There's Nothing Like...

Waking up to "Mom, don't freak out, but Astrid got out last night. Don't worry, Trey and I are setting up a trap to get her. "

This is Astrid.I am VERY pleased to report she is now back home safe will her pal Hiccup.

"Peypie"

I've been reminded on more than one occasion that our family blog was a bit behind on upkeep. The last few days I've been working on fixing that.

Yesterday I was sitting on my bed uploading pictures and I had my little Jack sitting next to me watching a "Thomas" show. The pictures peaked his interest and as I scrolled through the entries, he pointed out everyone in our family by saying his version of their names. When we got to the December posts, he jumped up, pointed to my computer screen, and said "Peypie". He saw his sweet big brother. We then went looking for more pictures of Peyton and made it all the way back to August of 2009 where we watched a video of Peyton singing.

This morning I was in the kitchen baking and Jack came running in. He said something to me that I didn't understand. We did our normal back and forth of him talking and me trying to decipher. Finally he said "Peypie". "Peytie?" I asked. "Yeah!" he said and then pointed towards my room. I started to follow him assuming he was going to point out a picture we have hanging in our bedroom that he likes to look at. What I found was my laptop opened with obvious signs of lots of mouse clicking. "Peypie" he said, "Compu". It was "computer" he had tried to tell me when he first came into the kitchen. He hopped up on my bed, got comfy, and waited while I pulled up the video of Peyton singing. I went back to work in the kitchen and twice was interrupted with "Again!". 3 times he watched that video today. I'm so glad he feels a closeness to a brother he only vaguely remembers.

After watching that sweet video of Peyton singing I went looking for this one. Taken just weeks before he passed away, I knew I'd want to be able to remember how sweet and gentle his little spirit was as it rested inside his increasingly weak and fragile body. We sat in our game room and played.

Baseball Season

We'd avoided baseball like the plague. We knew it would be a big time commitment. But, it's baseball. I figured we had to let him try it. He'd asked forever so we finally said "yes". He just barely made the age cut to play Machine Pitch 1. So, Trey was one of the youngest players in his entire division, a good head shorter than most of them too, never had played before while most of the other kids were in their 3rd season, and was having fast balls pelted at his head. He absolutely loved it. His favorite position? Catcher. The gear was so big on him he could hardly walk. His most played position? Right field, which he was not wild about but good at. He changed his feelings toward the the position when his great-grandpa told him that the great Babe Ruth played right field. The coaches were so sweet and supportive of him, and his little teammates did a great job catching him up. Even Tyler who began the season with absolutely no interest in baseball is so anxious to play next spring.

Kindergarten Music Program

Bailey and 5 of her little gal pals were asked to perform a dance number to the Zebra Zydeco song in their kindergarten music program. The best part (well, according to Bailey)- the great sassy zebra outfit. She's "always wanted zebra clothes". I shouldn't be surprised.
She's in pink on the left...

Aunt Sarah's Wedding

Robert's youngest sister was married last month in our church's temple up in Houston. On what couldn't have been a more beautiful day, it was a good excuse to get all the little cousins together (well, minus 4). Here they all are being so sweet and patient.

Groundhog Trey

"We're lucky to have a gardener who appreciates their blooms. He likes the way they smell so nice, like natural perfume!"

That was his line and he said it just perfect.

Easter Weekend

There's a little zoo just outside of Austin that we decided to check out. My kids have decided that this is the "best zoo ever"! We were the only ones there so the kids roamed freely getting up close and personal with the animals.

We went to the State Capitol and Visitor's Center. It was exciting! And by that I don't mean educationally stimulating. I mean we lost Trey on one of the 4 elevators and Jack jumped the rope and made a mad dash for the judge's seat. I'm not sure what standard protocol is, but I'm going to guess that there were some security guards seriously under performing. There's no way we didn't provide reason to be kicked out.

Also on the agenda, a cavern tour and river swimming at McKinney Falls and Pedernales Falls State Parks. Just for kicks we drove through Bastrop and Buescher State Parks too.

Trey

In March our Trey turned 7!



He's our child most likely to do anything. He is a firework and we are constantly amazed what this kid can come up with. He's fiercely spunky, outrageously goofy, and we love him to pieces.

Happy Birthday Trey!

Bailey

In February our girl turned 6.

She's sweet and sassy, perfectly girly, and tough as nails. She's a soccer playing, ballet dancing, frog catching princess who can sing like a bird and growl like a fire-breathing dragon. She is clearly the product of a family full of boys. She's a wonderful sparkly blessing in our lives.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Jack

In January our baby turned 2!

He's a bright and sunny ball of cheeky entertainment. He can jump, spin, and as we recently learned, spit smoothie through a straw- at his father- amidst boisterous cheering from his older siblings. It's great. He's just so much fun

Happy Birthday my little Jack!

Arkansas

See, this is where having a sister really pays off big :)

I'm tired of not having snow. Had it only been a decision between my husband and I, I would have been hauling the kids off to the white stuff on my own. My sister, however, was fully on board with my idea to go hunting for snow. Had it only been a decision between her and her husband, she'd be still missing snow. So, Josie and I were totally determined to make it happen, and our husbands were mildly in shock at their realization that they'd married women prone to similar bouts of insanity. All we had was a date. MLK day. My kids had a holiday. Up until 2 days before we had no idea where we were going. We were tracking the weather between New Mexico and Georgia and found a little spot up in Arkansas so off we went...

December

December, as always, was outrageously chaotic, overly busy, and perfectly wonderful. I was grateful that this Christmas was not our first without Peyton, it made it a bit easier knowing we'd already made it through one before without him. I'm grateful we experienced that while still numb of his passing.

Each year at this time I make an attempt to photograph my family. This involves setting my camera settings, my tripod, and getting us all in the shot while still maintaining some level of pleasant expressions. This was one of about, oh, 50 or so...

The one above we sent off with Christmas cards. The one below is the first "kid's picture" with our Peyton stand in. Couldn't do it without him...I'd been waiting for the right show to take the kids to for their first Broadway experience. This one was just perfect!

The kids and I went with Bailey's current, and Trey's former Kindergarten teacher and her sweet daughter.
Also on the agenda was the first Peyton Project delivery. The kids and I took 50 packages full of cards, letters, pictures, and stories up to Texas Children's Hospital's General Clinic Research Center. It was so nice to see all of our old friends. The packages were delivered to their patients, patients on the oncology floor, and the outpatient oncology clinic. As always, the kids left with something fun...

Peyton's Playground

So, since I'm way behind on posting, this one is a little out of place...

On Peyton's 9th birthday we took the kids to the playground at their school to write messages on light blue balloons for their brother that were then released into the sky.

Later that evening, we were joined by the scout pack, the firefighters, and lots of friends as the final touch was added on the playground that was put in as a memorial to Peyton. A beautiful plaque was affixed to the front.

My kids now refer to it as "Peyton's Playground". I'm okay with it :)

In Memory of

Peyton Ricker

Beloved Student, Classmate, and Friend