I Didn't Think We Recycled

Until I caught Carter paving the way for our family....

I was telling my mom the other day that I was so proud of Carter that he could go in and get a kleenex BY HIMSELF and wipe his nose. I always heard him and he would come out of the bathroom and clap but I never paid attention to the "after wiping nose" part. Well the other day I decided to watch him and well yes, he got the kleenex, wiped his nose but this next part well, just don't use the kleenex in our house right now because it might just be "recycled!"

No House Divided Here!

We have some friends who have daughters...one goes to UT & another goes to Texas A&M. Around here you see a lot of flags that fly shouting that this is a house divided...half one school half to the other. Well not here, at least not yet. Here, we go back to the roots of where this family started. We might live in TX and I won't doubt that a kid or two will attend a TX college but for now we are content, good, and happy with our non divided house. Our hearts are with ASU, well unless the Longhorns are playing of course! And Brooklyn and Carter made that clear the other day. Well actually Brooklyn and her style made it clear. I promise you I think this girl dreams about her outfits and plans in her sleep what she is going to wear the next day. This was the day she was supposed to wear her PJ's...ya know the ones she had layed out that she was going to wear, even though she had missed original pajama day. Well she changed her mind, go figure and decided her ASU cheerleading outfit (that is getting a bit small) should be the choice of the day. At that point she informed me as she danced her way into Carter's room that he needed to wear his ASU get up too...both courtesy of Nonie!

A New Kind of Red

So I still have a handful of Christmas pictures to post (who am I kidding I still have fall stuff to post) BUT despite that we have still moved on to a new kind of red. Kennedy might still be singing Christmas songs but the Valentine's Day decor has pushed aside all the red and green and taken over. We love anything with hearts or anything we can eat made out of hearts.

The favorite lately though is the Valentine's mailboxes the kids made. We are a family of note writers. We LOVE notes. We write notes on the mirrors, notes on scrap pieces of paper, lunch notes, journal notes, you name it, we write notes. So I knew the kids would love their own mailboxes to throw these notes in. We made a ton of paper hearts out of construction paper to keep handy for those love notes and there you have it. Our own mail station just in time for counting down to Valentines Day...oh and the best part is, it's all courtesy of the dollar section at Target. Although I think the dollar section was designed to help save money but it totally doesn't work for me. I have that mentality of oh, that's a dollar, oohhh and that's a dollar well all those stickers and cards for all those fun crafts tend to add up but they also add up to lots of fun especially on rainy days!

Which Store Today?

Oh this girl...this wonderfully creative little girl makes me smile. Truly smile (unless of course I am in an organizing kind of mood). I am amazed at her creativity, her constant creating, did I say constant. Her dress style, lots of skorts over leggings, leggings under pajamas, anything goes. The funny thing is it doesn't always match but she can pull it off, her own style. I love that she doesn't care, or at least think about what others think, a trait I pray she can hold onto when it comes to her own style. She missed pajama day last Thursday because she had the stomach bug, but laid out her pajamas tonight determined on her own that SHE will wear her pajamas anyways on Thursday, even if no one else does. This little one doesn't miss a thing, and if she does she will make it up herself and have a party for ONE!

Yesterday it was a bookstore, today it was a grocery store, and last week it was a game store/picnic where bananagrams pretty much ended up being tossed around from animal to animal. We did manage to spell a few words. I love her stores and I have determinted not to worry about cleaning and organizing while this phase goes on...she manages to take everything and anything mix it all up just perfectly and put it in any and every compartment she can get her eyes on and it manages to go missing for awhile usually.

Some Big Shoes to Fill

Carter loves shoes! He actually sits down when I ask him to so I can get his shoes on. He already knows what he wants too. I went to put on his tan sneakers the other day and he got right up, went over to the shoe basket and grabbed his red converse. So yes, he knows what he wants or is just learning real quickly as the lil brother of two big sisters!





The other day he went over to the shoe basket and grabbed another pair of shoes...not his tan ones, or his red converse but these big boots. As he sat there determined to get them on, the owner of these boots ran over and sat right behind him to help him get them on. No one cared that they weren't his shoes, no one cared that he was putting on girls shoes, the big amazing sister just saw what he was trying to do and went to help him. That's the thing with her, she sees a need and does it. Just does without even being asked! She is the one that will distract Carter and entice him with the whole "let's go play cars buddy" because she simply sees that he is bugging Brooklyn and getting into her project or whatever creation she is doing at that moment. She is THAT kind of big sister. The one I am so thankful for every single day. The one that I have to remind that God made her the big sister because he knew exactly what Brooklyn and Carter needed...He knew what our whole family needed. Thanks K for always being such a special, helpful and loving big sister...it's like I always tell you if I would have had a big sister I would have wanted YOU!

