17 months today!

Rance today...

...and one year ago.

(at 5 months)

And what a wonderful 17 months it has been!

Love ya baby boy!

Memorial Day

Today we did what many others chose to do on Memorial Day, take the boat out on the lake. While the brisket and grilled corn were cooking, Trevor, Colton, Bri, Sadie, Rance, myself, and of course Spike, headed out this afternoon on the pontoon boat. We rode around for awhile sight seeing. It has been a very long time since we were able to go out on the lake. I can't remember exactly how long ago it has been, but I know we were able to go out maybe once back in 2006 before the lake went way down. We had a dry creek bed out back. Last year I didn't go at all since Rance wasn't really big enough to fit properly in the life jacket. How can they label an infant jacket for sizes 0-50 pounds? Seriously people. Anyway, it was nice to be on the lake again. This was Rance's first boat ride. He really enjoyed himself except for, you guessed it, the life jacket. Sure, he fits in it but when he tried to sit down, it pushed up under his chin. The water wasn't too bad either. I believe the temp was around 62*. I could stand it only to about thigh deep. The kids swam way out to about chest deep. Rance also wasn't to keen on playing in the water, but seemed content digging in the sand.

Kaitie update

Kaitlin came over this morning for us to take her to school as prearranged earlier this week. I wasn't sure if she would be going to school today, but she did. She told me there was no fracture or concussion. Looks like it was a superficial wound that required a few stitches. She did have to take Advil for a headache though. Please continue keep her in your prayers. Thank you Lord!

Um bite!

Rance had his first taste of a chicken leg for supper last night. As some of you know, when he finds something he likes, he really enjoys it. He also ate some butter beans and boiled squash. I had to take the leg away from him though, when he ran out of meat. He just didn't understand why.

WOW!

The guy is named Louie Giglio and he is talking about Laminin. Not sure what laminin is? Watch and listen.



A response by someone named michaelsean "our God truly is big enough to create the universe and small enough to live within our hearts.

nobody has any excuse because all creations/ everything around us point to God. creations show how mighty, how real, and how evident He is.

God created all these in 7 days and we, creations, including scientists are still learning, studying, and trying to find these things out."

Like I said before, Wow!

Some of you may have noticed my new header. I asked Bri to make me something using what she has learned in her Technical Application class this year. It was called microcomputers when I took it in Jr. High and High School. Anyway, she did a great job. I will eventually have her try more stuff later on. When we were out of town a couple of weeks ago, I gave Bri the opportunity at driving Big Red a short distance, down a rural road. At first, she didn't want to, but with a little coaxing, she tried it. She did very well, though we were travelling no more than 10 MPH. It's hard to believe she will be old enough to drive in 2 1/2 years.

We are currently involved in baseball/softball. Here a few pics from Bri's first game.

Rance did good sitting in the stroller for nearly the whole game. We just kept giving him snacks and a water bottle to keep him busy. This means "I want more!"

Colton likes going to Bri's games for the food and friends. Slushes are great on hot, humid days at the ballgame. Thanks Pa pa.

Baby Dedication and Mother's Day

What a great idea for Mother's Day! Rancy was dedicated this morning at church. He received his first Bible and a sweet certificate along with 11 other little ones. Yes, we will raise him to know and love the Lord. "For I know the plans I have for you" Jeremiah 29:11. "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 11:18,19. I really love this little guy! After a wonderful sermon, Trevor grilled T-bones with baked potatoes, skewered veggies and roasted corn on the cob for lunch. Our parents came to share in both occasions, but mostly to see the grandkids. Here are my great kids altogether, looking sweet. Thanks guys for making me the happiest Mom in the world.

Couldn't resist this one, especially on Mother's Day!

Another month older

Rance is 16 months as of yesterday. Above are a couple of pics from a year ago when he was 4 months old. He loves his Pooh Bear. He couldn't even reach the floor in his activity center so we put a pillow under his feet. Now he stands tall. Wow, his hair sure has grown!


Here is a video I got of him asleep. He must have thought of something funny in his dreams. Be sure and turn your volume up a little more and look at his expression as the video plays. Priceless!

Starting em early

Today, Rance wanted to help with the cleaning. I got out Bri's old Dirt Devil and he loved it. Now if only I could get him to do the laundry. I hope someday his future wife will thank me for this.





Later, after eating hamburgers, Bri thought it would be funny to pretend to squirt ketchup on everybody. Trevor got out an egg and held it over her head while she held the bottle in front of him. As you can see from the pic, she got egged!



But not without getting him back with some leftover egg and a squirt of ketchup.

Spike it is

Spike has been with us for 6 weeks now. Still can't come up with a different name (I couldn't sell anyone on "killer"). Still working on the potty training. He is a little, live wire. Colton had to do a report on a mammal a couple of weeks ago and decided to write about Spike. We found out from research that Yorkies were bred to hunt and kill mice and rats. Colton said Mrs. Austin would like that. He also had to include a picture so he and Spike posed for this one.

Sweet Boy

Ever since Colton was old enough to play outside and walk around he has picked flowers for me. I have never asked him to, he just does it and doesn't expect anything in return. I have a special little vase I put the flowers in and place it on my window sill in the kitchen so I can see them everyday. I came across a blog the other day that had a Q&A for a little boy. I asked Colton some of the same questions and am sharing them with all of you. I encourage ya'll to post some Q&A from your little ones.

What are you good at doing? throwing a ball and video games

If you had ten dollars, how would you spend it? buy something for $10 or something under $10

What are you afraid of? some snakes

Who are your friends? Kylar, Brendon, Steven, Ally, Zach, Grayson

What is important to you? my family & friends
What is your favorite book? Teddy Tells Time

What is your favorite food? pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, & corndogs

What is your favorite thing about school? getting a prize every Friday for good behavior

What is your favorite thing to do? video games and playing with friends

How do you show your family you love them? hugs, kisses, and telling them

What do you want to be when you grow up? same work as my Dad and be a dad

What are you thankful for? family, friends, and pets

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Florida or Paris (France)

What makes you happy? get to do what I want

Tell me something about God. He loves me!

