Easter Sunday Brunch

Once again, we were without family for Easter.  We had so much fun having my family here last year...hint.  So, we had to use the timer for pictures.  It is hard enough to take a picture of our clan without having to create more excitement and chaos using a timer.  Thus, this is the best we've got.  Can you tell I barely plopped down before the picture was snapped?  At least I am in an Easter picture....

We had a beautiful Easter brunch on our patio.  The weather was fabulous and the company was great.  We invited Luke and Renee, our K-Life leaders over for brunch... Centerpiece is courtesy of JBS.  He LOVES to help me set the table.  I thought he was pretty crafty...

JBS also was very intentional about serving table/island.  It wasn't until today that I discovered that I had candied some pecans to go on top of the carrots and I completely forgot to put them on.  It never fails.  I always forget something.

And these were my chief helpers.  Sweet babies are getting so big.

So big, in fact, JBS, who is in Kindergarten, can wear my shoes...and vice versa.  Ugh!

Neighborhood Hunt

We have an awesome neighborhood with great people and great parties.  On Good Friday, we had a neighborhood egg hunt and pizza party down on our cul-de-sac.  The kids loved hunting eggs, the adults loved hanging out, it was beautiful weather.  Just a fun evening.

Love this pic of Babe and WHS.  WHS didn't care much for gathering Easter eggs, but he sure loved carrying the basket around...

Am pretty sure someone gave WHS those eggs.  He looks so much like Babe.

JLS melts my heart.  If it is possible to turn an Easter egg hunt into an athletic event, JLS did it.  And won simply by speed.  He is built like cat.  A large cat...quick and stealthy and grinning from ear to ear as he runs effortlessly.

The sweet older brother who made sure everyone got eggs before him.  A darling little girl who is JBS' age was very proudly announcing that she could NOT have chocolate because she gave it up for Lent.  JBS didn't know what Lent was, but he immediately found his eggs with non-chocolate candy and gave his to her.  He didn't ask for anything in return...he was precious and genuinely generous.  The darling and sassy girl said, "Thanks!  Can I have the egg, too?"  Of course, JBS gave her his eggs, too.  I love this child.

JBS, Wodweego and JLS post hunt and post candy...

Adults can have fun, too!  This is Claudia, Nida, and Tara...sweet friends and neighbors.

Nida just moved here from Chicago and has never lived anywhere else BUT Chicago.  She didn't know what a Chicken Fried Steak was until two weeks ago.  Seriously!  We have so much to teach her....

My Easter Babies

Life is a blur right now! It's a good blur, but it's a blur.  I am trying to get my online store launched and with that goes a MILLION things.  Just wanted to post a picture of my sweet Easter Boys.  More to come.

Hard-Knocked Life

It's a hard life if you live in our family. You get to sweep and mop and dust. My boys actually BEG to clean the house. The begging is because often times it is more work to clean up after them than it's worth. However, most days, I figure it's great training. It's great not only for me, but for their future wives. Documented today that my boys beg to clean so some day their wives can see this...

JLS dusting the floors, inch by inch with Pledge...

JBS telling JLS how to do it and not to do it...

And WHS just does everything his big brothers do...

One thing for certain, the house smells great when they are done!

Martina McBride

After having so much fun at the Expo, we decided to grab a babysitter for WHS and take the boys to the real rodeo events.  The way it works is that the rodeo qualifiers are every night.  Following the rodeo is always a big name concert.  There were so many to choose from, but we had limited days before we left for Spring Break.  We chose Martina McBride because I LOVE Martina McBride.  She even debuted her new song that night.  So, we put our cowboy duds back on and headed back to Houston.

  

We arrived a bit early this time, so we headed back in to the Expo to check out a few more animals.  This time, it was goat night.  The first place we stopped was to get a good boot shine.  Big Daddy would have been so proud.  We each walked away with some pretty darn shiny boots!

 JLS had eyed that longhorn a few days earlier and this time, he had a chance to get his picture taken on him.  Big moments...

As Babe described..."It's a littly Willy goat."  Ha. Ha.

Llama, Llama, who's yo Momma?

One. Big. Cow. JBS was impressed.

