the wall.
He starts crying hard, and Wes tells him to stop crying.
But when I saw this on his head...

I told Wes it was okay for him to cry!
Wes didn't agree...but poor little thing, it hurt!

He has survived yet another goose egg,
praying he doesn't get any more! Glad he was okay!
Be careful Micah!!!

CARS

2011-06-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

My boys are HUGE fans of CARS the movie. We have watched it almost everyday getting ready for CARS 2. They have asked for weeks if today is the day we get to go to the movies.

So I thought we would do something fun the night before we see the movie.
And it was such a fun project for the boys to help me make.

We made McQueen cars!!!

I drew the circles and the boys cut them out,

and they colored their own 95 for the sides.

They were perfect seats to watch the first CARS before we see the new one tomorrow!

Of course we needed to have have popcorn for the movie!

It is finally here!!! The big day CARS 2!!!
We were there on the second day it started and the first ones in the theatre.
BeBop and PopPop were just as excited as the boys!

We are ready with our McQueen hats and shirts!

It was a great movie! The boys LOVED it!!!

Such a fun day with the boys!!!

Swimming

2011-06-23T21:24:00.000-05:00

The boys have been taking swim lesson at the YMCA. Sam has loved it since the first day. He has gained confidence in his swimming and doing a great job. He still needs a little more practice, but he is determined and can swim across the pool. It was wonderful watching his face when he was able to do something that scared him!
It took Micah a little longer to get used to swim lessons. He cried the whole time the first day. The second day he still cried, but did everything his teacher asked him to do. And on the 3rd day, he decided he could do it and was a totally different kid! I was beaming with pride! He is a little fish! If he knew how to take breaths, he would be swimming across the pool. He can jump in by himself and then swim back to the wall on his own. He pulls those little arms all the way out of the water and keeps his body on top of the water. I was so proud of him!!!

Wes was able to come a couple of times, but he missed the last few days of swim.
So we decided to go to our neighborhood pool and show daddy their swimming skills.

Micah jumping in to Daddy. Unless he is diving,
Micah starts moving his arms before he even hits the water.

Swimming back to the steps on his own.

Our little fish

Sam is doing such a great job! By the end of the summer he will be swimming all over the place!

I am so proud of my boys!!!

Celebrating an Amazing Father to my boys!!!

2011-06-20T19:44:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!

I am so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing father for my boys! Wes loves being with his boys. He wants to be involved in everything. Watching him wrestle, pillow fight, and tickle the boys is such fun watching them be boys. But watching him read to the them at night, teaching them to pray, showing them how to respect me and love me...makes me cry just thinking about it. I am so thankful that the boys have Wes to look up to and I hope they grow up to be just like him. He is their hero. He is a wonderful daddy and I am so thankful!!!

Wes had to work on Father's Day, so we decided to celebrate on Tuesday since he had the whole day off. I am so glad we did, because we had the whole day together!

Wes LOVES bacon! So I made Maple Bacon Cupcakes for breakfast.
I did not like them at all, but Wes liked them, so I guess it turned out okay.
At least they were cute, right? haha!

The boys made cards for Wes,

and of course he loved them!

Wes and his boys!

We started the day with a picnic at Discovery Green.

Wes didn't know I was taking this picture,
just shows how much he loves his boys!

Then we headed to the science museum and went to the butterfly part.

This is a real life insect...don't remember the name,
but doesn't it look like a leaf or something?

On the way home we stopped at Gander Mountain and then ate at Chuy's!
Forgot to bring my camera in...but it was very yummy!
Once we got home we had Root beer floats.

I think we wore him out!

It was a great day with Daddy!
I love you, Wes!!!
Thank you for all you do for our boys!

Happy Father's Day PopPop!

2011-06-18T18:58:00.000-05:00

We love you, PopPop!!!
Happy Father's Day!!

We gave Dad a gift card for a round of golf, so
I made him all these things to go along with it.

Score card

Tees

Box of golf balls

and his card with the giftcard

I think PopPop liked it!

The boys love their PopPop!

Later after church, BeBop and PopPop came over to enjoy some watermelon...

it sure was yummy!!!

