Still waiting on the honeymoon.....

2012-01-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

Malia does not have a room in our house.... so we gave her a wall.

Here is a close up of the amazing bow holder Ryan's cousin made for Malia for Christmas.

That is really all I have for now.... January is pretty boring.

So here are some more fun Malia pictures.

She is such a sweetie.

A really long Christmas post!

2011-12-26T20:36:00.000-08:00

In keeping with my 40 posts a year tradition, I have to cram all of Christmas into one really big, photo heavy post.

We went to many parties this year, attended a wonderful Christmas production at Second Baptist Church, and spent precious time with family.

Here we are with Ryan's family--yes it was an ugly sweater party--thus the turtleneck/sweater combo-- and yes, Ryan is wearing a woman's sweater.

Here is Kai being a Shepard in our church's Christmas pageant.

And here he is serving communion on Christmas Eve--how cool is that.

Here is Malia checking out the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve at Mimi and Paw-Paw's house.

And the boys waiting at the top of the stairs on Christmas morning. (Aren't they the sweetest)

Here is everyone opening their presents.

Ryan and I both got a new pair of Toms. Thanks Mom!

And of course the aftermath.....

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

I think I will try to go hibernate for a few days now.

Christmas Break

2011-12-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

This is how I spent my morning...

watching boys climb a tree (and watching Malia wish that she were up there too)

watching Malia ride around the front yard

watching the kids play hopscotch.

and making a new home for a rollypolly bug.

These all seem like spring time activities, but when you live in Houston anything is possible.

Push mobiles

2011-12-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned Kai's a Tiger Scout.

Ryan has done all the meetings and events so I honestly don't know much about what goes on in the scouting world, but I do know my boy looks mighty cute in his uniform.

This past weekend they had their push mobile races. Out of 17 teams, Kai's troop got 5th place... the last place that got a trophy!!!-- that is pretty impressive in my books.

Here Kai is getting pushed by one of his friends.

Here is his troop-- they are a pretty cute group of boys.

Maybe in the future I will be a better scouting mom, but for now, I am enjoying giving this one to Ryan.

Malia is Numero Uno!!!

2011-12-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

Malia is one today. (This year has gone by incredibly fast.)

Her very helpful brother was there to help her celebrate her big day (along with some other family and friends).

My favorite part of the party was watching her play with her present. She was so excited-- like she knew these toys were just for her!!

She is such a blessing in our lives. Thank you Malia for your big bright eyes and your easy going personality. Please do not grow up too quickly!!

My architect

2011-11-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

Andrew is best block stacker I know.

Seriously, 22 block, could your kid do better? I doubt it.

And he is so humble about his skill.

Look at the concentration. This kid is going places!!!

And he doesn't even cry when they all fall down.

Andrew is a pretty cool kid.

Andrew is Three!!!

2011-11-05T20:26:00.001-07:00

My sweet baby boy turned three today!!!

His family and friends were there to help him celebrate at his favorite restaurant.... McDonalds!!

He got lots of awesome presents.

Which he immediately opened and started playing with.

The best part, in my opinion, was singing the birthday song. Andrew was so excited, he joined in and sang with us.... smiling the entire time. (I have to admit, we practiced blowing out candles this morning-- so he was prepared.)

He had an amazing day.

Andrew facts:

He is a superhero (currently Captain America/ Batman).

His favorite show is Power Rangers.

He could eat cherrios for breakfast, lunch and dinner

He loves to say the word "actually" before starting just about any sentence.

He is the last to sleep at night and the first to get up in the morning.

His favorite book is What Pet to Get.

He loves to drum on everything.

He can be the sweetest, most loving child in one moment and the wildest, most ornery child the next.

He is one of a kind and we love him dearly.

Fall is here!

2011-10-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Get ready for picture overload!!

Fall is here and along with it comes Halloween.

We kicked off the Halloween festivities with our Church's Youth Costume Party. Kai got wrapped up like a mummy, Andrew got to play bowling with pumpkins, and Ryan got to dress up like a really good friend of ours, Mr. Steve!!

Next, we attended our Church's Fall Festival. The kids got to wear their costumes and play in bounce houses, ride ponies and carnival type swings, and climb rock walls. We were all exhausted after this crazy day.

Next we carved pumpkins. Andrew and I made a cat, and Kai got a "little help" making his bats from our friend Blake.

Last, but certainly not least, was Trick or Treating. Kai dressed up as a Clone Trooper, Andrew was Spider-Man, and Malia was SuperGirl.

We left home confident that tricker treaters would be treated well at our house.

The kids rode in style. Notice the sucker in Malia's hand.... she was one happy girl.

Not even the goblins could keep the kids away from getting candy!

And boy did they make out big!!!!

I think Malia is hooked!

Monthly Update

2011-10-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

October has been a little busy for the Roberts' clan.

Ryan and I went to a beautiful wedding for one of my childhood friends.

Kai got to go on his first day trip with the scouts. He went on a nature walk, played games, and participated in a regatta boat contest.

He also got to participate in his school's Storybook Character Pumpkin Contest-- and won an award for the first grade group!!

Then sickness hit and Malia, Andrew, Kai and myself all got up to 104 temps. We just had the really bad fever--so it wasn't too horrible, but it certainly was not fun.

Later in the month Ryan got to preach at church. I am always so proud of him when he gets up and speaks. If you want to hear his sermon, you can access it here.

Malia's accomplishments of the month incude: learning to go up the stairs, standing all by herself, and growing two more teeth. (she is up to four-- two top, two bottom)

(sorry for picture overload-- but she is just so darn cute!!)

Andrew has been his regular silly self this month, but he has gotten really good at saying his nightly prayer. We started a new one and he loves finding it in his bible story book and reciting it along with everyone.

Lord, give us what we need today

And be in all we do and say

Please help us love the way you do

We give back all our love to you

Amen

Free Night

2011-09-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

Since school started, we have had one dilemma after another. Ryan had a small procedure, then Malia got hand, foot and mouth disease, then Andrew and Ryan were both hit with the stomach flu epidemic of 2011 (which also took out half of our youth group). This, in addition to the usual stresses of going back to school, has made for a not so pleasant month.

Tonight, however, God gave us a break. Everyone was healthy and, for once, we did not have anything on our overflowing calendar, so we decided to sit in the backyard, grill up some hamburgers, and play in the sprinklers.

Hopefully we will have a few more nights like tonight, before it gets to cold to enjoy outside.

Back to School!!

2011-08-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

This morning was the first official day back to school.

Malia headed back to the infant room at Montessori.

Andrew started in the "big kid" class at Montessori, and Kai is starting 1st grade.

I love this last one... it shows so much of their character. Kai is lost in thought, Andrew is cheesing, and Malia is looking around seeing what she can get into.

My kiddos are wonderful!!

Weekend at the Lake

2011-08-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

There was a rope swing, jet skis, a hammock, and nature.

There was a ton of delicious, feel good, food.

There were no computers or cell phones. There was a TV, but it played mostly cartoons.

The biggest disagreement was whether or not to give points to baby talk or banshi as languages in a game of Scattergories.

