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!