Between Here and There

These are pictures from Friday.  Samuel spent the morning with us and we tried to show him all the things he will miss.

Lillian and Jack performing for the camera The kids went to the zoo on Saturday with Kyle and there was a festival going on.  Face painting was just one of the fun events going on. Kyle and I showing off our mad juggling skillz. And here are the boys before church on Sunday.

Not quite yet, we still have Aaryn in Waco for another week and Brandon until exams are done.  But...last night they came for dinner and I can't believe it's really happening!!!  Four and a half years ago they came for Thanksgiving dinner here (with the Digglers and M/D Welty) and now they are off to Florida on a new adventure.   The kids loved the evening with them and each gave Aaryn  and  Brandon multiple hugs. 

The calendar says no, the weather says yes.  (Do the WA Hawkins have room for us this summer?)

Annual children's photo by the flowered cross. Grammy brought the boys ties and vests each.  Very grown-up.  Even Kyle wore a tie to church today! We forgot to take pictures at lunch.  The food was good and the company even better.  One last holiday together with Team Wallace. :( Our walk before the evening rainstorm. Running home, although it didn't end up raining for another 20 minutes.  I guess with the lightning it was good to get closer to home.

Lillian was in a musical last Tuesday night at school called Too Much Noise, an eastern european folktale.  All the kindergardeners and 1st graders participated.  Lillian was chosen for a speaking part, Narrator #21 with two lines.  She did very well.  It was packed with parents and I didn't see too much but fortunately Grammy and Kyle got some good videos and pics.   Wesley is doing very well and is really showing off with his good health.  He's been very funny, sneaky, cute, talkative, hungry, and busy.  We ended up being at Providence from Sunday to Wednesday and the diagnosis was pneumonia.    

"You know the red circle thing with the dot...?  Can we go there?  And go to the girls part and buy something for me?  Can we? 4 years ago

Yesterday we didn't go anywhere.  Kyle even picked Lillian up from school.  So the boys stayed in their pjs most of the day.  Funny enough, they went out to play about 5 and put on some real clothes but then put the pjs back on about 90 minutes later.  I'm still battling with allergies though had some relief with our torrential rain storm a couple nights ago.  But Wes is the one that looks considerably worse.  His skin is so broken out and as soon as he steps outside his nose starts running crazy. I hope all of you are rooting on the Baylor Bears tonight vs Xavier.  Go Bears!!!!

Happy Birthday to you Kyle! (thanks to the Baylor Bears for making it to the sweet sixteen)

I can't seem to think very well these days because allergies are killing me.  I definitely feel like I'm in a constant fog, hopefully it will lift soon.  We are all battling a little bit of a cough or runny nose, time-outs from pushing, hitting, mean words, etc, scrapes on knees and bumps on heads, rain, and sunshine. Lillian is on spring break this week and we'll try to hang out with friends, go to the zoo, lots of visits to the Y, maybe even a dip in the indoor pool with the kids (!).

I've been trying to change some of my habits in regards to my face.  Limit the make-up (obviously that's not a hard one), all-natural one or two ingredient cleanser and moisturizer.  And I love it.  I use half and half of olive oil and castor oil for my face cleanser and then 100% coconut oil as the moisturizer.  I love it, it makes your skin feel amazing.  Here's some more information if you are interested: Simple Mom. But look at these faces!  No special soap, cleanser, moisturizer, exfoliator, or cream of any kind needed.  Just a wipe down every once in a while.  Beautiful! Isn't this the most amazing thing?  Your child reading (!) to your other children!  I love it and she takes such pride in it.  She's still writing lots of notes and letters.  Yesterday she boasted to us that another girl at school said she wanted to be her (or be like her) because Lillian is a good dancer and a good artist.  Now there'...

Mom and Dad were here from February 8 -15.  We were also so excited since it's been a whole year since we have seen them.  The boys and I picked them up from the airport in the morning and went for a brief walk up and on the dam at Lake Waco.  It was a bit breezy and cool so we didn't stay long.  That evening we celebrated Dad's 65th (!) birthday with an awesome Thai Yellow Curry and rice dinner and finishing with some cupcakes (not quite 65 though).   Unfortunately, Lillian once again missed out on some of the visit with her schooling but she did get a special visit with them when they came to school and had lunch with her, met some of her friends, and teachers.   We had some highs and lows, Wes got sick of course, but altogether had a great visit (though way too short).  We went to Chuy's on Friday night to enjoy the free chips and queso (beans, meat, more cheese, and lots of salsa and sauces) plus dinner!   It's really hard t...

Wednesday 7:40am take Lillian to school 8:00am arrive at drs. office with Wesley Low oxygen levels detected resulting in orders to go to hospital ER 9:30am pick-up Mom & Dad and Jack and drop off my parents at the airport for their 10:40 flight home 9:45am drop off Jack at a friends to spend the day 10:00am arrive and check-in at Providence ER. Wes is swarmed by 5+ nurses, aids, doctors. 10:30am RSV diagnosed 1:00pm low oxygen levels and high heart rate cause drs. to decide transfer Wes to a hospital with an ICU, just in case. Nearest one is in Temple 45 mins away. 4:00pm Wes and I board the ambulance for a fast ride. Wes quietly and calmly watches as he is secured on a stretcher and enjoys the ride watching traffic out the back doors. 5:00pm arrive in his new bed and get checked by 5+ medical personnel 6:30pm Wes falls asleep after a long and tiring day. Since Wednesday he has had his ups and downs but has done really well. Today he has caught up on some mu...

Lillian with her kindergarden teacher.  We went over to the school last week for a viewing of the kids art work.  Lillian's is the coyote with yellow background.  Apparently they didn't get to pick their animal or colors but she did a good job painting. :) They all have to grow up one day, go to school, and learn to read and write.  Lillian has found that she can express herself by writing notes or letters.  Here are two letters written to us in the last week. Dear Mom and Dad, This is very important. You should listen to me. I said that you should not be mean to us or we will be mean to you. Dear Mom and Dad, You are going to be fine, okay? Listen to me, hear what I said that we love you.

Wesley picked Chuys for dinner and then we came home for cake and presents.  He easily blew out his TWO candles but was considerably less interested in the cake. From the pictures you will see that he: got to drive for the first time, had a train cake topper, made a mess of his push-pop at Chuys, got a train track attachment that Jack loves too, and his favorite present was probably the 25c bouncy ball. Thanks for all the cards and phone calls. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WESLEY!!!

This video was taken about 5 hours before I went into labor.  I was on bed rest and the kids were visiting me before bedtime. It's been 2 years since I've been pregnant.  And it feels good.  It's so exciting to watch these kids grow, and now our youngest is turning two. Wes does his best at keeping up with his big brother and sister.  Today we went to the zoo without the stroller or diaper bag.  Wes and Jack ran or walked the whole way though Wes was feeling it by the end. He was down for his nap an hour earlier today.  Unfortunately he has hit the terrible twos pretty hard.  He struggles to get his desires known and usually ends up on the floor when his demands are not met, known and unknown.   He is talking a lot.  Elephant, football, all gone, want some, water, and copying whatever anyone else has just said.  Lots more to say of course.  I'll save some for tomorrow... He was born at 5:41 a.m., he weighed 7 lb 14 oz., he...