Springtime at the Fort Worth Zoo...

What is Spring without a sunny trip to the zoo? Another perk of part time home schooling is getting to enjoy adventures like the zoo in the middle of the week. Our zoo even has a home school day with discounted tickets. Score!

We teamed up with our favorite besties the Carpenters and spent the entire day at the zoo...in fact, we opened it and closed it down 10-5! A perfect day in my book! 

Rhino's

Maggie and Clayton...

Drew and Sadie...

Sisters...

Mr. Orang-utan...

Our cute little crew of "monkey's"...

Zebra...

Age 5 and 2...

Love special days like these with my girls!

Giraffe...

At the Koi pond...

Meeting the African Elephants...

And learning from the zoo-keeper about their tusks...

Hollywood!

Maggie was wayyyyy impressed with how many rolly-pollies were there. She is newly "not so scared" of creepy crawly things and these rolly-pollies are a fave.

Sleepy Lion...

Feeding the birds...

Cute crew, huh?

Loving their "pony" rides! Ha!

Wow-sers! That a big crocodile!

Flamingo's...

Spring Recitation at DCA...

At Maggie's school they have a Spring and Fall Recitation. It is a time for each class to "show off" for the parents and fellow faculty what all they have been learning during that semester. This last Spring we were so proud of how well our Maggie did with her recitation. Her class sang 2 songs, counted by 5's and 10's, did a little rhyme about money/coins and then each child in the class had memorized a poem that their teacher had selected. They had to go to the microphone and quote their poem in front of the crowd. We could not have been prouder. Maggie did it perfectly and acted like she had nerves of steel. (She does not get that from her parents, both Todd and I do not like speaking in front of crowds.)

It was a very special moment for us to see how brave and strong Maggie is, even at age 5.

Maggie and her little class...

Her class and her sweet teachers, Mrs. Wellar and Mrs. Potter.

They look so little...

But acted so BIG!

Maggie quoting her poem...

And then the schools principal, Mrs. Henson awarded them with recognition of an honorable character (this is a big deal at Maggie's school). They have a strong push starting in Kinder for character development. They recognize the characteristics of honor, obedience, diligence, wisdom, kindness, self-control, orderliness, service, attentiveness, cooperation, initiative, honesty, forgiveness and responsibility. Maggie received the award for displaying kindness throughout the semester. EEEEK, my girl makes me so proud! Love her sweet little heart. 

We are so blessed by Mags school, and continue to love the collaborative style of private school and homeschool.

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens...

Back at the end of April (yes, I am that BACK blogged) Maggie had a field trip to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful spring day and we had fun with all her classmates. Siblings were welcome and we invited my mom to tag along and made it a family affair. I can remember taking field trips to the gardens several times when I was in school. It was fun to be back there with my girls.

I had made a scavenger hunt for the K-3rd graders...they had to gather things like "something soft",  "something hard", "something colorful"...you get the idea. It was a fun way to explore and see things through the kiddos eyes. We concluded the day with a picnic in the park.

This was the exact spot I had my bridal portraits taken. So fun to be back there with my children!

Love to all,

Leah

Easter 2013...

We had a wonderful Easter weekend celebrating our Risen Savior!

We went out to my parents house in the country for some family dinner time and hunting eggs. We also celebrated my Aunt Vicky and niece Morgan's 13th birthday. Love spending time with family!

All of the cousins from my side of the family...Joshua, Jackson, Morgan, Sadie, Jerod, Maggie and Macy...ages 13 down to 2. 

One of the perks of being the youngest 2 cousins for Mag and Sadie is that their older cousins are always so sweet to help them out! Macy helping Maggie find some eggs. 

And Morgan helping Sadie... 

Sweet Sadie Rose...

And my beautiful Maggie Caroline...

Joshua... 

Jerod... 

Jackson... 

Macy... 

Morgan... 

My little family of 4... 

My Mama and my girls... 

Love this one so much!!! 

These 3 belong to my oldest brother Justin and his wife Melissa. 

And these two belong to my other brother Jason and his wife Lindsay.

Never miss an opportunity to grab great pics, right?  

Yumm-o! My mama's famous birthday cake! 

Celebrating sweet Morgan's 13th birthday. My time flies...I still remember the first time I saw her sweet little face. She was who made me an Aunt!!! Love her so.  

We had a wonderful service at our church on Sunday praising the Lord that He is Risen! 

Love to all,

Leah