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!

Let the Easter Party Begin!

We had such an awesome time at Redstone today. They had a totally kid-friendly Easter brunch that included a kid-level, kid-centered buffet (plus awesome grown-up food), the Easter Bunny, face painting, balloon animals, a jumpy house, and an Easter egg hunt. The boys had so much fun, and I got to enjoy 2 cups of coffee. It was a truly lovely morning.

Obligatory Easter "Front Step" Pictures

"Mooooooooooooooooom, Can we PUHLEASE be done?"

It takes a lot of effort to make a 2-year-old and an Almost-5-year-old look sparkly, so, darn it, I need to document this day. Stand still and smile!

Easter Morning: The Good, The Bad, and the Handsome

Good = Candy.

Bad = Having to put on a real tie and new shoes.

Handsome = If I have to explain this to you, then you are hereby exiled from this blog.

My boys were serious troopers about having to wear "fancy clothes" and uncomfortable dock shoes. They wore their ties willingly because they were "like Daddy usually wears". They even managed to only spill their breakfast on the satin chair covers at Redstone...none on themselves!

Happy Easter!

Santa Was Here

I know, I know...Santa was here in December and it is now February. Where has the time gone? Well, yesterday the groundhog (which Brady called a beaver...Justin Beaver, to be exact. What is he learning at school?!) saw his shadow, so we have another few weeks of winter. If it's still winter, I'm off the hook for lateness. Did you follow my logic?

Anyway, here are a few picture of the boys enjoying some of the same rituals and traditions that we enjoyed as children. Well, I think they enjoyed the cookies, but waiting on the steps while I took all of the pictures I wanted to take might not have been as much fun. Consider it a lesson in patience!

A Carson story: As soon as the boys came downstairs on Christmas morning, they ran to see if Santa had eaten the cookies they left. Santa ate everything except one piece of cookie, which Carson happily grabbed and shoved into his mouth. We all laughed so hard that he got startled and it scared him. He ran and jumped in my lap, hiding his face. It took a while to coax him into opening presents. Poor little guy, he just didn't want to waste a perfectly good piece of cookie!

Stay tuned for more.

Christmas in Pennsylvania, 2010

As usual, we packed a million fun things into our trip home for the holidays. Brady guilted the family into going to cut down a real Christmas tree, Aunt Boo and Poppy took the boys on the Polar Express where they met Santa, we visited Aunt Jenny's 3rd-grade classroom, made homemade cinnamon rolls, went to Great-Grandma Sara's nursing home, fed the horses on Grammy and Pap's farm, ate dinner at a ski slope, built a snowman, decorated cookies for Santa, went to the Please Touch Museum, opened tons of presents, and stayed up to greet the New Year (well, Brady did). We were sad to leave Nonni and Poppy's house. Now that we are back in Humble, the boys are very disgruntled by the lack of attention they receive!

More pictures to come.

Christmas Card Rejects

These pictures did not make our Christmas card cut, even though they were taken with my sparkly new camera. No matter who sees these pictures, however, I would argue that I have 2 of the cutest elves EVER.

A Very Celebrated Halloween

We have been to no fewer that 5 events leading up to this Halloween. Trick-or-treating was almost anti-climactic after the celebrations that took place this week...almost. The highlight of the evening had to be when we were home handing out candy, and Carson decided to hand out all of the candy from his own basket. Very cute. I must admit that I'm exhausted. Here are a few pictures to give you a taste of our fun. I will do my best to get some more pictures out this week!

Family is the Name of the Game

Christmas this year was really everything it should be. It's nice to think about the memories that Brady is starting to form...he really loves being around family, and Carson latched right on to that, and has jumped in to being comfortable with everyone, too. Actually, when we're home, they really don't need me around anymore!

Oh, and by the way, who is that little old man in the plaid pajamas?!

"Santa?...I Know Him!!!!"

After his performance at home, I expected Brady to be ripping open presents with little regard to anyone around him, but I was surprised to see that he actually took his time inspecting each gift and requesting that it be opened so he could play with it immediately. The only "rude" moment he had was on Christmas eve, when he opened his giant new pirate ship from Aunt Reggie and Uncle Eric. He pushed it aside, looking confused, and said "No thank you". Hmmmm...really?! I honestly think that he didn't understand what was in the box because he LOVES the pirate ship now, but his reaction was hilarious (to most people).

Carson, on the other hand, had little interest in opening gifts. Santa (and Santa's Grandma, as Brady called Mrs. Clause) should have saved his money because the only thing that Carson really wanted to play with was a toothbrush that he found in his stocking.

Here Comes Christmas!

Before Christmas, we had a great time visiting grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Then, it was time to zip up this year's Christmas PJ's and get down to business. Once Santa's cookies and milk were placed on the mantle, Tootsie the Elf disappeared to update Santa with Brady and Carson's good behavior, and the boys were allowed to open one present each, it was finally bed time for 2 hopeful boys...