New(ish) Video!

Back in October, Jayson made a video of the kids to promote the premiere of "Texas Quints". TLC didn't give us permission to post the video in time, but it was cute, so Jayson added an intro to it and is posting it now! (Note: the main part of the video was made in the Fall, so the kids are referring to the TLC special "Texas Quints" that aired LAST October---we are not announcing any new shows!)

New(ish) Video!

Kaiya's Baptism and Mother's Day

Kaiya turned 8 this year, which means that she is old enough to get baptized. Due to scheduling conflicts, the first day after her birthday that would work for everyone was May 8th, which also happened to be Mother's Day! Kaiya was so excited.

Kaiya was being such a turkey when I tried to take her picture before the baptism---She did not want to cooperate. I kind of liked this more candid shot of her, though.

I threw this picture in to show the back of the dress. Her dress was absolutely beautiful---it was made by a very dear friend who does not want to be named (Here is a hint...if my family was "The Brady Bunch" she would be "Alice")

Outside the church before the baptism: Riley, Kaiya, Rachelle, Jayson, Kassidy, Ryder, Kaydence, Kyndall and Rustin

The whole fam with both sets of grandparents and my brother Ryan who all came for the baptism. It was awesome to have family come to support Kaiya on this special day!!

Kaiya in the dress she was actually baptized in. This was MY baptism dress when I was 8!

Kaiya with Jayson, who baptized her

The actual baptism was very nice. Jayson's mom gave a short talk on Baptism, and then Jayson led Kaiya into the font. I stood on the side by the entrance to the bathroom to help Kaiya when she came back out of the water. As I stood there, I saw all the quints with their faces pressed up against the plexi-glass looking down into the font---it was very cute, I wish I could have taken a picture. Kaiya was beaming as she came out of the water. After the baptism, Andrea Woods, a family friend sang a beautiful solo of "I Think When I Read That Sweet Story" and then Kaiya was confirmed by Jayson.

After the baptism: Kaiya with Mimi and Papa

Kaiya with Troy, Cassaundra and Ellis

I spent so much time behind the camera that I never got a picture of ME with Kaiya--Bummer!

After the baptism, we had everyone over to our house for refreshments---this was the refreshment table.

Kaiya with a baptism gift from Mimi

It was great that Kaiya's baptism fell on Mother's Day----that means we got to spend Mother's Day with both my mom and Jayson's mom---something that has never happened before! We invited a few more of our favorite moms (GG and Cassaundra) and their families over for Mother's Day dinner before the baptism. For anyone familiar with Cafe Rio, I made a copy-cat version of their Barbacoa Pork Salad----it was SO good---tasted just like the real thing! (I used the pork and dressing recipes from HERE and the cilantro-lime rice recipe from HERE, if anyone is interested.)

I was too busy running around and didn't get any pictures of a salad all made up, but this was the buffet line.

The quint table at dinner (the only parts of the "salad" they would eat were the tortilla, cheese and chips)

My brother Ryan, who lives in McAllen (about 5 hours from here) came up for the day. He is still a swinging bachelor, so he isn't quite used to the noise and chaos at my house, but the kids LOVE him :-)

Riley and I (He gave me the frying pan for Mother's Day)

Me and my mom

Kaiya and Riley with Grandma Wilkinson (Jayson's Mom)

Kaiya's Baptism and Mother's Day

Mommy Bloggers

Last week I was interviewed for an eHow article on Moms who blog. I thought it was a pretty good article. Click HERE to read it.

Mommy Bloggers

Swim Lessons

Summer is almost here, and in Texas that means keeping cool by spending as much time in the pool as possible! I have always been extra cautious when it comes to kids and water---you just never know what could happen if you turn your back for an instant. With five toddlers and only one of me, it is impossible to be watching everyone all the time. Last year we didn't go to the pool very often (much to Riley and Kaiya's dismay) and when we did, we took lots of reinforcements. With swim season quickly approaching, we decided to sign the quints up for swim lessons! My hope is that by the time we go to Arizona this summer (where Mimi and Papa have an un-gated pool in the backyard), they will be able to swim well enough to get to the side of the pool if they fall in. Their first lesson was about a month ago, and they go to lessons once per week. There are 10 stations that they progress through. So far they are only on station 2, but they are definitely making improvements...and they totally LOVE it!

