Fort Worth Fun!

Thanks to Andrew's PSIA State Competition, our family enjoyed a bonus 3 day weekend in beautiful Fort Worth, TX! Although the drive was long, (we are not used to driving on vacation) it was well worth it! On Friday we enjoyed touring the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Colton was not happy that Mommy had to leave her bag in the car which had his beloved mints. After the tour he and Daddy had a ball riding the escalators up and down and up and down. Who knew there would be rides at this place... escalators, buses.... :) Andrew loved adding to his money collection with a strip of uncut $2 bills. It was really neat to learn how our country's currency is printed. Then it was off to the Stockyards! Yummy BBQ at Risckys and then the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze - more than 5,400 square feet of wooden pathways. We do not recommend this during the TX summers! It takes the average person 12 minutes... We started off SO excited and then Colton's "2 ness" kicked in and the maze was really hard. We were determined to finish and finally finished in a record 43 min.! Exhausting... We shopped, had ice cream, watched the cattle drive, saw some animals, Andrew and Braden loved riding the mechanical bull and Colton was so ready to get on too. Then when it was his turn, he sat on there for a pic and then was "all done"! We ended the day at Steak-N-Shake and watching America's Funniest Videos in the hotel. Saturday we relaxed and then drove to Texas Christian University where we had lunch amongst all the collage students which resulted in fond memories of college life and dating for Tom and I and great conversation with Andrew that his parents actually are educated. :) Mommy has a bachelors in Education and Daddy has a bachelors, Masters, and PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. We were delighted to find out that he wants to go to school at The University of Houston - Clear Lake and live at home! :) Hee Hee! Andrew participated in his spelling competition (see blog entry below for more details) and then we went to the Log Cabin Village. We experienced 19th century TX! It was even more fun because we have been watching "Little House on the Prairie" and it really brought back memories of my childhood growing up on Main Street. I knew how all of the toys worked! :) Andrew loved grinding the corn, Braden loved ringing the one room school house bell, and Colton loved getting eggs out of the chicken coop. Then it was back to TCU for Andrew's competition results! Awesome! A little Chick-fil-a on the way to the hotel and then off to bed. Too bad Andrew got sick in the middle of the night that lasted a full 12 hours. There always has to be something that happens to make trips even more memorable! Thankfully Andrew was better by morning and the drive home was nice. A great family weekend! Thanks, Andrew! :)

I'm hoping to add a slideshow at the bottom of the blog with lots of Ft. Worth pics! :)

Our spelling champ!

Andrew amazed us again! He tied for 5th place at the PSIA State competition in Fort Worth this past weekend! There were 22 2nd graders there, one being his good buddy from his class, Nick. He missed 4 words out of 40 and 1st place only missed 3 words. It was a great competition and we couldn't be more proud of our #1! Awesome job, Andrew!

"Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty." Psalm 21:5

I do it!!!

Here is a two year old in his glory! Lately Colton insists on doing everything himself! While this is wonderful, it is also very exhausting as his Mommy. Sometimes I just have to leave the room. I just calmly let him know that I can help whenever he needs me to. Here he put his PJ's on all by himself or as he would say, "I do by self!" or even, "I do it! I do it! I do it!"

Go Cardinals (Astros too)!

4 out of the 5 of us are Cardinal fans! Andrew has always rooted for the team where he lives, Cardinals, Dodgers, now Astros! He always wears an Astros shirt and Cardinal cap. I guess he is a winner either way. :) Braden roots for the Cardinals, but wants the Astros to hit a home run so he can see the train. :) This year we got to take my mom to the game when she visited. It was probably our most fun game ever! We had seats way up high right behind home plate! Mom would cheer out real loud and Colton would repeat her with the same gusto! So funny! The big boys enjoyed watching the game and learning more about it. I even taught Braden a thing or two. The kid area was great this year! Colton beat the big runner guy many times and Andrew and Braden got some home runs off the Wii baseball game. (They have sure practiced that enough at home!) So glad Mom got to come with us since she is the biggest Cardinal fan we know (maybe Tom and Hugo come a close second!) We hope to enjoy at least one more game this year! Go Cardinals! Go Astros!

