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

Braden's 5th Baptismal Birthday!

If you know me you know how I love to celebrate and make every event something special! Well, we celebrate baptismal birthdays too! Here is Braden at his 5th Baptismal Birthday! We don't do anything too extravagant, just sing, blow out the baptismal candle, open a couple gifts, take a few pics, and Tom will read scripture. The whole day preceding Braden's celebration, we had been outside washing all our numerous windows and outside toys, etc... It was pretty gross with all the mildew and mold that had grown since we live in humid Houston. It was a fun day none-the-less. So when it was time for Tom to read scripture he had a twinkle in his eye and started reading about how we need to get rid of the mold from our lives, etc... I can't even remember the reference to share with you. I couldn't believe that my darling husband would read something so gross on the occasion of his son's 5th baptismal birthday! I just looked at him and reminded him of what we were celebrating and he went on to another verse very much the same. I guess I am in a house full of all guys and maybe this was cool to them... He did go back and find a nice scripture verse to read to sweet Braden. :) A cute story about Braden's Spiritual growth... when Colton was saying he was afraid of monsters, Braden put his arm around him and said (in the cute voice he only uses for Colton), "You don't have to be afraid, Jesus will keep you safe!" I love to see the hand of God at work in our lives, especially through the eyes of my children! :)

He did it!

Andrew took 1st place in Spelling at the District PSIA (Private Schools Interscholastic Association) competition! It was such a sweet victory since it was unexpected (he went last year and participated in Creative Writing and Storytelling and didn't place at all) and he accepted victory humbly (something we have been working on)! Not that I am being too humble now, but you can all identify with the sheer joy you feel as a parent when your child succeeds! My heart was beating so fast while they were giving out the awards I thought it would burst right out of my chest! Great moments like these make the trying times even more rewarding! Now we have more practice to do... We are likening it to Wii training if anyone knows what that is... Andrew is now state bound and the whole family is off to Fort Worth at the end of April for a short family vacation and another shot at the spelling competition for Andrew! To God be the glory!

Hey Tex!

You can't beat livin' in Texas! We love it here! Despite the hot summers, big bugs, and fireants, we have found home! I just love it when the boys get to pretend to be cowboys a few times a year. Here they are in their cowboy duds! Too fun!

Hope all y'all have a blessed day! :)

Build-A-Bear Fun!

What could be more fun than taking the family to create unique sleeping friends! We had never done Build-A-Bear before and we had the best time! We gave each of the boys a certificate to Build-A-Bear for their birthday and we decided to have a fun Family Night! Good memories... Andrew made a horse dressed up in a cub scout shirt, jean shorts, and Sketchers tennis shoes. So funny! Braden made a wolf dressed up as a Knight. You know he will be someones Knight in Shining Armor some day! :) Colton made a cuddly teddy bear dressed up like a cowboy in overalls and cowboys boots. So cute!