Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan Bryce!

Time flies! Cannot believe you're already TWO! Love you LOTS!

Spring Break '09

phew! busy week, and I'm sad it's over, and after the fabulous weather and day in the pool we had yesterday, definitely ready for summer!!

I always love spring break... we never take a trip anywhere really, because this is such a busy time of year, but it's a great week to see family and friends, and do local fun stuff, a couple of rodeo nights... We started out the week getting new furniture for the living room (finally!).... we hang onto pretty much everything we buy, and our living room furniture was no exception- the couches we had bought before Cameron was born, and the coffee table a couple of years after.... I was totally over the couches, and the coffee table just didn't fit with the new stuff. And Brent hasn't wanted a coffee table ever since we got the wii, and we all know you should really plan your living room around wii-ness....

anyways, Monday was spent meeting up with Adrienne to celebrate her big 2-0... totally forgot pics.

Tuesday was spent with friends-- at friends houses, friends over for dinner.... still no pics.

Wednesday we headed to Galveston, and I finally remembered to bust out the camera- wanted to check everything out since the hurricane (looking good overall!) and had lunch at Rainforest, and finally rode the ride- the kids loved it! Then we met up with family for some beachiness... if you can call it that. Galveston is after all a big mud puddle. But the kids loved it... and they loved seeing everyone! Jorja came home with us for the night, and the kids absolutely loved having her- she's a toot- reminds me of Meggo- fearless (which explains the face rash the first hour we were home, but yeah, we deduct cool Aunt points for that one).

Thursday was spent playing with Jorja, having some friends over, and a girl's night for me...

Friday Brent took the day off (yay!) and we took off with some friends for lunch at Ichibon, which is always a kid hit, and then the day at NASA space center. The kids had a good time, but omg the place was packed. Shocked? I think not.

Saturday Gramma came over for the day- the kids got to go with her to the park and for ice cream, and Cam had a friend stay the night. By 12:30 we made the boys turn the lights out, but don't think for a second they slept in! Ha! Yesterday we spent the day outside- Brent heated the pool up a bit, and the kids swam allllll day. Family and friends over for most of the day, chillaxin by the pool....

and now, it's over. :( Countdown to summer is on!

Birthdays out the wazoo...

birthdays everywhere! My youngest brother Joseph is now officially a teenager as of Saturday, My sister Adrienne is officially in her 20s as of today, and Kurstee is officially an adult tomorrow! Happy birthday to all!

I wish we lived closer to my mom and two youngest brothers.... seeing them twice a year just isn't enough. Joseph is a great kid (teen- yikes!) and Megs and Cameron love him so much. He can be so sweet and helpful, and generous. I know he will grow up to be a great father of his own someday... far, far away in the distance. Like when he's 40 or so.

I can't believe you're in your 20s now Adrienne! My how time flies! Seeing you as a mom is incredible, and I'm so glad we are able to build a relationship now as adults, as moms, and as aunts to our kids. When you're around my kids, it's so natural for them to know you, and for you to help them, and be there for them, and I love that. I love seeing you mature and grow as a mom and my sister. And after dropping my camera yesterday (brent, skip that line) I totally forgot to take some pictures!! Ugh! I cannot believe that Kurstee is 18 as of tomorrow. wow. I shall forever own that I taught you "see-food" and how to burp proudly (and it will haunt me forever now as a mom myself, because your mother will never let me forget it all these years later). You've grown into such an awesome person, and I am so proud of you. You have always had respect- for others, and most importantly, for yourself. And that's not something very many can walk away from the teen years being able to say.

I love you all so much, hope you had, have, and will have, great birthdays! Smooches!

Happy Friday!

Could someone please get this girl some britches that fit?!?

new creations...

for this month over at KMA....

Went and saw Slumdog Millionare with some girlfriends last night- deep stuff but good movie... recommended watch for sure!

Gotta remember daylight savings time tonight... although every single year without fail, we always seem miss church the Sunday of spring forward... hmm.. wonder why.... :)

no time now- got a jammed packed weekend as usual, but hope it's a great one!

we have failed miserably.

I had no idea how tough this would be.

It's just one of those things that wasn't listed in the parenting books. And I've read a ton.

They don't even hint that it might be an issue.

I assumed it was just another thing you cruise through in the upbringing of your children, and yet here I sit, feeling like a failure, yet again, over the unfortunate creation of the blasted tooth fairy.

I mean, really, who's idea was this? Obviously no one thought this through clearly. Seriously.

1. You're supposed to hope that between the time the child loses the tooth, and the time when they go to bed that you don't lose the tooth. Yep, done it. We managed to make it all the way back from Disneyworld with tooth #2, only to have the housekeepers wipe it off the counter by mistake, apparently thinking it was a rock, or something... who knows.