Blue Bonnets

Why do I love the Texas state flower, the Blue Bonnet? I guess because it helps me embrace being a Texan. They are so pretty! The kids learn about them in school and my friend, Shawna, helped me find the most beautiful patch that we have taken pics in for three years! (Missed taking them with you this year, friend!) I guess it is also the tradition. I love traditions and this is one that I have adopted. Each year in the spring we get dressed in our blue and take a pic from last year to the man who's patch we visit each year. He keeps a scrapbook of all his visitors. Then we take lots of pics in the blue bonnet patch! Not really a big deal, but a great tradition! Hope you enjoy the blue bonnets this year! :)

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

A Cowboy Big Boy room for Colton!

While my mom came to visit, we dove right into Colton's room taking all of the nursery rhyme stuff down to create a blank slate. We had fun painting his room "peanut butter" and putting up the denim overall curtains. Then we added the fun cowboy theme cross, picture frame, howdy cowboy sign, etc... My favorite part was when we took rope and wrote Colton's name on the wall in cursive that looks like a lasso. (Thanks Steph, for the great idea!) If you look closely, you can see it in the pic of me, Mom, and Colton. Colton loved blue taping, helping to paint, playing in his crib while we painted, putting up his horse decals, and playing with his new stuffed horses. It is always such a joy to work with my Mom! Thanks Mom! I love you!

More baseball pics for our fans!

Here are some more fun shots for all of Andrew and Braden's fans!

Baseball fever!

This year the boys really wanted to play baseball so we signed them up through the YMCA. Andrew is on the Cubs and Braden is on the Reds. Both boys are really enjoying it. Andrew gets a hit nearly every time and has great sportsmanship. He is working on controlling the ball when he throws... I think he gets that from Mom. :) We encourage Braden to have just the right amount of silliness during his games. He can be WAY over-the-top silly! He is great at hitting and runs FAST! Colton likes to cheer for his brothers and has his own glove now!

Easter Excitement!

What a marvelous time of the year! Our Lord has risen! He has risen indeed! Halleluiah! Aunt Tammy and Uncle Big Tom helped the boys celebrate at our church Eggstravaganza! It is always so fun to watch the different age egg hunts! The boys always love coloring Easter eggs! This year we had a Star Wars theme, go figure! Easter Sunday was an exciting day for our church because it was the public launch of our League City campus! Our family is committed to helping in that effort. Tom is the head parking guy and in charge of signs and I am teaching 3-5 grade Sunday school! We had over 300 in attendance at a local elementary school where we will be meeting for another couple of years. After church we had Mexican, yum! Then home to see if the Easter Bunny had come! The boys had fun hunting eggs both inside and out and got some fun gifts too! Andrew was especially fond of his new Bible! How awesome! :)

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." Matthew 28:6

Hoping to have more Easter pics in a slideshow below...

Spring Break Fun!

We kicked off Spring Break with a fun day at Kemah with friends! Then Tom's sister and brother-in-law, Aunt Tammy and Uncle Big Tom, came for 4 exhausting days of Kemah, Rodeo, Schlitterbaun, and Eggstravaganza! Wow what a fun week! :)

Check at the bottom of the blog for a slideshow of Spring Break Fun 3 '08 for lots of pics! Enjoy!

A true Texan!

My youngest son has a twang! Yes, he really does and I think it is SO cute! He was born here, so I think he is entitled! Hope you get a chance to hear it! :)

Under Construction

Lutheran South Academy had its annual Gala to raise money for the school. This year they are raising money for new classrooms and all the furnishings! It is always a super fun evening with yummy eats, great conversation, silent and live auctions! We walked away with a PINK watch for me, basket of TY animals and Webkinz for the boys, and a Home Depot basket filled with lots of wood projects that I am saving for when you visit, DAD! :) Praise God, LSA raised $114,000! The evening's theme was "Under Construction". I have been thinking that we are all "Under Construction". God is constantly at work in our lives molding and shaping us to be the son or daughter he made. My prayer is that we seek to be under God's construction always! "For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." 1 Corinthians 3:9

Too cute!

Here is one of my favorite recent pics of Colton! I just love it when their little personality starts to shine! He is a real mix of Andrew and Braden, the serious side of Andrew and the silly side of Braden! :)

Just keep swimming!

In the middle of March we had a great day with friends swimming! Andrew and his friend Lauren swam for 5 hours straight! It was way to chilly for the grown-ups but the kids loved it! I throughly enjoyed wearing a sweater and taking pics! :)

Perseverance

After a lot of hard work, fun times, and much perseverance Andrew earned his Wolf Badge for Cub Scouts! We are proud of you Andrew! Way to go!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1