Channing is TWO!!!

April 23, 2013 Channing turned the lovely age of two. She is a fun little girl and we sure love having her in our family. She loves Minnie Mouse, so we did a Minnie party and her grandparents and Aunt Natalie, Aunt Marisa and two cousins Liam and Aubrey came to celebrate with her.

She got everything Minnie and she was happy about that. She mostly enjoyed just opening the presents.

Here are a couple cute ones of Channing. She still loves her polka dot blanket and that silly thumb! She is potty trained and has a big girl bed and transitioned to them very well! She loves to sing "I am a Child of God" and eat "bishies"(gold fish), apple juice, and FRENCH FRIES! She is constantly asking to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and is definitely an early riser! She always wipes my eyes with her blanket if she thinks I am sad and wants to brush my hair all the time! She is also very good at being a bossy little sister. She is full of personality and we love her to death!

Dad's Retirement

On March 30, 2013 my dad retired from ExxonMobil. In honor of his retirement he had a company retirement party at Perry's Steakhouse in which my brother and sister and their families flew in for. It was so fun to have them all together but we sure did miss my other brother Chris and his family. While everyone was here we had a fun time playing and having the kids catch up with their cousins!

We started our time with a party for Cavin and then a sleepover with the oldest two in my family and my brother Corey's and then headed to church! The kids missed their cousins, so it was fun to get them together again!

 Next we went to Galveston and the weather was great!

 Ella and Madi enjoying the sand!

John and Cavin, aren't they handsome!? John was kind enough to play with Cavin even though he is several years younger.

Our littlest munchkin loves her some cheetos! I'm sad we didn't get a picture of Corey's twins James and Emma. James was loving the water!

After the beach the plague started to hit and Ella got the stomach bug and throughout the next few weeks it slowly went through several members of the family. So, we stayed pretty close to home. We were able to all go to the retirement dinner which was wonderful and then a few days later after Corey's family left we went with my sister Marisa and her kids to the Children's museum. 

Liam and Channing trying out the car!

Grandpa joined us on our trip and we ended up having to eat lunch in the back of the pickup truck because we kept getting booted to a new spot, but we had a fun time!

 Grandpa is helping Cavin create a Lego car!

We had a nice visit with our cousins and I am so glad such a wonderful thing brought us together! Congrats Dad!

Cavin's 5th Birthday!

So I am a month behind in blogging so I will try and catch up! Cavin turned 5 on April 12, 2013 and he was very excited about his special day! As in usual Hartzheim tradition, we started the morning with a birthday donut!

We did a very small friend party and since he was turning 5 I let him invite 5 friends. He invited Ty, Weston, Cody, Tyson and Tyler to a party at Jumpalooza and they had a fun time getting all their energy out and jumping around.

As you can tell he had fun with the boys. I wish I would have remembered to get a picture of them all!

 Tyler, Cavin, and Ty

After the party we went to lunch with my parents and then that night we went to the Rockets game. Thanks to Ragnar's kind clients Ron and Tina, we were able to enjoy a suite and have dinner, cake, and presents to celebrate Cavin's big day. He loved the game and they even won in his honor!

The next day we had a party with my family because my brother Corey and his family came into town and Ragnar had been working the night before. Cavin was so excited to have them there. He loves Mariokart, so we did a Mario party!

 We had a nice evening and he got everything Mario....sheets, Mario figures, a Mario lunchbox, Mario shirt..etc...

My friend was kind enough to take a couple birthday pictures of my kids since they all had a birthday coming up. So here is Cavin 5 years and growing. He is still in the 95% on the growth chart and only an inch and 1/2 shorter and 4 pounds less than his older sister. 
He loves Mario, and playing Mario Memory, Cars 2 the movie, soccer, basketball, the trampoline, and numbers... which have to be on almost every shirt and he especially loves the number 8. He is still pretty mild tempered, but is starting to get a little rougher, especially on the soccer field! He has learned to read and write well, he loves coloring, crafts, and helping me cook. He is such a sweet boy with a very contagious belly laugh! We sure do love him and I will miss him so much when he heads to Kindergarten in August :(

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!