It took a little while, but here are the rest.

I had SO much fun today!! I wanted to post so many pictures, but here are the ones that stood out to me. I can't wait to share the rest with my sweet friend!

Mrs. "A", Thank you so much again for coming over!

My sweet friend Mrs. "A" is expecting...soon!

I wanted to post about 6 pictures for her sneak peak of our session, BUT my computer is having issues. It's either that, or the website is having them.

I will post the rest as soon as I can, but here is one I did in color and BW.

Isn't her belly beautiful!!

What every girl needs...

...when she has to have a minor surgery.



A new hair style...

...and some ice cream!!(with a little chocolate syrup of course)

Grace needs tubes.

We had our follow-up visit today at the ENT and Grace's ears are the same. She is still legally hard of hearing.

Anna had tubes when she was a baby, but for some reason I am more concerned for Grace. She has adjusted to her hearing problems, and everything is going to be so much louder when the tubes are in.

I will keep you updated on when the surgery will be. Please begin praying for Grace and the new sounds she will hear once this is done. The way it was explained to me was that we can't even make ourselves hear as softly as she hears.

Hot Texas days and ice cream!!

Around here a hot day, and nothing to do...usually results in water play and ice cream.





These are the only days my car gets washed throughout the year. The kids will do just about anything for ice cream. (from the ice cream man of course)

Saturday was no different.

This was one of those rare weekends when we had nothing planned and could just enjoy the day.

The kids asked if they could wash the car.

Which led to setting up the sprinkler.

Which then led to swimming in the bucket. (I don't know what I'll do when Grace can't fit in it anymore!)





Then the ice cream man shows up and it's ice cream for all!!

Happy, happy kiddos!!!









Wait a minute....how could someone look so angry while holding not one, but two ice creams???




No gum balls. Hmph!

So I was looking through my old picture files...

Mommas sweet babies.

They are my babies forever.

Even though they will argue me into the ground that they are not babies anymore!



A reflection shot of Anna.



I haven't posted many of Anna lately. For some reason I don't get many pictures of just her anymore. I promise to get better about that. I really want to focus on getting more Mommy/Anna time soon.

She is getting so big. Makes me so sad and proud at the same time.


Joshua playing with his remote control Grave Digger after his first "poop" in the potty. (just being completely open and honest here) :)

My monkey broke the bed...

Monday nights are Bible study nights at my house.

Rodney is usually home to get the kids in bed for me, but this week he was at work late.

So what I do is get all the kids ready for bed, put them upstairs with a movie, and after prayer requests I skip upstairs to tuck them in.

Not tonight...

Tonight the kids were being so sweet and Anna was reading books to Grace and Joshua.

Until...

Grace decides to jump on Joshua's bed.

I heard a loud noise (that' pretty normal), but then the kids started yelling "the bed is broke!"

So I ran upstairs and this is what I saw...





Grace must have hit the stress point on the bed, because it split all the way down the side!

Joshua is now sleeping on his mattress on the floor.

Before and After Photoshop- Edited, Picture added

I am always interested in before and after shots of other photographers. I am very blessed to be a member of a forum where nice people like Brad share their secrets! I took a moment to follow his work flow and I love the results!

Which one do you like??

Another VERY full weekend! LOTS of pictures!

This weekend was all about soccer, the Boys and Girls Country, and ...MUD!

Yep, that's a typical spring day for us...lots of cold, squishy mud. And I love every minute of it.


Lets start from the beginning though.


Rodney taught Joshua how to help with the lawn. He learned how to use the blower this weekend. I don't know about you, but I just love watching daddies teach their little boys how to do big boy chores! It is so fun!




Grace had her final soccer game and end of season party on Saturday afternoon. Wouldn't you know that after a season on socializing on the field, she finally got into the whole idea of playing... on the LAST game. I love it! She was goalie and stopped all but 2 of the goals! We all enjoyed cheering her on!





Saturday evening was the highlight of my weekend.

We took the whole family to the Boys and Girls Country. Rodney and I along with our Sunday school class sponsor a cottage of boys out there. What that means is that we help with birthdays and holidays. We don't like to stop there though.

Nope.

We felt led to spend time with the boys each month, eat dinner, and just play. We love them so much. I can't post pictures, but I truly wish you could see the faces of the boys when they are interacting with everyone. Our family, two other couples, and our good friend Brian (also the class leader) went out and spent hours with the boys.

Did I mention I brought cupcakes?? And that NO ONE noticed!!!

