I...will...post...

I can't believe it has taken me this long to get another post on our blog! Later on, this post will be deleted...I just wanted to let those that actually follow our blog know that I will be updating the blog bit by bit and all the way back from April so it may get confusing. I will also try and keep up to date on current events for our family, as well. I found my little camera's battery charger finally so I got pictures off of it. No luck on finding my nice camera's charger, but I did get those pictures, too. So finally, we're coming back! Aren't you excited?

Chopped!

Well, I've gone and done it. I chopped my hair off today. I don't even know how many inches it was. I would have pictures of the before and after, but I can't find the cord to upload pics from my camera onto my computer, and my other camera I could have used has run out of battery life and I can't find the charger...hence the reason why I am also not caught up on the blog. Ugh! Life! We've also had a busy May! I'll put up some pics soon and show you. As for my hair, well, it used to go to or past my shoulder blades, and now it's much shorter...much, much shorter. It was not supposed to be this short, but give it 2 months and it will be exactly right, right? That's how it usually goes with my haircuts, and then I don't get one for a year and it's way too long, the baby grabs and eats it, you get spit up on it, it gets scraggly, it has no style, and it just needs some refreshing. So I went and cut it today after about a year of not cutting it. Crazy! It's fun and funky, easy to take care of, and Logan can't grab it as much. Alexa's turn is coming tomorrow!! You'll just have to wait for pictures!

*edited...to add pictures...even though as I'm typing this, my hair is now getting closer to the original length again!*

(Before)

(After)

Kudos to Aunt Catherine!!

My kids' Aunt Catherine (Paul's sister) received a very special award today! Paul and I were able to go to the dinner they served for the honorees and their guests. We felt very special being able to see Catherine get her award for being the Outstanding Senior in her major of Telecommunications Engineering at Texas A&M University. We are so proud of her accomplishments and are so excited for her graduation, too! She has worked really hard and I know she will be remembered in this major at A&M for a very long time. Way to go Aunt Catherine!! Gig 'Em!

Houston Fun!

My friend Jennifer suggested we go see the Houston Firefighter Museum and I jumped at the chance when we could tag-along with Paul on one of his business trips. Braden LOVES anything to do with firefighters and firetrucks. What a great little museum; it's a little hidden gem in the big metropolis of Houston. Immediately when you open the front doors of the old firehouse, large antique firetrucks welcome you into the inviting building. One in particular, the kids can climb all over. They have a mock set-up of the front of a firetruck where you can touch and push all the buttons and turn on lights and sirens, plus dress up as firefighters, and slide down a firehouse pole. It's a wonderful little place to go and learn about these wonderful men and women that help us everyday.
When Paul finished up his meetings, we then visited the Houston Children's Museum. What a fantastic museum, too! There were so many things for the kids to do and they even have a place to eat, which saved us from utter meltdown. Paul and I had a lot of fun! Ok, the kids did, too. It was so large, we only got through the downstairs, so we hope to visit again and enjoy fun times together. We are now finally realizing the close access to Houston we have and how many opportunities that are now opening up to us. What fun we see in in our future!

May Day

What a beautiful festival May Day is! To celebrate this welcome to Spring, we were invited by our friends, the Samuelsons, to go to their past Waldorf school in Houston and join in the festivities. When we arrived, we created crowns of flowers and vines all from everyone's gardens. We were able to bring some pink roses, rosemary, thyme, and lavender to share with everyone. Then we heard a little story about this new season among us and practiced singing some songs to go around the Maypole. Then we all gathered around the Maypole, took a ribbon, and danced (walked) around singing our songs. It was so beautiful to see the children walking with their ribbons until the pole was all wound up. Afterwards, we all sat down to have a wonderful meal together with food that everyone brought and the children played on the playground. It was a pretty hot and humid spring day so the kids were exhausted by the end...those are the kind of exhausted days I love, though.

Over the Hill!!