Laughter was heard throughout the house.

It was a perfect weekend spent with friends at a lake house, generously offered to us by another friend.

Thank you for a wonderful memory.

Family Heirlooms

2011-07-28T06:22:00.001-07:00

I have been on a blogging hiatus the month, due to the fact that a youth pastor's family's life is extremely busy during the summer. One, or all of us, have been busy doing mission trips, retreats, VBS, or fun activities with the youth. It is times like these where your church family really does become an extension of your real family.

This past week we finally got some free time.... so what did we do, we busy ourselves with home improvements, of course.

These two items both belonged to late grandmothers: the mirror to Ryan's and the table to mine. They were both nice pieces, they just did not fit our personality.

It is amazing what a little spay paint and glaze can do.

Before:

After

Before:

After:

We have also painted two rooms, painted all the trim in the downstairs portion of our house, and are putting in wood laminate flooring. We will have those before and after pictures coming soon.

If you want more amazing before and after pics, go check out this blog. I give it credit for finally giving me the courage to tackle these projects. I am addicted to it!!

And a special thanks to all the youth that came over and helped with our various projects and childcare needs.... like I said earlier, we see you as family and I don't know where we would be without you!

6 months

2011-06-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have kinda glossed over the fact that Malia is 6 months old... I don't know why. Maybe, it is because having three kids is incredibly time consuming. Maybe, it is because she is growing up too fast, and I don't want to admit my last baby is quickly become a toddler.

I don't know the reason, but we can not deny that she is growing fast!! Here are her month by month pictures to prove it.

1 month

She was so tiny (Malia was my smallest baby, only weighing 7 lbs 1 oz.)

2 months

3 months

She is an extremely happy, easy going baby. She smiles at everyone she meets.

4 months

5 months

And here she is sitting all by herself at 6 months!!!

Just a few Malia facts:

She loves to eat anything and everything you give her.
She absolutely adores a little blue stuffed owl.
She loves to give open mouth sloppy kisses.
She is a waterbaby, just like her brothers.

We love you Malia, happy belated 6 months!!

Rest and Relaxation

2011-06-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

After Ryan returned home from his first (of many) summer church trips, Kai and I took a much needed break from the younger children and headed to the pool. We went to the Conroe Aquatic Center with some friends, and spent the day relaxing, splashing, and getting toasted by the sun.

The pool was really cool. It had two big slides for the big kids and a great play area for the little ones. Plus, there were so many life guards patrolling around the area that I did not feel bad at all for laying around in a lounge chair while soaking up some sun.

I did get in the pool to play a few time... and was able to capture this very rare footage of me being silly. Enjoy!!

Kai Van Gogh

2011-06-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Kai took an art class this past week. He went to class Monday through Thursday for 4 hour each day at Lonestar College in Tomball.

He learned about different artists, different mediums, and different styles of art.

He created many original masterpieces.

I think I might have to frame the shooting star!!!

My baby's got talent.

First summer project

2011-06-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

I used to have this picture frame on my wall.

One day, My darling little Andrew decided to throw a toy over the banister, and in the process knocked this frame off the wall and broke it.

Today, it is back up!!!

Here is a close up so you can see the crackle.

I don't know if I am going to add pictures to it or not.... I kinda like the open artsy look.

Summer!!!!

2011-06-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

Summer is here!!!

So is swim season!

Kai asked for a camera for his birthday.

So he took all of his birthday, good grade, and piggy bank money and bought one.

It is pretty cool, and goes underwater ( so be expecting a lot of fun videos this summer)

A very Special Day

2011-05-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

Malia, Malia,

God claims you,

God helps you,

protects you,

and loves you, too.

My sweet baby girl was baptized on Sunday.

My baby is 6

2011-05-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

Kai had his 6th birthday on May 25. We celebrated that day with some family and friends by grilling burgers and dogs in the backyard. The next day, we went down to the Galleria for a trip to the Lego Store and had dinner at Chili's, where they sang Happy Birthday to him again. We took a break on Friday from the celebration, but started back again on Saturday with his actual birthday party.

This year we had a party in our new and improved backyard (pictures to come soon).

We did crafts.

We played a crazy game.

We even had an Optimus Prime piñata!

Kai loved all of his cool presents and his cake was delicious... especially after having to hold the last note of the birthday song extra long because the candles wouldn't stay lit!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate Kai's big day!!!

Temporary Insanity

2011-05-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Why do people buy dogs?

They are expensive, messy and demanding. They chew on the side of your house, they knock over your children and make them cry, and they tear up your flip flops that you only left outside because you stepped in said dog's poop the evening before.

I blame it on temporary insanity.

Meet Theo, the newest member of the Robert's clan.

Mother's Day at the beach

2011-05-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!!!!!

My family headed down to Galveston with some good friends and family to celebrate this wonderful day

Both of my boys love the beach, and Malia proved to be a waterbaby too!

She loved playing in the sand.... Unfortunately, it lead to this.

Ryan, Kai and Andrew had a blast playing in the water.

They rode the skim board.

They played on the boogie boards.

And splashed around in the waves.

We dug a lot of big holes, which proved to be a very good babysitter.

At one point they connected the holes with a tunnel that everyone had fun squeezing through.

This is one of my favorite pics of my sister and me.

Two moms enjoying the day with their amazing families!!

Happy Easter part 2

2011-04-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday started by checking out the very hygienic Easter baskets left by the bunny.

We then headed to church for an Easter festival and a very powerful worship service.

(well at least most of us thought it was powerful)

After church, some wonderful friends asked us over for lunch and we spent the afternoon playing Just Dance on the Wii (fortunately no one was brave enough to take pictures of that)

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Happy Easter part 1

2011-04-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Our Easter started on Saturday, with a delicious dinner prepared by my mom followed by an egg hunt and dying Easter eggs.

Kai searching for eggs.

the boys

The pretty girl.

Kai checking out his loot.

Kelly brought over eggs from their pet chickens-- and the dye took very well to them.

Oh, and Did I mention I can make cheesecake now!!!

My Malia photo shoot

2011-04-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

No words, just beautiful baby....

These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-04-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

We probably take about 100 pictures a week of our precious children... Here are a few of my recent favorites.

Kai looking like an orangutan.

Malia twirling a baton.

And, I have no explanation for this one except Andrew being Andrew.

Zoobilee

2011-04-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

The family and I headed out to our first ever Zoobilee. It is a members only event at the zoo that includes hands on activities for the kids, animal interactions, snacks and souvenirs.

The weather was wonderful so many of the animals were out and frisky.

Malia and I charted out our course as we waited in line for snacks.

Andrew was a lion for one part of our tour.

We got to pet a big fat bunny named Andre.

We had a great time, but my back was aching after two hours of toting this little monkey around.

The many faces of Malia

2011-04-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

T-ball

2011-04-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

T-Ball season has started.

This year Kai is on a team with one of his best friends

Andrew really thinks that he should get to play too!!