2. Then you're supposed to hope that your child loses the tooth in an early enough part of the day so that you can either go break a $20, or make it to the bank. good luck. Thank God for cool neighbors, and even with that, tooth #1 cashed in with a $10.

3. Then you hope you're not idiotic enough to either talk about it where your child can hear, and assemble the cash in a discreet fashion. Hence, the outcome of tooth #3, whereas our dear son said "The tooth fairy didn't leave that money under my pillow, Dad did! I saw you guys talking about it!" Nice.

4. When all other hope is gone, just please for the love of God don't forget to play tooth fairy, and if you do, hope that the stupid cat wakes you up at 2:30 in the morning to sound of her eating the money that you had set aside on the nightstand so you wouldn't forget.

After throwing the cat, we then thanked the cat. Only to go upstairs to a wide awake child staring at you, wondering why you are in their bedroom at 2:30 in the morning. Lamely pulling off a kiss on the forehead, sweep under the pillow move, realize that child will forever be disappointed by the now lame tokens of cash from the tooth fairy, because you were dumb enough to hit him up with a $10 spot the first time, so a five is just so not cool in comparison.

so, now Cam's down 4 teeth, and hopefully we can take a break from this all failing task as tooth fairy for at least a month or so... who knew? And once again, I'd like to know who did NOT think this through before coming up with it??

Happy 2009!

I am alive and kicking.... 2009 kicked off in full swing, and it seems the time just hasn't been there to be chillaxin on the computer, and when the time is there.... the ability to form words has escaped me. :)
Christmas was great, and I'd go into details over it if we weren't through the majority of January already. But good times.... had our usual NYE gaggle at our house... good times there, too! And I made it through yet another year with no major injuries.

Little Miss Jorja turned ONE this month!

And Susu got engaged to Matt! We went to the Bridal Show a couple of weekends ago... I love living vicariously through others... nothing more fun than planning a party, especially when you get to get all dressed up for it!

Other than that, it's been football games every weekend for Cameron, which end right about the day that baseball starts back up in February.

And my spectacularly talented hubs got a promotion at work that started in January. Awesome when I think of how far he's come since we met in his career path.... but it's definitely keeping him on his toes these days!

We officially have a new president as of yesterday- anyone notice? ;)

Anyways, here's some new stuff for this month over at KMA:

hmm... I realized I never posted my stuff from last month, either.... oh, well. I also now realize in looking at the stuff I did this month, it looks as if I only have one child. Hmm....

SNOW

in Kingwood?!? Ha! I'm a little delayed, but better late than never, right?

Perfect night for a couple of weeks ago - we had Megan's Christmas program at church, in which she was absolutely freakin' adorable! All the while we could see the snow falling outside.... so we came home, changed clothes and played in it in the dark! We built a snowman with the neighbors, Megan was obsessed with eating it, and Em and Brent and Cam were obsessed with throwing it at each other!

There wasn't much snow on the ground, because what little was there was being used immediately :)

Ahh, tis the season.... full swing of the holidays! parties everywhere, baking, shopping, wrapping...

I'm very excited- I got to pick up my 50mm 1.4 lens yesterday- it got dropped at Animal Kingdom, and I was SO hoping I'd have it back before Christmas. Yay! Of course, nothing without a price.... *sigh*

I wanna go back...

to land of fairy tales, and no cares in the world...

we came home to reality, and here we are, smack dab in Christmas season.... well under way. (since when does the season start sometime after Labor Day?!?).

Thought I'd share just a few of my favs right quick, although there are plenty more...not 9,999 mind you, but oh my goodness, it was hard to whittle them down... I mean, my kids being there for the first time, and my first time being there... it truely was magical. The place you dream of as a child, and then, in turn, dream of taking your kids... it was amazing. And it really was great having the kids' grandparents there, too. We really all did have an amazing time. sigh. Went by too fast.

My favorite moments are definitely Megan's makeover at the Bobbidi Boutique, and riding all the roller coasters with Cameron. Awesomeness. Cam felt like such a big kid... and Megan, such a princess all day of her makeover.

California grill rocked the house too. :) more later...when I can get a moment or two away from reality. :)

PSSST...

we leave in two days for here. Don't tell the kids. It's a surprise!

Hope everyone has a fabulous week, and a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving! I'll be sure to share all 9,999 pictures I take when I get back!

the busy weekend is over...

Come and gone... what a weekend. spent the day friday out at my friend Heather's. She needs a little help these days...