Thank you for being a fantastic Dad and PopPop!!!

Happy Birthday BeBop!

2011-06-10T18:30:00.001-05:00

We sure do love our BeBop!!!
We did everything we could to make sure she had a wonderful day!

The boys made her these pots and then picked the flowers to put in them.

We all went to dinner and came back to our house for dessert.

We got these cupcakes from this yummy cupcake place here and we each sampled them all!

BeBop and my boys

They love their BeBop

This is what I made mom for her birthday. She loved it!
So easy too! Got the idea from howdoesshe.com

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you whole bunches!!!

Love for McQueen

2011-06-09T18:16:00.002-05:00

Several years ago, Sam was in LOVE with McQueen.
He is back into CARS now that the movie is coming out,
but he passed his LOVE down to Micah.

Everyday Micah asks if we get to go see the new movie.
He takes McQueen with him every where we go and always sleeps with him.

Just thought these pictures were cute. You have to love a boy and his car!

Friends for Life

2011-06-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

Not everyday do you find a family where the wives are good friends, the husbands are good friends, and the kids are close in age and get along too.
We found that in the Winter family! We were so sad to see them move
to San Diego, but are so blessed that we have still been able to see each other!

Jenny and the boys came to spend one night with us and we could not have been more excited!

Aiden, TJ, Micah, Caleb, and Sam having movie night.

I think they had a good time playing...don't you think?

I think Sam was the most excited to see his best friend, Caleb!
Sam talks about Caleb all the time and even though he doesn't live here,
he is still Sam's only best friend. I love that!!!
(This was the face Caleb made when I asked them to smile...so cute!)

We miss you guys so much, but we are planning our trip to come see you next summer!
We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!

WATER!!

2011-06-06T22:11:00.000-05:00

It doesn't matter if they are in the sprinkler,

or the pool,

or the bathtub...

my boys LOVE water!!!

Beach Day with Sir

2011-06-04T20:50:00.000-05:00

Summer = Beach in the minds of my boys.
They have been asking over and over if we can go to the beach.
So...we decided to stop the asking and take them to the beach!

On our way to pick up Sir and start our beach day!!

If you know Wes well, you know that he is ALWAYS the one pulling other people out of the mud, sand, ditch...basically any time he can pull something, he is doing it!
So I had to capture this moment when Wes Fikes needed someone else to pull him out!

Here are my sweet boys LOVING the beach!

So glad Sir came with us!!

Even though the Galveston/Freeport beach is not pretty and the beach was covered in seaweed,
the boys didn't notice at all and were as happy as can be!

Picnic on the beach

Out to dinner in Galveston, we love Casey's!!

I was so excited that the sand castle competition was the same day,
I had to convince the guys that it would be worth it...I think they will agree that it was
totally worth it. The castles were pretty amazing!

This was the 1st place winner!

It was a great long day! Thanks for spending the day with us, Sir!

Summer is here!

2011-06-02T20:34:00.000-05:00

Celebrating the fact that summer is here!!!

And I just had to include this picture...
Toby came in from outside like this. Micah saw him and immediately
said, "hey, Toby has a mustache!"

Ready for a summer full of fun!

7 Wonderful Years with My Best Friend!

2011-05-30T19:50:00.003-05:00

7 years ago we were on the beaches of Kauai, Hawaii.
I never thought I could this man more than I did on that day.

Wes, You are the most amazing husband and
fantastic dad and I still feel like I am living a dream
because I don't deserve you! I can't wait to love you more
in 7 years than I do today!

I gave Wes this box full of 100+ memories from the last 7 years.
We spent the day remembering as many memories as we could.

Sam took this picture of us. It isn't that great of a picture of me (really bad tan lines and all)
but Wes reminds me all the time to capture the memory.

Happy 7th Anniversary Honey!
I love you to the moon and back!!!

A Day of Remembering Austin

2011-05-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

We lost my brother Austin 6 years ago.
Austin was adventurous, spiritual, intelligent, and loyal.
I loved him very much and miss him every day!
We named Sam, Samuel Austin, after him. I am so very glad that we did.
Sam reminds me of Austin all the time.
I love so much that I am reminded of Austin through Sam.