The Kissing Hand

2011-03-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight I read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn to my boys as their bedtime story. The book came with about twenty heart stickers, which Andrew immediately started decorating his legs with. I kissed them goodnight and walked away determined to tackle the mountain of laundry that had piled up. About twenty minutes later, I heard Andrew talking in his room. I peeked my head into his room to see him sitting in his bed pointing to each heart and naming family and friends. Everyone got their own heart!!

I love that kid.

One for One

2011-03-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

The youth had a Toms painting party over Spring Break. If you haven't heard of Toms-- it is this really cool shoe company that donates a pair of shoes to a person in need for every pair purchased.

We bought 20 pairs so we helped 20 people, plus we got some awesome one of a kind shoes!

Go to the Toms site to check out this business or purchase a pair for yourself.

And a super thanks to our "Shutterbug" Lauren for the great pics.

Da Beach

2011-03-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach with some of our favorite people this Friday. We started out late and traffic was ridiculous (or was it redonkulous?-- that's for you Syd)

There were tiny jellyfish everywhere.

And Andrew and Maddie kept knocking down our sandcastles.... but other than that we had a great time.

We played a little soccer (even Malia got to play thanks to Blake)

had a little picnic

And enjoyed a lot of conversation.

Lent

2011-03-09T14:50:00.001-08:00

Joel 2:12-14

Yet even now, says the Lord,
Return to me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.

It is once again the season of lent, a time to let go of our burdens and give up our sins. This year Ryan and I have made the choice to give up eating out at resturants and to take up reading A Purpose Driven Life… a book we have picked up many times, but have never finished.

Sleeping patterns

2011-03-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

I love my Andrew. He always makes me smile, even at the simplest things. Take sleeping, for example.

This is where he started out his night.

And this is where I found him in the morning.

Sweet dreams baby boy.

Go Texan Day

2011-02-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Go Texan Day!!!

While the cowboys were riding into town this morning, we were attending the Kreinhop Hoedown!!

We love Texas and we love our little cowboys!!!

My glue gun at work

2011-02-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

This has been a very busy week for Kai.

He had his first science fair project.

And he had Sparky drive-in at Awanas.

We created a "Kai-fighter" out of a cardboard box. Here he is parading through the sanctuary at church.

He won second place in the "Made for Speed" category.

This was my second Starwars creation, and oddly enough I used a trash can and painters tape on both.

Learning to Sew

2011-02-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

Here is my very first sewing attempt ever!!!

It is a burp clothe for Malia (who, by the way, just turned two months old)

I still need a lot of practice before I am ready to make anything worth giving away, but it is a start. Thank you mom for sharing one of your many talents with me!!!

Redecorating

2011-01-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

With the new addition to the family, we had to do some rearranging and redecorating around our house.

Andrew finally got the big boy room he deserved!!

Kai finally got his bed raised off the floor.

And Malia got a corner of our bedroom all to herself.

(Not that she is ever in the crib)

Smiles

2011-01-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

Malia is starting to smile...

and here is the reason why.

3 vs. 2

2011-01-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

Here are a few differences I have noticed in having three children vs two:

1. You need two shopping carts at the grocery store. One for the kids and one for the food.

2. Someone is always crying or whining about something or someone, which means there is never a quiet moment in the house.

3. A king size bed isn't as big as it appears.

4. Having close "family friendly" friends is essential.

5. In the exact moment you sit down, someone (a kid, a spouse, a cat) is going to need something, and it is going to be "an emergency."

I have a sign that hangs in my kitchen that reads "Faith, Family and Friends." I am finding more and more that I rely heavily on all three of these aspects of life. I just wish there was a word that started with F that meant wine... because, to me, it ranks right up there with the other three.

A month with Malia

2011-01-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Malia is one month old!!!

Likes: a good tight swaddle, her NUK (aka pacifier), being held 24/7, and playing a game she has titled "let's see how many times I can can throw up on my mom and dad"

Dislikes: being put down for any reason, having toys thrown at her head by her big brother (guess which one).

Physical features: look at that bellybutton.... we still don't know what to think about that!!

Lovely little baby feet.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our first month together.

Enjoying daddy time.

A rare moment of sweetness.

Getting drowsy

We are still unsure of what to do with these tutus.

2011

2010-12-30T13:33:00.000-08:00

My new years resolution is to try to be more patient with those around me.

I think I am going to need it this year.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

Because of the new addition to the family, Christmas seemed very low key this year. We usually travel all over Texas visiting family and friends and then spend the night at my parents house on Christmas Eve and wait for Santa's arrival with my entire side of the family. This year we didn't do any of that.

Instead we joined my parents for dinner on Christmas Eve, attended a very good church service at Klein UMC, and then went home and put all three kids to bed.

Christmas morning we opened presents at home and then headed back over to Mom and Dad's house to to have Christmas with them.

Here are the boys with a few of their top gifts.

It was a nice and easy Christmas this year. Thanks be to God!!

Malia Nicole Roberts

2010-12-09T17:38:00.000-08:00

Miss Malia was born on December 7, 2010 at 6:04 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19.5 inches long. She has a head full of dark brown hair, grey eyes, and goes back and forth between looking like each of her brothers with each passing moment.

She was a super easy delivery. I was induced starting at 9am. I hit 10 centimeters around 5:30 and had her out in 5 contractions.

She passed all of her tests with flying colors and our first 24 hours passed with visits from friends and family and a lot of poking a prodding from nurses in the middle of the night--- why they have to draw blood at 3:30 in the morning is beyond me!!!

The doctors let us come home a day early-- since we are old pros in the baby department!!!

So we loaded her up and took her home.

Daddy is amazed at how little she is. He is already playing his guitar for her and singing her songs. He doesn't stand a chance against her.

Andrew was the one I was really worried about. Kai is a great big brother. He is patient and kind and sweet. Andrew, on the other hand, is a total momma boys and is very headstrong. He has not warmed up to her completely, but I think he will eventually love his little "Mia"

She is already completely spoiled, not wanting to stay in her crib and insisting on being held 24 hours a day and is already exhibiting a pretty silly personality.

I think she is going to fit in with our crew just fine!!!

We love you Malia!

Laughter

2010-11-26T18:07:00.000-08:00

This year I am thankful for youthful laughter. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I have never heard so much laughter and fun being had from all the children (and a lot of the adults) in our family. Here are a few of my favorite pictures that captured these moments...

"A laugh is a smile that bursts"~Mary H. Waldrip

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter" ~E.E. Cummings

"Laughter is an instant vacation." ~Milton Berle

"All you need in the world is love and laughter." August Wilson

"Remember, men need laughter sometimes more than food." ~Anna Fellows Johnston

"Laughter is the closest distance between two people" Victor Borge

"Everybody laughs the same in every language because laughter is a universal connection. "~Yakov Smirnoff

"A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks."~ Charles Gordy

"I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful."~ Author Unknown

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight."~Phyllis Diller

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Warrior DASH!!!!!!

2010-11-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

Okay so I got to experience my first Warrior Dash today and it was awesome. By awesome I mean, it kicked my butt.