I call her hop-a-long. I think she secretly likes it. Those dirty looks she throws me are just a cover. She has a really bad break, supposed to keep it elevated at all times, and really, how are you supposed to do that with a 3 year old? ha!
Em's pool party went great.... her cake was adorable- the Anitameister made it for her after I had taken Em to get all the supplies for it, and pick our her pan. Care Bears it was! Her invites were adorable (Thanks Brandy! you rock!) and I picked up some balloons to match the invites to put around the house... we heated the pool for them, and off they went to freeze! Pretty funny to watch, but they had fun! Serene got them pizza to chow down on, and really, what else to teenagers need in life?
This is, by far, my favorite picture of the evening:


Sunday had a baby shower (of which I don't have any pictures of, since I accidentally left my camera in the car), then rocked it out at Madonna! Woot! OMGOODNESS the people watching there was TO DIE FOR! I loved it, and had an awesome time! The costumes were some of the funniest stuff ever, and the pictures only touch on it. seriously. and it just seemed like everyone there was just having an awesome time and not caring about anything. One of the best concerts I've ever been to. even if she came out on stage two hours late. This picture absolutely cracks me up. It was at the end of the night, and I'm sure it was way past the point of rational picture taking =)

Finally getting some oh-so-fabulous weather, back to enjoying random park days... I love the pic of Cam and his friend. First graders can have such serious conversations sometimes. :)

*gasp*

blink, and a week goes by. blows right on by. cruzazy.

This little girl just LOVES to get messy. Love that.

Emmie is now a fabulous 15 year old. No really. Totally fabulous. Gotta knock sense into her here and there, but fabulous. Celebrated at the Hard Rock on Sunday.

Gotta say, it stinks when you're dying to try out what you've learned from a fabulous Karen Russell class the day before, and you end up at a restuarant that has the equivelant of a small flashlight shining down on only the middle of the huge round table. Did my best, and there are some cute pics, but they're not winning any awards. :)

Had Mr. E with us for a couple of days.... mr adorable has the most fabulous personality, and is a total hoot.and the looks he gives you oh.my.gosh. are they Nick. And for anyone that doesn't know Nick that well, for as long as I can remember, boredom at home for Nick has always involved scissors and hair of some kind. He's had one inch eyebrows, no eyebrows, and every hair style and facial hair style I think one could have. And now Ethan gets to be his little extension... have you ever known a 19 month with groomed eyebrows?? What I've learned out of all of this is that Ethan is still absolutely adorable. =)
I had to take advantage of the moment when I found this shirt- it says "my aunt rocks" and is so perfect for his little mohawk look. And really, he's like a little walking boost to my self-esteem when he's wearing it =)

Megan is OBSESSED with Ethan. The only child she is more obsessed with is Jorja. Little Mommy in action- follows him everywhere, constantly chatting with him and wanting to play with him. 90% he's fabulous with it, and then there just comes that point where he's annoyed, and it's hilarious the circles he will run in, just trying to get away from this obsessive little gal who wants to brush his hair "just one more time!"

Brent's birthday was yesterday- Happy Birthday Babe! (that would be his new PS3 he's opening. because another gaming device in this house is sooo neccessary.)

Had his traditional must have cookie cake, and fondue for dinner before we raced out the door for the program Cameron was having at school- the first graders had a "Turkey show". It was absolutely ADORABLE, and so fun to watch! The kids all sang songs and had little dances- it was so cute- we could see Cameron counting silently when they were doing their dance moves to keep beat.

Sideline shameless moment: We're driving home from the turkey show, and Megan pipes up from the backseat,"Mommy, could you roll the winnow down? I fahted." Niiiice. I have now completely and officially lost control of any chance of her being a little lady. First the Incredible Hulk and now this.
Came back after with Anita and Fran to the house to devour the cookie cake, and so Brent could open his gift from them.... it's from his "post hurricane wish list". This is his man-face, wanting to go cut random things in half now. And that's our son, wanting to take a turn as well, because what 6 six year old wouldn't think a chainsaw rocked?

Busy busy weekend ahead... birthday party for Em (pool party with 20 some-odd teenagers, what??), a baby shower, a Madonna concert... woot!

in case you ever wondered

what rock star kids look like....wonder no more.

music & faith

has changed in our lives since Em came to live with us. My Hubs' standard radio station has changed, I no longer have control over my radio in my car, and Megan and Cameron now always want headphones to listen to the music. And Megan is definitely the jammer. She jams, and Em has been teaching her to snap her fingers...
(please note our cute little photobomber in back)


There are amazing changes coming up in the near future at ScrapFaith.Including....
-Slideshows of all submitted challenge layouts.
- Monthly prizes. But NOT for a chosen layout, because art is subjective. Instead we will be giving away a large prize pack each month from a winner of our comment draw. That's right...starting in NOVEMBER, each time you leave a comment in a certain month you are eligible for the prize. Only one comment per post please. So if you leave a comment on every post you have the best chance at winning.
- A ScrapFaith Flickr group where you can post any faith based layout you choose.
- A re-design of some of the features on our site.
- Even more inspiration from our amazing team.
- More amazing Guest Artists...including Gigi Kennedy and Kim Hughes this month!

We expect most of these changes and updates to happen around November 1st so spread the word, come and visit us and get ready to Scrap FAITH!