Another knee-slapper from Babe, "It's a little Luke-y Goat"...(due to the curly hair of this Angora beauty).

Babe bought our tickets right at ground level.  Not such a great idea for an asthmatic, but a great place to be in on the action.  The boys loved that the food was open and bottomless...at least JBS cared.  Unfortunately, JBS had an asthma attack this night and missed his favorite division...the bulls.  Heartbreaking, but the horses just put him over the edge.  The funny part was that as Babe and JBS headed to the car to do breathing treatments, the person working the door noticed there was a problem and inquired.  John explained their urgency and before they knew it, they had a police escort to the car.  A police escort of the equestrian nature.  When he called to tell me how nice the police were, etc, I reminded him that the reason he was having breathing problems was because of those horses and to PLEASE tell those nice policemen to "Step away from the car!!!"

 Daddy and JLS anxiously awaiting the bucking broncos!

I am not sure how it is possible, but light sabers find a way in to our lives no matter where we are...

Even at the rodeo.

Houston Rodeo 2011

It has been an eternity, it seems, since March and our fun-packed week at the Houston Rodeo.  This is a monumental event in Houston and our family loves every minute of it.  We headed down for a Sunday afternoon in the Expo building where we saw lots of animals and exhibits and cowboy paraphernalia.  It was loads of fun for city boys, indeed!

We could easily have never made it to the rodeo part of...the rodeo, for all the amusement park rides and games.  We headed straight for the ferris wheel to see all of Houston...and WHS and Daddy down below.

 

 

Sweet pearl-snapped, jeans and boots-wearin' cowboys of mine...

The absolute highlight of the evening would be watching this massive bull being transported to show.  The highlight?  The fact that that big ole bull pooped right in front of the boys WHILE he was walking.  The boys thought that was absolutely amazing and told everyone about it.  Pooping and walking...a real timesaver, for sure! 

My sweet JBS.  I am thrilled to be posting late to be able to say that we feel like we FINALLY have his asthma under control after 8 long months of problems.  We knew going in to the barn with all the animals he would start wheezing, so he wore a lawn mask.  He was such a trooper.  He knew how bad he would feel if he didn't, but I still hated for him to have to wear a mask.  Gratefully, since then, we have changed up our meds and he is doing amazingly well.  I think he could handle the animals now mask-free.

Tractor rides are always a hit...

JLS desperately wanted to go on the pony rides.  And Babe did very well waiting in the forever line so JLS could ride a pony.  He loved it...about as much as the pooping bull.  His horsies name was Twinkie.

My rootin' tootin' cowboy...

 JLS petting his baby cow...

Waiting for JLS and Daddy to ride the ponies...

 More to come...

 

Tuckered Out

Since the big man on campus/the youngest peanut in the school has started school, his teachers have miraculously taught him to take a nap on a nap mat in a room full of kiddos.  At home, WHS started climbing out of his bed a few months ago, but it was too early for us to be comfortable letting him run loose in the house as he pleased.  So, we bought a crib tent.  I made it through two prior boys and never even knew what a crib tent was.  WHS has broken all the rules and continues to keep us on our toes.  Initially, he didn't like the tent.  However, within a matter of days, he loved being zipped in to the safety of his crib.  If I ever stepped away from his crib without zipping him up, he would grab the side and pull it up as he grunted something at me to remind me to close him up tight.

Now that WHS has the tent, I started to worry that he might be in a crib forever!  So, on the days he is at home for nap time, I started letting him sleep on the trundle in his room....or somewhere near the trundle.  I, at least, leave him on the trundle when I tuck him in.  I know he plays freely in his room until he crashes.  After about half an hour, I quietly peek in on him.  Sometimes he is barely awake fighting sleep with all his might.  Other times, he is sacked out on or near his bed and I gently tuck the little peanut in his bed to sleep like a big boy.

This picture, however, was his very first day of freedom.  Obviously, new found freedom brings about a world of possibilities.  This was the day I removed his changing table with open shelves from his room for good and raced to Ikea to buy something to fill his dresser needs temporarily.  Gratefully, the new dresser with drawers has done its job and the thrill of terrorizing his room when let alone is hopefully over.  

Terrorizer, Tasmanian Devil or food monger...whatever his description of force, he is the most precious little toot.