For The Love Of

Books! There is something that happens to each of my kiddos when they find themselves in a bookstore surrounded by all those BOOKS. It is fun to watch them scatter to "their section" and find ones that represent their personality and style. It is fun to watch Brooklyn pick up a chapter book and flip through it like she has been reading chapter books FOREVER because she sees her sister read them. Carter goes right for anything with a car on it or Mater and then settles on the sale books, because they are at his level and half have music buttons that he can push and dance to. And Kennedy picks them all up, the series ones and double checks the back cover to make sure she is interested...skims the shelves once more to make sure there isn't one she overlooked and finds just the right one where she starts reading it as we make our way to the escalator!

One Lucky Mama

I Am! One Lucky Mama to be spending my days with this little charmer. Snotty, chapped nose and ALL.





His eyes get me every time, big brown puppy dog eyes!

Today

Today we swapped a half emptied dishwasher, half put away groceries and dirty dishes for a trip to the pond with our stale hot dog buns to feed the...still trying to figure out what we fed, no ducks, but Brooklyn claimed the fish were AMAZING because they only ate the bread when we weren't looking. Apparently these ducks that are supposed to be there are snotty ducks that only eat from a certain human neighbor who lives around the pond and makes her own gourmet duck food...seriously lady there are some littles around here who only want to feed the ducks Walmart buns! We threw together some lunch from the groceries that were put away and Brooklyn even packed Carter's in a princess purse...I will take the help in whatever form I can get. And it's all about choices...do I choose to finish putting everything away and miss the small window I have left before nap time or do I forgo the mantra of "finish what you start before moving on" and enjoy the day with two of my favorite kids and know deep down even if I would have finished those two chores it truly is never done as a mommy and it will still be there when I get home!

Today we played a mean game of Monopoly...Pocohantas ("because she is the closest to orange mommy" and we all know Brooklyn's fav color is ORANGE!) vs. Cinderella. Pocohantas won of course!

Today Brooklyn insisted she be called Jessie and donned her cowgirl boots, cowgirl hat and dark denim jeans. And got a little crabby at daddy for calling her Woody. Daaaaaddddddy I AM NOT WOODY, Woody is a BOY and I am a girl so PLEEEEAASSE call me Jessie!

Today Brooklyn only changed outfits FIVE times and left everything else on her floor.

Today (for the third time) Brooklyn informed us that she was going to marry Ty and she just knew it! Oh and she was going to dance forever and grow up to be a cheerleader!

Today we missed Kennedy and counted down until we could pick her up at school so we could do snack time outside and play in this incredible, sunny weather!

Today was good...today was very good!

San Brooklyn

Here are a few pictures of the cute little guest of honor from the Christening on Friday. Capturing pictures was interesting...I was faced with train tracks that run behind where the tents were set up for the afternoon and the water, the entire Port in front of me with a very busy toddler in between. Pictures took the backseat but thankfully they had two photographers there that clicked away...I can't wait to get my hands on some of those pictures!

Tim reading Brooklyn the Proclomation from the Mayor stating that Friday, January 14, 2010 was officially The San Brooklyn Day!

Carter kept wanting to get off my lap and go check out the picture of the boat...but then he discovered the car he was carrying "drove" great up and down the shiny glass frame!

I love this picture of Kennedy. She was so proud of excited that day for Brooklyn in her typical graceful style, but also beamed when Papaw brought her on stage to give her some flowers and talk about the day he was able to name a boat after his 1st granddaughter!

Footballs: Footballs are a big thing in the business. Yes, they love football but it's a symbol from more of a coach's perspective. You join the "team" you will carry the ball for the whole team and be responsible, represent and respect. So here is Papaw giving Brooklyn her new ball. These footballs go directly home after in their acrylic cases and take center stage on dressers in the midst of bracelets, barbies, and dress up clothes...but there they sit and they are very special and now we have a big responsibility of watching Carter do all he can do to swipe that football out of its case!

But lucky for Carter he got his own mini football and was included in the christening too. This was by far his highlight as he proceded to throw it across the stage to anyone who would stop listening to the pastor and catch the ball just for a second.

The ceremony was not too long by adult standards, but kid standards are a totally different game. So these are some cute pictures as all of the adults were speaking!







As I sit here and type this I am looking at a giant canvas we had printed of Kennedy's special day. She is whacking that bottle with this determined look on her face with her proud and protective daddy guiding and watching over her. The same way he watched over Brooklyn on Friday. I love that these girls see how hard their daddy works. I love that they thank him often for working so hard for our family. And I am grateful that they have a love and pride for this company that brought us here to Houston. A place that I never thought I would be (heck I never thought I would be anywhere besides AZ, let alone a whole plane trip away from my family) but this place despite the absence of family has become home. A place full of life, friends, and more friends some who were there to watch this special day. Grattitude was what was on my mind that day as I sat there and watched...grattitude is what comes to mind as I see Kennedy a short 3 years ago, looking so young at only 5. Grattitude always!

San Kennedy Christening
Kennedy & Daddy 2008

San Brooklyn Christening
Brooklyn & Daddy 2011