Easter Sunday

Sam and Evie and I spent Easter Sunday with Gram and Pops.  Gram fixed a nice breakfast and even though it was rainy and gloomy outside for most of the day, everyone had a good time.  Hopefully next year we can have an egg hunt outside again!

Evie's basket of pretty spring dresses

Sam's basket of favorite characters, Pocoyo and Thumper, with a new movie to try - Toy Story!

The Easter Tree, with Grandma T's handmade Easter eggs at the bottom that Mommy helped her make years and years ago

Gram made a delicious Easter breakfast - eggs, sausage and cinnamon rolls

Sam on his indoor egg hunt - it was too muddy outside again this year.

Happy Easter!

What Do Babies Need?

He got in big trouble right before this picture was taken.  I don't remember what for; probably his mouth.  Then all of a sudden he decided to sit down and "read" Evelyn one of his favorite books,

Sammy the Seal

.  I creeped  army-style across the kitchen floor to catch a pic before the moment was lost.  Turned out they both stayed a while, even after hearing my shutter click.  I got lucky. 

I suggested Sam read one of Evelyn's favorite books to her, a book called 

Babies

 which happened to be one of Sam's favorites, too.   The first page has a picture of a baby making a funny face and the first sentence is, "What do babies need?".  Evie laughs at that page every time, just like Sam did.  

February Phone Dump

Jeepers this took forever!  Not only did I take a lot of iPhone pics in February, my computer was having fits every time I tried to download them off my phone.  Took numerous tries over the last two weeks and countless computer restarts just to get things in place.  Hope March goes a little more smoothly.  Love having these little snapshots of our daily life, though, so it's still worth it.  Enjoy!

little dolly | tummy time | waiting for Brother to get home | sad face | binkie and bow | cheeks

fussy day, pretty girl | laughing at brother | doing the twist | showing her tummy

changing table | watching the Super Bowl | snoozing with Pops | snuggling with Gram | watching Ladybug

laying on her quilt at the park | shopping at Aldi | watching the boys play at the playground

first bottle | Granny Nell | at the park with Mommy

Willowbend with Great Grandma | watching Mommy cook | Uncle Randy's mini-me

playing puzzles with Daddy and Vic | birthday crown from Ms. H. | Goodnight Moon shirt | lotta sprinkles | Daddy and Sissy | birthday bowling with Daddy | Happy 4th Birthday Sam!

soccer and playground with Daddy

keepin' it real - bottom three pics are Sam's room

before

we cleaned, top is after, and a rare sight...

Granny Nell and Aunt Dell come to visit.  I didn't make them clean this time!

Let's just caption this little collection "future blackmail"

Sam said, "Look Mom, we're cheek-to-cheek!"

Evelyn's Valentine present | Daddy's present (chocolate!) | my Valentine presents

Sam signing Mickey Mouse Valentine cards for his class | Sam strumming his neck-roll like a guitar to a Jason Mraz song | notes from Mom and Dad in the mailbox, heart waffles in the toaster!

reading at the library | kindly spreading weeds throughout the neighborhood | scrubbing potatoes with Gram

our very own Buster Bluth | doing dishes for Gram | having fun at Hobby Lobby

stretchy Evie | Ev bored at the library | Mommy and Evie at the park on a chilly day

napping while Brother was at school | kisses from Brother

Mommy and Evie by the duck pond | Evie chillin' at Market Street | Sam kicking the ball

pretty sky at the park | wearing her new shirt and headband

smiley girl | snuggles with Daddy | trying to wake you up for the day

Sam ♥ Evie | visiting Gram | scrubbing potatoes

These Two

Gram and Pops are going to babysit Evelyn for us while we take Sam out for his birthday this weekend.  She'll likely need a bottle while we're gone, so we decided to test it out a couple of times this week since she's never had a bottle before.  She didn't have any problems when I first gave it to her, so I asked Sam if he'd like to feed her.  They had a great time snuggling, and there was no prompting for any of these photos, not even the kissy ones.  In fact, I had to ask him to give her some space while she ate.  These two!

Bubbles at Sunset

Sam got a bubble wand from a friend on Valentine's Day.  We took it to the park that night and stayed an extra-long time because Daddy was making us dinner!  Sam used up the whole bubble wand - he just spun and twirled, in his own little world, while Mommy snapped away.

Neee-Haw!

Those of you who follow us on Instagram already know - I did not pose him for these photos.  I didn't even ask him to do anything other than stand there for a quick pic.  We were running late, much like the last two years on Rodeo Day, and I was contemplating just getting an iPhone pic, but decided to grab the big camera at the last minute.

Instead of hiding his face or frowning at me, Sam just started posing...some of them a little strange, all of them quite cheesy...while saying "Nee-haw! Neeeeee-haw!" over and over.  I said to him, "I think it's 'yee-haw'".  Sam answered, "Yeah.  That's what I said, nee-haw". Okay.  Whatever!