Every year my family spends this day together. I am so thankful for them.
It really doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together.

On our way to Mom and Dad's, we stopped to put flowers on Austin's grave.

The boys had a lot of questions, but I think it was good for them.
They ask about Uncle Austin all the time. We talk about him quite a bit,
because I want them to know him.

We had a meal together and then just spent the day being together.

A few months ago, Sam had the idea that he wanted to write on a balloon and send it to heaven to Uncle Austin. What a great idea!!! And for my 5 year old to think of it. I am sure others have been doing this, but we have never done it before. He wanted to do it on his birthday, but I thought it would be great to do it this day because we were all together.
So I got white mylar balloons and sharpie pens and we wrote notes to Austin.

The boys just drew pictures and we helped them write notes.

I think it was really good for everyone. I especially found it helpful to be able to talk to Austin. I told him all about the boys and things we have been doing. Of course, it was emotional too. But I hope to do it every year so that I can tell him all about the boys as the grow.

Once everyone had written on their balloons, we all went outside to send them to heaven.

Sam watched them for a long time, making sure they went all the way to heaven.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying each other.
Uncle Taylor and the boys had a great time playing together!

I love my family so much and I feel so blessed that we all have each other.
Austin, We love and miss you very much!!!

Sam is done with Pre-K and on to Kindergarten!

2011-05-26T14:35:00.000-05:00

In Sam's little world, it is a big deal to be graduating from Pre-K.
To his Daddy, it was silly to make a big deal out of it.
It is just Pre-K, he kept saying. But I wanted to make it special for my
Sweet Sweet Sam!
I didn't do a lot, just enough for him to feel special!

I made these yummy oreo pops.

Very easy to make and they turned out so cute!!

Sam and Daddy at his program

Sam and Mommy

Singing for us in the program

He was so funny because I think he was nervous, so he kept making these faces.

One of the songs talked about helping your brother,
and Sam was pointing to Micah in the middle of the song.

Making the faces again. It was so funny!

After the kids sang, we went to their rooms and they received diploma's.

Sam and Claire, his school girlfriend!
Isn't she precious???

Our little graduate!

Sam with BeBop and PopPop

Aunt Audrey

Uncle Justin

Very proud parents

We made a few for our friends too!

We love you very very much, Sam!
We are so proud of you! It makes me sad to think that
you will be graduating from high school before we know it!

Can't wait to see you in Kindergarten!
You will do awesome!!!

Last Day of School

2011-05-26T14:12:00.002-05:00

Well, somehow the school year is already over and it is summer again.
Time is going by so fast with these little muchkins!
I am loving every minute, but they are getting too big too fast!
Looking back on the first day of school (click here), they have changed so much.

Sam had swim day on the last day, if you are wondering how he has his swim suit on.

So glad Daddy got to be with us.

My boys are getting so big!

Micah with his wonderful, fantastic, amazing teachers!!!
Mrs. Norton was Sam's teacher last year. So sad not to see her every week!

And Micah just adored Mrs. Vehslage!
Such a wonderful lady!

I am so proud of my boys! What a great year!

Outside Fun

2011-05-21T21:37:00.001-05:00

Summer is just around the corner and the boys are ready to be in the water all the time.
They had so much fun enjoying their new slip n slide from Aunt Audrey and Uncle Taylor.
And I had fun taking their pictures!!

Love the tongue...he gets that from his daddy! haha!

Sam was pretty good at the slip n slide.
Here is step by step down the slide:

This is one of my favorite pictures!!!

Love capturing these memories!!!

Thank You Notes

2011-05-19T21:30:00.001-05:00

Found these super cute cards online, that you can print out on your own computer.
Then I added a starbucks gift card and ribbon...done!
I have used them several times and they are a huge hit!!!
Here is the website eighteen25

First Bike Ride

2011-05-16T21:19:00.001-05:00

Finally all 3 of the boys can go on a bike ride and Micah not be way behind.
They absolutely LOVE going on a bike ride with Daddy.
Wes is the best dad and always loves being with his boys.

I sure do love these boys!!!