If you wanted to see a detailed map of the obstacles and race click this link

http://www.warriordash.com/register2010_central_texas.php

The map doesn't do it justice because there was NOT 100 meters of this 3.2 mile race that wasn't a steep hill or slippery decent. I ran well and helped up a few people along the way.

The hardest part was the river run, which was a 100 yards of ankle deep to chest deep to ankle deep running. The other obstacles were fun and challenging. They including jumping over 6 cars, crossing planks, 15 feet of hay, nets galore, slides of mud, 40 yards of tires, and cactus fields.

The video and pictures are the very end of the run where you jumped over 2 fire pits and went under barbed wire (watch video). After you finish you get a medal, a banana, a beer, and a South American style riot hose down.

I ran in the vibrams, but there is a charity that people donate there shoes to after the race. The shoes get cleaned up and shipped over seas to kids without access or money for shoes.

We (Lindsay and I) are doing another Warrior Dash in Conroe in March. Hopefully you are motivated to look into it and join us.

By the way, we have a warrior in training......

Skillet and Toby Mac

2010-11-20T08:13:00.001-08:00

Last night Ryan and I went to the Toby Mac/ Skillet concert, accompanied by some of the finest youth around-- and a few brave parents.

Ryan thought it would be wise to get them all hopped up on Monster Energy drinks before the show and craziness soon ensued.

During intermission cotton candy replenished the sugar high-- and no they could not just eat it, they had to play with it too. And yes, Ryan did eat the cotton candy after it came out of his nose and ears!!

After the show, they somehow still had energy, and felt the need to show off all of their break dancing moves outside the Berry Center.

All the late night dancing paid off though, because we hung around long enough for ShonLock to walk out and sign some autographs for the guys!!

It was an awesome night and I hoped that everyone had a memorable time!! We love those kids!!

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

2010-11-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

Kai lost his first tooth!!! It has been super wiggly for a while, but yesterday, while eating a banana, it finally gave up the fight. Kai was so happy!!!

Here are the before and after photos.

Last night, before bed, Kai and I talked about the tooth fairy. He wished that she would bring him a Nintendo DS for his tooth, or maybe a 100 bucks. She was not quite that generous, but he was still super excited with the $1 that he found under his pillow this morning.

Happy Birthday to you, cha, cha, cha!

2010-11-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

Andrew is two!!

Andrew turned two on November 5, however we were unable to celebrate last weekend due to Kai getting Strep throat. So we postponed the festivities to this weekend and had all of our family and friends over for a little party.

Andrew was a professional candle blower outer and he got just the presents he asked for: construction trucks and puzzles.

Andrew would like to thank all of his friends and family for coming over and making his birthday so special!

My little nerds

2010-11-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

The cold weather has turned my usually active, rough and tumble boys into nerds!!!

This is how we spent the afternoon today.

Kai is working with Tangrams.

Andrew is working a 35 piece puzzle.

While I am on the subject.... Kai got his first report card this past week and made all E's in his core subjects. He has learned to recognize all of his sight word for the first 9 weeks and can spell 9 of the 14 correctly!! What a smartie!!

Andrew is busy at Montessori learning his colors and can count to 12, with a little prompting. He loves singing songs and talking about construction vehicles.

I love my nerdy little boys!

Happy Halloween!!

2010-10-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

This Halloween was non stop action!! We started off with church, then had a youth dodge ball tournament, ran home for dinner, then a night full of Trick-or-Treating with the boys.

This year we had Mario and Luigi!!

I did not have many options in my advanced state of pregnancy, so I settled on an soldier-- the camouflage disguised my belly very nicely. And Ryan, as always, was a cow!!

Andrew hung with all the big kids for about a block saying "Trick or Treat" in the sweetest little voice... then he quickly puttered out and had to be carried the rest of the way.

He somehow managed to regain all of his energy once we got back home and the candy was dumped out!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Pumpkin Carving 2010

2010-10-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

We have a yearly tradition of getting together with friends to carve pumpkins. Every year goes about the same. Ryan picks an extremely hard design to carve, the kids are interested for about 5 minutes then retreat to the playroom, and my friend Karey takes an absurdly long time to finish carving her pumpkin. (She is a Jack-o-lantern perfectionist, but we love her anyways).

Here are both of my boys gouging the pumpkin with carving tools-- which is a little scary to think about. Kai was actually old enough to help carve this year!! We worked on our pumpkin together and he did a great job.

Sorry the picture is a little blurry. Thomas the Train was by Karey. Celeste and Thomas created the skull and crossbones. Ryan made the cat in the window scene and Kai and I made the bat flying in front of the moon.

All of the boys loved the finish products. They ohhed and ahhed at all of their parent's hard work!!

It was a really fun night and before everyone left, we were already making plans for next year.

We are going to attempt to do it at someones else's house next year-- I don't think our play room can take another night like tonight!

I swear it was clean when everyone came over.

Andrew's First Haircut

2010-10-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

Remember this crazy haired kid.

We have been very reluctant to cut his hair, because, well, we loved it's wild nature.

It matched Andrew's personality.

Well, we finally broke down and got him a little boy haircut.

Except for a little nose picking, he was an ideal client!! He never screamed once.

I think he likes his new haircut. He bounced all the way back to the car!

Mod Podge Fun

2010-10-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

My mom introduced me to Mod Podge last night.

Ok, I had heard about it before, but never thought I was skilled enough to use it. I have very low self esteem in the crafting department!!

After my 5 year old and my 1 year old successfully Mod podged, I felt I would give it a try, and I got a little carried away.

First my boys and I made these spooky Halloween pumpkins candle holders.

Then I made a Thanksgiving candle holder and this fun little button ear of corn.

Then I made these two candle holders just for fun.

I love Mod Podge!!

Introducing....

2010-10-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Max Wesley James Doyle.

Isn't he just the cutest little baby. He is Scott's son and my new nephew.

Welcome to the family Max!!

My Music Men

2010-09-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight after baths, instead of winding down and relaxing like normal parents would want their little children to do, we decided to Jam Out!!!

Ryan was on the Guitar:

Andrew was on the drums:

And Kai was on the Flute??

Then he decided use his maracas in an interpretive dance!

We are not quite sure about him....

From the mouths of babes

2010-09-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Kai started up Awanas again last week and his very first task was to memorize John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"

So we were laying in bed talking about this verse tonight and our conversation went a little like this:

Kai: What does perish mean?

Lindsay: It means to die.

Kai: What does eternal life mean?

Lindsay: It means that after we die here on earth, if we believe in Jesus, we will live forever with him in Heaven.

Kai: Well, what if someone does not believe, what happens to them?

Lindsay: They have to go and live with the devil?

Kai: What is his house like?

Lindsay: Well, it is really bad. You don't get to do anything fun, or see any of your family or friends, and it is really hot.

Kai: So, the devil doesn't have AC?

Lindsay: Thats right.

Kai: If you live with the devil, do you really have to sit on a tac?

Lindsay: (laughing) Yes Kai, you do.

Kai: Well, then it's a good thing I believe in Jesus.

I really love that kid!!!

