Easter Time!!

I love Easter. I think it's a wonderful time of year and I love that it means Spring is here! This year we got to celebrate several times. We went on three different Easter egg hunts and dyed eggs twice and just enjoyed every minute. We spent Friday and Saturday of Easter weekend at my parents house because we threw my dad a surprise retirement party as he retired on March 29th. We had a nice weekend and I am so grateful that we have Easter to celebrate and that Christ lives and is risen and I am grateful for the role he plays in my life!

First we went to our community Easter Egg hunt at the Eagle Springs Complex and Cavin and Ella had their friends Sunny and Macey in their age group ready to find eggs!

And they're off! As you can tell Cavin is in his #8 jersey as we rushed to a soccer game after the hunting!

We dyed Easter eggs with my parents...twice....once at their house and once at ours! This picture is miraculous because Channing has always been so scared of my dad....of pretty much any man but Ragnar...and she was gladly letting him help her AND even gave him a hug goodbye!

And I didn't get pictures of the Flashlight Easter Egg hunt that our friends put on every year that the kids love or the one from my parents community....but we have lots of eggs!

Then it was Easter morning...the kids are getting so big! Cavin has almost officially caught Ella in height and weight!

Firestation Fun!!

Last week we were invited to join our friends pre-school and go on a fieldtrip to the Atascocita Firestation! They had a great time and it was pretty educational, so it was good for us both!

Fireman Cody got in his suit for us to show the kids what firemen look like...Channing was a little scared but the other kids thought it was fun.

Trying on the gear and touring the locker room!

Then they each got a turn "driving" the truck!

Even Channing wanted "a turn"

Here are the kiddos, it was a fun trip. Thanks for letting us join!

The End Is Only A New Beginning!

So on Friday, March 29, 2013 my dad retired from Exxon Mobil. He has worked for the company since before I was born. He has always been a wonderful example to me of someone who puts his all into everything and who works incredibly hard. I am so grateful for his example and for his efforts that allowed me to do so many things. I could not have accomplished many things or lived the life I have had without his hard work...goodness I wouldn't even have a college degree without him! I am grateful that his desire to provide for our family allowed my mother to spend her time and energy mainly on raising us. Last week we went to his office to bring lunch and visit him one more time. Cavin is so excited to have grandpa around more, and even Channing could feel his seniority and finally gave him a hug!! It only took almost 2 years! Congrats dad....here's to the new adventure retirement brings!

Can I really be 30???!!!

So I have been dreading the big 3-0 for a LONG time....several years.... and this month the dreaded birthday came. I'm not sure why I had been dreading it so much, I just feel like 30 is so old!! I still see myself right out of college and young and active, and then I remember that I am 30 and I have an almost 7 year old and I don't feel so young anymore! I think that I also felt that by 30 years of age I would feel so accomplished and yet it gave me a complex thinking about what have I really done in the 30 years of my existence? Oh well....I am happy and healthy and have a wonderful family and for the most part I try and remember that that is all I need to worry about. 
Since I had been dreading the big day, Ragnar worked hard at trying to make it special. It was a nice day. I woke up and got to go running with my friends, I got donuts, I went shopping, and then Ella and I got a pedicure...

It was her first one and she loved it. Afterward my parents and sister Natalie came over to join me in a party Ragnar had put together with some of my friends and their families. It was very nice of him to try and get something together. We played minute to win it games since I LOVE games and had pizza and cake and icecream. Here are some of the shots of us in action....(Thanks to Emily who helped Ragnar with the games and pictures)

 Here are the girls playing the cookie to the face game..first the girls...then the guys

 And then stacking cans on a plate in floating water

 Next the marshmallow toss into the bowl through the hoop

 and of course bubbles :) how many bubbles can you get through the hoop? It's hard

 Then we had to knock the cups off the table with the air from our balloons!

 It ended up being a great day and I was so grateful for my friends who came out to celebrate finishing another decade of my life! (I wish I would have remembered to get everyone in a photo.) Happy Birthday to me!

