Colton's 1st Swim Lesson!

Finally... Colton got to do an activity all by himself instead of going to watch his big brother's do their things! Andrew and Braden were even off school and were able to watch and encourage their little brother. Colton was so excited to take swimming lessons at the YMCA with his good friend, Grace. He marched right up to the teachers as soon as he got there. It was a chilly morning and the wind was whipping through the pool area. He got in right away and then started to cry out for me to get him out because he was so cold. Thankfully the teacher started the class and he was good to go. He was very focused when it was his turn and then he and Grace were splashing and having all sorts of fun while they were waiting for another turn. They looked SO cute and so grown up!

Baptismal Birthdays

I did a major Mommy oops and neglected to write birthdays and other special days in my calendar this year. I intended to put them in the computer instead, but that didn't happen. Needless-to-say I've been missing important dates! We celebrated Braden and Colton's baptismal birthdays about a month late... (so sorry boys)! But whatever the date the celebration is special because they are a children of God and are welcomed into his kingdom!

For Braden's celebration Tom read Ephesians 6:1-4 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother—which is the first commandment with a promise—that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

And for Colton's celebration Tom read Matthew 28: 18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The affairs are not elaborate, but a wonderful reminder of that special day when they were so tiny! :) Colton couldn't understand why there wasn't cake at his party! :)

Orange Belts in the House

You'd better watch out... we've got two Karate Orange Belts in the house now! Andrew and Braden both persevered this year to earn their yellow and orange belts! They want to go for more, but we need a break! Congratulations Andrew and Braden... we are so proud of you! :)

Chick-fil-A Family Night!

We're addicted! Not only do we frequent Chick-fil-A (especially me and Colton), but now we are into Family Night there! We've played BINGO and Andrew won a t-shirt, we seen a puppet show and done a craft, and last week there was a Science Guy! My boys LOVED it! I couldn't get them to leave until 8 p.m.! We met some friends there and had a yummy dinner and lots of science fun! They even did the Mentos/Diet Coke eruption! Andrew could hardly contain himself because he wanted to shout out all the science knowledge and trivia he knew!

Mommy gets her Chick-fil-A fix and the kids are entertained... what could be better?! :)

Puzzles, Pennies, and Pracitcal Jokes

We had such a great visit with Gramby and Pa Pa this time! We kept them so busy... In addition to the Rodeo we enjoyed some down time at home doing LOTS of puzzles, playing baseball in the backyard, Wii, and Pa Pa even watched and enjoyed the movie, "Everyone's Hero"! Thanks to Gramby and Pa Pa, Tom and I had a wonderful date night where we used gift cards to eat at Saltgrass (thanks Steve and Karma!) complete with a HUGE piece of cheesecake! Then we got to see "Duplicity"! On Friday we went to Kemah where the crowds were so fierce that our plans to ride the train turned in to getting ice cream, listening to the music, and watching the boats! That evening after Tom got home we headed to Galveston and walked on the jetty. The boys were having so much fun watching the waves crash and not getting wet as instructed... but then Pa Pa played a little practical joke on Andrew and Braden and took my bottle of water and poured it on them from behind! Too funny! We even got Pa Pa to eat Mexican again this visit and we all enjoyed Salsa's and the queso (cheese dip)! :) Saturday we went to the San Jacinto monument. What an awesome view! We were up 540 feet and all the boys could do was crawl around on the floor looking for pennies. They really wanted a pressed penny so bad! They ended up with at least 15 pennies, made 4 pressed pennies, and even left some to bless other families. We took the ferry home and ended up with a long drive! Church, out to eat at Boondoggles and more time outside rounded out a great visit! Can't wait for them to come again!

Rodeo Houston 2009

Rodeo Houston!

We had a yee haw good time at the Rodeo this year! Tom's parents, Gramby and Pa Pa, were able to join us this year and I think we wore them out! The Pig Races and holding Swifty the swimming pig was a highlight along with riding the bull! They were tougher on Andrew this year and he held on to the very end and then fell off. Although Braden had a broken arm, we let him ride too. We asked that they go easy on him and they did, but he too fell off at the very end. And then there was Colton... he had a death grip on Tom with his arms and legs. Tom had to get on the bull and put a very scared Colton in front of him. But that little cowboy was awesome and even took off his hat and waved it around with a big smile! We enjoyed the quilts, tiny new born calfs and piglets, Borden milk, tractors, getting trading cards at all the livestock stops, crazy animal races, awesome lunch, and more... The boys even got to make their own ropes this year! We love the rodeo! Some day Tom and I will make it to the real Rodeo and a concert and next year the boys have already requested the carnival!

For those of you that get e-mail updates, check out my blog on the web for a slide show of the rodeo and other slide shows like our camping trip!
http://leimkuehler.blogspot.com/

The Blue Bonnet Tradition continues...

It is spring... that means the Texas state flower, the Blue Bonnets, are in full bloom! We headed out to our favorite blue bonnet patch over spring break for our annual pics. Andrew remembered that we needed to bring a picture to leave the generous man who lets us take pictures in his yard, Colton was WAY into setting up his own poses this year, and Braden's bright red cast didn't coordinate with the blue bonnets! :) No one likes the bees, but we love the tradition!