Ryder, Kyndall, Kassidy, Rustin, and Kaydence: First day---peeking through the window at the pool

Getting ready to line up on the first day---a little nervous and a lot excited!

Waiting for the teachers at their station

Everyone's favorite part--hiding in the lockers after getting dressed

Everyone got a t-shirt on the first day!

Swim Lessons

Open Wide!

About a month ago (I know, I know, I am really behind in posting!) the Quints had their first dentist appointment (ok, so I was also behind in taking them to the dentist...). They were so excited to go! Our friend, Darrell Park, is our family dentist. He, and the staff at Buttercup Dental were terrific---very accommodating with our large group, and the hygienists were great with the kids. We had a fabulous experience and everyone's teeth looked perfect!

Train table in the waiting room...we had to play on the way in AND on the way out!

Choosing a toothbrush--they didn't have all of the quint's colors, but they did have five different brushes, so everyone was happy

Ryder and Rustin had their teeth cleaned together---so cute!

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin showing off his clean mouth

Kyndall checking out her teeth in the dental tool

Dr. Park checking Ryder's teeth

Everyone's favorite part: picking something from the treasure box!

Check out those pearly whites! They can't wait to go again in 6 months!

Open Wide!

Easter!

Life has been so crazy lately that I have just been living from one deadline to the next! I have lots of catching up to do on the blog, starting with Easter! Everyone was so excited about Easter this year. The quint are at a great age for holidays! They love everything about them. As soon as one holiday comes, they start asking me what the next one is going to be.

The night before Easter we had our traditional "egg-dying" party. This is the first year that we let the quints participate. Egg-dying is not really my kind of thing---I have a hard time getting past the visions in my head of stained clothes, floor, etc. But I know the kids love it, so I try to hide my anxiety :-) I also do my best to take all precautions---putting trash bag art smocks on the kids, doing the activity outside on a trash-bag covered table, etc. The kids had a blast!

Easter-egg Dying Party

Kaydence

Rustin

Ryder

Displaying their eggy art: Ryder, Rustin, Kaydence, Kassidy and Kyndall (notice how they all choose to dye the eggs in "their" color)

The whole crew

Easter Sunday we dressed up for church. Thanks to my brother's wedding last summer, everyone had matching outfits to wear

Ryder, Kassidy, Kaydence, Kyndall and Rustin

Riley

Kaiya

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

The goofballs

Riley and Kaiya

Riley and Kaiya did NOT want to do this pose, but I thought it was cute :-)

Riley and Jayson

Too Cool

Jayson & Rachelle

After church, the Easter Bunny paid us a visit during naptime. At our house, the Easter Bunny color codes all the eggs (even for Riley and Kaiya) that way every kid gets the same number of eggs and the older kids can have their eggs hidden in more difficult spots.

After the hunt: Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall, Ryder and Kassidy

Riley and Kaiya

For Easter dinner, we went over to our friends, the Woods' house. The Woods kids spent a couple hours in the afternoon filling over 100 Easter eggs and hiding them in the yard for the quints to find. The kids were so excited about going on the hunt! They ran around filling their baskets with eggs until Kaydence discovered an ant in her basket. When we opened one of the eggs, it was crawling with ants! Instead of candy, the kids had filled the eggs with Cheetos's, which are apparently highly desired by ants and quints alike. We had to abandon the hunt and herd everyone back inside.

Rustin's basket of ants

Ryder's reaction when he found out his Easter eggs had been invaded by bugs

The kids all got new jammies in their Easter baskets. Rustin and Ryder got Buzz and Woody jammies---they LOVE them! Rustin will go up to Ryder and push one of the "buttons" on his chest and Ryder will say, "To infinity...and beyond!" and then Ryder will pull Rustin's "string" and Rustin will say "There's a snake in my boots!", then both of them will dissolve into gales of laughter. They are hilarious!

Easter!