The Kings of Nottinghill

2010-09-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

We don't get much dress up play in our house.... so I cherish the few times we do. Kai got to be King for the day at school, and ever since then, royalty has ruled our roost.

I am not saying they always get worn correctly, but for some reason, someone is always sporting a crown!!

1st day of school

2010-08-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

KAI STARTED KINDERGARTEN!!!!

He played with cars, he drew a picture, his teacher read him story and he got to go to music class.

My little boy is growing up!!!

Destin, Florida

2010-08-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

Our family was in desperate need of a vacation after surviving our first summer of Ryan as a youth minister. So, we packed up the mini van and headed down to Destin, Florida for 4 days. It was breathtaking.

The beaches were amazing. This is the view from the outside of our condo. All we had to do was cross a street and instant beach fun. Kudos to Ryan for finding such a great place to stay!!

We spent most of the time just relaxing on the beach. Here is Ryan giving me his best model pose!

Kai "learned" how to boogie board, and spent most of of his time in the water.

Andrew and I ventured out some, but mostly stuck to building sandcastles and playing in the floats.

When we weren't out at the beach, we were shopping, playing, and enjoying delicious food.

We went to a gelato shop every night after dinner, and every night Andrew would wear his cone as a hat!!

We played miniature golf, rode bumper cars, go-karts and trains at a little amusement park.

(Ryan really looks like he is enjoying that train ride!!)

And did I mention we spent a lot of time at the beach??

Sleeping Arrangements

2010-08-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Now that we know we are having a girl, this pregnancy seems real, and is moving along very fast. The baby will be born right after Andrew turns 2, which is also the time of potty training and pacifier weaning and a million other things. So, I decided that with all the changes coming, Andrew and Kai needed to start getting adjusted to sharing a room.

Night one did not go so well. We waited until Andrew was asleep and then put him in bed with Kai. Around 3:00am they both came sleepily into my bed.

Night two went a lot better. Andrew fell asleep and again we moved him into Kai's bed. This time he woke up around midnight and just yelled out to me. I came in and got him back to sleep and he slept all the way until 6am., at which time he came running out of the room all excited because he discovered the Lightning McQueen night light I turned on in the hall the night before.

We will see how tonight goes!!

Galveston

2010-07-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

While Ryan is off on yet another mission trip with the youth, the boys and I decided to take a small getaway of our own to Galveston. We only stayed for the day, but that was all we really needed. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Pictures!!

2010-07-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

We had the kiddos pictures taken yesterday at Target. It was an exhausting experience trying to get a 20 month old to pose for even one picture.

We tried to get a brother shot, but it was impossible. Most of them turned out like this:

We opted to just go with the individual shots!!

Here is the best we got out of Andrew. I think it shows his true nature: cute and mischievous!

Kai, on the other hand, did a great job!!

This one is my absolute favorite. Look at my sweet, sweet boy!

We also got a few cousin shots.

VBS

2010-07-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

This past week was VBS at our church. The church looked absolutely amazing, as it was transformed into an underwater adventure for the kids. I worked with the three year olds, Ryan ran the Youth snack room, and Kai got to participate in all the fun. After VBS was over, Ryan planned a different activity every day for the youth to participate in. They went roller skating, played games in a park, went rock climbing, had a pool party, and went to Main Event. It was a great, but very tiring week. Here are some of the highlights!!

VBS fun!!

Playing football and Ultimate Frisbee at Burrough's Park

Rock climbing

Look how high my little Kai is!!!

Swim Party

Main Event

water babies

2010-06-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

My boys love the water, and Andrew wants to to do anything Kai does, so this past week, Andrew summoned up all the courage his little body has and took the plunge off the diving board at Mimi and Pawpaws. Once he got started it was hard to get him to stop!!

Kai started swimming lessons this week, and while he still has a ways to go skill wise, he has mastered floating (something I, unfortunately, have never been able to do) So to celebrate this accomplishment we went home and baked cookies!!

Vacation

2010-06-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

For the past two years, we have taken a family vacation to Glen Rose, TX to attend the Coleman Family Reunion (mom's side of the family). Last year's trip here and here was all about the dinosaurs. This year Kai, Andrew and I had to go without Ryan (who was on a mission trip). Luckily we had my parents there to help me out!!

We started out the trip attending Fossil Rim Wildlife Reserve. I did not really know what to expect...but now, I can not wait to go back and take Ryan.

The giraffes were, by far, the coolest things to see and feed!!

Kai loved all the deer.

We were a little afraid of the zebras, because we were told they might bite.

But nothing compared to the fear that the ostriches struck in our hearts.

These birds were relentless for food. They would stretch those long necks into your car and go straight for your basket of food. And they would chase after your car after you tried to move on. Kai was not quick enough in giving one of them food, and it reached in a bit his finger stealing the food out of his hand. The entire car load of screaming hysterically until we found out he was not hurt... then our screams turned to laughter. We quickly rolled up the windows and tried to get away from these scary creatures as fast as we could!

We spent the afternoon playing at the park and visiting with family and then, that night, we went to a drive-in movie to see Toy Story 3.

I had never been to a drive-in movie, so I was really excited about it, and it did not disappoint. This was truly a remarkable experience. Everyone was so friendly. Kids were running around playing Frisbee and football before the show. Families were all bundled up in blankets in the the back of trucks. Coolers were brought out and everyone was eating and drinking and having fun. It was a blast... and the movie was really good too!

We spent the next day at the pool and then headed back home to see Ryan. It was a great trip for a second year in a row.

If you are in need of some good, family fun in Texas, I would definitely recommend Glen Rose, TX.

Book Review

2010-06-23T13:23:00.001-07:00

Summer is the time to sit back, relax and enjoy the things that you really love to do. Luckily both of my boys are now at an age where they can play by themselves for extended periods of time, which all allows me to do exactly what I love to do, which is read. I have already read five books since the beginning of June, and I have a stack of about 7 more on my night stand. So here is my mini book review, just in case you are in need of a good summer read.

House Rules by Jodi Piccoult: This book is about a boy with Aspergers that gets charged with the murder of his behavioral specialist's. I figured out the ending relatively early in this book, but it was written so well that I wanted to finish it through to the end.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks: This book is about a girl who goes to live with her father for the summer and falls in love. Very generic, I know, but the book is awesome. The only down side I had, was every time I read the main characters lines her voice came out in head as Miley Cyrus I haven't seen the movie yet-- just the previews were enough to do it for me.)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen: I loved this book. It was about a veterinarian that worked for a traveling circus during the depression. I could not put it down!!

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline: This book was about a mother who sees one of those "have you seen me cards" in the mail, and the child in the picture looks remarkably like the child she adopted. I am not usually into mysteries, but this one held my attention, and I was surprised by the way it turned out.

The Carrie Dairies by Candace Bushnell: This is Sex in the City before Carrie becomes corrupt. It tells the story of Carrie in high school. It has all the same great humor of Sex in the City without all the sex!

Month of Kai

2010-05-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

Kai has had many accomplishment this month. He learned to ride a two wheeled bike, he graduated from Preschool, and he turned 5.

