Monkey Hat

We ate at Pappasitos with our friends Kenny and Kyla after church today. There, a lady made Hope a balloon creation of a monkey in a tree. Kenny taught Hope that it could also be a hat! She loves this silly hat, and I am not looking forward to having to explain it to her when it pops or shrivels up!

The Zoo...Again

What can I say, we love the zoo. We did learn a valuable lesson today...it's always best to go to the zoo on a weekday! There were so many people there today! We tried out Hope's new ride, and the monkey backpack we bought for the airport. Hope has the back pack on, and I hold the monkey's tail. Okay, it's basically a leash, but I am really nervous about her running off in the airport! The very last picture is when the Merry Go Round came to a stop. She immediately started crying wanting to go again.

It's Official...

So, I understand you are not an official Texan until you pull over on the side of the road to have your picture taken in the Bluebonnets. If that's the case, then Hope is officially a Texan!

Hope's New Ride

Well, Hope's old stoller has just about bit the dust, so today we went to buy her a new one. Her daddy has been wanting a jogging stroller so she can go on his runs with him. We had very different ideas of what we were looking for. We are trying out this one that John really wanted to see if we both like it. We have 90 days to switch it out for the one I wanted! We did go for a walk/run tonight, and it was pretty nice. It even has speakers for our ipods, so I have to admit it is a cool stroller. Hope likes it too!

Daddy's Home...again!

I let Hope stay up late last night so she could see her Daddy when he got home from his trip. He of course had a surprise for her, a Tinkerbell jewelry box. She loves to watch Tinkerbell spin around when you open the box. Hope spins too!

Blowing Daddy a Goodnight Kiss

Did you feel it? We miss you !

Need a good laugh?

My driver's license has expired, so I have to re-take the driving tests. Yes, both the written and the actual driving part. I got a book today that is about 4 times as thick as when I first took it 13 years ago. All of my nightmares that I had as a teenager are back...there is going to be some guy riding in the car with me watching to see if I signal 100 ft before my turn, and making me parallel park...uuggghhh! To make matters worse, I am trying to get it done quickly because Hope and I are trying to go to Pennsylvania and DC with John next Thursday, and I have to have a license to get on the plane. Oh, and I have to get a new social security card before I can take the driving test because I never legally changed my name when John and I got married. Still, not done. I have to drive to the airport to get our marriage license out of the car that John took to the airport before I can go get a new social security card. There, did you get your comedy relief for the day? I am still waiting to find the humor in it myself, but Jennifer assures me it is funny.

Why Hope should always take a nap

Hope had a long day today, with only about a 5 minute nap. We started out early this morning by heading to the church. We had lunch at the church celebrating Consecration Sunday, where Hope said "I love this Party!" Then she ran errands with me for the program I had at church this afternoon. Then she hung out at her favorite place, Ms. April's house. We came home and played and watched "Planet Earth" on the discovery Chanel (if you haven't watched this, you should!) During dinner, she fell asleep which she hasn't done since she was a baby. I couldn't resist taking a picture!

There is a funny story behind this shirt, too. When I changed her into this after church, she looked at the shirt with disgust, and said "I don't like that shirt!" She already doesn't like her mom's fashion choices! (Mom, does this remind you of a disagreement we often had about a certain brown velour warm up suit you used to make me wear?)

My new pool!

It was another beautiful day in Texas! We let Hope try out her new pool. She loved dumping the bucket of water on her head over and over again!

