First Slumber Party

Last night Jacob had his first friend spend the night. He was so excited. Camron stayed over after our Bible Study group had left. The boys got to stay up late and watch a short movie, and we made a big "sleeping bag" on the floor for Jacob, Camron and Jude. Camron had to sleep in the middle because both boys wanted to sleep next to him so badly. Camron and Jacob came strolling out of the room at 6:15 this morning and got comfy on the couch to watch some early morning tv. At 8:30 Jude's sweet friend, Ben, came over to eat breakfast and I made pancakes for everyone. Grace was around in the mix of things as all the guys played outside and "painted" with buckets of water. Jacob kept talking about how much he loved that Camron stayed the night and was "still here in the morning". It was such a fun time and a good way to start the summer.

Things from May (Because I Have Been Lazy)

Wow...May is almost over which means summer is almost here which means I have got to get better about blogging because summer is always wonderful for the Hooks House! May has rolled along with the end of soccer season, a final choir concert, sunny days and beautiful kids. We are finished with school tomorrow and Jacob will have his first friend spend the night which I will definetly get pictures of...Enjoy the end of May pictures. We have had an amazing Spring with friends and family. Jacob is now 4 1/2 which seems way too old to me. I actually mistook Jude for Jacob the other day because Jude has grown so much. Grace is just rocking along enjoying her toenails being painted and being the most beautiful girl we have ever seen. Blessings to you all.

Hanging with Ben

Our friend Teresa has spent an entire school year watching Grace on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It has been such a blessing for us. Grace loves Teresa and her son Ben so much and gets super excited everytime they are around. We were able to begin to put a teeny tiny dent in what we owe Teresa and Ben on Wednesday when we got to hang out with Ben. Grace was overjoyed! She kept getting on the couch to sit next to Ben and they were super sweet together. I snapped some shots of the kids being silly in our den.

Celebrating Cinco De Mayo in PJs

It was Cinco De Mayo on Monday which, for some reason, translates into a random "holiday" in Texas. Most of the big kids were off of school that day so, we decided to host a Cinco De Mayo breakfast at our house. This consisted of kids in their pajamas and all the fixings for great breakfast burritoes. Teresa made excellent cinnamon rolls too which have nothing to do with Cinco De Mayo, but tons to do with eating! We had such a great time with all of our friends. I have a few pictures of kids eating and one of Jacob climbing a fence in his Spiderman pajamas which seemed completely appropriate.

Jude's Potty Party!!!

Today was the all day event in our family known as the "Potty Party". This time it was for our Jude. He has been going to the potty more and more lately. This Thursday his teachers in preschool let us know that he insisted on going to the potty all day at school. I knew there was no denying it was time to throw the potty party. After breakfast today, Jude was crowned "King of the Potty". We marched around the house doing cheers and chants! "What do we wear? Underwear!" was our battle cry for today. Jude was super excited. He put on his Thomas the Tank Engine underwear and suddenly became an official big boy. He wore his crown to the park, to Mama's house, to El Chico and to bed tonight. We topped the day off with sugar cookies and sang "Happy Potty Party" to Jude. As happy as I am to have one more kid out of diapers and pull ups, I am sitting here crying. They are growing up way too fast, and my fuzzy headed Jude with the big old bunny feet is not such a little boy anymore. Sigh.

A Day at the Park

This week we went to the park with our friends Drew, Camron, Sarah, Rachel and Baby Linden. It was the perfect day to be outside...not too hot and not too cool...perfect! The boys were busy trying to follow the ducks around the pond while the girls ate lunch. Eventually, we took all the kids on a walk to explore just about everything within reach. Our friend snapped the perfect picture of boys being boys.

2nd Annual Crawfish Boil

Last Saturday our Sunday School department had its 2nd annual crawfish boil. It's actually my favorite event of the year. There is a bounce house and lots of games for the kiddos. This year someone actually brought plastic, bucket stilts for the kids to walk on, and my boys were fascinated. We ate and ate and played and played. I only snapped a couple of shots of the kids with the their friends Camron, Sarah and Rachel...I wish I had more to showoff such a fun day. Nothing is better than tons of food, dirty kids and good nights sleep.

A Little Bit of Choir

Jacob's choir performed two itty bitty "routines" the other Wednesday night for the Wednesday night prayer meeting at our church. Jacob stood by his friend Camron which made for lots of laughter. The kids seemed to really like to hold the notes extra long, and some untrained ears might have called their singing "screaming". But it was music to any mother's ears.