The preschool graduation was adorable. They sang God bless America, K is for Kindergarten, and then sang The Itsy, bitsy Spider and Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in both English and Spanish. The class also made a book about what they thought Peace was. It was hilarious. Some of the kids were very practical. To them, peace meant not hitting, no killing, no breaking toys... Others were a little more far fetched, peace is not kicking whales, or not killing goats, or not scaring guinea pigs. Kai said that peace was like driving a Lamborghini. I don't really know what that means.

Here is Kai getting his diploma.

Here is Kai hanging out with his friends after the presentation. They look so happy, you would think they were graduating from high school.

Kai's birthday was a lot of fun this year. My mom and dad were going out of town for his party, so they took him out of school on his actual birthday to have day just to themselves. They went out to lunch and they took him to Toys R Us and then went swimming. He had a great time. Ryan took him to see Shrek that evening and we ended the night going to his favorite restaurant, Taco Cabana.

This past weekend we had his birthday party. It was at Chuck E Cheese, and it was so much fun. We had 18 little kids running wild in that place.

I asked Kai what his favorite parts were of the party and he told me: the virtual reality roller coaster ride (pictured above) and getting tickets in the ticket machine (pictured below)

This has been a big month for Kai. He is growing up so fast, but is still the sweetest, most loving child a mother could ask for. I love you Kai! Don't grow up to fast.

A little update

2010-05-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

Life has been moving too fast lately... I looked today and realized I had no posted a blog in 3 weeks and have not thought twice about it... well we are in need of an update!

First and foremost, I am pregnant!! We are expecting our newest addition mid December, and could not be more excited!! I am trying to enjoy it because, God willing, this WILL be the last time I am pregnant. Three is enough. Everybody we know is rooting for a girl, but I honestly don't care. A girl would be fun and different, but another boy would be easy and comfortable. What am I saying--- no baby is easy.

At work I am drowning in TAKS preparations for all the 8th graders who did not pass the first go round of testing. I swear, we put so much effaces on these stupid tests that the students and teachers are both miserable. I can't wait until next Tuesday when it is all over and done with.

Ryan has been going strong with the youth group. He just finished up a successful 30 hour famine, we are both in the middle of a pretty intense Sr High bible study, and he is getting set for all of his summer mission trips!

Kai attended Kindergarten round-up last week. He was mainly impressed with how big the playground was--- but what else is to be expected of a 4 year old. We will be celebrating his birthday later on this month and he is patiently counting down the day until he turns 5.

Andrew just got promoted to the toddler room at Montessori, and he seems to be learning a new word everyday. Right now his favorites are: mine, choo-choo, car and NO!! He also loves to point out and all of your facial features...and his favorite time to do this is when you are rocking him to sleep at night. You think he is just about to drift off and he will suddenly reach up with his little sweet hand and say nose, eye, mouth, all the while pointed them out to you in a not so gentle way.

Well, that about wraps up our last three weeks. I will try not to be such a procrastinator in the future.

Play ball!!

2010-04-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

Kai started T-ball this year. He is in a 4 and 5 year old league that seems to have no rules other than everyone gets to bat, and everyone get to score.

His team is the Astros, and miraculously they have won every game they have played this year... something we can't quite say for the real Astros.

Here he is up at bat.

Look at the concentration on this face.

This week he found a bug on second base... he had to carry it over to the third base coach for a little show and tell.

He had a lot of action out in the field. He played short short stop (no that is not a typo-- I meant to write short twice) His position was a little in front of and to the right of the pitchers mound. They don't hit it very far at age 4!

So if you are not doing anything Saturday morning... come on out and see a game. It is guaranteed fun.

Smelling the flowers

2010-04-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

I love going to Mercer Arboretum. It is such an easy and fun outing, and you always leave with great pictures!

We have a family tree picture frame that we have filled with pictures taken at Mercer, and unfortunately, we are just now getting around to adding Andrew to it.

I don't know why I added this last picture. It just makes me laugh!

Easter Egg Madness

2010-03-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight we dyed Easter eggs. It was chaotic, creative, and fun.

We attempted some pretty Martha Stewart Eggs. I have tried many of her techniques in the past with little to no success, but this year... the eggs actually turned out pretty good.

Not too shabby, if I say so myself (these were mine, in case you didn't get that)

Kai was his usual talented self.

While, Andrew had mixed emotions about the whole process.... I think we pushed him a little too close to bed time.

Boys and Spring time

2010-03-28T11:36:00.001-07:00

The energy that comes with Spring is always amazing to me. Seeing people out working in their lawns, walking with their families around the neighborhood, community parks crazy with children playing a laughing . It is just so rejuvenating and uplifting.

Here are just a few fun Spring time shots I got this weekend of the boys.

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain it." Psalm 51:12

Spring Break Log- Day 4, 5, 6

2010-03-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

Off to New Orleans for a couples weekend!!!!

Here are a list of the characters: Ryan, Joey, OB, and Chris (all former College Station Bennigan Employees)

And their wives Lindsay, Gina (also Bennigans employees) Karey and Alex

We hit all the hot spots and did all the things you have to do in New Orleans.

We ate Beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde

We hung out on the pier and shopped at the markets.

We ate delicious seafood on a balcony on Bouban Street.

We stopped and watched some very talented street performers.

We took in the sights and local artwork.

And just had a great time exploring in the beautiful weather that we were blessed with.

It was a very relaxing and fun trip...my only complaint is that we did not have enough time to spend there.

Spring Break Log- Day 2 & 3

2010-03-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

Day 2- Chill Day. I started out the morning tap dancing with the wonderful Tap Happy Dancers at our church for The Gathering, a mission group that works with people with Alzheimer's. The afternoon was spent lazily hanging around the house. Then, for dinner we went over my friend, Celeste's, house for burgers.

Day 3- Rodeo Carnival!!!. However, it is late, and I am tired and sun burnt, so I will let the pictures tell our story.

What a day!!!

Spring Break Log- Day 1

2010-03-15T21:11:00.001-07:00

Today was the first official day of Spring Break. Kai and I went to the library and park-- where we did some exploratory wandering and found lots of cool stuff to do the next time we are there ( Kai quote-- "next time I am bringing my bike and my fishing pole") We headed home to meet Ryan and Andrew for some backyard fun... it went a little like this.

We started out watering the plants... which led to this.

Which led to this...

Which, of course, led to this...

Which oddly led to this...

I never thought I would be able to say I had sunbathing beauties raising two boys, but they always surprise you.

We ended the night hitting tennis balls-- we didn't play a real game, because I can not play tennis. Ryan was just happy I didn't hit any balls over the fence.

It was a fantastic first day of Spring Break. Stay tuned for more.

playing hookie

2010-03-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday we all played hookie from work and school and went to the zoo to celebrate Ryan's birthday. It was awesome. We decided to take it slow and just see the animals we really wanted to see. Kai wanted to see the lions, which were actually awake and frisky today. Andrew and I marveled at the elephants, while Ryan took pictures of everything!! It was a great day. We finished it off with Freebirds for lunch, followed by naps and relaxation, then dinner at Pappasitos with friends. Happy Birthday babe!!!