They only wanted to spend time with us. That is what meant the most.

I also enjoyed watching my kids play with everyone. They had such a great time and even learned a few things about manners from the boys.

Here is the best thing... I have such a WONDERFUL husband!!! God gave me such a strong man, and at the same time he has such a tender heart for the boys. He is such a good father to our kids, and he left the dinner on Saturday night wanting to do so much more for the kids! I love him for that!! I feel so blessed that God knew exactly the perfect person for me. He knew I would feel led to mission work and Rodney understands, supports, and in many ways feels the same as I do. What a great God!!

Sunday we went to church and shared with the rest of our Sunday school class how the dinner went. I can't help it... I cried.

After church we went to lunch and then it was MUD TIME!!




What a great weekend!!!

Oh...wait....

Did I forget to mention that Joshua decided he wanted to be in UNDERWEAR!!!

Sunday morning he wakes up, goes to church, out to lunch, quick trip to Target, and spends the whole day in underwear! He did great too! Now we have to keep going. OH MY!!

Swinging with Joshua and Grace

I know, I know....

I need to get much better about posting sooner. These pictures were taken Monday!!

A dear friend of mine came in town for a visit, so we took all the kids to the park.

This park is where most of our Bible study girls met, became friends, and first pushed our kids on a swing.


Check out those socks Grace is wearing!


I don't think there was an airplane, but he must have seen one. This boy can spot anything even if it is just a speck in the sky!

I'll take it from Andrea...My mommy heart was BURSTING this weekend!!

This was how my weekend started.


My mom kept the kids, and Rodney and I had a great night away in a hotel!!!



Saturday we came home, and aside from a quick trip to the hospital (none of mine, but pray for David and Julie), we had a great family day! We all ate lunch out together, took naps, and played.


Then...I made DOZENS of cookies, with Grace's help of course!




Shall I continue??

Sunday was of course church until 1:00, and then mommy got to go to a baby shower! Fun!!

BUT...that was not even the best part.

You heard me right. Grown-up girl time was not the best part for me on Sunday!


The best part was coming home and hearing that my kids were behaving like BEST FRIENDS the whole time I was gone!!

Why don't they act like that when I'm around I ask????

Well, they did!!! They continued with their sweetness all night long!!


They serenaded mommy in the kitchen.



The girls dressed together and even asked to get their hair braided the same! (Anna NEVER asks for this anymore! You know she needs her own identity and all..)


I had a WONDERFUL weekend and I am feeling so blessed by God right now!!

Joshua's sleep postition of the day.

I have so much to write about this weekend, but it will have to wait until later. Right now I HAVE to show you how Joshua is sleeping.

She has overcome her fear!

Last year at Grace's end of year program, I had to sit on stage with her.

My completely outgoing child suddenly was overwhelmed with fear.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. My hubby and I have a great routine after church. I pick up Grace, and he gets Anna and Joshua. Grace LOVES to go down the elevator, but last week it wasn't working. So this time we went down the "big stairs" by "big church." My sweet baby surprised me by asking me to go down to the bottom and turn around to watch her.

...she sang!!!

She broke out with "Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord!" It was such a proud moment for me!!

They have been practicing since January and she is so excited for this year! (I only hope she doesn't get stage fright on the night of the program again, maybe I should dress up just in case)

He sleeps...

I love to watch my baby fall asleep. The best part about it is where he falls asleep. I guess being the youngest, you pretty much have to learn to deal with the noise. Joshua deals VERY well with it.

He has been trying to be a big boy and give up his afternoon naps, but sometimes it doesn't work. My energetic baby boy usually hits a wall around 3pm. I have no idea what time he actually was sleeping in these pictures, I am just going on my recollection. (which Rodney will tell you isn't always that reliable, hee hee)

If I were a sweet mommy, I might pick him up and put him in his comfy bed.

Nope, I have to get pictures first!

It's Been Almost a Year

I have been waiting for this long to post my favorites from our anniversary trip to San Francisco last year. This was our 2 day whirl-wind trip we took for #5. Thank you so much mom for keeping the kids, I am just as thankful today as I was then! It is such a beautiful city and it was the first trip we had taken alone since Rodney and I were engaged!!

I wish I could tell you exactly where Bob's is because they have incredible pancakes!! I don't know what they use, but I want to go back just to eat them!

Thank you so much to my BFF for suggesting the trip to Muir Woods. I can't believe how amazing the trees were. I'm sure no one is surprised that by the time we got out of there, Rodney was exhausted from having to pose for my pictures.