Houston Livestock and Rodeo 2013

So this past week the kids and I rode down to the rodeo with our friend Candice and her three children Tyler, Tyson, and Emma. My kids love to be with their kids and although it was spring break, we got there pretty close to when it opened and we had a great time. We weren't sure how we would do with 6 children under 6, but the kids were troopers and we had fun. I can't tell you how many people we passed that would make comments such as "wow that's a herd you've got there" or wow you have got your hands full! We managed just fine, thank you very much and they are great kids!

We went over to the market and the kids practiced being farmers, this is one of my kids' favorite things each year!

They got to practice milking a pretend cow ;)

Channing was in heaven sharing a stroller with her little buddy Emma....she loves rubbing Emma's head :)

The kids rode a couple rides and had a fun time with each other. The girls are in the purple car and the three boys are in the orange car...Emma obviously opted out!

They sure do love carousels!

Here is Cavin, Tyler, Ella, and Tyson. Oh how we love their family!

We had a fun time. By this picture Channing was ready to go so she is there in the stroller....just not worth getting out. We had a fun time and the rodeo is one of my favorite yearly traditions of living in Texas. We were glad to share a beautiful day with great friends!

Hartzheim Update

It's been a while since I posted. We have been busy, but with nothing so noteworthy that I wanted to blog about it. So I decided that I would just give you an individual update on each of us.
Ella has been loving first grade as has been the case the whole year. She had go Texan day at school and loved it. She gets so excited about everything school related. 

She is growing up so fast! She is also still loving gymnastics. She is getting stronger and stronger.  She always tells me Monday is her favorite day because she gets to go to gymnastics and have family home evening! 

 Besides not being able to watch ANY movie with her because she is so sensitive...or I would say incredibly emotional, she is a fairly good kid and a good big sister.

Cavin is in love with soccer. He started last month and that is all he can talk about. He is on the "red dragons" and is his favorite number, number 8. He is getting better and better and the concept is coming along well. His main issue is that he is SO clumsy and usually when he trips he takes down all the boys with him!

Here he is at his first game

He happens to have coaches that go to our same church so when he sees them he always says hey those are my coaches, Coach Western and Coach Paul! Other than soccer Cavin still loves numbers and always has to wear a shirt with numbers on it. He also loves to play the wii and hang out with his dad. I think it is sweet how much a little boy loves their father. 

Here is a picture of Cavin when he was surprised before naptime by his dad who stopped by from work! And here is his latest creation!

Channing is something else! I cannot tell you HOW many people stop me in stores and ask me where her red hair comes from and tell me how beautiful it is. I swear it's like people have never seen a red head before! One older lady at Chick Fil A even thanked me for having a red head because she saw a documentary that said that red heads were becoming extinct! Really???? Guess I'm glad I could help!?

She does the most random things and has the funniest personality! She is so sweet and happy at home, but if we go to a store, the red in her comes out and she is not as pleasant! She loves to sing and LOVES her brother and sister..and Aunt Natalie. She is a fast learner, and notices things around her very quickly. 

She has this silly new thing with her tongue and it's always out!

As for me, I am just doing the usual and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love watching my kids learn and grow. I am still running and cleaning, and keeping stripes in the carpet ;) My friends surprised me with tickets to Bruno Mars at the Houston Rodeo for my birthday this week and he put on an amazing show. He is awesome. Then yesterday Ragnar got our family and my sister and parents a suite to Cirque de Soleil and we enjoyed that as well. I have great family and friends!

And as for Ragnar....this is how he spent the last couple weeks....

The Allstar game was in Houston this year and he was not sad at all about having to "work" it. He loved every second and still loves his job. The season only has about another month left and I must say, I am not too sad about that. I am about ready to have him back home!
All in all, everyone is doing well and we have much to be grateful for!

A Visit from Opa Hartzheim

In January we had the pleasure of having company from Ragnar's father Hellmut. He was kind enough to stop through for a few days on his way to his grandsons baptism. We had a nice time visiting with him. The kids loved to have him around. He and Ragnar went to the Rockets game on Saturday night and Hellmut had the opportunity to warm up a bit coming from Germany and before he headed to Utah.

 He and Cavin had matching Angry Bird jammies and Cavin thought that was pretty cool!

We got to go to church and to breakfast together and just relax. We enjoyed his visit and look forward to having his wife join him next time! Thank you for coming!!!