Birthday Mavs game

Jake's first request for his birthday was a basketball party where he could actually play basketball.  In our attempt to honor the request, we looked into a local church who rents our their gym for parties.  Unfortunately, it didn't end up working out, and we didn't fully realize it until weeks after his birthday.....so we opted for what we hoped was the next best thing and offered to take Jake and two friends to a Mavs game!  He was thrilled, and here's a pic of Cohen, Jake and Cade before the game... 

Here's a shirtless Luke photo bomb...

Dad and son basketball fans ready!!!

Fire pit time

The weather has been so mild and so perfect for outdoor activities.  One wonderful blessing of our new home is a bigger backyard than our previous home.  The boys love to go outside and play.  One nice warm evening, we ate dinner outside then decided to pull out the fire pit for the first time since the move.  I only had mini marshmallows on hand so we roasted them up and enjoyed a beautiful evening outside.

New Rug

We got a new rug from my parents for Christmas which I was super excited about, but I didn't think anyone else would care too much about.  Well, I was wrong.  Luke LOVED the new rug!  He laid on it, made rug angels, kept petting it and playing on it.  It was pretty disappointing to him for us to put the furniture back on it because I think he thought it was his new play mat.

Fantastic Falcon!

 Jake's school focuses on a different character trait each 6 weeks, and at the end of each 6 weeks, one student from each class is recognized for exhibiting that trait well.  I love this idea!  I love the focus on being a good person who exhibits well rounded traits rather than just academic success.  I was so proud to learn that Jake was chosen for this last 6 weeks to receive the Fantastic Falcon award for DETERMINATION.  This particular 6 weeks, it was not only the teacher's decision, but also a  choice made by class vote, so Jake was chosen by his classmates and teacher for exhibiting determination.  Here he is hugging his teacher..

Here is our Determined Fantastic Falcon...

It's Good to be an Eagle

 The Richardson Eagles basketball team took 1st place in district this season!  It's been a super exciting, fun season (and we're still going strong in playoffs).  We're not able to stay for full varsity games since they don't start until 7:30 and Luke has a pretty strict internal clock of 8:00 bedtime, but for the final game of the season we made an exception, so we go to  see all the celebrations!  Here's Daddy cutting down his own piece of the net...

Go team!

 Yay Eagles!!!!

Friends!

 We got an extra special Valentine's Day treat because our friends, the Pollards, from Austin, came to hang out and spend the night.  We were super excited they chose to include us in their little weekend getaway.  The kids played, played, and played, then ate, then played some more.  Here's Joshua and Luke enjoying their Valentine's heart pizza.  These guys are only 3 months apart, so it's fun to see how they have both grown and changed when we meet up together.

There was sleepover fun in the boys room.  It was super sweet to see Ryan and Jake before going to bed.  They both recently got their own Bibles, and they were reading together and seeing how the pages matched up...

 Before the Pollards headed home, we did our best to get a group kids shot.  Luke was not interested at all.  So, here's our first shot while Luke is pouting about the picture...

 Mr. Joe rallied Luke and had him giggling and smiling, but then he tried to get him back in the picture.  Luke was not fooled!  Here's his "I DON"T want to be in this picture" picture...

Sic 'Em

 We always like to support the Baylor Bears in sports, and for this occasion, we got to enjoy a basketball game with friends.  Here are some silly pre-game shots of the boys while we're waiting for our friends to arrive...

 Here are the guys: Kelton (you can just barely see), Jake, Kolt, and Luke...

 Here are the two youngest, Shep and Luke, enjoying the game...

 Luke decided to share a seat with his brother for a little while...

 Kevin's childhood best friend, James, who now lives in Waco, has some nice connections to Baylor sports.  For this game, he had 2 tickets for front row court side!  He was very generous and the dads and oldest boys took turns sharing their time in the awesome seats.

 The players were so close...

 Look, I'm on the court!!!