It's fun being 30 when you get a party thrown for you. Paul put together a little gathering of some friends and family to celebrate the fact that I'm getting older and can now kiss my 20's away. Ugh! I am now looked at by people moving into our ward as one of the "older" young mothers, if that makes any sense. The party was a lot of fun, especially since one of my best friends from high school (Melissa) came all the way to see me, plus other really great friends and family that I love so much. Paul had delicious food set out for us, fine bakery breads with meats and cheeses, plus other fun things to munch on. I guess Paul wanted to make me feel young by having his mom tell her birthday "cowboys and indians" story, which is usually told to younger crowds. It was hilarious to watch everyone yell out the sounds that go with the words as she told them...cowboys say "yee-haw!" and make a lasso movement with our arm, indians say "ahhh" as we pat our mouths repeatedly, horses we pat our legs to make the galloping sound, and when she says birthday, everyone starts singing the Happy Birthday song. It was great fun, and of course the "30 sucks" lollipop was proudly displayed on the finely decorated table. Oh joy!

"Thirty Sucks"

The kids now refer to lollipops as "30 sucks". Paul came home the other day with decorations for someone's special 30th birthday and a large lollipop with those words largely displayed on it and now that's what the kids think we're supposed to call them. Love it! The kids have no idea that what they say is really not something we would want them to say...unless of course, if you're me today, and it's your 30th birthday! So why not let them run around the house saying "30 sucks!"

So far so good, I don't feel too much different, but do look forward to the surprise Paul has put together for me. Today was also Stake Conference for our church and afterward we were invited to Catherine and Zach's (Paul's sister and her husband) home for a fun lunch. They had pizza dough from Double Dave's so that we could make our own pizzas. The kids got to put on their own sauce and toppings, plus they served me with a wonderful cake to celebrate the special day.
It was a beautiful 30th birthday for me and I feel so very blessed to be where I am today. I still wonder how I could already be 30 because I still feel 18 and some days I wake up and wonder where these 4 kids came from. It's so surreal! Being 30 may "suck" at times, but most of the time it sure is sweet!

Belated Easter

On my birthday morning, the Easter Bunny decided to come visit us, since he couldn't come when we all had the flu. Such a great surprise for me! He left some bunny droppings leading from the hallway door to the dining room table where all the baskets were filled with Easter goodies. The kids were so excited that Easter morning could still come to us, even when it was after Easter. Paul and I told them the Easter Bunny knows his stuff and would probably surprise us soon. Boy were we right. Afterwards, the kids dressed in their Easter dress clothes for Stake Conference which made me feel better about missing all of Easter. What a beautiful day to again reflect on the most precious gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Bleeding Maroon

Yes, we do bleed maroon in our family! We like to indoctrinate our children early. We took the kids to the Maroon and White Texas A&M football game with my parents and sister. It was a lot of fun to see the Aggies play against each other and wonder at what may happen in the next season. After a while, though, all we were waiting for was the promised fireworks at the end. If you have never been to a Texas A&M football game, I guarantee you will never forget the experience. Gig 'Em!

Bee Good!

It's not every day you look out your window and see a ton of bees flying around in the air in your front yard. I couldn't tell what I was seeing. Then we looked closer and found what looked to be a possible beehive. It turned out to be a bee swarm. The bees were moving homes and were surrounding the queen by hanging onto each other. It was amazing to see! We had a friend from our old ward at church to come over since he is a beekeeper/farmer. He was really excited to possibly be able to get the bees and add them to his collection. When he came he brought us his all natural honey from his own hives. Soo yummy! We woke up the next day and the bees were gone, so our friend did not get them, and we wonder where they went. What an amazing sight to see in real life!



In the picture to the right, can you find the bee swarm?>>>>
Hint: Look up!

