Braden the Bobcat!

Braden has been having so much fun with his buddies from school in his new den at LSA! They have been working hard at their meeting and "go see its" (field trips) to earn their Bobcat badge. Andrew took this year off from scouting and has been helping to "mentor" Braden. This will be a really great thing for both of them! We were so proud watching Braden get his Bobcat badge. I think this will be a great year for him in scouting! :)

"You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory." Psalm 73:24

Women of Faith Conference

Oh how I have been wanting to go to a Women of Faith Conference for so long! Finally I got go and it was everything that I had hoped for... time with friends, laughing, crying, worshiping, learning, growing, more tears, more laughs, more worship! Amazing! Highlights for me: concert by Steven Curtis Chapman and Nicole C. Mullen, hearing from all the awesome speakers and being inspired to read Lisa Whelchell's book "The Facts of Life". For an added bonus my dear friend, Karen, treated us to a suite at the Hilton and we stayed up WAY too late talking and eating cheesecake! My new goal is to make it to this conference every year! October 22-23, 2010 San Antonio here we come!!! Who wants to join me?

Happy 4th Birthday, Colton!!!

How in the world did that happen? When did my baby turn 4? It seems like just yesterday I was snuggling him in my arms... thankfully he still does that sometimes and every morning he jumps out of bed and runs across the room to jump in my arms for a big squeezy hug! Oh how I treasure those! He and I had a great time making horse cookies and his cake for his party! Then lots of his friends came over for his Cowboy party! The big kids did a great job running the games; lasso the horse, huge ring toss, tattoo station, milk bottle toss, pinata, stick horse races, etc... Tons of western fun! Yee haw! Love you bunches, Colton! God made you special and we all love you very much! :)

Our beloved... Grandma Barb!

What a joy it was to celebrate Grandma Barb's birthday! As you can see she is thrilled to be surrounded by some of her very favorite "grandkids"! Only one is truly hers, but she loves them all so much! Our life is so much better having Grandma Barb in it! She loves on our kids and us too! It was great for the kids to have time to play together, eat pizza, and sing to their precious Grandma Barb! We love you! :)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was super fun this year with making donut eyeball treats, little Zinger bugs, going to the airshow and then heading to the Swiggards for their annual Halloween Party! Lots of friends were there and they had fun eating, watching Scooby-Doo, pinata, and the traditional Halloween Trick-or-Treat Hayride! Mr. Scott drives the hayride all through his neighborhood stopping periodically to let the kids off to scatter in all directions to trick-or-treat. This is a favorite for the kids! This year the boys went as "The Boo Brothers"! So funny! I don't think they will do anything like that again because it was so hard to see with their costumes on, but they were real troopers and kept their costumes on the whole time we trick-or-treated!

"When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3

Nana comes to visit!

True to any visit of Nana's we packed in as much as we could! We went to the Balloonar Liftoff at Johnson Space Center where we saw a balloon glow, collected trading cards, learning about ballooning, Colton freaked out when he heard and saw the fire, and helped pack up a balloon. Then we enjoyed the Johnson Space Center Open House where we saw lots of cool space things. The highlight for me was seeing Tom's office at JSC! It was so tiny, but was adorned with pics of the family, colorings from the boys, and MU memorabilia! Highlight for everyone else was being inside Mission Control! Mom and I also enjoyed Braden's Pushmobile Derby for Cub Scouts! You should have seen the determination on his face... priceless! We also has fun carving pumpkins, taking the boys lunch to school, trip to the beach, and the Wings Over Houston Air Show were we were amazed at all sights and sounds of the awesome aircraft! The Blue Angels ROCK! Mom and I also squeezed in making the boys' Halloween costumes, lunch at La Madeline, and shopping in downtown League City. Whew... I'm exhausted just thinking about that trip! Always so fun to have family with us!!!

Fall Fun!

Enjoying some great weather, family time and time with friends was great this fall! We spontaneously saw "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" with lots of friends after a soccer game, went to the Pumpkin Patch with the VanCise's, Frobergs Farm to pick out pumpkins, drove go-carts, Lego mini build... always so many fun things to do! :)

"Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God." Ecclesiastes 5:19

My Lego Master Builder...

Truly Andrew can build anything out of Legos that he sets his mind to. One day after some time in his room, which happens often, he comes to Tom and me and shows us his newest creation... a Lego bat for Halloween! It even has real black leather wings! He is so cool! I can't wait to see what career God has in store for him...

Growing up...

My baby is growing up so fast... he can write his own name now! How awesome to watch his growth and excitement and love for school and learning. Praise Jesus! :)

The L O N G wait...

After what seemed like forever... Braden finally lost his 1st tooth! His 2nd came out a day or so later while he was at soccer practice. Braden tried to wait until Nana came since she made his Tooth Fairy pillow for him, but he just couldn't wait any longer. After some whining and complaining... Mommy said, "Let me take a look." I plucked it right out as his eyeballs got HUGE! It was so funny! He was thrilled and even more excited the next morning when the Tooth Fairy brought him $1! Love seeing the delight in his eyes...

Soccer Stars!

Andrew, Braden, and Colton all played YMCA soccer this fall. They had lots of fun, improved their skills, and got some exercise. Sadly Andrew and Braden's team never won a game, but they had great sportsmanship! Andrew enjoyed it so much he wants to play again this spring, Braden loved running around backing up all his teammates with his power kicks, and Colton loved playing Red Light/Green Light with his coaches. :)