Spring Break Camping Trip

18 kids + 13 adults in one lodge = chaotic fun

We kicked off Spring Break with a "camping" trip to Carolina Creek Christian Camp with tons of friends! There were 18 kids and 13 adults (missed you so much, Ang!) The lodge was amazing with 8 bedrooms each with a private bath, a huge kitchen/living/dining area... and thankfully so... because the whole weekend was terribly cold and wet! The kids got to get outside for about an hour two different times on Sat. There was an awesome covered basketball court where the kids had a blast. It was so great to watch the kids play with all sorts of combination of friends throughout the weekend. So much interrupted play time! There were puzzles, legos, crafts, bubbles, lots of movies, games, laughter, screams, coloring, and way too much food! Tom and I had a great time playing games, watching the kids play together, visiting with friends, and eating! I stayed up WAY too late chatting each night... Andrew and the Lego Crew had a ball being Legomaniacs! Braden pigged out on Puppy Chow, found deer tacks on a short hike, and was caught leaping from one bed to another in one of the rooms... keep in mind he has a broken arm!!! Colton had so much fun riding and pushing his friends on a toy firetruck, was caught in bed with Grace one day and holding hands with Hannah the next... :) All wonderful memories! We'll need to make this a tradition ever year! Thanks, Karen, for all of your coordinating... what a gift you have!

Thanks, God, for treasured friendships and time to grow those relationships!

Spacin' Out with Braden!

Braden's class headed to Space Center Houston for a field trip! I just love being able to go on field trips with my boys! This time I got to be with Braden and one of his best buddies, Jonah! I have to admit I got a little teary eyed at every movie, "To be an Astronaut" and "The History of Space". Braden was certain that the Robonaut was the new space suit that his Daddy is working on... hee hee! We also got to take a FREEZING tram ride to Rocket Park! Of course the highlight for Braden was the Longhorns next to Rocket Park! The weather was SO cold and we didn't dress appropriately for the outside picnic. It was a great day though... learning all about space... but the favorite part for all the kids was playing in the huge place space with all the balls, slides, etc...

"God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars." Genesis 1:16

Brown is the New Black

Are my kids and their friends, Lauren and Nicole, trendy or what? Maybe I am behind the times, but I sure thought they looked cute when they all showed up at church on Sunday in brown! Life is so much more fun when you have friends to share it with!

Oops He did it AGAIN!

Braden is now the proud owner of a bright red cast! Yes, he broke his arm AGAIN! He was running at recess and slipped on the mulch on Friday afternoon right before the end of the day. He broke it in the same place, same arm, and same fracture last year and if you'll remember... he broke his pinky in October. He drinks milk and eats cheese and the doctors assure me that he does not have brittle bones or something crazy! He is just a VERY ACTIVE little boy! I am praying that having this cast on for a month will help him to be more aware of his body, but truly I think that after we have endured some whining and complaining it will not phase him. One friend tells me that his energy has purpose... that's right... let's keep this in perspective. God has a plan and a purpose for everything under Heaven and our precious Braden is in that plan. Bummer that he has to cancel his gymnastics that he only took one class of and was so excited! Bummer that he might not get to ride the bull at the rodeo! Bummer that he can't do P.E. Bummer that he can't run at recess. But, cool that strangers are asking him how he broke his arm and if he is OK, cool that his little brother sat quietly watching him with wide eyes while he got the cast on and said, "I like your cast, Braden!", cool that big brother wants to sign it and all his friends too, and cool that Gramby, Pa Pa, and Nana get to see the cast in person when they visit soon!

I don't know what I am going to do with this little guy... but I sure love him to pieces! :)

"Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony." Psalm 6:2

One terrific speller!

Andrew took 2nd place this year at his PSIA district competition! The most awesome part of the whole thing was his attitude and genuine excitement for all the other winners and the fact that his school, LSA, took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for 3rd grade spelling! So cool! The crazy thing was that his friend, Jackson, also missed 3 out of 40 words and spelled transoceanic correctly and Andrew added a hyphen in the word. He said, "Only one tiny punctuation mark separated 1st and 2nd place... I can't believe it!" There is some pretty tough competition out there! Now he wants to start reading the dictionary to prepare for the State competition at the end of April! Go Andrew! :)

Lego Mini Build

We skipped out on Cub Scouts Tuesday night to enjoy the fact that we have a Lego store at our mall! The 1st Tuesday of every month there is a free mini build. This month they got to build a Leprechaun! So cute and it even came with a gold brick! Too cool for all those Lego fans out there! We ran into some friends for even more fun! Andrew built his in record time and Braden had a little frustration here and there because brand new Legos tend to pop off sometimes... who knew! Andrew was a big help to some of the other kids and Colton even got to build the $1 set I bought him. The night was topped off with dinner at Chick-fil-A at the mall. We are trying to figure out how to do this again next month!

Karate Champs again!

Competing as Yellow Belts this time, Andrew and Braden, participated in their Karate Championship! There were about 200 kids on the floor and can you believe that Andrew and Braden both competed at the same time!!! How frustrating! Colton and I got to cheer Braden on and take some pic and Tom got to cheer Andrew on and get some video. Both boys improved so much since their last competition. They ended up with a repeat of last time with Braden taking 1st place and Andrew taking 2nd place. Attitudes were fantastic, especially Andrew, and we couldn't have been prouder. Group pics are courtesy of Colton! :) Always so much fun to watch our kids show off the skills that they have been working so hard on!

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Hebrews 10:36