School's OUT!

This year FLEW by so fast!!! It is hard to believe Sheldon finished Kindergarten and Kalyn is done with 2nd grade. Kalyn's class celebrated at the park with hot dogs and lots of fun. Sheldon's class had a cook-out at school with lots of fun too! You can imagine how my morning went running back and forth between both parties...let's just say I was GLAD when 12:30 finally got here! Summer time, here we come!!

Getting Pampered

It has become tradition now for me to take Kalyn to get a pedicure during the last week of school. This year Kalyn wanted to invite Oni (my mom) to come along. It turned out to be her Mother's Day gift from us as well! As soon as Kalyn got out of school yesterday we headed to Giddings for our pedicure. It was so-o-o nice to sit in the massage chairs and soak our feet in warm water before getting our toenails all pretty. Kalyn and I really enjoyed having Oni with us this year and we look forward to the next time we get to go again!

Awards Program

Kalyn and Sheldon had their awards program yesterday morning. Oni and Granden were able to go with us to see the kids get their certificates. Sheldon got his Kindergarten diploma which was and is still hard for me to believe. I just can't get over the fact that he is already done with Kindergarten...the year just flew by! Kalyn got 5 certificates this year...Yearly AR Goal, STAR Math Improvement by 2.2 years growth, Top 17 STAR Reading at 4.8, Top 17 STAR Math at 4.6, and Top 5 in AR Points. She continues to amaze us. We are very proud of both of our kids!!

Here come the Kindergarteners

And the 2nd graders...

Sheldon getting his certificate from Ms. Muhl

I did it!

Now Kalyn gets her certificates

Proud of herself!

Sunday Twins

Kalyn and one of her good friends, Abigail, wore the same dress to church on Sunday morning. They looked so cute...I just had to take a picture!

Lots of reading DOES pay off!!

Kalyn worked hard on her Accelerated Reading points this year. She started out reading books at the 3.5 level and by the end of the year was at the 4.8 level! We are SO very proud of our Kalyn. She loves to read and has always excelled in that area...like her mommy! While Sheldon and I were on his field trip to Bluebell, Kalyn had her AR Picnic to celebrate her success with her classmmates. The celebration kicked off with pizza and ice cream sundaes at school before heading to the park for some FUN. The park was set up with several different water slides and games for the kids to enjoy. Since I wasn't able to enjoy the afternoon with Kalyn, Mimi was able to take my place. She got several pictures for me...thanks so much! Kalyn, we are so proud of you for meeting your AR goal this year and look forward to seeing what you can do next year!!

Kindergarten SCREAMED for ice cream!!

Sheldon and his Kindergarten classmmates went on their field trip to Bluebell Creamery on Friday. Just like I did with Kalyn, I rode the school bus with Sheldon and we had a great time together. We toured the creamery and saw how the world's best ice cream is made. Sheldon was really interested in all the machines and asked me lots of questions. At the end of our tour we got some free ice cream...the best part of the day!! Sheldon and I both LOVE chocolate so that is what we picked. After everyone had eaten their ice cream we headed to the park for lunch and some play time at the playground. Sheldon and his buddy Jacob had fun playing and rode the carousel twice. I really enjoyed getting to know Jacob's mom better and making new mommy friends. The bus ride back to school was much calmer since I had two little boys asleep on me half of the way...they were worn out!! Next year, Pioneer Farms with 1st Grade!!

New addition to our yard

Ricky built a picnic table for us to enjoy this summer. The braces came from his grandfather so all he really had to do was put the boards on. Kalyn and Sheldon have already started to break it in and ask to eat outside pretty often now! Thank you, Daddy Ricky!!

Daddy is back!

God really works in mysterious ways. Our cows are about ready to be bred again so we started looking into buying a new bull several weeks ago. We didn't want to pay a huge amount, but wanted to be sure we got a good bull that would produce good calves with our cows. Well, Ricky was just looking through the ads on CraigsList and came across someone very familiar to us. Lil' Bit!! His owners had decided they wanted to raise Herefords so they put him up for sale. We originally sold Lil' Bit last summer because we only bought him because he would produce smaller calves with our heifers then and wanted to get a different bull the next time. However, with seeing the four cute calves we have now we know Lil' Bit is a good bull. So...he is now back with us and it has been fun watching him interact with the calves. He is as gentle as ever. His "kids" actually followed him all over the place the day he arrived home. It was so cute! Too bad I didn't have my camera out with me then to take a picture. Welcome home Lil' Bit!!

Timothy and Princess Promotion

Kalyn and Sheldon have been attending special classes at church on Sunday evenings. Kalyn just completed her second year in the Princess class and Sheldon just finished out his first year in the Timothy class. Kalyn continues to enjoy special time just with the girls learning about how to be a lady. Sheldon was glad to finally be able to be part of the class, but isn't too keen about the idea of standing up in front of the whole congregation to say a short prayer or lead a song. Sheldon is the youngest in the class this year so hopefully next year he will have more confidence to try new things. Ricky and I are so thankful for the special people who have spent their time teaching our kids. The promotion service was on Sunday night and it was wonderful to see all the little boys participate in the service and the girls looked as beautiful as ever.

Thank you Philip, Sarah, Kay, and Josh for all the love and dedication you have given to Kalyn and Sheldon on Sunday nights. May God bless you all as you continue to make a difference in our kids' lives.