It was a busy week

Sorry for taking so long to update. We had something going on everynight last week. Revival for 4 nights plus track practice started off the week. By Thursday, I was disappointed that the Revival had ended. But we had softball practice till 9:15. Friday was a long driving day. Trevor and I drove to Tyler to meet Colton's class at the zoo but that got rained out. We were able to take him with us and headed to Canton for First Monday. One of my favorite things to do if only we were feeling better. Trevor picked up a bow and some arrows for the annual knife and hawk throw. Then we drove back to Malakoff. After a little while at home, Rance and I went to the Distict Track Meet to watch Bri. She placed 4th in the 800 and 3rd in the mile relay (she gets a medal for that). Trevor came up later and got Rance and I was able to stay longer, in the cold. I remember track being warm and sunny and all of us trying to get a tan while waiting for our next event. Saturday and Sunday started off earlier than I wanted them to. Trevor and Colton went to the throw first thing. Colton placed 7th in his division. I'm not sure what Trevor did. Overall, there were 78 people throwing this year, and it is considered a world record in Guinness 2008.

Trevor throwing & Padge judging.

Bailee P, 5 years old.

Colton showing off his 3 point card. Hit it dead center!

Colton and Bailee

14 Years

Trevor and I celebrated another year together this weekend. He started out with a card and some chocolate. Friday when he got home, he fired up the grill and cooked steaks, asparagus, and beans. As an appetizer, he had sushi. Below is my California roll. The wasabi was HOT! I got some on the roof of my mouth and it made my nose burn and my eyes water. Definitely some good cooking. Saturday, after a long day of mowing, we went to Red Lobster, for the sea food lover in us. We started off with cheese bread, lobster and crab stuffed mushrooms (mm mm good) and salad. He had stuffed tilapia and I had the Grilled Maine Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp. Sorry, but after eating at this parents a few times in Lake Jackson, this was not jumbo shrimp. Though, it was good. Thanks to my wonderful friend, Kasey, we had a child free evening. She and Bri fed and bathed the kids. Even with the rain, it was a nice evening out, just the two of us. We don't get to go out much with out the kids.

Ally and Rance.

15 Months Old

Wow, how the past 15 months have gone by. It honestly makes me sad that it was so fast.(sniff, sniff) It seems like Rance's first year was the shortest of the three kids. Maybe it has something to do with my age, previous experience, who knows. I am sure I took 100 times more pics this time around plus some videos. I didn't do as much before. Sorry Bri and Colton. The advice I give most to new moms is take as many pictures as possible and more b/c it will never be enough.

Rance and Bri about a year ago.

Played hard

I couldn't pass up this shot of Rance asleep on the floor. He played for a long time the other morning. Looks rather uncomfortable.

Run Around

The 7th grade girls placed 3rd out of 6, at the MMS Meet. They all did great.

The weather was OK. The wind was brisk even though the temp was 64.
Briana is getting ready for the 400
In the 1600m relay, they placed 5th. By this time, the temp was at 54.

Brrrrr, it was cold!

Mr. Starter

and Mr. Starter eating pizza.

We took the boys for the annual Easter Bunny photo and the pic turned out great. Bri wasn't in it this year, for the first time ever. She almost didn't do it last year but changed her mind at the last minute. I think b/c last year was Rance's first Easter.

For Easter, we put together some candy filled eggs for the boys to find waiting for them when they got up. Colton saw his basket on the counter and then ran to look out the window in the yard to see if there were any eggs to be hunted. He then decided that Mom went out and picked them all up for him.


Rance got a few jelly beans but no chocolate, since it isn't recommended for babies, and an egg with money in it. He ate his first jelly bean which he chewed on for about 15 minutes.










Here he is chewing on the first bean. The picture doesn't show it to well, but he was drulling like crazy.



We had huge turn out for church. Chairs from the fellowship hall had to be carried up the stairs to the balcony to help seat everyone plus the ones down stairs. I don't think that has ever happend before. I believe the count was over 500. It was a great sermon.



I fixed one of my best meals for lunch, thanks to the newly opened Athens Cafe. We saw a few others from church eating there also. I went to pick Bri up from staying at my parents in Waco later. My Mom took her to get her nails done. French tips.

Spring Break @ Last

This year we decided to rent a beach house in Surfside, Tx. This is the second time to do so and Rance and Sadie's first. We loaded Big Red to the roof and headed out as soon as Sadie finished cheer tryouts. We got there about 9:30 Friday night. Everyone had a blast playing in the water except Rance and myself. The water rolled up to ankle deep and was so cold my legs hurt.

The Sea Princess

The people behind us partied Friday night till 1:30 AM and till 3:30 AM Saturday night, or should I say Sunday morning.

Trevor frying some fresh, gulf shrimp

Me eating my first raw oyster. It wasn't too bad, mainly just the thought of it.

Trevor surfing and the girls trying to boogie board with a tanker coming into port. Sadie says she saw something dark swimming by them and then got bumped on her leg by something hard and smooth. There's all kinds of fish out there you just can't see them. If you ask her, she says it was a shark, possibly a nurse shark.

Colton next to a pic of Trevor

The kids posing with Gordon the grouper at the Sea Center

Rance and Colton with the sharks

The boys in front of a painting of George H. Bush fishing

Hot Dog Man at the mall

Famous Lake Jackson landmark, note the street names

The trip ended with Rance getting whatever made Colton sick last week. High fever and no other symptoms. But, we all had a great time.