Texas Bluebonnets

Being full-fledged Texans all our lives, Paul and I wanted to get some family pictures in the bluebonnets, I think for the very first time. Crazy, huh? I know we've taken some individual pictures of the kids in the bluebonnets every once in a while near Easter time, but never have we had pictures all together. Logan is also 3 months old and we wanted to preserve this wonderful moment in time. On April 8, our little family traveled to Navasota, a short drive away, and had heard about Washington on the Brazos (where Texas' constitution was signed) having good bluebonnets every year. I think we got there after they had a good mowing because their normal bluebonnets weren't there, plus we didn't have time to hike to an open field where they might have been since we were losing daylight. Bummer! We did, however, find a little patch near a ditch and they ended up being just right. I got a good workout running back and forth from the camera to the family to take our group picture. It was hilarious and the kids got a kick out of it! Afterwards, as we watched the sun set, we had a little picnic and let the kids play on the little playground there. We also walked over to the edge of the park where there is a drop-off to take a peek at the Brazos River. It was a wonderful and beautiful night to be together as a family. I'm so thankful for our great state of Texas, the Lone Star State. I love that we can take such beautiful pictures because of our state flower, the bluebonnet!

Friend Day

Alexa was able to take a friend with her to dance class today. We had been talking about this class for a little bit with her friend, Gwendolyn, so Alexa thought it would be fun to have her come with her and try it out. Annie is also in her class so Gwendolyn would have another friend in there, as well. At first Gwendolyn was a little apprehensive to go in...I would be, too, with a whole room of new people and loud music on...but she soon warmed up and I know Alexa sure loved having her there. They got to do some fun dancing around to music, play dress-up, use pom-poms, play games, and just feel like a princess.

The brothers got to come and watch, too, of course!

Braden is 3!!!

Braden turned 3 on Saturday, the 12th of April! It just doesn't seem real that he is now 3. What a precious 2-year-old he was. We have a little jokester on our hands for sure. He was definitely sent to Earth with a sense of humor. Our family has been non-stop cracking up at Braden over the last year. I'm going to miss his 2-year-old years and hope for the best in the 3's. My kids (and their parents) usually have a harder time in this year. Ahhh! Wish us luck!

Paul was at Youth Conference for church on Braden's birthday, so Mommy tried to make a wonderful day for her precious son. When Braden woke up, the table was set up especially for him as a surprise. The birthday ring was set up in the middle with his crown and cape nearby that he could wear the whole day, plus a package that had come from Grammy and Poppy. (Our presents are to come later so it was nice to have something there for him to open.) Later that day we went to the library since Braden had read about it in one of Curious George's books and asked to go there again. We got to check out some books and have some fun reading time. Then after naps, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's for some dinner and fun times. Braden loves this place and after putting coins into some of the games, he would come back and tell me they weren't working. How funny that ALL the games he put money into "didn't work"! He also was surprised when some mail came for him from GG and GPa and 3 dollar bills all his own to put in his new piggy bank! Both sets of his great-grandparents are pretty special! There were also numerous phone calls and people singing to the birthday boy. Sunday, when Daddy was home, we made some cupcakes together, and then on Monday, we actually went through his birthday story and he finally got to blow out his candles after the "Happy Birthday" song. For those of you who are interested in the birthday story, I tell of Braden being an angel in Heaven before he came to Earth and his guardian angel who was always with him by his side. Then the little angel comes down to Earth, by way of the Rainbow Bridge, when he is ready, and meets his parents and receives a name, I light a "life" candle, and from there I go through the consecutive years until his current birthday year telling of the things and accomplishments he has gone through as I light a candle for each one. Then on the current year, Braden's 3rd, I light the 3rd candle and then we sing "Happy Birthday" and he gets to blow the candles out. It's really a neat little story and really makes the kids feel special.

His birthday celebration will actually continue as Memaw, Papa, and Aunt Kimmie come into town this weekend. We are looking forward to that, as I'm sure Braden really is. Braden is so very special to us and we love him very much. Happy 3rd Birthday, Braden!! XOXOXO

You choose!

Wow, these posts are getting long! Here's a fun one. Since I'm talking about Paul, thought I would let our audience choose. He is not liking his picture on the blog so much, so I went to look for some more and realized I need to take more of him. Well, here are some of the choices. Please choose wisely to help Paul feel good about his picture that is out there for the world to see! LOL!! (This means Laugh Out Loud, for those that are still learning web lingo...Mom!) Love you, honey! Tee hee!




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And to be fair, here's a crazy bad one of me! Enjoy!