Lent

2010-02-23T18:18:00.001-08:00

We had our first really challenge tonight with lent. This year we gave up bread, do-nuts, pancakes, pizza, and chips. It is a random list, I know, but they are all foods we eat on a regular basis. Anyways, tonight, to celebrate my mom's birthday, we went to a mexican restaurant.... and we could not eat the chips and salsa. I don't know about you, but I sometimes rate my mexican restaurants based on the chips and salsa alone. It was really hard to resist the salty goodness of chips, in fact, it made Ryan down right cranky (well, that, and our kids were a little out of control-- I don't know which was a bigger factor in his bad mood)

However, we persevered-- just like Jesus. I know, I know... I am 100% positive that Jesus had much more difficult struggles during his forty days of isolation-- and I can not in my right mind, compare myself to the awesomness that is Jesus... but really, isn't that why we celebrate lent. Lent reminds us of how Jesus struggled here on Earth and triumphed over the temptations that we all too often give in to. It gives us a chance to reflect on him when we are tempted. And it allows us to praise him to others who often question our "irrational behavior"--- like going to a mexican restaurant and not eating chips... or passing up chocolate when it is offered to you.

I always enjoy the season of lent. It is challenging, it is spirit awaking, and it usually allows me to drop a few pounds!

She's Crafty

2010-01-25T18:17:00.001-08:00

We are generally not very crafty people... but lately Ryan and I have been working together and coming up with some unique ideas for our house.

We, for some reason, have an over abundant supply of wine corks in our house... so we put them to use as psudo-candlesticks. We are also going to make picture frames out of them in the near future... but Walmart is all out of mini glue sticks, so we will have to wait on that project.

Then, I got snippy with a magazine and made this picture of Ryan and me.

And, finally, I recovered and bordered a bulletin board to cover up an unsightly hole in our kitchen. I made push pens out of old buttons Ryan's dad gave us (which he like to claim were his only toy growing up).

My Provider

2010-01-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

Ryan usually does not work 12 hour days, but today he had to. When he got home tonight he saw that I was getting Andrew to sleep, so he went directly upstairs and did what he needed to do, which was get Kai to brush his teeth, read him a story, and get him to bed. He then came back downstairs, ready to watch some tv, eat dinner, and relax, and the first words out of my mouth were, "we need milk". So, he dutifully got his keys and went to the store(which was in hte middle of restocking-- and he had to wait for someone to go get him whole milk from the back-- of course the trip could not be easy). It is now 9:50 and my wonderful husband is finally home for the night. There is really no reason for this blog except to brag on Ryan... so let me just way that my husband is awesome!!

A little Update

2010-01-05T19:16:00.000-08:00

So it has been a month.... Where to start.

Christmas was wonderful we got to see all of Ryan's family and most of mine. Christmas was marked by the usually Christmas pajamas, Christmas story by Paw-paw and Christmas picture on the stairs. The kids got a swing set for the backyard, Star Wars legos and a Police car cozy coupe. My top gifts were my salad spinner, my Pioneer Women Cookbook, and some super soft sock slippers (how boring am I). Ryan got the Glo bible, the game Blockus (a big hit with the entire family) and a cowbell. ( Pictures to come soon)

New Years was very low key. We spent the evening at home playing games and popping firecrackers. This year was great because Kai somehow lost his fear of fireworks, so much so that he even held a roman candle in his hand (and that was even after Ryan shot himself in the foot with one!!)

Our biggest news of the New Year is that Ryan is quitting teaching to become the full time Youth Minister at our church. He has been filling the position part time for about two months and we have all been running around like chickens with our heads cut off!! ( I don't think there is really ever a part time youth minister-- he has worked full time at all three of his jobs- teacher, youth minister, and father/ husband) He officially starts on January 15 and the entire family will take a collective sigh of relief. I am so proud of him for pursuing this profession and I hope that it somehow helps to bring all of my family closer to the church, and most importantly, God.

Dinner, anyone??

2009-12-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

This is how our dinner went tonight.

With a side of this.

It was fun.

Tis the season for Santa

2009-12-01T18:36:00.001-08:00

How cute is my little man!!

We made his list before our visit, so he was a man on a mission. He only had 6 items on his list which I thought was pretty good!!

Andrew was not quite as excited about seeing Santa.

My New Hobby

2009-11-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

I am making a new hobby out of running. I have done 4 5k races so far this year and am planning one more before the year is over.

Here are my stats (be it not very impressive to real runners)

July 4th Run Wild -- I walked

Oct 3rd- Susan G Komen Race for a Cure- 34 minutes

Oct. 31st- The Great Pumpkin Race- 28 minutes

Nov. 19th- NHCC Turkey Trot- 28 minute

Ryan did the last two race with me, coming in at 24 minutes and 21 minutes ( a little more impressive)

We have one more race this year, the Jingle Bell race in December, and Ryan and I are both trying to shave a minute off our time.

I will keep you posted.

12 months of Andrew

2009-11-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

My baby is one... Man this year has gone by fast.

Andrew is the sweetest, happiest baby I have ever met(besides Kai, of course). He is full of giggles, and smiles, and babble talk and is just so adorable.

Here are some one year stats:

He is 23lbs.

He has 8 teeth.

He can walk!!!

He eats anything and everything.

He loves his whole milk... and is adjusting well to a sippy cup.

He almost sleeps through the night ( he usually just wakes up once to get moved from the crib to mom's bed, where he snuggles in close and immediately falls back to sleep)

I am so happy I took all of these pictures. It is amazing how much he has changed over the course of a year, and it is funny to look back at him in all the different stages of infancy. My baby is growing up way too fast.

Happy Birthday Andrew, We love you!!

Costumes

2009-11-01T20:57:00.001-08:00

Here are the much anticipated Halloween costumes....

Kai had a blast but his costume lasted all of about three houses before he got too tired and wanted to take it off...

This was my first attempt at a homemade costume, but I have to admit, I was quite happy witht the results.

We went to a party at my sister's house and had a lot of fun eating, and trick or treating, and just hanging out. We were all pooped the next day.

Happy Halloween!!!

Silly Faces time

2009-10-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

Piggybacking on my previous post.... One of Kai and Ryan's favorite times is "silly face camera time". Here is there last photo session:

There are two of a kind... and I love every goofy thing about them.

Bath time

2009-10-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

My boys love bath time... they can spend 30 minutes to an hour in the tub if I let them. Sometimes, I don't mind; sometimes I get bored. Tonight was one of those nights. So I entertained myself by seeing how many letters I could stick on them at one time!! Kai was all about it. Andrew was too, but he was too impatient to wait on the camera.

It's all the silly little things we do that makes me love being a parent.

Simple fun... that is what it is all about. Here are few more examples of how we spend our time.

Movie time

Sock em Bop ems time

Playing in puddles time

Getting back to normal

2009-09-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Blogging has not been very high on my list of priorities lately. School is now in full swing and we are finally getting into a schedule that flows. It has been a rough start to the year, however. A stomach bug knocked out our entire family the very first week of school. Then about two weeks later, Ryan got the flu, and was out of it for about another week. Now Andrew and I both have sinus infections....