Ft. Worth Zoo

Today we all went to one of our favorite place, the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was a perfect day to go. Lots of interesting things happened there. First, we were in the house with the gorillas, monkeys and chimpanzees. They have a glass window where kids can climb right up to the chimps. Hope climbed up there, (picture #2) and a baby chimp would swing on a rope, right to the window, and push off the window with his feet. Hope thought this was hilarious! She was just cackling. It seemed the harder she laughed, the harder he would thump against the window, right at her face! Then, we saw the hippos, and they moved for the first time ever (that I have seen, anyway!) One came up out of the water and made a loud roaring kind of noise. John about jumped out of his skin! That made me laugh, but seeing John scared made Hope very scared. She was a little uneasy about big animals for a while after that. We would go to the lion and tiger exhibits and she would say "No! I don't like that!" She calmed down after a while and enjoyed the rest of the day. At the end of the day, we asked her what her favorite animals were. She said "the Kangawoo and the horsie." The Merry Go Round horsie. We could have done that at the mall!

Picnic at the Park

Today was such a beautiful day, Hope and I decided to pick up our lunch and eat at our neighborhood park. Convincing her to eat was not an easy task. I would tell her to slide one time, then come back and eat some chicken. Sometimes she listened, but most times she just ran back up the stairs as fast as possible! When it was time to go home, I told her we had to go and she said "Wait! I need to eat!"

Putt Putt!

Hope has enjoyed her first round of golf! (Or, cough, as she says!) She was quite good! She was not afraid to cheat by taking her ball and placing it right by the hole, and then pushing it in!

Easter with the Dawsons

Holidays have been hard for us to be away from our family. My family has many, many holiday traditions, and this is the first year that I have had to miss several of those things. I was not looking forward to missing the annual Easter festivities (as we all know, John or I one have held the Best Egg title for a very long time in the annual Hoover/Sullivan Egg Decorating contest!) And, we always come out pretty well in the adult Easter Egg Hunt with money! And, I am not sure how they survived without my green bean casserole! (Ha! At least Heather brought the rolls, right? Surely she didn't forget again. Surely!)

We were so excited that the Dawson family invited us to spend Easter with them. We had a great time with some of our favorite Texans! The whole Dawson crew, Ms. Sharon, and of course, James the Butler. We had a great time with wonderful food, Hope's own private Easter Egg Hunt, (a Grown Up Egg Hunt too!), tons of Bubbles, and did I mention the outstanding food? They had so many special things just for Hope. James the Butler had Bunny Ears made for this occasion, they dyed tons of eggs for her hunt, and stuffed tons too with things that she loves, and Ms. Sharon brought her a puppy bubble blower toy that she loves! It was a great day!

Easter Morning!

I know, I know. I am a bad blogger. These are a few days (okay, over a week) late. But, in my defense, I have been pretty sick. These are from Easter morning. The Easter Bunny was pretty good to our funny bunny! She took her purse, and an elmo egg, Wilbur and her bunny ears to church with her. It was quite a haul! There are also 2 pictures of her first 2 Easter Mornings!

Thanks for the Easter Card

Hope had a special suprise when we came home on Thursday. Her Papa Roy and Mama Fae had sent her an Easter card. She was so excited to get some mail just for her! Thank you!

Excited About Life!

Today, Hope came out of her classroom running and squealing and smiling. Sandy, the receptionist at the church said "I just love Hope. She is so excited about life!" I thought that was a pretty special thing to say about someone!

Glamorous

Ok, this is a little sad (or, as April said, Very Sad) but this morning Hope and I were driving to the church, and the song "Glamorous" came on. Hope starts belting out "G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S" She knew some words to the song, and could spell it out right along with Fergie. Very sad, she should be singing Twinkle, Twinkle, right? I guess it's time to switch to a more kid friendly radio station now that she is really paying attention!

Yesterday was our church Easter Egg Hunt, and today she had another Egg Hunt at school. She is a professional by now!

We went to Target today before I went to the gym (yes, me in the gym, shocking) when we were getting out of the car, Hope asked to bring her bunny. I told her we could leave the bunny in the car, and get bunny when we came out of Target. She was not having that. She fussed and whined that she wanted the bunny. I gave in (way to be strong, Jill) and got the bunny and handed it to her. She gave the bunny a big Hope squeeze, and said "It's okay, bunny. Mommy's sorry."