He had a great time at Rodeo Day.  They had so many cute things for the kids to do and served pizza for lunch - what a treat!.  As usual, they went all-out and made it a great day for the kids.  I know they took some photos, too - can't wait to see them!

This is the third year for the chaps - I got them for a couple dollars at Cutie Patootie when I was shopping for Sam's first Halloween costume (the bee).  Funny thing is, those silly chaps keep getting shorter and shorter.  I guess they're shrinking in the dress-up box?   ;)

Lovely Ladies

Sam and Pops were in the yard doing guy things like digging in the dirt for worms.  

These two ladies were on the patio, just watching, looking lovely...

The Beach at Fairview

We had another spring-like day forecasted in North Texas last week, so our Lens Baby group scheduled a last-minute playdate at one of our favorite places to meet up, The Beach (and fountains) at Fairview.  Even though it was cloudy and really windy, the unseasonably warm temperatures made for a great afternoon of running, running, running!  We started out on the beach side of the park and then migrated over to the fountains.  I didn't think they'd be turned on in January, so I didn't dress Sam in swim trunks.  He was a little unsure about running through the fountain, especially in his clothes, but once he saw a friend run through, he decided to give it a try.  As you can see, he ended up completely soaked.  When it was time to go home, I stripped him down to his undies, had him sit on his coat in his car seat, and I cranked up the heat!  He had a great time, and so did little Evie, at her very first playdate!  It won't be long before she's out running around the fountains with Brother!

I've blogged about these fountains before - click

here

to see Sam's first trip to the fountains and the "blue wall" in August of 2010, and

here

to see our first trip to the beach side in March of 2011.  How is it I don't remember him ever being that little...

A Little Taste of Spring

Daddy got home a little early yesterday, so we headed to the park before dinner.  The boys played a little ball and then Sam and I went to the playground to swing and watch the ducks.  We're loving these warm, spring-like temperatures!

January Phone Dump ii

two months | stretching after errands | first milkshake | at the park | Granny Nell visits | after dinner rest

Sam at the park, swinging and sliding

big girl outfit | swaddled | snuggly ladybug | playing in gym | little sister

playing Teach Your Monster to Read | gym time with Sam | on Mommy's bed | morning smiles

first time in gym | on blue quilt | chillin' | waiting at Dr. Guetersloh's office

Writing Practice

We haven't done any writing practice in a while, mostly because he doesn't like to do these kinds of things for me anymore.  Gram and I joke that would be the *worst* homeschool student, for sure!  But I did convince him on this particular day to do a few words with me.  To make it a little more fun, I made a sheet with names of his favorite cartoon characters to trace and then copy - words like "Oswald" and "Huckle", "Joe" and "Blue".  It helped a little.  I know his teachers at school are working with him on holding his pencil correctly; he showed me how they do it.  But, of course, he refuses to hold it that way at home, and instead prefers the grip you see above.  Stubborn!

Holding Evelyn

This sweet iPhone photo couldn't wait for the next January phone dump, it needed to be blogged right away! Sam asked me earlier this week if he could hold Evelyn.  This was the first time he'd ever asked and probably only the third time he'd ever held her.  He's always been good to her and enjoyed being around her and talking to her, but was very insistent (up until now) that he had no desire to hold her.  So when he asked on this particular morning, I jumped at the chance and grabbed my phone for some photos and video.  And no, despite what Sam says in the video, there are no plans to have yet another baby...

My Daddy's Name is Brian

The Straka men went to Donuts for Dad at preschool yesterday.  This was their third year to go and this time his teachers did something a little extra for the dads.  On a previous school day they had the kids answer some questions about their daddies. The teachers then read them to the dads at the breakfast, asking them to guess which one was theirs.  Ms. Heather read one or two, and the dads tried to guess if they thought the answers had been given by their child.  When she got to the next sheet in the pile she put it to the side and said she'd do that one later because it was too easy to guess who it was.  Brian said he had a feeling that was going to be his.  He said other kids' answers were things like "My daddy's name is Daddy".  "My daddy is (ie:) five years old" and "two feet tall".  They went on to read a few more, then came back to the sheet they had passed over earlier.  The answers this time?  "My daddy's name is Brian.  He is thirty-five years old.  He is kind of tall like God, but a little shorter."  Sounds just like Sam - great attention to detail and very wordy answers to questions.  We laughed about the last one, too, because we had just gotten on to him the night before about not listening.  Ms.  Heather asked the dads if this questionnaire belonged to anyone.  Brian raised his hand and said, "Well,

my

name's Brian, but he doesn't listen!"  A fun time (and many donuts) was had by both boys and it was a memorable day for sure.  