(OK.  So I do see the Lysol can in the picture and that was an oversight on my part in the child-proofing of his room.  That is out of reach now for sure all you safety folks!)

Cheese

I love Fridays.  JLS and WHS don't go to school and after we get JBS to the bus at 7:30am we have the whole day together.  This morning, we ran a few errands, delivered a few T-shirts and ran by Target to grab a few necessities.  We had gathered everything in the store and I said, "Oh! We need cheese."  I looked away for a minute and I heard, "Cheese!"  I turned back to JLS and he started giggling.  I asked him if he said that and he said, "No! WHS did."

I looked at WHS and he smiled his toothy smile and said it again, "Cheese!"  When we located the cheese aisle, he pointed our cheese like a bird dog points quail. "Cheese! Cheese!"  I grabbed the cheese and handed to WHS.  He proceeded to say, "Cheese!" over and over thru the check out line, where we almost forgot to pay for the cheese because he was holding it.  He went out the door and into the car exclaiming, "Cheese!" with a proud smile on his face.  Of course, we broke in to that cheese in the car and offered that desperate baby a piece of cheese.

JBS' first real word was "Stinky", JLS' first word, humorously, was "Hola!" and now WHS has made his mark with "Cheese." 

Stinky Hola Cheese.  OR...Hola! Stinky Cheese.  OR..Cheese stinky hola!

I digress...

WHS Goes to School



So excited to get in the car and go to school!

What I can say for WHS is that he is one smart little toot.  He is quick and clever and funny and he really "gets it!"  We love our sweet little preschool and they had a spot for WHS in the toddler class when he turned 19 months.  He is officially the youngest peanut in the school.  Since I make 3 lunches for Tuesday and Thursdays, I make them the night before.  I told WHS he had his first day of school the next day and he ran to get his lunchbox without a word!  He came running around the bar and handed my his lunchbox with his name tag on it.  It was hilarious.



The next morning, all the boys were excited for WHS' first day of school.  As soon as he had his clothes on, he went to the fridge and pointed his lunchbox.  JLS was so excited to have WHS at his same school and WHS was walking around the house laughing and clapping.  He was giddy!  When we arrived at school, he was right at home.  JLS had both of his teachers, whom we love, so they are used to us Samplers.  The difference, I explained to them, is that JLS ate nothing and WHS eats everything in sight.  I was worried he would steal food off his neighbors plate at lunchtime and gave them the forewarning.  He, of course, didn't want to put his lunchbox in the lunch bucket, but took it to the table to sit down and eat...again...at 8:30am.  The kid eats...and he is only 25 pounds!  He doesn't gain an ounce for all the intakes.  I left without a tear.  I kept waiting to crash, but he was so ready for school and so excited.  And I was thrilled to have a little peace for the first time in 19 months!



Sweet baby gift from MY first friend!

When I went to pick him up at school, he was coming out of his classroom in a perfect line with the other kiddos.  His teachers worked a miracle and got him to lay on his nap mat to take a nap.  The peer pressure to do the right thing is amazing!  Ms. Lori said he laid down on his nap mat just like everyone else, but when the lights went out and he realized he had to sleep, he lost it.  She rocked him to sleep.  (Sweet Lori.)  Now, I think he's pro.  I have him sleeping in his trundle bed at home during nap time, but he still prefers his baby bed at night.  However, he is getting better at the big boy bed now that he is doing it at school.  He was excited to see me and thrilled to see JLS in the Great Room to be picked up together.

out the door with big brother

Our school is so small that each of our past teachers for JBS and JLS both knew that it was WHS' first day and each told me they checked on him during the day.  I love those girls!  It's hard to believe that we moved here when JLS was in the same toddler class 3 years ago.  I can't believe JLS was ever that  young.  Actually, I was so sleep-deprived at this age with JLS that I hardly remember it. 

We have been so blessed since we moved here and I can now say, that The Woodlands really does feel like home.  It's a mile-marker that WHS is starting where JLS started here.  I actually run in to people I know at the grocery store and Target.  Sweet WHS is our only native Texan child.  So, here his life as a school boy has begun.  You have never seen a "bigger boy" than WHS is now.