In other news, school is going good for both Ryan and me. I love working at the same school as him and I am enjoying getting to know all of my colleagues. The students are very sweet, and I think it is going to be a great year. Ryan is in the middle of cross country season and I am about to get trained to be a member of the peer mediation team. So, we are both very involved on campus, and the hours are longer then I had last year, but I think it will all be worth it.

Kai is back in Awana's at Second Baptist and he is loving it, especially because it gives him an opportunity to see his grandparents and his cousins every week. He is also about to start karate at his school, so look out Pawpaw.. Kai will be learning some new moves!!

Andrew is now 10 moths old!!! He is standing up without support and loves trying to walk with the aide of his push toys. I don't think it will be very long now until he is running around the house with Kai. He is sleeping in his own crib, which is a huge milestone in this Roberts' family and he is eating everything in sight. Needless to say, he is doing great!

The Happy Couple

2009-08-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend Ryan and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Mom was gracious enough to watch the kiddos while we went out. We went to The Melting Pot for dinner and then went bowling. We were very grateful that we got a little time together to celebrate our marriage.

Last day of summer

2009-08-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of summer, and while we are a little sad to see it go, I think we are all ready to get back into the routine and schedule of school. We celebrated with swimming, an all time summer favorite!! Mom cooked up an awesome meal (and gave us the leftovers for our lunches tomorrow--- you got to love moms!) and we had brownies and cookies for dessert!! Here are a few highlights of the evening.

Part 2, finally

2009-08-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I tried to to let Ryan finish his blog.... but he has seemed to forget about it, so I will pick up on the tale of our mini vacation get away.

We visited Glen Rose, Texas to attend a family reunion for my mom's side of the family. Glen Rose is known for it's dinosaurs... so naturally, we had to visit Dinosaur World while in town.

After our trip to the Jurassic era, we headed over to Dallas to visit some old friends. We took the kids to the Dallas zoo, and while they might not have as many animals as some other zoos... the exhibits were great and we were able to get up close and personal with a lot of the animals.

These are my favorite pictures. This Mandrill just came up and started interacting with Kai and Andrew. Here Kai is pretending to scratch his nose like the mandrill. Then, when he saw Andrew, the mandrill put his hand up on the window and they had a moment. It was super cool!!

Here are few more pics at the zoo.

If you have kids I would definitely recommend buying a membership to the Houston zoo. It was $85, but you get unlimited visits to the zoo, plus you get into more than 100 other zoo free, including the Dallas zoo, the San Antonio zoo, and the Aquarium in Corpus Cristi. It is a great deal!!

Dinosaurs and Zoo… (part 1)

2009-07-28T14:22:00.001-07:00

Well we decided to head up to Glen Rose for Lindsay’s family reunion. We were sad that Gundy (Lindsay’s Grandma) didn’t come, but we did have a great time with the rest of the family. Kai played with Holden (2nd cousin) quite a bit. It is always nice to have another child around to run around with Kai.

This trip was also Kai’s (and Andrew’s) first trip in a hotel.

Friday night we went to Dinosaur Valley State Park to see the actual dinosaur tracks. It was awesome. I’m sure we are walking where dinosaurs walked all the time, but seeing their tracks is a very cool experience. All the prints we saw were prints of a theropod, which is basically a three toe carnivore.

I also tried to teach Kai and Holden how to skip rocks, but it didn’t go as

smooth as you would think…

The next day we got up and had breakfast then decided to check out an awesome city park that had huge rocks that were once on the bottom of a riverbed.

Don’t worry Andrew… We’ll have to finish this story in another post…

Big Brother, Little Brother

2009-07-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Here are my boys sporting Ryan's and his big brother's old t-shirts. Thanks Grandma GiGi for saving them for us!

Kai is such a great big brother. He is always checking on Andrew in his crib, running upstairs for me when I need a pacifier or a blanket, he lets Andrew wallow all over him, and he is always trying to make Andrew laugh... which is pretty easy to do, because Andrew is gaga over Kai. His face immediately lights up whenever his big brother plays with him.

We are truely blessed to have such sweet, easy going, happy children.

The Greatest show on Earth

2009-07-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

" Can I have monkey bars added to my bedroom ceiling?" Kai Roberts, 4 years old, after his first trip to the circus.

Last night we went to the circus, and it was awesome. We took Emma, Coleman, and Kai and we all had a blast. We got there early so that we could attend the preshow, which consisted of seeing the animals and clowns up close. We got to try on costumes, watch juggling/ clown acts, and see an elephant paint a picture. We were amazed at how big the tigers were and we all thought it was funny that the main elephant's name was Kelly.

I talked to my mom, who kept the kids last night, and she told me that Emma and Coleman spent the morning trying to spin paper plates on yardsticks, and Kai was reenacting the animal scenes, including the goat who rode the horses, with all of his little plastic animals.

I think this will become a yearly trip!!

Summer update

2009-07-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Blogging has obviously not been my top priority over the summer. We have been too busy having fun.

Kai and I went to a baseball game with our friends.

We celebrated the forth of July with my parents and Emma and Coleman.

And we went to the Science Museum.

We got to check a few more items off our list... only about 70 more to go.

Kai is my Superhero

2009-06-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

I hope that Kai always has a little superhero inside of him... because this afternoon he conquered the world!!

MiMi and Paw Paw's pool o fun!

2009-06-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

All the crazies were swimming a MiMi and PawPaw's today. Here is a quick video of them playing starwars. Coleman has some serious Jedi moves!!

Summer lovin...

2009-06-23T19:24:00.001-07:00

I have been severely neglecting my blogging, but only because our summer has been so busy and fun and I have not had time to sit down in front of a computer for very long. Every summer I make a list of summer activities we need/want to do. This year, Ryan challenged me to make a list of 100 fun family activities to do, and I did... so we have been keeping tackling the list. We have been on a road trip through East Texas visiting friends and family, took a trip to the zoo, went to two awesome birthday parties (one at a water park and one at a jump center), went to the library, and have spent endless hours at the pool. This past week has been all about home improvement. Ryan and I redecorated Kai and Andrew's playroom and Ryan planted a huge magnolia tree and two crepe mertyls in the backyard. Here are a few pictures...

The first two are at the zoo, the last one is just for fun.

Scott's in Europe!!

2009-06-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

My brother, Scott, is backpacking all over Europe. He is an insanely lucky guy who just seems to happen upon great experiences. They are currently staying in a beautiful home that over looks the sea and belongs to a family that they met along the way... I mean really, nothing like that ever happened to me when I was in Europe, I had to stay is crappy hostiles and sleep on the train... but I am not jealous, I am happy he is having a great time. He has a website where he is blogging random things about his adventure... http://toobored.com/

Go check it out and hear a cool song performed by him and his Ukulele.

While he is living it up over seas, we are dog sitting for my sister and her family while they are vacationing in Florida...

Look at this sweet little baby!! She loves Andrew's pacifiers so we finally caved and gave her one of her own.