Philip said a prayer with Sheldon beside him

Kalyn receiving her certificate from Sarah

The Princess Class

Our Princess, Kalyn

Sheldon receiving his certificate from Philip and Josh

The Timothy Class

All the kids with their certificates

Mothers and Wildflowers

We went to Llano for Mother's Day weekend. As soon as the kids were out of school we picked up snowcones and were on our way to Llano. Kalyn and Sheldon were really anxious to see Oni and Granden...and just get to the ranch to play. Soon after we ate supper my mom and I went for a long walk while the kids and the guys went for a gator ride.

Mom and I have enjoyed our walks together ever since I was a teen. I have to admit that I didn't always want to go, but when I did I felt better afterwards. We often had good talks about school, boys, and just life in general. When the kids and I moved back to Llano during a rough time in our lives, those walks really got me through each day. I knew I could vent, cry, or whatever with my mom on those walks and I always returned to my kids feeling much better. Since then I have appreciated our walks even more and we continue to have some of our best conversations about life, family, teaching, etc. I look forward to having those same conversations with Kalyn when she is older.

As we were walking back to the house, we see the gator approaching and Kalyn is in the driver's seat! Mom and I got in the back and we continued to drive around the ranch with Kalyn as our driver...she did a great job! It was a breezy night so it felt really nice driving around...very relaxing.

On Saturday we didn't have any specific plans other than more relaxing and doing whatever we wanted to. Of course, the kids wanted to play outside with their bikes, dirt, etc. Ricky and I went later that afternoon to take pictures of wildflowers and picked up LOTS of rocks from one of the creek beds. I wanted to build more flower beds back at home! :o) The wildflowers were so beautiful and I am reminded how blessed we are to have the ranch to enjoy God's beauty year after year. Later in the afternoon, my sister and her family arrived. The boys were so happy to see each other and we didn't see much of them after that! Cambry has lost her "baby look" and is now the cutest little girl on the planet...and she knows it! Kalyn just loves having her around and is really like a big sister to her in a lot of ways. It's so sweet to watch them interact.

Mother's Day came the next morning with several happy kids ready to love on us! It was wonderful to go to church with the whole family, then everyone came out to the ranch for lunch and lots of visiting. Carie and I are so blessed to be our mom's daughters and we are so blessed to have our precious kids. Motherhood comes easy to us because we have had the best role model of all...our mother. And our mother had the greatest role model of all...her mother who is our grandmother. I could go on and on about how much impact each woman in our family has made in our lives. We learned how to love our husbands and children unconditionally and make sacrifices for our families by following our mom and grandmothers' examples. Being the great servants they are to our family and friends, Carie and I strive to do the same. Even though one of our grandmothers isn't physically with us today, we still feel her presence in our lives and remember the great woman she was. Thank you Mom, Granny, and Mimi for your love for God and showing me how to be a good wife to Ricky and how to be the mother Kalyn and Sheldon deserve. Love you all!

Happy Birthday Ricky!!

The kids were home with us this year for Ricky's birthday which was really nice! Ricky's mom had plans on Ricky's actual birthday so we had his birthday lunch after church on Sunday. Ricky and I cooked pork chops on the grill and his mom made potato salad, beans, and chocolate pie. It was all very good and as always we enjoyed being together as a family.

The kids and I celebrated Ricky's actual birthday tonight with an Italian supper and peach cream pie with candles for dessert. The kids decorated his chair and enjoyed the little party. Kalyn wrote a really sweet poem for Ricky and Sheldon drew some pictures. We are so blessed to have each other and thank God daily for His blessings on us!

Happy 43rd Birthday Daddy Ricky!! We love you very much!

Lexington's Homecoming 2010

The first weekend of May has always been Homecoming for Lexington. It is a tradition for families and friends to "come home" for a weekend full of fun. We haven't been able to go in the past because the kids are normally with their dad on the first weekend of the month so Ricky and I are normally in Llano for the annual Templeton reunion at the cabin (sorry we missed it this year, mom and dad). Since the kids were home this weekend we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and I am SO glad we did! I have always said how much I love being part of a small town and such activites like this makes me love Lexington more.

On Saturday morning Mimi and I took the kids to the parade on the square in town. We found a place to sit on the curb and we just waited and visited with a few people before the parade started. Once the parade started, kids were running back and forth in the streets gathering candy/gum that were being thrown from floats and cars. Kalyn and Sheldon LOVED this! We also enjoyed seeing many of our friends on various floats and we are hoping to have a float of our own next year for Ricky's trapping business. After the parade was over we walked around the square and looked at all the vendors and booths. There were crafts, jewelry, plants, clothes, food, candles, etc. Mimi was so sweet to let the kids get something they really liked. Kalyn decided to build a bear and Sheldon picked out a wooden sword and a ping pong pistol. That boy likes his guns and weapons!! Before long it was time to go meet Ricky for a GREAT lunch at the best place in town...Granny's. We went home after we ate to do some outside work before the next event.

Later in the afternoon we got all dressed up in our western attire and headed back into town to the arena for the youth rodeo. It was fun to watch kids of all ages participate in different events...pole racing, roping, barrells, etc. We ate sausage wraps and good hamburgers while we were there. Kalyn and Sheldon really enjoyed it and now Kalyn is really begging us even more to get her a horse. She says she wants to rodeo...ha!

We left before the rodeo was over so that we could walk some more around the town square. Most of the booths had already been taken down, but we were able to watch some bull riding on the mechanical bull. Kalyn got the courage to try it! She did so good and it was a fun experience for her. Sheldon just would not do it this time...maybe next time! We got snowcones on our way back to the truck and headed home...it was a GREAT weekend!