We Were Snow Surprised

We woke up to a surprise dusting of snow last week.  It was a surprise to those of us in this house, at least.  If it was forecasted, we somehow missed the warning.  Sam immediately asked to go out and play, so I bundled him up, sent him out the door, and hurried myself back inside the warm house!  I stood at our living room window for some photos, but did brave the elements later with the camcorder for some video.  Sam had a blast in the backyard snow.  He was disappointed when I made him come inside.  He'd been out there a while and like most Texas children, does not have proper snow clothes!  His little mittens from the Target dollar bin just weren't cutting it.  The really bad news came about an hour later - school had been cancelled; too much ice on the roads.  Sam cried; he loves school so much.  Mommy cried a little, too, on the inside, because oh, how I love school, too.  :)

A Visit From Granny

Granny came over for a visit last week.  We had lunch and she played with the kids.  Before she left we decided to get a photo of her with Sam.  I took several shots, waiting for a normal smile from Sam.  Granny Nell looked exactly the same in all the shots.  She just smiled and froze, waiting patiently, looking great.  This was the best I got from Sam; a little goofy, but that pretty much sums him up on this particular day.  Thanks for a fun visit, Granny.

January 2013 Phone Dump I

on our way to get Mommy's haircut | changing table | sweetie | morning snooze | Shabby-Chic Camoflauge | evening snuggles

making funny faces!

playing on Gma T's blankie | getting dressed | New Year's Day nap on Pops | Christmas Eve bath | first trip to the library | infamous polka-dot sleeper | getting ready for a car ride

waiting for Daddy to get home | watching the bears | morning sleepies | waiting for Uncle Randy to come over | "watching" football with Pops | scrubbing potatoes with Gram | more Disappearing Evelyn

December 2012 Phone Dump

It's amazing to me how far cameras have come, especially when it comes to the cameras on our phones.  When Sam was born I didn't have an iPhone, which was probably good because I could spend all my free time learning my DSLR.  I upgraded to one when he was around two and as much as I loved it, it was a used 3GS and didn't take the best pictures, although part of that was user-error, I'm sure.  Upgrading again a few months ago, this time to the 4S, was pretty exciting and I'm enjoying taking pictures and learning "iPhonogaphy" as it's come to be known.  People poke fun at iPhone photography (have you seen the filthy yet hilarious Instagram parody on YouTube?), but it's also insanely popular and definitely not going anywhere.  While I am trying to learn how to take better pictures with it, I love how using my iPhone allows me to worry less about the technical stuff I have to pay attention to when shooting with my big camera and just have fun capturing the moment.  I can worry about just light and composition (or neither of those and just snap for fun, as is often the case) and not have to be fiddling with a bunch of settings to get the perfect shot.  I can add a funky filter and not obsess about too much grain.  It's a nice thing to have when "Mark" and I need a break.

As is the case with my big camera, too, I need to make a conscious effort to get those photos off the camera(phone) and onto the blog.  Before sitting down to make some collage templates on Photoshop this week (which I'm not very good at), I decided to do a quick search for some ready-made templates.  I was surprised and super excited to find

this set of eight templates

on Etsy for only $2.50.  What a steal!  I'd like to do a "phone dump", as they're called, at least once a month if not more often, but with a preschooler and an infant I can't make any promises!  I decided to start with some of our best from December and then post regularly from here on out. 

So, let's get these pictures off my phone, shall we?  Here is a gratuitous amount of iPhone photos of my children, which according to the Instagram parody, I take because I'm a thirty-something! :)

Enjoy our December collage!

Christmas shopping with Evie | making this year's gingerbread house | Chrismas morning | antlers from Ms. Heather | baby burrito | Christmas morning | cake from Joyce and Don | sleeping through our icy drive home

Evie's Christmas loot | just finished a parking lot-meal | another baby burrito | full tummy | making headbands

naptime profile | tummy time | editing on the bed with Mommy | Sam took our picture!

stretchy | making Spritz cookies | watching TV | carseat | snoozing with Daddy on the couch

The Good Book

He chose this book all on his own.  Thousands of books in the library and he chooses one that we have at home, a children's Bible.  And we have this exact Bible, too.  He was very interested in a particular page - the story where "a man had mud on his eyes".   He finished reading and said to me "I love the Bible".  What a sweet boy...

Smooch

Looks like a tender smooch from big brother, when in fact it is what we call a "zerbert".  It doesn't matter, she loves it just the same...

Imaginary Musician

Sam called me in the other day to see his "band".  He had both guitars out and had made a drum set out of blankets and books, using wooden chopsticks as his drumsticks.  He was rockin' out to The Fresh Beat Band soundtrack.  I didn't catch any photos of him at his homemade drum set, but I did get this one of him strumming his guitar.  Such a serious musician...