Carson Turns Three!!!

Wow, it has been a big week! On Monday, Carson had his Thanksgiving feast at school. He wore a homemade Pilgrim hat and sang Thanksgiving songs with his class before enjoying a whole bunch of treats (video of singing to come). On Monday afternoon, we hosted playgroup at our house, and Karen made another AWESOME cake to celebrate his birthday...Yoda looked so real! Then, on Tuesday, he turned 3!!! I basically spent the day spoiling him with chocolate milk and treats. I can't believe my baby is three!

Halloween - 2011

Once again, our Houston Halloween lasted for weeks. First, we had Trunk-or-Treat at Carson's preschool, then Brady had his "Storybook parade" at school. At these events, Brady was Luke Skywalker and Carson was Captain Rex. Then, we all went to a Halloween party where Jeremy and I were convicts, Carson was a police officer, and Brady was an FBI agent (he won best costume). Finally, Halloween came...AND MY NEW NIECE WAS BORN! Also, both of the boys decided to be Captain Rex. They went to a total of about 10 houses, and decided that they would rather hand out candy at home.

Make sure that you look at the boy's faces in their cop costume pictures. So funny!

A Lesson in Getting Down

I really don't know what to say...Brady is usually shy or silly in front of the camera, but tonight, in a rare moment of abandon, he opened up and danced his little heart out. And Carson, oh my, Carson...those little legs are moving a mile a minute. Put that together with Daphne's infectious giggles, and we had quite a scene. Tears literally streamed down my face.

Brady Starts Kindergarten

I really couldn't think of a fancier way to title this post. My baby is going to Kindergarten and I am a mess! I cried a whole bunch tonight, and I'm hoping that I will be OK tomorrow. It's just amazing how protective I feel...I want everyone to love him as much as I do, and I don't want anyone to ever be mean to him. Plus, I want to keep and eye on him to be sure that he's making good decisions! This new territory is hard, and while my brain knows that I will get involved in his new school and he will be really happy there, by heart is feeling like I'm just not ready! The bottom line is that Brady is ready, so we just have to get through these first few days and all will be OK. Sigh.

P.S. I added some other pictures of what the boys have been doing on their last few days of summer. Happy they were to dress up like Master Yoda and Luke Skywalker!

Bad Mom...Big Events

I just not downloaded the pictures from our camera and realized that I haven't downloaded them in a LOOOOONG time. Sorry! The pictures above document Brady's monumental preschool graduation, during which he closed his eyes and pretended like he wasn't there. Apparently, Brady doesn't like the feeling of "all eyes on him" because as soon as the ceremony was over he was fine.

The next picture is of the boys enjoying a treat on the beach on Padre Island, where we spent our family vacation at the end of June. We had so much fun...these boys LOVE the beach. I have started to plan a beach house into our retirement plan.

And finally, the picture of Carson in his Phillies shirt shows him holding the first 2 cucumbers that he grew in our garden. He picked out the plant and watered it, and we got a lot of cucumbers this summer before it stopped raining completely and the plant died.

Backyard Fun

With in-ground pools costing upwards of $20,000, we opted to have backyard fun during this steamy weather in our own way. The boys had a blast, and Jeremy even tried to show the boys a thing or two (not caught on video).

Put a Ring on It

This video doesn't show his best portrayal of Beyonce's dance, but it's the best I have gotten so far. The kid has 'tude.

Professional Pictures We Didn't Choose

I may have mentioned before that Carson was not that cooperative when we had the kids' professional pictures taken. Somehow, we got a few good shots, though. And these are some of the pictures that we didn't end up buying.

And...We're...Done (Or Are We?)

After having cake a playing for a while longer, the party came to an end. Then, Brady got to open his presents! He was such a good big brother, letting Carson open one each time he opened one. Brady's friends seem to know him well, and he got awesome presents. Thank you to all of our thoughtful family and friends...Brady enjoyed getting his "dollars" just as much as he loved getting toys. I think that Brady would say he had an awesome birthday this year...is it finally over?!

Carson: The Bubble Series

Regan took these pictures of Carson going crazy after my neighbor started blowing bubbles at Brady's birthday party. We call one of them "the thriller picture"... guess which one. I giggle every time I see it!

Carson in Pictures: Why is he so Funny?

I threw a picture of Brady in here, but the next few posts are going to be pictures of Carson. We have some doozies that might make you laugh out loud.

The Extravaganza Continues...

The week before Brady's big party brought us several visitors, and it was a fun and memorable week. First, Stephanie and the Rasamny Family came for a few days, and we got to spend time with Emmy and J.R. (of course, we loved spending time with you, too, Steph and Jk!), AND Aunt Reggie and Uncle Eric came and stayed for the party. Everyone was super helpful and made everything more fun.

At the party, the kids had a great time bouncing in the "jumpy house". (Carson was very put-out when the owner of the rental company came to retrieve his house. He kept asking where it was and why it was taken.) They also dressed up in pirate gear, fought with foam swords, decorated flags, ate goodies, and went on a treasure hunt! Jeremy headed-up the treasure hunt, reading off clues, and having the kids figure out where the next clues were hiding. It was complete chaos, but the kids had a blast. And, most importantly, Brady had an amazing birthday...he was VERY happy.

PS - In the picture with Eric, Brady has pants on, he had just spilled something on his shirt. I didn't want anyone to be weirded out.

Brady Turns 5: A Two Week Extravaganza!

It all actually started a few months ago when I started planning the pirate-themed party that Brady asked for. I, of course, went way over-board and will probably never have another party at home again (who's in charge of reminding me that I said that?) because it ended up being not as cost-effective as one might have thought (unless one knows me and my afore-mentioned over-board tendencies). Anyway, I will discuss the party in one of my next posts, but these pictures are of Brady's actual birthday. He took a half day from school, we went golfing as a family, and had pizza and cupcakes for dessert. It was everything that Brady asked for and we had an awesome time. After they go their PJs on, the boys disappeared for a bit, then showed up in the kitchen in full pirate garb. They had raided my treasure chest of costumes. It was truly a great day...I can't believe that my little boy is 5!

The Egg Hunt

Let's just say that I don't exactly have ultra-competitive children. Carson was happy to open eggs as he found them, and Brady stood around for a while before he got started. Luck was on our side, however, because the lazy kids in Brady's age range gave up as soon as all of the eggs APPEARED to be found. Brady and I found many eggs that were hidden in pine needles. Brains almost always beats out speed. What fun!

We were also so happy to see Daphne and the Torr family this morning. Daphne looked so adorable in her dress!