The Fresh Beat Band in concert

James has been a huge fan of The Fresh Beat Band (a fun little show on NickJr.) since he was first able to watch TV.  Before he could talk, he asked to watch the show by wiggling his little hips and pointing at the TV.  Once his speech started to develop, he asked for the show by requesting "the dance show".  And, of course now he knows the actually name of the show as well as the names of the 4 main characters.  He has also assigned each of our family members to a character.

When we saw that FBB was going on tour, and would be in DFW, we knew we had to get James tickets.  So, we did.  They were an early birthday present for our growing too fast little boy.

The night before the show, Dave and I stayed up late making t-shirts for each of us.  We based the t-shirt design on James' assignment of characters.  James' shirt had a picture of Twist on the front, and his catch phrase. "Sweet!" on the back.  Audrey had Kiki and "Kickin'!", I had Marina and "Hip hop and pop!", and Dave had Shout and "Cool Beans!".

We didn't tell James anything about going to the concert until the day of. He was excited, but I don't think he fully understood what we were doing until we got to the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie.

When the show started, James cheered and cheered.  It was so sweet seeing him so excited!  Audrey was terrified by all the noise and hid behind me in my seat.  She was quickly intrigued, and slowly started peering out from behind me.  Eventually, she was clapping and dancing.  James sat on the edge of his seat,and mostly just stared and smiled.  He danced every once in a while, but his joy seemed to paralyze him into a trance for the most part.

It truly was a great day!

Uncle Mike is home from Afghanistan

Dave's brother, Mike, returned home from a year long deployment in Afghanistan in late March. James' bedtime prayers have included a prayer for Uncle Mike's safety every night since he left, and James was so excited when his prayer changed to a thank you for Uncle Mike's safe return.  A couple weeks after Mike came home, we drove down to Copperas Cove (about 3 hours away) to visit him.  Nana drove up from Buda, and we had a little Stoner family reunion!

Aunt Amanda made us fajitas for lunch, we went on a short hike behind the apartment, James and Audrey blew bubbles (you'll notice in the pictures that Audrey had a wardrobe change), and we had a wonderful time catching up.  We are so happy that Mike is home safe and sound, and we are so proud of his service in the US Army!

Audrey put on James' shoes

James can hardly contain himself!

Stoner boys

James made it to the top of the hill!

James and Audrey with Nana, Uncle Mike and Aunt Amanda

James is upside down

Cute Audrey

Easter celebration with The Warner's

The evening before Easter, we had a last minute get together with The Warner's (Matt, Lauren, Cole and Kate). Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying their time together...

James and Cole drinking chocolate milk

Hunting for Easter eggs

James and Audrey digging in their Easter baskets

Sweet Audrey

Kate the Great

A day out with Thomas the Train

Last weekend, we went to Grapevine and rode Thomas the Train. We had a really fun day! James got a James train tattoo, ate rainbow colored popcorn, jumped in a Thomas bounce house, and played in a giant sandbox. Audrey tagged along as little sisters do, and had a little fun too.

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful and peaceful Easter this year, and we could not have asked for a better day to celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ!

The kids came into the kitchen for breakfast and found their Easter baskets on the kitchen table. The Easter Bunny brought them each a bunny cup and some chocolate. James got some new dinosaurs, and Audrey got some Legos that you can build cupcakes and cakes with.



After breakfast, we headed to church for a wonderful service and sermon on Jesus' resurrection from the Gospel of Mark.

After church, we headed home, and the kids hunted for eggs in the backyard. James was so excited to find as many eggs as he could, while Audrey was pretty content just holding onto the first one she found. She was way more interested in eating what was inside (gummy lifesavers) and didn't quite grasp that there were more eggs to find.




The egg hunt was followed by a 4 hour nap (yes, FOUR hours!) by both children. During their nap, there was a huge rain storm, so mama and dada listened to the rain for a bit, and then napped themselves. Once everyone was awake, we had a delicious dinner of lamb chops, green beans, and roasted potatoes followed by a very yummy strawberry pie.

Happy Easter!

Audrey's 1st birthday!

We decided to keep Audrey's birthday simple, and not have a big party. Instead we spent a quiet day together as a family. No party did not mean we did not celebrate our sweet girl... I made a teddy bear cake to look like Audrey's favorite bear, we bought her balloons and hung up a "Happy Birthday" sign in the kitchen, and Audrey had some fun gifts to open!

The cake

The present

The birthday girl


And her big brother

Cake time




Playing with new toys



We had such a fun day celebrating our sweet little girl! Audrey has been such a joy to be a parent to, and we are so blessed that she is part of our family. She is such a happy, tenacious, and lovable girl! Happy 1st birthday, Sweet Pea! We love you!