Two More Cute Pictures From This Week

My friend Teresa sent me some pictures last night and two of them were just adorable to Corey and I. We love this picture of Grace because, hey, personality is EVERYTHING at the Hooks House. Also, the picture of Jacob, Jude and Ben is such an adorable memory. We were riding the train to finish our zoo trip and they were super excited. Boys love trains. It has been a great week as far as the kids go. Much action and adventure. They are all resting now after another romp in the plastic crab pool complete with popsicles. Grace calls them "pop pops" which is now officially the cutest word ever!

Grace Front and Center

Grace has somehow ended up in the background of our blog lately. She has been in lots of the pictures, but there have not been any to capture truly the stage of cuteness she is in these days. I decided to change that today. So, here is Grace front and center. I chose two activities that Gracie girl loves...sitting in the bottom drawer in the kitchen throwing plastic cups onto the floor and eating popsicles. Lucky for us you can make her happy with such simple things. How long do you think this will last????

Friends and Popsicles

Today is Wednesday and that equals storytime with Mr. Bob at the Public Library. We met our friends there this morning and listened to three great stories and sang lots of songs. We checked out new Spiderman books and new movies. We played on the computers and then we all loaded up and headed to our house for lunch and time with friends. All the kids played so well together. It really was a nice mix of children...lots of dressing up as usual. The boys and I had picked out some tropical popsicles at Target the other day, and we gave all of our friends a treat after lunch. I snapped some shots of our adorable friends eating popsicles in the backyard. It was a priceless morning.

Back to the Zoo

We went to the zoo today with our friends and had a fabulous time. The boys were so excited to go back to the zoo...I think it has been since last fall that we visited. Today was the first time that I had to pay for Jude, and he loved having his own ticket. We saw elephants, a white tiger, bears, penguins, fish, snakes (for only a second, but that was Jude's favorite part), birds and some sleeping lions. We had a picnic lunch and road the train. We even topped the day off with a blue icee that the four of us shared before we drove home. It was great to be back at the zoo. I hope it lives in my kids memories for a long time that we did this. It will live in mine forever.

That's Texas Weather

Last Thursday we had a horrible storm complete with massive amounts of hail just a few miles down the road. We wore jackets last week, but this is Texas and by Saturday it was in the 80's! On Saturday it was so warm that I put the kids in their bathing suits and filled up the little crab pool (that used to be a sandbox) and let everyone have some fun. We pulled the beach towels out too and had a picnic on the patio. It was really cute. Grace was not the water baby I hoped she would be, and she would cry so hard anytime the boys splashed her. She spent most of her time trying to avoid them, but for a few moments I captured them all together.

My Two Boys

Jacob and Jude have been pretty great friends lately. They play together so well, and make me feel like I'm the luckiest mom ever. This picture was taken right before bed while they were both "helping" me watch the microwave cook daddy's dinner. Such a fun moment with both of them.

The Big Storm

This is Texas and the weather changes every few minutes. We were having Bible Study at our house last night, and all of a sudden there were weather reports that a HUGE storm was headed our way complete with 60 mile per hour winds, hail and possible tornadoes...wow. Corey was at work so, I called my mom and Mac to come over and use our garage (and also make me feel less afraid). The kids had a blast listening to weather reports and holding on to their flashlights. I snapped a picture of the kids with Grandaddy waiting for the big storm.

Taking It Easy!

Jacob, Grace and I have all been sick at some point this week. Grace got the bug first, then Jacob and then me today. It has been a yucky house to live in lately. Since no one was seeming to feel up to doing anything today, and Jacob didn't even feel like playing soccer this morning, we decided to give the boys a fun treat. Corey moved the TV and VCR into the boys room and let them watch a movie while laying in their beds with Daddy. I cannot tell you how excited they were about watching a movie in their room. The whole house was quiet and Corey got to nap while his boys snuggled with him all in Jude's bunk bed. I snapped a couple of shots of my guys hanging out on their lazy Saturday.

We are Loving Grace in Her Pigtails!

I have been waiting (not so patiently) for the day when I could easily put pigtails in Gracie Girl's hair. This was the week it finally could happen. Grace has been sporting two pigtails on top of her head since Wednesday, and I must say we have gotten TONS of compliments. I was trying to snap some good shots of her pigtails, but you may have to look rather closely to see them well, but they are there! She is getting so grown up lately...time is passing so quickly and pigtails are just another reminder of the time slipping by. Oh, by the way, if you haven't heard, Grace also is loving having her toenails painted...she'll be 10 before I know it!

Aren't They Cute???

We went to the park on Monday with friends and had such a great time. We ended the morning by sliding down and playing on a dirt hill that Grace now loves as much as the boys...is she going to end up a tomboy? We have one adorable picture from lunchtime. This is Jude with his sweet friends Claire and Laney. Aren't they cute???